" JOY " - Graveyard Label / BLOWOUT -

NME
should be approached with suspicion.
While Motorhead are the only band officially sanctioned to utilise such requisites, we'll forgive My Way My Love because a) they're japanese b) they have a giant washing machine on their website c) although they're not in the same synapse-liquidising league as Lemmy, they're refined racketeers themselves.
In fact, 'JOY' cements the threesome's reputation as something of a Manga Deerhoof - a terrific booming hullabaloo of dislocated, concentrated weirdness that's undoubtedly more ATP than TOTP.
From 'Acupuncture Man', where mutant instigator Yukio Murata appears to be grappling a bear-trap, to 'The Devil Song', which sounds like Mogwai playing Mission:Impossible, it's a ballooning post-grunge scattergram.
We'll call it JOY derision.

KERRANG
JOY is mess of radio transmissions and helicopter crashes, schizophrenic breakdowns and metal-plated heads.
It's intense overwhelming aural chaos, sounds thrusting in and out of a passive Listener able only to let it infiltrate and penetrate.
Melody is present, but plays second fiddle to wilful sonic abstraction, intentionally uneasy listening, an antidote to anything that's even mildly catchy.
Yet JOY is a charming album, albeit in the same way as a child who's just dug up and eaten his first earthworm, and there are flashes of brilliance that emerge from beneath the muddy sonic quagmire to make this deliberately challenging experience totally worthwhile.

"It is but one of billions of galaxies in your universe" - TROST
RECORDS

On the cover an abstract herd of sixteen Scottish highland cattles graze a
monotonous green pasture.
Inside the trio around mastermind Yukio Murata blast their version of kung
fu alternative noise rock through their amps. Scottish highland cattle are
gaining more and more ground in the agricultural sector
as farmers shift from fulltime to part-time farming, because they allegedly
don't need a lot of care, survive winters outdoor and unlike hyperbred
mid-european cattle races don't need help by veterinaries when giving birth
to their young. Still, they are a strange sight to behold on Styrian hills
because there is a (attributed) knowledge that they don't belong in this
area. Japanese bands on the other hand are known for grazing into musical
genres that are not traditionally their own and then taking the main
features of that genre an turn them into overdrive
(check guitar wolf for a cool example and a gazillion of japanese hardcore
bands for boring examples).
So while both, japanese bands and scottish cattle, are prone to being found
in places they don't originally belong, real originality is something
usually connected to japanese rock-bands.
My Way My Love are a different thing. Maybe it is that noise-affinity,
because in all forms of noise japanese artists have been taking leading
roles for a few centuries now.
The intro-song "stars on the surface" and "nerveless 9" feature noise-parts
as main structural elements forming the songs; and with noise I don't mean
plain feedback or samples, I mean an acomplished wall of noise destructing
the songs. But also zeeps and feeps straight from old sci-fi-movies (another
genre the japanese and took to the nth degree of hyperbolism), a mangled
sax, and so on. The list could be long indeed.
There are times when these noise extrapolations sound a little like the
glazing on a cake, in the sense of now we got this song, let's see what we
can do to spice it up.
Which could make the noise bits sound like pure effectry and catching for
compliments, but on It is but one of a 3. you have to have a mean
critical streak to name them that.
Because they are too deeply integrated into the whole concept of the band
and these recordings to disrupt the flow even if they do. Guess we have to
learn to cope with such paradoxes when the Asian age arises and influences
our societies even more.
Somewhere on the mangled and twisting line between Melt Banana and Sonic
Youth there is the magic forest where My Way My Love dwell.
I guess, they l hear these allusions often. They will mainly come from the
way Murata sings, which definitely sounds like Thurston Moore in a lot of
parts, and the multitude of samples and sounds that remind of the variety of
guitar sound in Melt Banana's repertoire. Speedwise they are also closer to
Sonic Youth in that lazy beat which always seems to stumble along
behind the song trying to keep up with the rest of the band. But in overt
eclecticism and disparity of elements, MWML stand alone. Most other bands
still try to keep their songs inside an overall aesthetic framework, like
sound or structure or production. Sonic Youth (since I mentioned them two
times already a third time is okay) who are thinking terms of albums rather
than songs. This band doesn't care about such frameworks. It is like a
chessboard featuring pegs of backgammon, cluedo and Stratego played by the
rules of UNO.
Most importantly, though, the music still rocks. Which is the main judging
element in rock music, obviously. It would be interesting to put some
thoughts into the different kinds and ways music can Rock you, bridging
indie-rock to heavy metal, but in a live setting I believe that
My Way My Love are heavily amplified and loud, which is one main ingredient.
Fun is another one, and is clearly visible on here as well.
Which are two things Scottish Highland Cattle definitely can't do.
One last word about the genius title of the record,
which sounds like an excerpt from yet another sci-fi-movie:
I like the hint at the alien perspective it transports. In a time were most
people behave as if we have a second planet earth to live on, it is good to
be reminded that the universe we live in is an enormously big and to the
highest extent uninhabitated place.
The universe doesn't care if humankind survives or manages to kill itself.
Even a global catastrophe resulting in the final extinction of mankind on
paceship earth (Bucky Fullminster) wouldn't change the structure and
evolvement of the universe at all.
This is a philosophical lesson I learned from ten in Black parts one and
two, and it is good to repeat it here.
But no, My Way My Love is definitely no soundtrack to the apocalypse,
but rather an imagined statement from the outside viewpoint.
Which seems obvious coming from Japan in a way. Which way?
Their way and their love.
<monochrom - http://www.monochrom.at/>

