Kanon Wakeshima (分島 花音)

In a sea roiling with wave after wave of icy salt water, it's understandable that a person would eagerly grasp at any handhold proffered up by the briny deep. In the sea of idol after frigid, vapid idol, the cello slinging Kanon Wakeshima is a welcome life-preserver.

Allegedly only 18 or 19 years old, Wakeshima started out her career with hopes of being a singer. She had a lifetime of training with the cello, but almost let her unique talents fall to the wayside when she was preparing a demo. She reconsidered and used her cello playing along with her singing, and Song snatched her up.

Don't let the slightly dark/vis-kei look fool you though. She is first and foremost a pop idol, just in a slightly different setting. Her 2009 debut album Shinshoku Dolce is pure pop with a layer of dark chocolate and lace. Her singles also give a slightly false impression, being the more gothic of the songs offered. Sure, they are full of the requisite organs and reverby hallways, but the production makes it obvious that her songs are about her voice above all else. Produced by vis-kei god Mana (Malize Mizer, Moi dix Mois,) the album is also jam packed with his disdain for "real" instruments and is instead rife with his usual cheesy pallet of fake drums, stings and hokey synths. This drains much of the lifeblood out of what might otherwise be very rich and pretty songs.

Stripped down to the bone, when Wakeshima is allowed to flaunt her unique traits, i.e. her lower register voice and her cello playing, the songs really do shine with a dark light. All too often it seems like she is being pressed into the standard j-pop mold. While she is guaranteed to appeal to those with a darker world view, the shallowness and overall low-rent production might turn off those with truly refined pallets.

BUY KANON WAKESHIMA RELEASES HERE!

Suna no Oshiro



Official Site
MySpace

Albums:
Shinshoku Dolce 2009

Still Doll

Winnie

On both their official website and their official MySpace page, Winnie list the American band Jimmy Eat World as a major influence, and it shows. The two bands do sound similar, with Winnie softening up the already light emo-rock vibe even more. This softer side is due mostly to the gentle vocal delivery of dual singers Iori (female) and Okuji (male). In fact, Iori sings very much in the style of Brilliant Green and Tommy Heavenly6/Tommy February6 vocalist Tomoko Kawase. Both Iori and Okuji sing and play guitar, alternating between male and female leads. This is off-set by the large, dual-guitar driven style of the music. While it never gets very heavy or fast, Winnie does pack a punch.

Formed in 2002, the band has released three mini albums in the past six years, two of them after a five year pause. 2003's First Class Speed of Light is a very soft spoken affair, full of fuzzed-out dreamy pop rock with shimmering edges. 2008's The Darkest Eternal Lights picks up the pace with much louder production and harder hitting songs. They still remain firmly in soft rock territory, but bring a heavier arsenal to the table. 2009's Headquarter is much the same, with the production once again adding a very heavy punch to the otherwise soft songs.

While Winnie seems to be aiming directly for the middle-of-the-road demographic with their slightly "edgy" sound tempered greatly by their down-tempo vibe, it would be great to hear them let loose even more. Tracks like "Suck My Brain" show that they have a lot of energy burbling underneath their blurry outer shell, and that they can really rock out when they want to. On the other hand, they do manage to walk that fine line very well, reaching out to both the softer set and those who need a little more bang for their buck.

BUY WINNIE RELEASES HERE!

Starlike Stereo



Official Site
MySpace

Members:
Iori - Vocals, Guitar
Okuji - Vocals, Guitar
Shoji - Drums
Akira Abe & Naoto Komatsu - Bass (support)

Releases:
Headquarter 2009
The Darkest Eternal Lights 2008
First Class Speed of Light 2003

First Class Speed of Light

World’s End Girlfriend (ワールズ・エンド・ガールフレンド)

If you took Zoe Keating, Sigur Ros, a slight dash of Warp Records glitch and a sprig of Shugo Tokumaru's playful, toy-like style, mixed them up and kneaded them into a dough, you might come close to baking a loaf of something resembling the music of one Katsuhiko Maeda, aka World's End Girlfriend.

Most of his work seems to be based around a few well known instruments, mainly cello, piano and saxophone. Yet just naming a few of the component parts misses the whole entirely. His composition are rooted in classical ensemble pieces, but that's just the starting point. Maeda then takes the songs and runs them through modern tech, stretch and stuttering them, adding infinite layers, not to mention percussion lifted out of the standard Apehx Twin textbook. While his early works rely more on the obvious use of computer generated sound, his later work throttles that back in a big way, letting the music speak for itself. The pieces are stark, yet darkly elegant. They have the quiet seriousness of Sigur Ros, yet also a more playful, organic/fantastic mood at times. The incongruous use of saxophone and other slightly less traditional instruments alongside the small string section only adds to the cognitive dissonance.

