Quote of the Week: Offering of Sound

This is the closing paragraph of the article “Tune In Tokyo: On Tour in a Land of Noise” by Trent Moorman from the November 28, 2007, edition of The Stranger (thestranger.com):

It’s almost 2:00 a.m. and the crowds have dwindled. We turn onto an empty Shibuya street. Halfway down the block, a DJ in a record shop scratches a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony record. The front door to the store is open and the DJ, alone, doesn’t know we’re there. He makes an offering of sound to the conglomerate hum outside, hooking beats into the white noise of the Tokyo night. It’s the sound of ceremony or war. This vinyl is not scratched without reason.

The essay is Moorman’s recollections of a brief Japanese tour by his band, Head Like a Kite. Earlier in the piece he writes, “Tokyo is plagued by sound. The people import it, they identify by it, dress like it, and they funnel it into their ears.” More on Moorman on his website, trentdrum.com. (Thanks for the recommendation, Eric.)