Happy Friday.
Mudy on the sakuban puts on a haunted house show for an unsuspecting couple. There’s a Sadako spoof from The Ring and probably more I’m not well versed in the horror genre. I think mudy is officially one of those bands we can count on for great videos.
Good Charamel Records released their second I Love J-Rock compilation today. It includes 1-2 newer songs from Shonen Knife, Molice, TsuShiMaMiRe and the recently broken up LAZYgunsBRISKY who were all on the first compilation. There is one surprise in yet another girl band Tricot with “Baku Retsu Panie San.” No word on whether or not GC will be bringing over Tricot’s whole EP but they have announced release dates for all of the other Japanese bands on their roster:
4/17 LAZYgunsBRISKY- LAZYgunsBRISKY
4/17 Molice- Neugravity
5/01 TsuShiMaMiRe- Giving More Blood
5/01 TsuShiMaMiRe- Shocking
Sometime in June, Shonen Knife- Pop Tune
I Love J-Rock 2 is available at Amazon MP3 and GC’s webstore. More PVs below!
Ho ho ho! It’s that time of year when people give out presents to people they like. And since I’d probably get in trouble for uploading music on my own, I’ll just link you to the bands who want you to take their holiday tunes. Hurry! Most of these links expire by the end of the year.
the guitar plus me- Decemblues
Side project of Arai Tasuku and nica.
Otokaze & hafuka- Sound of North
Various Artists- Season’s Greetings
world’s end boyfriend- Xmas Song 2011
EeL- “Snow World Under the White Moon”
Jintana & Emeralds- “Last Christmas”
Love and Hates- “I Wanna Kill”
Shonen Knife- “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”
Posting this in the AM for a change. Is it still Friday in Japan? Last new J-Rock Fridays of 2011!
Christmas is in a couple of days. Why not start off with a couple of Christmas songs? SKAYWAY loves ska and Christmas songs so much they just released an entire album of ska Christmas covers (get Jingle belling). This band doesn’t seem to exist elsewhere on the internet so maybe they’re Santa’s little helpers after all.
August is here. And there’s more Japanese albums I can’t afford. If you’re in Chicago this weekend X-Japan will be at Lollapalooza. I don’t have $300 to burn just to stand around in the sun but whatever makes you happy.
Beat Crusaders- SituationIf you haven’t already heard, the Beat Crusaders are breaking up. Why do you have to leave me? “Situation” is their final single. Apparently, it will only be released as a DVD video. The listing says it’s Region 2, which defeats the point of me buying it, but thanks for one last song.
Nature Living- AnonymousBack in the day, Nature Living was the screamo band to listen to from Japan. And then their popularity fell along with Purevolume’s before they even released their album. But I bought it. And liked it. This is their second full-length (third if you count After All). I doubt they’ll make it easy and put it on Interpunk again for us but I will find you. (myspace)
the telephones- We Love TelephonesYes, we do. Second major label album from the band and they’re just as crazy as ever. I was starting to worry after that collaboration with MiChi. But the singles have been good, especially “Kiss Me, Love Me, Kiss Me,” which was a pleasant diversion from their normal chaos. They’ll bring the disco if you give them your love and voice. (myspace)
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs- Zero Comma, Irotoridori No SekaiNow this is a major label debut we should be worried about. When they released the video for the title track a couple of weeks ago it was clear that they changed their sound to something more bubbly. I don’t mind the direction they’re going in. It’s kind of fun. (myspace)
The Predators- This WorldThe Predators are back with a new mini-album. This was the supergroup comprised of Sawao Yamanaka (the pillows), Jiro (GLAY), and Shinpai Nakayama (STRAIGHTENER). Well, Shinpai left and Hirotaka Takahashi (ELLEGARDEN) stepped in on drums. If you’re a fan of the pillows, they kind of sound the same, so go get it. (myspace)
Scott Murphy- Guilty Pleasure 4Damn you Scott Murphy. You just got back together with ALLiSTER and you’re already doing more solo stuff. As always, the fourth in this series will cover a bunch of J-Pop songs, like Utada Hikaru’s “Flavor of Life.” And hey, there’s even a Carpenters and The Slants cover. And to be fair, the new ALLiSTER album kind of sucks.
Masafumi Isobe- Do we know? (single)
NICO Touches the Walls- Sudden Death Game (single)
sakanaction- Identity (single)
Sebastian X- Bokura no Fantasy
Various Artists- !Leche Con Cover! -A Tribute To No Use For A Name-
Sometimes we can buy Japanese CDs at cheap American prices. Good Charamel is going a little crazy this month by releasing the newest albums from Shonen Knife, Molice, LAZYgunsBRISKY, and TsuShiMaMiRe on August 31. Selected songs from each band and DJ Sashimi will be on a compilation called I Love J-Rock released the same day. That’s a lot of stuff!
As it turns out, I’m a month late on this one. Anyway…
Good Charamel Records announced that they will release Shonen Knife’s latest album Super Group sometime in August followed by an “extensive” North American tour this fall. The album will feature a different album cover and a bonus track. This album marks their first return to a three-piece since 1999 when their bassist left the band. Super Group came out in Japan on November 7, 2008.
Shonen Knife formed in 1981 in Osaka, Japan. They were heavily influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, and punk rock, in particular The Ramones. They have achieved a worldwide cult following and have been praised by bands such as Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Almost all of their albums have had a US release and several popular 90s alternative rock bands contributed to a Shonen Knife tribute album. Naoko Yamano is the only original member that remains in the the band.
Their North American tour will be held in October and November. Tour dates can be found here.
The song can be downloaded for free at ShockHound.
J-Rock Explosion 