I told him the same thing.

"I'm not going for accuracy here. The Monster Mash carries the whole thing."

[quote="Jomei"]I told him the same thing.

"I'm not going for accuracy here. The Monster Mash carries the whole thing."[/quote]

I was going to say, the whole thing was just for the Monster Mash.

[quote="Marekenshin"]
You're entitled to your opinion, as always, but I think most people will disagree with the statement "If someone deems them to be good - if anyone deems them to be good - then they are good. Their appeals are simply different."[/quote]

The whole definition of "good" is subjective. There are no objective measures of good which are consistent among all audiences. What is good to one audience, is terrible to another, and vice-versa. The size of the audience something appeals to is [b]completely irrelevant[/b]. I would think that if anyone, you would agree to this Mare (or any pillows fan). If that were the case, then James Blunt and Britney Spears surely outrank Bob Dylan or Dire Straits.

Therefore, if the audience is just one person, or if it is a hundred million people, then the artist/performer/talent should be worthy of the title of "good." The pillows, one of my favorite bands ever, have a pitifully weak audience, but I will steadfastly defend that they are good, no matter what anyone else says.

[quote="sheerheartattack"]The pillows have a pitifully weak audience[/quote]

Compared to who?

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="sheerheartattack"]The pillows have a pitifully weak audience[/quote]

Compared to who?[/quote]

Uh, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Queen, Elton John, Madonna...do you really need a whole list?

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="sheerheartattack"]The pillows have a pitifully weak audience[/quote]

Compared to who?[/quote]

A lot of other better bands in Japan?

It is true that hardly anyone you talk to in Japan knows who they are. Despite that, however, their Lostmen go to the City stop at the Namba Hatch sold out the day the tickets went on sale (much to my chagrin, though now I get to experience a capsule hotel as head to Nagoya this friday to see 'em live!! Holy craps this man is pumped, I just finished watching bubbletown, and am now in the midst of learning sariban ni naritai on the ukulele... this parenthesized rant has become far to long and shall perish.)

Awesome. Be sure to post a review of the show; I'm interested to hear more about Scarecrow or if Sawao has anything to say about leaving King.

Hopefully theyre new american label will release some tshirts in the us that u dont have to buy at a concert or online.

[quote="ILOVEMANABE"]Hopefully theyre new american label will release some tshirts in the us that u dont have to buy at a concert or online.[/quote]

we have no clue whether or not they will have a new american label.

and learn how to spell, please.

Lern 2 capitalyze plz.

I agree with sheerheartattack on the previous argument. But I don't think he clarified well enough that enjoying something =/= make it art. It's hard to, though. I suppose it depends on what your definition of art is. If it's whatever the artist does that you enjoy, then i suppose every single piece of toast he make for you is art. Not that sawao would ever do that.


Also, for those who don't know how record labels work in the smooth running machine that is japan. As I understand from a couple articles on the subject, it's better or more desired to be in the major labels (more money, more options, more advertising, duh), As far as production goes, I can't see the pillows not failing again with it, and the same goes for the music. Unfortunately for Japan, no one has figured out that most bands who get on a major label such as warner or Avex or Toshiba suffer musically from it. I'm pretty sure they are blinded by the higher sales(sparta locals new album?). Sometimes I think Japan are bigger suckers than us. I'm guessing the pillows are going to stick to their tired formula and we'll get my foot vol. 2 next. albeit produced even worse.

[quote="clouds"]Unfortunately for Japan, no one has figured out that most bands who get on a major label such as warner or Avex or Toshiba suffer musically from it. I'm pretty sure they are blinded by the higher sales(sparta locals new album?).[/quote]

That's the scary thing. It would just completely suck if if Avex was like: "Ok, pillows. You guys wanna sell more records? We'll help you. We'll help you like you've never been helped before, with ads, tours, tons of exposure. We can do this for you, but you guys gotta change a little. Dumb it down. Feedback? We don't even know what that is. Cut that out. People don't like it when you stress the vocals Sawao, take it easy. Polish your sound! More production! You don't think Ayumi Hamasaki got where she is by being rough around the edges. People don't need these complex riffs - more powerchords!"

Ok. While I do [i]not[/i] know how Avex works, I can't help thinking that the pillows would stay more unique with a smaller label. With a large label, you're trying to market to a large amount of people. It's easiest to get those peoples' attention if you produce something generic, something "easy" enough for a lot of people to get into.

We don't yet know the [i]why[/i] behind this, or how it will turn out for them. But I'm honestly a little scared about this move. Hell maybe the pillows [i]want[/i] to move in the direction of My Foot. Sigh...

I definitely share your anxiety, but let's not forget that they are on a sublabel, Tearbridge, along with little known rock acts like Good Dog Happy Men and others that I haven't even heard of. In Jun's diary entry he seemed to emphasize freedom and change. This all sounds good, but I'm not sure how much sublabels in Japan are influenced by their parent companies...

hopefully not much

well... depends on who is running the label.


trattoria was pretty au'some...