Explore the Unexplored 36

New Explore the Unexplored post is up at HearJapan.com! Ten great new albums from Japan! Rock and electro and shoegaze and Vocaloid! Check them out! Why am I shouting?!

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There's a new Explore the Unexplored post up at HereJapan. Another batch of the best of the best in new releases!

This time around there's a really wide range of styles. First up is a fantastic album from Kamomekamome. Happy Rebirthday to You is non-stop brutal, yet melodic, hardore prog punk metal. There's a really cool new track from sleepy.ab complete with video. There are even a couple Vocaloid picks!

And there's more! Head over to the full post and check out and listen to all of the best new stuff from HearJapan.

Explore the Unexplored 29

Time for another Explore the Unexplored column over on Hear Japan!

Once again, things start off with a healthy dose of metal. KNIGHTS OF ROUND, HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT and Luzmelt all bring different varieties of metal to the fore. From epic to screamy to visual, there's quite a broad spectrum to sample.

There is also some lighter stuff from Marsh Mallow and trico, some good old indie rock from LOSTAGE and some hardcore punk from HARDCORE FANCLUB, and more. So check out the full post now and discover some new music today.

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Time for another Explore the Unexplored column over on Hear Japan!

This time around, there are a ton of great new heavy metal releases. Inugami Circus Dan, DELUHI and AREA51 all have top-shelf material.

If metal isn't your game, how about electro? There's a cool new Vocaloid album featuring Hatsune Mike from turnastudio, akiba-kei from MOSAIC.WAV and some genre breaking trance from Nanten and Kaaltechs.

But that's not all! Head on over and check out all the great new stuff available now.

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Lots of great new stuff on the latest edition of Explore the Unexplored!

For instance, check out the sprawling ambient sound-scapes created by Vocaloid producer Ohnuma. Too sedate for you? How about the pop-rock Vocaloid stylings of ecomaru?

If software generated vocals aren't your thing, maybe check out the epic metal of Alhambra, or maybe the super catchy rock of Chima.

Still unimpressed? Well, there's a lot more to check out, so just go over there and see for yourself!

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Lots of great new releases this week over on HearJapan!

First up is the slick new album from Molice. It's a bit darker than you might have expected from their previous album, but it's still super cool and fun at the same time. There's some of BBQ Chicken's back catalog, all of which is essential listening for any punk lover.

I picked out a few nice shoegazy things this week as well, Like Lily of the Valley, Plastic Girl in Closet and the more electro tinged birds melt sky.

Head on over the Explore the Unexplored 26 and check out all the new releases. You're sure to find something you'll like.

Explore the Unexplored 25

It's time for another weekly round-up of the best of the best releases from HearJapan with Explore the Unexplored 25!

Vocaloid fans! There are a couple of interesting new releases featuring Hatsune Miku. wintermute's Stray Light is a refreshing indie-rock/shoegaze album, something sort of rare to the Vocaloid realm. But NextOne from Re:nG is sure to make the electro-dance fans happy.

There's also the female fronted epic metal of Xspider, jazzy live-action super-hero cover songs from Paul Dateh, some vis-kei, indie rock and a lot more. Check it out and find something new!

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Time to check out the latest Explore the Unexplored post over at HearJapan!

While every week sees a lot of great new releases, I have to think that this is one of the best in a while. It's mostly due to the release of The Brixton Academy's debut album Vivid. It instantly grabbed my attention and hasn't left the rotation since. If you like cheeky '80s synth pop, then you must check it out!

There's also the new cheery pop-rock album from andymori and a stunning collection of left-field electro soundscapes from Joseph Nothing. Think Boards of Canada meet De De Mouse.

That's just three of my 10 picks for the week, so head on over to HearJapan and check them all out.

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Some interesting things in this week's Explore the Unexplored post, but then again, that's the whole point, isn't it?

