JAPAN NITE @ BOWERY BALLROOM: 3/22/9 @ 8PM.

Ever wonder what those hip Japanese kids you see walking around the East Village have playing on their ipods? Well, it really could be anything; Japanese pop culture has a wonderful way of selectively absorbing the parts of other cultures it likes best and mixing them together in new ways, which is something that New Yorkers should be able to recognize.

This irreverent mixing of styles is on display at the Bowery Ballroom for Japan Nite, a showcase of the best that Japanese rock has to offer. Detroit 7 is a garage rock trio that would have made the MC5 very proud indeed. SA (formerly Samurai Attack) is a punk band from the 70's that reformed a few years back; they have a great Clash/Sham 69 kind of sound. Then you have the less conventional acts like Asakusa Jinta, a marching band that mixes traditional Japanese brass band music with Klezmer and punk—or Omodaka, a group that mixes melodic electronic music with gorgeously insane visuals; click here for an example. You should go.
 

Sunday, 3/22/9 @ 8pm
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey Street
(212) 533-2111
$15