Archive for January, 2013

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Stuff To Look Forward To, January 2013

January 31, 2013

Stuff To Look Forward To is back for another year! This will mostly be an archive post for our Calendar page from now on.

1/06 Bo Ningen- Nichijyou (Amazon/Video)

1/09 Babymetal0 Ijimi, Dame, Zettai (CD Japan)

1/09 BiS and Dorothy Little Happy- Get You (CD Japan)

1/09 Boom Boom Satellites- Embrace (CD Japan)

1/09 Fear From the Hate- 1961 (CD Japan/Video)

1/09 ONE OK ROCK- Deeper Deeper/ Nothing Helps (CD Japan/Video)

1/11 Shintaro Sakamoto- Matomo ga Wakaranai (CD Japan/Video)

1/13 Otoboke Beaver- CD-R (Jet Set/Video)

1/15 Gagaga SP- Nichijyo Anarchyism (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 Aru Kankaku- Counter (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 Bad Attack- Imagined Scenery / Shinsho (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 The Bawdies- 1, 2, 3 (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 Clutcho- Flyleaf (CD Japan)

1/16 kuuchuusen- Progre (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 LASTGASP- Serendipity (CD Japan/Video)

1/16 Lumpsugar- Sound of Snow (Video)

1/16 Sawao Yamanaka- Answer (CD Japan/Video)

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sleep warp

January 30, 2013

myspace band of the week

sleepwarp

Sleep warp is an indie pop band that formed in 2003. Its current members are Rumi (vocals), Kazuto Tabata (guitar) and Ryoichi (bass). They released their first album Terminal in 2004 and thanks to the Beat Crusaders, four songs from the album were used as inserts in the anime BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. Their second album Quest For This Velvety World was released in 2006 and received some critical praise in the UK and US. Their fifth album Strange Torchlight was released on December 12.

If you’re not feeling sleepy, warp on down to Amazon or CD Japan for downloads and such.

http://www.myspace.com/1000406716

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 89

January 25, 2013

Now that we’re done with the best videos of 2012 we can get around to dedicating this column to new J-Rock videos! By coincidence there was a new J-Rock Fridays every week in January. I don’t know if you enjoyed that but we’ll probably go back to biweekly from now on even though I have to cut a lot of videos each time (I guess that’s what Tumblr’s for).

sakanaction- “Music”

Get your headphones ready it’s the time of the year that sakanaction releases new music. Here we’ve got a bit of a split screen video with the vocalist tiredly watching a cute girl running away from handsy dancers.

Man With A Mission- “Emotions”

When emotions run dry, the wolves come out to play! I can’t tell if their English has gotten progressively better overnight or if they hired a foreigner to sing the verses but this song is pretty tight.

Baroque- “Tatoeba Kimi to Boku”

If you enjoy watching women wrestle each other in wet bikinis then “Tatoeba” is your new favorite J-Rock video. I was shocked by the negative reaction over at Tumblr, but still this is the first visual kei video I’ve watched all the way through in a long time.

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Posted in Baroque, Champagne, Dad Mom God, Egg Brain, indigo la End, Ito Shohei, J-Rock Fridays, Kinoko Teikoku, kuuchuusen, Man With A Mission, sakanaction, The Captains, wah-wah | 1 Comment »

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hyogen

January 23, 2013

myspace band of the week

hyogen

Hyogen (表現) is Mayu Gonto (vocals, accordion), Kimiya Sato (vocals, violin), Kuya Sonoda (bass) and Baku Furukawa (vocals, guitar) from Tokyo. Kuya and their former guitarist formed this folk band in 2005 and their first work was the soundtrack of the dance performance “脈拍 (Myaku-Haku, Pulse Beat)” for Yukina Sakai. Their self-titled album was released in 2009 and their drummer quit the band soon after. When Mayu joined on accordion, hyogen decided to perform as an acoustic band.

Their first album is available at Amazon and CD Baby and their newest at Jet Set Records. You can download a few live sets at their SoundCloud.

http://www.myspace.com/hyogenb1

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Best of 2012: J-Rock Fridays Part II

January 18, 2013

The last batch of the best J-Rock videos of 2012, although hopefully not the last list of the year. We’ve been to many places this year and it’s time to revisit.

The Novembers- “Harem”

Starting off part II of the best J-Rock videos of 2012 is another “weird stuff happens in the woods” video! The Novembers’ follow a mysterious gypsy into the woods where she does a sword dance while they look on like Twilight vampires. Haunting!

Aureole- “Live Again”

I really do love these woods videos! This time a mysterious schoolgirl stumbles into the woods and finds a magic sword while Aureole plays their flute song behind a bed sheet. She will protect them from harm.

matryoshka- “Monotonous Purgatory”

A beautiful animated video about a soul leaving its body that could have probably been expanded to a short film and submitted to certain film festivals. A wonderful treat for the 5 year album wait.

