Vancouver rocks this Wednesday night with five bands from Japan
Now in its 10th iteration, Next Music from Tokyo is a treat for music fans unlike any other. The semi-annual event is the passion project of Steven Tanaka, an anesthesiologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto. For each edition of NMfT, Tanaka brings some of the most exciting Japanese underground, indie-rock bands to Canada for exclusive showcases in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
It’s a mini-festival of bands that we most likely would never see otherwise outside of Japan or, perhaps, a major music festival like South by Southwest. Next Music from Tokyo vol. 10 features five acts at the Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward St.) this Wednesday (May 24), at one incredible low price – only $14! The bands include a returning favourite, an all-girl quartet that mixes pop and hardcore/screamo, and a group that Tanaka says puts on “one of the craziest, LOUDEST and most awe-inspiring shows around.” Here are the bands.
Hyacca. This four-piece from Fukuoka was a favourite at NMFT vol 3 in 2011. Next Music organizer Tanaka, who almost single-handedly curates and organizes each edition of the showcase, describes them as “noisy and aggressive but fiercely melodic and extremely danceable,” and says that “watching Hyacca perform live should be on the bucket list for all fans of post-punk and noise.”
Yukueshirezutsurezure (YSTZ for short) is a little bit pop, a little bit hardcore/screamo.
Yukueshirezutsurezure. Dr. Tanaka describes Yukueshirezutsurezure (YSTZ for short) as “Four women from Nagoya who combine idol music with screamo/HC. Their shows involve non-stop stagediving, crowdsurfing, moshing and the entire audience in a huddle of synchronized headbanging.” That’s back home; no doubt the Vancouver music fans in attendance will be a little more circumspect.
Yubisaki No Haku. Tanaka: “… songs with pop sensibility and great melodies but also filled with weirdness, aggression and noise… an exhilarating show brimming with passion and skill.”
Yukueshirezutsurezure (YSTZ for short) is a little bit pop, a little bit hardcore/screamo.
The Taupe: “Post-punk quartet that are masters of song dynamics. At first they capture your attention with calm, beautiful soundscapes then shatter your ear-drums with a monstrous maelstrom of overdrive and distortion. An unpredictable pattern of sublime and abrasive.”
Bakyun the Everyday: “Speedy melodic pop-punk akin to (American post-punk band) Cloud Nothings with dual male/female vocals, occasional tricky guitars and ultra-fast, powerful drumming. The perfect combination of fun and kick-ass.”
The show is this Wednesday, May 24. Doors are at 7, and bands begin at 8 p.m. For tickets visit ticketfly.com.