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!

This was the hottest spring of the year

Princess Princess - 世界でいちばん熱い夏

Genre: pop-rock
Song style: 100% 80's female electro-pop

So this music isn't exactly "rock", "indies", or exactly my style but these girls are so cute!! There's something I just admire about them - a bunch of girls in the 80s in Japan standing up to stereotypes of what a band should be and going on to make tons of number one hits. They've inspired many of the female artists of today. I just saw a movie now where their popular song Diamonds appears in karaoke and I couldn't ignore it. These girls were active from 1983 - 1996. Cheers to days where we can just enjoy being silly princesses haha. Speaking of which, I'm starting cake decoration classes next week!

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!

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!!

I'm not dead!

Just posting quickly to say I'm not dead - I've just been very busy with my graduation and moving around. But don't worry, there's still a ton of exciting music waiting to meet you soon - expect regular updates again tomorrow! :-) If you're really itching for some music, here's the Oricon charts for this week (always a fun watch):

Gothic pink

Tommy Heavenly6 - Gothic Pink

Genre: hard rock, pop-rock
Song style: gothness and cuteness combined

This song comes out of one of Tomoko Kawase's many musical projects. She began as the vocalist for the band The Beautiful Green, but also began to pursue a solo career - first as pop artist Tommy February6, but then diverging into the second, more "rock and roll" character of Tommy Heavenly6. I like the mix of her cuteness but also the slightly hard edge to the music.

On a random other note, I'm finally graduating college in the next couple of days! I should be excited and nostalgic, but instead I feel antsy and a little negative. I hope the next days and my last weeks here come to a good, fulfilling close.

The Andymori post I mentioned

Andymori - City Lights

Genre: indie
Song style: chill alternative, almost folksy

I've heard this band's name so many times but never followed up because they always seemed a bit too much on the soft side for me. But here they are - and I find this video really entrancing! It adds flavor to the song too. This seems like the perfect song for a beautiful day like today, just chilling out in the grass with the breeze softly blowing around. This band seems very fun, I'm sure they'll put on a good show.