Ian (F) Martin
@ianfmartin
Writer and indie music scene person, based in Tokyo. Author of Quit Your Band! Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground (Awai Books, 2016) / バンドやめようぜ！ (Ele-king books, 2017) and owner of Call And Response Records.
I had to write brief reviews of This Heat's three core releases for a Japanese book recently and in the end the only way I could do it was to just put the albums on and pour whatever feelings I had onto the page and press send. Not sure I fully agree with myself in the cold light of day but still...
This is fun. Tried to give it a go within my many limitations and be as honest as possible.
Summer’s finally starting to kick in here, too. This crap is going to be the baseline minimum for the next three months now.
Five records by @theleaflibrary.bsky.social means I can now justify giving them their own section in my record shelves with their own personalised divider.
Finally have my hands on physical copies of these two beauties, plus a lovely sticker as an unexpected bonus!
All caveats for where borders of indie rock might be (I dunno) and order obviously a bit meaningless. Also limited to one song per act, so GBV and Low tracks especially change in my heart from moment to moment (already thinking I ought to have put July for Low just from letting the album play on).
Stereolab Night went well despite the typhoon and took in some great ‘Lab-sympathetic groops.
Need to filter this down to something I can physically carry to this Friday’s Stereolab-themed DJ night. Rather than just playing The ’Lab, I’m planning to mix it up with their contemporaries, acts influenced by them, other projects featuring members of the groop, things like that.
After an hour walking along traffic-loaded westernTokyo thoroughfares listening to harsh, distorted Kyushu post-punk, this turn takes me down along a suburban river and I have to switch over to The Leaf Library: fikarecordings.bandcamp.com/album/after-...
Seems odd that there’d be no connection but even odder that apparently no one would’ve ever even brought it up.
Elric (Stormbringer specifically) is foundational in the otaku culture that gave birth to all that 90s gnostic stuff.
Spinning discs between bands at a fun post-punk industrial prog noise trash party today. Groundcover., Huh, P-iple, Wirecutter (from Germany), Macmanaman and the presumably temporarily named 20260509. Ran out of vinyl before the last block of songs, so had to switch to digital for those four tracks.
Records bought in Ireland over the past week and a bit. Saw so much stuff I wanted but prioritised stuff I'd struggle to find in Tokyo and made sure I bought a couple of local artist recommendations.
Actually, I think when it comes to “records whose outward appearance lets you know precisely what you're letting yourself in for”, I don’t think a record sleeve was ever as unflinchingly honest as this:
I don’t have it with me now but “records whose outward appearance lets you know precisely what you're letting yourself in for” for be always means this:
Everyone’s favourite modernist sports mascot Ciao still out there flying the flag for Italia 90 in Dublin.