Wahuhohh wahwahuhohh (this song's chorus)

Paraele Stripes - Prototype

Genre: dance rock, electronic pop rock
Song style: Daft Punk meets Owl City

This is a pretty catchy tune that I've been casually listening to on repeat as I do my research. Their other songs have been a little too Owl City for me, but this song is really fun and friendly.

It's nearing the end of the year guys!! This means I can expect to spend 2500-4000 yen a meal on Christmas parties and end-of-the year parties, oh whyyyy. Tonight, lab end of year party, tomorrow Keio Christmas party, Sunday my circle's Christmas party. All all-you-can-drink, blehhhhhh but yay?

Rocking it out tomorrow!

Hi-5 - 1.2.3.4

Genre: alternative, dance rock
Song style: tough but catchy

Tomorrow gonna go see the White White Sisters at Shibuya, I'm very excited! This band will also be playing - they seem really cool and catchy. They've apparently been around for 10 years now (the members are all in their thirties), and this song is from 2003. However, seems like they're currently unsigned and the most recent album their myspace talks about is from 2006 or so. I wonder what they're up to, being old men like that and not updating their myspace but still touring around. We'll have to see! Seems like a very unknown concert in general (I got in touch with White White Sisters directly to get tickets) so it'll be interesting to see what this sort of show is all about!

Identity

サカナクション - アイデンティティ

Genre: new wave, electronic
Song style: very Japanese electro-indie

If you like サカナクション, you'll like this new song of theirs that came out on August 4 - it's very stereotypical of their style (almost to the point of being a little too much like them). I'm still a big fan of this band though cause they temporarily fill the hole for me where フジファブリック was (the singer died half a year ago) :-(. Speaking of which, it looks like フジファブリック has magically released a new album, which I'll be checking out shortly.

Back in action!

White White Sisters - Imperfect Conflict

Genre: electronica, alternative
Song style: catchy, satisfying for both electronica and rock lovers

I'm back in the land of awesome music, shopping, fashion, food, everything - Japan! I've been here for a couple of weeks - starting up my work at Tokyo University, vacationing in Karuizawa, and now I'm back in a hotel in Tokyo for a little bit before I travel off to Osaka, Seoul, and Shanghai. Yesterday my sister and I dropped by a Tower Records and I was so happy to see many of my favorite bands have new songs out, while there are a ton of new bands to discover.

Here's one band that I listened to briefly on a CD demo. I don't know anything about them, but plan on doing some more research. This song is off of their first mini album - "[euphoriaofeuphoria]", which came out on July 7th. My updates will be slow until I stop traveling in September, but keep an eye on the new music I find during my travels!

Long time no see! And I'm off--

MiChi & The Telephones - Wonder Woman

Genre: new wave, pop-rock, electronic
Song style: catchy, dancey

Looking at this song, I actually wouldn't mind MiChi replacing The Telephones' vocalist! Seems like she's an indie songstress with a half-British, half-Japanese background. These guys made it briefly on the Oricon charts - congrats to them!

So as you can see, I've been MIA for quite some time. Being back at home got me into a routine that kept me away from Japanese indies - and I also wasn't running across any great gems. While I still have a long list waiting, I still want music to be excited about posting every once in a while! Things will continue to be irregular for a while. I leave for Japan in little over a day (almost exactly 36 hours!) I'm very excited :-) But I'll be moving around a lot for a while, so won't have internet access. But I'll definitely be discovering a lot of great music! So when I reconnect to the internet world, I will keep you posted.

Crazy crazy band

モーモールルギャバン - 裸族

Genre: experimental new-wave, electronic
Song style: crazy and erratic, sorta like Of Montreal

Here is a pretty new band, fresh off the press, with their first major album out today - "クロなら結構です". They have a very fun, crazy sound, though this song is by far one of their crazier ones. For a more normal electronicky one, check out ユキちゃんの遺伝子. As I'm writing this I just realized - here is yet another Kyoto band! Kyoto has really been active these days.

In other news, Asian Kung Fu Generation's new album "マジックディスク" is out today as well, with songs like 迷子犬と雨のビート. Not quite my cup of tea, but a respectable band, so check them out too!

Bring out the electronics

いしわたり淳治 & 砂原良徳 + やくしまるえつこ - 神様のいうとおり

Genre: electronica
Song style: like a female Depeche Mode

Random coincidence of a song! It's been sitting on my list of songs to update probably because it made the Oricon rankings recently so I decided to look into it. It's very chill but I like the electronic vibe a lot. I'm a big Depeche Mode fan, and it really has a similar vibe. The producer for this song is one of my true loves - Ishiwatari Jyunji is the producer of a number of other amazing bands on here, including 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Chatmonchy, and A Flood of Circle. Yoshinori Sunahara is a talented electronic keyboardist, and singer Yakushimaru Etsuko is the vocalist of band Soutaiseiriron (相対性理論). I'll be checking out the three of these rigorously in the next days. Anyways, this song is apparently the theme song of the anime "四畳半神話大系" ("The Tatami Galaxy") about a college student of Kyoto University. Fits perfectly with the last post and my reminiscing of Kansai as I prepare for Kanto. Expect a continuing Kyoto theme (well for at least one more post)!

