Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Went to the Draft Punk concert in Mese on Sunday. I’m not a huge fan of their music but a friend had extra tickets last minute so Antonio and I decided to go. I’m glad we went. The show was insane! Probably one of the most high-energy things I’ve seen in a long time. When we walked towards the arena, Daft Punk had just started their set and you could hear the roar from the crowd. You could tell there were a lot of people inside but when I got inside my jaw dropped. There must have been 20,000 people there all jumping and dancing to the set. It was crazy.I tried to take a bunch of photos to capture the experience but these crappy, put of focus photos don’t even come close.The duo was sitting in the cockpit of what looked like a kind of pyramid shaped nose of a giant space ship with helmets that lit up and matched the light show that was going on. Then suddenly the actual space ship became a giant 3D video screen with crazy visuals racing across it’s face. It was amazing to see a DJ set this dynamic. Those Frenchies really know how to put on a show.
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Coming back on the 5 now riding with mr Horvath, I wanted to tell you to see the Uglycon pics at the transmissions page! We’ll be adding more pics soon. It’s also on the giant robot flickr page.
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Self portrait. I always finding myself playing with the old slow shutter speed trick. I’m always surprised by what I get and it makes me feel like an artist for a split second. I guess I’m easily amused. Time Warp!!!! Don’t ask. I’m not sure what this place is and what goes on here but I was walking around Nishiazabu the other night and saw this sign. I should’ve went and checked it out but I was scared. Happy Birthday Antonio! He’s been my PA for 7 years. That’s a long time to tolerate my ass. He’s spent the past four birthdays on the road with me. I hope I’ve been a good boss. Don”t get too comfortable though, wait till I kick you down the stairs like Naomi Cambell.
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I haven’t phyiscally purchased music in a long long time. Ever since I got my itunes account, I sort of thought buying cd’s was pointless. Specially since once they are on my computer and ipod(s) I never touch them again. Plus finding a place to store them is a pain in the ass too. I already have enough trouble with my crazy dvd collection. But today I had the day off and decided to hit the HMV across from where I’m staying in Tokyo. The joys of browsing the aisles of racks looking for something to pique my interest suddenly came back to me and I went crazy. This first CD was in the Japanese indie section and after listening to the first track on the listening station I threw it in my basket. Can’t understand anything in the jacket but I think it’s a live session with these two rockabilly bands. The Shell Rockets wear old skool biker jackets and The Specters wear mod suits. There are a couple of Elvis covers but mostly original stuff, all in Japanese. Bloodest Saxophone. I love the name of this band. They are another old skoll 50′s rock revival band with two Saxophones and matching suits with slicked up hair. Miso Soup Booghttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifie is the best song on the album. They do a great version of Tequila too.The BlueHerbare heavies in the underground Japanese hip-hop scene. My friend Kenya highly reccomended me to give them a listen. Although I can’t understand the lyrics, they spit them deep and dark. This album’s got a certain cinematic element to it. A nice alternative to all the Hip-Pop crap out there today. The ZooBombs. This album rocks hard and is probably the best find of the day. This recording is from a furious live gig in Toronto. They play rock like it was meant to be. The liner claims they are one of the best live bands in the world today. A hefty statement to make but after a listen I think I might have to agree. They’re playing in Yokohama soon! I got this album just for a laugh. An orthodox Jew singing reggae/dub? Turns out homeboy’s got serious skillz, a silky voice and a tight band to back him up. Watching him live must be a trip. This recording is from a live session from an Austin, Texas gig. Check out his website he’s got some interesting ideas about his approach to music. Ever buy an album just because of the cover? I used to do that all the time, sometimes you get a golden egg and sometimes you get shit. In this case I got the egg. The cover reminded me of Portland, Oregon. I lived there for a year back in college and have always liked the place. Turns out this is probably Helsinki, Finland where the three Stance Brothers are from. This album is full of funky new skool jazz. Stuff that makes your head bob. Isiah Stance gets super...
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Evel Knievel RIP. I’ve seen him to do the Snake River jump, seen him do some Las Vegas jumping over cars stunt where he wiped out at the end, he’s a modern stunt man hero. Although in his later years he became a small figure and almost out of people’s memories, in some ways, the BMX’ers put him in hero status. Somehow the crusty Neil Young got the godfather of grunge status and Evel got the OG X Games status. From Vintage BMX, here’s an image of the bike. The site says something about 2007, but I think this bike came out in 1999.
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