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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jan 31, 2018 20:02:30 GMT -5
Music critics are full of it.... If no one cares about SK, why are they still going strong and expanding their fan base, after so many of their contemporaries no longer exist? Hail SK!!
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 1, 2018 20:56:22 GMT -5
Music critics are full of it.... If no one cares about SK, why are they still going strong and expanding their fan base, after so many of their contemporaries no longer exist? Hail SK!! I'm not so sure about that "expanding their fan base", how does that work? The rising and declining fortunes of A. Mueller and Suede look not unlike Shonen Knife's, with a big bump in the early nineties, and a long taper thereafter. I'm just talking about overall sales, prominence in the media, observable share of mind with music consumers. I don't know how to get figures on persons who would say they are Knife fans. I'll have to revise my estimate when Shonen Knife go back to playing New York City in a hall that holds 1,000, instead of 250 as in recent years. 〜〜〜〜〜 Of course, some critics are full of it, and some are not, and none of them can possibly be full of it 100% of the time. Rock critics come close. I was really only hoping to call out the professional stone-throwing behavior, without inciting any more of it. When he said that SK were a band no one cared about, the writer was discussing the staff at the paper where he worked. They all enjoyed SK, but only as candy. "Twee popettes" is almost affectionate coming from Mueller, and it's easy to believe the Melody Maker staff didn't consider Shonen Knife anything to care deeply about. Not everybody will, after all, and besides — look at the things they were actually taking seriously at MM. While Mueller was engaged with calling The Ramones "a joke that should only have been funny once" ( 1989 December 09), he summarily tossed The Who and The Rolling Stones into the same grave with them. The other two bands weren't even involved, they were just somewhere on his list. He was really on the scene to pump up two groups from New Zealand, now fairly forgotten. 〜〜〜〜〜 Appreciation of the novelty of Shonen Knife at the paper in 1992 cannot have been quite as uniform as Mueller describes, because during the same period David "Mr. Agreeable" Stubbs was using the pages of MM to deploy a choice racial epithet in the course of pronouncing SK "irresistibly, cheerfully, naively, exuberantly CRAP." Not surprisingly, that article isn't easy to find anymore, but it's occasionally quoted. So, as happens, the image-bashing iconoclasts had each other to look at while they were bashing away on the same icon. 〜〜〜〜〜 What keeps agitation artists in business is a reliable rise to the bait wherever they throw it. This is the newspaper we're talking about: We don't have to be right, you're going to look at us no matter whatNew Musical Express had been building up Suede for nearly 6 months, so in April 1992 Melody Maker was only going NME one better. Not really plunging into the wilderness. Two years later MM did the formulaic thing Mueller talks about, running provocative cover type to pose a question whose answer is — no. 〜〜〜〜〜 Maybe it's proximity to Die Toten Hosen, but Hail SK! sounds less like Chuck Berry than the salute of an elite Messerkopf Brigade that I never want to see, unless the uniforms are red, yellow, blue, black and white.
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 3, 2018 3:13:00 GMT -5
I tripped over this when I was looking for archived Melody Maker articles. It's a bona-fide, professional encyclopedia entry on Shonen Knife. Licensed from somewhere and served up to you here with ads. Considering its latest citation is 1994 and it had to be short, I think it's really, really good. It's completely neutral like it's supposed to be, and somebody did more than a half-hour's worth of research. The ugly puddle of bile from David Stubbs at Melody Maker is quoted a greater length, if you just have to see what gets into the papers in a city where journalism is a blood sport. Shonen KnifeContemporary Musicians Article by Ondine E. Le Blanc for an unknown reference pub (The Columbia Encyclopedia?) COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/shonen-knife — Shonen Knife — Rock band — Band Formed as “Hobby” — American Following Grew — Shed Candy Coat on Rock Animals — Selected discography — Sources In the landscape of American postpunk music, with its jaded rejection of popular culture, a Japanese “girl band” that sings about candy and cute animals would seem to be an unlikely candidate to become what Pollstar has called the “darlings of the underground rock world.”
Nonetheless, Shonen Knife—three Japanese women enamored of American pop culture and punk music—gradually gained that status, carving a niche for themselves with American underground audiences in the early 1980s by recycling the sounds of 1970s and 1980s punk bands like the Ramones and the Buzzcocks into a format that, as Musician’s Chris Rubin quipped, “sometimes suggests a K-Tel Sampler of ’70s new wave and punk...”
