Okay, that’s a total lie. I’m nowhere near Budokan.

Kansai International Airport is a mammoth, ultra-modern facility located on a man-made island some kilometers south of Osaka. On the drive in, the next thing you notice is the rather astonishing road system in Osaka. The highway overpasses, bridges and whatnot form an epic, serpentine circulatory system through the city that quite frankly looks like a work of art, even if you’re not into highways in general. The opportunity to marvel at Osaka up close would have to wait for another time, however, as it was not our destination on this day. We zipped along in our tour bus through and out of town, headed to the city of Nara, a little ways away.

Nara is famous for being home to Nara Park, which itself is home to hundreds of awesomely tame deer. We went up to the top of one of the mountain/hills surrounding the city to a) freeze our asses off (it was muy windy), b) frolic with the deer a bit and c) get a spectacular view of it all. Check, check and check. It was at this point as we headed back into the city that the weather, and the day in general, started to turn south. Though not in the forecast (you lie, Weather Channel!), we got hit by a large, very persistent thunderstorm and the tour guide still thought it would be a good idea to wander around on foot through one of the city’s neighborhoods. Granted, it was kind of a neat area with incredibly narrow streets and low, densely packed buildings whose roofs looked tailor made for ninja sprints, but it was also freezing cold and wet so the novelty of it all was rather being washed away.

After we finally got back on the bus and pneumonia was settling in nicely, it was a long traipse to the hotel, which was of a traditional Japanese style. This meant no beds, no three-prong plugs and no internet. Nothing traditional about the internet. It also meant we had to put on kimonos and traditional garb to go to dinner, which was beautifully presented and consisted of stuff that you don’t get in Bento box #3 at Sushi On Bloor. Some of it was tasty, some not so much, but it was certainly different.

Jet lag continues to plague me on this trip. I think the only thing worse than traveling halfway around the world in the first place is to keep getting up at odd hours to catch more flights to more different time zones. I was unconscious before 9PM local time and up before 4AM, and see no end to this trend in sight.

Oddly, though last night was spent in a hotel in the city, there was no internet. Now that I’m in this remote little hotel on a mountainside, there is internet. Go figure. However, there is no 3-prong plug so my laptop battery continues to die. Perhaps I will try to ask for an extension cord in sign language at the front desk.

Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s new/debut record The Dust Of Retreat comes out today and The Indianapolis Star has an expansive article about their favourite native sons (and daughter). The band is also used as an example of “intellectually sensitive” bands whooping it up at SxSW last week by Connecticuit Music. There’s also an audio interview with the band recorded at SxSW at Gen Art Pulse. I posted a couple tracks from the album in my last Margot post but also check out their ecard for more samples, videos and miscellania here. Finally, a reminder that they’re at Lee’s Palace on April 3. You should go.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips tells The San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn’t do drugs and that it’s hard to get fake blood out of his suits.

Billy Bragg talks to CNN about being influenced by Bob Dylan and Margaret Thatcher. Bradley’s Almanac has recordings of Billy’s recent Boston show for grabbing.

The new album from The Sleepy Jackson will be out July 25 and look for a new Fountains Of Wayne album sometime this Fall.

Some shows – Band Of Horses are at Lee’s Palace on June 13 with Mt Egypt. tickets $10, while Islands and a host of their friends including Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown, Cadence Weapon and Bus Driver, will be at the Opera House on May 19 for an all ages show, tickets $13. Also, Rainer Maria will be at the Horseshoe for what will hopefully be an emo-free bill on May 15.

But don’t look for any tour dates for Morrissey anytime soon – he hates Canada.

Monkey vs Robot – my money is on Robot.

So yesterday was the first full day in Taipei and it was a drencher. Didn’t stop raining for pretty much the whole day, and this was no namby-pamby rain. But still, we were able to head downtown for a little look-see, mainly in a system of fancy-pants malls outside Taipei 101, which currently holds the much-asterixed title of “tallest building in the world”. It was way too cloudy to go up, so perhaps I’ll be able to defend my hometown phallus’ honour another day. But most interesting was looking through the CD section in a huge international bookstore in one of the malls. It was quite small, but well-stocked with releases from Art Of Fighting, Smoosh, +/-, Vashti Bunyan, Trembling Blue Stars and Explosions In The Sky – and all at quite good prices. I had no idea what to make of this, but it made me happy.