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Posted in Aureole, Best of 2012, Hisashi Suto Gatali Acoustic Set, J-Rock Fridays, kindan no tasuketsu, Love Me Tender, matryoshka, nego, NOKIES!, oono yuuki, Pay Money To my Pain, sakanaction, The Novembers, uminote, Year End Lists | 1 Comment »

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dinner

January 16, 2013

myspace band of the week

dinner

Dinner is a five piece instrumental/post-rock band from Yamagata. They formed in 2002 as a three piece with vocals. The current lineup of Shigeyuki Oba (guitar), Yasufumi Harada (guitar), Jun Ogata (bass), Natsumi Tada (drums) and Miku Kobayashi (piano) was set in 2007. Their first two albums Rock Disco and and…hearing things were released in 2008 and 2009 by fantome records. Their third album B5 No Naka was released in 2011 by Nomadic Records. Yes Asia has the first and third courses.

http://www.myspace.com/dinnermusic

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Yoshiki’s Golden Globe Cameo

January 14, 2013

International music star Yoshiki made his network TV debut last night at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards. You can see him hand Mychael Danna his award for the Life of Pi score halfway through the video. Speaking of scores, Yoshiki composed the musical theme of this year’s show. You can hear a clip of the song here and purchase the single for charity at iTunes.

What was your favorite moment of the Golden Globes? Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are classy ladies.

Posted in Golden Globes, X Japan, Yoshiki | 1 Comment »

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 88

January 11, 2013

We’re not done with the best videos of 2012, but we needed to take a break to highlight the new videos of 2013 so we don’t fall behind. Some sad news, it was just announced K from Pay money To my Pain passed away on December 30. You will be missed!

Shugo Tokumaru- “Call”

A whimsical advertisement from the clothing label FRAPBOIS. Normally they make music videos with real people wearing their designs, but for some reason they decided to go the animated route for their 2013 catalog. I can’t imagine this will lead to more sales, but Shugo Tokumaru just released a great new album everyone’s talking about so at least they got their name out there.

Keishi Tanaka- “Wonderful Seasons”

Keishi Tanaka has kept busy since his band Riddim Saunter broke up in 2011, releasing a solo EP and an album as part of the supergroup The Dekits last year. Now Tanaka is ready to release his debut solo album. “Wonderful Seasons” is a happy little song celebrating the little things in life.

Shintaro Sakamoto- “From the Dead”

Bongos and horns! Shintaro Sakamoto has woken up the walking dead with his funky new single. It seems they rather dance than cause a ruckus though.

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Posted in DOLL$BOXX, Elen Never Sleeps, J-Rock Fridays, Keishi Tanaka, Ken Yokoyama, ONE OK ROCK, Shintaro Sakamoto, Shugo Tokumaru, sleepy.ab, The Bawdies, Tokyo Sicks, Wednesday | Leave a Comment »

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Royal Cabaret

January 9, 2013

myspace band of the week

royalcabaret

Royal Cabaret is an alternative rock band led by vocalist Miyu and backed by Ryosuke (guitar), Haruhiko (bass) and Shintaro (drums). The band formed in 2006 in Tokyo. Through their performance they hope to promote an atmosphere reminiscent of a dusky underground cabaret and dress in appropriate fetish and Gothic attire. They toured France in 2009 and describe their performance as “Le monde fin-de-siecle” (the world at the end of the century). Their first album Waltz was released in June 2011 and is available at Amazon and CD Japan.

http://www.myspace.com/royalcabaret

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Best of 2012: J-Rock Fridays Part I

January 4, 2013

Time to look back at all the great J-Rock videos of 2012. Instead of struggling with a top 10, I decided to pick my 12 favorites from the first half of the year. As expected, poll turnout was abysmal this year so I had to use my own discretion on these (seriously, if you want to see J-Rock Fridays reach 100 I need to see A LOT more participation!).

Bertoia- “Snow Slide”

What do you do when you find a floating door in your room in the middle of the night? Enter a mystical land where all your bandmates have weird forest grass growing on their faces. A little bit Narnia, a little bit Alice in Wonderland, “Snow Slide” is a fantastical video from one of the best female fronted shoegaze bands out there.

Turntable Films- “Misleading Interpretations”

Stabbed in the heart, Yosuke Inoue defies the impossible and gets his zombie butt off the ground and heads toward the concert venue. Many obstacles later, including being hit by a car, he makes it to his band’s show on time. A well choreographed video shot in one take.

Nile Long- “See Your Eyes”

Do you like those trendy Apple commercials where they have random people play fake instruments on their phones and tablets? Nile Long takes it to the next level in “See Your Eyes.”

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Posted in 0.8秒と衝撃。, ar, Bertoia, Best of 2012, Crossfaith, GRAPEVINE, Horaizun Yamashita Takuhaibin, J-Rock Fridays, kataomoi, mudy on the 昨晩, NILE LONG, NRQ, number0, Turntable Films, Year End Lists | Leave a Comment »

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