'Songs from the Red Planet' Is LIVE. Pay What You Want With BCH
Nite Owl Works’ debut concept album, Songs from the Red Planet, is an unapologetically straightforward yet cryptic love letter to the modern world from a place of extreme loneliness, adoration, frustrated contempt, and wonder.
Nite Owl Works のデビュー コンセプト アルバム「Songs from the Red Planet」は、極度の孤独、崇拝、挫折した軽蔑、そして驚きに満ちた場所から、悪びれることなく真っ直ぐに、しかし謎めいた現代世界へのラブレターです。
https://soundcloud.com/nite-owl-works/sets/songs-from-the-red-planet?si=6554275c1d974b8d9da7cfa8524fd792&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Get it on 2.6.24, w/ semi-gloss lyrics poster. Both digital and physical formats available. Pay what you want (from zero to whatever) in Bitcoin Cash! https://niteowlworks.jp/34-2/
ナイト・アウル・ワークス新アルバムリリースは明日です！2.6.24 デジタルとフィジカルフォーマットがあります。歌詞ポスター付き
https://niteowlworks.jp
Physical CD orders / フィジカルフォーマット予約:alternativejapan@proton.me
#niteowlworks #newalbum #release #bitcoincash #alternative #shoegaze #niigata #japan #music #conceptalbum #popanarchy #新潟 #音楽 #シューゲイザー
Now Accepting BCH for My Music Via Prompt.Cash
Hi guys, I am thrilled to announce that my band Nite Owl Works has a shiny new website, and that you don't need to go through the Apple Gulag or Play Store Penitentiary to get our tunes. It's all possible via Bitcoin Cash and the open source Cash.Prompt plugin. Hope you'll have a look (under the "New Music" tab). Cheers!
https://niteowlworks.jp/
Morning Coffee, Tokyo Station
Morning coffee
Tokyo Station
Life is meant to be lived
Watching the people pass by
All their different inimitable faces
Mistaking French kids
for American backpackers
I met with friends last night
Sleep deprived
Prepared to down some good, strong Scotch
Smoke a cigarette
Have a laugh
And forget that painful state
Maybe I talked too much
Timing a bit off as a drunk insomniac
But laughs were had
Taboo topics slung around wildly
Hands on friends' shoulders
Their hands on mine
And even after all the slosh
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. in the hotel room
Only slept a few hours for the third day in a row
I prayed to some version of God in my head
jacked off
listened to some conspiracy videos
and somehow — some goddamn-how —
Fell asleep
Now an older woman walks by
in a super colorful patchwork pattern blouse
skinny with mousy, dyed reddish-black hair
I'm glad to be alive
drinking my coffee
The night's catharsis has left me lighter
If a bit uneasy about my loud mouth
And the balm of the morning air
and all the faces —
from the almost-horrified wide eyes of the
exhausted British mom dragging her
giant luggage around
to the rude guy who stood right in front of me as I
sit here, inches from my face
And all the little kids in the strollers or this one, now, holding mom's hand shouting
tiny caveman "Ah!"s into the air
to get strangers to turn and look, both mom and son laughing hard when they do —
Have me feeling alright
Alive, even with all the commie bullshit
this dumb world plasters everywhere
over the top of the beauty
October Bike Ride
Out in the daylight hours for once. Not sure I can take the vampire life much longer.
Autumn smoke. Gutted house. Freedom by the riverbank on an October bike ride. The world is being de-spiritualized.
Kinmokusei, susuki, goldenrod — shock the landscape with bright yellows, wave hello with lazy palms from the roadside, candy the drying air with fabric softener perfume. Sun shines down, mixing in with the brown and gray, lazy-floating clouds.
Leaves begin to change.
I listen to Giuliani denigrate the cult from a phone in my bike basket. I wish everyone understood how gentle the world is. Laugh all you want.
Mt. Yahiko looms across an infinite void — somber space. The clack of skateboard wheels reaches my ears from the skate park below. The bright blood of Shinto gates. The stone Buddha that never talks but always seems supportive — I go to cross the bridge.
There’s nothing like a Niigata fall.
Jesus cursed the fig tree out of season. But this quiet resignation towards death is so nice. With comforting gray skies, rental DVDs, and an abject landscape of soothing melancholy.
