I’ve always enjoyed collaborations between Japanese and foreign artists. Today I came across “Lightning Runaway” by the pillows and Texan rocker Ben Kweller. The single was made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tower Records in Japan. The one-track single is available now, but only at Tower Records.
Welcome back to the second part of October release madness. The last column was actually the most viewed J-Rock Fridays column so far (but still no comments). I will probably continue featuring upcoming releases in future columns, but try not to be so obvious about it. While I’m here, I would like to thank indiesmusic.com for being an excellent source for upcoming release information and music videos.
This is a rather low-budget video, likely made by the band themselves, parodying the local news. It probably wouldn’t work if the song wasn’t so catchy. They remind me of a punker version of BACK-ON. The second album Necessary Evil came out this week and it’s a lot of fun.
http://www.myspace.com/themirraz
Anyone remember when this band had crazy synthesizers and punk rock choruses? Yeah, they’re way mellow now. They decided flutes and violins better fit their style. This is a rather pleasant, chill song and a humorous video. I love how the lead singer runs around town with a “FUCK YEAH” t-shirt. Their third album Days Lead comes out next week.
http://www.myspace.com/riddimsaunter
With the liberal use of the word “Oi!” and epic guitar solos, serial TV drama is bound to be the next act to climb out of the indie scene. Another good band from UK.PROJECT, who gave us BIGMAMA, the telephones, Karen, Vola & The Oriental Machine, and Ogre You Asshole.
http://www.myspace.com/serialtvdrama
I wasn’t a fan of the first single off Ooparts “Ameagari ni mita Maboroshi,” but “Your Order” fit the bill. This is another stop-motion animated PV from the band. Some pretty abstract stuff here, but a fun video.
Just as BEAT CRUSADERS fans don’t know Toru Hidaka has an acoustic side project named GALLOW, it seems fans of the pillows don’t realize Sawao Yamanaka has his own side project THE PREDATORS. The members came together in 2004 when JIRO from GLAY covered “Sad Sad Kiddie” on the pillows tribute album Synchronized Rockers. During the recording, the two met up with Shinpei Nakayama from Straightener and formed the J-Rock supergroup THE PREDATORS. They released two mini-albums, Hunting!!!! in July 2005, and Kiba wo Misero in October 2008. Kiba wo Misero will be released on iTunes on October 28.
Stylistically, THE PREDATORS doesn’t sound that much different than the pillows. They list Nirvanva as an influence and dedicate a song to The Ramones “C.R.S. (Come on Ramones Song)” on their latest mini-album.
THE PREDATORS are
Vocal,Guitar : SAWAO YAMANAKA (the pillows)
Bass : JIRO (GLAY)
Drums : SHINPEI NAKAYAMA (STRAIGHTENER)
http://www.myspace.com/thepredatorsofjapan
more videos after the jump.
Just wrapped up my second week of the new semester. Not bad so far, even though I’m taking 18 credit hours. I also just turned in my graduation dues, $125 down the drain! Sigh…I’ve been forced to take 2 night classes this semester which means 2 nights off work a week. My wallet’s just about empty. It doesn’t help that the Christian bookstore by my house is going out of business and that they have such great deals on my Tooth and Nail bands! I bought 8 CDs today alone, for about $20. Might take me a while to get to the new Japanese music now…
-parms (ex-DRUMKAN) will be recording their debut album in Louisville, KY with Kevin Ratterman this month.
-Sawao Yamanaka from the pillows is in a new band named The Predators with members from GLAY and straightener.
-MUCC will be headlining 2 shows in LA and New York.
-girugamesh’s self-titled album will be availabe at Hot Topic by the end of the month. Their discography is also on JapanFiles.
-TsuShiMaMiRe have a new song up on myspace named “Hyper Sweet Power” that has some connection with the Powerpuff Girls. They are currently on a US tour.
-buddhistson have uploaded studio updates.
New on JapanFiles:
LOVE PSYCHEDELICO- This is Love Psychedelico
Tokyo no Records pre-orders:
The Captains- I Love GS (10/22/2008)
Thee 50’s High Teens- Punch De Beat 9/9/2008
In this week’s random updates, you will find news about the pillows, new Vuzz Vegas Queen and Die!! Die!! Color!!! songs, HALCALI and Versailles interviews, and why I’m boycotting Tokyopop.
