Nhhmbase - J-Indie New Wave
Band Members:
Noboro Irii- Guitar
Mamoru- Vocals and Guitar
Hideki Watanabe- bass
Fumiyasu Kawamura- Drums
Nhhmbase has one self titled alum released on &records in 2006, and have been featured in a number of compilation CD’s which can be found on their homepage at www.nhhmbase.com.
Everyone in this band pulls their own weight of impressive talent. The sound is very clean, polished, and well produced. All components, vocals included, have moments of brilliance, but not in an exhibitionary or individualistic sense. Though Nhhmbase is not a jazz combo, these musicians understand the jazz-inspired tradition of listening to each other to create a mood and overall sound rather than focusing on the showcase of individual talent. The talent will showcase itself when present. There is a rare sensitivity to their tone, and yet the groove suffers no loss in potency. This is a male rock band that is not afraid to be beautiful.
-Emma Sklar
Staff Writer
Nhhmbase took the stage this Sunday at Aoyama Moonromantic. They stretched the sounds of indie rock by combining complex rhythms with broken riffs and a pop sensibility. The band definitely had to use their heads to keep on track with each other during precise rhythm hits and sharp accents. This devotion to skillful composition and rhythmic difficulty is often lost in similar indie genres. Their music jolts you around and takes you on a jerky ride through familiar indie sounds that would normally HIT seem BREAK so JERK smo STOP othe.
Singer Mamoru hits some piercingly high notes that cut right through the music and sting a little before resolving into smoother pop verse. They consider their music pop music, but I think it lacks the easily accessible nature of the mindless head-bopping plastic trash that characterizes most J-pop. They are conscious of pop styles, but their music has too much depth and variation for me to write it off as pop.
Nhhmbase has the ability to satisfy indie-pop fans, but also fans looking for a new approach to stretching the rock genre. I think this duality puts them in a unique position to grow and find success in various music communities. I hope they can put together a tour abroad because I think they will get a good response from foreign audiences. Nhhmbase was one of the first bands I’ve interviewed that said there was no difference between music in Tokyo and music abroad. I think after a foreign tour they might think differently. I wish them luck and hope they continue to find alternate formulas for creating new indie styles.
-Lewis Rapkin
NHHM are one of many young bands who are jumping on the progre/’henbyousi’ band wagon pioneered by Yoshida Tatsuya, Yamamoto Seiichi, et. al.
Their copping of styles does indeed end up being rather mindless, which is probably why they don’t have anything more imaginative to say about themselves. If you check out other bands like Clisms and
similars who front a lot of money and put on shows at O-West attended by their university music circle chums you’ll begin to see things a little more clearly. (Nissenen Mondai is another example)