Mop of Head

In the true festival spirit, we are going to have a whole lotta fun on our opening weekend. We have invited electro dance rockers Mop of Head from Japan, after seeing them rock the socks off of 5,000 people at Fuji Rock last year. We also have one of our favorite DJs from our favorite label, Mad Decent ~ South Rakkas Crew, says The Guardian, produces “some of the most electrifying dance music on the planet.” Juicy Lero Lero, a Cosplay weirdness band from Japan, will add double shot of insanity. DJ Noodles just tore it up so much at our stage for the Mega Port festival in early March we couldnt not invite her back. DJ Marcus Aurelius is a rock steady party stalwart, Pro Res makes a Taipei debut from Brickyard in Kaohsiung, Hang in the Air is one of the best reggae bands on the island, and there will be an 8bit DJ + VJ show by up and comers Physical Chemical Brothers. Eight hours of fun, people! Remember to stretch :)

???? MOP of HEAD ????

Tokyo's Mop of Head have played big stages at Fuji Rock in each of the past two years, had their song "Retronix Symphony" listed as one of the top tracks of 2011 by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson, and supported the Japanese tour of the German electro-house duo Digitalism. Think Justice, Daft Punk or Boyz Noize, but coming from a 4-piece band. When we saw them rocking a dance party of 5,000 at Fuji Rock last year, we knew they had to play Urban Nomad!!! Though band members claim rock influences like Led Zepplin, Primal Scream, Hi-Standard and Stevie Wonder, the band initially came together because they wanted to figure out how to play live rock versions of breakbeats, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass, house and club music in general. Then they added electronic loops, which they distort and manipulate live. Its been almost a year since we last saw them play. We cant friggin wait!

http://mopofhead.com/
- URBAN NOMAD FILM FESTIVAL Official Blogspot

In the true festival spirit, we are going to have a whole lotta fun on our opening weekend. We have invited electro dance rockers Mop of Head from Japan, after seeing them rock the socks off of 5,000 people at Fuji Rock last year. We also have one of our favorite DJs from our favorite label, Mad Decent ~ South Rakkas Crew, says The Guardian, produces “some of the most electrifying dance music on the planet.” Juicy Lero Lero, a Cosplay weirdness band from Japan, will add double shot of insanity. DJ Noodles just tore it up so much at our stage for the Mega Port festival in early March we couldnt not invite her back. DJ Marcus Aurelius is a rock steady party stalwart, Pro Res makes a Taipei debut from Brickyard in Kaohsiung, Hang in the Air is one of the best reggae bands on the island, and there will be an 8bit DJ + VJ show by up and comers Physical Chemical Brothers. Eight hours of fun, people! Remember to stretch :)

???? MOP of HEAD ????

Tokyo's Mop of Head have played big stages at Fuji Rock in each of the past two years, had their song "Retronix Symphony" listed as one of the top tracks of 2011 by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson, and supported the Japanese tour of the German electro-house duo Digitalism. Think Justice, Daft Punk or Boyz Noize, but coming from a 4-piece band. When we saw them rocking a dance party of 5,000 at Fuji Rock last year, we knew they had to play Urban Nomad!!! Though band members claim rock influences like Led Zepplin, Primal Scream, Hi-Standard and Stevie Wonder, the band initially came together because they wanted to figure out how to play live rock versions of breakbeats, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass, house and club music in general. Then they added electronic loops, which they distort and manipulate live. Its been almost a year since we last saw them play. We cant friggin wait!

http://mopofhead.com/
- URBAN NOMAD FILM FESTIVAL Official Blogspot

Mop Of Head founder Takashi “George” Wakamatsu had a pretty standard musical upbringing. He studied piano from the age of 3, and says he listened mostly to classical music and old jazz. Then he heard a track that changed his life …British dance duo The KLF’s “F-ck The Millennium.”

“I really felt that tune had a freedom from any specific style,” George says. “It was a really free composition.”

From that moment on, George says he began listening to music that would go on to influence Mop Of Head, an instrumental quartet out of Tokyo that aims to blur the line between rock and dance sounds. Their recently released full-length debut “Retronix” taps into a wide variety of genres, flirting with industrial stomp, electro and postrock. This blending helped land Mop Of Head a spot opening for similarly minded German outfit Digitalism on the Nagoya and Osaka legs of its Japanese tour.

The band began to form when George was still at junior high school, when he recruited Mop Of Head’s original drummer [he preferred not to be named]. He then found guitarist Takuma Kikuchi during high school and rounded out the group in university with the inclusion of bassist Hitomi Kuramochi. The group’s first drummer left, and Mop Of Head found Kenji Sakuraoka to replace him.

“I didn’t choose people based on their skill,” George says. “I found people who just liked similar music to me.”

