A Yuletide Apocalypse

I found some tracks on alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.avant-garde that caught my attention, especially after talking with my piano teacher today about the evolution of Jazz and cross-culture/genre music. The songs were labeled as “Avant-Jazzcore”, a genre I had never heard of before, so I googled it. Here’s a great page exploring the underground genre-crossing music scene in the land of the rising sun… (The songs I saw were from a 2002 Painkiller live recording in Nagoya. Japan?)
The Japanese Avant-Prog

The modern underground music scene in Japan is arguably the most interesting and diverse on the planet. Though Japanese pop has generally been an exercise in Western idolatry, the musicians in the underground tend to favor their art above all other concerns. Ironically, the diversity and seemingly endless collection of strange music coming from this scene is contrary to its spirit: that of community and collaboration. Even between various genres, say punk and progressive, underground musicians have been known to stray.