Zainichi Funk

At 5' 6", James Brown wasn't exactly a giant himself, but he still had a good four-and-a-half inches on Kenta Hamano. Zainichi Funk's pint-sized frontman – blessed with rubber legs and a finely tuned sense of absurdity – turns what would've been a tight but unremarkable funk outfit into something truly memorable. If you can't make it to their gig at next month's Rock in Japan fest, you can catch the band in a large-scale show at O-East this weekend, with support from poppy girl-rock combo Negoto.