The Many Whiskers Of The Snowcat

『別府NIGHTS』 was released on 15th of December, 2006. 10 years ago. Besides making it now available on Bandcamp, Gilles Snowcat leaked a few laconic comments on what many still see as his masterpiece, and some rare pictures of what was nurturing the creation of those 5 unique pieces of music.

There’s a double truth about rock stars: they all want to find their musical DNA. And they all fall in a deep, consuming love for Japan once they step inside the Rising Sun for the first time.

Let’s take David Bowie. He always admitted having found his musical DNA with his so-called Berlin era. And he fell in love with Japan, to the point of finding some shelter there.

What’s the link with Gilles Snowcat? Obviously, it’s even stronger: he found his musical DNA in Japan. Precisely: “There’s a span of time, let’s say, when all the good witches were suddenly very present, very awake, and they were like saying Go ahead, little Cat, write songs and they’ll be good, very good.”

That span can be seen as from the Autumn 2001 till early 2016, but Snowcat gives a more focussed explanation:

“It really started with the Cà Phê & Pizza song, I don’t know but something strange happened, it was a feeling that something new has just arrived. You could feel the air was carrying some magic, not sissy magic but some spell, some bewitching…”

After all, wasn’t Gilles born on Mardi Gras day? This inspirational trance led to a bunch of great releases, including the most seminal, Beppu Nights, making the news 10 years after its release.

Make the news like 10 years ago… and 10% discount ’till 1st of January 2017 if you buy Beppu Nights and type the secret code ILOVEJAPAN.

More visual memories from that enchanted era -when you reach a point and know that whatever you’ll do next, you’re in and there’s no turning back and that’s the thrill of it all. That’s Japan. That was in 2006. And still in 2016. Merry Xmas and have a shockingly great year 2017.