I really love the updated version of "Dress" that Abingdon Boys School released a while back. Sure, the original Buck-Tick song is great, but it's a bit on the soft side and, let's face it, it's starting to show its age. Of course BT's Atsushi Sakurai is a more, let's just say "interesting" singer, but the rockin' ABS version really takes the song to a new, much more epic level.
Imagine my happiness to learn that Sakurai had done the song live during a recent ABS live gig and that it was going to be released on DVD!
It didn't take long for the video to surface. Here it is in all its boy-on-boy action. Enjoy it while you can! I know my inner fan-girl certainly did...
Here's the new video from Molice! These guys have released a lot of videos for their debut album, but this one looks like one of the best. We don't get much other than some nice shots of the band in action, but hey, that's good enough! Obviously it's enough for the guy playing with the light switch...
More after the jump!
Abingdon Boys School "Kimi no Uta
I haven't been very enthusiastic about any of the new singles from Abingdon Boys School. It's not the the songs are good, but they seem more fit for anime than a proper rock album, and "Kimi no Uta" is, obviously, no exception. Nevertheless, I still look forward to hearing more.
3nd "SSK"
I think this is the first official video from the instrumental band 3nd. While there really isn't much going on here, I think the mood of the video really fits well with the music. It's a bit on the weird side without actually doing much. I really look forward to hearing more from these guys.
Pinky and Killers "Koi no Kisetsu"
Here's a classic for you from Pinky and Killers. It's easy to lose a lot of time watching these old clips. Watch for the mysterious floating drummer at the end!
Rather Good "Singing Kitties"
This week's off-topic video comes from the always hilarious guys at Rather Good. This singing kitties Auto-Tune track is pure genius. I LOVE the Maru snare-rush!
Well, looks like this is quickly turning into little more than a video blog! I assure you, I'm doing all I can to get be to some sort of normal schedule. But until then, hey! More videos!
[UPDATE: Shoot, looks like it was already taken down. Well, just imagine one shot on a white screen with three girls mouthing the lyrics and not moving much.]
Here's one of the new videos from Perfume from their new album/DVD Triangle. I did a quick review of it for Japanator, and I didn't exactly give it a thumbs up. I want to make it clear that I don't hate the album or them. I simply don't think it's a very good album and that the group, on the whole, is sort of played-out. If you like them, great! If not, well that's good too.
But seriously, look at that video. I mentioned it on Twitter yesterday:
How does the biggest pop group in Japan make a video? They rent an HD camera, some lights and a fan for 5 minutes: http://is.gd/1vyY5
Benu, one of my Twitter friends, took me to task for hating on them, and I basically said the above. Also this:
@Benu Oh, and I'll admit that it does look like they put at least twice as much thought and time into the blocking. :D :D <3 <3
All I'm saying is that a little more effort would be nice. That's all!
I must admit, I lost my shit when I first saw this new video from Vola and the Oriental Machine. There are far too many incredible things going on in it...I can't even begin to go into it all. Suffice it to say that I want to immediately fly to Japan after watching it. I'm sure it's like this all the time, right? I cannot get my hands on their new album soon enough!
Here's an example of how to make a simple and cheap video, but also a very interesting one to watch! I think it also helps that the music is crazy good. The best bit? The parts where the drummer is moving his hands fast enough to see the pictures projected on his sticks! It's subtle, but amazing.
I've been waiting for something a little more ass-kicking from these guys, and there's some pretty interesting stuff going on in this song. The video, not so much. But hey, it's certainly orange!
Here's a brief clip featuring the new Abingdon Boys School single that's the opener for the new anime series Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (as pointed out over on Japanator). Not too much to say about this one other than it's not the greatest thing ABS has done, IMO. All of their recent releases seem to be a little on the weak side. On the other hand, I just might have to check out the anime!
A Plus D - "Stanky Whip"
I love everything about Bootie Blog. This video should be explanation enough.