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Post by thegl0r on Feb 4, 2018 17:38:42 GMT -5
I tripped over this when I was looking for archived Melody Maker articles... ...The ugly puddle of bile from David Stubbs at Melody Maker is quoted a greater length, if you just have to see what gets into the papers in a city where journalism is a blood sport. Shonen KnifeContemporary Musicians Article by Ondine E. Le Blanc for an unknown pub, the Columbia Encyclopedia? COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/shonen-knife Its nice to see something that isn't a rehash of Wiki, or written by someone with an axe to grind. Unlike this little record review for Riding on the Rocket. But I guess that's what you're likely get from someone who's "cool" because they're writing for the local student newspaper. Notice in the gig listing at the side of the page that Shonen Knife will be playing at The Waterfront in Norwich (UK) the following week.
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 5, 2018 4:47:16 GMT -5
Its nice to see something that isn't a rehash of Wiki, or written by someone with an axe to grind. Unlike this little record review for Riding on the Rocket. But I guess that's what you're likely get from someone who's "cool" because they're writing for the local student newspaper. Notice in the gig listing at the side of the page that Shonen Knife will be playing at The Waterfront in Norwich (UK) the following week. Jamie Putnam declares Shonen Knife kitsch, but not the good kind – like an Abba copy bandIs there a problem I'm just not seeing? 1. Steal a riff from an old Ramones album 2. Write goggledygook lyrics about marshmallows, asparagus, fluffy kittens and industrial cleaning agents products 3. Add a sing-a-long chorus that sounds like a Tibetian drinking song (uka-boo, uka-boo, everybody uka-boo) 4. Become best mates with Kurt Cobain from Nirvana 5. Release records on a credible indie label, the novelty of which wears off after ten seconds 6. Dress up like mutant cheerleaders Leave out the uncalled-for editorializing, and it's a recipe for awesome. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie: uka-boo is the dictionary form of a totally legit verb meaning to hang suspended, float, or rise to the surface. But not in Tibet or Tibetia. 〜〜〜〜〜 I never thought what a rich vein of crummy Shonen Knife reviews there could be from the early nineties. Don't you wonder what's the worst one out there? UEA's Mr. Putnam was much more favorable toward Spiritualized, The God Machine, The Boo Radleys, and The Blue Orchids in those days. In the next issue, the Publisher of Concrete, who went to the SK show at Waterfront, stepped up to semi-contradict him. Steve H. enjoyed his youth much more, I bet. "If Shonen Knife sink without trace (or simply return to Japan where they are immensely popular [ not ] ) it will be a great shame. I have never seen a band or an audience have so much fun in ages."⬇︎ THIS ZOOMS Never in ages: Michie in her shirt-dress with stripes that stop, and sleeves that don't. Copied from: Concrete Issue 014 • 1992 NOV 25issuu.com/concreteuea/docs/concrete_issue_014_-_25-11-1992Published at issuu on 2014 OCT 20 Not only has Concrete not sunk without trace, it's still published under the same name, and it's on the web, Facebook, Twitter… www.concrete-online.co.uk/ This week they've got a feature story exploring whether avocados are a fad.
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 5, 2018 18:10:37 GMT -5
When cute and strange gathered togetherIt became very interesting I typed out the Steve Howard concert review because it's an irreplaceable artifact that has a couple of quotes from Naoko different enough from the standard boilerplate to be be interesting. I tried to preserve the original characters, even the mistakes. I might have missed once or twice. Don't be misled by the writer's lack of background, quaint euro-centricity or unwarranted self-assurance. He knows more about the moon than rock in Japan. Do be encouraged by his instinct for a good thing. Color code: ◼︎ A real editor would have fixed this ◼︎ This is not factual ◼︎ A little more like it ◼︎ Words of Naoko or special interest "I want to be a cat"1992 NOV 25 – Issue 14, page 15 From Concrete, the student newspaper of UAE in Norwich, UK issuu.com/concreteuea/docs/concrete_issue_014_-_25-11-1992 Report and pictures by Steve Howard Shonen Knife are not your average rock band. For a start they are female (not so unusual), but more unusually than that they are Japanese. Very Japanese. Forget rock songs about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Forget stage diving and posing for the crowd. Forget jeans and leather jackets. The three members of Shonen Knife bounced onto the stage at the Waterfront last Thursday with huge grins on their faces, and brightly coloured shirts mini-skirts on their five-foot-nothing bodies. They then immediately thanked the crowd for coming, and launched into their first song "Cycling is Fun". As they played (quite competently), the crowd threw sweets in appreciation. Throughout the chorus, and as if to reinforce the bizarre nature of the whole song they rang bicycle bells attached to their specially lowered microphone stands. Shonen Knife's recent press interest is undoubtedly due to their novelty value, but listening to the band live and talking to them showed that there is more to Shonen Knife than cute little girl smiles. Speaking before the show, lead singer and