Asobi Seksu

Last updated
Asobi Seksu
Yuki from Asobi Seksu.jpg
Yuki Chikudate with Asobi Seksu onstage, 2006
Background information
Also known asSportfuck
Origin New York City, New York, United States
Genres Shoegaze, dream pop, noise pop, indie pop, indie rock
Years active2001–2013
Labels Friendly Fire Recordings, One Little Indian Records, Gigantic Music, Polyvinyl Record Co.
Past members Yuki Chikudate
James Hanna
Glenn Waldman
Keith Hopkin
Haji
Bryan Greene
Billy Pavone
Mitch Spivak
Ben Shapiro
Gunnar Olsen
Larry Gorman
Website asobiseksutime.tumblr.com/

Asobi Seksu was an American shoegaze/dream pop band based in New York City. Their music used a textured and effects-heavy vocal and guitar sound. The band primarily consisted of Yuki Chikudate (vocals, keyboards) and James Hanna (guitar, vocals).

Contents

History

Forming in 2001, the band was originally known as Sportfuck, and issued an EP under that name that year. The band then changed their name to Asobi Seksu, from the Japanese 遊びセックス (asobi sekkusu), "play sex". The original lineup consisted of Chikudate, Hanna, drummer Keith Hopkin and bassist Glenn Waldman. [1] [2] Hanna and Hopkin, with bassist Haji, had previously been members of the New York City space rock trios Three Cornered Season and Theta Wave State.

Asobi Seksu's full-length self-titled debut album was self-released in 2002, and later re-released on the Friendly Fire Recordings label on May 18, 2004. Hopkin and Waldman left after touring for the album. [3]

Regrouping with a new rhythm section of Haji (bass) and Bryan Greene (drums), [4] they recorded their second album, Citrus , in New York City's Gigantic Studios with producer Chris Zane. It was released on May 30, 2006 by Friendly Fire Recordings.

By the time the band recorded their first live album, Spaceland Presents: At the Echo October 6th, 2006 , Greene had been replaced by Mitch Spivak. The album was issued on October 31, 2006 by Spaceland Recordings. and reissued in 2007 by KUFALA Recordings.

One Little Indian Records signed the band in Europe and re-released the band's first two albums in 2007, [5] with Citrus reaching No. 21 on the UK Indie Chart that year.

On November 20, 2007, Asobi Seksu released "Stay Awake" as a stand-alone single on the Gigantic Music label, backed by a cover of "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals. Another cover, of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)", was released by One Little Indian as a single on December 10, 2007.

Following the departures of Haji and Spivak, Chikudate and Hanna remained as Asobi Seksu's core, with the live band including drummer Ben Shapiro (later of Scary Mansion) and bassist Billy Pavone.

The band released another live album, Acoustic at Olympic Studios , on February 8, 2009 as a tour-exclusive CD. Recorded as a duo in November 2008, it featured new acoustic versions of the band's back catalog as well as unique tracks. Retitled as Rewolf , it was released worldwide in November 2009. [6]

On February 17, 2009, the band (Chikudate and Hanna, joined by drummer Gunnar Olsen) released their third studio album, Hush on the Polyvinyl Record Co. label. The album was released to generally positive reviews, with many critics citing a shift in the band's shoegaze direction to a mellower dream pop sound. [7] [8]

Drummer Larry Gorman, formerly of Orange 9mm, Glassjaw and Head Automatica, joined Asobi Seksu in 2009. [9]

The band's fourth studio album, Fluorescence , was released on February 14, 2011. The lineup included Chikudate, Hanna, Gorman and Pavone.

On November 23, 2012, for Record Store Black Friday, the band released Asobi Seksu x Boris, a split EP with Boris on which Asobi Seksu covered that band's "Farewell". [10]

The band announced an indefinite hiatus on September 30, 2013, via their Facebook page. [11]

On July 23, 2014, Asobi Seksu announced that they would reunite for a one-off show opening for Slowdive in Boston on October 26, 2014, at Slowdive's request. [12]

Other projects

In May 2009, Chikudate released a collaborative single with Pocket called "Sampo". The track included remixes by Mux Mool, Blue Eyes and Craig Wedren.

In 2014, Hanna and Gorman formed the band Youth Worship, releasing an EP in 2014 and a full-length album in 2015. [13] [14]

Song appearances in media

Asobi Seksu's songs have been featured in various television shows, including The L Word and the British television series Skins . The song "Layers" from Hush was also featured in an episode of Ugly Betty . Their non-album track "Stay Awake" was included on the Adult Swim compilation album Warm & Scratchy in May 2007. Their song "Ramen Girl" was the closing credits song for the 2008 film The Ramen Girl .

The band provided music for So Yong Kim's 2007 film In Between Days and contributed an original score for Kim's 2009 film Treeless Mountain . The song "Thursday" was featured in The Exploding Girl , produced and edited by Kim and directed by her husband Bradley Rust Gray. Kim also directed the music video for the song. [15] "Thursday" was also used in LateRooms' 2012 advertisement [16] and in the trailer for the 2014 film Affluenza .

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

Live albums

Selected compilation appearances

as Sportfuck

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mates of State</span> American indie pop duo

Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Schnauss</span> German musician and producer

Ulrich Schnauss is a German electronic musician and producer based in London, England. He is best known for being a member of Tangerine Dream from 2014 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen (musician)</span> Solo project of Mike Kinsella

Owen is a solo project of Mike Kinsella, and part of the Chicago, Illinois indie rock scene.

Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. The label also has satellite offices in New York, Austin, and the Bay Area. Polyvinyl has put out over 400 releases to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin</span> American indie pop band

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) is an American indie pop band from Springfield, Missouri. They are named after Boris Yeltsin, the first President of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their first full-length album, Broom, was independently released in 2005. They are now signed with Polyvinyl Record Co.

<i>Citrus</i> (album) 2006 studio album by Asobi Seksu

Citrus is the second studio album by American shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. It was released on May 30, 2006, in the United States by Friendly Fire Recordings, and on August 13, 2007, in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records.

<i>Asobi Seksu</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu is the debut studio album by American shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. It was self-released by the band in 2002. The album was reissued on May 18, 2004 in the United States by Friendly Fire Recordings and on June 4, 2007 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greta Morgan</span> American musician

Greta Morgan Salpeter, better known as Greta Morgan, is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, CA. Her career began in 2005 as singer/pianist of the Chicago-based band The Hush Sound. She later formed the band Gold Motel, whose debut album was released on June 1, 2010. Since 2014, she performs under the name Springtime Carnivore and has released two albums.

Friendly Fire Recordings is an independent record label based in Brooklyn that was founded by Dan Koplowitz in 2004. Bands under the label include Asobi Seksu, Faunts and David & the Citizens. Friendly Fire is distributed in the United States by Redeye Distribution and in Canada by Outside Music. The digital distribution is handled by Independent Online Distribution Alliance.

<i>Live at the Echo 10/6/06</i> 2006 live album by Asobi Seksu

Spaceland Presents: At the Echo October 6, 2006 is the first live album by New York-based shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. It was recorded at The Echo in Los Angeles, California. It contains mostly material from the Citrus album, plus two songs from their self-titled debut and a cover of a song by The Crystals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boris discography</span>

The following is the discography of the Japanese experimental band Boris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dodos</span> American indie rock band

The Dodos are an American indie rock band, consisting of guitarist and singer Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber. Originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, the duo has released eight studio albums over a fifteen-year span since their formation in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Husband (music project)</span> Musical artist

James Husband is the recording project of James Huggins III, Of Montreal's multi-instrumentalist.

<i>Hush</i> (Asobi Seksu album) 2009 studio album by Asobi Seksu

Hush is the third studio album by American shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. It was released on February 17, 2009 by Polyvinyl Record Co., marking the band's first album for the label. Hush was recorded in the summer of 2008 and was produced by Chris Zane, who had also worked on Asobi Seksu's previous album Citrus (2006). The album demonstrated a shift from the more shoegaze-inspired work of prior releases to a mellower, quieter sound.

<i>Acoustic at Olympic Studios</i> 2009 studio album by Asobi Seksu

Acoustic at Olympic Studios is an acoustic album by American shoegaze band Asobi Seksu, recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. The album was first released in February 2009 by One Little Indian Records as a tour-exclusive CD, then reissued and retitled Rewolf by their US label, Polyvinyl Record Co., in November 2009. It contains mostly acoustic versions of songs from Citrus and Hush, as well as a few unique tracks.

Chris Zane is an American music producer, engineer and mixer based in London. He's worked with an array of artists such as Jack Antonoff, Passion Pit, St. Lucia, Holy Ghost!, and Friendly Fires.

Alex Aldi is an American, New York City-based record producer and mixing engineer, who has worked with bands such as Passion Pit, Magic Man, and Holy Ghost!.

<i>Fluorescence</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Asobi Seksu

Fluorescence is the fourth and final studio album by American shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. It was released on February 14, 2011, by Polyvinyl Record Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuki Chikudate</span> Japanese-American musician

Yuki Chikudate is a Japanese-American musician. She was the main vocalist and keyboardist of the dream pop band Asobi Seksu.

The following is a list of releases by Polyvinyl Record Co. Polyvinyl Record Co. was established in 1995 and has since put out more than 350 records.

References

  1. ↑ "Asobi Seksu: self-titled". PopMatters.com. July 26, 2004.
  2. ↑ "Music – Music News, New Songs, Videos, Music Shows and Playlists from". Mtv.com. 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  3. ↑ "Asobi Seksu Obama Obsessed | Chart Attack". Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  4. ↑ "Asobi Seksu". Friendly Fire Recordings. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  5. ↑ "Asobi Seksu Let Songs Speak". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Asobi Seksu: Rewolf". Pitchfork.com.
  7. ↑ AllMusic ((( Hush > Overview )))
  8. ↑ "Asobi Seksu: Hush". Pitchfork.com.
  9. ↑ Brendan Manley (2013-01-02). "An Oral History of LI Music Scene's Class of '02-'03". Longislandpress.com. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  10. ↑ "Listen To Boris And Asobi Seksu Cover One Another". Stereogum.com. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  11. ↑ "Asobi Seksu announce hiatus". Consequence of Sound. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  12. ↑ "Asobi Seksu - We are so thrilled and honored to be playing..." Facebook.com. 2014-07-22. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  13. ↑ "Youth Worship (ex-Asobi Seksu) released debut EP and video (streams), playing Tran Pecos w/ Dinner & more". Brooklynvegan.com. 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  14. ↑ "Song Premiere: Youth Worship, New Scuzz-Fuzz Guitar Project from the Ashes of Asobi Seksu, Bring 'Eternal Scene'". Billboard.com. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  15. ↑ "Asobi Seksu - Thursday - YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  16. ↑ "LateRooms.com TV advert - for your every need. Part 1 - YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  17. ↑ "Polyvinyl Records - Japan 3.11.11: A Benefit Album". Polyvinyl Records Official Web Site. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.