2.3 The Rock Knockers
On a recent, rainy Sunday morning, I called Fox and Yuji, and asked if they felt like a chat. Yuji was too groggy and hung over to accept, but Fox said 'lets go to Yamashita Park. I love hanging out in parks!'
I'm a bit wary about that, as some poor guy got battered to death there, only the other morning. Fox assures me it'll be fine, and just the two of us head over to the park, on the bay, in the rain. Maybe because of the rain though, the park is eerily quiet, and the usual view of the bay, and the suspension bridge is shrouded, as is the bench, where the murder took place. The talk is that a homeless guy was attacked, but it hasn't been confirmed. The homeless problem here isn't spoken about much, but it's actually pretty chronic. And to make matters worse, some kids think its funny to beat the shit out of homeless people. Talk about kicking people while they're down...
Anyway, I ask Fox how the previous night's event went:
'Absolutely rockin! Packed, lively, and late! We finally stopped playing at seven. I ain't been to bed yet. I don't like to stop playing, 'til the floor's empty, though, and this time, they just didn't want to stop dancing. Fine by me. It gave me a chance to drop some of my favorite tracks - Cornershop, 'Come Home', by James, stuff I like, but which I wouldn't normally play. I'm not sure the Americans would like tracks that were too 'British', but they went down really well, last night. They love us, those kids!'
While it's undeniably popular, Rock4four does have its critics. Joe Crackles, music reviewer for Tokyo Life magazine, called it 'stars on 45 - the extended dance mix from Hell'
I tell this to fox, who roars with laughter, and exclaims: "I wish I'd thought of that - I'll play 'stars on 45 next week!!"
I also pass on the withering put down, recently uttered by Don the Gaul, for the 'JapanandLovinit' web site: 'Rock4four is two (nightmare) trips down memory lane, for the price of one: all the rock tracks which were deemed suitable for all the cringe inducing wedding receptions you ever went to, PLUS the cheesiest of continuous a.m. radio mixes, that they play when djs have the trots"
I ask him, once he stops belly laughing, for a response:
"No music scene is perfectly cool and acceptable, to everyone. To some, disco is cool, to others, it's ludicrous. Some indie kids and bands were seen as moody, and full of attitude. But to me, that scene was always too white, too hung up, too middle class. I could go on..."
"Please do" I say.
"Well, 'house music' - that passed the indie kids, and their magazines by, dinnit? They were missing, by dismissing the rave scene, the coolest, most enjoyable youth movement in Britain, for decades. And that, more than any other scene inspired Yuji, I, and the other posse members, to start Rock4four. We don't just play cheesy a.o.r. as Joe Crackles would have you believe. We cut, splice, beat mix, loop, mash, extend, strip and funk up good, danceable rock tracks, because, from the perspective of underground dance events, we saw potential in doing that.
"I'm not really interested what Joe Crackles thinks, anyway. He just writes for the sake of writing, to see how many times he can use the word 'seminal' or how many names he can drop, in one article. Club culture has hardly ever been encapsulated, in the press, in literature, or film. Only seriously talented writers can do it. Not wannabe hacks, writing for Tokyo freesheets. so it's easier just to diss the scene, 'cos it's beyond their ability to put the vibe, the freshness, the positivity, and energy, into words.'
"Do you have a problem, with Joe crackles?"
"Yeah, actually. Ages ago, he asked for guest list tickets, so we said yeah, if he'd do a review. So, someone else comes down, but Crackles writes a shitty review, and then calls us again, asking for more guest list tickets. Obviously, Rock4four is SO bad, he needs to come down again, by himself, just to take it all in. Tossbag"
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Featured Tracks:
Cornershop - Brimful of Asha (Fatboy Slim Mix):
James - Come Home:
Stars on 45, Vol 1:
Stars on 45, Vol 2:
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