Archive for February, 2012

Older Entries »
h1

The Rubies

February 28, 2012

myspace band of the week

The Rubies is the new project from Kazuya (vocals/guitar) and Osuke (bass) from The Emeralds. They met their drummer Daisuke when they played with his band Clarabell at SXSW in 2005. The three of them formed The Rubies in 2009 along with Taro the tambourine man who they met at karaoke. All four members wear bright red pants.

The band’s first performance was at SXSW in 2010 and they’ve become known for the crazed rock’n roll show. The Rubies will be returning to SXSW for Japan Nite in 2012.

http://www.myspace.com/trfte

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in myspace band of the week, The Rubies | Leave a Comment »

h1

J-Rock Fridays Vol. 65

February 24, 2012

Fun fact: J-Rock Explosion turns 5 years old today! I didn’t plan anything special but here’s a new J-Rock Fridays.

ASPARAGUS- “Analog Signal Processing”

Second PV from Asparagus’ 5th album, which only took 5 years to come out. Good to have you back.

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Anoice, arukara, Asparagus, Back Drop Bomb, J-Rock Fridays, paionia, Psysalia Psysalis Psyche, Ryo Hamamoto & The Wetland, sleepy.ab, Te', the telephones, The Waybark, Yahchaika | Leave a Comment »

h1

ZZZ’s

February 21, 2012

myspace band of the week

There once was a band named Hystoic Vein who broke up in October last year when their vocalist decided to leave the band. Youkaku (guitar), Yukary (bass) and Lyn (drums) decided to continue on as a trio with Youkaku and Yukary splitting vocal duty. The band was reformed as ZZZ’s a month later. The girls will be coming to Austin this year for SXSW where they also played as Hystoic Vein in 2010 and 2011 and will also be joining the Japan Nite tour.

ZZZ’s plays a mixture of post-punk and experimental rock. Not a huge difference from Hystoic Vein but different enough. They have uploaded three new demos on myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/1004999842

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in myspace band of the week, ZZZ's | Leave a Comment »

h1

Stuff To Look Forward To, February 2012

February 19, 2012

A lot of cool stuff for a warm February including new albums from Polysics, te’, L’arc~en~ciel, the telephones and Asparagus. Electronic act Jesse Ruins will be putting out their first EP on US label Captured Tracks as well. Don’t know what to get? The second volume in the Free Throw compilation series features 30 of the best indie acts in Japan.

2/01 The50Kaitenz- Rock’n’Roll Love Letter (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/01 butter butter- Recycle (CD Japan)

2/01 Triplane- V (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/01 Salyu- Lighthouse (CD Japan)

2/01 Spitz- Orutana (CD Japan)

2/02 SHANK- Wake me up when night falls again (CD Japan)

2/03 Veronica Veronico- Vero Und Nico (CD Japan)

2/08 6% is Mine- Idoltic Punk Covers (CD Japan)

2/08 ACIDMAN- The Best (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Apple Saito and the Happy Hercules Boys- S/T (CD Japan)

2/08 The Bawdies- Rock Me Baby (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Buzz the Bears- Sanjuso (CD Japan)

2/08 Calmera- Mix Modern Covers (CD Japan)

2/08 FLiP- Wonderland (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Jake stone garage- Feels (CD Japan)

2/08 hac0-mofu- Ashita kara Ganbaru (CD Japan)

2/08 Half-Life- replay (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 L’arc~en~ciel- Butterfly (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Meme- alku ringo (CD Japan)

2/08 mimitto- N!O! (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Porno Graffiti- 2012Spark (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Psysalia Psysalis Psyche- #7 (CD Japan)

2/08 ROACH- No Reason in the Pit (CD Japan)

2/08 Silent Siren- Saisai (CD Japan)

2/08 SR- Felicity (CD Japan)

2/08 VA- Free Throw Compilation Vol. 2 (CD Japan)

2/08 the telephones- D.E.N.W.A e.p. (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra- on the remix (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

2/08 White Ash- Kiddie (CD Japan)

2/08 winnie- Forget me not (CD Japan, Play-Asia)

