Silent promise

WRECKingCReW - 無言の約束

Genre: punk
Song style: reminiscent of Bad Religion, high-paced but a sense of sadness

This song is amazing even though the band is relatively mysterious - no wikipedia page and this is their sole music video, despite being active for about 12 years. They're currently searching for a drummer and on a live tour. It looks like they're finally gaining success with a tour with The Back Horn. This song really reminds me of Bad Religion. What a grungy video though! Ahh this song fits the exact mood I'm feeling. Drained from many days of rain but my mind is still jumping.

Gamble on this rainy day

Shiina Ringo - Gamble

Genre: jazz rock
Song style: a powerful, sensual orchestral song

This is an amazing song by Shiina Ringo that comes off of the soundtrack for the movie "Sakuran" - which I highly recommend (it's essentially a Japanese Moulin Rouge, about geisha in surrealistic colors). A good pace to a stale day of what feels like almost 72 hours of rain thus far. She's also in the group Tokyo Jihen, which had a release last month (which I mentioned back in the day).
The past couple of days, Western music has found its way back onto my plate - I've been listening to Boards of Canada, Hot Chip, and Casey Desmond for various random reasons. Luckily I still have a long list of Japanese artists waiting their turn for a blog post, and I'm sure soon enough I'll return to the dark side. A couple of days ago I downloaded the Novembers album "picnic" and I have to say it unfortunately didn't impress me as much as expected (though I'm addicted to the song "ama retto").

Catchy music from dramas: The Quiz Show (original)

Pay money to my pain - Paralyzed Ocean

Genre: metal
Song style: pretty heavy with a lot of screaming, a slight punk twist

I remember a couple of years ago watching some random show I saw recommended by some random person, and then this song came on as the theme and wow! It's pretty typical metal but it was a breath of fresh air amongst all the poppily-produced music around tv shows in Japan. It accompanied a great show - The Quiz Show, about a Who Wants to be a Millionaire type show that gradually exposes its contestants' corrupt lives through its questions. I highly recommend you watch the original one (because the new one with Arashi members is overly long, boring, and has terrible acting). Pay money to my pain has a very American feel - all their lyrics are in English and they have a metal / punk mix reminiscent of American metal bands like Trivium. I recommend you check out their other songs which are slightly more melodic.

Cover: The Blue Sky

Quruli - 青い空

Genre: alternative, indie
Song style: up-beat alternative, reminiscent of Weezer

Quruli is a really classic Japanese band that has influenced many recent Japanese bands, and is in HMV's ranking of top 100 most influential Japanese musicians. I would call these guys the Japanese Weezer for both their sound and the road they paved. Quruli in general is a little slow for my tastes, but I also like their more techno-sounding song World's End Supernova (recommended if you like サカナクション) if you want another taste. Last year, a bunch of bands came out with a tribute album of covers for Quruli, and this is how I discovered them - my favorite band 9mm Parabellum did a cover of this song:

I'm blogging not packing

Jazztronik - Tiger Eyes

Genre: ambient jazzy trance, techno
Song style: chill jazzy techno with female vocals

I really should be getting ready, I have half an hour to be out of here. But I need my release - after killing a midterm and bashing through a lab report just so I can get out of here without my computer. I'm not much of an R&B person and Jazztronik (also known as Ryota Nozaki - the mastermind behind it all) sometimes has those tendencies, but I really appreciate his skill as a composer. He provided the classical piano soundtrack to the show "Love Game" with great pieces such as "Butterfly," and this is one of his techno songs that I enjoy. A good chill pace to set the weekend with

Gather roses

ScReW - Gather Roses

Genre: visual-kei, metal
Song style: catchy, swingy, and heavy

My sister discovered this band when she got into Japanese visual-kei/metal over last winter while visiting me in Japan. I have to say, I don't know ScReW's other songs at all, but this one is really catchy (I love the heavy guitars). Just now while writing this, I'm checking out their other songs on Youtube and I like the groove that they have, the guitars are really exciting. Great way to celebrate finally getting my computer working again! Going to Boston this weekend to see my sister's band play in some battle of the bands. So this goes out as an ode to sisters. Hopefully will be able to update tomorrow but not sure.