2007 was a great year for Japanese rock. While the pre-fab pop/idol scene is still what Japan is best known for, it's starting to show some cracks around the edges. Many bands are pushing strong playing and even stronger songwriting to the forefront instead of relying on the shallow gimmicks of massive industry backing. What might once have been a talented band lost to obscurity is now a group that has just as much of a chance at fame as any rising starlet. Obviously, many of us would like to think that this is mostly due to the now mainstream use of the internet as the main portal of information gathering. We no longer have to rely on the magazine and television monopolies to tell us what to listen to. It also helps that more and more Japanese bands are making the trip overseas and preforming live to larger and larger audiences outside of the anime convention circuit. We can now follow our own paths wherever they may lead. (Hint hint - this is exactly the mission of this site!)
That said, here are a few recommend paths to follow for music lovers of all stripes. There's no way to list all of the great albums that were released in 2007, but I nevertheless hope to cover a lot of ground, as usual, from metal to pop to electro to indie rock. I'll start things off with 15 of my personal favorites from 2007, followed by 35 quick picks.
Termination easily gets my vote for most intense rock album of the year. It's hard to believe that 9mm Parabellum Bullet could top any of their previous fury, but indeed they do. That could be due in part to the high amount of recycled older material, but it's made even more frantic on the new recordings. Termination is a wall of sound from begining to end, with a very high "twists-and-turns" ratio in every song. Not for the feint of heart, yet somehow extremely catchy along the way. "Punishment," the aptly named final track, puts epic metal guitar gods Dragonforce to shame.
It was a long and lonely wait for the very first album from Abingdon Boys School. We were teased with a couple years worth of singles until they finally releases their self-titled album in 2007. While it only contained about 50% new material, it was still a much welcomed album. Full of Toshiyuki Nishi's relentlessly thick and compressed production, the album is a solid wall of guitars, synths and Takanori Nishikawa's vocal prowess. While it's obviously a pop album, ABS manages to bring a lot of raw power via the intricate guitar riffs and hulking drums. It's pop rock full of metal tricks and synthetic grandeur.
Much like 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Asparagus plays a very intense brand of spiky indie-rock, stripped down and raw. They aren't afraid to leave all the nerve endings exposed on Mont Blanc, which is full of very quick, tight guitars and drums all supporting the melodic structures.
Struggle In A Whirl, the debut album from The Brown, is a feast of progressively minded indie rock, swinging from complex guitar workouts to mellow passages that shine a light on Ai's crooning vocal style. Every song is packed with small details that require several listens to fully comprehend. I hate to keep invoking the name of 9mm Parabellum Bullet (band of the year maybe?), but Struggle In A Whirl certainly sounds more than a little like Evanescence run through a Termination machine.
Buck-Tick never fail to surprise with every new album they release, and they did it once again with Tenshi No Revolver. While the previous album was an ichor slathered, dark and glammy affair, Tenshi No Revolver is a much brighter, yet no less menacing album. While the songs seem more upbeat and happy at first blush, further inspection exposes the same dark undertones. The sound is stripped down and focuses on a simpler raw sound, which highlights the, as always, subtle, brilliant songwriting. Much like The Cure could fake happy now and then, Buck-Tick will put the smiles back on the face of goth via Tenshi No Revolver.
Budo Grape continued their new-wave synth rock stylings on Otonatachi x Kodomotachi, an album full of very cute and fun electro-rock songs ala The Plastics and The Sugarcubes. The tag-team male/female vocals add to the playful, totally unpretentious songs. While overall the production on Otonatachi x Kodomotachi is very dry and to the point (much like early Devo recordings), their willingness to dip into a wide range of electronic textures keeps the simple songs interesting from beginning to end.
Coaltar of the Deepers has made a career out of being extremely tough to categorize. Every album is an exercise in genre bending, and that is expressed most perfectly on Yukari Telepath. While the band started out as a softer, shoe-gaze type band, they've always adopted much heaver element in their music. With Yukari Telepath, they blend dreamy sounds-capes with very loud and very thick metal passages and grunting vocals. That can then break into an uplifting bit full of synths and the usual dreamy style. At other times they stick to straight-up groovy rock, or totally spaced out excursions. Yet they make it all work perfectly and cohesively. I'd even dare to say that Yukari Telepath is the best album of 2007, blending not only disparate styles, but synthetic and acoustic elements in equal measure. And I mean best album. It's something that must be listened to as a whole, and that is something that is becoming increasingly rare these days.
