Posts Tagged Japan
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August 18, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 82: The Soft Boys – “Underwater Moonlight”
Here’s another where I can’t really explain myself – I’m really a big fan of Robyn Hitchcock, I continue to check out his material (mostly great) and I have a few favourite albums by him. And yet the band he was in, The Soft Boys, has sat neglected – I had a compilation album and […]Archive
August 5, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 79: Japan – “Quiet Life”
I always love finding a New Favourite Album of The Year that comes from way back – this year my favourite album of 2018 not released in 2018 is – easily – Japan’s Quiet Life (released in late 1979). I have never listened to Japan. I’ve heard about the band, read about the band, thought […]Archive
July 21, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 389
Bob Dylan, Masterpieces (1978) You just know what you know – especially when there was no internet. So all I knew was that Masterpieces was a life-changer. Possibly the most important album I ever heard. It opened all the doors. In fact it blew them right off their hinges. And if it was only supposed […]Archive
February 7, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 97 Post-Punk
The early eighties in Wellington was the best place and the soundtrack for me was what I suppose you would call post punk. It was a new type of music and I loved it – Echo and XTC, Furs and the Cure, Magazine and Joy Division, Dexy’s and Only Ones, Stranglers and Members, Japan and […]Archive
December 1, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
WWE Beast In The East: DVD
Beast In The East WWE Shock Here’s one that’s for fans only, even more so than the usual case of pro-wrestling DVD up for review. You see here’s a special event – Brock Lesnar in Japan for the first time in a decade – masquerading as a PPV-event. In fact it was a network show […]Archive
May 8, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Haruki Murakami: The Strange Library
The Strange Library Haruki Murakami Knopf Originally published in Japan in 2008 here we have the first English translation of Murakami’s novella. The Strange Library has been translated from Japanese by Ted Goossen and is supported by wonderful illustrations and design of Chip Kidd, but the real magic is in this creepy, intriguing tale – […]Archive
December 9, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Win Tickets to See King Brothers In Wellington
Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 10, Japan’s King Brothers will play a stonking set at the San Fran with Auckland band, THE DHDFDS (see here for ticket details and full gig info). Should be a rowdy-good time. And for one lucky Off The Tracks reader I have one double-pass to giveaway. To be in to win just […]Archive
September 8, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Boris: Noise
Boris Noise Sargent House Noise is the ethos as the heart of Boris’ sound – noise is the focus, finding melodies within that noise, making new and old noises; Noise is Boris’ latest album, the band’s 19th! I haven’t listened to all of Boris’ albums, but I’ve heard a few. This is one of their […]Archive
August 27, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1050
Eric Clapton, Just One Night (1980) I was such a big Eric Clapton fan. Huge. And I look at records like this now – I can’t part with it, but I wonder if I could ever listen to it again. Why can’t I part with it? When I was listening to this album a lot […]Archive
August 8, 2013 by Simon Sweetman
Naoki Higashida: The Reason I Jump
The Reason I Jump: One Boy’s Voice From The Silence of Autism Naoki Higashida (translated by LA Yoshida, introduced by David Mitchell) Random House Naoki Higashida wrote this book when he was 13. It’s his meditation on his life – he suffers from autism, though to say he suffers is to play into the stereotypes […]Archive
August 1, 2013 by Simon Sweetman