It takes me to a place I can’t get to, and that more and more they’re trying to rip out of the world.
A place where life is lived, and feelings are not just denigrated commodities — where humans are home, and not just farmed manpower for the gaudy, Sci-Fi fakers.
The bright orange kaki — Halloween surprise.
I’m nature’s son.
(Lou Reed might correctly chime in: “And I’m the only one”)
Red dragonflies congregate in zoomy, cheerful patterns above my head as I ride, Gomadō mountain sits quiet in the lofty distance.
On the way back home, legs getting tired and tailbone sore from the seat. Ink black crows comb the golden grass of a former rice field. Now sullen and muted, but full of
presence.
The lonely drone of a truck on the road rattles me:
Soon it will be winter. The abandoned, slate gray, empty-ramen-shop Sundays of desolate Niigata highways, stretching from nowhere to more nowhere endlessly — abject comfort, dismal confusion. Icy-cold rain blasting sideways under meaningless clouds. It’s all coming soon.
Though, through all these things, somehow, my loneliness is eased.
Not even the psychos can escape this depression. Not even Jesus could force the fig tree. And nature’s more than just rain and leaves, it seems to me. But nothing less.
For now though, the sun shines, and autumn is grand. And it’s time to drink my cold green tea. I saw a man in a farmhouse window on my ride home, face bathed in the half setting-sunlight, sitting seiza in traditional clothing, lifting his small porcelain cup of hot tea to his lips. At least I think it was tea.
Could have been coffee. All the same, he was beautiful.
Nite Owl Works - "AT&Love" Promotional Video
My band's first PV. Hope you dig it.
https://odysee.com/@AlternativeJapan:a/AT-Love:8
prayer
god, if you're out there...
i don't wanna play a rigged game
that's why I'm still broke
If one flew over the Cuckoo's nest,
maybe i can be next.
They poisoned me. That is true.
but what will blaming them get me?
The main thing is survival:
The most sacred urge.
(Sea lion)
I could shake all men's hands
should they be men.
And -- sit around the blazing (love) campfire heat even with thieves like me
Should their regret for not taking more from the
true robbers
eat them alive.
(Sea-lah). Fuck that Jewish cult shit. (I mean Sea Lion-ism)
But what we "stole" we always deserved
all Gods be damned --
It's no shame poison. Just a seeing that I'm in the boat. Happy(?) it ain't sunk. But also more than "willing" to swim for the shore and rip your face off should you hate life and prefer delusion!
You see? Now we're alive.
The lust for calm women.
The love of a sunset.
I'm the pagan my mother warned me about:
Harmless and effervescent.
But I calculate to survive
so don't let me toot my own horn too much
I used to swim universes
But now I'm stuck
Just an excuse
for something that could have mattered.
And yet --
Here I am in meat and bones
Crazy and alone
I love you all so fucking much.
The fragrant osmanthus sings its perfume song
to my nostrils
and I shut the fuck up
But
I will defend my tired little body
and the precious gems I've been gifted
all your Gods be forever damned to hell
I'm already there.
September LIVE! Highlights: Mimi Smith, Nite Owl Works, GS and Friends
Hey hey! I hope you'll enjoy this video of AlternativeJapan's September LIVE! events!
9.26.23 - **Mimi Smith** - Jazz LIVE @ Monza, Sanjō, Niigata
9.16.23 - **Nite Owl Works** - LIVE @ G's Longboard, Sekiya Beach, Niigata
9.30.23 - **GS and Friends** - LIVE @ International Barcode, Furumachi, Niigata
(EDIT: Once again Read will not let me post links. Highly annoying as usual but we press on (can someone fix this shit?). Find the vid on Odysee at the AlternativeJapan channel!)
Sláinte! to a great October all!
New Year's Eve, 2005
**New Year’s Eve, 2005**
The cold Chicago buildings
On New Year’s Eve.
Climbing the cold metal rungs of the ladder,
on the roof of the complex.
Lake Michigan just in the distance.
Sears Tower Sparkling —
the alcohol buzz now coming in strong.
All we could do was see.
I couldn’t talk.
I just sounded like a fool.
I couldn’t hear.
The things they said were too stupid.
But we all knew:
Goddamn, my friends, this is beautiful.
I’d proceed to smoke with my best pal’s cousin on the fire escape
and try to explain the shapes of feelings.
