Some thoughts

Over the past year or so I have been getting into Classical music, this began on a long drive to Suffolk where I couldn't pick up Radio X, and found myself enjoying Classic FM. Since then I've also started going to classical concerts, most recently on Saturday when I went to see the  City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra Rochester Symphony Orchestra  New Year Concert of Viennese music. Here was the program: Mozart- Marriage of Figaro (Overture and Three Soprano Arias) Beethoven- Symphony Number 5 Johann Strauss II- Overture to Die Fledermaus and  Walz: Wiener Blut Franz Lehar- Soprano Aria Vilja from The Merry Widow Johann Strauss II- Pizzicato Polka Johann Strauss I- Radetsky March Carl Zeller- Sei Nicht Bös Johann Strauss II- Blue Danube It was a good evening out.  I have a few more concerts planned for the coming months

 I just realised that it is just over 10 years now since The Idolmaster tv-series aired. (Where does the time go?). This was one of the series (along with K-ON!) that got me interested in Japanese music, and would eventually lead to me living there for two years. One of the few  Japanese CD's in my collection is a copy of Masterpiece  that I bought from Yokohama Animate on my second visit there in 2014. Sadly by the time I moved there the original generation had pretty much stopped doing live shows (and I never really got into the follow on Cinderalla Girls) so I never went to one while I lived there. So for this week, here's my favorite performance from the series, Rest@rt! And from the movie, Go My Way!

Happy 4th of July! Has been a tradition of mine to post the 'America, F*ck yeah! from Team American on this day, here is a version full of images of anthropomorphized WW2 US Navy ships (video NSFW!)  

 I happened to watch a top 30 hits of 1995 program last night on Channel 5 that made me quite nostalgic. It was quite surprising that in the year of the Blur v Oasis head to head, the top slot was held by Robson and Jerome! What did strike me was how many songs were from TV shows, movies, and adverts. with that in mind, here are three of my favorite adverts from back then that launched nit singles. First up: Mr. Boombastic by Shaggy (Levi) Second. Spaceman by Babylon Zoo (also Levi) And finally, Guaglione by Pérez Prado (Guinness) (Yes, I forgot to do one of these last week before I went out!)

 This week's track, a classical performance from the anime hibike! euphonium I partly chose this as I was watching Trooping the Colour earlier and it reminded me of this performance. One of the things I liked about Japan is how teenagers are encouraged (forced in some schools) to take part in afterschool clubs like this orchestra, which keeps them occupied and from getting into trouble, as well as transmitting cultural skills. I would like schools in the UK to be able to offer similar programs (beyond sports teams). I also chose this as it is nearly two years now since the Kyoto Animation arson attack, in which many of these talented animators were killed. I have long been a fan of the studio for the effort it puts into its tv shows and films, especially their attention to detail, such as the fingerwork as the performers play, lighting and colouration. To me, this scene is one of the best they ever produced.

 This week's track: Remember me by British Sea Power. I first saw this band at Reading in 2003, where they put on a most memorable show- their live performances always end with an extended version of their song 'lately', that usually devolves into an extended jam session with various members of the band climbing the rigging, wandering off into the crowd or boxing a giant animatronic bear!

This week's track: Gay bar by Electric 6.  Another band I saw live back at Reading, what I like about this track most is the OTT video which gets gayer and gayer as it progresses!

 This week's track: Brassneck by the Wedding Present. I first came across the band at the Reading festival in 2005, and soon became a fan, in particular of their early 90's albums Bizarro and Seamonsters , both of which I've seen them do album playback concerts for. I also saw them live while living in Japan, and got a chance to chat with them before the gig. What I particularly like about this track, apart from the Steve Albani remix on the single, is the video. I can just imagine the director getting a load of drama students and yelling 'just do what you feel like!'

 This week's  track: Take it Off by the Donnas. I randomly recalled this song earlier in the week and it was every bit as good as I remembered. The album it was taken from, spend the night was one that I played heavily in the latter half of the 2010's, it was a shame they never got really big in the UK.  One sad thing that I noticed while re-watching was how the (slightly chubby) bassist was kept in the background of the video, and hardly gets any close-up shots during the performance scenes.

I'd gotten interested in Japanese music for some time before I moved there. For me, one advantage of living there was being able to explore more artists and see them live. I became a big fan while there of this week's artist, LiSA. This is a live version of one of my favourite tracks of her's: Best day, Best way: Unfortunately, this version is of low quality. I had previously seen an HD version but it seems to have been removed. What I like about this performance is her energy, not just singing but riding a bike around the arena at the same time! In my two years there I was privileged enough to be able to see LiSA live three times. The first was at a one-day festival featuring many artists from the same label called SME MUSIC THEATER 2017, the other two were her own concerts in Kawasaki and at Nippon Budokan.  Incidentally while looking for this track I found this video by someone was also at the latter concert, which gives a good idea of what going to a concert in Japan ...

This week's track was chosen due to me hearing it on the radio while going to work yesterday: Motorcycle Emptiness by the Manic Street Prachers.  I was a huge Manics fan at Uni and this was one of my favorite tracks. I never really agreed with the group's politics though. There's the following line in the second verse: 'From feudal serf to spender, this wonderful world of purchase power' Which I find quite uplifting and the reverse of what they intended. Also, when I moved to Japan and was walking around in Yokohama, seeing the  Cosmo Clock 21  reminded me of this track. Now the opposite is true and it reminds me of being in Japan!

 A new weekly series, every Saturday I'll post a music video that means something to me as a change of pace. To begin, in tribute to Jim Steinman who died this week, here's Meat Loaf with  I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)  I have fond memories of listening to this and Bat out of Hell on cassette during a school coach trip to France.  And as one commentator notes:  'Meat loaf accidentally made a live action beauty and the beast and it came out better than Disney's live action movie.'