GO!GO!7188's 569 is a much welcome return to superb songwriting for the band. Their surf-rock meets epic-female-vocal style is never more solid than on this album. The opening tracks are easily their best material ever, with extremely catchy songs wrapped in deceptively complex structures. While the middle of the album contains all the more experimental and quiet stuff, the party picks up again toward the end. As with many of the previously mentioned albums, 569 focus only on the band's solid playing, highlighting the trio's prowess behind their instruments, as well as the very upbeat and fun songs.
Maximum the Hormone - Buiikikaesu
On Buiikikaesu, Maximum the Hormone seems to do the impossible, making nu-metal interesting and fun. While it contains all of the signature chugging riffs and guttural screaming, it also adds a huge dose of catchy melody and straight up pop-rock. In fact just about every song seems to jump through several genres, from mook-rock to ska to dancable pop and hip-hop, all with a fun punk-rock irreverence, and the occasional super cute female vocal. With Buiikikaesu, Maximum the Hormone proves that nu-metal isn't all angst and emo, but also a good time.
Bambi's Dilemma is the perfect mix of seemingly random noise guitar with easily digestible punk songs. While calling Melt Banana "abrasive" might be the understatement of the year, they manage to keep their spikey outer shell razor sharp while at the same time writing nothing but pure pop songs on Bambi's Dilemma. It's just pop at a million miles an hour, played through a blender on the verge of a meltdown. While their blistering punk presentation won't be winning over the faint of heart, the pure pop of Bambi's Dilemma just might.
Don't let the sailor-suited school girl who fronts this band fool you. Or better yet, let her fool you into thinking you'll be getting a typical cute pop-rock the image might otherwise represent. After all, Midori is a band full of pop and cute and rainbows, it's just that it's all fractured from too much love and overuse. Both of Midori's 2007 releases are chock full of playful pianos, drums and bass, playfully played by a trio of angry children throwing a fit over a favorite toy. It seems impossible that singer Mariko Goto could contain so much rage and fury one second, then drop down to a cute and alluring tone, drawing you in for another vocal attack. If these guys don't burn out soon, they just might take over the world.
Speaking of taking over the world, 2007 was an extremely important year for Japan's preeminent new-wave band Polysics. Not only was it their 10th anniversary, but they embarked on the very first MySpace Music Tour in America, which exposed them to hundreds of thousands of new fans. While many of those new fans might have thought that Polysics or Die: Vista, a compilation released on MySpace Records, was their big 2007 album, it was actually the all new Karate House which was the year's centerpiece. Containing a large number of hit singles like "Electric Surfin' Go Go" and "You You You," it also showed off the band's continuing evolution. While they still retain their early noise-rock mentality, it continues to be tempered by their desire to hone their sounds into pure electro-rock bliss. Karate House is just one more step on their way to world-wide fame.
If Puffy's previous and more recent releases pushed them too far into pandering-to-America territory, then it was this year's Honeycreeper that brought them back home. The songs on Honeycreeper hearken back to their early days, with more of a focus on the fuzzy, hazy feel-good retro-rock sound in lieu of their previous pop-rock aping of Avril Lavigne. The songwriting is some of the best you'll hear on a rock album in any country, with ample twin vocal harmonies and the simple yet somehow nostalgic sounding melodies. Honeycreeper is just a simply beautiful, middle of the road, totally unpretentious rock album, something only Puffy can do with such quiet perfection.
If it's eclectic arrangements you're looking for, then Shugo Tokumaru's Exit is the perfect album for you. The songs roll out like clockwork toys, all made in a place not quite based in any reality we know, yet all strangely familiar. It helps that all of the tunes on Exit are front and center, somehow managing to not get lost in the vast sea of unique sounds. While the vocal treatments might remind you of The Beach Boys' dreamy, layered style, it's Tokumaru's totally fresh presentation that will keep you feeling just off-kilter enough to keep the bemused smile on your face from beginning to end.
