Advantage Ueno: Tenniscoats on Tour

By Jon Wilks |

Advantage Ueno: Tenniscoats On Tour
By Jon Wilks

If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's the genius of Japanzine's resident music otaku, JP DuQuette. His March review of Tenniscoats' Tan-Tan Therapy prompted me to drop what I was doing and head to the nearest Tower Records. I've since acquired their complete collection and (should I be proud of this?) become their highest listener on Last.fm. My poor wife is suffering a meltdown, as my 4-year-old son and I potter about the house, muttering, "Moshi Moshi. Ueno desu", like a pair of aural junkies sharing a damaged frontal lobe.

No idea what I'm on about? Well, with a few select dates lined up for June, now's the time to get hip. Tenniscoats are one of Japan's most oddly-kept secrets. Highly regarded outside their home country, their little circle of similarly enchanted creators is virtually unheard of in Japan. So few people know about the genius of Saya and Takashi Ueno (and their Majikick stable), that a "national tour" for this band can't afford to hit much further south than Hiroshima. Last time they played Fukuoka, it was in the kind of shoe box that accomodates 10 people comfortably, 11 against all fire regulations.

The lucky few that will get to see them on this coming national tour do so in the knowledge that the band are currently on a creative high. Last year saw 2 tremendous releases - the aforementioned Tan-Tan Therapy, and the more minimal Totemo Aimashou. Both are essential listening for anyone interested in the state of the Japanese underground at this time, though the former is perhaps more immediately accessible to anyone who finds the term avant garde difficult to get along with. Recorded in Sweden with the help of the magnificent trio Tape, Tan-Tan Therapy's opening track Baibaba Bimba (available for free on this month's TADA Music Sampler - Google it!) is about as gorgeous as songs featuring heavy breathing get, and the rest of the album simply follows suit.

Those in the know will already be aware that both Saya and Takashi (husband and wife - the creative core of Tenniscoats) are far from monogomous when it comes to making music. Takashi is currently preparing a solo release on Australia's Room40 label (we've heard it - it's unhinged), while a recent email from Saya explained she was in Glasgow mixing the latest 'Coats album, this time a collaboration with Scottish indie legends The Pastels. After that she was off to do an album with Secai, before returning to Tokyo to do the Tenniscoats tour and gear up the promotion for her new band OneOne, a collaboration with Deerhoof's equally energetic Satomi. As Tape put it, "Saya and Takashi literally play and sing themselves to sleep. They catch some sleep here and there, and wake up to musical work again with coffee and cigarettes as their only fuel." I'm exhausted just writing about it.

Amazingly, amongst all this hyperactivity, Saya has also found time to oversee the release of a documentary DVD called Harmonies. The 95-minute vid follows Ueno as she puts together Ipiya, a striking, minimalist, largely vocal album that was released in 2005, not as Tenniscoats but as Nika Soup & Saya Source. Nika (Kazumi Nikaidoh) follows Saya's powerful lead as they create a wonderful collection of avant-folk tunes, criminally overlooked at the time of release. Though the DVD is perhaps over-long, it provides a fascinating insight into the relationship between the 2 Tenniscoats themelves. Takashi Ueno lurks patiently in the background, providing deft support whenever the muse ups and runs away with his wife's sanity. Nikaidoh, on the other hand, comes across as the less forceful of the two, though her presence here (and her gymnastic vocal abilities) will certainly do her no harm at all.

For now, it seems that everything touched by Tenniscoats turns to gold. The artists on their homegrown Majikick label are regularly whispered about in the right corridors, and live-band member Shugo Tokumaru (also on tour this June) is now signed to Sony International, with great things expected. The little clique is well-known for looking after and supporting its own, and its influence has a far-reaching knock-on effect: 4 Bonjour's Parties (featured this month in our Tokyo section) count them as friends, as do Nagoya visionaries, Lullatone - and both feel that more comfortable for it.

Of course, all of this is yesterday's news to many of you, but for the uninitiated few, take it from us: Tenniscoats are worth the effort. If you're lucky enough to live within striking distance of Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo or Sapporo, make sure you catch them on the current tour. Oh, and start saving - keeping up with a band this prolific can be a financial nightmare.

The current Tenniscoats tour touches down at Umeda Shangrila, Osaka, on the 15th, playing support to meteoric wunderkind, Shugo Tokumaru. Catch the same event at Club Upset, Nagoya, on the 16th, and Shibuya O-West, Tokyo, on the 17th. The 'Coats join forces with Deerhoof for an amazing event up at Bessie Hall, Sapporo, on the 18th, before bringing the current run to an end at Weird Meddle Record, Sapporo, on the 19th. Harmonies is currently available for mailorder via www.ontonson.com.

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