I think I found it

Apogee - 夜間飛行

Genre: electronic, new wave
Song style: melancholic and wispy

I think I found a new band to try out as a new favorite! This band has such cheery electronic tunes but behind lurks creepiness and surrealism. All their videos are as skilled as this one at playing off the uncanny. And their melodies are really passionate and can grab you - though a litttttle bit on the predictable side. I'll try out their album today at the gym and see if they are able to grab my heart.

The avengers!

Avengers in Sci-fi - Homosapiens Experience

Genre: new-wave, electronica
Song style: straightforward sorta astro-alternative

I got my hands on two albums today - Avengers in Sci-fi's "Science Rock", which features this song, and Syrup16g's "Hell-see", which features ex-人間 (posted previously). I have to say I love Syrup16g's album!! A very nice melancholic feel that suited the mood and my searches in the attic for items for this weekend. Avengers in Sci-fi's album was good as background music for my cooking, but I found it pretty stereotypical. One of those bands that really goes by a theme (in this case, robots, outer space, technology), but no deeper introspection. But sometimes you need some of one, and sometimes you need some of the other! I'll keep looking into these guys in the future. This song sort of reminds me of Orange Range, but more "indie".

Also, on a random note, I didn't realize this blog would manage to last so long! When I started out, I had about 2 months of material, but I somehow still have 2 months of material - which means enough to last me until I leave this country. Who would have thought the industry would be so vast.

More halfie attack!

Alma - 鼓動

Genre: electronic, pop-rock
Song style: a lightly hoppy electronic pop song

I randomly found these guys on Youtube about a year ago and thought they seemed cute, fun, and light-hearted. It wasn't until much later that I realized this half-Japanese half-Spanish vocalist was the brother of famous actor Yuu Shirota (this vocalist named is Jun Shirota). I'm on a halfie roll this week, with first Olivia and now this guy. The video seems a little strange and almost like a cultural commentary. What's with Jun swinging a stick at this poor Japanese guitarist? And we always see them standing next to each other, displaying the obvious height difference between the two. Life as a halfie can be complicated. Some people look white, some people look half, some people look Asian. Instinctively, one would feel like Jun is very different from his bandmates, while Olivia's belonging varies based on her hair color. I look white so I get a lot of surprise from both Americans and Japanese people. Unfortunately I suppose it's good to be "white" in this age of still present discrimination, etc, but it's sad that I can't ever be one of my own Japanese kind. Many halfies are entering the Japanese entertainment industry now. It will be interesting to study their difference in treatment, maybe I should do some actual sociological research on it.

I wanna dance, I wanna dance in the light

Orange Range - おしゃれ番長

Genre: electronic, pop-rock
Song style: silly and fun

So, secretly the video I actually want to post is Imma be Rocking that Body by the Black Eyed Peas because I think the mash-up is so amazing and I love the dancing robots in the video. I've downloaded their cd and it is my current playlist. So to get out of that urge, I have decided to present to you guys a similarly mainstreamish (sorry for the indies fail) electronic group - Orange Range. Most Japanese people have probably heard of them, and this was their newest (2009) fairly popular single. Even though they're popular, I find them really catchy and enjoy their album musiQ in the car every so often. Sometimes it's nice when a band doesn't take itself too seriously (contrasted with the previous post). So let's enjoy one brief reprieve from the deep, contemplation of indie music and instead dance the night away!

Point

Cornelius - Drop

Genre: ambient, electronica, experimental
Song style: drops of sound building up to a waterfall

Cornelius makes amazing music for studying (yes that's a compliment hehe). His music is very atmospheric and should really be experienced as a full CD playing in the background as you focus on something, rather than as single songs or even music videos. It's something you absorb rather than concentrate on. He's highly respected in the music community (apparently ranked by HMV as Japan's #43 top musician). If you want an accurate taste of Cornelius, I recommend checking out their album "Point" with other gems like "Smoke" and "Point of Viewpoint". A calming happy close to my time here at home.

PS - I'll be at Japan Nite tomorrow night in NY. Hope to see you there! ;-)

New releases EVERYWHERE: サカナクション

Of what I know, three bands released new material today (3/17/10)! Here are three blog posts in commemoration of this mid-March material, from "worst" to "best"

サカナクション - 目が明く藍色

Note: A little bit better than the other two... Gold medal for now

Genre: alternative, electronic
Song style: Seems slow and sad but then randomly gets epic and electronic

At first I started listening to this song and I was like ugh sounds really slow... but then I got really into the song, and the video's very interesting too (it looks random but it has a story to it). This comes off of サカナクション's new CD released today "kikUUiki", which also includes catchy song アルクアラウンド. I'm excited to give this album a go. These guys are gonna be playing various rock festivals in Japan over the summer, I hope I can catch them at one!

I My Me Mine

Polysics - I My Me Mine

Genre: synth-pop, noise rock
Song style: fun craziness!