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Stuff To Look Forward To | Leave a Comment »

h1

bone machine

February 14, 2012

myspace band of the week

Bone machine is an alternative rock band from Kyoto. The band was formed in 2007 by Yuya Nakamura (vocals, guitar) and Jiro Fujita (bass) joined the band in 2008. They were a trio for a while until their drummer quit recently. They’re talking a break from performing until they find a new guy to play bones but are working on adding dance elements to their music. You can download a few demos and remixes at Sound Cloud while you wait.

http://www.myspace.com/bonemachineriot

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in bone machine, myspace band of the week | Leave a Comment »

h1

Yasutaka Nakata Does It Again: Capsule Featured On Chronicle Soundtrack

February 12, 2012

I’m a bad capsule fan. I was able to pick out Crystal Castles and M83 instantly while watching Chronicle, but my beloved capsule completely eluded me. It’s a good thing I sit through credits otherwise I would have never have seen capsule was included on the soundtrack. My guess is “Flash Back” played sometime during the rave or the after-the-magic-show party. In any case, the song is featured on the soundtrack for real and I’m counting this as capsule’s US debut.

Last summer, Perfume’s “Polyrhythm” was featured in Pixar’s Cars 2, which was produced by Yasutaka Nakata. This makes “Flash Back” the second Yasutaka Nakata song to be featured in a Hollywood film in less than a year’s time. Keep them coming!

Capsule’s 13th studio album Stereo Worxxx will be released March 7 in Japan. “Step On The Floor” leaked last and it’s a great return to form in the vein of “Love or Lies.” If you’re looking for a good movie to watch next weekend, Chronicle was great. Best superhero film since The Dark Knight.

Posted in capsule, Chronicle, Yasutaka Nakata | Leave a Comment »

h1

J-Rock Fridays Vol. 64

February 10, 2012

Presenting the best J-Rock videos of the week…

GRAPEVINE- “Rakuen”

Leave it to GRAPEVINE to take a seemingly innocent song and make a traumatic video about a group of men up against the wall waiting to get gunned down. At least they went to “heaven.”

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Acidman, Apple Saitou & the Happy Hercules Boys, GEEKS, GRAPEVINE, Heavenstamp, J-Rock Fridays, Lagitagida, MAMA GUITAR, Shit Happening, SiMoN, The Bawdies, the loud function, Winnie | 1 Comment »

h1

Best of 2011: Covers

February 9, 2012

Today we’re looking at some our favorite cover songs and cover albums of 2011

AFROHEAD 7 LINE- “YMCA”

SECRET 7 LINE has been trying to court me for years now. All it takes is afro wigs and classic rock songs, though. You can’t hurry poops. (web, CD Japan,Play-Asia)

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in A, Afrohead 7 Line, Best of 2011, Cokehead Hipsters, Covers, Crossfaith, HALCALI, Merpeoples, Miranosand, Monobright, Peelander-Z, Year End Lists | Leave a Comment »

h1

Best of 2011: Collaborations

February 8, 2012

Slowly plowing through the year end lists, here’s our favorite collaborations and supergroups of 2011.

AA=AiD- “We’re not alone”

After the natural disasters of 2011, it was cool to see all the “pray for Japan” benefit tracks and compilations that cropped up on the internet from all over the world. AA=AiD is a project led by Takeshi Ueda (AA=) that recorded this song to encourage reconstruction efforts. “We’re not alone” is a veritable who’s who of J-Rock and features Hayashi (Polysics), Shinichi Ubukata (Nothing’s Carved In Stone) and Akihiro Namba (Hi-STANDARD) among many others. You can download it for free here.

Kenzi Masubuchi’s Punk Ska Unity did much the same but with even more punk/ska artists.

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in AA=, Best of 2011, Cornelius, hydrant house purport rife on sleepy, Kimonos, LITE, Love and Hates, Maia Hirasawa, Nujabes, Salyu, salyu x salyu, The Dekits, toddle, toe, Year End Lists, Zazen Boys | 1 Comment »

h1

The Mari On The Beach

February 7, 2012

myspace band of the week

The Mari On The Beach is an alternative rock band that formed in the autumn of 2011. They got to writing songs fast uploading several free tracks on their bandcamp page by the end of the year. In January, they released their first album Get Out Of Making Music. Mari tried out a variety of different styles on this album including punk, twee pop, new wave and even samba.

Get Out Of Making Music is available for purchase at bandcamp and CD Baby or for free at Soundcloud & last.fm.

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in myspace band of the week, The Mari On The Beach | Leave a Comment »

Older Entries »