For a bit, I've posted a little ditty covered from the much overlooked, much maligned (and until the days of download software, rather hard-to-find) Star Wars Christmas album "Christmas In The Stars." I tried to stay rather true to the original music save for a harder beat, but spent hours and hours trying to learn the violins as close as I could. They aren't perfect for sure, but the spirit's in tact. Lyrics are almost the same, but in place of most of the "Yes, Yes" parts I gave a little nod to Beck by changing it to "Hell Yes." And I did a lot of lyric editing when the robots are singing about what toys are available and made it a little more adult-oriented. This is the "No To Drugs" Mix that I made so I could play it at the High School where I teach. In the original version there's a part about Chewbacca hitting on an invisible bong and somehow getting the robots stoned. All pretty absurd admittedly. I replaced it with a bit about a cake mask that you can wear and at the same time get a little closer to your friends by letting them eat stuff off your face. Of course, Chewie still is involved, mauling the robot and eating the cake off its face. I probably should have changed the part about the rideable vibrator (which a robot is getting off on haha) but I figured it was vague enough that most Japanese people won't know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, feel free to download it and enjoy it for many generations to come.

Hope y'all enjoy the No-Pan Christmas Special. Have a great holiday everybody! Don't spend too much money and call somebody you haven't talked to in a while and tell 'em you love 'em.

Peace! 

Hey eveeebodiii. I'm going to start working on a Christmas song for our upcoming gig in December. Going down the usual list of suspects isn't inspiring a lot of ideas. Anyone have any suggestions? I was considering King Diamond's No Presents For Christmas, though I doubt anyone would know what we were doing before or after I fucked it up--much less know that it's a Christmas song! Trying to find something somewhat iconic but still not done to death. You see my predicament?!

Some other ideas I had were "Santa Claus is a Black Man" (audio only):



James Brown "Soulful Christmas" could be fun (if I do it right):


Vandals' "Oi to the World" is a possibility (with Dabey singing like Gwen):


Then again, we can use the birth of Jesus angle and cover a little Sonseed like I've been wanting to since I saw this:


Or I could do a "Wish You a Merry Christmas" mashup deal with the intro to Hendrix's "Are You Experienced" looping over the chorus....

Dabey and I once performed a Christmas song to the tune of MJ's "Thriller" for an English school xmas party, but that was an absolute trainwreck. We couldn't wait to get off that stage, EVEN IN FRONT OF KIDS! We always bring that up as a joke, but should we actually do it, it would be about as unfunny as the Matt Stairs joke, post Dodger-killing dagger home run (sorry, 99% of you reading this who don't get that reference--that was for Dabey).

Then again, I could just go ahead and write a NEW CHRISTMAS CLASSIC!

Anyway, if you have any thoughts or suggestions let me know soon. I'd like to get up and working on this over the weekend so Dabey and I can actually practice before the gig!

Cheers and Peppermint Beers!

xo
Kebin
from the Panda, No Panda Command Center

Just uploaded the new Motorhead cover I put together for our Halloween gig at hokage. It's super rock matsuri style! Lots of yodeling (sampled, of course) and toy sounds in place of the drums.  Took out the guitar and had some fun rockin' out till my fingers bled. Because you know, I rocked it so hard the heat from the strings caused blisters and when fresh blisters burst, they tend to spurt blood and puss among other things. Please have a listen and hoist things onto your shoulders as you do and jump about your office or bedroom or wherever you might be listening to it.

I've got another Bowie cover I'm working on. It's essentially finished but I can't stop tweaking with the mix. It's so fucking addicting, to tweak, you know. And that's any kind of tweaking. Though I'm not so keen toward the kind you have to melt down cold pills in boiled piss to make, or however you make that shit. That kind of tweaking makes for bad teeth and loss of friends, and I got no dental plan here in Japan and I'm too stinky to date. Kiss me, I'm a frog.

Hi!

Love,
Kebin

Friday, September 19th at Pipe 69 www. pipe69. com.
Doors at 6pm. Panda at half past 8. 2000 yen, but contact us before the gig and we'll get you a discount.




Top Five Reasons to Attend This Gig

5. It's an "The N" production and The N always puts on, not just a heavy, crazy show, but when they are in charge of the bill, it's top to bottom good bands.
ROCK solid line-up! Number five can't be denied. Number five is alive.
 

4. We've worked out a new very special kick-ass cover just for the gig. This time we are taking on Bon Scott and the breaking out of jail. The riding of horses. The picking of grapes. ...yes, new cover, new cover, NEW COVER... FUN!


