Artist: Estradasphere
Song: Meteorite Showers
From album: Buck Fever
Genre: Jigsaw Jazz
[DL from itunes][Buy CD][Site]

Estradasphere, (named after the Estrada of course!) has the power to dump buckets full of genres into a blender, and pour out completely talented and marvelous songs. Their works include and combine styles like balkan gypsy, r&b, blackmetal, bluegrass, surf-rock, jazz, world, swing, doo wop, and a lot more, there’s even some guided meditation parody!

It’s really rather hard to sum up these guys, each song is a new discovery. It’s something like living in a television set on scan where you’re just walking along enjoying yourself, and every-so-often your clothes and surroundings and storylines completely change out of almost nowhere. *Click* You’re a hard boiled detective with a bum ticker, trudging through rainy nights to track down the hood that knocked off your Jane, *Click* You’re sweet 16 again, in soft-focus at the shake & burger joint, locking braces with Betty Lou’s bubblegum smile, *Click* You’re in SoCal riding the totally most gnarly wave of your surfing career, *Click* You’re black-tie waltzing atop the Eiffel Tower, *Click* You’re on the moon…..

It’s impossible to pick a song that really sums them up out of 3 great and varied albums, but this one should give you a little taste of the sometimes bizarre mixtures they can concoct. If you like what you hear even a little bit, I recommend checking out their soundbites section which will give you an even more delicious taste.

Artist: Eksperimentoj
Song: Solaris
From album: Compilation “Class – Plan B”
Genre: Stormy Nightrock
[Buy this album][Site]

Eksperimentoj is a new project that brandishes the marvelous vocalist, Eugene Wakamikoto. And how can you not love a Japanese band with an Esperanto name?! I guess no one here went to their show on Sunday, but I thought I might as well post the only song I have of theirs, it’s from this compilation, and it’s good. I’m very much looking forward to what these guys have in store.

I can’t help but imagine this song as a nighttime storm out at sea. Rather, it’s being played from high in a tumultuous sky, in the eye of the tempest. It’s the sound of watching the ocean swells and breaks, the churn and the boil. It starts as just a minor undulation in black and white, growing as tenebrous clouds gather and whirl. Soon it’s an outpouring of nature’s emotion from the depths of her murky stomach. It rushes and rolls, out there in that tarry blackness; that endless void that’s so alone but so deadly real.

This is a quick little cry for help.

If anyone who is reading this is going to be in Shibuya “today” Sunday February 5th, and is planning to go to the Eksperimentoj show at Yaneura, would you mind buying their cd for me, which is only sold at their shows apparently?!? I will not only appreciate it very much, I WILL PAY YOU BACK! Via paypal or whatever right away. Please let me know!

I was inspired to write this article by a post on Watashi to Tokyo. I don’t know how many people that come to red-ruin.info have a real interest in learning Japanese, but if you want to know the little secrets I have discovered in my studies over several years, then by all means, come on down.
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Artist: Sleepy.Ab
Song: Traveling Fair
From album: Traveling Fair
Genre: Indiesilk Wanderweb
[Buy this album][Site]

Sleepy.Ab make songs from blends of common elements that end up rather hard to classify. In a given song they can be anywhere from singer-songwriter-esque acoustic, to a mellow indie-gaze-tronica with splashes of recorded sound. The vocals are sometimes droning, sometimes mournful, but always seem to be sung with feeling.

This particular song, also the title of the album, is like a slow wandering waltz down quirky crooked lanes. Maybe it’s that hour before sunrise when the world is picturesque and filled with potential. Maybe you just walk along in half a daydream through deserted thoroughfares on your meandering way to wherever you want to be.

You can listen to clips from their other songs, and see a couple music videos on their site.

“…Arakawa, who now bases himself in New York, advocates ‘architecture that defies death.’ How? By incorporating inconveniences and obstacles in his designs in order to bring people’s sensory perception back to life..”

I found out about this design team of Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins from an article on The Japan Times Online, and I think they are brilliant. I love eccentric architecture, and as far as that goes, this team is a total winner: They make living spaces with hilly floors and obstacles, and put light switches near the floor and clothes storage on the ceiling. Their designs are colorful, thoughtful, innovative, and playful.

Another great example of their work is an “experience park” at the site of Reversible Destiny, in Yoro Park, Gifu Japan, which you really have to see to understand. Check out the great website and be sure to look at the “directions for use”, and the maps sections for explanations and quicktime vr panoramas from various vantage points. I definitely need to spend a day there.

[Link][2][3]

Artist: Hulk
Song: Elephant Memory
From album: Silver Thread of Ghosts
Genre: Gentle Twilight Atmosphere
[Buy this album][Site]

I was made aware of this artist by Osaka Records and I find it quite enjoyable. Hulk disassembles natural ambient sound settings, and recombines them with his own quiet strains to create pieces that are soundtracks of his recollections.

To me, “Elephant Memory” sounds like lying on your back in warm grasslands with eyes closed as dusk turns to dark. If you listen closely you can feel the sounds of the nighttime waking up; and later, faint drums from some distant village or dream. It’s peaceful, and as you sink more and more into the atmosphere, you feel like maybe you are learning something from this feeling.

Artist: Natsumen
Song: Atami Free Zone (Live)
From album: NEVER WEAR OUT yOUR SUMMER xxx !!!
Genre: Brassy (which can also mean adventurous!) Jazzrock
[buy this album][Website]

Recently I’ve been a real sucker for sax and violins; and what this album lacks in strings it makes up for in brass with some appreciable attitude. In some ways, “Atami Free Zone” is like watching these instruments in their natural environment: the golden savannah. (What am I saying!?) In any case, we watch them as they tumble and butt heads and frolic around an often simple melodic landscape. They can be rebellious and sometimes rude, but are full of youthful vigor. Sometimes they rest in the shadows of that famous “only tree in sight” while the guitary breeze stirs waves of long grass, and sometimes they jump up for no particular reason and run together towards that mother of all suns as hard as they can.

Anyway… here’s some trivia for those that might care: Natsumen’s 2 guitarists, “Aine” and “AxSxE”, are both previous members of the now defunct band Boat from a couple posts back; and in this excellent live record, their song: “Natsu no Mujina,” is a great cover of Boat’s instrumental song: “Akiramujina”. So there you have it. I also think their “sound introductions” in the biographies section of the website is a pretty neat idea.