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CMU Playlists
Playlist: Japanese Voyeurs
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 22 July 2011
Formed in 2007, Japanese Voyeurs have risen up the rock ranks relatively rapidly (pause to enjoy that alliteration, there), they only released their first EP ‘Sicking & Creaming’, in 2009.
Produced by Gggarth Richardson and featuring guest vocals from Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis, the band’s debut album ‘Yolk’ – released last week – features riffs inspired by late 80s and early 90s heavy rock, topped off with frontwoman Romily Alice’s sometimes sweet, sometimes snarling vocals, all of which is exemplified perfectly on their new single, ‘Cry Baby’.
Says Romily: “When we started out there weren’t that many new groups making heavy music, the kind of music we liked to listen to when we were growing up. We wanted to recapture that spirit and that brutality”.
However, she adds: “We make music that is heavy, but it’s not heavy for its own sake. We have a sense of melody as well. It’s how we bring these things together that I hope makes us interesting and worth listening to”.
It’s in that spirit that she has put together this week’s Powers Of Ten playlist, taking time out from the band’s current UK tour with Slash to collect ten of her favourite songs.
JAPANESE VOYEURS’ TEN
Click here to listen to Romily’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about her selections.
01 Dopefight – Baby Goat Sick
One of my favourite current bands. Heavy and slow like Melvins, this is the first track off their eponymous record.
02 Mastodon – Crusher Destroyer
Partly chose this Mastodon track just cause it has an awesome title, but I also wanted to show you their incredible video collaboration with Adult Swim for the track ‘Deathbound’ – check it out here.
03 Taraf De Haidouks – Hora Din Caval
TDH are a group of Romanian Gypsies who play tradition Lăutari music. My dad bought me this album (‘Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses & Evil Eye’) a few years ago and I’ve loved the band ever since. There is a wild, primal quality in their music which really appeals to me.
04 Bruce Springsteen – I’m Goin Down
I was raised on Bruce Springsteen, these songs were the soundtrack to my childhood from womb until I left home. Whenever I need to turn down the heavy I come back to it, The E Street Band are a proper old school band of exemplary musicians and the songwriting is pretty much a masterclass. This track has a sax solo in it from Clarence Clemons, who recently passed away after a lifetime of making some incredibly beautiful music.
05 Humanfly – The Enemy Of Me Is Me
Back to the heavy. You can’t touch Humanfly’s ability to make melody heavy as hell. These guys don’t screw around and they can outshine any band they’re put on a bill with. We’ve got some JV/HF collaborations in the pipeline as well, which is very exciting for us.
06 Feed The Rhino – The Butchers
Our bassist Johnny put me on to these guys, brilliant band.
07 PJ Harvey – Working For The Man
Just for the bass sound this track has to be one of my favourite PJ Harvey songs. For some reason on Spotify the bass isn’t very clear, probably too low for computer speakers but get it on CD.
08 Fudge Tunnel – Random Acts Of Cruelty
Alex Newport mixed our record and was also the singer and guitarist in Fudge Tunnell. He’s a very good man with a very good band.
09 Kyuss – Size Queen
I don’t think I’ve ever made a playlist without at least one Kyuss track. This is my favourite this month…
10 Melvins – Night Goat
The first two lines of the lyrics sound something like: “She walks my way to fee and I grut my teeth”. I think that says it all.