3. Say, good-bye to our little friend. That's right, folks.
This evening will be our official LAST PIPE 69 GIG EVER.
Come October, it's with tears in our eyes, that we come to find Pipe 69 will close forever. Pipe 69 was the first live house I ever stumbled into in Osaka, that fateful New Years Eve, had my mind blown with dogshit drunk bliss, and subsequently was a big part of the reason for my moving to Kansai. Number 3, our tribute to our friends and favorite live house in the world.



2. This Friday we'll see the return of an old friend with whom we played our first gig at Pipe 69. Yes, I said it. Original founding member Shingo, No Panda will be joining the band on stage for a one-time-only live reunion! I was going to leave it as a surprise, but I'm bad with surprises and I think you should know it so you can come out and say hello, I love you, to the our loveable (albeit, these days reclusive) producer and mascot.
Number two: THE RETURN OF SHINGO!


1.
As always, FREE CHU! for the asking! Get your ass down there, and pucker up, baby!

Oh yeah, and don't forget the babe factor. Lots of 'em. Come on. Get some.



See you Friday night!

<3,
PnP

Hey oooooooooohhhhhhhhh! Osaka friends and visitors alike, our new 7-inch on Post Recrods is now available at Panda Panda Records in Ame-Mura. It's a great little store with a ton of good shit. I will be going down to spend some money there on my next paycheck. They've got vinyl, CDs, new and used. It's a crate-digger's delight.

With the purchase of our record, you'll get a free sticker! So hurry on down and check it ouuuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwt!!

xo

Kebin, No Panda

Remember only 500 of these available. Once they're gone, they're gone forever!

Long time, no see!! I haven't updated this blog in a long time. It's not because we're not busy. Maybe TOO BUSY to blog!!! Here's some things that have been happening:

»New 7-inch is out now! We teamed up with Post Records in Florida and have put out the new Panda, No Panda vs The Butterfly Battle (our side project with 8Bit Bandit) 7-inch. It looks really cool! Art was done by the unflappable, unstoppable, unbelievable Mr Kevin Barrios, and might I say, it's a masterpiece of design. It comes on thick pink and black splatter vinyl that is quite a treat for the eye--especially when it spins round and round on the turntable...trippy, brah!!!! It has three songs (including "He Died With the Novel Half Done" with Kyoka lending her voice to the track, a baka baka baka AHO cover of "The Heat is On" and one The Butterfly Battle song "Baby Box") and one skit, which was inspired by a (very) drunken night at a small bar in the Misono building in Namba listening to Cheech and Chong skits on 7-inch. All in all, we're really happy with the release. Limited edition of 500 records. No reprints! I'll post up a buy link soon. Please pick it up soon!!  

» Working on the new record We're taking forever on this new record but it's coming along pretty. Last weekend we recorded a really cool new song with Kyoka of the Groopies that almost sounds like something out on '80s pop radio. Almost... More will be put on tape soon. Just depends when Shingo can get time away from his new salaryman lifestyle. If all goes well, we'll have a new CD by summer tour. At the very least I will get around to releasing a tour/mail order-only limited edition Pandaland CD of twee covers and other such escapist delights.

»Speaking of Summer Tour... we're not sure where exactly we'll be yet, but we will be somewhere. We're hoping Singapore comes through, and it would be likely Kyoka would DJ for us at those gigs. If not, plenty more up the sleeve if that falls through. But we really want Singapore for a number of reasons. Singapore has good fans!

»Fashion Show Comp Our song "Yancha na Neko" has been featured on a comp put out by clothing and accessory company Hollywood Mirror. It will be distributed at fashion trade shows, like this one on the immediate horizon. Hopefully we'll have some models happily bopping to a song about my cat's tendency to pee all over the house.

»Upcoming show Our next gig will be this fun event at the club under the train tracks. Get out your paper glasses, cuz it's time to rock out with The -N-! Let us know if you want tickets, and we'll get you in cheap.

 

»Any other fun stuff? If I ever figure out this new recording software I got, we will be recording our collabo with the My T Hi. It's a song about us (kinda, but kinda not once I got through with the lyrical rewrites), sung by us and good ol' Moray. Hmm, what else.... Should be back to Tokyo before long... We're talking about setting up a super all night event with the Big Jugs lads... Been getting in some DJ licks from time to time and that's fun... new toys in our set and more to buy soon...  My novel came out in the states!

»Some Kudos is Due! Thanks to everyone who helped or attempted to help with our US tour, gave us some food and/or a place to stay, hooked us up with free weed, bought us beers and made our gigs up the West Coast delightful. We had some last minute cancellations, but thanks to a lot of cool people, all our dates were filled in. We drove through crazy blizzards. We saw beautiful trees. We listened to a lot of satellite radio, from film soundtracks to '80s hits, but mostly metal... and no thanks to the Bone Yard for ignorning our 24 hours of requests for AC/DC's horrible song "Hail Ceasar." We were listening, boneheads. We heard every AC/DC song in the catalog BUT our song.... boooooo! Everybody else... thank you SOOOO MUCH! We'll be back...