songwriter Naoko Yamao explained how, tired of factory jobs ten years ago, she and sister Atsuko (drums) and ex-school friend Michie Nakatani (bass) decided that the life of rock stars was for them. ("We wanted to start something interesting… we could make cycling team or rock band"). After talking to Shonen Knife it soon became quite clear that there is real thought in their music, held back only by a poor understanding of English. On the meaning of the bands name, they explained "Shonen means boy.. we bought paper knife to open paper.. their is a brand name Shonen Knife.. boys have very cute feelings.. and knife has very strange feeling.. so when cute and strange gather together it became very interesting." The main philosophy behind Shonen Knife though didn't need words to explain it - it is about having fun. For the entire length of their forty-five minute set, the smiles never left their faces. They sung about wanting to be a cat ( "all of us have each cat.. I want to be like cat because cat doesn't have to work at office") in "I Am A Cat" and about bison " When I went to the zoo in Japan.. there is a bisons cage. I felt sorry for bison") in "Bear Up Bison". The 200 plus crowd beamed back at them in genuine and unrestrained happiness. Todays image conscious media will I fear soon tire of Shonen Knife. They haven't published nude photos of themselves (as far as I know), nor do they seem likely to get arrested for smashing up hotels or bedding their groupies. Their music is refreshing though.. the kind of thing you should have on the Walkman to bring a smile to your face when life is letting you down. If Shonen Knife sink without trace (or simply return to Japan where they are immensely popular) it will be a great shame. I have never seen a band or an audience have so much fun in ages. ©1992 by some legal entity, you can be certain Quoted at length for discussion Haha, Sony Walkman in 1992 Cycling team... or rock band: Amusingly false alternative, but it's a reminder of what a stab in the dark the band was. I want to be like cat: SK had only recently quit their lowly office jobs. It's easy to forget how much Naoko hated hers. If you were wondering whether SK members kept pets at home, in 1992 they all had each cat. I felt sorry for bison: I don't have the reference at the moment, but once Naoko explained that not only was the bison said to be facing extinction, no one would visit the caged specimen because it smelled so bad. That must have been one lonely, wretched captive bison.
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Post by thegl0r on Feb 6, 2018 19:56:35 GMT -5
Is there a problem I'm just not seeing? 1. Steal a riff from an old Ramones album 2. Write goggledygook lyrics about marshmallows, asparagus, fluffy kittens and industrial cleaning agents products 3. Add a sing-a-long chorus that sounds like a Tibetian drinking song (uka-boo, uka-boo, everybody uka-boo) 4. Become best mates with Kurt Cobain from Nirvana 5. Release records on a credible indie label, the novelty of which wears off after ten seconds 6. Dress up like mutant cheerleaders Leave out the uncalled-for editorializing, and it's a recipe for awesome. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie: uka-boo is the dictionary form of a totally legit verb meaning to hang suspended, float, or rise to the surface. But not in Tibet or Tibetia. 〜〜〜〜〜 I never thought what a rich vein of crummy Shonen Knife reviews there could be from the early nineties. Don't you wonder what's the worst one out there?... In the next issue, the Publisher of Concrete, who went to the SK show at Waterfront, stepped up to semi-contradict him. Steve H. enjoyed his youth much more, I bet. "If Shonen Knife sink without trace (or simply return to Japan where they are immensely popular [ not ] ) it will be a great shame. I have never seen a band or an audience have so much fun in ages."Copied from: Concrete Issue 014 • 1992 NOV 25issuu.com/concreteuea/docs/concrete_issue_014_-_25-11-1992Published at issuu on 2014 OCT 20 ...This week they've got a feature story exploring whether avocados are a fad. Hmm. Avacados, fad or food? I wonder what Naoko thinks? Nice one Tan on digging further than I did and for finding that review of SK's Waterfront gig. I'm sure there are a fair few gems hiding in the vein of crummy early 90s reviews of SK. Back then I only ever got to see what was published in the UK national music weeklies. What my faltering memory tells me is that none were too special, but I could be wrong. Perhaps more investigation is needed.
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 15, 2018 2:58:06 GMT -5
Valentine's Day 26 years ago? This is quite moving.
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Post by thegl0r on Feb 15, 2018 21:33:02 GMT -5
While mining the seam of 90s Shonen Knife reviews, there's this very positive one from the 19 September 1992 issue of Melody Maker with a nice pic of Naoko's pink plastic sandals which match her hairband. Very sharp styling... 19 September 1992 issue of Melody Maker
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Post by thegl0r on Feb 15, 2018 22:33:10 GMT -5
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 16, 2018 5:23:21 GMT -5
▲ ▲ ▲ ▲
That's adorable, Sally Margaret Joy tried to corrupt Shonen Knife and all of it slid right off. They gave her a fantastic interview, completely unearned. Like calling 6-ball in the side pocket, missing completely, and then getting the shot off the cushion.
