shoboshoboshoboshoboshoboshoboshoboshoboshoboshobo!

'I know when to go out, I know when to stay in, get things done' said David Bowie, once upon a time. Well, let's listen to him! It's important to zone your life into organised, introverted, productive bits and dissolute, extraverted, sociable bits. Some people do both in the course of a day (work, then go out) or a week (sedate week, wild weekend), but musicians tend to be much more intensive: three months recording, three months touring, three months ligging and going to gigs, three months masturbating, doing drugs, blogging, or writing for style mags... well, insert the compulsive behaviour tic of your choice.

Right now I'm in introverted, concentrated, productive mode. I'm getting things done. I'm in a relationship and living with a Japanese girl, I'm working hard and have a nice apartment, so there really isn't much reason to go out. (Except to see 'The Triplets of Belleville', which I did the other night.) But that's going to change quite soon. My flatmate just got a job with a fashion designer and will be moving back to London in July. I'm subletting my Berlin apartment and will be wandering for three months from the beginning of next month, hanging out in Barcelona, Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong before returning to Berlin in October.

Right now, because I haven't been going out much, I feel far from the Berlin social scene. Scenes are important. It's nice to feel involved in one, even peripherally. I've been connected to so many, in so many different cities. The Postcard scene in Scotland. Creation and el in London. Loungecore in Berlin and Paris, Shibuya-kei in Tokyo, Electroclash in New York. I wasn't central to any of these scenes. I'm not really a big, bad, bold scenester. But I like to guage what's going on, where it's at, identify the talented people, soak up the glamour, and hang around on the fringes.

So what scene am I in now? Who do I feel close to? Why, Shoboshobo, silly!

What is Shoboshobo?
It's a series of electro-experimental Franco-Japonaise parties and events in Paris. They even have a jingle, listen!

Shoboshobo Jingle mp3

What does Shoboshobo mean?
Japanese is a language with many funny onomatopoeic forms. Shobo shobo is the sound of something running out of energy, decreasing in tension. It's an expression, often, of disappointment. You could say it's the opposite of hype, and, although I'm hyping it here, the Shoboshobo movement really is the opposite of hype. It's a group of friends who do crazy things to amuse each other, not a bunch of artists trying to 'break through'.

Who's in Shoboshobo?
Technically, Shoboshobo is Shobo Shobo, a concert series that's been running in Paris for three years or so. It's run by art teacher and Minifer-founder Mehdi Hercberg. But I'm using the name for a whole extended family, a scene. Some organisations involved are the record shop Bimbo Tower, labels Clapping Music and Active Suspension, web label Evenement, the venue Console, event organisers Buro. The artists involved are people like (Paris) Domotic, Konki Duet, Shinsei, Olamm, Davide Balula, Noak Katoi, Fabriquedecouleurs, Minifer, Erik Zahn, My Jazzy Child, Eric Maillet, Eric Minkinen and Hypo, and (Japan) Gutevolk, Tog, Aoki Takamasa, Yoshihiro Hanno, AUA, ARch, Philippe Chatelain and many others.



How would you characterise the sound, the sensibility?
It's trestle-table electronica, but with a pastoral Japanese, ludic, video game, kiddy-wicked flavour. So there are rubber masks as well as mixers, acoustic guitars as well as keyboards, picnics and country concerts in the daytime as well as smoky noctural events in cellars.

Are these people Momus fans?
Not at all. They're much more likely to cite Fugazi, My Bloody Valentine, Morton Feldman, Moondog, The Magnetic Fields or Neil Young. Check out some of their Desert Island Discs.

What's your personal connection to this scene?
I dated Yoyo, the Tokyo-side organiser of some of the events, when she lived in Paris back in the mid-90s. I've performed at one of the Placard events organised by Buro, and I sing on the new album from Hypo. I've also known Kumi from Konki Duet for a couple of years, Hirono from Gutevolk for yonks, and am friendly with Eric from Discom and both of Tog (one half of Tog is Roddy Schrock, who's rejigged some of my new tracks, and the other half is Robert Duckworth, with whom I'll be staying and laptop touring in Japan over the summer).

What are the shows like?
One (the wonderfully-named Wolfenschmoog) was based on half a dozen networked Wolfenstein players running the sound of the game through Max/MSP patches. Another was a picnic in a park with some schoolchildren. Another, a couple of guys humming scat over Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks. And another, Blacknskatnmate, a sort of supergroup wearing animal masks and doing abstract, satirical black metal. The one I really wish I'd been at was lastminitshoboshobo, held in a courtyard in sleepy Montreuil, and featuring, amongst others, pabarbapapa, 'a midiglitch unit composed with fabriquedecouleurs and minifer' who 'gave a performance using both of them the same midi file "barbapapa" theme song, glitching it.'



Do these Shoboshobo people have any magazines writing about them?
In France, Chronic'Art is the mag most aware of them, not least because some of them write for it. In Japan, it would be After Hours and OK Fred.

I'm going to Paris soon. Can I be a part of this magnificent scene?
Yes, you can. The next Shoboshobo event is on June 24th at Studio 14 Paradis, 14, Rue Paradis, Paris 10e (metro Gare De L'Est). It features My Jazzy Child, Miroque and Yoshio Machida. (Mehdi has just written telling me that two other Japanese artists, Ammakasie Noka and Mayunoniwa, have been parachuted in at the last moment.)

Anything else I should check out, Nick?
Read an interview with Mehdi here, and check out his drawings. Have a look at Khahn-Linh La's photos on the events archive. Olamm's blog is pretty cool. And have a gander at this little video of the minimalist, energetic and crazy Phirip (also of AUA and ARch) from Nagoya, Japan.