Guess that'll do'r for now! Keep indie music alive. Buy the merch. Go to the shows. It's the only way we bands can keep on keepin' on! 

As always, thank you for your support!

Love,

Kebin, No Panda

Last night we had a great time at our gig at The Cellar! A lot of fun people came out (and thank you if you are one of those people)! The bands were cool. Royal Inserts sounding more aggro than ever. The N destroying the place. It was awesome.

For our set we took the stage as soon as The Inserts finished their slot. Before they even finished unplugging their instruments, before Dabey even finished ordering his show beer, we went right into Kinky Potato. And from there it was a party all night. The start was so hasty (all in the name of entertainment, folks), I hadn't even finished plugging in all my toys. When it came to the part in our new Butterfly Battle project song "Baby Box," I was still grappling with cords and effect pedals to get to the heavy metal theremin in time. Just barely made it.

We brought back some old faves, including a shortened version of Karaoke King with lyrics altered in the name of My T High's Moray, our cover of the Misfits' "Last Carress," and the return of our farewell song "Big Panda Hug." All in all, it was not too bad a set. Crowd was great. More people than ever participated in the jumping portion of "No-Pan Parade," though we've yet to have anybody throw their panties on the stage as was the original intent of the song. It's a NO PANTS PARADE, after all! Maybe we can get some underwear throwers on the Cali tour, we'll see.

We had some sloppy bits of course, but overall perhaps it didn't matter as long as people applauded for a guy they didn't know named Nori Kozen, loveable emotional roller coaster that he is. I brought my video camera to this gig but was so busy DJing between bands that I forgot to take it out. Inserts Gavin the New Zealand has promised to send me some pics "when he gets around to it," and so when and if that happens, I shall post them right chyeahhh!!

Until the next gig... JYA!

Kebin, No Panda/ Kebin ButtBatt

 

Thank you, Gavs.... and Grant totally laid a tamago

Lest you the faithful think we remaining Pandas are resting on our laurels, we must say to ye, au contrair mon frair.  Not only do we have a bunch of fresh Shingo tracks we are working with and getting ready to record for a new album, we've also started collaborating with our friend 8-Bit Bandit for a new side project we shall call BUTTERFLY BATTLE!!  We will be recording all new songs and releasing a limited-edition, numbered 7-inch called "Panda, No Panda vs. Butterfly Battle" for Jerk-Off Records. One side will have music by Shingo, the other by 8-bit. Both will have Dabey and me on vocals and noise toys.

This new project will be in a similar vein to Panda, but a little more insane in the membrane. More noises, more aggro, more lyrics from the nether-regions of my graying brain. It's gonna be fun, and the songs are more geared to bring the party live than stuff we've done before. We'll play both band's music live and to be honest, most people might not even know we've switched masks mid-set. Who cares as long as we're all having a good time, right!?

In other Panda news, hey kids, we're coming to California! We'll be touring up and down the coast for a little over a week and bringing the fun to wherever we go. Looks like 8-Bit's going to do the DJing honors, and we haven't talked to him in a while about it but possibly also our pal 9-10-Do. More details on the caravan of crazy later.

Until then... MATA!

<3, Kebin

Well, as most of you know (and for those who don't I'm telling you now), Shingo, No Panda has retired from the live circuit, leaving Dabey and I to go it alone for now. We are still recording our next album with Shingo as Mr. Producer, but for purposes of live performance, between donning his new Mr. Husband cap and zipping up the official Mr. Salaryman Mitsubishi jumpsuit, he simply could no longer commit to gigs. At first we were in a bit of a panic, desperately seeking musicians, DJs and/or buttoned-down bespectacled librarians, but once we got into a studio to work out some of the tracks, we realized what we really needed was a third vocalist. Someday we'd like to have that Motley Crue-like budget where we can hire ten backup biker chick vocalists, which is what the true production of our sound would require to duplicate all the parts we do in the studio, but for now, one nutball with harmonizing skills would do.

For now, Dabey and I are in the continued process of working out the songs in the sound of two, and with the new tracks we've got about 45 minutes worth of show. This will surely increase with time. By the winter tour we should have a couple hours ready to go.

Anyway, our first two sans Shingo shows last weekend went pretty well altogether. I've posted some pics below. For more extended coverage, check out my LiveJournal entry about it, and do leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

Bye for now, okini!