Category Archives: World

by

He Said – She Said Special Cross Cultural Edition – Typically English – Typically Japanese ! ! !

If he chooses a track about octopus's . . I will kill him ! ! !

If he chooses a track about octopuses . . I will kill him ! ! !

sakura 1Welcome to the special Cross Cultural Edition of He Said – She Said ! ! !  This time we decided to show what we think is typical of the music from each other’s counties ! ! !  So I will be picking typically English tracks and Mr P will be picking typically Japanese tracks ! ! !

We think it will be fun and hope you like the post ! ! !

Mr P-1This time we have chosen to visit each other’s musical heritage in a fantastic cross cultural exchange type of a thing. I think it’s interesting to see how others see us, through the medium of music. We have chosen one contemporary  track, one oldie and one traditional.  We hope you enjoy the tracks.

Continue reading →

by

Will you do the Fandango? Or I bet you never thought you could dance to Harpsichord music…

soler_stamp

Just thought I’d put up a brief post highlighting a favourite piece of music of mine that has been rattling around my head recently; Antonio Soler’s Fandango.

Antonio Soler is regarded as a key figure in Spanish classical music, often regarded as the only composer who worked to keep Spanish cultural traditions alive in music during the 18th Century, when most of the world was in thrall to the sounds emanating from Italy. He was born in Girona (Catalonia) in 1729 and received his musical education at the beautiful  Monastery of Monsterrat before becoming a monk at the Monastry at El Escorial near Madrid. He was a prodigious composer of keyboard music, writing no less than 120 keyboard sonatas – but it is his famous Fandango  that I want to draw attention to.

Continue reading →

by

He Said – She Said ~ The Dark Side

Mr P . . . It is Getting dark . .

“Mr P . . . It is getting dark . . “
“Don’t worry Ms S . . .There is no night that never ends and no rain that never stops”

avatar181154_2She Says:

Welcome to The Dark Side ! ! ! This week we will look at a short selection of tracks that reflect the obsession with the darker side of life that many Japanese groups and musicians have. We will only have four tracks  this week, but it is an all video post as we wanted show  the visual elements prominently.  We hope you enjoy it . .  . but this could get scary ! ! !

100x80-soikeHe Says:

Remember, Grasshopper, to have light you must have the dark too ! Here are some songs that reflect the darker underbelly of the Japanese music scene. I find them interesting, if, at times, somewhat challenging. As always with Japan they are certainly well produced !
The children of the night ! What music they make….bwaaa haaa haaaa…….

Continue reading →

by

Sakura’s J-pop Corner – Bonus Track Treasures

What are Scandal hiding in The Bonus Track Section ? ? ?

What are Scandal hiding in The Bonus Track Section ? ? ?

When I buy a single or Album or DVD, one of the first things I look at are the bonus tracks.  Bonus tracks are always a little of a lottery.  We usually get the predicable, instrumental version, acoustic version or a track written by the drummer for his mums birthday, but occasionally there is a real gem hidden in twilight zone at the end of the CD.

Continue reading →

by

Happy Birthday Michael Nyman!

Nyman

I happened to notice that today was the 69th birthday of the contemporary British composer Michael Nyman, so I thought I would take the opportunity to pay a small tribute to the great man and draw attention to a few of my favourite pieces of his music…. Continue reading →

by

Fruitiness

fruito

Hello chums. A few slices of tasty fruit related tunes that don’t seem to be on Youtube for you.
They are as follows

Belly Button- Peach Pie
Naughty Abbie- Princess Pupule has plenty Papaya
Tink Tink- Lemon no kakera
Yanawaraba- Ichigo ichie
Masako-san- Punk quince
Masako-San- My fruit yoghurt
Kegawa no Maries- Honey apple
Teeny Frahoop- Banana juice
Vanilla Beans- Very very blueberry
Sheena and the Rokkets Lemon tea.
Shonen Knife – P.Y.O.
Yui- C.H.E.R.R.Y.
Petty Booka- Pineapple Princess
Karne- Orange Marmalade
Rebecca Pan- Yellow Cherries
Schoolgirl 69 – Orange Rider

by

He Said – She Said ~ Singer Songwriters – Not Just A Girl And A Guitar ! ! !

spike-spiegel-and-faye-valentine-cowboy-bebop-16829-1920x1080

These girls are not just a girl and a guitar Ms S ! ! !
Mr P ! ! ! They are not just anything ! ! !

avatar181154_2

She Says:

Now is a really great time in Japan for singer songwriters.  They are working in a really great variety of styles and genres and in this post we want to introduce you to some of the girls who are making great music and writing fantastic songs.  We think you will enjoy them –  they are all much more than just a girl and guitar ! ! !