Today we’re off to Japan. I believe we’re going to see some deer. If you want to follow along with pictures, I’ve got a set for this trip on my Flickr page.

Recieved a most exciting piece of email the other night from none other than Mr Dean Wareham, formerly of Luna. It seems that they’re assembling the artwork for Tell Me Do You Miss Me, the DVD documenting Luna’s farewell 2004/2005 tour, and they wanted to use one of my pics of Sean Eden from their Abbey Pub show in Chicago back in November ’04 for the booklet. I think it’s this one here, but there’s a few decent Sean ones they could have selected. Either way, it was pretty exciting to be getting my photo in the artwork and to correspond with Dean, if just for a little bit.

The trailer for the doc, which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC next month before arriving on DVD in May, is also now online. I’m a little surprised by the direction that the film appears to take – rather than just a concert video collated from the farewell shows, there looks to be a fair bit of backstage and candid footage with a definite look at the business end of things that no doubt played a huge role in the band’s decision to call it quits. I’m a bit of a tough sell on concert filims in general, so this angle could make for a much more interesting viewing experience. Hope I get a copy as a thank-you for the photo… oh, and Rhino, who are releasing the DVD, are also putting out a best-of for Luna in May to coincinde with the film. No track listings yet, but if Rhino stays true to forml it’ll be an excellent mix of album tracks, b-sides and rarities.

And looking to the future, Dean & Britta have gone into the studio to record their second full-length album. Tony Visconti, who is again producing the duo, and on his website, he says “The latest batch of songs are, of course, romantic and heartfelt (and they make my eyes a little dewy — but it’s just a physiological thing, nothing to worry about)”. There’s some stuff to listen to on their MySpace page and The Squid & The Whale, which they provided the score to, came out on DVD last week.

Also retrospecitve-y and coming from Rhino in May (on the 23) – a Replacements best-of entitled Bastards Of Young which, unlike the feeble All For Nothing/Nothing For All set compilation from a few years back, should include selections from both the band’s Twin/Tone AND Warner Bros releases. And if that’s not enough ‘Mats for you, PunkNews has info on a box set being compliled for a future release. Via Clicky Click.

Sonic Youth’s final album for Geffen, Rather Ripped, will be out June 13. More info at Chart.

Pitchfork reports that The Mountain Goats will release a new EP, Babylon Springs, on April 3. Initially only available in Australia, it will hopefully get a North American release in some capacity before too long. And finally, the band have recorded their follow-up to The Sunset Tree and aim to release it this Fall.

Magnet has questions, Wayne Coyne has answers. They go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong.

Preview selections from The Concretes’ new album In Colour here. It’s out April 4. Thanks to Coolfer for the link.

The Times revs up for the release of Drive-By Truckers’ latest A Blessing And A Curse, out April 18.

np – Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s / The Dust Of Retreat

After a 13-hour flight across half the world (or thereabouts), I am not sure what day it is or really even where I am. But I think I saw some movies on the plane.

