2017 13 songs Length: 51:16 Available to buy on CD or digital download Derrick Anderson has been around. Previously a member of 1990’s power pop band The Andersons!, Los- Angeles based Anderson is the current bassist for The Bangles and has toured and recorded with The Kinks’ Dave Davies, The Smithereens and Matthew Sweet, among others. It’s no surprise then that Anderson’s debut album, ‘A World of My Own’ is a power pop dream. Crunchy, guitar-driven songs with strong melodies, catchy hooks and happy harmonies. Anderson has a smooth voice too. The complete package puts this album up there with anything by Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet or The Smithereens. The album starts strong with the opening track ‘Send Me Down a Sign.’ Energetic with an infectious hook, it could easily be a Teenage Fanclub song. ‘Phyllis & Sharon’ has the same kind of energy with powerful guitar riffs, and I’d challenge anybody to keep their foot still through the entirety of either song. ‘Happiness’ instantly made me think of Matthew Sweet, who it turns out plays guitar on the track. Sweet is not the only guest star on the album either, with The Smithereens featuring on the sweet sounding, dreamy ‘Waiting For You’ and also ‘Send Me Down a Sign’. Debbi and Vicki Peterson from The Bangles, and The Muffs’ Kim Shattuck backup Anderson on ‘When I Was Your Man’ with indie pop style jangly guitars, hand claps and backing vocals. The Bangles frontwoman, Susanna Hoffs joins the Peterson sisters for backup vocals on the lilting lullabies ‘Something New’ and ‘Spring.’ Anderson’s debut, although unashamedly power pop, is not limited to one sound. ‘You Don’t Have to Hurt No More’ is tinged with funk and ‘A Mother’s Love’ sounds like 1960’s bubblegum pop. Anderson really rocks out too; with pounding drums and driving guitars on ‘Checking Out’ and the stand out classic rock and roll track ‘Stop Messin’ About’, which is reminiscent of Little Richard. To top it all off, Anderson closes the album with a mind blowing, psychedelic blues rock version of the Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’. ‘A World of My Own’ showcases Anderson’s many talents as a songwriter and musician, not least of all his knack for blues, psychedelic and classic rock and roll. It’s also a quintessential power pop album. If power pop is your thing (and it’s definitely mine), you need ‘A World of My Own’ in your life.
Recently I was lucky enough to visit the Land of the Rising Sun. I had an amazing time taking in all the sights and sounds of Tokyo, touring Nagano Prefecture, and making the treacherous, snow covered climb to Jigokudani Monkey Park to see the snow monkeys in the hot springs.
Aaaaaaand….. I went record shopping!!!!!! It was so much fun digging through records I had no idea about (aside from the fact they were helpfully organised by genre in English). I was a little hesitant at first, but my husband convinced me that buying a bunch of Japanese records without any prior knowledge would be a wild and funky ride when we finally got home and listened to them.
As it turns out, he was right! Not one of the records we took a punt on was a dud. And some of them rocked my world. So I’ve made a list of my favourites.
‘Jump Up’ and ‘Futurama’ were the last (and most expensive) records we bought on our trip. They were also the only ones that weren’t second hand. We bought them from a Disk Union store in Ochanomizu, Tokyo. Disk Union is kind of like JB HI-FI with stores in multiple locations, except they sell second hand records as well as new ones, and there are specialist Disk Union stores, like the Shinjuku Soul/Blues Hall and the Ochanomizu Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Building.
Supercar were a Japanese rock band, active from 1995 to 2005, and their first three albums had recently been issued on vinyl for the first time. The covers are very bright and caught my eye. I’ll admit I cheated a little here. I didn’t want to spend up big on a couple of fancy looking records and take them home only to find out that they weren’t my bag. Disk Union had a bunch of copies of both albums, so that night back at the hotel, I looked them up on YouTube and listened to a few of their songs. I’m so glad I did! They made awesome 90’s shoegazing, electro, indie rock that blew me away. I’m a fan of Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, so Supercar are totally my thing. The next day we headed back to Disk Union, and it’s lucky we did because we picked up the last two copies that were left. Phew!
I picked up ‘Tiny Bubbles’ in a Cash Converters type store in Ueno, Tokyo for 300 JPY (roughly $3 AUD). ‘What the hell,’ I figured, ‘ there’s a cat on the cover and if it turns out to be crappy, it was only three bucks.’ Later on we saw the same record hanging on the wall at Disk Union. ‘That’s got to be a sign,’ said my husband. ‘It’s either really good, or really cheesy.’ We found out afterwards from a Japanese friend of ours that Southern All Stars were huge in Japan. They formed in 1974 and were active through to 2008. They have since reformed in 2013. ‘Tiny Bubbles’ is a fantastic funky, jazz rock album with a 1970’s sound that made me think of Supertramp. It was definitely a $3 gamble that paid off big time.
‘Electric Moon’ was a recommendation from the super helpful guy working at Good Times , a record shop in Nagano. I was buying a Pet Shop Boys record (I know, I know… I didn’t just buy Japanese records!) and asked for suggestions of Japanese bands that were similar. His English wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad and was much better than my Japanese, and between the two of us and my husband, we managed to come up with some options for 1980’s Japanese indie rock and 1990’s Japanese punk. The 80’s stuff was cheaper, so we settled on a couple of those. One had a 1980’s hair band sound with a cool frontwoman (awesome!) and the other was Der Zibet’s ‘Electric Moon,’ which is classic, 80’s electro, new romantic, like Spandau Ballet or Adam and the Ants.
Hajime Tachibana was the guitarist in the short-lived but highly regarded Japanese new wave band The Plastics in the late 1970s - early 1980s. After the band broke up, he released several solo albums. ‘Low Powers’ was the only album he released with the band, Low Powers. The album, ‘Low Powers’ is mellow, lo-fi, 90’s indie rock and has a great version of the Beatles’ ‘Eight Days a Week’. I found this gem while flicking through the Japanese 90s indie rock section at Coconuts Disk in Ekoda, Tokyo.
Okay, so this is not a record or even an album… it’s a CD single. I’m including it though, because every record and music store we went to, we were specifically looking for anything by Yura Yura Teikoku and this was the ONLY THING WE COULD FIND!!! Yura Yura Teikoku is a Japanese psychedelic rock band that was active from 1989 - 2010 and fronted by Shintaro Sakamoto. My husband and I first heard about them after buying Shintaro Sakamoto’sdebut solo album ‘How To Live With A Phantom,’ which is now one of the most played records in our house. It’s like the best, most interesting lounge music I have ever heard! We wouldn’t normally buy a CD single, but made an exception in this case because we were so excited to find it. And to be fair, it has two songs that are both over 7 and 9 minutes long respectively. Also, it’s pretty freaking cool.
I want to give a special mention to Blankey Jet City. Sadly, I discovered them too late to buy any of their music, but they are the Japan’s answer to The Strokes… except they formed eleven years before The Strokes were even a band. So, I guess The Strokes is North America’s answer to Blankey Jet City. You totally rock, Japan!
