(no subject)

[miko2]

Today's Song: Buddha's Face by Shonen Knife

So I was talking about Shonen Knife while discussing Chinese girl-group Hang on the Box, and it occurred to me that I haven't featured them as a song of the day before.

I could name literally dozens of Shonen Knife songs that rank among my favorites, so probably the best route to take is to see what videos are available on Youtube, and pick one of them.

Now, the sad part is... all of their very early eps and albums are available on iTunes, as is their most recent -- but the bulk of their catalog, including all of their major label releases and most of what came after that, is not. So I had to decide -- am I picking a song from their recent cd Genki Shock, or am I just picking a song I like, whether it's available for download or not?

In the end, however, I've always liked the over-the-top Black Sabbath-style heavy riffing that forms the verse parts of Buddha's Face -- probably the closest the band ever comes to heavy metal, and then they hit the chorus and it's a fast-paced indie/punk song again. I got to see them perform this song in concert and it was a blast. ^_^ (And the sad part about doing this online research on Shonen Knife? Some of the best concert videos on Youtube are from a December 2007 concert in Vancouver BC -- I bet they hit Seattle too, only a month or so ago. Darn it!)

Anyway it's fun to see these Japanese women rocking out with tough Black Sabbath riffs in their very non-metal glitter dresses. What a great, goofy band. As one person commented, this is just about the only song of theirs that deals with death and decay -- but it does it in such a cute way. ^_^ "Big rat went to die, because he's fat!" Ooh, scary!

The video for this is taken from Blast Off!, a Shonen Knife concert video that you can order through CD-Japan. I haven't done that yet, but now I'm considering it. And while I'm at it, here's a bunch of their other videos (the last two, S-P-A-M and Anime Phenomenon, actually come from Genki Shock and can be found on iTunes).

Some of these videos are quite goofy.

Shonen Knife - Buddha's Face
Shonen Knife - Wind Your Spring
Shonen Knife - Tomato Head
Shonen Knife - ESP
Shonen Knife - S-P-A-M
Shonen Knife - Anime Phenomenon (live in Vancouer BC Dec 2007)