He just laughed at me,
but always had a warm heart, so the laughs made me laugh too.
And then, at the bar that night:
I was too stoned to do anything else.
so I sat at the food tray,
and munched on cheeses and sliced meats endlessly.
That same cousin laughing his ass off when he saw.
The munchies!
There was an angel there. Six feet tall.
She put her arms on my shoulders, and I slurred:
YOU’RE REALLY TALL.
She smiled, and with an angelic smirk, looking me right in the eyes:
YOU’RE REALLY SHORT.
God, I loved that.
New Studio Single Available Exclusively to BCH'rs for Now
In support of our recording process, and to share a little of what we are doing, my band Nite Owl Works is releasing our new single exclusively via private link (see player below) for two more days.
If you like what you hear, please tip some BCH to support our endeavor! Cheers!
If you would like to own the single as a lossless audio file, with album artwork, message me at AlternativeJapan.me
https://soundcloud.com/nite-owl-works/sets/at-love-single/s-Brif4W2NxJ6?si=41b862c26a6d4beba30eda058c6330fd&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Shoegaze Summer in Review
Summer flew by. Big moments. Small moments. Struggles. Progress on the musical front. The rice is being harvested now and that blows my mind. I was gifted this legendary shoegaze album by Ride recently (pictured directly below), and I figure that's a fitting end. On to the fall. Here are some photos to attempt the impossible feat of summing up the summer. Thanks for joining me, and I hope your summer was full of progress and revelations as well. God bless and here comes autumn...
Mata ne.
Nite Owl Works: Recording Is Under Way!
Just hit the studio this week for the first session to begin work on the upcoming album I've had in my sights for months now (actually decades). I decided to take resolute action toward this goal back in March of this year.
It will likely be slow-going for a variety of reasons, but nonetheless, we are making progress. Here's a few pics from Studio South, a Saitama studio with an owner and engineer who truly put in a next-level effort and knowledge base, inquiring about lyrics, guitar tone, feelings in a song, the sounds the artists want to capture, etc. As an example, I was asked about a song we recorded: "What's the color of the girl in your song? What color represents her?" — and the EQ on the vocals was somehow adjusted accordingly.
May sound like hocus pocus, but once I heard, somehow I understood. Then it was explained to me how and why the EQ was adjusted. Anyhow. Here ya go. A few pictures!
l Live at Night (the lucky ones)
I live at night
under the influence
of stars, dreams and thoughts
no one knows
Her lips were blue on Mt. Fuji
and she said this is close enough to the summit
ready to fall asleep (and die if we didn't get her to continue)
Five women, and me
Climbing Fuji in the rain
We made it
And a man at the top was trying to take a
Sunrise picture
But all the camera caught was fog
I had to laugh
I remember when the air got thin
before the rain
someone made an unfunny joke (maybe it was me)
but we howled like animals
our brains so starved for air
I felt a trepidation up there, and a wonder
like something else
and felt in my bones
why ancient morons thought God lived on mountains
The answer is
When you climb Mt. Fuji
never plan for the real thing
Only bring a bag of sandwich wrappers
and a 1/4 bottle of water
If you can survive that
and get back to the Tokyo cushion
Well, maybe you are a god?
That's what life is like.
If you're one of the lucky ones.
*Cover image:* ***I hiked 8 hours at night under non stop rain for this: the majestic sunrise at the top of Mt Fuji. : r/ShittyEarthPorn***
3 Miles at 2 a.m. — Glittering Stars, Ambient Tunes
I've been binge drinking in moderation. If there is such a thing.
Drinking almost every night for the past two weeks to be able to fall asleep, numb the sting, relax some sore muscles, ease health issues — mute the rage. And largely, to laugh, enjoy music and comedy videos— finally able to forget a second about the teeth-bared wolves at the door. Always circling my perimeter demanding new payments for this or that "tax" or surcharge.
But I just couldn't tonight. I tried to do nothing and it felt more painful then going running. Which is pretty much always a better high — it just takes more work.
Working nights sucks. But goddamnit. I have things to do. Namely, running the Niigata City Marathon in October. Gonna take a little more than ciggies and whisky highballs to get me ready. No offense, ciggies and whisky highballs. You have your place and I love you, too. After finishing 3 miles at a better pace than I thought I would, I did allow myself to sip on an Autumn-themed Kirin tallboy from the convenience store.
