Archive for the ‘sleepy.ab’ Category

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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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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.

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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 »

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 33

November 12, 2010

So after last week’s Halloween excursion (which had a low turnout—last time I’m doing anything special), I had a surplus of videos.  Maybe they’ll spill into next week, cause I’m tired.

noughts and exes- “The Start Of Us”

Noughts and exes adapt a childhood art-class assignment for the title-track of their sophomore album.  It’s somewhat unsettling but strangely fits this beautiful track.  Let’s hope Pepsi doesn’t get wind of this.

myspace.com/noughtsandexes Buy @ bandcamp, their website

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Posted in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Ghost Cries, Goggle-A, J-Rock Fridays, locofrank, Meaning, Noughts and Exes, Peelander-Z, sleepy.ab, Sonic Attacks Blaster, Takeuchi Denki, Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai, VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE | 2 Comments »

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Stuff To Look Forward To, November 2010

November 10, 2010

Ah November.  The time of the year when releases begin to trickle down along with my willingness to blog about them.  But there’s still some good stuff coming out

Kimonos- Kimonos

Kimonos is the side project of Leo Imai and the Zazen Boys’ Shutoku Mukai.  The fact that their names rhyme is coincidence.  So far Kimonos have put out two singles.  “Almost Human” has more of a laid back rock sound while “Soundtrack to Murder” is a little out there.  They describe the album as futuristic and nostalgic, a “fitting soundtrack to the manic intensity of Tokyo City.” (myspace)

The Brixton Academy- L.O.T

Spoiler alert!  TBA’s 80s tinged debut album Vivid will probably top my end of the year list.  But it was a bit on the short side so they’ll be releasing this 3-track EP to end the year.  It took a bit of sleuthing to find this as the band still hasn’t “announced” it yet.  Both listings I found list L.O.T. as  a 2-disc release, so I would expect a DVD with a PV or two. (myspace)

noughts and exes- The Start Of Us

Just when I thought I’d never hear this, they posted a bandcamp link on their Facebook last night.  Noughts and exes is a Hong Kong indie-rock band led by Joshua Wong of Whence He Came.  Their sophomore album boasts a new lineup and was produced by Martijn Groeneveld—the same guy who does buddhistson! (myspace)

Detroit Metal City

Amai, Amai, Amai, Amai, ko-i-bi-to. Detroit Metal City is finally available on DVD in the US!  Grab a copy and cuddle up with your sweet sweet lover and a plate of cheese tarts.  DMC is the tale of one Soichi Negishi who longs to create Swedish pop music but spends his nights as the emperor of death metal.  He’s kind of a mental case.  But hilarious!  And yes, that’s Kenichi Matsuyama, the guy that plays L on Death Note.

Buy Kimonos @ CD Japan, Jet Set, Play-Asia

Buy L.O.T. @ CD Japan, Jet Set

Buy The Start Of Us @ bandcamp, their website

Buy Detroit Metal City @ Amazon.com, RightStuf

Secondary Excitement

about tess- Song of the Bird: One of the first bands signed to world’s end girlfriend’s label Virgin Babylon and now their second release.  Song of the Bird is a 74-minute track told in four acts that reveals the journey of a bird.  (myspace) Buy @ CD Japan, Unsupermarket

Crystal Lake- Into The Great Beyond: Does this album have great cover art or what?  (myspace) Buy @ Big Cartel, CD Japan

dustbox- Starbow: Thus marks 10 years of punk rock with dustbox.  Both singles so far have bored me but they can pull an album out of their ass by now.  (myspace) Buy @ CD Japan

Fear, And Loathing In Las Vegas- Dance & Scream:  At this point I think I like them more for their name.  They would be a hit with the Hot Topic crowd.  (myspace)

Kaji Hideki and Riddim Saunter- Teens Film: Hey, it’s the guy who sang “Amai Koibito”!  And he recorded an album with Riddim Saunter!  Buy @ CD Japan

Man With A Mission- Welcome To The New World: MWAM won me over with their awesome wolf masks and their occasionally dancey tunes. (myspace) Buy @ CD Japan

Meaning- Brave New World:  The drummer from Ellegarden joined a hardcore band?  And they want to fuck the world? (myspace) Buy @ CD Japan

Perfume- Ne:  It’s a sad state of affairs when Nakata puts more effort in Perfume than his own group.  Buy @ CD Japan, Play-Asia

sleepy.ab- Kakurenbo: New single…enough said? (myspace) Buy @ CD Japan, Play-Asia

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Posted in about tess, Crystal Lake, Detroit Metal City, dustbox, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Kaji Hideki, Kimonos, Man With A Mission, Meaning, Noughts and Exes, Perfume, riddim saunter, sleepy.ab, Stuff To Look Forward To, The Brixton Academy | 5 Comments »

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Stuff To Look Forward To, September 2010

September 2, 2010

Let’s get dangerous.

world’s end girlfriend- Seven Idiots

What’s more exciting than a new world’s end girlfriend album?  A new post-rock label founded by none other than WEG himself!  But a new WEG album is awesome as well.  And this will be Virgin Babylon’s first release.  “Les Enfants du Paradis” was a little more upbeat/chipper than we’ve come to expect from WEG.  But I’m interested to hear what this “irregular pop album” is all about.  (myspace)

