Sushi Mommy Ray?

March 13, 2008 1:48 PM

(Yayoi) Tsushima, a bassist; Ma(ri), a guitarist; Mi(zue), a drummer. Mix 'em up (mamire) and you get Tshusimamire or Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re or TSMMR or つしまみれ, infamous and rocking female Japanese combo. The real deal -- good singing and playing in tight arrangements that turn on a dime, mixing surf, psychobilly, funk, grunge, traditional Japanese melodies, and more.

Info
Official site (I will admit to being completely out of my depth with the Japanese text.)
Nippop site
Wikipedia article
Interview (text) on Go Morning
Interview (text) on Keikaku
Another Interview (text) on Keikaku
And yet another interview (text)
A useful fan page

Music Forecast site (Japanese) with downloads and such
English Myspace Page w/downloads
Japanese Myspace Page w/downloads
Last.fm

Youtube videos
Animated video for つしまみれ "エアコンのリモコン(Air Control Remote Control )

Sound and visuals vary in the following, but are generally pretty good, as are the performances. Sorry I didn't get everything IDed and translated.

Live 16-feb-2007 at Heaven's Door, Sangenjaya, Tokyo, Japan
Sakuranboi (Stupid Ex-boyfriend)
いいテンポです
つしまみれ "エアコンのリモコン (Air Control Remote Control )
マンホール (Manhole)
Get your mind out of the gutter -- and into the sewers. What diabolical forces live there?
キューピー、ビューティー、キューティー (Cutie Beauty Kewpie)
バカ元カレー
脳味噌ショートケーキ

Live 23-sep-2006 at Anime Weekend, Atlanta, Georgia
"うめうまいタネデカイ (Umeboshi plums have big seeds)
?いいテンポです
エアコンのリモコン (Air Control Remote Control)
ママのうた(Mama No Uta)
????? and ランジェリーショップ (Lingerie Shop)
脳みそショートケーキ (No Miso Shortcake) and おちゃっすか (Teatime Ska)
In the former, we are invited to eat the singer's brain. In the latter, a love triangle of sorts between a boy, a girl, and her father. Tea is involved. Mari does some cookie monster vocals while in the role of the father.
Band members say hello on Countdown and close with the Tsushimomire salute.

posted by Herodios (27 comments total)

Annoying. Really annoying.
posted by unSane at 2:03 PM on March 13

They're all over the place. For every song that made me want to choke someone, there was one that was really catchy.
posted by goatdog at 2:07 PM on March 13

God, how irritating. The day that Japan produces a singer that doesn't sound like a petulant 3 year old at the end of a 4 hour shopping spree is the day I may actually be able to listen to some of their music for longer than 10 seconds.

I mean, they're interesting and all that, but OW-MY-FUCKING-EARS-AND-WHY-ARE-DOGS-BARKING?
posted by Brockles at 2:16 PM on March 13

Me, I like 'em, at least on the basis of "Air Control Remote Control" (eYA kontora rimot kontora!). Psychoperky!

Listening to いいテンポです (second live cut) now: wonder if they've been listening to Cap'n Beefheart? (Bulbous, also tapered!)
posted by languagehat at 2:17 PM on March 13

Thanks for this. I'd never heard of this band, but they sound like they're worth checking out. The wife loves J-rock and -pop.
posted by owtytrof at 2:20 PM on March 13

Remote Control is quite a bit more poppy and repetitive, and less dark sounding, than the bulk of their tunes, but it was a studio recording that I could link directly to, and shows the crisp sound that all the studio tracks I've heard have had.

I didn't think about Beefheart, but yeah I suppose so. I also hear RHCP and Primus, and 1980's psychobilly and neo-surf. Thanks for "psychoperky", that might be an apt neologism here.
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posted by Herodios at 3:18 PM on March 13

Wow, I'm liking it so far. The "Stupid Ex-boyfriend" live clip sounds something like The Raincoats to me. Onto more. It's like a poppier OOIOO (I don't pretend to know much of anything about J-pop or J-rock, but I really like OOIOO and probably wouldn't have known much about them without the Boredoms connection). Thanks for posting this.
posted by sleepy pete at 3:20 PM on March 13

Please eat my brain short caaaaaake!

