Video Interviews, Shibuya (#1)

Tokyo Trawler Catch of the Day: Cornelius, USA
Artist: Mogwai
Tune: I am Jim Morrison, I am Dead
Record: The Hawk is Howling (2008)

Cornelius’ Essential Rating: 10/5

Cornelius’ Message to the people: “People in Tokyo need it, it helps them get up in the morning, gets them moving…This song kinda reminds me of Tokyo sometimes”

The Interview:



The Tokyo Trawler’s Essential Review:

Category: A deep-thinker/Twilight zoner

A long movie is not always an epic*. Often the storyline is loose, there are too many sub-plots, too many characters, repetition and sometimes, plainly, it’s just too damn long. If this wordless 6-minute effort were a movie, I’m pretty sure it’d go down in history as an epic. Deep, haunting layered instrumental textures* mean that much like an epic movie with its cinematography, every time you listen there’s another beautiful part you’d never noticed before. Somehow woven* together with clear direction, these parts come together to form an image of a stunning*, yet entirely bleak* landscape perhaps reminiscent* of the band’s Scottish homeland.

The Tokyo Trawler's message to the people: The most organic* song I’ve ever listened to in so many ways. Save that money you were gonna spend on a trip to the highlands, and download this.

To download or not to download?? 4/5 (ESSENTIAL)
iTunes available: Yes
勉強のキーワード: epic, texture, woven (to weave), stunning, bleak, reminiscent, organic

Incoming Videos

THIS WEEK - two brand new video interviews taken from our recent adventure in Shibuya, featuring Cornelius from the USA, and Lloyd from Australia; uploaded and reviewed by the Tokyo Trawler.

Check back later this week for Tokyo's essential music.

*NEW URL*

Tokyo's essential music is now available to you guys via the following URL:

www.tokyotrawler.com

Enjoy, and see you out on the streets of T-town!

Tokyo Trawler Recommendation #3 (05/11/09)

Artist: Ratatat
Tune: Seventeen Years
Record: Ratatat (2003)

Category: Foot to the floor, windows down

"I don't write my stuff anymore, I just kick it from my head", boasts* the guy in this song's intro, but the truth is, that Ratatat, being a purely instrumental duo, don't write any lyrics. Razor-sharp* production, along with sublime* guitar harmonies and metronomic, clean-cut beats, negate* the need for vocals of any kind. The silky-smooth utter* reversal of the song's mood from first to second half is quite astonishing*, and whilst there are times you imagine that this song could have been made entirely on a computer, when you realise that these guys are two actual* guitarists, it becomes all the more impressive.

The Tokyo Trawler's message to the people: That age-old piece of advice, 'start fast, end slow'

To download or not to download?? 5/5 (DO IT NOW!)
iTunes available: Yes
勉強のキーワード: to boast, razor-sharp, sublime, to negate, utter (adj.), astonishing, actual

Upcoming Interview Videos....

Thanks to all who took part in our video interviews whilst we were trawling Shibuya the other day, you were all fantastic and really gave us some great laughs and some sweet tunes to think about...

The editing process is underway, courtesy of Dayne at WildcardLab (www.wildcardlab.com), and the videos will be uploaded here soon, so please continue to check back, and tell all your friends!

The Tokyo Trawler