Category Archives: international

Gaijin Evolution: From seekers and slackers to strivers and thrivers

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Rewind two decades to the first issue of Metropolis in 1993. Japan was a juggernaut—about to roll to Number One on an unstoppable export machine. My time here tracks this magazine’s existence, so for the 1000th issue let me hazard a few thoughts about the changes in the Western population that constitutes our readership…

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Metropolis “Last Word,” May 23, 2013

808 State: The seminal electronic act reveals a political side to rave culture

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“Guitar bands were out. Using the new technology was a stance for change, being armed with a sampler was very much about starting a new page. We had more in common with Detroit than London. Joining an internationalism of the dance floor was a rejection of colloquialism that had chained us.” – Graham Massey

Metropolis, Apr 12, 2013

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Alabama Shakes: Brittany Howard’s post-racial rock

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Brittany Howard’s vocals are imbued with strains of strong soul divas from the black Marva Whitney to the white Janis Joplin. The singer—herself a blend of black and white—takes a post-racial view of music. “It could be black music or white music. Anything with a soul we’re interested in,” she affirms. “Elvis sang and played black music—that’s where rock came from. But I don’t know if our sound is a black-music thing, I think it’s just a music thing.”

Metropolis, Jan 17, 2013

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The Chieftains: 50 years of avoiding politics and religion

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In a career that overlapped with the worst of Ireland’s “Troubles,” the Chieftains were also uncompromising in their refusal to get drawn into Catholic-Protestant conflict. “I always kept away from politics and religion,” bandleader Paddy Moloney says. “As a result we were probably the only group of our kind to play a mixed audience in Belfast. One of the senior unionist guys was one of our biggest fans and when we did our 25 years celebration he came down and spoke. He said this and that, but that music is music.”

Metropolis, Nov 5, 2012

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Festival/Tokyo 2012: Japan’s marquee theater fest defends free speech post-3/11

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“In recent Japanese media… we can see a critical and dangerous increase in one-sided denunciations of risk-taking artists and art,” says program director Chiaki Soma in her notes for F/T12. To combat what she sees as a “nonchalant oppression,” Soma cobbled together a hard-hitting lineup of political theater for the fest’s fifth edition.

Metropolis, Oct 11, 2012