Guitarist Narahara Eisuke has joined VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE as a full-time member, reports Bounce.com. Narahara performed with VOLA as a support player after original guitarist Aoki Yutaka left the band to concentrate on unkie. According to the band’s official site, Narahara plays a Fender Jazzmaster and is influenced by Thurston Moore, Kevin Shields and Nels Cline. He also plays violin and keyboards.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is premiering works by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Yes, that Anthony Hopkins.
Guitarist Aoki Yutaka has left VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE, reports Bounce.com. Aoki plans to devote more time with instrumental rock band unkie. VOLA leader Ahito Inazawa said the band plans to rearrange its old songs to accommodate Aoki’s departure and to continue in its reconfigured form. Aoki’s departure comes right before the release of VOLA’s major label debut Halan’na-ca Darkside on Oct. 8 and a subsequent tour in November. unkie is also scheduled to release a new album, too many secrets, on Oct. 22.
I’m not sure why I didn’t get a postcard reminder about the Austin Record Convention this past weekend, but luckily, I had stopped by Waterloo Records and found fliers announcing it. (Kind of early in the month.)
For some reason, the System’s 1987 hit "Don’t Disturb This Groove" got lodged in my head, and after hearing a few excerpts on Amazon, I’ve become somewhat fascinated by it. As much as I tried to resist the prevailing pop sound of the time, groups such as Exposé, Nu Shooz and the System became part of my subconscious. And really, there’s no reason I shouldn’t mine those sources as I do everything else.
I didn’t find it, though.
I did end up with:
Now I should think about what I want to get for the Waterloo Records storewide sale, which is a few weeks away.
Former ART-SCHOOL guitarist Ooyama Jun is now a full-time member of STRAIGHTENER, reports Bounce.com. What started out as a duo, then grew as a trio, is now a quartet.
Ooyama and bassist Hinata Hidekazu — who pulls double duty with Mukai Shuutoku’s ZAZEN BOYS — were both members of ART-SCHOOL, and they left the band at the same after the release of LOVE/HATE in 2003. Original STRAIGHTENER member Horie Atsushi tells Bounce the band felt a great sense of chemistry with Ooyama to bring him on full-time. The newly-configured STRAIGHTENER makes its debut on Nov. 26 with the Hello Weekend Tour. The band is also recording a new album.
I’ve only been casually following STRAIGHTENER since the release of its first major label album LOST WORLD’S ANTHOLOGY in 2004. But with Ooyama and Hinata reunited, I’m much more interested to hear how the band sounds now. It kinds of makes me curious, though — is Kinoshita Riki that difficult?
Amid a scramble to get a bail-out plan together, the Senate passes the creation of a "copyright czar", according to Wired. It goes to the House next.
The article says, "The intellectual property measure approved Friday was strongly backed by Hollywood, the recording industry, unions, manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." Notice that artists aren’t on that list.
Billboard reports Sonic Youth has signed a one-album deal with Matador Records. The telling quote of the article is this one by Thurston Moore:
"Matador is a super strong, high-profile label with an indie distribution system that is exactly what a band like us in this current climate needs more than anything."
That’s a very diplomatic way to say major labels are in deep shit.
It’s interesting to see Moore admit to making the last three Sonic Youth albums somewhat accessible. I kind of got the sense the band was taming their sound, and to learn that was the intent still comes as a surprise, even more so the fact the next album will continue in that vein.
When I worked over at Waterloo Records, I always wondered why the store never hosted a classical in-store performance. (The simple answer: you have to pay to play, and classical ensembles don’t usually have that kind of promotional subsidy.)
But Russell McCullogh, who maintains the classical section of Waterloo, called to let me know about the store’s first ever classical in-store appearance happening Sunday, Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. (tomorrow.) It’s a signing by Conspirare artistic director Craig Hella Johnson and composer Tarik O’Regan, whose work Conspirare performs for its first album for Harmonia Mundi, Threshold of Night.
The label is releasing the album as a super audio CD (SACD), so the regular price is going to be mucho expensive. It will, however, be on sale for the first few weeks of its release. Tuesday is the official release date, but Waterloo gets the album early for the in-store signing.
Austin-based Conspirare has garnered a lot of acclaim since its inception in 1991. The ensemble’s second album, Requiem, was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2007.
Do As Infinity is getting back together again, reports Bounce.com. The duo split up in 2005 to pursue solo careers, but singer Van Tomiko and guitarist Owatari Ryo were the secret guests at the Ajinomoto a-nation 08 concert, where they announced the reunion. No word yet on any future releases.
I can’t say Van and Owatari had very lucrative careers since Do As Infinity announced its break-up three years ago. Van released a series of uninspiring singles and two cover albums, while Owatari’s band, MISSILE INNOVATION, never really took off. At the same time, Van and Owatari complement each other wonderfully. Van sounds far better with Owatari’s muscular guitar work as a foundation, and Owatari is … not much of a singer.
Things I didn’t know but now do after reading this article (New York Times, registration required or not):