Things are a bit more experimental and quirky this week. alis del lotton ROY' symphonica orchesto is a cool mix of shoegaze, indie rock and piano soaked ballads. Marsh-mallow is a chorus of women singing childlike songs with more serious overtones. wash? is a straight up throwback to '90s era grunge. And there's punk, folk, electro hip-hop and more to check out.

Head on over to the post on HearJapan and see (and hear) for yourself!

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My new list of best-bets is up over at HearJapan.

This week there are some great new releases from XodiacK (vis-kei) AZRAEL (epic metal), plenty of Hatsune Miku fronted Vocaloid and a great new single from inspire:tion, a shoegaze group that I am very much looking froward to hearing more of. And that's only the beginning!

Jump on over and do some browsing. You're sure to find something great.

Explore the Unexplored 13, 14, 15

Hi! Long time no see, little blog o' mine.

Where have I been. Well, mostly working outside of blogging and blogging outside of the A-Z.

One of the major things I've been up to is continuing the Explore the Unexplored column over at HearJapan. Hit up the links below to see the fallout:

13: Beat Crusaders, Cro Magnon and 54-71 make this a week not to be missed, and that's just the beginning!

14: Henry Tennis headed up this week, along with Red Bacteria Vacuum and the Vocaloid fueled heavy metal of BingoBongoP.

15: saw the release of the fantastic 8bit sampler of Michael Jackson covers from Saitone. There's also new stuff from The Captains, DEATHGAZE, JulieHally and more.

So there you go. 3 weeks and 30 new releases to listen though. Check 'em out!

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Time for another top 10 picks from the new barrage of releases from HearJapan!

This week on Explore the Unexplored, a couple of excellent shoegazy, muzzy, sonically intense bands. Both Psysalia Psysalis Psyche and NIZ are rather new bands, but they each bring their own unique sounds to the table. Hideyoshi is another dreamy rock band that you arty indie rock types should listen to. Then there's new thrash metal from Rightbrian, some interesting anime cover songs on Anisomania-2 and more punk, hardcore and even a bit of hip-hop flavor.

Check out the whole post here.

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Check out my top ten picks from the HearJapan archives on this week's Explore the Unexplored post!

This time around, some really cool stuff from Goomi, Molice and The Local Art. Oh, and there's a really interesting release from uhnelly that features a track with Mike Doughty.

But that's just the beginning. Make sure to check the full list. You're sure to discover something interesting!

Explore the Unexplored 10

The new Explore the Unexplored listing is up on HearJapan. This week there's a lot of some slightly more experimental groups, like Haisuinoasa, style-3! and Z, as well as the usual Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid awesomeness, a new single from instrumental rockers Unkie and even some Latin flavor from Linda Corazon.

Check out the full list here. You're sure to find a lot of new things you didn't know you couldn't l live without!

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Lots of great stuff on this week's Explore the Unexplored post. Stuff like the new sgt. album, a new mega-collection from Inugami Circus Dan, some fun new Vocaloid music, trance and even some more anime-metal from ex-Animetal member Eizo Sakamoto. Also make sure to check out the shoegaze sounds of SCARLET.

Check out the full post here. As always, comment here to let me know what you think!

Explore the Unexplored 08

You may have noticed the new-ish button on the right side of the blog that says "Explore the Unexplored." That's the name of my new-ish column over at HearJapan. Every week I take a look at their new releases and from that batch of, usually, around 60-100 new albums, pick my own top 10 favorites. Stuff I think that all music fans will enjoy, as well as stuff that might fly under the radar of even the most tireless Japanese music archivist. Hence the title.

New posts go up every Wednesday, more or less. Since there isn't an easy RSS feed to collect the posts every week, I figured it might help to highlight those highlights here.

This week, make sure to check out the very interesting collaboration between a few mega producers, one of them oshiyuki Kishi from Abigdon Boys School, called JUNK FUNK PUNK. The traditional taiko drumming from Kensaku Satou is pretty stunning as well. And of course there's a ton of new Vocaloid releases for the Hatsune Miku fans.

Check out the full post here. As always, comment here to let me know what you think!