I love live music, the experience of being surrounded by a wall of incredible sound. I wish I'd been at those gigs. Those youtube vids certainly don't do them justice at all. I think they're great.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 3:22 PM on March 13

I saw this band musta been 2 years ago in LA -- maybe the recordings don't do it justice, because I immensely enjoyed the live show. They had a sense of humor and engaged the audience, and the music came across very well, a very big, thick sound.
posted by thedaniel at 4:05 PM on March 13

Awesome awesome awesome - thank you!
posted by Ira.metafilter at 4:09 PM on March 13

That's some serious linkage, Herodios. Nice work!

I recently caught a live show by a band out of Tokyo called Core of Bells, and they are absolutely dangerous. Purveyors of super-high-energy, precision-bent, damaged grooves. Though these clips really don't do the group justice (sound and visual aren't great, plus you really gotta be there) I think they're worth a look:

core of bells live.
core of bells "キャラメル弁慶".
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:23 PM on March 13

Oh, and seconding sleepy pete's recommendation of OOIOO. They're great. Go see 'em if they come through your town!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:30 PM on March 13

I love all those bands on the Benten label. They usually tour every year with about 5 or 6 of those bands traveling together. Lots of fun and good energy. My faves were Lolita no. 18 but most of the other ones are great too.
posted by cazoo at 4:39 PM on March 13

Love Tsushimamire. Caught them in a little bar in cambridge with out knowing who they where and was blown away. The song Manhole is what I always play for people to try and sell them on the band.
posted by subtle_squid at 4:55 PM on March 13

Never seen the group live myself, but I agree that single-handheld camera YT vids can't adeequately capture the experience of a good live band. I got the impression that they were pretty good at the engaging the audience and such -- happy to have it confirmed by those who've seen them.

My favourite tracks (today) are Big Seeds, Lingerie Shop, Manhole, Tea time Ska, and Kedama Boogie off the Pregnant Fantasy album.

I'll definitely be checking out these other j-pop bands. That core of bells live bit is seriously twisted.
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posted by Herodios at 5:23 PM on March 13

I had the chance to see Tsushimamire a couple years ago at Anime Central. They completely rocked the house. I was able to get my picture taken with them, which was a bonus.
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:28 PM on March 13

Sakuranboi's good. Thanks!
posted by ersatz at 6:42 PM on March 13

ah man. i saw Countdown and got all excited.
posted by Frasermoo at 7:24 PM on March 13

They're no 5,6,7,8's, but they're pretty cool.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:50 PM on March 13

No. Fortunately for all concerned they are not. It would be impossible to understate how much I prefer The Ikettes take on the Gong Gong Song.

I wonder if Tarantino detuned her guitar and wrecked the tone personally.
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posted by Herodios at 6:12 AM on March 14

I saw them at SXSW in 2004 (I believe), and they put on a good show. As far as Japanese girl punk bands go, Tsu*Shi*Ma*Mi*Re are more interesting than most (Titan Go Kings annoyed me, and I don't get the appeal of noodles or even Petty Booka, for that matter.) They still don't fall very far from the Shonen Knife family tree. Benten's Audrey Kimura really knows how to mine that sound, but sometimes I wish there were more range.

Brockles: UA and Cocco don't sound like petulant 3-year-olds to me.

(flapjax at midnite plays on track 10 of the UA link.)
posted by NemesisVex at 6:48 AM on March 14

Fix that. f@m is on track 9.
posted by NemesisVex at 6:48 AM on March 14

Nvex: There are vids of this show on Youtube, but I didn't link to them because they were inferior. Vertiginous.

And thanx for those UA and Cocco links!

Flapjax: Nice. V-drums?
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posted by Herodios at 7:40 AM on March 14

I just wanted to say that after I posted I realized I thought they sounded like two all-girl bands. This makes me feel strange and wonder if my subconscious has problems. Not that you should care... but I do.
posted by sleepy pete at 11:38 AM on March 14

Saw them live opening for the Suicide Girls tour last year. The bassist really goes off when playing live. She was the most interesting part of the performance. Well, aside from the boobies jiggling around for the Suicide Girls act...
posted by daq at 12:58 PM on March 14

Flapjax: Nice. V-drums?

No, just standard acoustic drum kit. Twin drummers, though. I'm hard panned to the right channel, and drummer Yoshigaki Yasuhiro (member of ROVO) is on the left. And hey, NemesisVex, thanks for the little shoutout there. I'm also on one track from a prior UA release, called Sun. I think she's a fine singer and has a very adventurous artistic spirit.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:21 AM on March 15

Ah. Maybe I heard it as v-drums cuz they're recorded so dry. I'll have to give this a few more listens on real speakers.
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posted by Herodios at 7:05 AM on March 15