Jan 28 - Cure Shop - In store event - Los Angeles, CA Jan 29 - Bootleg Theater - Los Angeles, CA Jan 30 - Atomix- San Antonio, TX Jan 31 - The Middle East- Cambridge, MA Jan 31 - Tokyo Kid -In store event - Cambridge, MA Feb 01 - Santos Party House - Manhattan, NY Feb 03 - Digital Ferret - In store event - Philadelphia, PA Feb 04 - Tainted Reality Special Radio - Philadelphia, PA Feb 05 - Polaris - Philadelphia, PA Feb 06 - Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL Feb 07 - Quimby’s Bookstore - In store event - Chicago, IL Feb 07 - Subterranean - Chicago, Illinois Feb 08 - El Corazon- Seattle, WA
GPKISM is a darkwave industrial duo formed in 2007 by an Australian musician going by the name of Gotheque Prince Ken and, later on, former BLOOD guitarist and mastermind Kiwamu. Recently the duo added the former Blam Honey member Ryonai to provide support at live shows.
Their style is decidedly dance oriented, through extremely dark and gothic. While Kiwamu does use his guitar skills to add to the mix, they are first and foremost a darkwave/electro/industrial outfit. Perhaps if the Pet Shop Boys collided headlong into a Lords of Acid tour bus, then skidded, ablaze, into an HR Giger exhibit, you might get something close to the GPKISM sound. On the one hand, they're campy and softly tongue-in-cheek while on the other, they portray a more dangerous and vampiric side. Most of their songs seem to be about lost loves or losing oneself to love, all with bloody overtones.
The music is mostly thumping kicks with a dense overlay of reverbed-out synths, arppegiating away in some ancient spaceship. There are also plenty of the requisite harpsichords, dripping with lace and dusty candlewax. That's not to say the music is harsh or abrasive. In fact it's all very pretty, with the corners rounded off. Even Kiwamu's hevily distorted guitar is downplayed in favor of more and more layers of plush synth upholstery.
Yet at the same time their tempos are generally high and pumping, with some songs turning up the distortion and letting the raw edges show. It feels as if the group is still trying to find their own special sound, which is to be expected with such a new group. Of course they've each been traveling the world playing in other bands for some time. It's only a matter of time before GPKISM solidifies in their mountain-top stronghold, allowing their dark influence to spread amongst the villagers.
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
