Shonen Knife Get Charitable for Christmas

Osaka’s premier all girl punk-rock unit Shonen Knife welcomes in the season of goodwill with a brand new festive single, and a rare charity auction that hopes to raise plenty of cash on behalf the Japanese Red Cross Earthquake and Tsunami fund.

The threesome’s 2011 Christmas single ‘Sweet Christmas’ is available now across the UK digitally via iTunes UK, Amazon.co.uk and Play.com, as well as a limited edition 7″ white vinyl from HMV or directly from the group’s European label and management; Damnably. The single contains the title track, plus the girls’ cover of ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’, and an acoustic version of ‘Sweet Christmas’.

Damnably has also teamed up with Shonen Knife to offer one lucky bidder the chance to own rare Shonen swag, including their Osaka Ramones (faux) leather jackets, a selection of CDs, merchandise and more! The auction is now live from today until Christmas and can be viewed by clicking here.

The auction includes:

• 3x signed ‘Osaka Ramones’ faux leather jackets – as worn by the band at their only European Osaka Ramones concert at The Brixton Windmill on 8 Sep 2011.
• 1x Shonen Knife’s Osaka Ramones album.
• 1x Shonen Knife’s Free Time album.
• 1x Shonen Knife’s Super Group album.
• 3x Shonen Knife London concert postcards.
• 1x Shonen Knife London concert A3 poster.
• 5x Shonen Knife stickets.
• 1x Test pressing of Shonen Knife’s Sweet Christmas single (one of only six in the world, the others belonging to the band and Damnably).
• 1x Physical actual copy of Sweet Christmas.

Happy bidding, and spread the word!

Japan Underground: Cinema All Dayer

Where: Bloomsbury Lanes, Bedford Way, London, WC1H 9EU. [map]
When: Saturday 3 September 2011.
Cinema Tickets: Free (first come, first served)
Music Club Night Tickets: £8
The Facebook event page: [click here]

On 8 August the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield burnt down during the London riots. Over 1.5 million CDs were lost, stock of more than 150 indie record labels destroyed. It also affected the film industry with a number of indie film labels losing their entire stock as well, including two of our personal favourite film companies; Third Window Films (publishers of Confessions, Kamikaze Girls and our resident DJ’s favourite film of 2009, Love Exposure) and Terracotta Distribution (Big Tits Zombie, Breathless). Originally we wanted to pull of a fundraising show for these companies, but after discussions with the labels, the most important thing to their continued survival is awareness of their products. So! We’ll be doing just that by presenting a day full of fantastic Asian films, screened entirely for free at Bloomsbury Lanes‘ cinema in the heart of London on Saturday 3 September. At the moment two films are confirmed. This page will be updated when the remaining screening slots are secured.

From 3pm: Fish Story (Third Window Films)
Based on a novel by Kotaro Isaka, Fish Story weaves together several seemingly separate storylines taking place at different points in time over a 37-year span to explain how a little-known punk rock song can save the world.

From 5:30pm: Red Light Revolution (Terracotta Distribution) 
China’s first sex shop comedy follows an unemployed Beijinger who risks it all to open an adult store, sparking a sexual revolution in his conservative neighbourhood.

Japan Underground [London]
As evening kicks in on 3 September, our notorious Japanese music club night will kick off in the venue’s Kingpin-suite from 7pm until 3am. On top of DJ sets featuring some of the biggest, most exciting tracks to emerge from Japan’s electronic, rock, indie and visual kei scenes, it will also play host to a special live performance from the Japanese pop-rock group Unshin, who will be launching their debut album ‘Waltz for Broken Dollsat’ at the event. For more information on what to expect at our club night, see our entry here.

Japan, We’ve Not Forgotten You – Jpop Charity Concert

From left to right: Naomi Suzuki, Ayako Nakanomori, Yuki Koyanagi and Mari Natsuki.

Four chart topping Japanese pop musicians, amongst other big names, will make a rare appearance in London on Tuesday 28^th June 2011. They will perform at a charity concert held at McQueen in Shoreditch which aims to send further financial aid to Japan, while also offering encouragement not only to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami, but also to Japanese in England and across the world.

The pop artists are; Naomi Suzuki, an actress, singer and presenter from Japan who is also co-ordinating the event; Ayako Nakanomori, the former vocalist of NAKANOMORI BAND, one of Japan’s most successful girl-groups; the multi-million selling pop artist Yuki Koyanagi; and singer, actress (Spirited Away, Metal Gear Solid) and two time Japanese Academy Award nominee Mari Natsuki.

“I hope that bringing these world famous artists together will send encouragement to the victims in Japan. It will show them that there are people from all over the world who are caring and supporting Japan,” states Suzuki.

The four will perform separately on the night, and unite to form a special unit to sing the charity single ‘HOME’, the CD of which will be given away free with every ticket. The lyrics to this song were partly composed over Twitter between Suzuki and a victim who had lost his house in the tsunami. “His words captured the feelings of the people affected in a way I never could,” says Suzuki. “We are together, no matter how far we are apart.” The story caught the attention of the Japanese media.

Additional to big four Japanese pop singers will be award winning violinist Diana Yukawa, who will open the event. Her debut album entered the charts at number one in Japan and she recently supported classical Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins at Cheltenham Racecourse.

And if that’s not enough, the backing band is also full of world renowned musicians, including Simply Red guitarist Kenji Suzuki, Grammy Award winner Simon Hale, and perhaps Japan’s most recognised percussionist, Nobu Saito.

Tickets are on sale now for £12 (http://www.wegottickets.com/event/122265).