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Post by thegl0r on Oct 27, 2016 1:28:21 GMT -5
I'm not sure what I was hoping for, but I was surprised that the host who says "we're fans at the station" is unfamiliar with the band members' names and unprepared to include anyone but Naoko in the conversation. Imagine being Risa from Oîta. It's your first time ever in Chi-town, everything is big and dazzlingly new, and you've been practicing English conversation... and the only things people want to talk about happened before you were born... Hmm. That "Shonen Knife interview". AAAAARGH! But seeing SK's headphones or lack of them gave me a hint of what was to come. This definitely wasn't what I'd been hoping for. What I'd been wanting to hear was the members of SK having their chance to speak about being in the band and talk about the music from the latest album while having no distracting music playing in the background as they were speaking. At least I got to hear the talking with no background music. Naoko got to speak, Atsuko managed to crowbar a few words in and Risa got ignored. But at least the interviewer managed to remind the listeners that she's also in an all-girl band. Luckily the interviewer managed to use a big chunk of airtime talking about Nirvana - otherwise we wouldn't have known this was an SK interview. Whew! So Risa didn't get to tell us what it is like having moved from one family band to another family band. For some reason SK got booked for an interview on an "alternative" local radio station whose core audience seem unlikely to be familiar with, or receptive to SK's type of music. Like tangerinesun, I also checked out the station, I read their "About" statement, peeped at a few other interviews, checked out "Today’s Playlist", and even listened to a bit of "Live on Vocalo". Definitely the wrong place for SK. What idiot arranged this? Hell, because the interview was held over for the right timeslot the following week, SK couldn't even promote their Chicargo gigs. But at least the new album got mentioned in passing.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 27, 2016 3:26:58 GMT -5
...Luckily the interviewer managed to use a big chunk of airtime talking about Nirvana - otherwise we wouldn't have known this was an SK interview. Whew! So Risa didn't get to tell us what it is like having moved from one family band to another family band... What idiot arranged this? Hell, because the interview was held over for the right timeslot the following week, SK couldn't even promote their Chicago gigs... I'm not sure if it's as bad as all that in concept. The station follows an "urban" format, which is code for we're-not-white. But it's an eclectic, progressive outfit and pointedly NOT TOP 40 and it gives attention to things like Riot Fest, so... what else would I have booked Shonen Knife into, in Chicago? They were ridiculously slow with the podcast, but do we know for a fact that the interview didn't air the same day as done? They were out on social media almost the same minute... I'm laying all the blame for blowing it on the participants, especially the host, who doesn't seem to distinguish between shooting the breeze one-on-one with a celebrity and taking 15 minutes of the public's precious time to make somebody else more important than yourself for once. It seems obvious that there would be some kind of press kit for these occasions, and that comes from Tomato Head or from Good Charamel. The lack of prep on the part of interviewers is something that package needs to address. If Shonen Knife is handing out a bio with KURT COBAIN AND NIRVANA all over it, and presenting a 35-year curriculum vitae with a sticker and two photos on a USB stick... they're just doing it to themselves. If they're simply leaving it to this year's interviewers to read last year's interviews and frame things up all on their own... then the same applies.
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Post by ljerk on Oct 27, 2016 11:59:37 GMT -5
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 27, 2016 15:11:01 GMT -5
Well... " has aged" sounds nicer than " is aged", because the second thing sounds really, really old... and Naoko's only moderately old. Nothing wrong with your eyes, though. Auntie Naoko keeps telling us three things: - She's not immortal
- She's not quitting
- She doesn't look behind her, only forward
I don't really want Naoko any different than she is. But I would really, really like it if people in the media could find a different topic besides 35 YEARS WOW THAT IS AN F-ING LONG TIME WOW 35 YEARS!!
They're paying no attention whatever to Point 3.
Come off it, Children of the 80s — you really want to live forever?!! Nostalgic wounds, my ass. Photos are superb, though.
