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

Lyric to YOU`VE GOT TO LET IT GO, a new song by The Tengooz- soon t be released

Hello there all you TenGoophiles where`er ye might be!

Sorry for another long period of silence, but a lot has ben happening.
One happy thing I`d like to inform you about is that we ar now at the mixing phase for one of our latest songs, entitled YOU`VE GOT TO LET IT GO!

This is another work which has evloved out of a HaseG (Nodoka Hasegawa) bass riff.

Here are the words:

YOU`VE GOT TO LET IT GO

Its been so long now
since he`s been gone how
come you dont move on ahead

Why must you cling still
to gone-past things will
you never settle back in bed

You pace the floor now
you smile no more how
come you keep acting this way

I know you`ll say its a cliche
but I will say it anyway

You`ve got to let it go
You got to let it go

You`re sticking tight now
with all your might how
come you dont just let it wing

You`ll never last must
you hold so fast just
just like you`re savoring the sting

Just loosen up, unload your cup
you`ve got to lighten up your load

Release the pain, relieve your brain
and it will help you down the road

Lyrics

Avi Landau 2010

The TenGooz recording with Go

Always Ran- The Lyrics to the TenGooz` Song

This is another song inspired by a Thomas Mayers chord progression.
I wanted it to express what many of you might fell- that we are always
busy running around, and that no matter how much we KNOW that we ought to take it easy- we never do

Always Ran

Well I smoked a big cigar in Havana
I soaked in hot tubs out in Japan
Safaried on the Kenyan Savanah
Lord, even sang some with a rock and roll band

Sometimes it got a bit crazy
things came close to hitting the fan
When I look back now it all seems hazy
When I should have walked it seems I always ran

I worked a dude ranch up in Montana
Flew out to play some gigs by the strand
I did a post-doc out in Urbana
and I tried my best to lend out a hand

Sometimes things got a bit crazy
thought that things would soon hit the fan
When I look back now it all seems hazy
When I should have walked it seems I always ran

Lyrics by

Avi Landau 2009

Julien enjoying some Hoji-Cha at a Tengooz practice

Emotional Times for The TenGooz

Hello all you Tengoophiles out there.
Its been a while that I have written for our blog.
as you can gather from Michael's recent post, we have suffered a terrible loss- that of our friend and one-time Tengooz guitarist
Kin-Chan. The sudden loss of this until so recently dynamic presence has left me shaken.
Amazingly, as thing always seem to be with Michael Frei, just a few days before Kin-chan's passing Michael just happened to be in Japan for business.
They were able to meet one last time. Unfortunately for me, I REALLY believed that I would be able to see a healthy Kin-chan again and I DIDNT go to the hospital.
I had to say my last goodbyes at the funeral hall.

Having Michael with us was, it goes without saying, an elixir, and he happened to be here for a small gig that we did ( he came to the venue almost straight from the airport) and for a great party that we had at Thomas's place which had a truly international jam session.

Any plans for a big reunion gig at Nalu's were put on hold however because of the funeral.

At the same time, and not comparable of course to the loss of Kin-Chan, my dog of many, many years, Tickles, suddenly collapsed and has been unable to move for several weeks. We have been giving her the best possible care but....... things dont look good.

Then, as I had long been feeling UNDER THE WEATHER, and everyone had been urging me to go to the doctor, I finally went to get things checked out. As it was my throat that had been bothering me I went to an ENT.

When he put a scope down my throat to have a look he exclaimed ( in Japanese)- This is not good. Youve got to go to a bigger hospital as soon as possible!
He asked if I had family that I could consult with, etc, all with an expression and air that spelled my doom.

Since that was a Friday I would have to wait until Monday to get further testing and I had the whole weekend to contemplate my fate.

Hypochondriac that I am, I was convinced of the worst and resigned myself to the fact that I would not be around in this world much longer.

It was an dizzyingly emotional couple of days, full of reflections and memories flashing back.

I realized that so many of the lyrics that I had written perfectly expressed what I was feeling. I am talking specifically about The Chills, Almost Out Of Time, Autophobia, etc.....

Anyway, to make a long story short- when I finally did get to the hospital for tests, the doctor gave me a thorough looking over and declared that I was fine!

That means I might be around, making a racket for little while longer.

Listen to The Chills here:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/12850

Gotta go now

will write more later

Avi Landau

Goodbye Kin-Chan

R.I.P.