I've spent a lot of time in Japan the past couple of years and though I was
lucky enough to have
my girlfriend as a personal translator, the music barrier remained a
constant. No only did most artists
in japan perform in their native language, the music that I was introduced
to just plain sucked.
My Way My Love is a trio led by Japanese mastermind Yukio Murata sings in
English like a
livelier Iggy Pop or Thurston Moore, over multiple layers of chaotic,
garage-punk grooves.
Hypnotic Suggestion:01 is the trio's newest release that transcends any and
all cultural barriers
with a consistent mix of fury and original artistic vision.
Sometimes tame, but ofeten disjointed and maniacal, MWML has done an amazing
job creating a CD
of brilliance and amongst other things, cultural unity. - Jay Riggio
<ROCKPILE>

"Can something organic actually come from tech-obsessed Japan?
Yeah, and it's in the form of My Way My Love...Murata sounds like a Thurston
Moore clone against the same distorted flanks that put the New York group on
the map. And just when the compositions can't get any better, the band lets
some of the track hang out in all their punk-infected glory.
My Way My Love are quintessentially un-Japanese, a novelty in itself that
makes them so likable, so good."
<LA Weekly>

"There's a lot less to My Way My Love in concert than on CD,
but a lot more, too. The exhilarating set the Tokyo trio played
Tuesday night at the Warehouse Next Door relied only slightly on the sort of
electronic effects that characterize the band's new album,
"Hypnotic Suggestion: 01."
Yet singer-guitarist Yukio Murata and his cohorts didn't merely make a lot
of noise; they also showed that Japanese genius for transmuting the basic
ingredients of rock-and-roll into unprecedented varieties of art music.
There were passages, and even entire songs,
that could be assigned to a familiar genre:
surf-rockabilly, punk-blues, no wave.
But the styles shifted as suddenly as Murata switched between a roots-rock
growl and an art-punk falsetto. he music was intensely physical,
and the guitarist embodied that quality:
He bounced about the stage as he played rubbery riffs, kicked his legs
wildly during a lurching, spasmodic tune and finally hurled himself into the
drum kit to underscore his announcement that this would be the last song.
The band performed for only about 30 minutes,
approximately the same length as "Hypnotic Suggestion: 01.
" Perhaps a half-hour on stage drains the musicians,
But it certainly didn't exhaust their ideas.
From bassist Dai Hiroe's megaphone-distorted contrapuntal vocals to
Murata's feedback-heavy appropriation of the Rickenbacker,
the favored guitar of chiming folk rockers,
My Way My Love redefined itself and its precedents at every turn." - Mark
Jenkins
<Washinton Post>

