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Japan Beat: Boom Boom Satellites
by Dan Grunebaum
If any indication was needed that this digital
rock duo has outgrown their tag of "Japan's Chemical Brothers,"
then their forthcoming album Photon on Sony's So-ffio imprint is it.
Vocalist/guitarist Michiyuki Kawashima and bassist/programmer Masayuki
Nakano have shed most of the digital beats that defined their earlier
work in favor of the explosive drumming of Naoki Hirai, giving Photon
a live presence reflecting the dynamism of Boom Boom Satellites' concerts.
Building on the free jazz explorations of 2001's Umbra, the album at times
harkens back to the groundbreaking experimentations of jazz great Miles
Davis' 1970s groups, with Issei Igarishi offering up some burning trumpet
solos that bubble out of a cauldron of guitars and electronic psychedelia.
Partly recorded in London, Photon also features spoken word contributions
by singers Dice on the trip hop-influenced "40," and Bryam Wrightson
on the otherworldly "Beluga." The hypnotic single, "Blink,"
meanwhile, has just been chosen as the theme song for a Fuji TV drama.
The song shows the band in a philosophical mood: "In the name of
God's Law," sings the vocalist, "we are transitory."
While Boom Boom Satellites' success came fast and hard, it's the result
of a decade of intensive effort by the unassuming duo, who first hooked
up at college in 1990, naming themselves after a song by seminal influence
Sigue Sigue Sputnik. After laboring in obscurity crafting their futuristic
sound, Boom Boom Satellites' big break came in 1997, when the European
release of their song "Dub Me Crazy" caught the ears of Europe's
music press.
The attention led to the duo's signing with Sony, and to a series of high-profile
appearances at European festivals like Glastonbury. As is often the case,
the foreign interest caused Japan's domestic audience to take note, and
soon Boom Boom Satellites were being slotted in at the Fuji Rock Festival
and at other key events.
As if any other recommendation were needed, the Boom Boom Satellites also
boast one Japan's most vibrant live shows, which, unlike many of their
knob-twisting digital brethren, seamlessly blend the theatrics of guitar
rock with the sonic space of digital audio technology.
Boom Boom Satellites play Akasaka Blitz on July
24. See listings for details.
credit: ©Neil Hartmann
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