Archive for March, 2010

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upstairs

March 9, 2010

myspace band of the week

I’ve heard plenty of Japanese punk bands try to sing in English, but this is the first I’ve heard Spanish.  Upstairs are three girls from Tokyo, or as their EP is called, Tres Chicas Punks.

I never mentioned this, but I did complete four years of Español classes in high school. It’s been a while so I was eager to see if I retained anything.  It should come as no surprise that both the band’s English and Spanish vocals are near indecipherable.  If I wasn’t so used to gibberish vocals in my punk rock I would be disappointed.  So I was crushed that I couldn’t test my Spanish comprehension.  But I can say “Espero el fin semana” is definitely sounds grammatically incorrect.

If you’re into female pop-punk bands, upstairs is the band for you.  They briefly got me interested in picking up Spanish again.   Choice track: “Que Sera Sera”

http://www.myspace.com/upstairs

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100K

March 7, 2010

After 3 years and some change, J-Rock Explosion has finally hit 100,000 views.  It’s been a bumpy ride with not a lot of highs and quite a few lows.  But I’d like to thank anyone who has stuck with me, linked to me on their blog, left a comment, my subscriber (it’s singular for a reason), and everyone  following me on Twitter.

If you don’t know me by now, my name is Andrew and I’ve been writing this blog by my lonesome this whole time. I’ve lived in the Chicago suburbs my entire life.  I’ve never been to Japan, or outside of this country for that matter, and at this rate probably never will.  I don’t understand a word of Japanese and at this point see no reason to learn.  I started this blog in my second year of college to “get back” at my favorite website for not posting about any of the bands I like, and you see how far that’s gotten me.  I managed to graduate last May with a degree in Communications arts and am still getting my ass kicked every night at UPS because I can’t find a real job.  If you want to know more about me or this blog, feel free to ask.

I didn’t plan anything for this “momentous” occasion, but I thought it’d be fun sharing some blog stats. Read the rest of this entry ?

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 15

March 5, 2010

It was a little hard compiling a list of bands this week, seeing as capsule released their new album on Wednesday and that’s all I’ve been wanting to listen to, but I managed to find 11 anyway.  Have fun.

sakanaction-“目が明く藍色”

Sakanaction’s new single isn’t very dancey.  I was not expecting a power ballad from this band, a seven minute power ballad for that matter.  I guess we know why this wasn’t the first single.

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Posted in Abstract Mash, BYEE the ROUND, J-Rock Fridays, Ken Yokoyama, KiLLKiLLS, PAN, potali, RAZORS EDGE, sakanaction, SiM, The Bawdies, The Novembers | Leave a Comment »

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Pre-order: Mono Live in NYC

March 4, 2010

Mono will release a live album/DVD titled Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra in April.  It will be released in Japan April 6 and in the US on April 27 via Temporary Residence.  The DVD/CD chronicles the band’s sold-out shows in NYC in 2009 in tribute to their first show in NYC ten years ago.  This is also the first time the band played with a full orchestra.  Tracklisting is below and you can pre-order it here.

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nego

March 2, 2010

myspace band of the week

Nego is a jam/post-rock band that formed in February 2008 when Mukaiyama Toshitaka left sgt. Ever since they have preformed rigorously around Japan and released their first single Imperial Dub in 2009.  Their first album Dub Phalanx was released in Februray 2010.

At first listen, nego sounds like a cross between the last sgt. album, a Rastafarian band, and a jazz festival.  The previews for their latest album Dub Phalanx are kind of weird. But later on, it becomes familiar.  A lot of these songs sound like sgt. I guess that should come as no surprise considering Mukaiyama played guitar with sgt. from 2003-2008.  The main difference between the two bands is nego’s jazzier, sometime uplifting, take on some songs and the use of bongos.  Not to say that nego can’t make a dark, brooding post-rock tune in the vain of Mono.  Dub Phalanx is kind of hard to find and is unavailable to purchase on my usuals.

http://www.myspace.com/negosound

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