It was alright. Nice and sweet like the smell of the wet, red, brown, and yellow leaves that will soon be decaying with that damp cinnamon/dirt aroma on the running path. But still nothing really special all told. Autumn beers in August. Everything is going too fucking fast. But at least August gives us some killer stars for all the ridiculous heat, and to help us say goodbye to the passing summer.
Anyhow, here are some ambient tracks that fit the night run very well. I hope you'll check them out and enjoy listening.
mata ne.
Orion Over the Echigo Plain
Pariah Carey
That’s a band I wanna start
Also the Kansas City Faggots
Blazing Saddles one-liner rock
Hot and humid and disgusting
Even in the wee hours tonight
Life isn’t easy
If you actually believe in the Golden Rule
They talk it up a lot, but live by violence
If you play by the rules, you lose
If you cheat, you lose
If you tie the noose, you lose
So where is there to go?
A wink at the sky, knowing love is still the best
And a whisky highball
That’s all I can think of
I swear to god it is.
End of Summer
Typhoon clouds, no rain
It’s more lonely than lonely:
Misunderstanding
Old friends gone quiet
Nothing but dreams in my chest
Dust of passing years
Like a lightning flash
Summer ends before it starts
May’s big visions now void
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
The typhoon clouds will break
And the stultifying heat — the horrific fever dreams — will end
Weary rain on the outskirts, and wild rain on the sea, usher in the fall,
But just for now:
After 2 a.m.
Under Perseid diamonds
I walk rice field roads
Clear skies and Orion watch me
Shocking marble moon
Rice dancing like cultists in the breezy dark:
The innocence of solitude.
I almost don’t care if I missed it all.
When all this treasure is mine.
But maybe I can cash out in some other world.
I don’t know.
***
*(image: Florian Pircher)*
Once again I cannot post links. This is really becoming a drag.
Have another post I'd like to share, but it is a video so I can't share it. My friend and I just did our original, DIY running event once again, down some stunning Sea of Japan coastline called the Sasagawa Nagare. Please head over to AlternativeJapan on Odysee to check it out if interested.
Cheers.
Sumida Sun
The mad heat of summer
Sumida Sun
The burning blue sky of a Tokyo summer
I find a ramen shop with extra thin noodles
The owner and I can't decide on English or Japanese
but he's cordial and kind — I say the noodles are great
The burning skin on my sunburnt shaved head
from Niigata beaches with too much beer
tourists now flood the streets of Asakusa
after the big disease scam
Running Blog 08: Superchunk in the Rain / 雨でスーパーチャンク
Rainy season just won't end this year. But at least there's bands like Superchunk to help power through it.
1994's "Foolish" is a wonderful album. I recommend.
今年の梅雨まだ終わってない、海の日の後なのに。しょうがない。Superchunkの「Foolish」でなんとなく元気出す。とてもいいアルナムですね。オススメします。
また！
Heat, Swing, Bluegrass and Booze: Niigata Jazz Street 2023
Niigata, Japan's Duke Ellington Memorial jazz festival, known as Niigata Jazz Street, is two days of citywide jazz, folk, and bluegrass, and a day pass only costs ¥2,000, or about 15 bucks USD, and will get you into any venue in the city. I've been before, but this year I did it with unprecedented focus and attention. I ate it alive. I also drank it alive — most of the whisky sodas in the city! Maybe a *slight* exaggeration...
*(Edit: I have a video of jazz fest highlights I was going to post right here, posted on Odysee, and the channel is AlternativeJapan. Once again I mysteriously am not allowed to post links on Read, though it allowed me to for a short while. I hope you'll check it out!)*
Along the way I saw some world-class jazz acts from Tokyo and Niigata, hung out with a really good pal, felt like I was going to pass out from heat and dehydration, ate the best fish and chips I've had in my life, got to meet many uber-talented players, got autographs, shouted too loud at the bluegrass show, had *my own* music played at a Japanese indie music guru's bar, and then ended up singing karaoke with my family at another friend's bar in the city. I'm still recovering and wondering if next time I should take it a bit easier — but I'm not sure I will.
じゃあ、また！
Summer Hills, Sonic Youth
Hot as a sauna, but still... Nobody out in the shiny-happening NOW summer streets??? What a fucking waste!