"I never meet horrible people." It's that they just can't *be* horrible around you, Nance.
Watching the journalists blow circuits trying to compute things I think are completely normal was not as much fun as it sounds, but at least they could tell this was beyond their ken and liked it anyway. Andrew Mueller must have been sulking for days.
That crack about everything out of Japan being useless was 30 years out of date. It can be scary when people dump out what's in their heads.
The headline writers were the ones who really fell flat.
I do not believe that Naoko ever said, "me very happy" in her whole professional life. If she were to screw that up, it'd be by using the nominative pronoun for an object instead.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 23, 2018 13:48:52 GMT -5
I guess I should have said RE-expanding their fanbase...They may not be as popular as in the early 90s, but, they certainly (Thanks mainly to You Tube) have more fans than they did in the early 2000s
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 24, 2018 5:06:53 GMT -5
I guess I should have said RE-expanding their fanbase...They may not be as popular as in the early 90s, but, they certainly (Thanks mainly to You Tube) have more fans than they did in the early 2000s But where does that "certainly" come from? Is it any kind of tabulated figures, or is it seat of the pants? And what's a fan, anyway? Shonen Knife do all right over at YouTube. 19 clips with over 100K in views, many of them way over. About 53,000 items of all sorts that match "shonen knife", and probably many hundreds more that aren't tagged in English. I'm not going to count them all. But as anyone can tell you, a click does not make a fan. Plenty of people who viewed those clips had a meh or even a negative reaction. How many? Who knows? Plenty of people who idly enjoyed the clips for a short minute are not going to spend $0.05 on Shonen Knife this year, and are not holding their breath for the next album. How do I know that? The same way I know that it hurts to bobsled naked. To find a music medium with a lower level of commitment than YouTube, you'd have to resort to Twitter. A couple of things are obvious, though. Right or wrong, Shonen Knife don't think YouTube is helping them all that much. If they did, they would put something into it, and they put in next to nothing. Plus, they treat amateur video like it's the enemy. A more meaningful measure of popularity is recorded music sales (which we can't see) and butts in seats (which is easier to get a range on). But it's easy to see certain stats for Spotify streams. Here's Shonen Knife's Top 10 against Wednesday Campanella — a niche act in a more popular genre. Shonen Knife on the left, obviously. "Top of the World" is the only SK song that's comparable in the US, and it's a cover version from 1994. But Shonen Knife fans only listen to CDs! Let's hope that's not the case, because every year more artists who are making money are making it off streaming media. Japan is following too, at a walking pace. For live ticket sales, lets look at a guitar band on the opposite end of the spectrum. Otoboke Beaver is going to sell about 800 seats at Scala when they play London. In April, they'll be seen at Coachella, which is huge beyond gigantic. The opportunity to connect with a young audience that has sacks of money, not to mention all the news media reach, is really significant. They were unknowns 2 years ago. Shonen Knife are touring the UK this spring, too. They're going to be seen by more people... playing The Gate in Cardiff, capacity 400, and around 18 clubs and bars. I don't know if they could fill The Gate, except that it's a festival venue that weekend. Beyonce won't be headlining in Cardiff. Per plan, SK are doing 3 weeks of 200-head stands to get their quota of concert-goers. What would happen if they had a berth at SXSW this year? I can't believe it would give them much of a boost. And that's because droves of hipsters urgently sniffing out the new hotness are not looking for something like them. For reasons like that, I'm not nearly so quick to imagine that the SK fan chart goes solidly up and to the right for every year since Heavy Songs.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 25, 2018 17:45:55 GMT -5
I was talking about North America, not Japan... Their 3-4 yr hiatus after Naoko's baby, from making or promoting US albums made them has-beens overnight in NA, the addition of Ritsuko saved them, imo. I do agree with you on one thing, they are making a mistake, not appreciating the advantage of the free advertisement of their music on You Tube! (Her husband is too old fashioned in his management style.)
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 26, 2018 18:06:09 GMT -5
I was talking about North America, not Japan... Their 3-4 yr hiatus after Naoko's baby, from making or promoting US albums made them has-beens overnight in NA, the addition of Ritsuko saved them, imo. I do agree with you on one thing, they are making a mistake, not appreciating the advantage of the free advertisement of their music on You Tube! (Her husband is too old fashioned in his management style.) I don't understand this comment at all, since it seems to be a reply to a post that only talks about the popularity of Japanese bands in the West* — and it's current, not from years ago. ? I was showing some evidence about relative popularity of SK now, today, compared to some others in their line of business. The numbers are not what I call huge, so I resist the idea that alive and healthy is the same thing as going from success to ever more success.
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