OGRE YOU ASSHOLE – Ukareteiru Hito

What’s more exciting than a new Ogre You Asshole mini-album?  An Ogre You Asshole North American Tour!  That’s right, OYA will be opening for Wolf Parade this November in the States (and Canada).  Hopefully an American label will release some of their material in the States.  Or at least pick up a few CDs at their show? (myspace)

Peelander-Z- PTV

Just when you thought Peelander-Z couldn’t get any crazier, they decided to release a children’s album.  No joke.  Chicken Ranch Records will release the album stateside with a bonus DVD of music videos and extras.  They’ll be touring America (and Canada) a lot this fall so check them out!  Human bowling!  Limbo!  (myspace)

Envy- Recitation

Envy’s fifth album is upon us.  Said to be their most epic yet.  Hopefully that doesn’t mean long, droning songs like on Insomniac Doze.  The two songs that were released remind me of old-school Envy, though.  If you can wait, Temporary Residence will release the album stateside in October on CD and vinyl.  They’ll also be touring America with a bunch of skramz bands this September-October!  (myspace)

Ling Tosite Sigure- still a Sigure virgin?

Ling blew us away with just A moment last year, but apparently we’ve heard NOTHING yet for we are still Sigure virgins.  Get ready for another nine tracks of virgin goodness.   (myspace) ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Other Stuff

avengers in sci-fi- Delight Slight Lightspeed:  Just one b-side for this single, but it comes with a DVD loaded with live videos. (myspace)

HALCALI- Roman Hiko: HALCALI remakes the classic 90s song from Kome Kome Club.  Features ska favorite Your Song Is Good as guest musicians. (myspace)

Rega- Lyrics: The title makes no sense they play post-rock.  (myspace)

RiLF- Ferris Wheel: Featuring members of Anoice and matryoshka.  (myspace)

sleepy.ac- LIVE @ Sapporo Kitara: Live sleepy.ab album?  I’m confused.  (myspace)

Start Of The Day- Love:  New album.  New band members. And no more of this StartOfTheDay crap.  (myspace)

VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE – PRINCIPLE:  A new Vola album?  Yesssssssssss.  (myspace)

Wagdug Futuristic Unity- R.A.M.: AA= released their new album earlier this year.  Time for this other Mad Capsule Markets spinoff that sounds exactly the same to release theirs.

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I was made to hit in America

We’ll be getting the new Peelander-Z and Envy albums in the US very soon, but there’s also a couple of older releases coming out.

Boom Boom Satellites- Over and Over

Boom Boom Satellites will be coming to America this fall and Sony decided to release a compilation album to celebrate.  Over and Over features 17 tracks from Exposed, ON, Umbra, Photon, Full of Elevating Pleasures, and Out Loud.  The only problem?  This is a CD-R release.  That’s right, Sony loves this band so much that the only physical release they plan on giving it is a burn-on-demand product from Amazon.com.  Disappointed.

Boredoms- 77 Boa Drum

Thrill Jockey will release this monumental DVD release from Boredoms.  77 Boa Drum documents a concert held at  the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY on July 7th, 2007 at 7:07pm.  77 drummers were asked to play as one in this live event.

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Posted in Anberlin, Avengers in Sci-Fi, Boom Boom Satellites, Boredoms, Envy, HALCALI, Lakes, Ling Tosite Sigure, Ogre You Asshole, Peelander-Z, Rega, RiLF, Sara Bareilles, sleepy.ab, Start Of The Day, Stuff To Look Forward To, VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE, Wagdug Futuristic Unity, world's end girlfriend | 6 Comments »

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 23

June 25, 2010

Michael Jackson died a year ago today.  There is no moonwalking here.

group_inou- “Zyanose”

Finally a techno-rap unit that hasn’t been raped by Mobile Suit Gundam hey.

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Posted in √thumm, butter butter, group_inou, hare-brained unity, High Speed Boyz, J-Rock Fridays, LITE, LOST, rotten graffty, sleepy.ab, the HIATUS, tokimeki ☆ jambo jambo | 2 Comments »

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DJ Tama feat. sleepy.ab

December 4, 2009

Can’t get enough of sleepy.ab’s new album Paratroop?  Here’s your chance to hear their vocalist in a different setting.  “Longing to Love” is Nariyama Tsuyoshi and DJ Tama’s collaboration on DJ Tama’s 2006 album Melting Pod. I believe this is the first time we’ve heard Nariyama sing in English.

http://www.myspace.com/sleepyab

http://www.myspace.com/spcfinest

Posted in DJ Tama, sleepy.ab | 2 Comments »

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J-Rock Fridays Vol. 8

November 27, 2009

Here I am on Black Friday giving you your (bi)weekly dose of Japanese music videos.  If UPS didn’t give me the night off I probably would’ve forgot altogether, but luckily I started a draft several weeks ago.  The winners of last week’s poll were ar, BIGMAMA, and FREAKYFROG.  I decided to keep with the polls so you’ll find a new one at the end of this column.

Liaroid Cinema- “Yellow”

This was supposed to be my featured video of the week, but as it turns out I have nothing to say about it.  Put them on the list of screamo bands like Nature Living and when the leaf seared who could be big in America if they tried. (myspace)

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Posted in For A Reason, J-Rock Fridays, Jitterbug, Liaroid Cinema, My Autumn Rain, Overground Acoustic Underground, sleepy.ab | Leave a Comment »

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sleepy.ab- アクアリウム

May 17, 2009

New single “Aquarium.”


http://www.myspace.com/sleepyab

Posted in sleepy.ab | 1 Comment »