Tokyo Dross

Tokyo Gigs, April 2020

Note: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, I'm not updating listings at the moment. Most of the events featured here have been cancelled or postponed.

APR 1 Gezan Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥3,500
APR 1 Warm Bodies, Sheer Mag, M.A.Z.E Bush Bash, Koiwa ¥2,500
APR 1-2 Bob Dylan Zepp DiverCity, Odaiba ¥19,000/¥25,000
APR 3 Squarepusher Studio Coast, Shinkiba ¥7,000
APR 3 Toumeirobo/Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Club Goodman, Akihabara ¥2,800
APR 4 Cornelius, Chai, Tempalay, The Band Apart, Toconoma, &c. Various venues, Shibuya ¥6,800
APR 4 Stand-Alone 404, Yoshio Otani, Fallopian Disco Force, &c. Soup, Ochiai ¥2,000
APR 4 Helms Alee, Alley, Limited Express (has gone?), &c. Bush Bash, Koiwa ¥4,000
APR 4-6 Bob Dylan Zepp DiverCity, Odaiba ¥19,000/¥25,000
APR 5 Shibusashirazu Orchestra, Zazen Boys, Tendre, &c. Various venues, Shibuya ¥6,800
APR 5 The Marcus King Band Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥7,500/¥8,500
APR 5 Helms Alee, Alley, Endon, BB Fever, Shindaita ¥4,000
APR 9 Horioka Kikaku, Minyo Crusaders, Tamtam, &c. Tsutaya O-Nest, Shibuya ¥3,500
APR 11 Geronimo, Astro, Government Alpha, &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,500
APR 11 tepPohseen, Fixed, Tentenko, Rebel One Excalibur Bush Bash, Koiwa ¥2,300
APR 11 Birushanah Soup, Ochiai ¥2,500
APR 14 DIIV Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥7,500
APR 14-15 Bob Dylan Zepp Tokyo, Odaiba ¥19,000/¥25,000
APR 16 Kindness WWW X, Shibuya ¥6,500
APR 16 The Waterboys (3-piece show) Club Quattro, Shibuya ¥8,500
APR 16 Toy, Luby Sparks Marz, Shinjuku ¥6,000
APR 17 Bob Dylan Zepp DiverCity, Odaiba ¥19,000/¥25,000
APR 17 Mac DeMarco Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya ¥6,000
APR 18 Wrench, Black Ganion, Questrakt Fever, Shindaita ¥3,000
APR 18 Mac DeMarco, Haruomi Hosono Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya ¥7,500
APR 18 Yuko Araki/Emily Dickinson Films, Painjerk, Yasunobu Suzuki, &c. Soup, Ochiai ¥1,500
APR 18 Blawan, Rok Da House Kagurane, Kagurazaka ¥3,600
APR 18 Bonobo (DJ), Jon Hopkins (DJ), &c. Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya ¥5,500
APR 19-21 Bob Dylan Zepp DiverCity, Odaiba ¥19,000/¥25,000

APR 20-21 Jane Birkin Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥18,000/¥19,000
APR 21 Ben Watt Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥7,000

APR 23 Shintaro Sakamoto Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥4,500
APR 23 Thundercat The Garden Hall, Ebisu ¥6,800
APR 24 Pet Symmetry, Kotori, Malegoat Fever, Shindaita ¥3,800
APR 23-24 Terry Riley Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥12,900/¥13,900
APR 24 Bob Dylan NHK Hall, Shibuya ¥19,000/¥25,000
APR 25 Tawings, Uri Gagarn Garage, Shimokitazawa ¥3,000
APR 25 Kazufumi Kodama, Rider Shafique/Undefined/Goth-Trad, &c. Unit, Daikanyama ¥4,000
APR 26 Takahiro Arai/U-zhaan Haremame, Daikanyama ¥3,500
APR 28 Angel Witch, Church of Misery, Abigail Unit, Daikanyama ¥8,000
APR 29 Giga Noise: Keiji Haino/Seiji/Hiko/Doravideo/&c. Club Goodman, Akihabara ¥3,000
APR 30 The Revolution Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥11,000/¥12,000

Prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise stated

Tokyo Gigs, May 2020

MAY 1 Samm Henshaw Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥6,500
MAY 1 Geinoh Yamashirogumi: Akira Live Nakano Zero Hall ¥4,000-¥7,000
MAY 1 Sumac, Baptists, Endon Tsutaya O-West, Shibuya ¥6,500
MAY 1 The Revolution Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥11,000/¥12,000
MAY 6 Sumac, Mamiffer, &c. Fever, Shindaita ¥6,000
MAY 7 Big Thief WWW X, Shibuya ¥6,000
MAY 10 The Silence, The Special View, Mond'rien UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥2,500
MAY 12 Lauryn Hill, Nulbarich Tokyo Garden Theater, Ariake ¥10,500-¥25,000
MAY 17 The Noup, Groundcover Soup, Ochiai ¥2,500
MAY 17 Pentagram, Marduk, Exhumed, Envy, &c. Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya ¥8,000
MAY 24 Non Band, Kiyoshi Matsutakeya & Chocolate Dandies UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥3,000
MAY 26 Sigrid Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥6,500
MAY 29 Leila Josefowicz & Thomas Adès Duo Recital Tokyo Opera City, Hatsudai ¥5,000
MAY 31 Ovall, Mabanua, Michael Kaneko, Kan Sano, &c. Tsutaya O-East, Shibuya ¥6,600

Prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise stated

Tokyo Gigs, June 2020

JUN 2 (Sandy) Alex G Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥5,500
JUN 3 J.I.D. WWW X, Shibuya ¥6,500
JUN 7 Hijokaidan, Dobrok, Totsuzen Danball Club Goodman, Akihabara ¥3,500
JUN 10 American Football Studio Coast, Shinkiba ¥6,800
JUN 13 Downy WWW X, Shibuya ¥4,000
JUN 15 Awich (band set) Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥4,000
JUN 30 Kenta Maeno, Kaneko Ayano Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥4,000

Prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise stated

Best Japanese music of 2019

A personal Top 10 Japan albums of the year

When I joked a couple of weeks ago that we’d probably all be feeling nostalgic for the 2010s by early January, I hadn’t imagined quite how bad things could get in the first few days of the new decade. Writing about marginal music as the world seems to be hurtling into oblivion feels futile, but if nothing else, perhaps some of the sounds featured here will persuade you that humanity doesn’t deserve to be consigned to the dustbin just yet. These are the 10 (okay, 11) albums by Japan-based artists that tickled me the most during 2019. For a more thorough rundown of the year’s releases, you can also check my Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter wraps of notable music.

So that’s 2019 done with, then. As we prepare to embark on a decade that will probably be even darker and dumber than the previous one, here’s my final round-up of the year’s notable Japanese releases (which, as ever, I’m defining as artists based in Japan, regardless of nationality). I’ll be posting a best-of list in early January, because I imagine everyone will already be feeling nostalgic for the 2010s by then.

Note: you can read the previous editions here, here and here.