Running Blog 07: Three Ambient Runs / アンビエント音楽でラン
If you enjoy the outdoors and running, doing so with a nice ambient soundtrack can really take you to another planet — a "something else" experience.
ランニングや自然が好きなら、アンビエント音楽を聴きながらランニングしてやってみた方がいいよ。それで、他の世界行けるようになります。
Ambient music can enhance the runner's high, the feeling of nature around you, and also the sheer loneliness and pain of distance running outdoors that some runners come to embrace as part of the challenge, and a metaphor for overcoming obstacles in life.
アンビエント音楽と自然はとてもいいコンビですね。いるランナーさんは、アンビエント音楽の寂しさも好きですよ。自然とアンビエント音楽でランニングするの美しさ、苦しさ、寂しさは、本当の生活の難しい所に勝つパワーゲット出来ると思います。
Here are some photos from my last three runs, and a photo recommendation of three solid ambient tunes.
それでは、最近のランの写真とアンビエント音楽オススメ：
The cherry blossoms of spring are now long gone, and the July trees are pure green.
春の桜は昔のメモリーになっちゃった。今の状態は、緑ばっか。
Rainy season has not yet abated, but the scenes are beautiful, and rainy-day runs are necessary for happiness.
まだ梅雨ですね、日本では。それでも、梅雨は美しい。ちなみに、元気を出す為に雨が降る日にランする事はとても大切です！
Be sure to check out these ambient joints. Fucking wonderful stuff.
上のアンビエント曲聴いて見て下さい！素敵な曲だよ！
またっ！
Haiku Contest — Win BitCats Heroes NFT #939!
Hello AlternativeJapan readers, I'm giving away one Bitcoin Cash BitCats Heroes NFT (one with a pretty good rarity score and who looks quite like a hipster) for the best haiku submission in the comments.
Here's the breakdown:
Submit only one *haiku* (5-7-5 syllable/*ōn* pattern) or *tanka* (5-7-5-7-7) in the comments in English or Japanese.
Haiku will be judged by an unnamed group of three judges in a completely subjective manner, however things that will be considered are: structure, flow, feeling, mention of nature, and originality. Haiku will be checked for plagiarism!
Here's an English-translated haiku by Japanese poet Bashō, as an example:
Please note: in the above example, the Japanese follows the 5-7-5 pattern, but the English translation does not. All submissions — whether English or Japanese — must follow the 5-7-5 pattern, or the *tanka* pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 as exemplified here by Zen "anti-poet" Ryōkan:
Again, this example is a Japanese example. Where the Japanese sounds follow the *tanka* pattern of 5-7-5-7-7.
However, here is an English example that follows the haiku pattern:
***smell of fresh green leaves*** **(5)**
***mountain stream makes me forget*** **(7)**
***the cancerous world*** **(5)**
One final note is that traditional haiku contain a *kigo,* which is a word that places the poem in a particular season, and a *kireji* or "cutting word" or break, that provides a dramatic pause or striking juxtaposition. For example:
***Ah, tranquility!***
***Penetrating even rock,***
***A cicada’s voice.***
I took liberty in translating this one, above, by Bashō, but we see the *kigo* in the mention of cicada, which places us in the summer, and the *kireji* between "rock" and "a cicada's voice," as we wait for what could possibly pierce through rock, and are shocked it is something as gentle as a cicada's humming. This juxtaposition truly drives home how tranquil and calm the lazy summer scene is. Your haiku does not need to have these two elements of *kigo* and *kireji*, necessarily, but their consideration might point you in the right direction!
That's it! The winner will be announced next week on July 14th, and will need to download a CashTokens compatible wallet (such as Paytaca) to receive the NFT. If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Good luck and have fun scribbling down some haiku!
And, if you get pissed off trying to smash everything into a set format, just remember: this is a silly little contest and you could just say screw it and write a book of brilliant American haiku like Jack Kerouac instead.
Observations from Nagoya: Dirty, Sexy, Colorful, Punk Rock Flavor
Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a slice of "somewhere else" in the land of the rising sun, for someone coming from the vast rice plains, sprawling mountains and seaside, and often boring social circles of Niigata Prefecture. For Japan, Nagoya is unusually dirty, sexy, and colorful. More like an American city — in a good way. Let me explain.