Japan's My Way My Love create sometimes-spastic, sometimes-ambient noise
rock largely indebted to Brainiac, or perhaps Sonic Youth's non-melodic
moments. Although Hypnotic Suggestion: 01's songs alternate pleasingly
between full-fledged musical arrangements and haphazard noise excursions,
the overall lack of thematic consistency limits the album's staying power.
That said, there are times when the two elements work together well;
consider the way "A Girlfriend"'s feedback-laced blips segue nicely into the
squealing punk of "Super Fresh!". The problem isn't with the concept itself,
but with the its uneven implementation.
Another dilemma is the degree to which the band's approach places
limitations on the potential authority of the vocals or lyrics. The actual
lyrical content is frequently indecipherable beneath the feedback and
fuzzed-out production. This isn't a major drawback, but it requires the
music itself to carry virtually all of the artistic weight -- there's
nothing else to pick up the slack. Fortunately, the band is usually up to
this challenge.
My Way My Love excel when they dive head-first into hard-hitting noise-punk.
"Super Fresh!"'s spazzy trash-pop wouldn't sound out place alongside tracks
from Hissing Prigs in Static Couture. Likewise, the powerful drumming in
"Ovo" and "Un" shows that My Way My Love have the potential to craft dynamic
and exhilarating punk songs -- but they don't display these skills as often
as they should, settling instead for decent but far less engaging spurts of
indistinguishable noise.
Ultimately, Hypnotic Suggestion: 01's positives easily outweigh its
negatives. My Way My Love would benefit from more actual songs and fewer
noisy-feedback forays, but it's clearly easier for them to churn out brief
and fuzzy feedback jams like "Reykjavik 69" or "Jinxxxxxxxxxxxsix" than it
is to craft solidly structured songs in the vein of "Sports" or "Sound of
Gold". The revelation there is clear: the band may not be putting in the
work that's needed for them to reach their full potential. That said,
Hypnotic Suggestion: 01 is a relatively solid and entertaining offering --
it doesn't break the bank with its originality, but it's a step in the right
direction. - Parker Campbell
<splendid magazine>

So let me guess: You're into Sonic Youth, but you can't stand the melodies
and pop hooks that get in the way of the good stuff. You think the With the
Lights Out box is the standard by which to judge all other Nirvana releases.
You spend hours with your electric guitar, sitting in front of your amp and
trying to get the single most beautiful squall of feedback you've ever
heard.
Yeah? Sounds like you? Well, my friend, you are going to love this band.
They're called My Way My Love, and they're from Japan. No, no, don't worry,
I'm not giving you another Merzbow here -- this isn't that synthetic,
mechanical brand of noise that normally gets pushed out of the Japanese
music scene. Believe it or not, there are three guys in this band who
actually all play real instruments. Well, they mostly abuse their
instruments. But they play them sometimes, too. The album's called Hypnotic
Suggestion: 01. I guarantee you'll dig it.
Check out this one track -- it's called "Sports". No, I don't know why it's
called "Sports". Stop asking stupid questions and listen. Listen to Dai
Hiroe's bowel-rattling bass. Listen to the way Yukio Murata plays those
guitars, just careful enough to avoid making any meaningful harmonies, but
repetitive enough to establish a groove. And the words are in English, not
that you'll really notice, anyway. I mean, they just exist for the sake of
ornamentation, right? Seriously, lyrics are overrated.
All right, all right, maybe you need something a little more aggressive. Try
"Un" on for size -- it's right after "Nu". Early '90s Seattle is all over
that intro, but check this out: It totally punks out! If you're not
thrashing around your room getting bruises listening to this one, I don't
know what's wrong with you. There are even some words in it you might be
able to decipher after a few listens, since apparently you're into that sort
of thing. Ignore the production. It's supposed to sound all thuddy like
that. It's punk. Get over it.
How about "Captain"? OK, OK, it sounds a lot like "Sports", except with more
words. I shoulda seen that coming.
Listen to this, this is one of my favorites, so brace yourself. It's called
"Jinxxxxxxxxxxsix". Yes, it's over already! That's how the album ends! The
number of letters in its name are the number of seconds it lasts! And yes, I
know it sounds like a bad AM radio signal looped for a few seconds until a
dog barks. That's the genius of it! It's existentialist!
Look, come back here for a minute, let me talk. These guys have been around
the block, you should at least give them a chance. Hypnotic Suggestion: 01
is their fifth CD since 2001. They tour relentlessly. They've been all over
Japan, and they're touring the States as we speak. They've covered Wire. You
like Wire, right? They've written some songs for a guy in buck tick. You've
never heard of buck tick? They're huge in Japan!
Fine, just let me play one more tune for you. It's super fresh. No, the name
of the song is "Super Fresh"! I was gonna let you discover it for yourself,
but you're obviously not digging this stuff as much as you should be. Listen
to those angular guitars, listen to the expertly played bass underneath
them. And here are some words for you: "Potato! Coca Cola! I love it!" It's
an indictment of the shallow social scene that surrounds us every day, the
wall of distortion a cruise missile tearing down the oily veneer of crass,
commercialized...
<POP MATTERS>

