Blood Rite Vol. 8 & The Weekend of Tinnitus

R of Legion of Andromeda

It happens frequently enough in Tokyo, but sometimes there's just a perfect storm of events that blows through town, one that sucks you up, shakes you around, and spits you out with nothing but a shit-eating grin plastered across your battered face. That storm came through town again this weekend, showering all those in its wake with blood, sweat, and beer.

Salad Days vol. 305 @ Koiwa Bushbash

Way out in Koiwa there’s a venue called Bush Bash, which is a ridiculous name, but it’s a pretty nice venue and one where I’ve seen some of my favorite live acts. It’s spacious, the drinks are cheap, they serve food, their sound system is pretty solid and it manages to be big enough to support a large crowd yet simultaneously still feel intimate.

12/19/2014: Hyper Sonic Vale Tudo 3 @ Okubo Earthdom

For personal reasons, the line-up on this one was kind of out there. Hitting shows in general is pretty much a must-do, as its the best way to maintain relationships and get things done (a quasi-lamentable fact that I'll address in a subsequent post), so to that end this show had the potential to be just as good as any.

Bloody Ears 'n' Beer with Zothique

The Tokyo band Zothique was first described to me as “psychedelic/sludge/doom/noise nightmare music”, which gave me pause since I was asked to interview them and could not for the life of me imagine what kind of sounds those words described. The first three descriptors I could maybe manage, but given my ignorance of and distaste for noise music in general, I accepted the assignment with reservations.