My latest attempt at a listen and review article. The plan is to post one of these at the end of every month with my opinions on this month’s releases. In addition, at the end of every post you will find my “hype” list for the following month. However, thanks to Wizard World and Wall-E last weekend this first one has come a little late! But enjoy it anyway. Comments, etc. would be appreciated. I added myspace pages where available so you can listen to the artist. I was going to post videos but youtube deletes them the day after I post them so…why bother. Any release with a (*) after the review is highly recommended.
DOPING PANDA- Beautiful Survivor
DOPING PANDA’s latest single comes 3 months after their 3rd full length album Dopamaniacs. “Beautiful Survivor” is your typical Dopan song with sweeping synth beats and a catchy chorus. The b-side “We say we love each other” has a more laid back r&b style. Over-all, this isn’t a groundbreaking single that brings DOPING PANDA into new musical territory like “Miracle” or “I’ll Be There” did but will undoubtedly please the fan’s fix.
http://www.myspace.com/dopingpanda
Genki Rockets- Star Line/Smile
And then it dawned it on me half way through “Smile,” Genki Rockets sounds a lot like Hilary Duff. The lyrics are cheesy and sound like it was written by a pre-teen. Yeah I was a little disappointed with this one. Last summer, this “computer experiment” released the really great “Heavenly Star” and “Breeze” singles which had a great techno beat and were super happy. Although “Smile” was a let down, “Star Line” was pretty great. The song has a rock beat but has a very catchy chorus. The remixes are fun but absolutely forgettable. Their first full-length is supposed to come out tomorrow so I still have hope.
http://www.myspace.com/genkirockets
NICO Touches the Walls- The Bungy
A random download worth noting. “The Bungy” is a really fun song with a lot of handclaps and country twanging. The b-side “Simon Said” is much slower with a lot more emphasis on vocals. The band hasn’t released a full length album yet but have another new single coming out in August. They’ve been put on my radar. (*)
Asian Kung-Fu Generation- Imada Minu Asu Ni
Arriving three months after their last full-length album, I didn’t see this coming. Seriously. I just found it randomly on my torrent site and assumed it was an old release with higher bit rate. Oh well. This mini-album compiles 6 b-sides from World, World, World. It sounds a lot like their old songs but none of them are very distinguishing or memorable. I can see why they were left on the cutting room floor.
ketchup mania- F.L.A.G.
I came into this album expecting ska but what I got was uber fast punk rock with a tint of metal. Songs here are simple with repetitious lyrics but that’s not a bad thing. Many songs such as “BAD! BAD! BAD!,” “Please! Marry Me,” and “Just a Mess!” essentially repeat the title of the song over and over. Now that you mention it, half the songs have an exclamation point in their title! Song’s like “Ping-Pong” venture into metal territory and sounds similar to Maximum the Hormone. It’s hard not to smile when listening to this album. From track one, Ketchup Mania has never backed down on this album. Each song is faster and catchier than the one before it. With their increased exposure in America, I think we can expect great things from them in the future. (*)
http://www.myspace.com/ketchupmaniajf
Locofrank- BRAND-NEW OLD-STYLE
As the album title implies, if you expected anything less than the sweet pop-punk they’ve always made, you’re a fool. The new album continues with their full Engrish vocals that are more incomprehensible than ever. Seriously, if an English speaking population can’t make sense of your lyrics, why bother? It just sounds a lot like whining.
http://www.myspace.com/locofrank
The Novembers- Picnic
Gotta love picnics. A smorgasbord or sandwiches, cheeses, bread, etc. Simply put, The Novembers debut album brings nothing unique to the picnic table. It’s the same J-rock song over and over. It doesn’t get interesting until the singer starts screaming half-way through the ninth track. As disappointed as I was, I gotta give props to the artist who drew the album cover for this and their debut EP. Very neat.
