Dragon Ash – Posse in Noise

Ah, Japan, the aural refuge of action movies everywhere. From Kill Bill’s 2003 Tomoyasu Hotei anthem “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” to the 5,6,7,8’s recent appearance on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Japan is quickly emerging as the thrillseeker’s musical playground.

What’s more, this phenomenon isn’t limited to movies (or, as the astute reader may have noticed, films predominantly set in Japan). The aforementioned tracks, as well as others of that ilk, have been regurgitated in advertisements worldwide ad nauseam.

I foresee a genre soon emerging called Adrenaline, where music supervisors for automobiles the world over can turn to any song from said genre as an effective marketing tool. Then again, when it comes down to it, I guess it’s all a matter of marketing. So, in sticking with the mainstream, I’ve decided to focus on a few Japanese bands both in and out of films. First up, Dragon Ash.

Dragon Ash – Intro

It’s five thirty in the morning. I am tired. My hair is clean. My eyes are filthy; there’s gooey gunk in them and I’m not even asleep. I blink and see string cheese. I squint to see past it. The gunk tells me to sleep. I say no. I’m afraid of how much more gunk there will be in the real morning. I’m afraid I won’t be able to open my eyes. The gunk will have crusted and I will cry and it will spread to my ears. It will whisper and taunt. I will whimper and cringe. But then again, today should be wonderful. This weekend I saw 58 cardinals; all of them pointed North. They can whisper too. Some can even play the lonely. Maybe some can wash the gunk away. Then the rustling will stop. I’ll wink without a crinkle. Then I’ll turn and stomach stretch and play the lonely.

Rip Slyme – Galaxy

Despite sounding as though they’re saying, “Gassy in the groove,” Rip Slyme’s “Galaxy” is a fun song. I know! Can you believe it? A fun song! Sometimes I think we get too tangled in our day-to-day, our stresses and obligations, that we forget to have fun with our music. The sky darkens and we gravitate toward the more subdued, the less challenging (occasionally, the too challenging), or at least something we can say, “Okay. As long as it doesn’t make me think” about. We forget why we acquired our vast music collections and drown ourselves in Muzak. And don’t kid yourself—even if it’s handpicked Finnish Black Metal played by Aboriginals, it’s still Muzak. This song, however, is about having fun. In fact, most of Rip Slyme is about having fun. Lucky us.

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