Pants
9/04 Mono- For My Parents (Amazon, CD Japan, Temporary Residence)
9/05 abingdon boys school- WE aRE (CD Japan)
9/05 Black Buck x Matter- Stormy Tuesday (CD Japan)
9/05 BRAHMAN- Romei CD Japan)
9/05 The Cat Fanclub- Meikyo Shisui (CD Japan)
9/05 cinema staff- Salvage You (CD Japan)
9/05 Cokehead Hipsters- Hit or Miss (CD Japan)
9/05 Comeback My Daughters- Back in the Summer (CD Japan)
9/05 Cornelius- CM4 (CD Japan)
Dead Horse Paint is a six-piece screamo band from Saitama that formed in 2010. Its band members are Takuma Nitta (vocals), Maki Onodera (synth,vocals), Wataru Takahashi (guitar), Yuta Kakimotoi (guitar), Takahiro Miura (bass) and Tatsuto Sakaguchi (drums). They self-released two EPs, The Buried Promise and Drawing in 2010 and 2011. In July they signed to Zestone Records. Their first release for the label was a split EP with Malaysian hardcore band I, Revival. Zero Division Vol. 1 is available at CD Japan.
New column is here!
Aureole released a ton of videos for their new album Reincarnation, which was released last week. “Live Again” was easily my favorite, with its fluttering flutes and mystical sword warrior. But songs like “Pass the Past” and “Suicide” promises a seriously pretty album also.
Swanky Dank is an alternative rock trio featuring brothers Yuichi (vocals, guitar) and Koji (vocals, bass) with Shun (drums). The brothers formed the band in Tokyo in 2007 and Shun took over their support drummer’s spot in 2012. Their self-titled album was released in 2009 and they released a single later that year called “For You.” The song was used in the movie MW, based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga. Their first EP The Love Was Gone… will be released in October. Preorder now at CD Japan.
Pirates Canoe is a 6-piece folk band from the Kansai region. The girls, Reika Hunt (guitar, vocals), Sara Kohno (mandolin) and Kanako Keyaki (fiddle), play as a trio in a monthly show called Kamogawa Michigan at various cafes and bars in Kyoto. The boys, Kazuhiko Iwaki (resophonic guitar), Jun Taniguchi (bass) and Takashi Yoshioka (drums), play with the girls at another monthly show called Hyokkori Party at a live house named Jittoku. They’ve been playing as a full band since 2009 and focus on Americana and roots-based music.
Their self-titled EP was released in 2011 and their followup EP Pirates Canoe, Too was released earlier this year. Both are available internationally at CD Baby.
Back for another dose!
Sakanaction is rocking out in traditional Japanese garb with a couple of geishas in front of oh powerful Mt. Fuji in this slow zoom-in video. In typical sakanaction fashion, the song explodes around the midway point when we start getting close-ups of the vocalist’s hilarious eye makeup. Another sakanaction single that will make you dance all night.
Miu Mau, which means “cat’s tail” in Finnish, is a synth-pop trio of girls from other bands. The group formed in 2006 with Masami Takashima (vocals, synths) who performs solo as Coet Cocoeh, Hiromi Kajiwara (guitar) from Hyakka and Miwako Matsuda (drums) from Masa Dayo Masa. They released their first album Design in 2008. Miu Mau has released a trio of singles on Amazon and iTunes over the past year and just released a CD-R called News at Jet Set Records.
J-Rock Explosion 