First, sorry if anything on the blog is broken. I just moved everything and frankly there's way too much to keep track of.
Second, hi! Yes, still alive.
Third, check out this super swank new video from Lillies and Remains! Nothing but smoldering, intense slow-mo looks from the guys in the band, but it's still pretty cool.
It's not often that a band becomes more popular outside of its home country before they are equally well known at home, but it would seem as though Lite, an instrumental post-rock progressive band from Japan, has done just that.
They've played shows around the world, hitting up the UK and Ireland several times, as well as New York. They've released two live albums, one from Ireland and one from their recent 2009 trip to New York. They are even signed to a European record label, Cargo Records, along with the likes of The White Stripes.
The music that the band makes is, as mentioned, all instrumental. They are a bit like Downy in their overall sense of darkness, but Lite isn't nearly as arty or experimental. They are also not as light and precious as Miaou, nor as harsh as sgt. In some way Lite lives up to their name in that, while intense and intricate, little of what they do is overly heavy. This leaves them a bit more accessible to a wider audience who might be turned off by noodly math rock or way too spaced-out jams. They are smart without letting it get in the way.
Their instrumentality also makes them much easier to get in front of international audiences, something that has been a considerable help to other instrumental groups like Mono. Plus, they're just damn good at what they do, which is something attractive in any language (or lack thereof.)
The unrelenting powerhouse that is Ling Tosite Sigure is not only sonically challenging, but a bit slippery to pin down in the information department as well. First off, their name. While it is written on their official website as "Ling Tosite Sigure," the Roman translation of their name, "凛として時雨," is read as Rin Toshite Shigure, or "cold rain."
Following along with their distorted nomenclature, their music is equally twisted. While they are essentially a very abrasive indie-rock band, they seem to intentionally push their music to the breaking point. Specifically their vocals. Hopping between the dual male and female leads, their singing style is unique to say the least. Both TK (male) and 345 (female) seem to intentionally sing an octave or two beyond their natural range, resulting in almost uniformly missed notes and cracking voices. Not exactly screaming, nor artfully bended tones, they both seem hell-bent to turn off as many prudish listeners as possible with their call and response cacophony.
On the flip side, their music is masterfully played. Ranging from very frenetic and complex structures to tranced out, simplified drones, it's obvious that all three members can play the hell out of their instruments on many levels. Case in point, the opening guitar riff for "Telecastic Fake Show" would make many metal masters start to sweat. The fact that they then break into a straight forward garage rock beat shows their confidence and, perhaps surprisingly, restraint. The song goes through many other stylistic changes, from disco rock to something blistering into the realm of some of 9mm Parabellum Bullet's more complex material, and then into almost calming U2 territory, only to ramp it all back up again. Of course all of this is accompanied by the signature vocal screech. And this is only a single song.
Formed in 2002, Ling Tosite Sigure already has an impressive and more importantly consistently amazing body of work. They've released several singles and albums in their seven years together. Front man Toru Kitajima is the dynamo spinning and churning in the center of the Ling Tosite Sigure machine. He writes all of the music and lyrics, and he also spends time behind the mixing board as the band's producer, recording and mixing their albums. That the band has an author with such attention to detail and possessive command of the band's trajectory comes as no surprise. At times their music seems to be more the mad ravings of a single screaming force than that of a collective group.
Much like Midori, if they don't burn themselves out in a shot time, I predict, and certainly hope to see, great things for these guys.
Take the White Stripes, rip out the dead albatross and jam an angry black box into the hole. Add one post-punk Debbie Harry. Blend at 11 until your ears bleed. Serve Levelload hot.
One half Tokyo and the other half London, the duo that is Levelload combine and collaborate to bring a mash-up of various styles to their music. Tony Wade's no-nonsense guitar sound is a little classic new-wave while at the same time bringing in plenty of gritty, no-frills rock and roll. Mariko Doi's bass playing is the perfect match, and her up-front and confrontational vocal style also reinforces their overall in-your-face vibe. There's also plenty of electronic reinforcement, but this is no armchair trainspotting perfection. Instead, the drum machines and saw-waves seem to come from the Digital Hardcore school where "Riot sounds produce riots." While not exactly that raw, they don't seem to spend too much time fussing over the finer points.
The band spends equal time touring both Japan and the UK. Their current Flightpath Records label is based in Japan, yet they got their start on none other than the venerable Peel show in the UK. This duality of origin shows through in their music as well. Mariko's vocals are accented enough to add a unique flavor to her otherwise all English lyrics. The music mixes up electro-clash with distorted swamp-rock guitar. The band itself seems to be just as serious as they are tongue-in-cheek (see the video for "Yellow Fever" below), never taking themselves too seriously. The end result is indeed some seriously solid new-rock-electo-wave fun.
Once you know that "Lillies and Remains" is originally the title of a Bauhaus song, the pieces very quickly fall into place. Well that, and the fact the front-man Kent is the spitting aural image of Peter Murphy (at least in his lower/more monotone register) both come together to give you a pretty fair image of the band.
Having been formed in the middle of 2007, Lillies and Remains are still a bit of an unknown equation. They've released one one six track EP and a single video go along with it. Their sound, aside from he above influence, is almost bluesy at times, though the old-school goth vibe chases most of the blues away in favor of its much more stark gloom. Their use of guitars is similar to Bloc Party and other modern post-punk outfits, namely tight and quick. They are also generally bass and groove heavy, letting the lower end really drive both the rhythm and melody of the songs. Their cover of Love's "Alone Again Or" is typical goth tongue-in-cheek, transforming a rather vapid psychedelic soft rock hit from the 60's into an epic doom rock song that all the girls (and guys) in black-lipstick will all be dancing to at their own special proms for years to come.
Again, the band is still very young, so it will be interesting to see how they develop from here. They could easily fall into the usual trap of dropping the more interesting aspects (the darkness, the raw goth elements) in favor of reaching out to a broader audience with a lighter "bad-boy" image. Most notably, their live performances fall short of their namesake. They certainly aren't as theatrical, and Kent's voice doesn't seem up to the task of maintaining his lower recorded register in a live setting. Still, these are minor details that will hopefully be worked out as the band matures. Apparently they are already working on a new album, so we'll all just have to sit tight until it's released.