While, for some totally unfathomable reason, it doesn't contain the incredibly epic first single "The Revenant Choir," Versailles' first album Lyrical Sympathy is a limitless font of epic metal greatness. Its soaring majesty is rivaled only by the band's own outrageously over the top visual style, which is taken straight out Anne Rice's most fevered dreams. Their frilly and darkly colorful look is a prefect visual analog for their music, which is equally dark and brooding, yet full of blistering metal guitar riffs, seemingly unending solos and labyrinthine structures. I still don't know how they manage to pull off all of those complicated phrases while wearing a hundred pounds of lace and flowing dresses, but the blinding greatness of their music is enough to dampen any doubts. If Lestat were alive today, this would be his band.
Some Other Notable Releases:
Art-School - Hidari Kiki no KIKI: An excellent little EP.
Ayumi Hamasaki - GUILTY: Yeah, that's right. Even the biggest pop-idols in Japan can release an interesting album once in a while.
B'z - Action: You can't ignore the biggest selling band in the history of Japan.
Base Ball Bear - 17sia: More pop/post-punk/dream rock from BBB.
Bremen - Precious Story: "Just another blissful electro album" is always welcome.
Bump of Chicken - Orbital Period: Simple soft rock is simply perfect.
CapsuleFlash Back: More of the same is just fine when it's the same top-notch electro-dance from Nakata Yasutaka.
Chatmonchy- Seimeiryoku: Fresh-faced-and-smiling rough-edged pop-rock from the all-girl trio.
Coltemonikha - Coltemonikha2: Speaking of Nakata Yasutaka, if his Capsule stuff is too hard and sharp for you, try this softer side.
Electric Eel Shock - Transworld Ultra Rock: More balls-out stoner-rock mayhem from EES.
Fullarmor - Zion: An excellent little guitar-driven instrumental album full of intense songs that seem to come straight out of your favorite retro video game soundtrack.
Galneryus- One For All, All For One: If you were scared off by Versailles' frilly pink dresses, then maybe Galneryus' less visual epic metal is more for you.
Going Under Ground - Oyasumi Monster: If it's fun soft-rock you're after, then this is the album for you.
Hawaiian6 - Rings: More intense, melodic power-punk from Hawaiian6.
Ken Yokoyama - Third Time's A Charm: More intense, melodic power-punk from Ken Yokoyama.
L'Arc-en-Ciel - Kiss: L'Arc continues their mix of lushly produced, dark and elegant rock.
The Local Art - KiZUNA: A great, solid power rock album. What else do you need?
Mars Eurythmics - Range Over Hill and Dale: A great, upbeat, solid indie-rock album. What else do you need?
Meg- Beam: Speaking of Nakata Yasutaka, if his Coltemonikha stuff isn't fun enough for you, try his more mature production on Meg's new album.
Mix Market - Shiawase no Elephant: Another fun and bubbly indie rock album from Mix Market.
Mosaic.wav - Future-Fiction:AKIBA-POP!!: Suffering from low blood-sugar? Inject this super-sweet anime inspired collection of crazy synth-pop twice daily.
Motocompo- Chiptop Lips: Their most mature album so far, it contains some of the most blissful synth-pop you'll hear.
NoodlesMetropolis: More drowsy, fuzzed out rock from this all-girl rock group.
Onmyo-za- Maou Taiten: Once again Onmyo-za bring new life to classic metal and traditional Japanese style.
Otsuka Ai - Love Piece: Yet another spot-on collection of retro-pop rock, tearful ballads and plain crazy fun from the most cutest idol ever.
The Pillows - Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!: It should go without saying by now, but when The Pillows release an album, you buy it.
Roach- Mind of the Sun: Nu-Metal with a very original, high-pitched traditional Japanese vocal style. Well, at least when he's not screaming.
RYUKYUDISKO - INSULARHYTHM A straight-up techno/dance album full of happy melodies and interesting collaborations.
School Food Punishment - Air Feel, Color Swim and School Food is Food Food: Two albums full of mature female vocals, pianos and soft, spacey rock.
Straightener- Immortal: A great little EP of brash indie-rock.
Tokyo Jihen - Variety: More swank, high-society rock. I suggest a white wine.