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Post by thegl0r on Oct 28, 2016 1:49:43 GMT -5
Yes, perhaps I was being a bit harsh when I threw my toys out of the pram over that SK interview, but I'd been hoping for more. I had noticed and recognised the station's "urban" tag. Maybe whoever arranged it had tried all of Chicago's urban, alternative, college, adult rock, and religious radio stations and this was the only local station that wanted to do the interview. I'm guessing that none of the local sports radio stations wanted to talk about tennis and music. Its just that this felt more like half of an interview. The "history highlights" part. I rather also missed getting to hear SK's "I'm Naoko, I play the guitar. I'm Atsuko, I play the bass. I'm Risa, I play the drums" - which is the Konichiwa of SK's interviews. Naughty interviewer. tangerinesun could be right and perhaps the interview did get broadcast live and I just didn't notice the heads up on the when and the where to listen. The audio podcast of the interview works slightly better than that video on YT, with hints that they may have played (and edited out) some of the songs from the new album where a splash of SK music with the station's idents followed by "We're talking to Shonen Knife" happened. It seemingly finished with Wasabi being played. Or did it? Perhaps portions of halting English also got deleted and info on the gigs got done by the station before/after the interview. Has the forum got any spies in Chicago who can clear this up? The interviewer did seem to be unprepared, probably not helped by Tomato Head's press kit. Over the years, the ones of which I've seen always include the Nirvana connection towards the top. I'm also guessing that going over familiar ground in interviews is easier for SK as none of them are native English speakers. Ho hum. It would have been nice to have heard more talk of the new album. So I shouldn't really moan too much. I still got to hear a fair bit the lovely sound of Naoko's speaking voice and a few of the cute non-word sounds that she makes. The brief bits of Atsuko speaking was also great as she too has a lovely speaking voice. But no Risa speaking. Sigh. So many unknowns and so many toys thrown, and thrown so far too. Perhaps I need to have a bit of a rest after all of that exertion.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 29, 2016 4:22:56 GMT -5
Maybe... this was the only local station that wanted to do the interview... Its just that this felt more like half of an interview. The "history highlights" part. I rather also missed getting to hear SK's "I'm Naoko, I play the guitar. I'm Atsuko, I play the bass. I'm Risa, I play the drums" - which is the Konichiwa of SK's interviews. Naughty interviewer. tangerinesun could be right and perhaps the interview did get broadcast live and I just didn't notice the heads up on the when and the where to listen. Perhaps portions... got deleted and info on the gigs got done by the station before/after the interview... ...probably not helped by Tomato Head's press kit. Over the years, the ones of which I've seen always i nclude the Nirvana connection towards the top. I'm also guessing that going over familiar ground in interviews is easier for SK as none of them are native English speakers. Maybe the whole thing got arranged rather late. I don't recall any advance notice, only a tweet or two about, hey, this happened. In my world, radio is pretty close to realtime. Because it's a short shelf-life medium, unlike TV. You can pre-record shows, but they do not stay fresh, and it typically gets embarrassing if you're caught doing it, as in, you announce the time of day and you're off by 7 hours. So that's why I'd like to think this went out over the air timely. American public radio is a huge exception, right, don't give me any problems. This is only stupidly obvious if you actually say it, but the point of interviewing is to capture someone's attention so you can tell them your tale. It's no different for artists than politicians, they have the same need to get people lined up around their version of reality. So if you don't know what story you are telling, and you don't pipeline it straight to the people you want to reach, you're hoping for a miracle. Maybe if we just spend some time together, everyone will get a positive vibe, and that will be good. If I were Naoko and somebody started in with, "You've been around 35 years!!" I'd just be like, "Have I? I dunno, I've got a new album and a new band with me. You should see our drummer, she can knock you over on your back with her kick pedal."
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 29, 2016 4:56:50 GMT -5
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 30, 2016 2:46:36 GMT -5
Please, please let them play in witch hatsNot that anything's wrong with cat ears.