100x80 soike

He Says:

I think that we in the West sometimes get the impression that Oriental women are somewhat downtrodden and subservient. Whilst there may be an element of truth there I think things are changing in the East and women are becoming more prominent in the world of business, media , teaching etc. Especially notable is the number of Japanese music artistes who are not only performing, as they did in the past, but also writing their own material. Here are a few of our favourites. We hope you enjoy them.

Continue reading →

by

Sakura’s – J-Pop Corner – Free the AKB 48 ! ! !

Free The AKB 48 ! ! !

Free The AKB 48 ! ! !

J-pop has been in the news recently and for all the wrong reasons ! ! !  Minami Minegishi one of the founding members of the group was photographed leaving the house of her boyfriend and has made a public apology and as a symbol of her regret she has shaved her head.

Continue reading →

by

Filthy, Dirty RResults

“The band broke up because I couldn’t bear Rotten anymore because he was an embarrassment with his silly hats and his, like, shabby, dirty, nasty looking appearance”.
Sid Vicious
fuzzy-duck
I asked for filthy, dirty songs…..The interpretation being up to you.

It was an interesting experiment – the starting blocks slipped the rude and lewd songs out – then other forms of dirt piled up in the nominations playlist. Some were too close to home (terminal illness) and other momentarily not appealing (I’m in a house with vomiting children).
Others were ‘just‘ about sex and didn’t feel dirty at all – they obviously weren’t doing it right… I still picked some of these tunes trying to create an interesting playlist as I went.
Continue reading →

by

He Said ~ She Said ~Super Romantic Special Edition ! ! ! ~ ♥ Our Songs ♥ 

cover

“Miss S ~ they are playing our song”
” Shall we dance Mr P ? ? ?”

sakura 1She Says:

In this special our songs edition of He Said – She Said we wanted to share the tracks that are special to us because they remind us of each other.  we had a lot of fun with this post and we hope you will enjoy it also.  I think there are some interesting and surprising tracks  in this edition ! ! !

Mr P-1He Says

I have been told to say that this was my idea. I completely agree with everything Sakura has said here and there were no threats of violence used at all to get me to write this piece. Everything is fine, the hostages have been released and the bruising has gone down, so there’s nothing to worry about, obviously. So here are some songs that make me think of Sakura.  I’ve left out “Please don’t hit me” and “Can I go home now ?” on legal advice…..

Continue reading →

by

He Said – She Said ~ We Love – Goose House ! ! !

Goose House

She Says:  

Are Goose House a group  or a musicians collective?  We do not really know and actually we do not care because Goose House are FUN ! ! !  In this special edition of He Said – She Said we want to share our enthusiasm for this wonderful group of young musicians who have taken a very different path to success and on the way have had a lot of fun and shared the fun with many thousands of people.

He Says:

A little bit difficult for me to write about this band as I only came across them a few weeks ago in relation to the Yui tribute album ( see Sakura’s previous post). However I’ve been playing their songs and videos and find them very enjoyable. This post, I think, illustrates two things about the Japanese music scene at the moment.
1. There’s still room for “bedroom” musicians.
2. It’s pretty much self contained. Goose House could cover “Teen Spirit” or other Western rock songs but they choose J-pop instead. They don’t need us.

Continue reading →

by

HyunA – The Ultimate K-Pop Diva ! ! !

K-pop Mega Star Hyuna

Oh Dear ! ! !  The Guardian has discovered K-pop  ! ! !

This week there are two articles about it over on on the Mothership ! ! !  Of course one is about learning the Gangham Style dance and the other is about Girls Generation.  The Guardian  seem to think Girls Generation will be able to break into the western market, and as usual they have gone for the K-pop Lite option.  But actually if a K-pop artist will make it long term in west, it will probably be HyunA.

She is smart, funny, sexy, fluent in English and Japanese a great singer and dancer and a charismatic live performer.

You will all hate her ! ! !

Continue reading →

by

He Said – She Said . . . It’s The J-Factor ! ! ! 

What do we do with the winners Mr P?
Exploit them ruthlessly like everyone else Ms S ! ! !

She Says:

Welcome to the J- factor ! ! !  This post is based on a popular TV series which maybe some of you have seen.  Basically we have three categories.  Solo, Group and Oldie. I will nominate one track for each category and Mr P will nominate one for each category and then you will have the chance to vote for your favourite.  We hope you have fun listening to the tracks and voting for your favourites ! ! !

