Search Results for: eva liao

MY TUNES: Our Favorite Albums Of Right Now

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (2010 DFA/Virgin) Now that the decade of the 00’s is a closed set let me eulogize the collapse of the pop music industry. Reports at the decade’s start were that the music business would collapse and with 2010, seeing profits halved, tells us that’s what we’re hearing.  It is the uncomfortable sound of history coming to a close, a decade without a new genre being born.  Oh, there’s still some artful grab-baggery and musical slicing and dicing but the production of a number one hit pop hit from 2000 sounds depressingly similar to a […]

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BEST OF: Our Favorite Albums Of 2009

LA ROUX — s/t The only reason I came to know of La Roux is because my disgruntled friend, Sam of Manchester, England, wouldn’t stop going on about how much he hated the album. We were going over sets for our next DJ event in Tokyo, discussing what kind of music to scrap and what to keep. “I can’t stand them,” he said of the British duo, “but Tokyoites eat it up. Throw it on, and they go nuts.” His eyebrows were furrowed, as always, forming a permanent scowl. “More proof that Japanese people have the shittiest taste in music,” […]

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LETTER FROM TOKYO: 65 Reasons Why I Love Living Here, Why Japan is Better Than America, And Why Tokyo Is One Of The Greatest Cities In The World

BY EVA LIAO TOKYO CORRESPONDENT A few weeks ago I wrote a post disclosing all the things I dislike about Tokyo and peeps be acting like I was ready to jump off the deep end. My incredibly considerate, but mislead roommate actually gave me a hug after reading the post because he thought I was depressed. Three other people had the same reaction. People! Beefs with Tokyo does not equate to unhappiness. Not in my book, anyway. Rather, I saw my “beef” as a coming to terms with reality, an acceptance of sorts that allowed me to simply appreciate things […]

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LETTER FROM TOKYO: Asian Kids Vs. White Kids

An observational study on the differences between western and Asian students studying in Japan by Eva Liao TOKYO, JAPAN — I’m in class for four hours a day, which means I am bored to the brink of insanity 20 hours a week. I’m amazed I’m not bald from pulling my hair out from the roots. There’s  nothing else to do but to analyze the people in my classes. Forgoing political correctness for a stint, I must say, it’s truly amazing how clear-cut some stereotypes really are. The subjects: Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, French, British, Italian, German, Canadian, and American […]

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LOST IN TRANSLATION: Why I Don’t Like Tokyo OR Where’s Godzilla When You Really Need Him?

BY EVA LIAO TOKYO CORRESPONDENT Simply put, I don’t LOVE Tokyo. But sometimes I’m not even sure I LIKE Tokyo. It’s not an opinion I like to voice, especially since I assume most of the people living here are huge Tokyo proponents. And I’m not a wet dish rag kinda gal — there’s usually no point in complaining, especially to people who probably disagree. When people ask me what I really think of Tokyo, I feel like I’m not supposed to tell the truth. Sometimes I lie. I fear my reasoning for disliking Tokyo will come up short, that my […]

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LOST IN TRANSLATION: Letter From Tokyo

[Photos by EVA LIAO] EDITOR’S NOTE: Longtime Phawker editrix EVA LIAO is currently living in Tokyo where she is learning to speak and write Japanese as a certified business communicator. From time to time she sends dispatches back to the home office detailing her adventures and observations as a stranger in a strange land. Dear People Who Read Phawker, If, for whatever reason, you plan on visiting Tokyo in the near future, here are the Top Ten things you should know. 1. There is no such thing as a non-smoking establishment in Tokyo. Without all the stateside taxes, a pack […]

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We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

NOVEMBER SURPRISE: The Decemberists, Electric Factory, Last Night [photo by MICHAEL DONOVAN] BY MICHAEL DONOVAN We all have novels we constantly return to in times of public boredom or private darkness. I’ve read The Great Gatsby more times than I’d like to admit, and The Sun Also Rises ceases to get old for me. It’s fitting, then, that Portland, Oregon’s premiere storytelling band is just the same—no matter how many times I spend the evening with them (seven) and no matter how little their show changes (very little), I’ll never tire of seeing the Decemberists. Take seven: The D’s are […]

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LOST IN TRANSLATION: Letter From Tokyo

Assistant Editor Eva Liao recently moved to Tokyo where she is studying Japanese in an intensive two year program that will, upon completion, certify her to conduct business in the Land Of The Rising Sun. She will be dropping us letters semi-regularly about her experiences as a stranger in a strange land. Dear Phawker, So yes, I’m in Tokyo! For almost a month now. I think I’ve made a pretty smooth transition. Or as smooth as I could have hoped for, I guess. Japan is unlike any other place Ive been and there are many tiny obstacles to surpass. Although […]

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TONITE: Walk Like A Man, Talk Like A Girl

[Photo by ANDREW STRASSER] BY DAVE ALLEN Talk about getting your peanut butter in my chocolate: Lil Mama rhyming about her lipgloss mashed-up with the hammering of Metallica‘s “One.” Youngbloodz declaring that he don’t give a fuck to the smooth organ strains of Procol Harum. The dance music of Girl Talk, AKA Gregg Gillis, is so loaded with these types of bizarre combinations that you could almost measure it in terms of WTFs instead of BPMs, but Gillis’ skills in keeping the grooves seamless behind the constantly-changing samples makes his latest, Feed the Animals, an ear-worming winner (now playing on […]

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