Tomoyasu Hotei - Ambivalent: Guitar-fueled blues-rock? Here it is!
UVERworld - Bugright: If Base Ball Bear's 17sai didn't have enough down-tempo rap for your liking, then UVERworld would like to talk with you.
Vidoll - Bastard: A step above your average vis-kei album, Bastard swings from screamy metal to soft, dance-able ballads and back.
That's it for this year. Hopefully that will give you enough to wade through until the next wave of albums begins to appear. With all of the amazing music released this year, next year looks to be very interesting indeed!
(Also, please feel free to add your own "Best Of" list in the comments!)
It's been a long wait for fans of the newly formed Abingdon Boys School. The first ABS release was the opening song to the D.Gray-Man anime series in late 2006. They released a series of singles that were also featured in a number of television shows and movies. Their live appearances have been even more few and far between, with only two of note, their debut in November 2005, and again at Live Earth in 2007.
It's been almost two years since the world first heard of the band formed by formerly solo act Takanori Nishikawa (aka TM Revolution.) The album is finally here. Was it worth that wait?
The easy answer is yes, absolutely.
It might be easy for a music elitist (*ahem*) to look at the band as just another boy-band tarted up in heavy makeup and pretty clothes, propped up in front of fake instruments and told to make pretend they are rock stars. This certainly isn't the case. At least not entirely.
Front man Nishikawa, while inarguably a phenomenal vocalist, is just that, the pretty looking voice. The main songwriter and man behind the curtain is Toshiyuki Kishi, the keyboardist and programmer. As I point out on my profile on the band, he's always been the man with the plan, and it would seem as though ABS is more of an excuse to get Kishi on stage and in front of the cameras than it is a chance for Nishikawa to earn his rock and roll cred.
This argument loses steam once you hear the music. It is far more than one member or the other showing off while the band simply backs him up. ABS is first and foremost a band full of excellent musicians. Every song is full of layers, changes and unexpected flourishes, things that you will never find in a factory-pressed pop band. Sure, the production is slick to say the least, but the songs manage to break out of their overly compressed and normalized confines and offer up not only stunning sounds, but an impressive set of balls.
"As One" starts the album off on a bit of a low note considering what lies in wait later on in the track list. I'll note right now that the one major failing of the album is that every song, sonicly speaking, sounds exactly the same. Namely, really fucking loud and in your face with everything sitting at just about the same volume, full of the aforementioned sparkle and gloss. "As One" simply sets the stage, lumbering through its soaring chorus and wall of guitars and record scratching.
The first of the early singles follows this. "Howling" is the quintessential ABS song, and probably the stand out track. It manages to secretly sneak in some rather wicked heavy metal riffs under the glossy veneer, and Nishikawa gets the chance to show off his slightly angry side. They somehow manage to present what might otherwise be a simple rock song in a way that not only makes it more epic and soaring, but also darker and more complex than anything you'd hear on a rock or pop radio station. All without going too far in either direction to scare off the pop girls or the metal dudes.
Howling
"Via Dolorosa" is all about Nishikawa. It's a slower song, just about as close to a ballad as ABS gets. It's still full of grinding guitars and huge drums, but it leaves plenty of space for him to stretch his range to new and rather impressive heights.
Things pick up again with "Innocent Sorrow" and "Down to You." Both of these are your standard driving rock tracks. They both highlight what I can only think of as a late '80s/early '90s power metal mentality. They are very melodic and guitar driven, yet they have that over the top pop metal quality. While Skidd Row and Whitsnake may have taken into unbearably poofy hair swaying directions, ABS sticks to the basics and simply belts out their massive riffs with nothing but power.
Innocent Sorrow
"Athena" is the first truly pop track on the album. It chooses a driving disco-like beat as its foundation, ala Base Ball Bear or UVERworld. This is pure radio candy, very upbeat and straight-forward. The piano lines and squealing guitars are also very Gackt-like, and I can see this one being played live while either rain or multi-colored streamers fall from the ceiling. Also, a lot of back-to-back guitar playing. Perhaps shirtless?
"Stay Away" opens the second half of the album, again with a very upbeat feel. This one feels rather weak and shallow after the unrelenting sonic feast preceding it. Even before the album was released I felt that this was their weakest song, and that would seem to be the case on the album as well.