Again

YUI - again

Genre: pop-rock
Song style: a cool gal rocking it out alternative-style

YUI is an extremely popular female singer/songwriter who walks the line of rock and pop in the catchiness but heartfeltness of her songs. If you know Japanese music, you've probably heard of her. Nevertheless, I'm a big fan of her songs (especially this and Love & Truth). Not much of a contemplative spin to add here, except that she's always been hovering around in the background in my exploration of music (I've always known about her but never really explored her). Sometimes her songs can get repetitive, but I have a deep respect for her. On a completely unrelated note, my computer's charger is broken and has been smoking so I'm awkwardly fooling around in the library right now...

First some new release info

A quick blog post of news, cause I feel like posting a video of a different not-mentioned band (these two have been getting too many posts on this blog!)

Chatmonchy has released a new album "表情 [Coupling Collection]". Not really sure what's up with this because I haven't heard any singles from this, it doesn't really have coverage on the Japanese Chatmonchy Wikipedia article, and these gals are still in America! Hope it's a good CD anyways. Also congrats to them for winning Best Rock video at the SSTV Video Music Awards for "Last Love Letter"

Acid Black Cherry also now has a new DVD out today of their 2009 Q.E.D. tour (based on their new album of the same title from last year).

Catchy music from dramas: Samurai High School

Monobright - 孤独の太陽

Genre: nerd rock, alternative
Song style: a slow-paced but guitar-filled vocal-melody driven song

The reason why I like this song is that the vocal melody is such a Japanese melody (you'd never find this in an American song). I tend to really like these melodies that fluctuate through many notes within minor / Japanese scales. But what really gets to me is that the singer looks like he is in such pain, making the visuo-audal combination of the song slightly tedious. I promise you, their other songs are more fun and dance-y. This song goes along with a drama I really enjoyed over Thanksgiving break (I know, so long ago! But a good counterpoint to the end of spring break) called "Samurai High School". It's a light-hearted high school drama about a talentless student with a split personality as a samurai from many centuries ago. The show brought a lot of laughs. Monobright gained a lot of fame creating the theme song for this show (it got them in the Oricon charts), and has a new single anticipated for mid-April so we'll see if they can keep up their popularity!

Concert: More Chatmonchy

As a quick note, Chatmonchy has decided to perform an additional date in NYC, tonight at Cake Shop. It's $7, 21+, and they're performing first. Doors open at 8 (so in 10 minutes). Go support them!!

By the way, just to ramble - I had an amazing night at Japan Nite at the Bowery Ballroom yesterday! All the bands were amazing in some way (which surprised me, because I wasn't really expecting much). After the show, my friend and I got to talk with most of the bands and take photos - they were all so sweet and friendly! (New love for JinnyOops! and the Red Bacteria Vacuum - also got photos with Chatmonchy!). I bought Omodaka's cd so expect some reporting on that, along with info on the other bands I haven't mentioned yet. We made so many friends that night, it was amazing. :-) We were asked to be interviewed by a Japanese tv station, but my friend and I were with the bands so long that the TV crew had already left. Came back to school at 7am today. What a dream.

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! ;-)

Red-haired Kelly

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant -　赤毛のケリー

Genre: garage rock, punk rock
Song style: intense, nostalgic, sophisticated garage rock

I had trouble with deciding whether to call these guys oldies since most of their activity was in the 90s, but this song came out 2001 so I guess they're safe. I'm a huge fan of this song, has just such a cool vibe to it. The rest of TMGE's music is a little too thrash/guitary for me (constant shouting) but these guys are considered one of Japan's big punk rock gods. Too bad they broke up in 2003. It's nearing the end of spring break, but sounds like it'll go out with a splash. This red-haired Wilma is going off to have coffee with someone who suddenly wants to meet, it may be the last time. Then going to a man-filled party of people I don't know hehe~.

How to find Japanese music

Several people have been asking me about how I get my music. So here are some late-night tips on how to get your hands on these awesome tunes!

• Youtube (or Google Video Search for a wider spread) - many Japanese bands have common English words as names and so are hard to find (like "Straightener" or "Half-Life"). Add "PV" to your search and you will find their music videos (PV is an almost exclusively Japanese term, meaning "promotional video").


• Discovering Indies - Again on youtube, I recommend a related videos chain - where you just keep clicking on music videos of related artists. You'll find some gems then! I find the sources of most of my videos tend to be Victor Music, UK Project official, and Avex Network.


• Download sites - There are several live journal communities, such as Just Download, or torrent sites like JPopsuki, but I don't use those much (my school network doesn't support torrents). What I do is just Google the band (and maybe album name) + megaupload, rapidshare, or mediafire. Even with the rarest and newest material, works like a charm. Though of course only download what you already have, delete it in 24 hours, etc yadda yadda. Luckily a lot of friends randomly send me music too to keep up my library.


