Fuyuki Yamakawa is an ‘avant-garde khoomei singer’ and performance/installation artist who works with bare light bulbs, yogic breath, medical equipment, modified musical instruments and the amplified sound of his heartbeat [read more]

Kiiiiiii according to Kiiiiiii [read more]

It seemed like a pretty standard uptight fashion week party at TRUMP ROOM last night, until the Trippple Nippples exploded onto the dance floor with screams, water pistols, glitter bombs, fake blood and feathers, whipping everyone up into a messy mania before disappearing as quickly as they appeared. You better brace yourselves for these guys before they perform at our event in December! [read more]

On the rooftop of an abandoned school near the flashing lights and madness of Tokyo’s Akihabara Electric Town, there is a nightly happening comprising kinetic sculpture, balloons, instrumental inventions, light, sound and performance art [read more]

A few years ago a certain mademoiselle named Yulia stated popping up more and more frequently on the Tokyo electro scene and in the street fashion press like FRUiTS. Her perfect blue or purple bob is now ubiquitous [read more]

Meet the Trippple Nippples, your new best friends / favourite Tokyo fem performance outfit. They will bring to the relationship their unhinged DIY aesthetic, an inimitably intense live energy and a song about teaching your nipples to speak. ‘Express’ yourself! [read more]

Tenniscoats is: Saya and Takashi Ueno, and a plethora of floating members >>> Stripped back, left-field pop and delicately psychedelic folk >>> Sweetly naieve melodies, detuned pianos, woodwind instruments and distorted synthesizers >>> About to bring their emotive live performances to Australia, thanks to Room40! [read more]

Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki has been described as “a fuzzed-out educational multi-cultural psych rock opera,” “proto-psychedelic hip-hop with overweight drum beats and baselines,” “escargot sushi,” “absolute fucking genius”, and “better than a lot of other records.” The 1971 concept album was the brainchild of French pop composers Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde, who learnt Japanese before recording began and even enlisted the aid of a renowned black-belt Judo master to introduce the tracks, which were all sung in Japanese by a school choir [read more]

When Makoto Azuma moved to Tokyo with his band, he didn’t expect to find himself in a flower shop. 12 years later, the artist and musician has cultivated a new approach to creative practice through his florist Jardins des Fleurs. Former curator of AMPG Gallery (where he installed one exhibition per month for two years) and previously featured at Milan Design Week and colette in Paris, Makoto’s green projects are sprouting a healthy reputation far outside of Tokyo. We present a sampling of his work here [read more]

If 4 Bonjour’s Parties were pound puppies, you’d be hard-pressed picking out which one to take home with you. There’s the lead vocalists, Koji Ueno and Ayumu Haitani, with their big floppy ears and stickered suitcases full of glockens, bongos, rap tops and ‘noise’. Don’t forget Daisuke Kurihara, with his glossy locks and beatific bass-playing. Yukiko Hamada and Tomomi Shikano? Stars in their eyes, wind instruments under their arms. Masashi Tabei prefers snaps, sax, and Indian curry. Nature and nekos are the guitar player’s favourites. With such an adorable assemblage, it’s no wonder that what we hear is cotton-candy pop, that they describe as “sweet, sometimes drowsy” [read more]

Pikachu (drums, vocals) and Oni (guitar, vocals). Two Osakan girls with penchants for red, Africa, catchy melodies, free noise, volume, improvisation, call-and-response vocals and jumping. Since forming in ’02 they’ve toured and collaborated with the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt, Yoko Ono and Keiji Haino as well as recorded nine albums and temporarily disappeared into the Cameroonian jungle to live with Pygmy tribespeople [read more]

Formed in 1978, Yellow Magic Orchestra exerted a huge influence on the electronic musical landscape of the late 70’s and early 80’s, and they continue to be a reference point for many contemporary artists [read more]

With more Beatles cover bands, posters, T-shirts and themed karaoke parlors than you could poke a hard day’s night at, the Beatles’ lasting influence in Japan isn’t hard to spot.

They’ve released the greatest number of Beatles album pressings of any country, host the official John Lennon Museum and do the moptop really well.

Back in the day, a man named Takashima brought the band out for their legendary 1966 tour, and on July 8 he will be in Sydney sharing tales from his fifty-year career in the music industry in Japan, including the early days of the country’s infatuation with the Beatles and his experiences dealing with Brian Epstein [read more]