He Says:

Call me S*mon C**ell and pass me a pair of high waisted trousers. It’s time for a head to head J-Factor contsest. The rules are clear ( vote for me) and the gloves are off !

Continue reading →

by

Mystery Beats

Mired knee deep in the televisual episodic meth cooking swamp, a tune sprang forth that got to me. Got to me because it sounds so familiar, but I’m damned if I can give it any context – is the the flow, the rhyme scheme, the riddim? Is it just a throwback to some golden age rap track that’s somewhere in my subconscious? I hadn’t heard of Ana Tijoux or her Chilean Hip-Hop til today, so I’m throwing it open to the expert hive-mind of The ‘Spill for help, please. Killer tune though, with the rolling of the rs and the rolling of the snare.

by

The Ritz, Putting On Africa Express

The special train carrying musicians around Britain pulled into Victoria Station yesterday and they put a show on at The Ritz for us Mancs. It was pretty darned good.

 

The idea was obviously cribbed from a certain Canadian tour of 1970 but that was definitely a good thing, as everyone on stage seemed to be having a ball and, at times, they were simply carrying on a jam that had kicked off earlier on the rail tracks.

I’d guess that around 40 musicians and singers played some part during the 4 hour gig, in pre-formed groups or simply joining in with mates. No set-up played more than two songs (and often only one) before different people took a turn. This meant that about 40% of the concert was re-jigging instruments and mikes but there was still a helluva lot of great music (and the genial behaviour of the large, bald, chief roadie made the changes quite amusing). Continue reading →

by

Pájaro – Santa Leone (A lazy, lazy recommendation).

Was down at Quique’s the other day. He said why not check out this guy, Pájaro, he’s brought an album called Santa Leone out and it’s meant to be dead good. I did and it is. I’m really enjoying listening to it. Pájaro is a long time member of the rock, blues and general good time music scene in Seville who’s finally made a record of his own. World weary blues, Morricone tributes, Flamenco tinged surf music (is that possible?) and music that sounds like it was a lot of fun to make. Here’s a link to the bandcamp page. Listen, enjoy, praise or diss in the comments if that is your wont. Sorry not to write a review and so on but it’s the beginning of the academic year and I’m rushed off my feet. I just wanted to share it with you.

by

He Said – She Said – Our Current Favourites ! ! !

Read this post or we shoot the puppy ! ! !

She Says:

We wanted to make a post to share some of the tracks we are listening to just now.  Of course when it is Mr P and I, you know there will some surprises and also some artists  you can probably predict.  We had a lot of fun writing it and we hope you enjoy the post ! ! !

He says:

This week we have chosen some of our favourite “up to the minute” ( more or less) artists to share with you. We hope these give a little taster of what we cool, trendy young folks listen to when drinking our Horlicks. I hope you enjoy them.
Continue reading →

by

He Says ~ She Says ~ Hello My Old China ! ! ! Chinese Language Music from 40′s, 50′s, 60;s and 70′s

“But Sakura ! ! ! Why I do I have to wear the ears?”

She Says:

This week we are moving in a new area for me.  We are going to share some tracks from an interesting period in Asian popular music.   I think that the Chinese are a maybe a  little like the Italians of Asia.  They tend to talk  a lot, are very funny, and are very romantic and nostalgic and this is reflected in their popular music.  The 1940 – 1980 period saw a huge change for Chinese speaking peoples.  The war and revolution in China lead to the establishment  PRC of course  but also Taiwan became an independant country and Hong Kong, as the last colony in Chinese territory grew into a wealthy centre for trade and finance for the whole of Asia.  Chinese language music was now developing in three very different environments, but some how there seems to be thread holding it together.

He Says:

China. Still, in some ways, a land of mystery to us in the West. So big, so many people. How on earth can you get your head round somewhere so vast, so different, so ancient ? We’d like to introduce you to some Chinese tunes this week. Many of them heavily “Westernised” and , therefore, somewhat easier on the ear than traditional Chinese music. Hope you enjoy them

Continue reading →

by

The Bhundu Boys, live at Cranfield Institute of Technology, 12th June 1987

BB1

Biggie Tembo (guitar + vocal) and David Mankaba (bass)


Inspired by Shane’s revelation that he has a Shona dictionary to assist with Bhundu Boys nominations, and a reminiscent mood caused by turning 50 last month, my thoughts wander to 25 years ago this month, half my lifetime, when I was Students’ Union President at the Cranfield Institute of Technology. Where the *#~* is Cranfield ?!? may well be your first thought.

