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Home
on the Range
Japanese
Music Review 2000
By: W. Dire Wolff
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Buffalo
Daughter represents the modern, hip, underground
culture, that has risen from the Japanese club scenes
of Tokyo's Shinjuku and Shibuya districts. Shinjuku
and Shibuya are to Tokyo's club culture, as the SOMA
area has been to San Francisco, and Soho was to New
York City. The free thinking trio of Buffalo
Daughter is made up of two women, Sugar and Yumiko,
and their male counterpart, Moog. Their entrance on
the Japanese music scene in 1993, demonstrated a band
that dared to experiment beyond popular music genders
. The band appeared at a time that the Tokyo billboard
was cranking out overproduced music with synthesized
strings laid on top of canned beat machines; fronted
by skinny young waifs warbling in slightly out of key
Japanese. Through their music, Buffalo
Daughter forged their own musical ground and created
a fresh new reflection of modern Japan.
This
powerhouse trio consists of DJ Moog Yamamoto on the
turntable, boom box, and mixers, Ms. Yumiko Ohno on
bass, electronic effects, and vocals; and Ms. Sugar
Yoshinaga providing vocals, playing guitar, and jamming
the airwaves with the SWRadio. Additional percussion
support is provided by Buffalo Daughter's drummer, Mr.
Atsushi Matsushita. Together they surge through their
own unique brand of techno punk. The band is driven
by the Moog's collection of prepared tape loops and
sampling, as he adds some tasty scratches from his turntables.
Meanwhile, Yumiko moves the body electric with her fat
bass lines, and Sugar fills the void with her industrial
punk guitar riffs. The band lays down an electric sound
odyssey that blends techno house rave beats with guitar
riffs. They integrate 60s style psychedelic acid rock,
surf guitar solos, and touches of blues, with their
electronic dance club samplings. Their technique of
jamming could be compared to earlier experiments by
bands such as "Sonic Youth" or "My Bloody
Valentine", laid on top of a futuristic backdrop.
 Moog
comes off as a deep thinker, and a bit of a mad scientist
behind the turntable. His mixes can be totally explosive
and manic. Sometimes he's pumping out the beat in a
hyper frenzy, and wailing primal screams into the microphones.
Other times he blends in the background behind Yumiko's
loping bass lines, and adds subtle effects that seem
to have been borrowed from old James Bond Movies or
reruns of "Lost in Space". He applies a very
artsy bit of rough static to the edges of the mix. Moog's
methods don't quite fit the standards of modern production,
but those of us seeking that avant garde rough cut art
effect, will enjoy exploring the places where Moog is
taking the listener.
Sugar
and Yumiko's vocals follow the ethereal void trance
siren style pioneered by such bands as "Lush"
and "Mazzy Starr". While some might complain
that the minimalist vocals easily give way to the instrumental
jam sessions, perhaps there is a reason for that. With
a large population of the world, unable to understand
their native tongue, "How can Buffalo Daughter
hope to articulate complex artistic ideas through their
music?" Sugar has voiced her desire to communicate
more easily in other languages, besides her native Japanese.
But perhaps through their guitar and bass arrangements,
Sugar and Yumiko can break through the language barrier
that exists in their lyrics.
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Moog,
Yumiko, and Sugar set out to capture a sound that merges
the power of American guitar rock music with a high
tech brand of funky Japanese techno music. They began
the incubation of this sound in Tokyo, without the prejudice
of actually knowing the tried and true methods of successful
American acts playing small clubs and working record
deals. They slowly work each of their musical pieces
from vague images and jams, and mold them over time
into actual songs with titles and lyrics. The cult appeal
of the band has provided Buffalo Daughter with enough
popularity for them to continue to experiment and search
for their own identity. While they enjoy the chance
to experiment musically, beyond the edge of normality,
they also realize that they must provide some type of
understandable format to retain the size of their current
fan base. With this in mind, the band approached their
dream of reaching an audience in America.