• Japanese music charts - In Japan, the music chart is called Oricon, and every week they release a top-30 list that serves as a good starting point for studying Japanese music. Currently I can't find a good source, but the best shows to watch are "Music Station" and "CDTV" (Countdown TV).

Hope this helps you guys on your quests to find some awesome music! ;-)

Meteors and Ballads

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra -　流星とバラード

Genre: ska
Song style: nostalgic, simple but nice melody.

This is Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra's new single (3/10/10) "流星とバラード", celebrating their 20th anniversary - can you believe it? I'm not much of a ska person, but I saw them play this song on Japanese TV show Music Station (we get our broadcasts a couple of weeks late) and found that I really liked it. Apparently these guys haven't all played together for eight years. I think they pull it together nicely.

PS - As a side note, I got a hold of サカナクション's "kikUUiki" yesterday after my blog posts and I find the album really revolutionary and innovative. サカナクション　has really grown up!

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!

New releases EVERYWHERE: Cali≠gari

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"

cali≠gari - マネキン

Note: Umm... not my style. Silver medal.

Genre: visual kei, hard rock
Song style: a straight-up punk/metal song, with no semblances of melody.

Not a fan of this song, but it's good to see cali≠gari releasing new stuff since their hiatus a while back. This is off of their fresh album of today, "≠". There are three versions: "卑劣盤" (3500円 with tax), which seems to include a DVD collection of music videos and porno videos they made, "姑息盤" (3500円 with tax), which includes a DVD with a documentary and concert features, and "良心盤" (2000円), which is just the album. Umm... collect them all?

New releases EVERYWHERE: Monkey Majik

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".

Monkey Majik - Sakura

Note: not a particularly recommended song. BORING! Bronze medal.

Genre: pop-rock
Song style: soft, slow, and boring.

I have to say I'm not much of a fan of most of Monkey Majik, and I don't know if they would be considered indie cause they're pretty poppy and mainstream. But since I've featured them on this blog before, I figure it's only fair to mention their new single Sakura. I think the video is at least funny / interesting!

Missed a new release!

Straightener - Toneless Twilight

Genre: alternative, indie
Song style: slow, soft, contemplative melodic vocals

I can't believe I missed this - Straightener's new album "Creatures" came out about two weeks ago, on March 3. Here's a song off of it, which is nice but somewhat slow. My first post ever on this blog is still their best song thus far and definitely the best of the album. I find some Straightener songs really hit the spot but often the rest of the album lays flat. I like this album most compared to their others so far, but I'll still probably only pick out specific songs for my mp3 player rotation.
Since starting this blog, there's such a torrent of new music for me to listen to! It's exciting but also hard because I still try to keep up a variety without putting complete junk on here, but I'm also afraid of one day when I run out of artists to talk about. I have so many albums I'm trying to get into right now but also so many "waiting in line". Hopefully I'll reach a good balance, 頑張ります！

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!

I'm not Incanto Shine

Acid Black Cherry - Black Cherry

Genre: pop-rock, light visual-kei
Song style: jazzy turned to rocky, catchy big band

Note: Because the video has a long (and I feel boring) silent intro, I have made the video start from the song. Feel free to rewind and start from the beginning!

Though Yasu's (singer of Janne Da Arc) project "Acid Black Cherry" has been hitting up the mainstream for a while, I find their music very catchy and listenable, with pop-like hooks but catchy heavy riffs. The lyrics for this song are also pretty exciting and scandalous (along with the video)! I feel like this song can really show the power of J-rock - I've shown this video to my American friends, and by the end of it, they ask me to show them more. The past couple of days I've been constantly eating delicious Japanese food out with my family (ahh nice to be home) so it's fitting to put a very "stereotypical" (but fun!) J-rock band in here. These guys have been my wake-up alarm for half a year now.

A followup on the previous post

High and Mighty Color - good bye

Genre: metal
Song style: heavy, with generic male shouting interspersed with female singing.

I have to say, I don't like this song that much. High and Mighty Color is an interesting band that sometimes has interesting ideas, but also often comes out as generic pop-ish metal. The female vocalist changed within the past two years, and this is the first (and I believe only) single that has come out with their new female vocalist. While I feel like I like their older stuff more, I like this gal's image (more streamlined, less cutesy). Anyways, this is the current sound of High and Mighty Color, to follow up on my previous post about their show in Seattle!