And while we're about it, would you mind just cutting this out completely: They're really cool, because they're so old. Did you know bands could even be that old? People you've never heard before used to like them. Their remaining shreds are intact, and razor sharp. Pretty random. Maybe Dad would like this. The one person who goes because of this notice is going to expect them to sound like the Ramones. Gimme the money back. From today, if you like something you are its acolyte, like a choirboy. All followers are now acolytes. Shonen Knife has 2,012 acolytes on Twitter.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 30, 2016 4:13:07 GMT -5
Creative finance for tour drummers
The more you break, the more you make. Industriousness. This pays so much better than music. We're not faking, we're *actually* pretending to do this. Probably went to the first person who walked up to them, even before the ink dried.Before the Baltimore show, Naoko recorded a stop-in at Guitar Center for a vocal mic, and a new 16" crash cymbal for the cute & powerful one. Not sure I understand, there's probably a perfectly good spare SM58 at every venue they visit, behind the bar being used to crack ice or something. Sharpie on bronze is hecka attractive, isn't it? It's how you convert a cymbal that's worth 10% of its original value into 200 or 400 percent of the original. What's a 3-way collaborative signed cymbal worth, anyway? Call Sotheby's. 里咲Risa in kanji. File that for New Year's greetings. Someday Risa will meet a Satoe-chan who writes her name the exact same way, because that's just how this name works. Risa's pronunication is a mix of Japanese and Chinese readings for what is basically "place that is your home" plus "blossom or bloom". I can't see what's the matter with the cymbal, so maybe SK simply needed the gas money. Actually there might be a hairline crack starting in one of the lathed grooves. No matter how good your form, the harder you hit them the sooner they break. Risa might be sad to lose this one, because it's got a kind of piecrust crimp around the circumference, and I wonder if that wasn't hammered or pressed in some time well after the Slingerland label went on.
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Post by thegl0r on Oct 30, 2016 21:11:51 GMT -5
And while we're about it, would you mind just cutting this out completely: They're really cool, because they're so old... From today, if you like something you are its acolyte, like a choirboy. All followers are now acolytes. Shonen Knife has 2,012 acolytes on Twitter. Yet another cut and paste listing that doesn't do SK any favours and doesn't do much for the "writer" either. But it fills some space. Pah! Tan's review of that piece was spot on and he's right, it is rather unlikely to help sell many tickets. Whoever threw that piece out into the world really missed out on a chance to put out something a bit more interesting and still reuse the names of dead rock stars. Especially as it is for the venue's Halloween Party. After all, where are dead rock stars like Kurt Cobain and the Ramones going to spend their Halloween? Obviously they'll be haunting a Shonen Knife gig and grinning like skulls. I'm sure there'll also be a Lemmy in There Mix somewhere and any non-dead would also welcome. It'd be really cool to be an acolyte of Shonen Knife. So I guess that an Atsuko designed Mondrian acolyte's robe is winging its way through the postal system.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 31, 2016 22:28:57 GMT -5
Sweets are the other great theme
Delicious 😊❤️❤️❤️❤️💋
Kellogg's® Froot Loops® Breakfast of Rock™
breakfast☀️ Colorful — I didn't know what the flavors were, but when I tried it, it was deliciousーー❤️💛💚💜💙
There's no way she wouldn't realize, right? Naoko and Atsuko would elbow her if it didn't click.
She shouldn't worry, the flavors and colors have very distant relationships to their counterparts in the actual world.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 31, 2016 22:32:19 GMT -5
One day soon to be a podcast at npr.org/sections/world-cafe/archive, maybe. They've had a while to do it, and there's nothing so far… not looking too good. On the other hand, the interviewer might be the only listener who hasn't heard the PBJ story before.
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 31, 2016 23:43:27 GMT -5
Meandering up to New York City… Things that taste like things that are other things entirelyAtsuko's tour blog makes it clear that her interest in junk-food snacks that imitate the flavor of an entire junk-food meal is not accidental. It's a hobby. Just for her, the dentist has cookies'n'cream-flavored tooth polish, and Jelly Belly has jelly beans you can't imagine. There's a piece of Harry Potter you can enjoy on this side of the wall between the worlds. Of course, SK hit every Japanese or Chinese or Thai restaurant they encounter, and the dried emergency rations are stuff like seaweed and pumpkin soup. Day off in the Garden StateNaoko shops at Hot Topic and Macy's, dines at a strip-mall Mexican storefront in New Jersey. They remember malls between tours, and go to the same ones again next time. All the experiences I think are plasticky and not historically representative of the American nation, Shonen Knife enshrines in the tour diary and remembers as My US Tour. Templatized living is something we share with Japan, and every industrialized nation. It's not American per se. Although in a science fiction world that's due any day now, we get individual custom manufacturing instead of mass production. Hang tight.