Well, it’s between Bedford and Milton Keynes, near junction 14 of the M1. It was an airfield, then an aeronautical institute, then a university proudly calling itself an Institute of Technology, and since I was there has given in and calls itself a University. The Students’ Union was a small group of us trying to promote social life and student welfare on an isolated campus dedicated to profitable selling of technology and learning.

Rise Kagona


My predecessor had revived, surprisingly and successfully, the tradition of the Graduation Ball, and we were not a team to shirk a challenge. We had no hesitation in dedicating ourselves to seeking out the best music and comedy we could afford. Continue reading →

by

He Said She Said – Music From The Capital Of Cool – Shibuya Kei

Mr P – Are you sure we are cool enough for Shibuya ? ? ?

She Says:

Tokyo, like all cities has many neighbourhoods and  each has it’s own style and character.  Of all the neighbourhoods in this vast and crazy city Shibuya is . . . .  well Shibuya.  It is young, hip, loud, crowded, bright, fun and high energy.  There is nowhere else like it and you either love it or hate it.   Shibuya is  Asia’s capital of cool ! ! !   In the 1990 decade, a style of music particular to this neighbourhood began to develop which took a different and unique direction from the music in the rest of Tokyo and Japan.  It used European influences and styles from the 1960 decade rather than the US rock influences.  The style became known as Shibuya Kei which just means Shibuya Style.  We would like to share some of  the wide variety of music that has come from this unique neighbourhood.

He Says:

To be honest Shibuya sounds like my worst nightmare these days. Busy , noisy full of life and neon lights. I’m more of a “sitting alone in a field” kind of a guy now. When I was younger, though, I frequented the back alleys of Soho and Oxford Circus and I think Shibuya is a bit like that area. Swinging, sophisticated, naughty. A place for the young, the young at heart and , apparently, faithful dogs ! ( eh ? Look, just google “Hackiko” O.K.) . Here then, are some sounds from “Swinging Tokyo”. Hope you like them.

Continue reading →

by

Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea – All New Podcast !

Yes, that’s right ‘Spillers, an all-new PODCAST! Long overdue, I know….but, better late than never, right? Well, don’t agree until you’ve listened to it !

It’s a very random and eclectic mix based on whatever was in my box of records at the time….and there were so many I didn’t get to that I wanted to include. They’ll have to wait until next time, I suppose.

Listen until the end for some exciting news ! Well, exciting for me, not perhaps for anyone else !

Enjoy !

by

He Said – She Said ~ The Battle Of The Sexes – Mr P and Ms S go head to head ! ! !

Make ten steps...Then turn and fire ! ! !

She Says:

I am going home for most of the month of May so this will be our last post of a while but before we take our break we are going to have a battle of the sexes.  Which one of us has the best taste in Asian Music ? ? ?  And we would like you vote for the one you like the most in the poll at the end of the post.

Whatever . . .. .

He says:

Hello ladies ( and gentlemen). We have decided this week to battle it out, musically, in a rip snortin’ “Battle of the sexes”. Who has the better taste in music ? Is it the beautiful, charming and fragrant Sakura or brutally ugly, virulent and pustulous me ? ( Correct answer is “me” , obviously, I had to make Sakura promise not to sulk when she lost. Women, eh ?). We’ve chosen three songs each that represent different aspects of the gender divide. A “fast” song, a “slow and smoochy” song and a “wild card”. Furthermore and notwithstanding you get to vote in a poll at the end to show how much better my taste is !! How cool is that ?

♪   ♫   ♪   ♪   ♫   ♪ Continue reading →

by

He Said ~ She Said – We Speak Engrish ! ! !

But Mr P ! ! ! I told you the Takushii Driba did not speak Engrish ! ! !

♪   ♫    ♪

Engrish is so lomantic ! ! !

She Says:

Japanese borrows words from everywhere ! ! ! We  have stolen words from Chinese, Portuguese and of course English and made them part of our language.  We also learn English at school, so of course we can not resit showing of our English skills in our songs.   Putting some English into a song can make it sound cool to Asian people but singing in a second language can be dangerous ! ! !  But these tracks all feature English and we really love love them.  We hope you do too !  ! !

Speak Engrish punk!!!

He Says:

Herro Evelyblody ! I found this topic a little traumatic. I’d hate anyone to think that I was being anything other than totally affectionate and supportive towards the musicians here who bravely, nay, courageously, take English words and mangle them into submission in the cause of being totally hip and cool and stuff. I suppose it’s no surprise, really, “rock” is pretty much and American/English invention. Anyway, here’s some tunes we love and hope you do to. Doomu Aligatto for listening

Continue reading →