Somewhat old news but...

JinnyOops! - (clip from) HO!コミュニケーション

Genre: punk, ska
Song style: some serious female energy!!

So I know I saw this Osakan band about a month ago, but yesterday my friend just sent me the sample CD he got from the Boston Japan Nite show. I ended up only getting through half of the 9mm Parabellum Bullet album (liking it so far) but had a good time reminiscing with the sampler. And I realized, I really like JinnyOops!'s music. They're very talented and have such charisma that defies normal ideals of Japanese cuteness. Unfortunately this is only a clip of their awesome song HO!コミュニケーション but if you want to hear a full track, here's a fan-made music video. I really see this band going places. They released their first mini-album in February and hopefully will strike it big. They're also so friendly and sweet, especially the vocalist! I hope she enjoyed her time in America.

Note: I realize this combo of youtube and blogger has been cutting off the side of a lot of clips since youtube went widescreen. I'm looking into a solution!!

Concert: Sakura matsuri part 2

情熱マリーとしゃぼん玉ハイスクール (Jonetsu Marie and Shabondama High School) - モーレツ!!調教ママ

Genre: ska, jazzy rock
Song style: a catchy song of a woman being tough

Turns out this band (what a crazy long name) will be playing at the Sakura Matsuri tomorrow in Washington DC! I like their song a lot better than Uzuhi's, gotta say. I could see them being really exciting and charismatic. I'll be there tomorrow. I hope the event is fun and not "fake Japanese".

Also anther band, Spirit + Noise will be performing tomorrow. They're a shamisen rock group (mainly instrumental). I'm not totally sure how I feel about them so I'll cover them after the show if they end up being good.

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!

Go, Action!!!

Ego-Wrappin' - Go Action

Genre: jazz/funk rock
Song style: trippy, happy, swing-dancey, funky

Okay so I know I posted the jazziness of Tokyo Jihen very recently, but I promise this band is very different! This song is sort of trippy and I'd even put it closer to the same category of Far France. I woke up today with this stuck in my head and proceeded to listen to it on repeat while working on my homework (which is still not done after 3 hours, ugh!) I also downloaded their newest cd (2009) "Ego-Wrappin and the Gossip of Jaxx" and I like what I hear. Nice chill music. Strangely enough, I guess it's become my work tune. I first discovered this song while working at a research lab over the summer. I was alone in the back with a bunch of animals, me the only human, trudging away at my big desk and computer. So I went on little youtube trails where you hop along "Related Videos" and I discovered this catchy tune. I forgot about it completely until today when I needed something to make my programming problem set a little less painful.