Music Video Documentaries # 2
With my Music Video Documentaries posts my aim is to highlight certain scenes, music genres or just in general music history that in my opinion matters and the world should know more about. In my second installment I found an interesting three part (fourth and last to be added at a later stage) video documentary by Filippo Gabello from Italy called Ore Wa Punk - A Japanese Punk Documentary. To me Filippo seems like someone that grew up with the ‘90s punk explosion - mainstream and underground that is - and fell in love with Japanese punk rock. One day he decided to travel across the globe to Japan to not just learn about his passion, but to document it for the world to see. I find stories as Filippo’s fascinating and inspiring hence I share it here for hopefully more people to see.
In the first episode “Welcome to Tokyo” we are introduced to two ‘90s pop-punk influenced bands, as well as an experimental band by the name Limited Express Has Gone!, which I dig quite a bit. I love the way the documentary is cut, it’s fast paced and shows very well what an extremely busy and fast-paced city Tokyo is. I’ve visited Tokyo once back in ‘97 and while the bands highlighted in this first episode are not necessarily my cup of tea so to speak I nevertheless enjoy it as the passion throughout speaks volumes.
Looking back I really wish I had travelled outside of Tokyo on my trip in ‘97 but it was in the middle of August and the main vacation season for most Japanese people and I just couldn’t handle the heat and humidity. I think Filippo felt the same and in the second episode “Up North, Down South”, he takes us on a wild ride to the cities of Sendai, Sapporo and Fukuoka. Further to that Filippo also provides a ‘101 of punk’ focusing on the development of the genre in Japan through bands like Friction, the Stalin, the movie “Burst City” and the Blue Hearts, a band I did not know, and shame on me as they date back to 1985. This episode is really well done with loud music from little clubs blaring over scenes of traditional Japan outside of the bustling city of Tokyo. And last but not least this episode also features The Born Head, a great band playing in the typical Japanese hardcore punk fashion, loud and fast!!
The third episode “Kansai Punk” is for now the last one that’s been uploaded, but according to Filippo there should be one more to come so I’ll upload it when that’s the case. In this episode Filippo takes us to Osaka, the second largest city of Japan, and also the city that rivals Tokyo in just about anything, and that does include music and punk rock of course. Most of the footage centers around the King Cobra club showcasing Irish-punk influenced bands to Ska and some more. It’s a fun watch and I sure hope the final episode will be online soon for all of us to watch. In the meantime I make sure I’ll review some more Japanese stuff from my collection. Kanpai!
