I Eat Music » Akiko Matsuura

Comanechi – Close Enough To Kiss (Ghost Hunter Remix)

andy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:44:46 +0000

Comanechi release their very good debut album, ‘Crime Of Love’, on 30 Nov via Merok Records – the label famed for discovering the likes of Klaxons and Crystal Castles. Packed full of blistering garage rock songs, the album was, it has been claimed, completed after the band (singer/drummer Akiko Matsuura and guitarist Simon Petrovitch) snuck into a studio being used by Chris De Burgh one weekend while no one was looking and recorded the last three tracks.

If you want an idea of what it might sound like, then this remix of one of the stand-out tracks, ‘Close Enough To Kiss’, will not help you at all. It is a beautiful slice of mildly dubby electronica, though, so you should listen to it anyway.

Check out the Merok Records blog to download it (and also link through to the band’s MySpace page, where you can hear the original):

dontdiewonderingmusic.tumblr.com/post/215039877/comanechi-x-ghost-hunter-speaking-of-that-radio

The Big Pink

andy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:22:37 +0000

The Big Pink’s debut album ‘A Brief History Of Love’ has been on heavy rotation since it arrived in the CMU office. Consisting of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, who for several years separately made and promoted noise at various levels of extremity, they are joined live by a revolving line-up of musicians, which currently features Akiko Matsuura (who also fronts two more of CMU’s favourite bands, Pre and Comanechi) and former Sunn O))) member Daniel O’Sullivan. But, yes, the album. Very much an extension of their noise-based past, Furze and Cordell have switched off the much of the distortion that would once have pervaded everything, leaving melody and even pop sensibilities exposed. This is nonetheless filled out with swirling, room-filling guitars which up the epicness and help to both mask and enhance layers that can only be uncovered with repeat listens. The album is out on 14 Sep, in the meantime, check out next single ‘Dominos’ and second track ‘Velvet’ on their MySpace page.

www.myspace.com/musicfromthebigpink

PRE Conceptions

andy — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:06:36 +0000

One of a growing number of bands making hardcore fun again, PRE are a London five-piece (vocals, guitar, bass, drums and bass). They released their debut album Epic Fits, fourteen tracks recorded straight to tape in two days, back in September after becoming the first ever European band to sign to Skin Graft Records.

Fronted by Comanechi’s singing drummer Akiko Matsuura and sporting two bassists (no, that wasn’t a typo back there), one of whom happens to be Kevin Hendrick from Seafood, PRE make an impressive racket.

Akiko’s fevered delivery has brought her comparisons to Melt-Banana’s Yasuko Onuki and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. Even on record you can only imagine her throwing herself around, breaking no end of health and safety laws as she forces every last ounce of breath quickly and sharply from her lungs.

Behind her the rest of the band are no slackers either. The overbalanced rhythm section (completed by Matt Warburton on bass and Rick Bennett on drums) lay down a solid but relatively unstable base for John Webb’s guitar riffs, which take no wave’s repetitive, atonal sounds to their absolute conclusion on songs like Scenes From A 1963 Los Angeles Love-In and Popping Showers (the latter recently released at a split single with Comanechi’s Death Of You) but joyfully and bouncily ascend and descend on Fudging On Our Folks and the 36 second cover of Half Japanese’s Ride Ride Ride.

Capturing this kind of energy on record is no simple task, but Westminster Brown (who has also worked with The Archie Bronson Outfit, Roland Shanks and The Pyramids) has done a sterling job. Recording the band straight to half-inch tape in a pizza storage unit (apparently) over two days, the necessary punky volume and chaos is pushed to the perfect levels. His mixing then brings everything to life, separating out each instrument so that their clarity makes the attack on your ears more honed but losing none of the live feel.

Like all proper punk albums, Epic Fits is gone in under half an hour. And like all proper albums, Epic Fits stays with you for much, much longer. Comparisons are easy to make, but PRE are a band with enough of their own ingredients not to need them.

Listen to Fudging On Our Folks
Buy Epic Fits
Buy PRE / AIDS Wolf live split single

Fuk Is Fun live video
http://www.youtube.com/v/TVufZ1fej3w

Pre on MySpace
Pre at Skin Graft