Just like water we fall.
Fat Prop- “Can’t Stop The Music”
Punk rockers Fat Prop have joined the electro boys club with “Can’t Stop The Music.” Noticeably more fun than their usual piano driven fare.
Archive for September, 2011
Hysteric Picnic
September 27, 2011myspace band of the week
The mysterious Hysteric Picnic formed earlier this April in Tokyo. According to the band’s bio (written in…German), the duo spent some time in New York prior to forming. They are influenced by post punk and 80s new wave. Their self-titled EP was released in August.
“Tonight” is a lo-fi pop song that chugs along at a slow pace. The do-do’s are sometimes washed out by the droning guitar but they’re there.
“Merry Go Round” takes Hysteric Picnic to more psychedelic grounds. The beat is a little creepy and the wailing and screaming in the latter half only intensifies that feeling.
Hysteric Picnic’s EP is available at Jet Set Records. Download “Tonight” for free at bandcamp.
The_AIU
September 21, 2011
The_AIU is a “mysterious multinational rock band” from Tokyo that formed in October 2010. Leading The_AIU is Indonesian pop singer Aiu Ratna, who released a covers EP in Japan last year. Rounding out the band is Sohichi (The JETZEJOHNSON) on guitar and Jessie (Noise & Treatment) on electronics. A distinguishing characteristic of their music is the lack of a drummer, although it appears they have a support drummer live. Their debut mini-album Minority was released today. They also did a remix for Genki Rockets’ second album released earlier this month.
The four tracks on The_AIU’s myspace are labeled “Ver.0.” These demo tracks are a bit raw on the instrumentation side but there’s a lot of promise here. Aiu Ratna does sound a little diva-like on “Gothictro” and “Loser” hopefully she doesn’t sing this high on all their songs. All four tracks and “CPU,” which kicks a lot of ass, are available on Minority.
Minority is available at Amazon (MP3) and CD Japan.
J-Rock Fridays Vol. 54
September 16, 2011There’s a lot to go through this week so let’s! get! it! started!
THE Dakishimeruzu- “I wanna be your boyfriend”
THE Dakishimeruzu is not afraid to thrash around in the mud. Let’s just get dirty and have fun. Their second album was released last November, so this extra long PV is a good reminder to check it out.
Stuff To Look Forward To, September 2011
September 16, 2011September is the month for electro with brand new albums from The Brixton Academy and sakanaction, not to mention The_AIU’s debut. I expect all three will find their way on my year end list.
9/03 Atsuhiro Ito- Midnight Pharmacist (CD Japan)
9/07 9mm Parabellum Bullet- Kamome EP (CD Japan, Play-Asia)
9/07 Analogfish- Koya / On the Wild Side (CD Japan)
Ohshu
September 14, 2011myspace band of the week
At first glance Ohshu (王舟) looks like the Broken Social Scene of Japan, a collective of musicians centered around singer-songwriter Ohshu. Notable musicians that perform and record regularly with Ohshu include Hara Kazutoshi (ex Gellers), mmm, muffin and oono yuuki. Ohshu has released two CD-Rs in 2010, 賛成 and THAILAND. A digital single was released in June through Tonofon, with all proceeds donated to the victims of the Tohoku earthquake.
Most of Ohshu’s songs are acoustic based with piano, trumpet and flute filling the orchestra. Title track “Thailand” is a nice love song, sung in English. Throughout the song we get lovely flute by mmm (hear more of mmm’s flutework on Ogre You Asshole’s new album) and everyone goes all out on the ending.
賛成 and THAILAND are available at Jet Set Records.
Next Music From Tokyo Vol. 3
September 12, 2011Hello Canadians! Next Music From Tokyo is back for its third tour with 5 dates and 5 bands – Akai Ko-en, Chiina, Hyacca, Merpeoples and Natsumen. Check out the promo video above and Merpeoples going nuts below. Visit NMFT’s website for tour info and band bios.
DATES
Oct 13 Montreal – Divan Orange
Oct 14 Montreal – Club Lambi
Oct 15 Toronto – The Rivoli
Oct 16 Toronto – Velvet Underground (All Ages)
Oct 18 Vancouver – The Biltmore Cabaret
The Suzan in a commercial!
September 10, 2011Football is back! And it unexpectedly brings us a little J-Rock. Verizon Wireless has used “Come Come” by The Suzan in their new commercial for NFL Mobile, some kind of app for football fans. The song is taken from their 2010 album Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat, which was released in the US by Fool’s Gold. Hopefully the commercial will give the girls some well deserved attention over here. If you could care less about football, join me in watching their performance of this song at the Japan Society in NYC .
Czecho No Republic preps first album
September 9, 2011
The final track off Czecho No Republic’s single Casually ショートバケーション has finally been given a PV. Except this time it’s associated with Czecho No Republic’s debut album Maminka! The album will be released October 5 and contains 12 songs including ショートバケーション and “Don’t Cry, Forest Boy” (videos below). Preorder is up at CD Japan. You know I will.
purple bloom
September 7, 2011myspace band of the week
Purple Bloom is a female fronted shoegaze band from Tokyo formed by Linden (vocals) and Tsuyoshi (guitar). Their first album purple bloom, self-produced and recorded in their tatami room, was intended for March release but was pushed back due to the earthquake. The album will see worldwide release September 13. Their song “Kisses Bloomed” was featured on Patetico Recordings’ Rock Back for Japan Vol. 1, a compilation series benefiting disaster relief.
As typical of shoegaze bands, purple bloom blends noisey guitar with Linden’s high-pitched whispered vocals. “Kisses Bloomed” happens to be the one with most distortion while songs like “Hyades” and “Star Is Mine” bring the sunshine.
Pre-order purple bloom at Darla Records.
J-Rock Explosion 