"There's no shortage of native noise icons in Japan,
but the Tokyo trio distinguish temselves with a sonic assult that owes more
to American bands like Sonic Youth and Black Dice than to Merzbow.
<The Boston Phoenix>

"Hypnotic Suggestion:01, folds the balls-out into the wiggified,
and the resulting brain massae sounds like Masonna doing Negativland,
Hanatarash covering the Cramps, or what LIghtning Bolt and
Deerhoof would sound like if either was interested in being wierd."
<Baltimore City Papaer>

"Hypnotic Suggestion:01,
a 29-minute furor of frontman Yukio Murata's creepy sweet vocals
meandering through squealing aural thunder,
sample snippets and surprisingly melodious feedback,
addiction seems like a very real prospect."
<Willamette Week>

"...'Sonic Youth' meets 'The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion'
somewhere in the air over a blacked out city.
Parachuting from the plane comes 'My Way My Love' to free us
from corporate programming and pre-fab bands and songs."
<Better Propaganda>

"Their layers of noise and clanking beats are reminiscent of Black Dice
with elements of a fucked-up Sonic Youth...lyrics, which are sung in
English,
perfectly complement the music."
<DIW Magazine>

Yeah, Lightning Bolt and a bunch of other bands. The Eyesores and a ton of
other bands. I think that's still going on now. It's weird. I was at a show
last night, and I didn't really know the bands. I knew one of the bands. It
ended up being a really good night. There was this band from Japan that I'd
never heard of, but they were amazing, but they were called My Way My Love.
And there were like 20 people there or something. There's still stuff going
on. But back then there wasn't as much of an outlet. Certainly times have
changed in terms of that. In a way it made it a closer community not because
there were fewer people that were interested, but there were definitely
fewer outlets to get that information. - Thalia Zedek
<Splendid Magazine>

Mastermind Yuki Murata and his bandmates; Takeshi Owaki, and Dai Hiroe hail
from Japan. These creative tunesmiths have crafted new sounds that fans of
Black Dice, Sonic Youth, Wire, The Boredoms, and Wolf Eyes will be gasping
in awe at the sheer wonder of their music. These noisemakers have forged a
new alignment with melody, experimentation, and punk to come up with
something of their own. If you are looking for something new and inspiring,
check out My Way My Love.
<CRASHIN'IN>

Hey guys......Nice show last night!!! I liked how My way My love got the
crowd going....and you guys had such an awesome finish....It was like a
finish you would see from a big band like the Used or something!!
Anyways....I'm helping promote the New Years Eve show for Broke.....Keep it
real and I will see you then or hopefully sooner!!! Props guys....Keep it
up!!! You guys rock!!

