August 28 - September 18 Electric Eel Shock European Tour Summer 2010 Part 2
August 28th - Akkerpop Festival - Belgium August 29th - Dynamo Festival - Holland
(Other dates in mainland Europe will be announced shortly.)
UK & Ireland: September 7th - Portsmouth - DITC September 8th - Cheltenham - Night Owl September 9th - Manchester - Sound Control September 10th - Aberdeen - Drummonds September 11th - Glasgow - King Tut's September 12th - Leeds - The Well September 14th - Galway - Roisin Dubh September 16th - Dundalk - Spiritstore September 17th - Dublin - Ballroom of Romance September 18th - Clon Guitar Festival
What a way to start a new month! Here's a new video from OMODAKA for "Plumb Song." As usual, it's pretty incredible. Also, it might be very slightly not safe for work, but you shouldn't be wasting time watching videos at work in the first place! Anyway, this video is pure neon eye-candy. Make sure to watch it in HD if you can. So, when is OMODAKA going to release a DVD? Hmmm?!
Hit the jump for more of this week's video picks!
Moja "High Speed"
Here's a great, moody, DIY video from the two piece rock band Moja. The very dark, black and white treatment perfectly fits the music, and the chaotic camera work matches the chaos of the band.
Electric Eel Shock "Metal Man"
After you watch this video, there's no doubting the thrill of a live Electric Eel Shock show. Not only will they rock your face off, but check out the drummer! Not every has the courage to wear nothing but a really, really, really long sock.
Usotsuki Barbie "Konai Insects"
Here's a somewhat random pick from Usotsuki Barbie. There's no much going on here, but when you're band is already pretty weird, you don;t need to worry about adding much. And hey, dancing girl. What more do you need?
Dazzle Vision "Metsu"
If you're unfamiliar with Dazzle Vision before going into this one, then you're in for a treat. Oh look, the singer looks like your standard J-pop idol. OK, so this is going to be a cute pop some about cake. Guess what? You're wrong.
First up, here's a new video from Vola & the Oriental Machine. This one isn't nearly as awesome as the one for "Weekend Lovers," but hey, it's still pretty stylish. Plus the song is great, so the video is just a nice little extra.
Hit that jump for more!
Denki Groove "Denki Groove 20 Shuunen No Uta"
Denki Groove are back with their 20th anniversary album. This is another great, rather minimal techno track with a huge groove. The video is basically just some shots of a manga story playing out. It's a little lacking, unless you can actually read what's going on...
Electric Eel Shock "Out of Control"
New, fun, hard rockin' music from Electric Eel Shock! I can't really say much about the video, as it's really just them being awesome in an empty room. Well, except for the shots of the drummer, naked, except for a very, very long sock on...Oh, and can you spot the vampire teeth?
Clean of Core "Navigation and Storm"
I recently highlighted Clean of Core on a post over on HearJapan.com. These guys play some really nice instrumental post-rock stuff.
Beastie VS DEDE MOUSE VS Aphex Twin
Here is a very interesting mash with using the Beastie Boys, De De Mouse and Aphex Twin tracks. There's almost too much going on to keep track of, but knowing that it's amazing is easy.
Sorry for the delay, but the July Calendar of Events is now up!
The BIG news this month is Anime Expo. Three great acts will be playing live. Mega-blogger and telento Shoko Nakagawa aka Shokotan, anime singing star Yoko Ishida, and Jyukai will all be amoung the tens of thousands of anime fan swooping down upon LA the first weekend in July.
Also, don't forget that Oreskaband will be touring like crazy as a part of the Warped Tour all this month and into the next!
As always, please let me know if there's something missing from the Calendar, and please feel free to share your experiences and photos from the front lines if you can make it out to a live gig.
03 June Tue - Krefeld Germany Kulturfabrik 05 June Thu - Hamburg Germany Logo 06 June Fri - Skive Denmark Skive Beach Party (tbc) 07 June Sat - Berlin Germany Kato
10 Apr Thu - Eindhoven NED Effenaar 11 Apr Fri - Groningen NED Oosterpoort KZ 12 Apr Sat - Utrecht NED Tivoli 14 Apr Mon - Brussels Belgium Botanique 15 Apr Tue - London UK Astoria 16 Apr Wed - Brighton UK Concorde 2 18 Apr Fri - Bristol UK Carling Academy 19 Apr Sat - Birmingham UK Carling Academy 20 Apr Sun - Manchester UK Master Academy 2 22 Apr Tue - Newcastle UK Carling Academy 23 Apr Wed - Glasgow UK Carling Academy 25 Apr Fri - Belfast UK Spring & Airbrake 26 Apr Sat - Dublin Ireland Tripod
Electric Eel Shock are a straight forward rock band. Rock as in ROCK!. As in classic rock from Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Led Zeplin etc. Fuzzed out guitars, big riffs, shout-along choruses, swaggering tempos etc. They've spent most of their time overseas both touring and recording, which probably explains why they sing in English. Their 2006 album "Beat Me" was released on Roadrunner Records (a very prestigious metal label) in Japan, causing them to return home. They have both a new album and feature documentary on the way for 2007. Oh, and the drummer plays with four sticks and only wears a cock-sock when they play live.
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
