No way news

One OK Rock - Liar

Genre: hard rock, post-hardcore
Song style: heavy but young

Okay so my friend posts this on my Facebook wall and I instantly like the vibe. Cool, heavy guitars, pretty catchy. Maybe a litttle predictable but not a style I see often in the Japanese music scene. The singer's Japanese is a bit strange but I guess intentional. Then, I Wikipedia them as I usually do. Relatively new band - 2006, this song is off their new album out 6/9 "Nicheシンドローム", cool. And then whaaaat theee. So apparently the singer is Moriuchi Takahiro, an ex-member of huge pop sensations NEWS and Kanjani8 (kicked out for underage drinking), and a recruit under Japan's hottie manufacturing company Johnny's Entertainment. Wow I didn't know things like this could happen.

Edit: I made a mistake. While he was a member of NEWS (but not Kanjani8), he was not the one kicked out, he just quit. My bad!

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!

狂ってる

A Flood of Circle - 博士の異常な愛情

Genre: hard rock, grunge, punk
Song style: catchy scratchy rock

I don't know much about this band but I've seen some of the music videos off their DVD special - (the pair of this song and the song Ghost) - and they sound pretty awesome and exciting. There's not enough heavy bands like this in Japan! Dunno what's up with the random table tennis videos though. These songs come off their album "Paradox Parade", which was released last year. I feel the craziness they talk about in the song - I've graduated but strangely been warped back to freshman year because of my summer job. Living a strange life as a semi-adult. And getting excited for Japan!!

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.

Devil Side

Vamps - Devil Side

Genre: hard rock
Song style: stereotypical late 90's-esque hard rock

I sometimes feel like Hyde is trying too hard to become an American. The lyrics, the music, and the video are all too 90s American hard rock. But then again, out of anyone in the music industry, maybe Hyde is the one who can do it. This is the new single from his project Vamps, entitled "Devil Side", which comes out in eight minutes (though I guess it's already far into tomorrow in Japan). On the same day, a 2009 tour DVD is also coming out for this group. I find the flow between American and Japanese culture very interesting. Should the two keep separate? What sort of balance is perfect? I've met Japanese people who've integrated perfectly into American society, but others who have a false image that they have. Similarly, there are so many Americans who seem creepy and awkward in Japan and others that seem to fit right in. I hope I am the latter.

Fight!

The Back Horn - 戦う君よ

Genre: hard rock, punk
Song: pretty heavy and militaristic

I can't believe I missed this! I got blindsighted by my fav 9mm's release on the 21st and managed to completely miss this new single from my second favs the Back Horn, "戦う君よ" that came out April 21st. It's not attached to any album thus far. Gotta say it sounds like their other stuff - nothing really new or unique, just "safe". But still fun to rock out to. And shoutout to all the great mothers out there who have helped their kids rock on in this world (hint: it's mother's day). Including to my own mom, who has always supported my endeavors and my love of rock music. :-) We had a wonderful day today, just the two of us, eating ice cream and walking around the mall.

Maybe I should just make post titles artist names. Damijaw.

Damijaw - 無力な自分が許せない

Genre: alternative, hard rock
Song style: really reminds me of mid-90s hard rock groups, like Stone Temple Pilots

This song is both very predictable but also has some merits to it. I find the song catchy, and an admirable first step of breaking out with a new group. This comes from Kazuyuki Matsumoto, bassist of Japanese visual-kei group "Janne Da Arc". He's here with his newly-made band of 2010 "Damijaw," with a heavier sound than his origins. I find his look very interesting (it takes guts or one majorly screwed up life to get such serious tattoos in Japanese society) and it's interesting to see a "hidden vocal talent" within the bassist of the group. I don't follow Janne Da Arc at all so don't know how much of a fan following this guy has, but it seems like the band has been out with a fairly humble start so far.

Just gotta say but oh my, widescreen youtube videos are wide, eww looks yucky. But so much work to go back and make every video not widescreen... And it gives the "whole experience," right?

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.

New release: King Brothers

King Brothers - XXXXX

Genre: hard rock, garage rock
Song style: a heavier version of 60's British rock

This band is releasing their first new album in six years "The First Rays of the New Rising Sun" today! Great for a week where we're finally seeing the first rays of spring. I don't know much about them, but I like the sound I hear from this first song. They really have a good charisma. They are very internationally-minded, touring in the US occasionally, but haven't received much recognition, especially because of their long hiatus. I look forward to checking out their new album.

Anyone go see Dazzle Vision?

Dazzle Vision - HERE

Genre: hard rock, metal-ish
Song style: sounds like Utada Hikaru went metal

So did any of you see this group play at Sakura-con a couple of days ago in Seattle? I don't know much about this band and they haven't had any new releases since 2008, but I think they're a very respectable heavy group. I think the female vocalist is very talented. The band is still pretty underground (I mean look at the quality of their music videos) but deserve more appreciation. Today I woke up and felt so peaceful and loved. (And no, no one was there or anything!!) Hope you all feel that same feeling sometime this week as the weather becomes more beautiful and the cherry blossoms reach their peak.

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?

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.

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".

We are in the wind

The Back Horn - Cobalt Blue

Genre: alternative, punk, grunge
Song Style: high energy

This band has been around for a while (since 1998) and is a pretty well-known name in terms of Japanese rock music. This is one of their big songs, back from 2004. They were my first introduction to Japanese rock with their really headbanging-inducing Requiem (check out this one too! Maybe even before Colbalt Blue). Soon I will be revisiting Japan. I just learned I got a fellowship to study at a robotics lab in Tokyo for a year! So with this post, let me also revisit my first favorite Japanese band.