Videos of the Week: 4/25/10

This is "Ocean," a new video from Bloodthirsty Butchers. It's a pretty simple idea, but it looks fantastic. It's a good match for the sort of calm epicness of the song. The no-frill quality of the sets and stop-motion are also a nice touch. I really like the owl.



Schroeder-Headz "Sleepin'Bird"


This is another great, simple and calm video. Plus I'm a sucker for super high-contrast. The pace of the scenery passing by is a perfect match for the rolling quality of the song. (Found at http://tokyooutthere.com)

Recoride "BaseballMurder"


Budget? Who needs a budget when you have a zillion balloons and an energetic band?

Perfume "Natural Beauty Basic"


It's good to know that, while the world economy is collapsing, that the girls in Perfume are still living like it's 1985. Also, I think Jamiroquai and OK Go have done the slidey dance thing better already. But over 2 million views can't be wrong!

Savlonic/Weebl "Tiny Japanese Girl"


What's not to love about this new video from Weebl? It features some pretty cute Godzilla stuff, as well as a Tiny Japanese Girl playing a synth. Win/win.

Toddle

Toddle is a band formed by ex-Number Girl and current Bloodthirsty Butchers guitarist Tabuchi Hisako. Toddle blends super melodic vocals with crashing guitars and overdriven drums to form pristine indie-rock gems ala The Pixies, The Breeders and other early '90s indie pop rock. Whatever you want to call it, it's loud and pretty and tough all at the same time.

A Sight



Sack Dress

Number Girl

During their seven year run, Number Girl were one of the most influential indie rock bands in Japan, with a wide variety of outside influences themselves (most notably Sonic Youth and The Pixies). At first listen you could be forgiven for dismissing the band due to its very noisy, almost chaotic sound, but further and closer listening will reveal the true genius of the band. Full of complex, ever changing rhythms, they often stray into territory far outside that of typical noise/indie rock, such and dub and reggae, being most obvious in the massive amount of reverb often present on the drums and vocals. Regardless of their approach, every song is exploding with energy and movement, due to each member being a master at their craft. After breaking up, guitarist Tabuchi Hisako joined Bloodthirsty Butchers, also forming Toddle, her own slightly more pop oriented band. Singer and guitarist Shutoku Mukai formed the even more insane Zazan Boys with drummer Ahito Inazawa, who then went on to form Vola and the Oriental Machine.

Bloodthirsty Butchers

Bloodthirsty Butchers have been kicking around the indie scene for around twenty years now. No mean feat for any band, let alone a rather obscure indie rock group from Japan. Their sound is generally huge, crashing and loud. You know, indie rock. In 2003 they managed to snag the excellent ex-Number Girl guitarist Hisako Tabuchi (bonus points, she's a girl!) releasing their best album (in my opinion), Birdy, the following year. If you can manage to track it down (damn you taking-down-Japanese-videos people!), watch the video for "Jack Nicholson" and tell me I'm wrong.

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