in your basement

And bonus, if you keep reading until the end!

With the sheer number of bands and musicians in Japan (we’re not even including aspiring musicians yet!), it’s not often that you run into a band so versatile and unique like advantage Lucy. Versatile because it’s not easy to classify Lucy’s music into any one category. They span more than a decade in the music industry, settling into a firm foothold in the Japanese indie scene despite having only two members in the band.Their latest full-length album “Echo Park” was released in 2005, and recently had a mini overseas expansion, playing at venues in Korea and Taiwan. Lead singer, tambourinist, pianica extraordinaire and harmonica tootin’ aiko and guitarist Ishizaka Yoshiharu (yes, I do realize the disproportionate description between aiko and Ishizaka!) are often joined by guest musicians at their live performances, each musician lending a new sound to their music every time.

I first heard of Lucy two years ago when I was going through my first wave of Japanese indie music. I had rediscovered Round Table around that time, and by chance, got an earful of Lucy’s upbeat and extremely catchy music. It’s suffice to say that there is something very simple about Lucy’s style, and that simplicity pierces straight to your heart when aiko sings. There is nothing spectacular about her voice, if you want to talk about real singing ability, but aiko’s earnest and exceptionally apt voice for her lyrics makes her sound special in a good way. She reminds me of a polished Chara, in the sense that Chara’s voice is grating at times. aiko’s on the other hand, is smooth and controlled. I usually don’t go for sugary-sweet voices, but aiko makes it work. I make a bad music critic because I can’t ever describe what I feel.

So I found out about today’s live performance via Japan Live (awesome reivew-blog!) and promptly decided to buy tickets about three or four weeks ago. I knew that advantage Lucy was hot, and got my tickets the moment they were released. (It also helped that Vasallo Crab 75 were headlining the Live too!)

Alright, so why advantage Lucy and Vasallo Crab 75? Well originally, Lucy had three members: aiko, Ishizaka and guitarist Fukumura Takayuki. After about four rockin’ years together, Fukumura left the band and formed another. You got it right, it was Vasallo Crab 75. The two bands, tied together by Fukumura’s ardent love for music, have played together numerous times, and their rapport was clearly shown today. They opened and closed the show, and had brief interludes where they ‘exchanged’ band members. For me personally, those were the best parts of the live! It was like an on-stage jamming party, with not only advantage Lucy, Vasallo Crab 75 but a score of their musician friends (including Round Table!) weaving in and out with basses, trumpets, accordions and any possible form of instrumentation.

Sadly, Fukumura passed away 6 years ago on November 26, 2003. In remembrance of him, advantage Lucy, Vasallo Crab 75 and their friends gather every year to play together at what they’ve come to call “Mune-Kyun Arpeggio”. Call it cheesy or cliche, but having this yearly event is particularly moving for me and I’m honestly really glad I was a part of it this year.

While Lucy is whimsical, fun and pretty much upbeat shimokita-kei (Shimokita-style) music, Vasallo Crab 75 is an eclectic rock, jazz, soul unit with ample doses of funk  thrown in for good measure. They are as electric as Lucy is chill. I enjoyed their set in a totally different way than I did with Lucy. While I was basking in Lucy’s luscious songs and easy-going music, Vasallo’s good mix of indie-rock and funk (at one point they reminded me of soil & “pimp” session, and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra) was something you grab frantically and try to take it all in.

What made the performance really really special, aside from the guest musicians, was how the two bands engaged the audience. This is probably the one thing I love about Japanese bands, indie or not. They make an effort to let you now that hey, you exist and we know you’re standing right in front of us now, enjoying our music. It’s a real interactive, human experience that I don’t get with most of the Western bands, who while enjoy themselves on stage seem to be going through the motions of performing yet another time.

The whole performance took about 2 and a half hours (so far, the best 2.5 hours in my life — every live just gets better and better!) and I decided to quickly catch a train back home before I get caught in the last-minute rush back home. But as you have it, I got waylaid at the entrance of the Keio Shimokita station by Umanami Maracas Dan. Check out the quick video I shot.

Umanami Maracas Dan

Man, I love Shimokita.