First of all, general fashion sense and demeanor. For those that don't know, outside of hostess bars and maid cafes, etc., girls don't really "show skin" in this country as they do in the West — especially in Niigata — and tend to dress very modestly. Skirts can be very short, but showing one's upper body for females is somewhat taboo. All this is fine, and a personal choice, of course, but in Nagoya, I saw several "unheard of" exposed bellies, cleavage, and other just generally relaxed and liberal and fun styles. Men and women had colored hair — blues, reds, greens, bleach blondes — and could be found hanging out in parks and sitting on curbs, which is also unusual to a certain degree.
When I went for my morning run at 5:30am, I came across a group of dudes still up from a drinking session the night before, by the famous TV tower in Nagoya's central park, and two girls — one of whom was passed out on the giant concrete block at the bottom of the tower itself — strung out and reeling from the events of the night before, which was also a weeknight. It's quite normal in Tokyo to see a salary man laying unconscious on the sidewalk, briefcase in hand and surrounded by cigarette butts and the various paper flotsam (and sometimes puke) from the night before, but not women.
As for the cityscape itself, compared to other parts of Japan I was surprised to see how dirty Nagoya is. It's pretty normal for garbage to be all over the streets in America, but not at all in Japan. The streets practically sparkle in most cities, and look so clean you could eat off of them. People in Nagoya didn't seem to give a shit, though, and there was litter all over. Normally I don't like this, of course, but after living in pure, pristine Niigata for so long, where people's personalities can often seem as sanitized, uneventful, and colorless as the streets, I found myself actually reveling a bit in the "lived in" look of Nagoya. The colors and sights and sounds and smells really "popped" everywhere. There was real flavor.
I ran from our hotel out to Nagoya castle on the final morning of our stay, taking in the views of the city. My family and I were in town to visit the famous Legoland Japan theme park, which was a blast! Anyway, the juxtaposition of the castle with the modern, vast cityscape/construction scenes so characteristic of this and the Kansai region, was quite fucking beautiful and striking.
Finally, I'll need to address Nagoya's most famous food — *miso katsu*. *Miso katsu* is a fried pork cutlet (*katsu*) smothered in a kind of sweet, savory sauce which is made with *miso*, the fermented soybean paste famously used in miso soup. My fam and I went to the most famous Nagoya miso katsu chain, called "Yabaton." But! If you are going to Nagoya, be warned: "Old Yabaton" (the original store) and the "main Yabaton" — though the same chain at top — are completely different restaurants! Old Yabaton is the king, with wonderful staff, delightful skewered miso katsu, and the perfect miso sauce. The main store is a tourist trap with shitty service, over-salty sauce, and no love put into the food. It is nothing like *Mukashi no Yabaton* (Old Yabaton).
Though you can only get the skewered version of miso katsu at Old Yabaton, it beats the hell out of the main store's larger cutlet by a mile. Don't waste your time on the tourist trap! Go to the old Yabaton.
Well, I suppose that is about it. I am back in boring Niigata now, which I still love, but am dreaming of that bright Nagoya sun and all the punk rock flavor. I felt alive again and less stress for a couple days. Hmmm. Maybe I'll end up down there someday. Who knows.
From me and the humming cicadas in the park...
また！
Running Blog 06: Musical Catharsis, Rainy Season Run / 音楽でカタルシス、梅雨
The past week has been challenging to say the least.
今週は苦しかったです。
I made an ill-advised financial deal, got sick, and was stressing pretty much 24/7 about mere survival and life in this rigged economy paradigm.
お金の問題起きた。病気になった。毎日、一日中で、お腹が痛くなるまでに困っていた。この世の茶番経済は本当に人々に苦しいですね。
Finally, I forced myself to run — to this gem of an album:
それでも、やっとランニングした、この素晴らしいアルバムを聴きながら：
All the way through this thing is a winner. From the comedic spoken intro, the blazing guitars and lyrical power of "Nitro," to the the cathartic mid-song screamed expletive release of "Bad Habit," and all the way to the plea for reason and truth of "It'll Be a Long Time."Sadly the band has since — intentionally or otherwise —sold out to the nth degree for the lies and the very people they were singing out against on this album. The irony is impossible to overstate, really. Still. This album is a gem.
