Music on Rambling Record

PUNKSPRING 2025

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aptly named PUNKSPRING festival is held every spring and features punk rock bands.

This year, the event was initially scheduled to take place at the Osaka Intex (mentioned here), but it was ultimately moved to the Dojima River Forum. Located right in the middle of the city, it’s surrounded by shops and offers several transportation options. The festival team apologized for the inconvenience, but honestly, we lucked out!

The 2025 lineup – Source:

Sound Retrospective: 2024

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

26 605 min total listening duration that’s 440 hours, or 18 days

2549 different tracks of which 1765 discovered

1191 different artists

Top 5 tracks

#5 – Backseat Serenade // All Time Low

#4 – Dear Maria, Count Me In // All Time Low

#3 – Weightless // All Time Low

All Time Low at the Gorilla Hall

Thu, 09 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Gorilla Hall is a fairly new concert venue. It’s not huge, but it’s well designed: there are two bars, lockers, and a second floor with a balcony overlooking the stage.

The band starts at the scheduled time – 7 p.m. There is no opening act, and I’m glad not to fall into the same trap as last time. They move quickly through their set without lengthy speeches. The sound is pretty good, although I found the drums a bit too noticeable. The show ends at 8:30 p.m., giving plenty of time to eat in the neighborhood before heading back to Kyoto.

Sum41 at the Osaka Intex

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Sum41 will soon cease to exist and their final tour is underway. The band is coming to Osaka for their last date in Japan.

I arrive at the Osaka Intex around 3:30 p.m. after a 2-hour journey. It is a complex of halls that isn’t very cheerful: large and clean but quite cold. The hall 5 used for the concert resembles more of a warehouse than anything else. Barriers laid out on the floor separate the audience into about ten groups. 2-meter-wide aisles are kept empty between each group. For security reasons, I suppose, but it’s weird.

Back to the Live House Gattaca

Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I met Take-san at a meetup once month ago. He is one of the guitarist from Ninefall, a rock band based in Kyoto. And they are playing tonight at the Live House Gattaca!

Source: http://kyoto-gattaca.jp/info/index.html

I get there just a few minutes before the show. I meet with Take-san and we have a drink. The first of the six bands planned for the night starts playing.

Source: http://kyoto-gattaca.jp/schedule/2023/12.html

The venue has not gotten bigger since the last time, but the conditions are still top notch: not too crowded, very good sound, and artists are really close. Ninefall is up next. I already know “Zanka”, and I discover their other titles which are just as efficient.

Sound Retrospective: 2023

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

57 512 min total listening duration that’s 960 hours, or 40 days

2875 different tracks of which 2317 discovered

1333 different artists

Top 5 tracks

#5 – Coffee At Midnight // Stand Atlantic , played 347 times

#4 – All I Want // A Day To Remember , played 408 times

#3 – Late Nights In My Car // Real Friends , played 409 times

TOTALFAT live

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Ahh… TOTALFAT. The only Japanese band that I have been listening to on a regular basis for several years now. I found them because one of their title served as one of the endings of an anime I was watching (Place to Try, in Naruto Shippuden). This band offers the sweet balance between the punchy beats from NOFX and catchy melodies from calmer bands.

Anyway… The improvised concert from last Sunday (see this post) left made me want for more. So, early this week, I have a look at the next events in Kyoto, and I casually check the website of TOTALFAT, just in case. The stars align and I see that they are to come to Osaka this Sunday! I try to book a ticket but it looks a bit complex… this will be a task for the next day.

Going with the flow

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This Sunday I go to a meetup at the Kyoto Laundry Cafe. It’s a bit crowded, there are one or two Frenchmen and a few French-speaking Japanese who seem happy to practice. Other expats as well. People of all ages.

I talk to a Japanese guy who I met yesterday in another meetup… Yesterday again, two locals told me about foreigners working at my company, who I had met the week before… I have the feeling that the expat community and its supporters is a small world. Maybe there’s more people in Osaka ?

We Love Green

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It’s music festivals season. This year starts with We Love Green at Bois de Vincennes. My friends and I choose to go there on sunday, mainly to check on Bon Iver.

Source: https://www.welovegreen.fr/?lang=en

The place is welcoming but a bit more of shadow would not hurt. Multiple stages are set around the central field. There are stands for food, drinks, water fountains. Looks good to me.

Where is Waldo ?