It’s the biggest art show in Japan. The ninth annual Art Fair Tokyo is returning to The Tokyo International Forum on March seventh through the ninth. 145 galleries from Japan and overseas are scheduled to participate in what will hopefully be a lot more interesting than its past shows. AFT has a reputation for having either a “multiple personality” for the kind of art presented at the three day event or, a lack of focus for what their platform is …
Category: Japan
As mentioned in a previous TMG post, the band Cibo Matto has reunited after a 15 year hiatus with a new release Hotel Valentine out today February 14, 2014. The sounds on Hotel Valentine sees Cibo Matto blending their usual Shibuya-kei, trip-hop, and indie pop sounds with bass heavy, electronic, funk, and synth-pop sounds. For fans of Cibo Matto this album has nostalgic elements from their older material, but is also refreshingly new at the same time. Cibo Matto talks about the concept behind Hotel Valentine, reuniting …
Sharing the same birthday as J Dilla today February 7th, is Japanese producer/DJ Nujabes. He too has passed on, from a tragic car accident in Tokyo, Japan on February 26, 2010. Nujabes’ sound is melodic, mellow, nostalgic and atmospheric. Nujabes also collaborated with many American Hip-Hop artists such CYNE, Cise Starr, Apani B, Five Deez, Substantial, CL Smooth, Fat Jon, Terry Callier as well as British rapper Funky DL. He was also part of the production duo Urbanforest with Nao T. Nujabes and fellow Japanese rapper/producer Shing02 collaborated on a popluar series …
Cutie and the Boxer (2013) is a documentary about the life of a Brooklyn, NYC based Japanese avant-garde artist Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko (also an artist), and their 40 plus year relationship. Besides showcasing Ushio and Noriko’s art, Cutie and the Boxer explores the struggles and sacrifices that Ushio and his wife Noriko go through trying to make a living and raising a family as artists. Ushio maybe the known artist, and thinks of himself as the star of the documentary, but we …
In the post World War II era, Germany and Japan had to go through major reconstruction while getting their economy back on it’s feet. Life after WWII was the backdrop for the birth of amazing arts, and musical movements. Out of these movements we get a German band like Kraftwerk, and in Japan we get Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). In this particular piece we travel back in history, and then speed ahead into the future, to discover Yellow Magic Orchestra’s legacy …
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