I miss my blog

Motormustang - Delusion

Genre: punk, alternative
Song style: makes you want to headbang, mosh around, and dance

I have run out of music. My music library had the longest gap in song additions in five years, and the last new one was a cheesy Korean pop group. During my life in Japan, I have been to concerts here and there but I somehow misguidedly thought that I had tapped out all the good Japanese indie. Well, after a three month break, I return to youtube and realize I don't recognize the bands there anymore, and some of them sound great! When I look at concert schedules, I find myself only knowing single bands here and there. I want my Japanese indie rock life back!!

While I will likely not have the daily updates of the past or pretend to be up-to-date with the industry, I will still post some of the cool music I've found while I've been here. Especially going to concerts, I realize there's a lot of unexposed talent here, much better than the "big guys". In the past three months, I've been going to some shows, meeting some awesome people in the music industry, and sincerely enjoying my life.

Here is the catchy music video from a punk group who I saw in concert two days ago. Very random, but I befriended a girl on the street when I got lost once, and she works with the drummer of this band, so we went to support their show on Saturday. The openers were also amazing, and expect some of them to appear here. The rest of the show was very energetic and exciting - they really had great charisma. The singer looked creepily similar to the My Chemical Romance guy. Overall, great show!

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!

It's been forever yet again!

Fated Lyeno - Count

Genre: melodic punk
Song style: melancholic but strong guitars

Hey, it's been a while! Here's a random song I found on a Youtube hunt. I haven't even seen the video because I'm at a lab now and wouldn't want people to see a music video running around on my screen - but the song is beautiful. So I've traveled around the world (okay, around East Asia) and back. I had an amazing and strange time, and have gotten much more excited about other cultures, while learning a lot more about how people (including myself) work. Now I've settled into Tokyo and the laboratory that I'm working at. Gonna head home after updating this post.

Going to attend a concert in Shibuya with the "White White Sisters" I posted two posts ago, very excited! I e-mailed them directly for tickets and they e-mailed me back saying they'll be waiting for me ;-). Hope you've all been well and expect finally more constant posts as I waste away at the lab...

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!

I wish to you

Miyavi - 君に願いを

Genre: guitar rock, alternative
Song style: epic and orchestral

I went and saw Miyavi's show yesterday at the 9:30 club with a couple of friends. It was pretty awesome. I didn't do enough of my research ahead of time, but Miyavi was so charismatic, elegant, and his music was much heavier than I expected. The fans were also not as otaku, though a couple of girls walked up to my friends and tried to pick them up in broken Japanese. It was amazing that he pulled off a whole show with only two people behind him, and no opening act. Seems like he's ready to release something new after a couple years of taking time off to begin his life as a father, and he played a never-before-played-song at the show yesterday. Here's one of his oldies, a very epic and nice song that contrasts nicely with the heavier one I posted a while back. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to DSK!

Rumania Montevideo - Still for your Love & 恋するベティー

Genre: alternative
Song style: girl alternative

This post is in honor of my friend, who's celebrating a birthday today! While it's already over by now in Japan, there's still an hour to go here in America. We were talking about songs from our childhoods that inspired our current music tastes, and this song came up. This is a very unique band that sadly had a short life - they were only active for three years (1999 - 2002). It's also pretty amazing to see a female drummer also be the main vocalist! While my friend has moved onto much heavier music (which I promise will be up here soon!), it's nice to reminisce on one's childhood every once in a while. How much has changed since this band was popular - it's been 11 years now. And imagine 11 years from now too, where will we all be...

Happy birthday, my dear friend! :-)

Stone Cold Reason

Nothing's Carved in Stone - Cold Reason

Genre: hard rock, alternative
Song style: a bit like a heavier Incubus

I really like this first impression of Nothing's Carved in Stone's new album (out yesterday, 6/9) "Sands of Time". At some points, the song can sound a little too much like early-2000s American alternative rock (Hoobastank, Incubus, Nickelback, etc). Also admittedly, Japanese music turns me off a bit when it has so much English. It's not so bad in this song, but with other bands, often the pronunciation makes lyrics incomprehensible and sound muttled, while you also wonder if the singer knows what they're saying. I'd like bands to make their own unique sound (or at least culturally relevant sound) rather than form themselves off of the American entertainment industry. I'm not saying this in reference to Nothing's Carved in Stone - just as an overall rant. I feel like this band does do a fairly good job of bilingualism and I'm very excited to hear how this new album sounds!

Finally back

椿屋四重奏 - いばらのみち

Genre: jazz rock, alternative
Song style: powerful and catchy - jumps right into it

I had been worried about these guys! They had been laying low since their last album release about a year ago and I was getting worried if they were continuing their activities. But lo and behold, here is their new single, "いばらのみち", apparently out on May 26th, which manages to retain their catchy and unique sound. I have yet to find another band like this - I really value them for sticking with their cool, jazzy vibe. In other news, not only are they back, but I'm also back - at home, and now forever done with my college years and the four years I spent in that town up north. Summer vacation, here I come!

Lunkhead

Lunkhead - World is Mine

Genre: alternative, indies
Song style: heavy, fast-paced, but melancholic

Yet another Youtube discovery I really like! I've never heard of these guys... but they've released a lot of full albums under the mainstream label so maybe I've just overlooked them? Also yet again another band where I'm wary of their other songs, but I like this particular one. It's very easy to please me musically, just a very specific song style like this one will get me.

I'm starting to wonder what this blog is for. Is it for me, is it for other people, and to what point do I keep sustaining it or call it the end? I still have several months of music on my list and it's constantly growing. But as I discover music through this journey, I find I only like a small handful of what I find. For example, I've recently checked out the albums from A Flood of Circle, FLiP, Avengers in Sci-Fi, Syrup16g, Salyu, Scoobie Do, and Baseball Bear. While I like the songs I posted for each of these groups, there were only a couple of songs I really liked any further - specifically, songs from FLiP, Salyu, and maybe some Syrup16g. I'm ready to find a band to really wow me and get me obsessed. 凛として時雨 had my heart for a little bit but I want to find something fresh. Or would I have already found it if it existed?