Well, OK, mabye that award should go to "Nephilim." It's another of their (trademark?) ballads that's too loud to really be a ballad. The chorus is certainly epic and full of energy and drive, but overall the song feels too much like your average girl getter. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Nephilim
OK, now is the time when I have to piss off the fans boys and girls out there. Previous to the album, "Lost Reason" was a decent track, a bit in the "filler" category, but still full of that certain ABS-ness. This album version, however, is a horrible fucking mess. For some reason thay saw fit to add some dude (MICRO) rapping over anything that Nishikawa isn't singing on. Any pause and MICRO is in there jibbering away. Then, for some godforsaken reason, the song drops out and a new break is added where this goon raps for a while. Not only does this utterly destroy the flow of the song (ironic!), but it serves absolutely no purpose. It's possibly even worse than what KanYe West did with that Daft Punk song. Well, OK, maybe not that bad. Nevertheless, what has been done to this once good song is not only baffling, but unforgivable. I have already deleted it from album folder and inserted the correct, first draft of the song in its place. Let's never speak of this again.
Moving on.
"Desire" moves things into a decidedly more electro direction with stuttering drum samples and squeltchy synths arpeggiating away ala Boom Boom Satellites. While the song is certainly frenetic to say the least, it's perhaps a bit too chaotic. It's the obvious "let's use this one to play twenty minute guitar and drum solos live" song. It's not so much a song as it is a music bed.
Now, "Dress" is a bit of a mixed bag as well. First off, it's a cover of one of my favorite Buck-Tick songs. No one can compare to the voice of Atsushi Sakurai, so it already has one strike both for and against it. The music, however, is a clear improvement, at least if you've enjoyed any of the previous songs. Yes, once again it lacks any dynamics, running at full steam from the beginning to the end. Yet ABS does add a ton of darkness and a sort of powerful dominance that the original lacks. It's gone from a simple, soft, almost delicate song to something much more brooding and, to use that word again, epic. While Nishikawa may not be able to convey Atsushi's inherent and seemingly limitless supply of raw goth, the band certainly picks up the slack.
The final track "ReBirth + ReVerse" is just a chance for Kishi to strut his stuff unencumbered by the band. This certainly supports my "producer turned rock star" theory. It's a straight up electro dance track, with the thumping kick and echoing piano parts, surrounded by clanging industrial drums. While it is inoffensive in and of itself, it is totally out of place with the rest of the album. Why they chose to include this aimless song and not the far superior b-side "Nervous Breakdown" I guess we'll never know. It's a clumsy end to an otherwise cohesive (well, except for "Lost Reason." Damnit! I said I would never mention it again!) album.
Nervous Breakdown
Obviously, I am a big fan of Abingdon Boys School. While I don't think I could handle listening to this album more than once at a time due to its ear tiring production, it is certainly one that will get a lot of play. It has its faults, some of which are almost enough for me to question my very existence, let alone the sanity of whoever makes the decisions for the band, but those faults are easily deleted or replaced with other options. Overall, it's a triumph of musical alchemy, of mixing pop with rock and metal and truly epic structures without having the entire tower come falling down into a big messy heap.
Abingdon Boys School is something of a super-group, though that might not be immediately apparent. Their front-man is none other than the platform dancing/silly arm waving Takanori Nishikawa, aka T.M. Revolution. Most J-pop fans already know all about him (for reasons why, see: T.M. Revolution), but what about the other strapping (not so) young lads in the band?
Sunao, the phenomenal lead guitar player, is also a member of and writer for T.M. Revolution's solo work. Shibasaki Hiroshi, rhythm guitar, was in a band called WANDS (think New Kids On The Block with guitars) before leaving to form al.ni.co, a sort of arty grunge band. Ikuo (bass) is a member of Cube Ray, as is drummer Kozy Hasegawa. Hasegawa has played in a few other bands like Out Of Order, Admucho Family Band and The Esper, and that’s just the beginning. In short, this guy is a tireless and prolific drummer.
