Sugar’N’spice is an all girl rock’N’roll band from Tokyo. Formed in 2006, Kyao (vocals, guitar), Tsue (guitar) and Mie (drums) met while attending Osaka University. Their first album Spangle was released in 2007, which was produced, mixed, engineered, etc. by Kyao. In 2010 they contributed two tracks to the Van Von Hunter soundtrack, a movie based off the Tokyopop OEL manga. Their newest album The Hybrid Age was released in 2012 and is available at CD Japan and iTunes.
The Calendar of Happy Days is an alternative rock trio from Minamihoncho. Masato Teramae (vocals, guitar) and Keita Suzuki (bass) originally formed the band in 2007 in their light music club at university. Takuya Yoshimi (drums) joined the band in 2009. In 2012 they signed to ASR Records and released their first single Masshiro na Dress ni. Their new mini album Feelback-View was released in March and is available at Amazon and CD Japan.
Large House Satisfaction is a garage rock trio made up of brothers Youji (vocals, guitar) and Kenji Kobayashi (bass) and Shusaku Tanaka (drums). Kenji and Shusaku started the band in 2005 while they were still in high school. They released their first album in 2009 and attracted attention with their participation in the 25th Anniversary The Blue Hearts tribute album. They signed to Garuru Records and released their second album High Voltex in 2012 and their third album In the Dark Room earlier this month. Check out their real estate at CD Japan.
Toremono (トレモノ) is a four piece pop band from Tokyo formed in 2009 by Kida (vocals, guitar), Nanba (guitar), Nakama (bass) and Karimata (drums). They have roots in various genres such as funk, surf, reggae and soul. In 2012, they self released their first mini-album and were selected as one of ro69jack’s winning artists. Earlier this month, they released their new mini-album TropiCarnival from Knock Up! Records.
Yasei Collective is a “modern electro crossover band” from Tokyo. Masanao Matsushita (drums) and Mitchihiko Nakanishi (bass, synth) met in LA and formed Yasei Collective after they returned to Japan in 2009 with Takuro Saito (vocals, guitar, synth) and Kazuhiro Bessho (keys, synth). Taking influences from their time in America, Yasei Collective fuses all different kinds of genres like pop, jazz, rock and hip hop. Their first album Kodama was released in 2011 and they have released four volumes in a live album series Really Real Live from 2012-2013. Their new studio album Conditioner will be released in August.
THE CREATOR OF is an alternative/post rock band from Tokyo. Shigeyuki Suzuki (vocal, guitar) and Sakamoto (bass) formed the band in 1994 as junior high friends. The original lineup actually made it pretty far, releasing their debut album Lost Summer Daze on Sony in 1999 and having opened for Marilyn Manson and Slipknot. After releasing their second album In Reservoir in 2002, the band went on a long hiatus due to member disagreements. Shigeyuki released a third THE CREATOR OF album as a solo artist in 2007 as well as creating ambient music under the name Erimin5
In 2011, THE CREATOR OF reformed with the current lineup of Shigeyuki Suzuki (vocal, guitar), Daisuke Takeda (guitar), Hiroki Furutani aka Kuroi Mori (guitar, synthesizer), Sakamoto (bass) and Hiroki Sagawa (drums). Although they have done instrumental songs earlier in their career, their new songs mainly ditch their metal beginnings for atmospheric post-rock. You can download In Reservoir for free at Jamendo.
Language is an electronic/post rock band from Tokyo. Yosuke Kakegawa (guitar/computer) and Naoyuki Honzawa (guitar/computer) were dance and techno producers/DJs in the 90s and formed Tomisiro in 2001. Tomisiro has produced music and visuals for films and anime like Sgt. Frog and Rinne no Lagrange. In 2009 they formed Language with Kaori on vocals. Their first two albums Slower Than Summer (2009) and Northern Lights (2011) pays tribute to the boy’s clubland days with vocals reminiscent of Everything But The Girl. Next week Language will release their third album. The first two singles “Hikari” and “Inazuma” shows the band going in a more rock direction. You can preorder magure at CD Japan.
Puffyshoes is a vintage pop rock duo from Tokyo. Formed in 2009, Usagi Hops (guitar, vocals) and Neko Meows (drums, vocals) began recording right away releasing CDs and tapes from Canada to Japan. Their first album Something Gold was released in 2010 by French label Social Alienation. In 2011 they played SXSW in Austin and released their second album Finally the Weekend in Japan that summer. The girls took a break soon after when Neko Meows announced she was pregnant. Their latest release is Spaceshit Volume 1, a zine + CD-R with one new song and 16 covers. Download their albums at Amazon MP3 and watch out for their new album later this year.
Mix Market is a female fronted punk rock band from Shinjuku. They formed in 1997 and the current lineup is Yutty (vocals), Kota (guitar), Daisuke Udagawa (guitar), Shinichi Tateno (bass) and Shunsuke Takayama (drums). They released their first two singles in 1999 and 2000 through K.O.G.A. Records, which received a lot of airplay on Japanese and Korean TV. Their first album Fuzzy Floor came out in 2001 and their second Treasure Land in 2003. A best of album was released in 2004 and the band went on a hiatus after their drummer and bassist departed that year.
Former Japanese MP3 music site JapanFiles.com gave Mix Market increased exposure in the US and the band started to play again with a new lineup in 2006. They released two albums in 2007 and 2010 from Elephant Music and returned to K.O.G.A. this year. Their new mini-album Whammy will be released in July. You can find their releases at CD Japan and Amazon MP3.
http://myspace.com/mixmarket07
J-Rock Explosion 