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Post by tangerinesun on Nov 1, 2016 2:13:35 GMT -5
Trawled through Instagram pretty hard... Stops on the tour to date, my picks. I tried to hold it to 2 per venue; failed. The Casbah, San Diego CAhttp://instagr.am/p/BLT5lYLDB36 http://instagr.am/p/BLMfdQfD3Wt The Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles CAhttp://instagr.am/p/BLNpJleDCfJ http://instagr.am/p/BLNwO12jXm_ DNA Lounge, San Francisco CAhttp://instagr.am/p/BLRRbtBgO3h With Shove Minkhttp://instagr.am/p/BLQNJNMDA9d The Ritz, San Jose CAhttp://instagr.am/p/BLUAqooAwtL http://instagr.am/p/BLS1yTzgi2s http://instagr.am/p/BLU7uEPDWdJ Dante's, Portland ORhttp://instagr.am/p/BLVh4WZlvdT With Hialeah Rosehttp://instagr.am/p/BLVQbP4gtcZ http://instagr.am/p/BLfTovmDjmS The Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA http://instagr.am/p/BLZxDG4BnyE With Ichi Bichihttp://instagr.am/p/BLXzVHlFg1B With Momo and Niehl Bradyhttp://instagr.am/p/BLg9zi0BAdW Monk's, Missoula MThttp://instagr.am/p/BLc_Eo9hNQo http://instagr.am/p/BLc_KjwhquD Pub Station, Billings MThttp://instagr.am/p/BLfianbjChE http://instagr.am/p/BLfa2CtB-6o The Marquis Theater, Denver COhttp://instagr.am/p/BLh7ypYjkdR http://instagr.am/p/BLl25WbAIXt With Ben Katzmanhttp://instagr.am/p/BLrDHLABfr0 http://instagr.am/p/BLj-XcxB320 The Record Bar, Kansas City MOhttp://instagr.am/p/BLpceg9h7AQ http://instagr.am/p/BLnGuvZA1QP The Firebird, St. Louis MOhttp://instagr.am/p/BLqzHUYAKm3 http://instagr.am/p/BLpdmjslIlA The Live Wire Lounge, Chicago ILhttp://instagr.am/p/BLsianbAn6m With Nikki Beller and Mystery Actionshttp://instagr.am/p/BLtrcx7gagO http://instagr.am/p/BLu922PgUVe http://instagr.am/p/BLvm1AYhkCy The Turf Club, St. Paul MNhttp://instagr.am/p/BLxk-MljBDa http://instagr.am/p/BLy3YlwDWWH http://instagr.am/p/BLxV8zeB21T The Ace of Cups, Columbus OHhttp://instagr.am/p/BL2oVmjhOXa http://instagr.am/p/BL30EUIANkP Radio Radio, Indianapolis INhttp://instagr.am/p/BL5D4wEhWSL http://instagr.am/p/BL5MULpBoyy Snug Harbor, Charlotte NChttp://instagr.am/p/BMBC9v4jnZZ http://instagr.am/p/BMBDgXJgBI9 http://instagr.am/p/BMArU7-j4HE The Pinhook, Durham NChttp://instagr.am/p/BMDQ6OPBUzE http://instagr.am/p/BMDRFZuBrvj Strange Matter, Richmond VAhttp://instagr.am/p/BMHEc4qAYRx http://instagr.am/p/BMHHnsij5Qe http://instagr.am/p/BMGFruRDXDQ With Margaret Perkowski & friendhttp://instagr.am/p/BMGDSudAftw Ottobar, Baltimore MDhttp://instagr.am/p/BMJr7YgAgx8 http://instagr.am/p/BMI04NKBH-R Milkboy, Philadelphia PAhttp://instagr.am/p/BMLEv4HjJgi http://instagr.am/p/BMMu6uBAR9C The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn NYhttp://instagr.am/p/BMQNm1kBBXA http://instagr.am/p/BMQURiGgM3S http://instagr.am/p/BMQYMIflYwy With Danielle The Thrill HoI believe Accounting will show that's 22 venues, and October's over.
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Post by lazybone712 on Nov 1, 2016 22:58:38 GMT -5
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