Concert: Sakura-con 2010

From April 2-4, Sakura-con will be taking place in Seattle, WA. Though I'm not really one for anime conventions, this year's will have two great hard rock bands playing - High and Mighty Color, and Dazzle Vision (expect to see these gal groups featured on this blog soon). They will be performing on Sunday April 3 at the main stage. There's also apparently going to be some guy DJ Sharpnel who does some "hardcore DJing" (don't know him...).

Go visit the Sakura-con website to find out more information. I won't be there (too far and nerdy) but hope a lot of people show up for these bands!

8 months away but

The Novembers - she lab luck

Genre: alternative
Song style: Thursday-esque, a mix of vocals and then passionate shouting

I see the potential for these guys to become my new favorite band. So far I only know their singles from a recent youtube search, and I've been holding off to get their cds until my mind has been flushed of all distracting bands. This band released their second CD, "Misstopia", two days ago, which is headed by a rather soft single of the same name. So far I have only heard bits of material off their 2008 debut album, so let's hope this new one keeps up the good, dark vibe. It fits the mood of the constantly drizzly weather with the sudden drop in temperature. Now to nap away...

Wacky day, not so wacky song

Chatmonchy - Last Love Letter

Genre: alternative, maybe shoegazing
Song style: high-pitched female vocals, good bass

I have to say from what I've heard so far, I find Chatmonchy a little bland. But I'm a big fan of the bass in this song, and it sort of grows on you (skip ahead a bit in the video by the way, it has a long intro). Today was strange, got a free salon haircut, had a free Italian dinner, then went to a Russian fashion show but got turned away because of my underage sister. Then got praised / yelled at by random homeless people. So many random strangers talked to us today, it was sort of annoying. And then as we were stuck in between stations in the train, I listened to some Rin Toshite Shigure as I watched an old man go senile through Sudoku, putting the same numbers next to each other and in the same squares. This video also explores senility versus youth (the only connection I can get to my day hehe). They will be performing at Japan Nite at San Fran, LA, and NY, as the most well-known band on the tour, so maybe both you and I should do more research on these gals.

The flowers of dreams

The Back Horn - 夢の花

Genre: hard rock, punk
Song style: unstereotypical of them, melodic and soft

Here's a second posting of The Back Horn in honor of the DVD they released exactly a month ago (2/10/10) entitled "Emotion Picture Vol 2". A couple of weeks after its release, it managed to reach number 10 in the Oricon music DVD charts, congrats! That's the Back Horn's highest DVD ranking yet. I decided to present a different side to them - a more contemplative, emotional side (contrasted with the Cobalt Blue post). I remember when I went to Japan alone for the first time (back in 2007) and had little access to music - no computer, just a junky PocketPC. My friend took the effort to ship a SD card over from America filled with a collection of all of the Back Horn's music. So this band was my soundtrack for a couple of months. The purple flowers in my garden bloomed for the first time today, so a fitting song to post.

The pale moon is laughing

fra-foa - 青白い月

Genre: hard rock
Song style: a pretty depressing heavy song, lots of raw emotion, female vocals

This song was one of my first exposures to Japanese music - I heard it on a random internet radio station back in the early 2000s and I thought it was amazing. In the following ten years, I never listened to any of their other songs or researched anything about the band but I still love the song. Today's an easy, lazy day but I thought I would mix up the flow of the blog with this track. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 2005 with the lead singer (Chisako Mikami) getting married and having a child. This song is about her younger brother who drowned to death... so sad! I hope your families all stay safe and sound during this spring break.

Yay endless sleeping

your gold, my pink - Are you sensitive?

Genre: new wave, indie
Song style: somewhat high-pitched and really happy!

This video and band looks so cute and happy, just makes you want to join the party! These guys are somewhat new - starting out in 2007 but getting their first real break into the music industry last year as a part of the big Summer Sonic 2009 tour, and releasing their first real album. I haven't heard any of their other songs yet, so hard to say much else but they seem like a fun "safe" band. Now back at home and relaxing (I slept something like 13 hours last night!) Hope you're all enjoying the beginning of spring (finally some 50 degree weather)!

