kay. So there’s this Japanese “avant-garde” performer named Jun Togawa. She’s been in the entertainment business for twenty years; hence the title of her latest release, 20th Jun Togawa: A reissued collection of cover songs recorded in 2000. Now let’s say, despite her twenty years in the entertainment industry—some way, some how—Ms. Togawa has eluded your avant-garde loving radar...is she right for you? Let’s say you have a particular predilection for offbeat Japanese ladies and the offbeat music they often make, whether it be Cibo Matto, Buffalo Daughter or Takako Minekawa. Hell, let’s say you dig Yoko Ono or, at very least, think her singing was sometimes akin to the screams of a cat waking up and finding itself duct-taped to a dog’s back, yet you admired her for sheer nerve. Should you then, lover of avant-garde female Japanese performers, feel you’re missing out if you don’t experience 20th Jun Togawa? Eh...I’d say no.


Four of the six songs covered I’m not familiar with, so I can only judge them as Togawa pieces alone (the two I am familiar with, I’ll get to in a bit). 20th Jun Togawa starts off promising enough with “Comme a la radio”, an exotic, sensual, driving track that features a desert weary—but persistent—bass line and a snake charming, warm and sneaky clarinet, which has an Eastern influenced John Coltrane soloing on soprano effect. Togawa’s vocals are slight on this song, but suit the atmosphere well enough. At first, one thinks they’re in for a good ride here, but then the second track (“Finale”) comes flopping in. With scattered, slapdash electronica—not scattered and slapdash enough to be engrossing, just enough to be off-putting—and more pronounced vocalizations from Togawa, the end result is like listening to video-game music and bad karaoke simultaneously while on heavy downers. Togawa is by no means a great singer, but that’s not the major problem here—we’re not talking spastic, confrontational punk; we’re not talking charming, seductive crooning; we’re just talking “I have a voice. I have a mic. I have a voice. I have a mic. Cha, cha, cha.” Her singing has more spunk on the third track, “Joe le Taxi”, but its schmaltzy accordion/piano arrangement keep things from getting too interesting. I recall Bjork did a similar shtick in her mid-1990s live show—jumping from electronica songs to nostalgic numbers featuring an accordion—though it worked far better with the more distinctive Ice Lander. Next to “Comme a la radio”, the highest moment on 20th Jun Togawa is the cover of Patti Smith/Bruce Springsteen hit, “Because the Night.” I always hated this song—inflated dramatics and MOR pop is a sour mix indeed—therefore I didn’t mind Togawa’s total deconstruction of it. Actually, with the nail-biting tension created via electric cello, noise guitar and Togawa’s unhinged singing, “Because the Night” is gifted a depth the original version (as well as Natalie Merchant’s) lacked. Her cover of the Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” however, isn’t nearly as successful—nor is it a necessity. Remaking a bad song makes more sense to me than covering an absolute gem: “All Tomorrow’s Parties” was always a favorite of mine (the only Nico sung VU song I like) and the original version still sounds modern and sufficiently trancelike today. Togawa’s uninspired drag of the song is more an insult than anything else. Here, Togawa sounds like an off key Japanese Cher—zonked out of her mind—singing the national anthem at the languid hour of a rave and the music (performed by The Saboten) is too tired to even be called music exactly—more an audible groaning of equipment. After writing this, I’m going to have to pop in the “Banana Album” to cleanse my psyche.


20th Jun Togawa comes with a bonus CD featuring two homages to Jean-Luc Godard, which Togawa sang with a string quartet at a 2002 Godard tribute. Being a huge Godard fan (I’ve probably dropped his name in more music reviews than anyone ever has on this site), my interest was piqued: How would Ms. Togawa and the string quartet represent and respect the very fine film work of Godard? The first piece, entitled “The Homage for Jean-Luc Godard—Movement #3”, showcases Togawa muttering neurotically while the strings and piano swirl about in a creepy, “avant-garde” vein (I put that in quotes because whenever something sounds like an unintentional parody it deserves to be placed “in quotes”). I wonder which Godard films Togawa and her accompanists have viewed, because I missed any evocation of the French filmmaker’s work in their performance. If we’re talking straight sonic or musical representation of Godard’s 1960s films (surely the period being honored), a quartet playing frantically and frightfully is hardly appropriate: Godard’s soundtracks consisted of either jubilant jazz (Michel LeGrand), bittersweet French pop (Charles Aznavour), or elegantly phrased symphonic scores (George Delerue). And if we’re talking in terms of mood...well, I’d say the kind of music Godard chose to have in his films would strike closest. Godard films were truly avant-garde, not because they rejected beauty and entertainment value—ever the contrary—but because they were experimental, that is they contained new ideas and styles pertaining to creative approach. Overall, one can’t say this for 20th Jun Togawa. The only reason this work is labeled “avant-garde” is because it sounds like avant-garde music that’s been done before and most importantly, because it’s not listener friendly.


Give me a Godard film or a Velvet Underground album and I’ll savor true inspiration and creativity—not the mere abstraction of such attributes.