http://www.myspace.com/thenovembers11
Perfect Piano Lesson- Terra Incognita
I have to say, I was disappointed the first time I listened to this band. Perhaps because their song titles implied “dance band” and what I got was “indie rock.” I’m proud to say my opinion of perfect piano lesson has changed dramatically with this release. They have took on a post-rock atmosphere with this latest mini-album. Actually, they remind me of one of my greatest J-Rock finds from last year–eksperimentoj. Although piano’s songs are shorter, both bands sing in ok English and have great guitar work (and they both have an epic 7-minute track by the name “untitled”). “Death At the Library” is great and I love the gang vocals on “Electric City.” (*)
http://www.myspace.com/perfectpianolesson
the pillows- Pied Piper
Just because you’re signed to a major label doesn’t mean you have to make shitty pop music! “I am scarecrowoh,” remember that horror of a tune from their last album? Well, luckily the pillows realized it was shit and moved back to their rock n’ roll roots with PIED PIPER. This is such a dramatic improvement it has actually rejuvenated my interest in the band and they’re one of my favorites again. The album contains the singles “New Surrender,” “Ladybird Girl,” and my favorite, the heavy ska influenced “Tokyo Bambi” featuring the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. In addition we get another great instrumental named “Tokyo Zombie” and even a little cello in “Last Holiday.” My other favorite is easily the hand clap laden “Purple Apple” which has been on repeat the past few days. (*)
http://www.myspace.com/thepillows
BEAT CRUSADERS-popdod
What a surprise, he chose the new BEAT CRUSADERS album as the pick of the month? Indeed. Coming a year after their last album, EPopMaking, and after only one single (wasn’t it like 5 or 6 last time?) “Winterlong,” this came as quite a surprise. Popdod celebrates the 10th anniversary of the band as well as Toru Hidaka’s 40th birthday. The album starts off with their latest single “Time Flies, Everything Goes,” a feel good song. In fact, they all are. If you’ve ever listened to the band before, you’ll know to expect. My favorite songs are “Work It Out,” the traditional 1 experimental techno song per BECR album, and “Chinese Jet Song,” which has a great call and response chorus. “Summer End” is a bit more mainstream rock, and feels similar to past songs “Say Goodnight” or “Zenith.” The album ends with “Jive” whose style hails back to their good old indie days.
Electrico- We Satellites: Third full length album. Considering that I haven’t been able to find their first two albums legally or illegally, I doubt I will be able to review this.
ELLEGARDEN- ELLEGARDEN BEST (1999-2008 ): Weak. Very Weak. First off, it should be titled “1999-2006″ since they haven’t released anything since Eleven Fire Crackers. You will be missed.
enie meenie- Fantasy of Life: At least this band will carry ELLEGARDEN’s torch. Semi-cheesy pop-punk with neat synthesizers. They remind me of old school Motion City Soundtrack.
GALLOW- TOO VIRGIN!!: This band is in one way, shape, or form related to Toru Hidaka of BEAT CRUSADERS. Therefore it must be good.
GENKI ROCKETS- I -Heavenly Star-: This has been delayed several months now so we’ll see.
Saw Loser- Hits Hit the Fan: These guys have been blowing up around Asia the past few years. This album contains 10 classic cover songs such as “You’re Beautiful” and “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Versailles- Noble: “OMG, he’s excited about a visual-kei band?” Yeah…I was shocked too. This is their 2nd shot at a “full-length” album. They remembered “The Revenant Choir” this time.
See you next month!
Three new songs have been uploaded to the pillows myspace page, “New Animal,” “Pied Piper,” and “Tokyo Zombie.” Their new album Pied Piper comes out in Japan on June 25th.
http://www.myspace.com/thepillows
Also, take advantage of Rightstuf.com’s Geneon Sale which ends June 15th. All Geneon CDs are $5.
I wanted to hate this, put the pillows have released a third solid single since their abysmal album Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! The B-sides on the single are great, too. The gang vocals on “Finger Post of Magic” are so fun to sing along to. Unfortunately, that won’t be included on their new album Pied Piper due out June 25th.
Rightstuf has some good deals on Jmusic this week:
Fresh Cuts from Japan CD 1 $8.99
Ground Zero: Null and Void $9.99
Hyde: Faith + Bonus DVD $13.99
The first two FLCL soundtracks (the pillows) are still on sale for $5.99. Buy them before they’re out of print…