The real brains and brawn behind the band seems to come from the keyboard/turntable/laptop/programming guru Toshiyuki Nishi. Also known as TKO, he has worked with and produced or arranged music for a huge number of artists like The Alfee, Tomoyasu Hotei, Tomovsky, Tetsu69, J and of course T.M. Revolution. He's also performed live with Pizzacato Five and Tetsu 69 among others. Trolling though his site and reading over the lists is rather exhausting.
All of this diverse talent leads to some equally extraordinary music. Their first self-titled album is consistently thick with layers of detail, while at the same time providing plenty of balls-out rock. Even the slower tracks "Nephilim" and "Lost Reason" bring a huge lumbering metal machine to back them up. In fact it's usually Takanori who manages to keep the band from falling off the tracks into territory that may be too dark for a wider audience. His clear and pretty voice calms the otherwise savage riffs. It's a testimony to the quality of the other band members that Takanori is often the weakest link. He is a great vocalist in his own right, but his hard-rock shortcomings are really brought to light in their cover of Buck-Tick's "Dress." While the song reaches new heights of awesomeness due to the massive sonic assault, there really is nothing that compares to Atsushi Sakurai's god-like vocal prowess.
Their music is everywhere. From NANA ("Stay Away"), to the Death Note movie tribute album ("Fre@K $HoW"), Buck-Tick tribute album ("Dress"), to various anime shows like Darker Than Black ("Howling"), D. Gray Man ("Innocent Sorrow") and also video games like the PS3 FolksSoul (“Nephilim”). Ever single has been used as part of another major work. With this much coverage and mainstream acceptance, I expect absolutely huge success for Abingdon Boys School.
Takanori Makes Revolution is the solo work of Takanori Nishikawa. His style is decidedly electronic/dance oriented, with the usual batch of ballads peppered with high energy, trance-like like songs. He was closely tied to the Gundam SEED series, not only providing some music but actually voicing the character of Miguel Aiman. In Gundam SEED Destiny he even had a character modeled after him, Heine Westenfluss. In addition to being both a stage and television actor, he has gone on to form a for-reals band called Abingdon Boys School. While maintaining the energy of T.M.'s early music, ABS is a much more rock oriented band that has yet to release a full album.
Madan ~Der Freischutz~
This is one of my favorite videos ever. I love the elbow rocket!
Invoke
My favorite TM song, and the first one I ever heard. It's also used as the Gundam Seed OP.
J-Pop and J-Rock are only the beginning. The modern Japanese music scene is just as vibrant and varied as any other music scene in the world. I'm Zac Bentz, writer, musician, designer and all around Japanese music fanatic. Here I hope to share with you a comprehensive (!!) list of Japanese artists and bands (with a strong focus on underground and indie acts) that you may or may not have heard of, in the hopes of expanding our mutual awareness of Japanese music.
I don't mean to suggest that everything I listen to is great. Quite the contrary, I hope that you will take the time to recommend your own favorite artists in the comments so that we can all learn a bit more about the huge range of Japanese music that's out there.
"The best Japanese music blog in the world." - Door Slam "Definitely a must-visit for J-pop and J-rock fans!" -The Otaku "Zac Bentz loves music. A lot." -Japanator "Very cool!" -J-ENT "...one of the foremost blogs and information centers on all J-pop and J-rock...the top source for tour information on Japanese bands in the US..." -YankeeOtaku "Wer mehr darüber wissen will, der sollte sich mal hier umschauen, ein sehr gutes J-Music Blog übrigens." -CommandSheep "...very well-written, and there’s an excellent range of artists...a useful resource." -International Wota "не плохая энциклопедия японских исполнителей/групп" -Diary.ru "Great resource for Japanese music fans who want to explore today's J-rhythms beyond Johnny's Entertainment bishonen music and anime music. XD" -Kaishi "If you are a J-Rock fan, [ZB's A-Z] is a must see." -Crunchyroll community "Otaku USA magazine finally got wise and hired Zac Bentz as a J-music contributing editor."-Radicalpatriot "Reviews practically every Asian band that has ever created a recording."- Zallie "Gewährt spannende Einblicke in die japanische Musikszene." -Laut.de