Love or Lies

Capsule - Love or Lies

Genre: trance, techno
Song Style: dancey trance

This song is in commemoration of the "Liar Game" movie coming out in theaters today in Japan. I really regret not being in Japan right now to be able to see it. I'm not usually much one for trance and I wasn't sure if I liked Capsule as much as Yasutaka Nakata's other projects, but I really like this song. It appears in the last episode of the "Liar Game 2" tv show (whose soundtrack came out March 3rd). As I listen to this song (and the most recent Rin Toshite Shigure album), I clean this room and pack my bags, my windows thrust open to the first 50 degree weather for the year. For the whole day I've been indecisive about whether to go to New York early or stay here. Either way, today is a sort of lonely day. I usually leave early on breaks, so it is strange seeing this town so deserted. Hopefully tomorrow's fun will make up for today's emptiness.

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.

I need a change

Monkey Majik (with the Yoshida Brothers) - Change

Genre: pop-rock, alternative
Song style: rock-and-roll shamisen, elements of soft alternative, melodic singing, and mild white-dude rap

I had a warped perception of this song for the first couple of months I knew it. This was thanks to my Latvian friend who would always put this awesome song into the karaoke register, and we'd all sing along not at all knowing how it went. Despite this, the catchy melody made it through our slightly off-key voices and I liked the song so much I went to download the album. The real thing is better! Though I have to say Monkey Majik is a bit too soft for me, this song is amazing (especially with the complex shamisen back-up provided by the awesome Yoshida Brothers). This band is a "hybrid band," consisting of two Canadian brothers (who can handle Japanese) and two Japanese members. The band earns special props from me for their name "Monkey Majik" - in reference to the song of 1970s Japanese rock god Godiego (expect to see them on here!)

Telecastic Fake Show

凛として時雨　(Ling Tosite Sigure / Rin Toshite Shigure) - Telecastic Fake Show

Genre: Post-hardcore
Song style: Heavy guitars with wispy high-pitched female and male vocals.

This is one of those really impression-making songs that never gets old to me (it's been maybe 1 year now?) but I haven't managed to get fully into the band, even after listening to two of their albums ("#4" and "Inspiration is Dead"). If you like this song you may just like them though - it's a very similar sound. I have yet to hear their new album which holds this single (entitled "Just a Moment", came out 5/13/2009) and I look forward to checking it out. Their style is very unique and their sound somehow reminds me of Thursday mixed with The White Stripes. They do a good job of combining the female and male vocalists, and their similar-but-not-quite-the-same voices create an androgynous and surrealistic sound. Many people who like the heavier side of "Japanese Indies" (specifically, 9mm Parabellum Bullet) tend to also like this band.

EDIT (3/4/10): Their newest album "Just a Moment" is a MASTERPIECE. My opinion on this band has skyrocketed. Was a great song to reminisce while at the gym.

Oldies: The Japanese Nirvana

The Yellow Monkey - 球根

Genre: hard rock
Song style: pretty depressing, builds up to a strong and heavy climax

Okay, so I know the video is really 90s and has iguanas for no reason, but please listen through the whole song. This band really lasts through the ages - even though it was the mainstay for highschoolers about two decades ago (the band operated from 1989 - 2001), the songs are still catchy and relevant to listeners today. This band has had an incredible impact on the Japanese music industry and is in some ways reminiscent of America's Nirvana (both in sound and impact). This would have to be one of my favorite Japanese bands. My sister discovered them first, randomly buying a discounted CD in a Book-Off in Tokyo. Many years later, I was wandering through a Kyoto thrift shop and heard a song that I liked so much that I jotted down the lyrics on my cellphone to look up later. It turned out to be The Yellow Monkey's old single "Morality Slave", a slight twist off the Phantom of the Opera theme. My sister and I compared notes, and realized we had this random band overlapping on our playlists. Ever since, The Yellow Monkey has become a mainstay in our karaoke repertoire (hehe).

They recently had a tribute album released on December 8 2009, with covers from amazing bands including many covered here so far (9mm Parabellum Bullet, The Back Horn, Fujifabric, 椿屋四重奏) so if you get a chance please check it out. It's called "This is For You".

8-bit partying

Omodaka - Kokiriko Bushi

Genre: 8-bit techno
Song style: dancey video game music mixed with old Japanese folk singing

So this is one of the artists playing Japan Nite that's coming up in a couple of weeks. It's called Omodaka, a project by video game music composer Soichi Terada. I've gotta say I'm a fan of some of these songs (namely this one, and kyoteizinc) and they make very interesting "video art". It's very reminiscent of quirky Wii/DS microgames. I also like the mix of the traditional style of Japanese singing mixed with the 90s video game sound. But song after song, it gets a little old. This group really has potential and I'll be interested to see how they deliver at Japan Nite (and to see if this stuff is truly danceable!)