Friday night was fun–an example of why I am here and why I enjoy it.
For starters, Fridays this semester are class-free like I mentioned before. I got up leisurely, chatted with Sarah, and ate…it was probably curry. That’s all I eat now.
Work happened from 3 to 6. It’s already a laid-back job (a la Cleveland Coin). But now it’s even more chill because the English tutoring hours (my hours) have moved from the daycare to my boss’s house! And all the kids are friends, so I’m merely a co-baby sitter half the time. This time includes playing with a bunny, roaming around the house, getting awesome tea and snacks, and just chatting with my boss Tamaho about life (this week was “How to raise your children in both English and Japanese”). The other part is actual tutoring, but it’s generally painless if you give the children a smidge of freedom.
From 6:00 I was on my way to see friends Erik and JD perform at a live house near Osaka. It took a while to get there (and several different trains) but I spotted several other late comers at the last train station. We enjoyed some McD’s sitting around a huge fountain, then headed to the hole.
Yeah, it was a hole. I mean, narrow, nearly unnoticeable looks-like-it-leads-to-the-utility-closet-of-the-city staircase; which leads down into an ever increasing curry smell (there was no curry—-no food at all). The live house itself is hella hella small, with very few seats. But none of that mattered when the music was playing. Tons of people were there (Trevor, Neil, Kana, Junko, Lars, Nela, Jessica, Anna, Carvahlo) and Erik and JD played a psychadelic and highly groovable electronic show with a drumset, a guitar, and a computer. It was pleasurable as always.
The next band was a three-man rock group that had a bit of an original edge to them—-enough to make me enjoy them. The lead singer had a surprisingly high and slightly shaky voice like Thom Yorke.
The third group was—-(haha, oh goodness)—-they were wild. They were called 8 monkeys I believe, but they had 6 members. The impressive setup led me to believe my shit would be rocked. It wasn’t. But I still liked them. They said, like all bands do, “We’ll be playing for the next 30 minutes, so let’s have fun.” But they seriously played for the next 30 minutes. One long piece that flowed in and out of funk, always returning to a dull ambient nebulous foundation. Who I thought was the lead singer was actually just the talker. He walked around stage most of the time, and every once in a while he would start screaming stories into the microphone. His mic was too low, but at one point the music stopped, and the story sounded pretty dull. I thought it was awesome, though. In short, I liked them because I’d never seen a band like them.
The fourth group, kacica, rocked my shit. Hard. I’m listening to their CD as I type. It’s amazing. A 4-piece band, they played the four instruments you’d think they’d play, but they all had other shit going on too. Mesmerizing electronic effects were manipulated with pads and pedals to really change the entire atmosphere of the venue. Three songs, about 10 minutes long each, were all awesome. The music was definitely heavy, but the minimalism is what made it mesmerizing. The bassist would play like 3 notes over and over the whole song, the drums would give a driving beat that didn’t really change except that it got increasingly louder. The guitarist/effects master would eff with ess until the speakers were absolutely full of fun.
[Update: I found some videos of kacica on youtube. I plan on burning the CD I bought for all interested when I get back to the states, but for now enjoy a short-length version (along the lines of the album version) of "mosaic." To be honest the extra 10 minutes of slamming drums really knocked my head off, but this version is great too.]
What minimalism does for me is, it gets me into a secure position with a secured rhythm. I hear this played over and over, and I can get lost in it. The final song, “Mosaic,” got so loud and driving that I was lifted out of my chair and onto the floor. I couldn’t not move my body. It was really moving.
So I talked to them after the show, told them I loved it, bought their CD and we exchanged “I hope to see you again”s.
We returned to the fountain to drink and talk about music for a couple of hours, then took the many trains home.
Me and Lars went to an absinthe bar at our train station. It was my first time drinking absinthe. Junk is strong and that ain’t no joke. The bartender looked and sounded high, which is awesome because I’ve never seen that in Japan. The atmosphere of the place was great, which is good because I’ll be returning there next weekend for a show.
And then I finally got some sleep 
It was a beautiful night where I discovered new places, new music, new conversation, new thoughts from old acquaintances, and new drinks. I hope I fill my next month and a half with great experiences like that while I’m here, and then carry on in America as well
