Amateur Hour — Takashi Murakami and the Uses of Failure
Bad filmmaking and Superflat theory turn out to be remarkably difficult to tell apart.
Japan
Katsumasa Kusunose Photographs the Vanishing World of Japan's Jazz Kissa
The Japanese writer and photographer has visited roughly four hundred jazz kissa over fifty years; his book 'Jazz Kissa' is a record of what remains, assembled from dim rooms, Altec A7 speakers, and the silences between tracks.
The Life of the Podium — Miho Hazama's 'Frames'
While composing 'Frames,' her third album with the Danish Radio Big Band, Miho Hazama lost her mentor Jim McNeely — and his absence, folded into the absorbed idioms of six other former conductors, became part of the music.
Into Entropy, Together — Dunkelman and Koketsu's 'Veins of Rain'
'Veins of Rain' was recorded the day percussionist Nava Dunkelman and alto saxophonist Masayo Koketsu first met, and their conversation about the album's friction, negative space, and a surprise session with Tim Berne reveals a shared indifference to scenes, lineage, and the past.
The Unboxed Television — Yasujirō Ozu's Post-War Vision of Consumerism
In his 1959 comedy 'Good Morning,' Ozu captures the precise moment when Japanese families confronted their first screens, revealing how the promises of connection through technology often deliver isolation instead.
The Yōkai in the Yard — Brain Damage's Post-Dub Pivot
Martin Nathan's 'Oide Oide' pairs Japanese supernatural creatures with experimental compositions, featuring collaborator Emiko Ota and dub legend Mad Professor in a project that redefines what dub music can become.
Dirt in the Machine — Hiroki Chiba Joins Hinode Tapes for 'Ita'
Piotr Kaliński explains why the Polish trio's third album required expensive tape, cheap equipment, and a Japanese bassist who could read minds from thousands of miles away.
Focused Technology—The Deliberate Practice of Craig Mod
Discussing his latest work, 'Things Become Other Things,' the writer and photographer reveals how walking thousands of kilometers across Japan generates the mental space where his ideas develop.
RuinsZu — The Precise Collision of Ruins and Zu
Italian bass, Japanese drums, and a rambunctious musical mindset brought together Zu and Tatsuya Yoshida for twenty-three electrifying European shows, culminating in their Jazzisdead Festival performance captured on a new live album.