Buffalo
Daughter first appeared on America's college airwaves
in 1996, with the release of their mini CD "Legend
Of The Yellow Buffalo 7", which was released by "Grand
Royal Records". The mini CD contained two songs
("Daisy" and "Cold Summer"). A year later they made
a bigger splash when they released "Captain Vapour
Athletes". The "Vapour" CD was the band's
first long playing release outside of their native homeland
of Japan, and is a compilation of their previous albums
"Amoebae Sound System" and "Shaggy Head
Dressers". "Captain Vapour Athletes"
also included some previously unreleased material. In
Japan, "Amoebae Sound System" and "Shaggy
Head Dressers" were recorded as two of the first
releases from a small independent label named "Cardinal
Records". Cardinal gave Buffalo Daughter complete
artist freedom to develop their new sound. This is a
label that believes in the vision of the artists and
was interested in signing a band that couldn't be clearly
labeled. This allowed the band to develop an unique
sound and experiment with the production of their music
on their Japanese releases.
The band's goal was to perform in America and despite
their close bond with Cardinal, they felt that an American
label such as Grand Royal was a better vehicle to reach
the American audience. They came to America at a time
when the music industry was in a lull, the frenzy of
the Seattle grunge scene had died, and industry executives
were frantic to find the next craze. Some people were
looking to the Japanese invasion to breath new life
into the listless music markets, and there was talk
that Tokyo might in fact be the next Seattle. Furthermore,
America and Europe's interest in Japanese pop music
was being fueled by the success of the bubble gum punk
sound of Shonen Knife, the experimental international
tone of Pizzicato Five, and the crazy club music of
Cibo
Matto. Thus, the stage was set for Buffalo Daughter
to be introduced into the American market. Their subsequent
releases on Grand Royal of "Socks, Drugs and Rock
'n' Roll" and "New Rock", brought Buffalo
Daughter further acclaim, as well as respect from their
rapidly expanding base of fans and the independent music
critics. While the quality of their music can speak
for itself, the band has enjoyed greater interest from
the fact that they are Japanese and many people want
to find out what is going on in the Tokyo music scene.
While their CDs were inching their way into the
international market, Buffalo Daughter gave the world
further notice when they went on tour with Luscious
Jackson, Butter 08 (Cibo Matto), Pavement, and the Jon
Spencer Blues Explosion. Some of their concert performances
were well received by the new listeners they were introduced
to, and received praises in reviews by the concert critics.
They took special pride in their opportunity to perform
for the "Tibetan
Freedom Concert" tour and a chance to lend
their hands to help an important global cause.
A
hit tune should be something catchy. A little melody
that sticks in your head and you can hum to yourself
while fixing a snack in the kitchen. Well, you are not
always going to find catchy tunes in the dense musicscape
of Buffalo Daughter. This band strives to be artistic
over popular. They never tried to plug into the corporate"Hit"
powergrid. Instead they have chosen to stick to their
artistic values and slug it out flat footed with a "jeans
and T-shirt" approach. This band draws their audience
from the college radio airwaves and Indie record reviews.
While Sugar's phosphorescent hair and clothing styles
may represent more extreme fashion values, the band
takes a no nonsense approach to their music. Buffalo
Daughter lets their music speak for itself, and lets
the critics say what they will. While we may not hear
many hit records from this Japanese trio, it is not
part of the band's charter to become a mega act of renowned
fame.
Buffalo
Daughter has risen out of the Japanese underground
music scene to captivate a cult following that was based
on their roots in the Tokyo Shibuya/Shinjuku culture.
By Staying true to their art and beliefs, they have
gone on to capture international attention, and set
the stage for even greater success. It is yet to be
seen if they can continue to find the proper venues
to build on their early career, or build a more sustaining
presence in the years to come. To do this they will
need to continue to find listeners that are willing
to participate in the experience of the band's musical
experimentation, while at the same time the band must
continue working to bring their creative endeavors to
a new level. With hard work and staying diligent to
their search for a new music form, the band has the
opportunity to break new ground in defining modern music.
Let's hope, for the sake of music and art, that Buffalo
Daughter can find a way to take advantage of their
hard work so far, and provide a foundation for themselves,
and other free thinking musicians, to pursue the creation
of music that is currently outside normal industry standards.
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