Crazy Ken Band

11-piece fun j-pop good-time band

Jun 8-9

Namba Hatch, Osaka

Likened to a Japanese version of the British 60s pop group Bonzo Dog Band they are great musicians with a comic character. The music has its roots in 50s & 60s J-pop with more than a touch of funk.

Bandleader Yokoyama writes songs about many of his life experiences tending to revolve around cars, nightclubs and femme fatales (plus a curious number about a Pakistani used car dealer). Generally drawing a large commercial crowd of followers, due in part to the amount of television work that they do, the band are fantastic live with a loyal cult-like horde of fans that seems to be ever expanding.

The 11-piece band has had a lot of media success this year recording three tracks for a Fuji TV drama Konshu Tsuma Ga Uwaki Shimasu (roughly meaning ‘My wife will have an affair this week’).

Formed in1997, their debut album Punch! Punch! Punch! was released a year later. From then on there has been no holding back the Crazy Ken Band and out of the millions of pop artists in the country they are one of the few well worth paying good money to see live.

Time: 7pm • Entry: ¥5,775/¥6,300
Tel: 06-6882-1224 • Genre: J-pop

Puffy

J-pop female duo

Jun 12

Namba Hatch, Osaka

The Japanese duo, Puffy, of Ami Onuki from Tokyo and Yumi Yoshimura from Osaka came together in 1995 after hearing about talent searches in Tokyo. Unlike most J-Pop acts Puffy do have an ounce of identity and it is probably this that has managed to keep them in the limelight for over a decade. Their debut album Asia No Junshin was a million seller and sparked Puffy mania in Japan.

Puffy have enjoyed a lot of commercial exposure including
television advertisements, their own TV show and have even
sold their own brand of shoes.

Puffy have also had a lot of success away from home and in the US they have been described as ‘a contemporary female version of the Monkees with popularity of N Sync and the homage/theft approach of 90s pop-recombinant cult heroes the Pooh Sticks’. In the states they are actually known as Puffy AmiYumi so as not to upset Mr. Sean Combs.

And as a mark of how popular they are across the water they were last year appointed goodwill ambassadors to the US by the Japanese Government as part of a campaign to increase tourism in Japan.

Puffy have been guided well over the years by their producers, one of which is ex-Jellyfish drummer Andy Sturmer, taking in many western music influences to make a commercial goldmine on two sides of the Pacific. The duo are entertaining if not enthralling and a good live night out is guaranteed.

Time: 7pm • Entry: ¥5,000
Tel: 06-6341-3525 • Genre: J-Pop

New York Voices

Grammy winning four-piece vocal group

Jun 14

Blue Note, Osaka

Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble New York Voices started out in its earliest format as part of an invitational alumni group that had been formed to tour European jazz festivals back in the late 80s. The group signed to GRP Records in 1989, released their self-titled debut album and went on to record a further three albums on the label. With their musical roots firmly planted in jazz they add subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) elements of Brazilian, R&B, classical and pop in to their renditions that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries.

As well as their own work, New York Voices have also performed with a number of greats past and present including Jim Hall, George Benson, The Count Basie Orchestra and Diana Krall. In 1997 they ventured in to new ground by releasing an album of covers of one artist, something that very few musicians have tried, the album was New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon. Apart from Paul Simon, in their live sets the group also cover songs by the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell to name a few. And if the group isn’t busy enough already, they also take time out from touring and recording to give music workshops and clinics to High School and College students. Incidentally, band member Kim Nazarian has a solo album out in Japan, which is a collection of Japanese folk songs translated in to English.

Time: 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥6,000–¥8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Genre: Jazz Vocal Group

I Hate Kate

Ex-Zebrahead guitarist-led US alternative rock

Jun 18

Club Quattro, Osaka

Californian Alternative Rock band I Hate Kate was founded in 2004 by ex-Zebrahead guitarist Justin Mauriello.

Zebrahead were moderately successful with their blend of rap and rock earning a support slot with Green Day before Mauriello threw in the towel to venture along different musical paths. I Hate Kate are very different from Zebrahead, there are influences from eighties new romantics, goth, rock and American punk all quite audible in the music. In fact the vocals could be mistaken for The Cure’s Robert Smith on acid (and that’s no bad thing).

Eager to get their music heard the band put their early recordings out on MySpace. Their first official EP came out in 2006 named ‘Act One’ and this was followed in April of this year by the debut album Embrace the Curse (released through In-n-Out Records in Japan), which featured some re-recordings from the EP.

I Hate Kate are a band that could well be in line for big things to come, so take the opportunity and catch them live this time around.

Time: 7pm ¥5,500
Tel: 06-6535-5569 • Genre: Alternative Rock

Live Listings June

Alcatrazz ft Graham Bonnet & Joe Lynn Turner

6/1 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm• ¥7,000 Tel: 06-6281-8181 • Rock

George Yanagi

6/4 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥6,400–¥8,400
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • J-Pop, Blues

Angelo

6/5 @ Namba Hatch, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,775-¥6,300
Tel: 06-6233-8888 • J-Rock

Red Hot Chili Peppers

6/5 @ Kyocera Dome, Osaka
7pm • ¥8,000-¥9,000
Tel: 0180-995-991 • Rock

Wei Wei Wu

6/6 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥4,500–¥6,500
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • World Music

Aqualung

6/6 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,800 Tel: 06-6535-5569 • Piano Vocal

Crazy Ken Band

6/8-9 @ Namba Hatch, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,300 Tel: 06-6882-1224 • J-Pop Band

Melodic Power Metal Night Last Autumns Dream/ Masterplan

6/12 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,800 Tel: 06-6281-8181 • Metal

Puffy

6/12 @ Namba Hatch, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,000 Tel: 06-6341-3525 • J-Pop

New York Voices

6/14 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥6,000-¥8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Jazz Vocal

Charlotte Hatherley

6/14 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6535-5569 • Female Vocal

Bloodthirsty Butchers

6/16 @ Fandango, Osaka
7pm • ¥2,800 Tel: 06-6535-5569 • J-Punk

Char

6/16 @ Namba Hatch, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,000–¥6,500
Tel: 06-6882-1224 • Rock Guitar

Annekei

6/18 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥4,300–¥6,300
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Female Vocal

BeForU

6/17 @ Zepp, Osaka
5pm • ¥5,300 Tel: 06-6233-8888 • J-Pop

I Hate Kate

6/18 @ Club Quattro, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,500 Tel: 06-6535-5569 • Rock

Baby Boo

6/19-20 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥4,800-¥6,300
Tel: 06-6342-7722 J-Pop

Monkey Majik

6/24 @ Big Cat, Osaka
7pm • ¥4,200 Tel: 06-6233-8888 • J-Rock

Maroon 5

6/25 @ Zepp, Osaka
7pm • ¥5,775 Tel: 06-6341-4506 • Rock

Manhatten Jazz Quintet

6/25-27 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥7,000-¥9,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Jazz

Mari Hamada

6/28 @ Big Cat, Osaka
7pm • ¥6,500-¥7,000 Tel: 06-6233-8888 • Female Vocal

The Platters

6/28-30 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥6,400-¥8,400
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Nostalgic Vocal Group

Buck-Tick

6/30 @ Zepp, Osaka
6pm • ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6882-1224 • J-Rock/Goth

Jia Peng Fang

7/4 @ Blue Note, Osaka
6.30pm/9.30pm • ¥5,000–¥7,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • World Music

Compiled by Phillip Jackson