Last week our good friend Kin-chan (Kanastuka Hirotaka) passed away after battling a serious illness. He was one of the greatest guitar players of the Tokyo area, if not of all Japan, and The TenGooz are honored to have had him play several gigs ( and even more jam seesions) with us.
We will never forget his unique feeling for music, his charismatic performance on the stage, and his enchanting character. We will sorely miss this outstanding artist, who LIVED FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC.

Michael Frei

Michael Frei of The TenGooz

Emmanuel keeping us IN THE GROOVE

Julien,Mario, and Michael jamming al fresco

Michael Frei back with the TenGooz

TenGooz Live

The TenGooz @ TERRA EARTH YA in Tsuchiura

Lyrics to You Know, a Tengooz song from the Facing The Music album

This is another song which gradually generated out of one of Hase G`s bass lines.

Over the months which passed between first conceiving of what the melody line should be,
the idea of what the lyrics should be about germinated in my mind. What eventually emerged
are these words. I am very satisfied with them because everyone I know who hears the song thinks its about THEM.

You Know

You know

but you dont want to think about it

You know

But you dont to have to care

You know

but seems like you`d much rather doubt it

Yes, you know

but you steer clear of the affair

You`ve got lots of other things to occupy your mind

there`s breakfast, lunch, there`s dinner parties

You`ve got good reasons to let your eyes stay blind

so why should you have anything to agitate your mind

repeat

Dont Leave Us Hangin` There !

You`ve got lots of other things to occupy your time

your front lawn needs its weekly mowing

you`ve got lots of other things to occupy your mind

there`s that old blockbuster that the cable TV`s showing

You Know

You Know

Dont leave us hangin` there......

words by

Avi Landau

And to hear the inspiration for all this go to this utube link of Hase G ( Nodoka Hasegawa) playing the bass line solo!

Its here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJeznOiX1dE&feature=related

Mario @ a session with The Tengooz

Thomas Mayers of The TenGooz

Hase G of The Tengooz

Julien @ a TenGooz Session

Lyrics to The Tengooz` new song Calm Before The Storm

This piece also generated out of one of Thomas` chord progressions.
At the last minute, while recording, we decided to add the rap, with words which were written
by the TenGooz ( and Xenophonia`s) original bass player Tom Debor ( AKA Dom Dober)

Here are the lyrics

Calm Before The Storm

Sun comes up
an early autmn day
the temperature`s the norm
breakfast on a bagel, lox n` eggs
and flakes made out of corn

Its the calm before the storm

(No time for small talk
small minds waste my time
Get caught up in the bull....
next thing you know the ball drops

Gotta stay focused
keep your eyes open
Think I give a .... about your problems
huh, you must be joking)

Pick the paper up outside the door
my teams in team-top form
Elevator takes me to the street
where the people and cars swarm

Calm before the storm

Hail a cab and start headin downtown
the driver honks his horn
Grab a coffee after I get out
near Tower Number 1

Its the calm before the storm

By Avi Landau
rap lyrics by Tom Debor

Thomas laying down background vocals on The Tengooz Babylon

Tengooz new album Facing The Music gets noticed in Germany

Just hours after uploading our new collection of songs Facing The Music,
there was a small yet kindly favorable review of it to appear in Germany ( and in German)
Check it out here, and send a message to the site!

http://wasser-prawda.de/new2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=962:the-tengooz-facing-the-music&catid=24:jazz&Itemid=61

Tengooz flashback: A show at The Narita Barge Inn- Avi Landau and Jon Hicks

Lyrics to Babylon ( a song by the Tengooz)

Tengoophiles where`r ye might be! List, list, ooooh list!
Our long awaited new cd, FACING THE MUSIC, has finally been uploaded to
Jamendo. Id like to post the lrics to the new songs, a song at a time over the next
ten days.
Lets begin with our latest reggae style piece Babylon. Inspired by the riffs and chord progression of Thomas Mayers,
our guitarist I came up with these words-

Babylon

Well, you thought you were in Zion
but one day you realized you were in Babylon

Where money is the measure
and all around the talking heads just babble on

First you think of running and of going far off somewhere
but you realize before you start
That there`s no escaping and there`s never real forgetting
so you`ve got to face what`s in your heart

Yes, you thought you were in Zion
but soon you realized you were in Babylon
where money is the motive
and the white gloved smiling faces egg the rabble on

Your initial instict is to imitate an ostrich
and go bury your head in the sand
and though real life dont always go like in the movies
you know you`ve got to take a stand

Everybody join your hands together
and sing with all your might
Everybody raise your voice together
and we`re bound to win the fight

Words by
Avi Landau

Have a listen at:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/565724

Enjoy!

