Messing about @ The Love Joint

Here's another mix I made last week messing about @ the Love Joint in Tokyo. It is good house music, with a technoish feel. If you want to hear it, you can download it here

Please don't forget to leave a comment.


Mucho.Sugoi Live@The Love Joint 2009

Josh Wink - Judson & popular st.
Deadbeat - Deep structure
Catz'n Dogs - Sunset in the east
Dop - Romeo ft. Noze
The Armaberokay - The hype (Marc Schneider and Ralf Schmidt Remix)
Marshall Jefferson - Mushrooms (Justin martin Remix)
Radio 4 - Dance to the underground (Playgroup Remix)
Vicarious Bliss - Theme From Vicarious Bliss (Lifelike Goes To Disco Remix)
Herbert - Moving like a train (Smith N Hack Mix)
Marc Houle - Bay of figs
Plastikman - Plasticity
Dennis Ferrer - Son of raw
Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Luchttoorn
Kink & Neville Watson - Inside out (Original Mix)

Heartbeat

This is a funky disco mix I did sometimes ago at The Love Joint. Is by no means the ultimate disco compilation you will find on the net, but I had some fun while doing it, the crowd had fun dancing it, and I hope you can have some fun while listening to it.
That is if you want to listen to it. And if you do, you can download it here
And if you download it, please don't forget to leave a comment.

Mucho.Sugoi - Funky Disco Beat - Live@The Love Joint 2009

Kurtis Blow - The breaks
Don Blackman - Yabba dabba doo
Sharon Redd - You got my love (extended)
Jackson Sisters - I believe in miracles (Simon Harris remix)
T Sky Valley - Catch the beat
Bah Samba - Let the drum speak
George Benson - Give me the night
Sybil Thomas - Rescue me
Bobby Womack - Tell me why
Brenda Taylor - You can't have your cake and eat it too
KC Sunshine Band - Boogie (Wade Nichols edit)
Patrice Rushen - Forget me nots (12inch version)
Cheryl Lynn - Got to be real
Chas Jankel - Glad to know you (Disconet Re-edit)
Geraldine Hunt - Can't fake the feeling
Shirley Lites - Heat you up (Melt you down)

Happy gypsies

I found this great blog of Italian music called Il Golpe e l'uva and on it I found one of the albums I grew up with, so since all my vinyl is in Italy and I am in Japan, I downloaded it. It was beautifully strange this morning traveling on the Chūō Line while listening to Claudio Lolli on my Ipod.

This album was released in 1976, I was 9 years old. One of my brothers brought it home, and despite of it's sad, melancholic mood, I loved it immediately. So with Fabrizio De Andre, Francesco De Gregori and a few others, Claudio Lolli also contributed to make me the person I am now. The album is very much a singer-songwriter effort, in the strict Italian tradition, however it contains some elements of Jazz-Rock, a sometimes too exuberant Sax and some interesting lyrics (in Italian). Nevertheless, I love it, as it is very much part of my upbringing.

If you're interested you can download it here:

Claudio Lolli: Ho Visto Anche Degli Zingari Felici (EMI, 1976)

Many thanks to the Blog Il golpe e l'uva (A Beethoven e Sinatra preferisco l'insalata) and to the Blogger running it.

Native my ass

English grammar is a piece of cake. In Japan kids study English grammar for 8 years, but when they are asked to Speak English they have a real struggle. Probably because the public school curriculum focus on grammar, listening and reading rather than talking. It's strange. So we have millions of English School. However, considering the level of spoken English by Japanese people, I can't help wondering how good and effective is the English thought in this myriad of English schools.
Personally I believe that only those people lucky enough to start learning English from a very early age, will achieve a considerably good pronunciation, the rest unfortunately have to settle for a mediocre pronunciation. But is it really unfortunate? Well actually no. Language is a mean of communication, so as long as you understand and are understood, it should be fine. Take England or the US for example. How many people do really have a Queen's English pronunciation? How many people speak a grammatically exemplar English? How many people have an English pronunciation free of regional inflections?
And who gives a toss anyway.
Does a businessman from India have a diminished value because of his accent? Does he have a minor impact in the industry or sector in which he operates? Of course not. But English schools in Japan still sell the idea of a perfect English. Have a look on the website of one of the leading English schools in Japan and you will find things like "the pronunciation and usage you learn is just what you'd hear in the home country of your new language" So if what they are selling is a language and not a cultural experience then the home country of English is England or am I wrong? The reality is that in Japan many schools are literally "taking the piss". And what's worse, is that they will only employ "Native Speakers". So they rather have in their books an ex truck driver from Arizona, improvised English teacher by exigence than European who speaks an excellent level of English as well as two or three other languages. But why? If you think about it, a non native speaker, able to speak three or more languages is probably much more aware of grammatical issues than a native speaker only able to speak English. Furthermore, if it is true that we learn from experience, doesn't a person who has learned more languages have more experience in the matter? I suppose the need of native speakers is just fulfilling the demand of the market. So who should I blame for my struggle to find employment as an English teacher in Tokyo? I am not sure, possibly globalization, or American TV, or Starbucks. After all Japan is the home to some of the best animation in the world but Japanese people love to go to Disney world. That speaks for itself.
So I should blame Mikey Mouse.
Ah, screw it, this post is way too serious. Enjoy Golden Eggs instead.

irashaimasse konbanwa

One of the things you will immediately notice upon arriving in Japan is that everywhere you go, whichever place, shop or office you enter, you are welcomed with "irashaimasse". Initially it sounds great. Wow, so much education, so much attention to the client, such a good level of service. But soon you realize that it is just a formula which workers (especially in shops and restaurants) will repeat indefinitely as long as someone walks through the door. In reality they don't care about you, they have been told from above that that's the way to welcome guests, and so they do. Irashaimasse konbanwa. Enter a restaurant where 5 waiters are attending, and you will hear it 5 times in the space of a few seconds.

We are the robots springs to mind!


But settle down, as I said, they don't really care about you. You realize that straight after, as they come to your table and recite another formula, always with a good smile or polite manner, but strictly no eyes contact, they just say what they have to say and walk off. Whether you understand or not is not their concern, their concern is to say what they have been told to say.
If you don't understand it's your own fault for not speaking Japanese you smuck.