The Playlist: Lisa Katayama of TokyoMango
She may blog about Japan from her home in San Francisco, but this week’s mix from print, radio, and online journalist Lisa Katayama would be perfect for lounging for an afternoon in Paris. Check out this easy-breezy Playlist from this Contributing Editor at Boing Boing and the founder of TokyoMango
What do you listen to while you work? Usually nothing… I find it hard to find words to write when words are being sung in the background. If I’m just surfing the web for stories, I’ll listen to something happy and fun, like Spoon or the soundtrack from Glee.
How do you listen? I have a little Altec iPod speaker system that I dock my iPhone 4 on.
Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? The Pandora iPhone app is great!
Does music influence your work? Music inspires a variety of different blog posts on TokyoMango. For example, there is this funny commercial for jock itch cream, a demo of a tadpole-like instrument called the Otomatone, and the opening sequence to the hip-hop anime Samurai Champloo. I also produce occasional stories for PRI’s art and culture show, Studio360. In June, I did a story about Judith Hill, the woman who was slated to sing alongside Michael Jackson on his “This Is It” tour. I listened to “Man in the Mirror” every day while working on that story.
Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? In life, generally. Last week, I discovered the amazing version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke via a friend whom I volunteer with at an AIDS hospice here in San Francisco. I’m going to a concert this week for The Yoshida Brothers, a duo of shamisen-players from Japan who incorporate elements of rock-n-roll and samba into the traditional string instrument; I heard an old interview with them on NPR while driving downtown over the weekend.
If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? The Japanese musician Cornelius. His music is experimental, fun, peaceful, organic, and digital all at the same time. Sometimes he takes you to a crazy electronic circus; sometimes he drops you off in the middle of a vast, surreal field of dreams.
LISA’S PLAYLIST
Traffic in the Sky, Jack Johnson
lll Vacation, The Mighty Underdogs
Champs Elysees, Joe Dessin
Feather, Nujabes
Compacto, Curumin
Don’t Shit Where You Eat, Ween
Ruby Tuesday, Rolling Stones
I’m Yours, Jason Mraz
Ghostwriter, RJD2
Sympathique, Pink Martini
Oh Paris!, Dent May
One Good Spliff, Bob Marley
Image: Lisa Katayama