The TenGooz with pianist extraordinaire Mario Tahitoe

The TenGooz` Nova Beach Bossa Playlisted on Jamendo

We are proud to inform you that our song Beach Bossa Nova has been selected to be on Jamendo`s
weekly playlist of selected songs. There are 16 other numbers you can listen to along with it, so enjoy:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/playlist/163609

grounded in groove

Avi

The TenGooz Bombs Away Highlighted in Cyberspace

The last track off our first album is surely our skankiest.
Some have even claimed that it was the best song about sex that they
had ever heard. Well of course! It was written by Jon Hicks and myself ( Avi Landau).
Have a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz69kwt6zoA&NR=1

TenGooz flashback May 27 2006 at Corkheads III

TenGooz flashback May 27 2006 at Corkheads II

TenGooz flashback May 27 2006 at Corkheads II

TenGooz flashback May 27 2006 at Corkheads

Recordings almost ready for release !

Greetings Tengoophiles, wherever ye may be! Your patience will soon be rewarded ( we hope!)
as Hase G will be heading out to the studio on Sunday to put some final touches on our 10 new recordings.
We hope to have them online by the end of the month.

In the meantime, if you are interested in Japanese culture, check out my recent articles which have been posted on TsukuBlog.
The most recent is about Kusa mochi, this seasons special snack ( you can see a picture below).

Here is a link:

http://blog.alientimes.org/2010/03/bitter-herbs-in-this-season%e2%80%99s-sweet-kusa-mochi-%e8%8d%89%e9%a4%85/

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Thomas Mayers @ a TenGooz practice

Hase G of The TenGooz hard at practice

The Tengooz Amazing Bass player Nodoka Hasegawa AKA Hase G

Tengooz Radio and TenGooz playlists online!

The Online music site Jamendo has a TenGooz radio which seems to change everyday, mixing up the song order and also mixing in other bands which have been deemed to be similar.

You can find TenGooz Radio here:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/radio/the.tengooz

There are also plenty of online playlists which make listening to TenGooz easier than ever. Here is one playlist that you might like:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/playlist/34195

Enjoy

You might also want to read about life in Japan. The Tengooz` Avi Landau posts his articles at Tsukublog:

http://blog.alientimes.org/2010/02/choco-loco-a-deeper-look-at-valentines-day-in-japan/

Keep grounded in GROOVE

More Tsukuba Snowscapes

A Rare Tsukuba Snowscape

This was the view from the Ice Palace yesterday morning! Read more
about it at:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2010/02/tsukubas-fleeting-snowscapes-revisited/

Xenophonia online

The legendary, multi-national Tsukuba-based band Xenophonia
had a major impact on the live music scene in Japan back in the early 2000`s.

With guitarist Ascelin FLASH Gordon from Melbourne Australia,
Tom Debor (bass), Erik Stanford (trombone), Joe Kern (drums) and Avi Landau ( vocals) of the US,
Kawakami Ryutaro ( sax) and Sagara Kenya (trombone) of Japan
and Ashish (tabla) from India. They proved that ORIGINAL music could be popular in Japan`s club scene.

Now literally every Japanese band is following their lead.

You can here some of the bands recordings ( all done at Avi Landau`s house, known affectionately as the Ice Palace)
on jamendo:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/2425

Enjoy!

Kawakami Ryutaro,AviLandau and Tom Debor of Xenophonia in Tokyo

More praise for the Tengooz in cyberspace

Greetings Tengoophlies!
We hope that all goes well with you!
I has come to our attention that someone has written an online review
of our album G-Strings.
Read the piece here:

http://www.frostclick.com/wp/index.php/2009/12/30/the-tengooz-g-strings-a-jazzy-funky-bossa-play-of-strings/

and have a great day!

The TenGooz New Years Party

The with Finnish artist John McGregor

Thomas Mayers of The TenGooz putting final touches on a new recording

The TenGooz Bass Whiz on Utube

Hase G ( Nodoka Hasegawa) is one of the most exciting bassists you will see in Japan,
or anywhere else for that matter.
He has started to upload some of his fretboard wizardry on utube and you can begin right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJeznOiX1dE

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai-VnTeLgDk&feature=related

Enjoy!

and be on the look out for our next album, which will be online soon!

Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasasu from the tengooz !

The Tengooz wish you a happy and healthy year!
We should be
ready to release our next album this month, and weve got a lot more material that we are working on.

For alot more about how we spend New Year`s in Japan, read some of my articles on Tsukublog:

http://blog.alientimes.org/