Last night was amazing! I do believe that that was the most radical show I
have ever been to. I am still speechless. My Way My Love is so rad, and so
are you guys and I like your music and I like you Kyler and you too Chad...
Scott, I am afraid I do not know you, but that is okay because i am sure I
would think that you are a cool cat. - Jess
<my space>

Japanese trio My Way My Love sounds like the love child of American
independent rock and Japanese noise, a genetic pairing that has spawned
glorious offspring over the past 30 years. What MYML--Takeshi Owaki (drums,
vocals), Yukio Murata (guitars, noises, vocals), Dai Hiroe (bass,
vocals)--brings to the cross-pollination is a fondness for both the
propulsion of Japanese avant and the big hook of American rock. Its 2004 CD,
with the Spacemen 3-esque title Hypnotic Suggestion: 01, folds the balls-out
into the wiggified, and the resulting brain massage sounds like Masonna
doing Negativland, Hanatarash covering the Cramps, or what Lightning Bolt
and Deerhoof would sound like if either was interested in being weird. -
Bret McCabe
<CITY PAPER ONLINE> 　

File 13 Records have turned their ears to the best new bands from abroad and
beyond, one of their latest is a trio from Japan whoi´s past could only lead
them to greatness. My Way My Lovei´s melodic noise anthems were ravenously
received by US audiences on their first US tour in 2004.
Led by Yukio Murata, whose work in MWML and other projects are well known
throughout Japan - he and his band have conjured up a magnetic album of
spliced, spiked chaos inside brilliant rock songs. Here they go on their
winter US tour where you have a chance to check them out. - P.S. Patterson
<NOW ON TOUR>

Japan’s My Way My Love plays a mash up of epileptic soul-punk and noise rock that is sometime eerily similar to the seductively schizophrenic moog punk of Dayton’s Brainiac. Though the disc kicks off with a bleating noise collage (“A Girlfriend”), I dare you to tell me that “Super Fresh!”
doesn’t sound a lot like Brainiac’s “Sexual Frustration” (which earns huge points in my book).
My Way My Love channels that same brooding sexiness later in the disc with “Sports,” though it digresses into a squealing thrash-punk chorus (think Melt Banana) several times during the song.
The difference between MWML and Brainiac lies in the Japanese trio’s lush layering of noisy electronics and lo-fi recording techniques. This is where the band's true multiple personalities and uniqueness emerge. For example, during “Reykjavik,” the band’s siren-like feedback, tweaked electronics, and borderline goth-rock rhythms remind me of another Ohio band altogether −
Troubleman Unlimited’s Lack. Then the band is back to herky-jerky noise/soul punk by “Un.”
In any event, this is as inventive an outing as we’ve heard all year (even if it reminds us of a few of our favorite bands). Start salivating now because these imports are rumored to be touring the US and Europe in the not-too-distant future. - Tim Anderl
<Delusions of Adequacy>

My Way My Love--Knitting Factory--1/8/2005
Aimee and Dan happened to join me tonight. When we walked in we were told
that BLUE VELVET would be on next, but very soon MY WAY MY LOVE began
setting up, which was just fine. Knitting Factory’s Old Office is in the
basement, and the stage area is so small that MY WAY MY LOVE, and probably
most other bands, were forced to take up about a third of the floor area,
too. During the set up, I paid closer attention the bassist’s bullhorn, and
it seems to be attached to an old lamp stand, and there’s a microphone taped
inside it. The tune up, checking of mics, and testing of the effects boxes
was reduced, seemingly in proportion to the size of the room. I also noticed
tonight that the tapes I occasionally heard playing last night were probably
going on continuously, but can generally only be heard between songs, or
when the band is playing very softly. Mina informed me, after the set, that
they had played the same songs as last night, but Yukio, the guitarist, had
less room to move, so he moved less. The songs seemed to have more of a
consistent throb tonight, though, of course, there were some pop moments,
and some wonderful, wailing guitar episodes. The smaller, basement area
seemed to reduce Yukio’s excitement level, resulting in no flights into the
drumset, and therefore no resetting up of the drums, shortening the length
of the set. Their was a good audience for the small room, and the reaction
to the band was warm and enthusiastic. Aimee and Dan both liked them, and
Dan quoted me a couple of audience comments he had overheard. One young man
was heard to say to a friend, “They’re going to be a hard band to follow.”
and another claimed, “This band is my new favorite band!”
ROJ (in NY)

