Tokyo Rock City

It's 2008. Japan's first wave of bands to infiltrate the border and establish the J-Rock sound (er, "aesthetic") have been at it for well over a decade.... Boredoms, Shonen Knife, Zeni Geva, Melt Banana... Okay, okay, not exactly radio friendly fodder for the local ROCK 101 station, but all of whom are well-known and salivated amongst music freaks worldwide.

Boredoms, for example, put on the historically kick-ass 7/7/77 last year in Brooklyn?where 77 drummers stomped out beats in unison while front madman Yamasuka Eye used every part of his body to give spectacle to what's considered thee musical event of the decade (check out the insanity here, friends). Shonen Knife, tour buddies of Sonic Youth, are still rocking the Ramones-y sound by way of Hello Kitty. Zeni Geva's front man KK Null is one of the most respected metal heads in the galaxy. And Melt Banana, well... you just have to hear Melt Banana for yourself (!)

The hype has not died out for any of these Tokyo-based stompers. But here's what I want to know... where does it all come from? What the hell do they put in the bottled water, anyway?

For that answer, I turn to Tokyo scenester/artist Yuki Batoh who says: "To an outsider, I think it all seems, overwhelming?... So big (the city, people) but so small at the same time (venues, scenes)."

"Much of what¡¯s going on here, you don't see in America. Sure, Boredoms and stuff do an amazing job of showing the world part of what's happening in Japan but still... that¡¯s only a small component. Everyone here, I think, is doing something original?music, art, y'know?and are very interested in what else is going on outside of their own scene. It moves quick, it¡¯s very busy."

Like the city itself... As for the sound? "In Japan, we don¡¯t try to copy the American sound, we don¡¯t even try to copy the Japanese sound, because there isn't one. It's insulting to most Japanese to be compared to anyone else, not only in music but in life too. You do the opposite, or not even, you do a new approach. It's individual. That¡¯s why most of the music is so different from one band to the next."

Any bands to recommend? "Too many! Boris is really popular right now, especially in the US. Stoner-rock, metal kids love them.

For more, I talked to Justin Gradin (aka DJ Meth Mouth) a half-Japanese one-man dance punk party and owner of the record label Cassette or Die!!! who divides his time between Tokyo and his hometown of Vancouver, BC?not too mention frequent gigging in LA underground club scene.

"Oh, it's nuts. You go out, and you basically get dragged to this tiny, one-room venues where everything is completely different than the last place you were at."

For example? "I remember this one 'apartment' building where I was doing a set, and like, each little doorway in this entire building led to another club?all random.

You walk into a room and there will be some guy pounding a mic into the ground while the DJ is scratching a record?with a drill. Next door, will be Japanese punks with 20 foot mohawks will be tearing apart the room?politely. Then you'll open a door to a room where one guy is playing the saddest, most beautiful music you've ever heard on the Chakahara or something... The audience at this place, and most places I've gigged or hung out at in Tokyo, have just an amazing cross-section of people that you¡¯d never find intermingling anywhere else."

From the atonal white noise of Merzbow to the humongous thump of bass and drums duo Ruins to the fast-three chord punk rock attack of The Raydios. Rock, punk, metal, noise, jazz, pop, whatever... it's all here in Tokyo, melding with new sounds in a way that was never intended by American and British genre bands. Tokyo is a city that rocks hard, in the most unexpected of ways.

Summing up the Tokyo rock experience, Meth Mouth adds: "I love it?Downtown Tokyo, rock city. Awesome food, crazy karaoke/sex bars, drunken businessmen moshing to punk rock, everybody dancing?to NOISE!... It¡¯s the most illogical logical place on the face of the earth." Adding, "But the more your exposed to it, the more it all makes sense. Trust me."