This is an incredibly popular song that picked up audiences throughout the internet a couple of years ago because of the crazy catchy tune and the little girl's amazing dancing. Have you seen this before? I had glanced upon the video once but was really captured by the song while playing one of those fun music games at a game center with my friends - a game where you have to hit glowing squares along to the song, somewhat The Matrix-style. Despite the crazy song, not having much of a crazy day, just chilling at home postponing the things I really should be working on. I've only briefly taken a look at Polysics's other work, but it looks just as fun!

The beginning of spring break!

cali≠gari - －踏－

Genre: visual kei, electronic punk
Song style: catchy, industrial

I've held out for so long, not putting any visual kei music on this blog! For those who don't know, visual kei is like Japanese glam-rock, where artists usually have crazy hair and makeup, there is an emphasis on androgyny, and there is usually a similar vocal style. Many people seem to think Japanese rock = visual kei, and in my opinion, too many foreigners worship visual kei more than the credit it deserves. With that said, there are still catchy tunes (and bands) within the visual kei sphere that can still be appreciated along with (or in spite of) the wacky visuals. It is also an important part of the Japanese rock music scene, so I can't ignore it completely. A friend sent me cali≠gari about half a year ago and I found their musical style very unique and experimental. This is their first single after a long, six-year hiatus, which came out last summer.

Remix: Boom boom fact

Fact - A Fact of Life (Boom Boom Satellites Remix)

Genre: electronic + punk
Song style: quirky, builds up slowly in waves to an eventually very heavy ending

I thought this would be a good follow-up post after introducing both Fact (the second video I posted) and then Boom Boom Satellites. I feel like it takes the good parts out of "Fact of Life" and adds a very different flavor to it. The video is also a cute homage to Fact's aesthetic - instead of being men in suits wearing Noh masks, we have modern dancers wearing these young female Noh masks which then turn to demons as the song gets heavier. As an aside, I'm really liking Boom Boom Satellite's album Exposed (2007). It seems like that was their most recent album, and "Back on My Feet" from yesterday is just a separate single that was released in 2009. This week so far, my life has been so mundane that it has become surreal to me, and these two bands have been adding a heavy, bizarre edge to things.

Back on my feet

Boom Boom Satellites - Back on My Feet

Genre: experimental rock, electronic, hard rock
Song style: epic, heavy yet orchestral elements, reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails

This video is simple but the backgrounds really blend with the song so well as it builds up its pieces. I don't remember where I discovered this band, but it reminds me strongly of the style of someone I met in the train once. It turns out coincidentally that we worked at the same place in Washington DC and went to the same school in Japan. Crazy isn't it? We still hang out every so often - sometimes in Japan, sometimes in America. This is one of those bands that tries to cross the border of America and Japan, just like that friendship. Most of their songs are in English and they act under both a Japanese label and an American one. I would have to say their style is extremely American too - which in this case isn't such a bad thing.

You pour hot water in

東京事変 (Tokyo Jihen / Tokyo Incidents) - 能動的三分間

Genre: jazzy rock
Song style: groovy, jazzy, electronic, chill

This song made it into the top 100 of 2009 and is Tokyo Jihen's newest single, after a long break from the band. This catchy tune will be appearing on their new album "スポーツ" (Sports), which comes out a week from today on February 24, 2010. The singer, Shiina Ringo, has been in the music industry for a while and just gets better and better.

I remember saying goodbye to someone important to me for the last time and then going to a party. The party was fun enough, but they happened to put on "our song" and I couldn't enjoy it 100%. Around 1AM after all the trains and buses stopped running, I skipped the after party and had a relaxing, contemplative walk home. It took me about two hours, but a friend kept me company over the phone, searching online for places I could catch dinner that would still be open. I never eat ramen... but I settled into a Chinese food place, not realizing that was all they served. This song came over the radio and it was the best ramen I have ever had in my life.

Aruku Around

サカナクション (Sakanaction)　－　アルクアラウンド

Genre: electronica, indies
Song Style: catchy chill electronic vibe with some rock-like twists

Another great song that made the top-ten Oricon last week, this is サカナクション's (Sakanaction) new single. The band is a very "staple" Japanese electronic band, slightly reminiscent of American bands like The Bravery. The video for this is cute, trying to look like one of those "everything falls into the right place" sorta amateur-ish setups. If you like this sound, I recommend you check out their 2009 album シンシロ. Although some songs get repetitive, it has gems like their first single Native Dancer and I really like their song Ame(B).

Happy Birthday to the World...

Straightener (ストレイテナー) - Man-like Creatures

Genre: straight-up indie rock
Song Style: beautiful guitars, sad but chill, an electronic touch

This song made me start this blog. I discovered it yesterday and it was so beautiful that I had to tell someone about it. The mood of the video really fits the eerie flowing feel of the song. And the lyrics are beautiful as well. This song was #8 on the Oricon charts last week, I hope it does well!

This is their newest single, probably to come out on their album "CREATURES" which will be released in March. I just downloaded their 2009 cd Nexus and I'm liking what I hear - though most of their music is very sad. I look forward to their new cd!