Pieces of a man

In a fit of musical exploration I went to the Pageant last night to check out some bands I've never heard of. This is perhaps a bit uncharacteristic for me at this particular time of year as I tend to go into hibernation mode in Fall and Winter, but I was helped by the fact that we have relatively balmy weather and that I acquired magical tickets. Score two for the good guys. In the forty-eight hours or so preceding the concert I did a little research on the bands in question to make or break my decision on whether or not I should actually go, and it turned out to be rather enjoyable, though not entirely what I expected.

Headlining the gig was Wolf Parade, who definitely represent themselves much better live than they do recorded. Listening to a smattering of tracks from their latest two albums I judged them to be just so-so, but they upped the energy level quite a bit on stage. Sadly it was not enough to encourage more than a few sporadic and intermittent dance moves from the crowd, but having no expectations I found it enjoyable.

The show stealer, however, had to be the opening act of Ogre You Asshole. I picked out a video at random and it happened to be one of their best songs. I don't know what it is these guys do to my brain, but I like it. Going in I was more excited about seeing them than Wolf Parade. Other than one frantically dancing guy the crowd never really warmed up to them - maybe because it was early? - but for me it was pretty special walking in just as they started my current top pick of their songs. They finished their set with one I've not yet heard but I for sure need to listen to - the bass solo was especially awesome, it's hard to believe anyone can play a bass that fast using a pick. I also did not mind getting Kei Mabuchi's autograph when he walked up and sat down right behind me. Does it qualify as being a fanboy moment if I've been listening to them for two days?

Japanese guys! In a box! Playin' music and havin' fun with confetti. At least the video isn't game show-inspired.


That's the good news. The bad news is I'm having a near-existential crisis over the state of organization of my music library trying to figure out how to file this properly. In what language do I title the albums and songs? Japanese with Japanese characters? Japanese with Chinese characters? Japanese using the Latin alphabet? English translations of Japanese? I am not helped by the fact that I've found the file names and metadata and general info vary between using ALL FOUR of these. Arrg... Ultimately, I feel the best compromise between authenticity and function is to use rōmaji, but I don't necessarily feel good about it. Order... need order... order which keeps me from going to pieces.