I think it’s safe to say that indie and punk rock bands here in America have
had quite an impression on shaping sounds and impacting musicians around the
world, and I can’t think of too many places on earth that have taken these
influences as thoroughly as the Asian culture.
Seeping into my budding days of music fandom, if you will, I remember a slew
of imported group of bands that made decent punk rock records, and I was
intrigued by their sheer love of the music - whether it was categorized by a
certain musical denomination or a rebellion against what pop culture and
mass produced music everywhere stood for. Bands like Teengenerate, The Blue
Hearts and Husking Bee stand as some of the first music I’d found outside
the realm of safe, domestic, homegrown rock.
All the way from Tokyo, My Way My Love have are finishing up their first
American tour, schlepping their way through tiny rock clubs through middle
America, and hopefully finding an audience with their new record, Hypnotic
Suggestion: 01. The band connects an abrasive mix of Sonic Youth style
guitar structures with hints of biting noise, drawing close references to
their more art-oriented colleagues, Merzbow, Melt Banana and The Boredoms.
Although musically, My Way My Love are more structured than their noisy
counterparts, the byproduct is less cohesive than standard fare, with little
to get excited about. On Hypnotic Suggestion: 01, the listener is taken on a
psychedelic jaunt through massive amounts of feedback, cartoonish voices,
sonic blurbs of noise and mostly disjointed, overly drenched, distorted
vocals.
The disc starts its superficial destruction with “A Girlfriend,” opening in
the expected fashion: noise, soaking in a high-pitched whale of feedback. As
the din ends, it picks right back up with “Super Fresh”, this time treating
us to a more congenital union of drums, guitar and shouted vocals - but by
the time the listener can even comprehend the intended meaning, the song
snaps closed with only a minute of intelligible interludes. My Way My Love
is rarely able to transcend their noise, or make interesting deliveries, but
an instance arrives in the form of “Captain”. Although there is not much
more than the sound of a looping siren in the foreground, adding throbbing
bass guitar, pounding drums and a few scattered guitar notes, the song is
still able to project enough creativity to amplify in a manner that affects
the sense of ingenuity and the appreciation of displaced sounds.
My Way My Love is not for the faint of heart. With the exception of the
second to the last track, “X- guitars”, which recollects early Butthole
Surfers, there isn’t a whole lot to be concerned with. Hypnotic Suggestion:
01 is a drawer full of overripe interruptions - an abrupt occurrence of
psychotic episodes relentlessly covering as art but the album actually feels
more like an interference of mix-matched experiments more than a practical
form of musical expression.
Argh. So I grumbled my way through helping Liz move stuff from her
grandmother's apartment in Gaithersburg up to our house in Baltimore but as
usual with things I grumble about the initiative and effort paid off as we
now have some nice new chairs and couch to sit in.
In other news I peeled myself off the couch yesterday evening and went on
down to the old Charm City Art Space to see a show. Three bands played:
Daggerhearts (Baltimore), Blue Velvet (Westchester, NY) and My Way My Love
(Tokyo, Japan). All three bands were cool. Lookin forward to seeing
Daggerhearts again around town. Here is a picture of My Way My Love. I only
got the one dude in the frame but his hair is way cool. Their sound is like
Confusion is Sex era Sonic Youth but slightly more rock rather than punk
oriented. I even bought the album. I went to California over my winter break
and visited my Aunt... she wanted to take me to show(local bands) but
couldnt because all the good ones are at bars! and you HAVE to be 21 to see
a show in a bar!!!!! ITs the SAME THING in madison.... there is this good
band My Way My Love, and they play at bars so i cant go see them!! and i
dont wantto drag a parent along just to go see them. - Mark Taylor