George Clooney / Good Night, And Good Luck A talky, highly political black and white film seemed rather an odd choice for an in-flight film, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. The multi-Oscar nominated film about newsman Edward R Murrow taking on Senator Joe McCarthy was terrifically engrossing if a little tough to hear at points over the rumble of the 747’s engines. It was understated and still fiery in its way. The integration of archival footage of McCarthy and the hearings with the rest of the film was seamless. David Strathairn was amazing as Murrow – intense and driven, yet quiet and contemplative – and George Clooney continues to impress the hell out of me as both a director and actor, though I still can’t get over his early early Golden Girls guest spot which I channel surfed past a couple months ago. Bonus: hearing the dialogue that R.E.M. included in “Exhuming McCarthy”, off of Document – “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Ben Younger / Prime Synopsis – recent divorcee hooks up with young hunk, and tells her therapist about it, who happens to be hunk’s mother. Hilarity ensues. Okay, not really hilarity, more like tepid formulaic romantic comedy. What could/should have been an interesting premise isn’t really milked for all its worth, instead all the characters are allowed to remain realistic, sympathetic and rational. Which I suppose is what some people are looking for in a rom-com. Maybe I was just in the mood for something a little more Farelly Brothers? I dunno. Not bad but not especially interesting, either. Though it did do its assigned job and killed a couple hours on the plane. Maybe I was too distracted by the fact that apparently Uma Thurman is now being cast in roles as “the older woman”. Say what?

Hello from Vancouver. I’m making an overnight stopover out here en route to Taiwan, and then Japan (and then back to Taiwan). I should remain pretty well connected whilst over there, and time zone wackiness notwithstanding, posting should continue apace and I shouldn’t be slipping into full travelblog mode either. There’s probably only so many times I can say “I don’t understand anything anyone is saying”.

And naturally, while I’m gone, there’s a whole whack of shows coming through town that I would otherwise be all over like a fat kid on Smarties. But even though I’m half a world away, there’s no reason you shouldn’t attend (these specific shows for Torontonians and these tours for those on the east coast):

The Magnolia Electric Co & Destroyer @ Lee’s Palace – March 25
Neko Case @ The Music Hall – April 2
The Hidden Cameras @ The Music Gallery – April 2
Eisley @ The Mod Club – April 3
Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s with South @ Lee’s Palace – April 3
Arab Strap @ Lee’s Palace – April 4
The Flaming Lips @ The Phoenix – April 4
Centro-Matic with Great Lake SwimmerS @ The Horseshoe – April 5
Beth Orton @ The Carlu – April 6

All of these come with some degree of endorsement from yours truly, for what that’s worth, though realistically I’d probably only have made a real effort to get to the Margot, Centro-Matic and Flaming Lips shows. And if I have to recommend just one show to see in the next two weeks, it’s unequivocably Centro-Matic. And not just because there’s no way you’re getting Lips tickets. Their new one Fort Recovery continues to grow on me and their day show at SxSW last week definitely served to remind that they’re an amazing live act – hopefully they’ll bring their a-game for their Canadian debuts. Creative Loafing and Cokemachineglow both have interviews with head Centro Will Johnson. And note this endorsement has nothing to do with the Centro-Matic ad running down the side there, but if you want to hear Fort Recovery streamed online, feel free to click through…

The St Paul Pinoeer Press recounts the story of Neko Case while Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune (via The Miamit Herald) talks to Neko and producer Daryl Neudorf about fairy tales and Fox Confessor.

Chart talks to Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffatt about cheering up on The Last Romance. Incrementally. And co-conspirator Malcolm Middleton compiles “Nine Songs That Give Me Goosebumps and Make Me Want to Give up Music When I Hear Them Because I Feel Like Dirt Next to Them” for Pitchfork.

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of a press maelstrom of Lips-ian proportions brewing. Duck and cover, kids. Duck and cover. The UK is getting it started with Flaming Lips pieces in The Telegraph, The Scotsman and The Independent.

Beth Orton is the subject of feature/interviews with Paste and North Jersey.com.

Joey Santiago tells Billboard that besides a brief European tour this Summer, he has no idea what Pixies will do next.

Some rock (three-finger devil salute) shows to announce – The Duke Spirit are at Lee’s Palace on April 18 and Heavy Trash are at the Horseshoe on May 6.

So on the plane yesterday, I was served some Yoplait “Probiotic active culture”. Mmm mm good! Ask for it by name! I spent much of yesterday roaming the UBC campus and otherwise enjoying the temperate Vancouver weather. Today I am on a 13 hour flight across the Pacific to Taipei. That international date line thing is fearsome to me. It’ll be like some crazy-ass time warp. But see you on the flip side.