That selection strategy makes sense after listening to “Retronix.” The album, which gets its name from combining the words “retro” and “electronics,” doesn’t try to hide its influences. Instead, it embraces them almost to the point of wholesale lifting. The album’s weaker moments might sound too similar to artists of the past, but the best tracks make those borrowed ideas sound like Mop Of Head came up with the sounds itself.

“It’s showing respect for our own musical histories,” George says. “I think we should pay more respect to older music rather than chasing after the next big thing. We make new music and develop new ideas based on studying and listening to the past.”

Consequently, each track on “Retronix” pays homage to a different style of music. The opening two-punch of “One” and “S.A” barrel forward courtesy of some revved-up guitars, a nod to the slightly dancier era of 1990s alternative rock. Elsewhere, tracks such as “Delyte” and “Superhuman” lean more toward an electronic sound typified by France’s Ed Banger Records in the late 2000s (particularly Justice). Mop Of Head even steps off the dance floor for the seven-minute “Love Pop Dance Music,” a deceivingly titled number owing more to the slower build-and-release style of postrock.

Traces of Mop Of Head’s favorite acts — highlighted by ’90s U.K. dance acts The KLF, The Chemical Brothers and Andrew Weatherall — can easily be picked out throughout the album, but George says certain songs on “Retronix” are hyper-specific homages.

” ‘Hocus Homage’ is a kind of jokey tribute to Blur’s ‘Girls & Boys,’ ” George says. “We wanted to make a disco track and, oddly enough, ‘Girls & Boys’ was the first thing we thought of when we thought about disco. Of course, we like that tune very much.”

They also made sure to include one tribute to The KLF, a track called “Istanbul.” Halfway through that song, a sample of American rock band MC5's famous declaration to “Kick out the jams mother- f-cker” is belted out during a pause in the action. The KLF used the same line in their track “What Time Is Love.”

Besides samples and homages, Mop Of Head also subscribes to older notions concerning performing and recording. The band doesn’t use looping technology live or in the studio, preferring to play all the parts. “Recently, many musicians, especially dance music artists, use laptop computers at home, in the studio and at their gigs, too,” George says. “I like seeing music played live, I really like seeing humans play. That’s our same attitude in the studio.”

Mop Of Head got a chance to demonstrate its philosophy at this year’s Fuji Rock Festival. The band played the Thursday night opening party, an experience George says was “great, with a very good audience.” Following the Digitalism shows, George says the group is currently planning a nationwide tour to promote “Retronix.”

“In the future, we also want to release music and play shows overseas,” George says. “Especially in the U.K., because British music influenced us so much.”

Mop Of Head has an ultimate goal, however, to become its own movement. “We hope we can become a scene of our own,” he says. “Full circle. One day, we’ll become the source of inspiration.” - Japan Times

Whether Annie Mac or Mop of Head initiated it I am not sure, but the transition from her DJ set to the live band was speedy and flawless. An oldie with lyrics translated into Japanese karaoke style came on the screen and segued the energetic entrance onto the stage for Mop of Head’s encore performance second-to-last of the festival closing out the Sunday Session.

The lead keys and general hype man has the mop head btw, George on Machines.

So if you thought it was packed for Annie Mac, think again. Mop of Head brought an influx from the side stage right entrance and flooded the place just as they run out on stage.

Mop’s brand of disco/dance live done with guitars (Takuma Kikuchi) and drums (Satoshi Yamashita), plus a hottie on bass (Hitomi Kuramochi), was a great way to keep the energy going until the end. Dancing yourself into oblivion to DJs without that human action can steal your genki. Luckily, the movement up on stage of real people brought new life to the crowd, especially those rudely awakened in the back getting trounced on by drunken dancers.

The Red Marquee needs a facelift, too. But, considering three days of partying, the grime accumulating, the ratted out at wit’s end feel of the place fit perfect with the rambunctious party vibe Mop of Head brought. - Fujirockers

Whether Annie Mac or Mop of Head initiated it I am not sure, but the transition from her DJ set to the live band was speedy and flawless. An oldie with lyrics translated into Japanese karaoke style came on the screen and segued the energetic entrance onto the stage for Mop of Head’s encore performance second-to-last of the festival closing out the Sunday Session.

The lead keys and general hype man has the mop head btw, George on Machines.

So if you thought it was packed for Annie Mac, think again. Mop of Head brought an influx from the side stage right entrance and flooded the place just as they run out on stage.

Mop’s brand of disco/dance live done with guitars (Takuma Kikuchi) and drums (Satoshi Yamashita), plus a hottie on bass (Hitomi Kuramochi), was a great way to keep the energy going until the end. Dancing yourself into oblivion to DJs without that human action can steal your genki. Luckily, the movement up on stage of real people brought new life to the crowd, especially those rudely awakened in the back getting trounced on by drunken dancers.

The Red Marquee needs a facelift, too. But, considering three days of partying, the grime accumulating, the ratted out at wit’s end feel of the place fit perfect with the rambunctious party vibe Mop of Head brought. - Fujirockers