We are here

Brahman & Ego-Wrappin' - We are Here

Genre: alternative
Song style: Brahman's heaviness + Ego Wrappin's jazziness

Wow it's great to see a collaboration like this, and it made it onto the top 30 Oricon charts! This totally came out of nowhere as there is very little information about Ego Wrappin's current events on their wikipedia article. The music video concept works really well for the mix of the two sounds too. This song is exactly how my life feels like right now - weekends working crazy ~16 hour days as a bartender, and then weekdays freely enjoying life and doing research here and there. This is a part of a newly released single, "Sure Shot", which came out the 19th. I look forward to seeing if the other songs are collaborations as well!

The lost puppy and the beat of the rain

Asian Kung-Fu Generation - 迷子犬と雨のビート

Genre: alternative
Song style: slow and whimsical.

This new single, "迷子犬と雨のビート" from Asian Kung-Fu Generation came out on May 26th and presents a different sound from the one I was used to with AKFG! They've toned down a little, and possibly grown up. While I can't stay I'm a big fan of this style, it'll be interesting to see what their new album is like, which is coming out in June. This band played a huge role in globalizing Japanese rock music, with its pretty large American and European fan base. Expect a revisit to their past in the next several weeks to juxtapose their change of style!

Flip

FLiP - ライラ

Genre: hard rock, alternative
Song style: a new kind of girls' rock

I randomly saw these gals during some Youtube browsing, and wow I'm impressed! Despite the plethora of female artists on this blog, I have a strong bias for male vocalists, especially in the genre of heavier rock music. But these girls from Okinawa do an amazing job of pulling it off, and give an interesting masculine yet feminine melodic vibe. I look forward to looking into more of their music. They released an album back in February that I'll try and get a hold of.
On random other notes, travel has come back into my life! This is my last day back at home before returning to school for graduation and some part-time work. And two days ago I bought tickets for a trip to Shanghai (with the World Expo) and Korea! I'm excited but a little nervous about what this year will have in store for me.

Nothing's Carved in Stone

Nothing's Carved in Stone - Isolation

Genre: punk, alternative
Song style: powerful, post-hardcorish punk

I love the complex guitars layered onto the simple ones at the beginning, and the interlude near the end is great. The chorus is a little bland for me, but I think any punk lover should enjoy a band like this. Nothing's Carved in Stone was formed in 2009 as a project coming out from Ellegarden's guitarist. Overall, a catchy, solid track, though I don't know much about the band.

Southern Comfort

Syrup16g - ex.人間

Genre: indie, alternative
Song style: vocal-based, low instrumentals, Radiohead-like

This song perfectly fits my mood, I love the guitars here and how they build up. I don't know the band well but they have been suggested to me based on my other favorites. Too bad they split up in 2008. This music video is cute too. But I'm feeling the mood for the song, after a rather bizarre and incomprehensible weekend.

In a couple of hours, I'm gonna go see an American show - The Fall of Troy (their last tour) and Envy on the Coast. I used to like Fall of Troy's old stuff but the new stuff is gross. But luckily, upon hearing the new Envy on the Coast album, I've fallen in love and it's been hard to concentrate on Japanese music: my favorite song of the moment (skip the movie dialogue).

New releases EVERYWHERE again

Monobright - 英雄ノヴァ

Genre: new wave, alternative, nerd rock
Song style: no-frills, simple melody alternative rock that drills through

I'm not very into this new single by Monobright that comes out today, "英雄ノヴァ". The song is very mediocre, normal alternative and Monobright has done much catchier, unique stuff. But the video itself is really interesting! Where did they find all this bizarre footage, and how did they get it all to be timed in sync with the song?

斉藤和義 (Kazuyoshi Saitou) is also releasing his new single "ずっと好きだった" today but I find it so average and poppy (and the clip online is only a short segment), that it's not even worth embedding in this blog. But there is one new release I'm really excited about, which I will blog about later in the evening (hopefully before midnight)!

Does it matter?

Does - バクチダンサー

Genre: indie, alternative rock
Song style: catchy, nostalgic, a little new-wavey

It's almost like the apocalypse - millions of bands are coming out with new releases tomorrow! So I thought I'd get a head start. This band made it onto the Oricon charts, and the single album for this song "バクチダンサー" will be released tomorrow. From what I can tell, this band is straightforward normal alternative most of the time, but this song caught my eye. The video is so reminiscent of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army! (Plagiarism?) And I really like this singer's manly voice. Mine may become manly too, I feel an itching in the throat that I haven't felt in ages... (meaning a cold).

Love Addict

VAMPS - Love Addict

Genre: hard rock, alternative
Song style: 90's-esque hard rock

This band is a fail-safe if you're in the mood for very straightforward alternative rock (like a heavier Bon Jovi even). It's headed by Hyde of L'arc-en-ciel and also features Oblivion Dust guitarist Kaz. Because of these two dudes' fame, the band has gotten plenty of press, though I'm unsure if the music itself is succeeding. They also completed a US tour at the beginning of the year. It was fun going to see them play in Baltimore - but also horrifying to be trapped in the Baltimore Greyhound bus station around midnight, our ears ringing and creepy homeless men talking to us innocent youngins dressed in our rockin'-out gear. This band released a DVD celebrating their US tour on March 17, and have a lot of new releases coming up for the beginning of the summer. Though they're not one of my favorite bands (not quite unique enough for me), I still have a healthy respect for them.

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:

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!

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!