A pleasure to welcome back Japanese duo Tenniscoats to Cafe OTO. Tenniscoats go right back in OTO's history to the very first public concert here when Saya performed solo and each of their appearances in the venue has revealed another fascinating slice of their gently experimental songcraft - from pindrop quiet accapella to the mesmerising psychedelic overload of their collaboration with film-maker Hiraki Sawa and Dale Berning that added wall-to-wall video projections and a bizarre cover of The Carpenter's 'Yesterday Once More' interspersed with construction noise.

Photo by Johan Dahlroth

TENNISCOATS (JP)

Tokyo’s Tenniscoats celebrate all that makes song vital in our collective conscious - making music magical with the simplest of means. Matching emotive live performance against delicately psychedelic folk songs, the duo of Saya and Takashi Ueno (assisted by a plethora of floating members/"special friends") are one of the most compelling units in the Japanese pop underground.

Key catalysts within that scene, Saya and Ueno have performed with Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Cacoy, Puka Puka Brians, Yumbo and others. They've also spread their wings more widely collaborating with Lawrence English and the ROOM40 label in Australia and the UK, Tape/Häpna in Sweden (Tan Tan Therapy, 2007 and Papa's Ear, 2012), and the OneOne/CanCan hyper-pop juggernaut with Satomi and Greg of Deerhoof. Two Sunsets, their record with The Pastels was released via Geographic/Domino in 2009. They've also recently revisited their past with a massive majikick boxset.

"Japanese duo Tenniscoats have been running together for more than ten years. Running is the tempo you need to have to keep up with these guys: always touring, recording and working on new projects.Their music is all about catching the moment. Next time everything will sound different. They are true improvisors inside their own musical world."- Häpna

Tenniscoats - Baibaba Bimba | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.