Welcome to the world Noemi !

The TenGooz are VERY PLEASED to announce the birth of Noemi Nova Frei who was born at the beginning of February to Michael and Rachel!
We wish the Freis all the best for a wonderful future!

What a great way for the TenGooz to start off the year!

We will post photos soon!

Fox tracks in the snow near the my house (The Ice Palace) in Tsukuba

RUNNING- The TenGooz (Xenophonia) Song that started it all

One night Ascelin Gordon of Melbourne Australia and Tom Debor of Pittsburgh, USA came over to my house in Tsukuba, which is affectionately and very justifiably known as the ICE PALACE.]

Tom played a bass line, Ascelin joined in on guitar, and then I joined in with an improvised lyric.
We knew we were onto something right away and the song eventually became a staple of our repetoire and a fan favorite with everyone running about the venue whenever we hit the chorus,

I guess the songs greatest moments were when Xenophonia turned to The TenGooz and we had Sagara Kenya on Trombone and Dr Ryutaro Kawakami on sax going head to head with Tanaka on the guitar.

Here are the lyrics:

Running

For days on end I had been cooped up in my room
My head enshrouded in dark clouds of gloom
The anguish that I felt
Was beyond description
Until my friend,my doctor,
Filled out a prescription

And I'm running
Running down the street
Running

Blisters tear my feet
And you're not gonna catch me
No you're never gonna snatch me
You're not ever gonna nab me
I don't think you're ever gonna grab me
I've gone far away
Sprinting all the way down Broadway

Up North in Tokyo Town the skies were dark and gray
And just like the wind-blown trash
My mind was in disarray
My woman I know she loves me but she driving me insane
So I bought a ticket and I boarded that jet plane

And I'm running
Running on the beach
Running
Hot sand burns my feets

Chorus

And we are running
Running in the driving rain
Running
Blood pulsing in our veins
Running till we fade away

Lyrics by Avi Landau

Listen to the Tengooz perform the song in this one-take recording:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/5858

HJ

Go Kuwahara and Thomas Mayers Mixing Down a New TenGooz Song

Mt Fuji as seen from Tsukuba

Revisiting a TenGooz classic- Picture Perfect

Fumi Tanaka had come up with a groovy chord progression. Strangely,
I was reminded of a song ( our original, though now forgotten and unrecorded) which I used to perform at Xenophonia gigs with Ascelin Gordon and company.
Anyway, using that recycled melody ( and mood) as a base, we fashioned a song ( which includes Hase G, our bassist, on the stell drums!)which I think is one of the Tengooz best.
Certainly , it has some of the lyrics that Im most satisfied with.interpret them as you may!

PICTURE PERFECT

We feel the cool breeze
Skim the turquois waters
We got these tall drinks
That we are nursing in our hands

You've grown so beautiful
In the clothes bought you
You speak the French I taught you
Yeah,its picture perfect right

But under the facade my mind is racing
And my guilts a heavy load
And I hope to god that in my pocket
My cell phone is set to manner mode

And we'll drive off
In our rented Porsche convertible
Yes,im gonna show you round the whole wide world
We'll do it picture perfect right

And we'll pull up soon
To that famous five-star restaurant
Go ahead,order anything you want
Just make it picture perfect right

I always do my best to make you happy
And I work hard for our plans
But though you look so blissfull now
One day the shit might hit the fan

And we'll head back
To our ocean view hotel suite
You know,booking it was no small feat,
But its picture perfect right

And soon we'll go on back
We'll show the pictures that we've taken
There will be no mistaking
That you have a good life

When we get back home you'll
Have your stories to enliven others lives
But I'll be waitng sweating pacing
Till the Amex bill arrives

And we'll soon fall back into our old routine
But things aren't really as they seem
They seem picture perfect right

Music by Fumi Tanaka, Avi Landau and Ascelin Gordon
Arranged by the TenGooz

Listen to the TenGooz PICTURE PERFECT here:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/5857

and dont forget to read Tsukublog, where everyweek ( and sometimes everyday, when Im on a roll!)
I write about Japanese culture ( and life in Tsukuba) in GREAT DETAIL- with special focus on flora and fauna, food, folk customs and traditional beliefs! If you havent already- please check it out:

http://blog.alientimes.org/

A Tengu-like flower has been adopted as The Tengooz official blossom

Cherry Blossoms Blooming on Dec. 1st at the Atago Jinja Shrine in Yatabe, Tsukuba

Best Japanese Christmas Song Ever- The Tengooz: Wish You

I would like to extend thanks to all our loyal listeners who have recently sent their
greetings in to us. As December comes rolling back round again, it seems that lots of people
include our CLASSIC song of the season: Wish You.

I wrote the song at Jon Hick`s place a few years back, and we just went ahead and recorded it on Jon`s equipment. Michael (Mickey) Smith helped with the production.

I play the guitar and sing,with Jon drumming and harmonizing.

Hase G plays the bas and uses his synthesizer to play the instrumnetal break.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Wish You

December`s come round again
and another year`s come to an end
lets gather round that old fire
raise a glass with our families and friends

And we wish you a very, merry, merry Christmas
and we wish you a happy New Year
we wish you a very,merry,merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!

You might be up there in Helsinki
within Santa Clause easy reach
or you might be down there in Australia
celebrating down at the beach

And we wish you a very, merry, merry Christmas
and we wish you a Happy New Year
We wish you a very, merry, merry Christmas
one without any tears

You can a Jain or a Buddhist
you might be a muslim or a Jew
But we wish you a very, merry, merry Christmas
and a Happy Hanukah, too

words and music

Avi Landau

listen to Wish You:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/15569

Avi Landau at a TenGooz practice

Thomas between Pinaree Sanpitaks Breastworks

The talented singer,musician,composer,Go Kuwahara at a session with the TENGOOZ

Thomas Mayers of The TenGooz

The Great Hase G with Thomas and Noah

Lyrics to The Tengooz song : Final Door

The song Final Door is yet another work which evolved out of a series of Hase G (Nodoka Hasegawa) bass riffs.
In both rehearsals and live performances we all felt the song was special and were excited about recording it, especially the very funky third section which now has the sax solo over it.

When we did final record the song and put it online (at Jamendo), none of us was really satisfied ( and we still aren`t), especially with regard to my vocals which I surely MUST redo or at least try to work out something with the mix or effects.

As another way of improving the song were lucky (and honored) to have Mario put a keyboard track over it. You can hear that version on the Tengooz myspace site.

Anyway here are the lyrics to the song:

Final Door

In the darkness color bursts upon me

music in the snores

I enter a multi-chambered palace

which each night I explore

Going through it- room by room

each nook and cranny

I start on the ground floor

But I never grasped its deepest secret

Thats until I reached that final door

Wisemen, mystics, poets,

all the dauntless seekers

of what`s at the core

Some scoured books, sought teachers,

or set out to travel distant shores

Each one made his way into the palace

I mentioned before

Hungering, yearning, for that deepest secret

that they`ll find when they open that FINAL DOOR

Lyrics

Avi Landau 2010

Rice Harvesting in Tsukuba

B

Julien's last jam session with The TENGOOZ

A Large Tengu Mask and Phallus at the Mt. Kaba Shrine - read more about it on Tsukublog