The musical style also effortlessly shifts, often several times within a single song, from dour classical, to slight jazz, to sparkling piano interludes. Maeda packs each song with dozens of ideas. It's almost too much to take in at one sitting. The songs demand repeat performances, if only to prepare one's self for the oncoming tide of musical colors. The album also titles offer a bit of insight into Maeda's world, Farewell Kingdom, Enchanted Landscape Escape and Hurtbreak Wonderland being most notable. His music does have a certain fantastical element behind it. Something very civilized, yet not quite grounded in reality. Something well suited for, say, a Ghibli compilation like Kira Kira Gibri, Nausicaa Requiem and Kimiwo Nosete, which he does, in fact, appear on (along with the similarly fantastical De De Mouse.)

In a live setting Maeda sometimes plays solo, other times with a larger band. His solo performances seem a little boring to watch, as he just sits next to some gear, playing along on the guitar. With a larger band the songs find a bit more life. Yet Meada's work seems best consumed in the album format, in a quiet setting with either some nice headphones or in a suitably dimly lit room. Whatever the venue, his music is sure to inspire otherworldly visions of greener pastures.

BUY WORLD'S END GIRLFRIEND RELEASES HERE!

Birthday Resistance




Official Site

Albums:
Ending Story (2000)
Farewell Kingdom (2001)
World's End Boyfriend (2001)
Dream's End Come True (2002)
Wonderland Falling Yesterday (2002)
The Lie Lay Land (2005)
Hurtbreak Wonderland (2007)
Enchanted Landscape Escape (2007)

Ghost of a Horse Under a Chandelier


Garden in the Ceiling


Live - Scorpius Circus

Wagdug Futuristic Unity

Featuring obliterated vocals screamed through a storm of distortion that would make even a young Al Jourgensen blush, and backed by mega-ton break beats that would make a young Alec Empire proud, Futuristic Wagdug Unity is nothing if not a force to be reckoned with.

It's a little hard to believe that the blistering juggernaut that is Wagdug Futuristic Unity is the work of a single man. Then again, this is Hiroshi Kyono of The Mad Capsule Markets we're talking about. He does like to include a wide range of friends in on the fun as well. Greatly inspired by both hip-hop and nu-metal, WFU collaborators include Maximum the Hormone's Ryo and Slipknot's DJ Starscream as well as the likes of Chino Moreno of the Deftones and Funky Gong of the psychedelic Joujouka.

Star-studded name-dropping aside, it's really the music that's the star here. Featuring some truly massive wall-of-noise distorted industrial beats and incomprehensible vocals, saying it's confrontational would be an understatement. Embracing the same sort of "riot sounds produce riots" of Digital Hardcore Recordings, WFU is a call to arms. The various high contrast videos serve to drive the point home, full of gas-masks and other military gear, they paint a bleak, war-blasted landscape. Still, along the way Kyono does find a little room to expand his sound and let the songs breathe a bit. It doesn't happen often, but there are the occasional hints at deeper, washed-out electro hell-scapes burning under the chaotic overworld.

It's a little unclear whether or not Wagdug Futuristic Unity will become a full-time project or just remain an outlet for Kyono's fury while the Mad Capsule Markets remain on hiatus. Whatever the case, one album from WFU just might be enough, lest future releases start battling it out for supremacy, taking the entire universe down with them.

BUY WAGDUG FUTURISTIC UNITY RELEASES HERE


Systematic People



Official Site

Releases:
Hakari 2008
Nu Riot 2007

Ill Machine (x Ultra Brain)


Hakai (Deathtroy)

Walrus

Walrus is one of those countless number of shoegaze bands that easily falls through the cracks, but just as easily rises up and shines from time to time. They seem too obscure even to make it on to YouTube, and their last album was released in 2003. Things do not bode well. Too bad, since they wrote one of my favorite songs of all time. "Dyed" from the Hikari no Kakera album. Find it!

W (Double You)

W was another duo, this time featuring Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago from the huge (both literally and figuratively) J-Pop collective Morning Musume. Their two albums feature mostly covers of older pop hits from other duos like The Peanuts and Pink Lady. Much like Morning Musume, the songs are the essence of J-pop, with very slick production and over the top instrumentation, often with super happy dance beats. Unfortunately their career was cut short after a couple (very mild by any other than Japanese standards) scandals involving Kago.

Southpaw (w/Pink Lady)



Shiroi iro wa Koibito no Iro