Quit Your Band! Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground - Softcover

Martin, Ian F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1937220052 ISBN 13: 9781937220051

Publisher: Awai Books, 2016

Synopsis

From the sugar rush of Tokyo’s idol subculture to the discordant polyrhythms of its experimental punk and indie scenes, this book by Japan Times music columnist Ian F. Martin offers a witty and tender look at the wide spectrum of issues that shape Japanese music today. With unique theories about the evolution of J-pop as well as its history, infrastructure and (sub)cultures, Martin deconstructs an industry that operates very differently from counterparts overseas. Based partly on interviews with influential artists, label owners and event organisers, Martin’s book combines personal anecdotes with cultural criticism and music history. An accessible and humorous account emerges of why some creative acts manage to overcome institutional pressures, without quitting their bands.

Ian Martin’s writing about Japanese music has appeared in The Japan Times, CNN Travel and The Guardian among other places. Martin is based in Tokyo, where he also runs Call And Response Records.

About this title

Review

"Martin's new book, Quit Your Band: Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground, is a must-read"

―Tokyo Weekender

 

"Readers with no or just a passing knowledge of Japanese music will see inner workings from someone who has experienced it from many different angles, while those more familiar with it can wrangle with Martin’s criticism. Peppered throughout are entertaining anecdotes, many of them breaking up the analysis with humour.... Quit Your Band is a great intro to the nation’s under and overground, but what ties it all together is the same sense of attachment music fans anywhere can relate to”

―Time Out Tokyo Magazine

 

"Even for non-music buffs, Quit Your Band is rich with insight into Japanese media and the entertainment industry”
―Metropolis Magazine

 

"Quit Your Band! is a gateway, a gateway drug even. It's also a love letter of sorts, but it speaks of that more lucid love that develops only after years of intimate acquaintance, that looks back affectionately on the early stages of infatuation and mixed signals, and that is equally inspired and affectionately exasperated by its object"

―The Quietus

Edition details

• Publisher: Awai Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1937220052
• ISBN 13: 9781937220051
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 248