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!

Tranny palindrome

中村中 - 事勿れ主義

Genre: jazz rock, pop-rock
Song style: powerful jazzy rock, sorta 90s ish

It's great when artists have a palindromic name (though only for reading, not for saying). I've had such a wonderful past week and have fulfilled much of my desires. Today went to a May Day festival and yesterday did some square dancing. :-) Anyways! Guess the big secret of Nakamura Ataru (this artist). She was born male! Yes indeed, here's a powerful female tranny singer - wow. Could you have been able to tell? It's a catchy video too, let's all not get knocked down by the people around us, etc etc. I discovered this song randomly while watching TV a year ago or so. Her other songs apparently tend to be either jazzy like this, or more like enka ballads. So I'm not sure if you would enjoy her other works, but this song is at least good for a playlist or two.

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").

Jazzy Friday night

椿屋四重奏 (Tsubakiya Shijyuusou) -　恋わずらい

Genre: Jazz rock, alternative
Song style: sultry and jazzy

This video starts out so fitting for the song, with the hot singer seducing us and then it just gets weird, with lipstick smearing and pig masks. Don't quite understand it, but I find this tune extremely catchy. Though most of 椿屋四重奏's other songs aren't quite as jazzy, they have a very sophisticated, comfortable style that really supports the talented vocalist. These guys started around 2000, and their most recent song was probably their cover of Burn on the Yellow Monkeys Tribute album (which I will definitely blog about!) A good tune as I wait for a concert in my dorm to get started up, and after a long day of walking endlessly through the snow.

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.

Who needs vocals

Pia-no-jaC - 台風　(Typhoon)

Genre: piano rock
Song style: powerful, jazzy, makes you want to flamenco!

I'm not much of a music-without-vocals fan, but I just couldn't ignore Pia-no-jaC. Every couple of weeks in Kyoto, I would buy a small pastry and stop by the sad and deserted shopping mall Shinpuukan. MTV Japan would blast on the large screen and vibrant, fancy stores were open to the nonexistent customers who came by. I always came here for this one gag-gift store on the second floor, to buy up weird goods like miso-flavored toothpaste or kanji-practice toilet paper. This song from Pia-no-jaC would always be playing. I thought it was cool but slightly a one-trick pony. I came back to Japan over half a year later, and visited this store again. The same song was playing and then I knew I just had to get their cd. This Osakan band does cool renditions of popular classical songs as well, and recently released a second cd on that theme. Please check them out!