最初から最後までこのアルバムは素晴らしいです。面白いイントロと「Nitro」のやばいエネルギーと「Bad Habit」のカタルシスから、「It'll Be a Long Time」の深い歌詞まで、このスマッシュって言うアルバムはパンクのマスターピースですよ。悲しい事けど、このバンドは最近パンクスピリットをやめて、政治的な嘘着く、コロナ茶番に信じてるダサいおじさんたちに変化していた。
In other news, the fabulous French band Phoenix have just released a new single with Beck:
他のニュースでは、僕が好きなPhoenixは、Beckと一緒に新しいシングルリリースをしました！
That was my run from the other day in the humidity and sun. Yesterday, it was typical rainy season weather, beautiful, beautiful greens and slate grays. I ran without music and finally with a little bit less stress.
それは前のランでした。その時太陽が光って蒸し暑いでした。昨日のランはちょうど日本梅雨っぽくて、天気がとても美しいでした。緑と深いグレー景色は素晴らしかった。
またね。
Original Music for Sale in BCH! Listen Here for Free :)
Well, my short EP of three home-recorded demos, "Magic Beach EP," arrived in the mail right on the Summer Solstice. I only ordered ten copies to start with, as I am hitting a more professional music studio in August, and need to start small and go little-by-little.
We've booked a beach house in August for a live show, too! Will be utilizing my two new Japanese friends "Ketchup & Mustard" (pictured just below) for that show.
However, I need to raise money for studio fees, and as such, am selling digital copies of the demo EP (complete with artwork and lyrics) for BCH, to anyone who wants to buy them. You can listen first, here:
https://soundcloud.com/nite-owl-works
To buy the EP for $5 in BCH, just email me at alternativejapan@proton.me. I'll provide a payment address and then send the audio files and also the album art pictured in this post. If you want the physical album, I can do that too, but it will have to include shipping prices from Japan.
Cheers, and thanks for your support.
4 Miles, 4 Torii, and One Tanuki — Run to the Fox Shrine
Ran four miles out to a neat shrine on a college campus today.
The last stretch was a hill heading into the small mountains by my house, and boy did it take it outta me! Felt good.
The shrine has four torii gates leading to the main building, presided over by fox messengers serving the Shintō god of grain and commerce known as *Inari Ōkami*, as I understand it.
I enjoyed catching my breath there, visiting the shrine and saying a short prayer (though I don't identify really as "religious" at all, or an official Shintō-ist!), and taking some photos.
Best part of the day: Leaving the shrine, kids in a massive lecture hall on the upper floor were looking out at me through the big picture windows. Most were masked, ridiculously, and looking bored as hell. I felt bad for them, and I also felt a big feeling of love, with the runner's high amplifying it even more. I waved at a girl looking at me in the very back of the lecture hall, and she and the whole group around her waved back at me (in slight disbelief a foreign stranger would wave at them!). It is rare in this country for strangers to do such things. Gave 'em a big ol'smile after that too (rare for me to do with strangers!) and walked on.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Oh yeah! I also came across a *Tanuki* — or Japanese raccoon dog — in the woods! Super Mario Bros. 3 fans will know!
Mata!
Summer Solstice Spearfishing / 夏至のスピア・フィッシング
I couldn't sleep the night before the summer solstice. I gave up trying, and just went straight to the beach as I was planning to — but much earlier than I thought I would.
夏至の前の夜は全然眠れなかったです。すごく眠たかったけど、無理になったので、そのまま朝早くてビーチ へ行った。
Once I got to the sea, I could feel the stress in my body start to fade away. The excitement of diving and snorkeling, spear in hand, made me forget I hadn't slept.
海に着いたら、体内のストレスは少しずつでほとんどなくなった。逆に、ワクワクしていた。スピアと一緒にスノーケリングをするの楽しみさで、寝ていなかったの事忘れました！
I managed to spear a fish on the move in open water, without trapping it in a cove or rocks, for the first time ever. It was a great sensation!
今回は石に隠れてない魚とった。僕のスピア・フィッシングキャリアの中で初めて出来た。オープンウォーターでスピアした！超気持ちいいでした！
It was a black rockfish, also known as *mebaru* in Japanese. The fish I posted about in an earlier post I had misidentified. Those were fat greenlings, called *ainame* in Japanese. Both are very tasty, but *mebaru* has a more supple consistency, and can be used to make sashimi. This time, however, I opted to grill the three fish I brought home.
