Rising

The Yoshida Brothers - Rising

Genre: shamisen rock
Song style: cool traditionalness turned edgy

I love this concept, seeing these guys in hakamas rocking out on the shamisen with a rock crew backing them up. These guys are pretty big names in Japan, and I'm thinking America too because of their novelty. Not much to say about them other than they released an album last year called Prism. I saw some relative of theirs perform at the Toyota showcase in Odaiba wayyy back when. Perhaps another brother dun dun dun. Today was a very traditional day for me - had some delicious yudofu, and an ikura and uni donburi, so here's some "traditional" music to celebrate it.

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!)