Hajime Sakita

Apr 9

@ Taku Taku, Kyoto

Walk in to any musical instrument store on a Saturday afternoon and you’ll find men and boys staring, eyes glazed, at the rows of hanging Les Paul and Fender guitars. I’ve done it myself and it’s a practice that will last for eternity. Could it be possible then for someone like Hajime Sakita to be up to much of the same but in his local hardware store? Could the same sense of bodily extension that guitar players claim to feel about their instruments be found with a jagged piece of metal? According to the Japan Musical Saw Association it can.

Thirty-six year old Hajime Sakita from Osaka first took up the saw after being overwhelmed by the saw playing of fellow countryman Miyakoya Utaroku back in 1991. From there he began to learn the saw and eventually took the position as leader of the Japan Musical Saw Association Kansai branch. In 1997 Sakita won first prize at the Santa Cruz Musical Saw Festival and again in 2004. This opened doors for the young saw master and he went on to play the saw in a number of different countries (as well as a public bath-house in Japan).

Anyone interested in the saw as a musical instrument can contact the saw association, who describe themselves as ‘a group of pure-minded Kansai people who love beautiful and pleasant saw music’. If you want to listen to some of this beautiful and pleasant music then catch Hajime Sakita at Taku Taku.

Time: 7pm • Entry: ¥3,800
075-351-1321 • Genre: Musical Saw

The Cooper Temple Clause

Apr 10

@ Club Quattro, Osaka

Explosive Brit rock quintet

Five-piece post-hardcore band formed in the late 90s from Berkshire, England. The Cooper Temple Clause have since signing a deal with RCA Records in 2000 put out three studio albums. The band’s debut album was described by the band themselves as ‘a ferocious rock record unafraid of challenging listeners and shattering genres’. Make This Your Own, their latest, was released in January of this year.

Associated with reviving prog-rock, the band’s music also includes elements of Britpop and electronic, which, all in all, makes the band an interesting quintet.

There have been a few stories as to the background to the band’s name but the most plausible seems to be a reference to the 19th century British Parliamentary amendment known as ‘The Cowper Temple Clause’ (Cowper pronounced Cooper).

With such a diverse mixture of influences it’s difficult to put The Cooper Temple Clause in to any specific genre and guitarist Dan Fisher says, “There’s still a lot of people out there who haven’t made their minds up about us. And it’s time for us to make their minds up for them.”

Time: 7pm ¥6,000
06-6281-8181 • Genre: Post-hardcore

Flogging Molly with special guest Gogol Bordello

Apr 12

@ Big Cat, Osaka

Irish-American Celtic Punk

In-between tours of Australia and the US, Flogging Molly play three dates in Japan. The seven-piece Irish American Celtic punk band, were formed in Los Angeles and the name comes from a venue where they used to be resident. Every Monday evening, not so many years ago, the band used to play at an Irish pub called Molly Malone’s, playing there so often they felt that they were flogging it to death, so hence the name Flogging Molly.

The band cite their influences as The Pogues, The Dubliners and Johnny Cash, to name a few, and with an added element of punk, vocalist Dave King proudly states that they have ‘developed a really unique sound’. Incidentally, prior to Molly, King fronted 80s rock band Fastaway, which also featured Motorhead’s Fast Eddie Clarke. After Fastaway, King wanted to change his style by bringing in elements of his Irish roots to his music and when he met fiddle player Bridget Regan in the late 90s the band was born.

Special guests to Flogging Molly in Japan are Gogol Bordello. A gypsy punk band made up of eastern European immigrants based in New York, they were described by UK comedian Phil Jupitus as ‘a bit like The Clash having a fight with The Pogues in Eastern Europe’.

Time: 7pm • Entry: ¥6,000
06-6555-5569 • Genre: Irish Rock

Moe

Apr 25

@ Club Quattro, Osaka

Hard working, hard playing American rock and melodic country

The band describe themselves as a mix of Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan and Gram Parsons; from hard rock to melodic country.

In 2001 Moe’s debut album was welcomed with a rave review and four stars in Rolling Stone magazine. The music itself is foot-tapping catchy tunes, groovy percussions, seventies rock guitar (guitarisst Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey were included in the top twenty New Guitar Gods in the February edition of Rolling Stone) and distinctive high vocals. There are hints of The Allman Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, Cheap Trick and so much more. In fact with all of these influences they manage to come up with something that is simply Moe.

Moe play four dates in Japan as part of a gruelling schedule. True to the roots of their music they are a hard working, hard playing band.

Time: 7pm • Entry: ¥6,500
06-6535-5569 • Genre: Rock, Country

Live Listings April

Diana King

4/1–4 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥8,500–¥10,500
06-6342-7722 • Reggae, pop

Soul’d Out

4/5 @ Zepp, Osaka
7pm • ¥4,800 06-6233-8888 •
R&B male vocal group

Little Barrie

4/6 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,000–¥6,500 06-6281-
8181 • Brit rock

Three Degrees

4/9-10 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥7,000–¥9,000
06-6342-7722 • Female vocal trio

The Rapture

4/9 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,800–¥6,300
06-6281-8181 • Rock

Beck

4/9 @ Zepp, Osaka
7pm • ¥7,500 06-6535-5569 • Rock

Hajime Sakita

4/9 @ Taku Taku, Kyoto
7pm • ¥3,800–¥4,000 075-351-1321 • Musical Saw

The Cooper Temple Clause

4/10 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,000 06-6535-5569• Rock

Allan Holdsworth

4/11 @ Big Cat, Osaka
7pm • ¥7,500–¥8,500 06-6233-8888 • Guitar

Flogging Molly

4/12 @ Big Cat, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,000 06-6535-5569 • Celtic rock

Snow Patrol

4/14 @ Club Quattro
7pm • ¥5,800–¥6,300 06-6535-5569 • Rock

Shakatak

4/13-14 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9.30pm • ¥6,400–¥8,400
06-6342-7722 • Urban fusion

Teruma Hino Quintet

4/16-17 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6pm/9:30pm • ¥6,400–¥8,400
06-6342-7722 • Jazz piano

Sonic Youth

4/17 @ Namba Hatch, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,800 06-6535-5569
• Alternative rock

Tony Joe White

4/17 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
8pm• ¥7,000 06-6281-8181
• Guitar

Yoshiko Kishino Trio

4/18 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥5,000–¥7,000
06-6342-7722• Jazz piano

Jim Hall & Ron Carter

4/20-21 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥6,400–¥8,400
06-6342-7722 • Guitar & bass duo

Jabo & Clyde with Fred Wesley

4/23 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥6,400-¥8,400
06-6342-7722 • Tribute to James Brown

Don Caballero

4/24 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
6:45pm • ¥4,500–¥5,000
06-6535-5569 • Rock

Kelly Price

4/26-27 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥7,000-¥9,000
06-6342-7722 • R&B

Compiled by Phillip Jackson