メバルでして。英語でいうと「black rockfish」を呼びます。前のアップで違う魚はメバルって呼んだけど、間違いました。前のポストの魚は鮎魚女だと思います。それでも、どっちも美味しいんですよ。どっちも美味しいけど、やっぱりメバルの方がうまい。メバルの美味しい肉で刺身も出来ます。今回お家帰ったら、フライじゃなくて魚をBBQグリルで焼いた。
It was a great day in spite of some bad news financially, and a total lack of sleep the night before. We can't ever forget that we are alive, and life is to be lived now!
素晴らしい一日でした。お金について悪いことも起きたけど、眠れまかったけど、人生は、今だ。夏至終わったら、やっとちゃんと寝ました。
また！
Sea Life / See Food / Eat Food - Japanese Seafood
Went out to the beach today for some spearfishing and took in the first two fish of the year. They were tiny, but it was good to get in some diving practice and just enjoy the sunshine, and being in that crazy, beautiful world under the water. Also found a pretty big *sazae* — much bigger than last time — and grilled it.
This past weekend I visited the mountain city of Minakami, in Gunma prefecture, and had some fantastic seafood there, too! Some of the best sushi I've ever had, as well as their own *sazae*, served en fuego with some burning salt under the shell!
The place is called "Ichika," and I highly recommend it!
Aside from the delicious seafood, it was good to take in conversation with friends, some delicious craft beer, and the panorama of the lush green mountains and rivers.
As for my own catch up here in on the Sea of Japan today, in Niigata, I came away with two small *mebaru* — or some similar type of rockfish — and the *sazae*, or "horned turban shell." It wasn't enough for a whole meal, of course, but me and my fam enjoyed talking and nibbling on the day's meager haul.
Until next time!
Slowdive Sunday Run
Ran 4 miles out to a new spot listening to a Slowdive album. Enjoyed the beat scenery, vast green carpet of lush rice fields, and shrine at golden hour.
(Shoegaze) Running Blog 05: MBV's 'Isn't Anything' Review (日本語/英語）
Ran to My Bloody Valentine's 1988 album "Isn't Anything" today. Went at a pretty good clip and had a nice average mile time.
今日は、マイ・ブラッディ・ヴァレンタインの「Isn't Anything 」を聴きながら走っていた。今日のペース私的に良かったです。
This album probably isn't as accessible to the "mainstream listener" as 1991's "Loveless," but damn are there some good songs on here. I recommend if you like shoegaze. When I first heard the opening track "Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)" after already warming up to the legendary album "Loveless," I didn't like it at all, and stopped listening. That was a mistake. Now I love it as an integral part of the full "Isn't Anything" album, but it's the other tracks that really capture me. "Lose My Breath" will put you in another world. "No More Sorry" is a beautiful, otherworldly sadness. "Cupid Come" — a fuzzy, bass-y, blast of nostalgic alternative energy, with catchy hooks and melodies. And the final track of the album, "I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)," is a nice sunset after the chaos of the day from earlier tracks. Which chaos is also wonderful and necessary to the ride.
このアルバムは、多分普通のリスナーにとって聴きにくいかも知れないが、素晴らしいですよ。シューゲイザーが好きなら、ぜひ、聴いて見て下さい！僕の場合は、「Loveless」を聴いた後で初めて聴きましたので、この「Isn't Anything」あまり好きじゃなかった、最初で。それでも、大好きになってしまった。ルーズ・マイ・ブレスって言う曲を聴くと、他のワールドに行くはずだよ。「No More Sorry」は、この世のものとも思えないの美しい悲しさ。このアルバムの最後のトラックは夕日みたいな感じがする。最初はカオスがあるけど、そのカオスも、美しい。「Cupid Come」って言う曲のジャリジャリなエネルギーとファズはとても美味しいです。「I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)」の感じは優しいメランコリーと痛恨でも、未来を見ってる希望がある感じがする。
Other tracks I recommend from today's run and walk home are:
今日のランの他のオススメトラック：
Ride - "All I Want"
Aphex Twin - "4" and "Film"
Duster - "Docking the Pod"
@AlternativeJapan
