Some damn good fast, loud hardcore here. Again, don't ask me for what this sounds like (my brain is fried and inoperable at the moment), but it's really well played, heavy as shit and totally great.
Okay, I'm back (took a week long break). So, this has a lot of the feeling from 324 or some other crusty grind bands. But, they never go quite into the grind and take it more to a NYHC kind of place. Like I said before, heavy and fast. Totally free download, so you're not losing anything from getting down to this.
Wow, this was a true find. Jacob from Keep It Together Records sent me these guys. He'll be releasing a tape from them soon, and its going to be great. Saisa have put their first EP up here for free download, and it is a gorgeous thing. When I saw "post-rock" in the description, I was expecting something boring, but Saisa creates some of the most beautiful and heavenly music I've ever heard. The most obvious comparison is Sigur Ros, due to the high vocals and guitar sounds, but the song structures are much more traditional post-rock. It's pretty refreshing and completely unexpected from a small Japanese band. I even hear some envy influences, but mainly envy's more laid-back instrumental stuff and their reverb-y telecaster guitar sounds.
This is just really, really good and you need to get these three songs immediately. I'll update again when KIT has the tape out!
80's nostalgia is more and more prevalent everyday. I'm not sure if its passe yet, but as an 80's child, all of this stuff really resonates with me. Boyish is the latest 80's-ish indie pop project out of Japan. Hmm... surprise surprise, here's another genre that I know little to nothing about. Really, I can't even tell you comparisons, because I simply don't know who else sounds like this. What I can say is there is synth, tape-hiss, slightly-out-of-tune and flanging guitars, and chill, quiet singing. Overall, it's really nice and relaxingly nostalgic. Check this out if it sounds like something you'd be into! Free download, too.
Yeah... this is a weird one. It's not really music, it's really just well recorded environments in different places in Japan. It's not weird in the sense that this stuff doesn't exist all over the place, it's just weird for me to post something like this. Each song title describes where & what is going on in the track. This particular album I have here has a lot of different locations, all of which are really chill. There's free downloads for this and other albums on their bandcamp, so go grab some good sounds to sleep to!
Carpool is just a crapton of fun. In a way, it's a shame this was uploaded to bandcamp at the tail end of our summer (it was technically released in January 2012, and Aussies will be able to enjoy this for their summer). There are all sorts of influences involved, like The Anniversary, The Rentals, The Get-Up Kids, and probably some newer stuff (I'm old school, yo), but what matters the most is just the sense of fun involved. There seems to be two main vocalists (male & female), but there's a chorus of other people adding in their own singing, hollering, and yelling in the background, creating a general sound of everybody hanging out and singing together.
Anyways, just watch this video. These kids are awesome and you should get this album:
Glow and the Forest are three non-Japanese guys who've been living in Japan for a long time and met together to make music. This album was released awhile back, but I just found it on Bandcamp. They seem to be super busy on Soundcloud, though, and lots of people are into them. I don't know if I have the right background to explain what they sound like. It's pretty laid back music, with whimsical singing and lyrics, and very atmospheric sounds on the instruments. I guess you could say its similar to a more organic Pinback, where Pinback sounds like it was recorded in a bedroom and this sounds like it was recorded in a church. Throughout the album their sound changes from delightful, storybook like songs (like Fat Monk), to darker, spookier tracks (like Dust Bunny), almost like the listener is walking down the path illustrated on the cover of this album, descending into the depths of the forest.
Here's a pretty good video from this year. The guy's voice is just as perfect live, which is pretty amazing. Check this out!
I guess we'll start this week off strong. Float down the Liffey was a random find, as most were that I'll be posting this week, but they resonate so strongly with me and fit right into what I love. Their music is a perfect mix between ultra-noisy shoegaze (ala Asobi Seksu), Japanese emotional rock (think Bump of Chicken, Galileo Galilei), and Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins. Each song starts out noisy or rocking, but eventually all of these disparate ideas meld into a huge, world-shattering conclusion strong enough to hold each song up on its own. The worse part about this is that there's only 4 songs, the first being more an intro than a real song, though. Each song is monumental in its own right, but I could listen to this all day so a few more songs wouldn't be a bad thing. They do have an earlier EP available on their bandcamp as well, and it's pretty fucking great too.
It's pretty sad to see these guys shows where there's almost no one there. I can understand, because they're sort of in this grey area where their music is perfectly accessible to a wide audience, but there's no major label marketing machine behind them to get them out there. With music as solid as they have, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they're picked up. I could easily see them fitting on a mid-level label like Zankyo or whoever released downy's stuff. Check this out:
I have nothing at all against drum machines. That's not to say I've always been into them, but between Anaal Nathrakh and Agoraphobic Nosebleed, I've succumbed to the allure of infinitely fast blast beats that technology makes possible. If you're not a fan of them, though, you might not be into Role. Role plays an epic screamo/hardcore/post-rock hybrid not unlike Heaven in Her Arms with a dash of Nervous Light of Sunday, backed up by well-programmed synthetic drums. You can't really tell except for small parts here and there. Everything together, though, and there is zero cause for complaint. They pull of some great melodies and some emotional moments despite the backing of a computer. Seriously, these guys sound great.
You've got two songs here for free download. Pick them up if you're a fan of Heaven In Her Arms, Envy, To Overflow Evidence, or Nervous Light of Sunday. These guys are definitely a band to watch!
The Last Place are an emotional hardcore band from Saitama. They just dropped a new demo for 2012 on bandcamp and it's pretty dang good. Let me explain what I mean by emotional hardcore though, cause that means a lot of different things to different people. These guys take a line from Endzweck and Nervous Light of Sunday. Maybe melodic metalcore is a better description? Ah, who cares; it's really good. There are two songs here, as well as 3 songs from their 2011 demo. Really good tracks with good melodies. Did I mention the free download?
I could only find one video on youtube, which is pretty unfortunate because it has HORRIBLE live sound. It's drums and vocals and nothing else, and these guys melodies are one of the best things about this music. Just listen to the bandcamp while you watch this video on mute. That might be the best thing.
I've probably mentioned it, pop-punk isn't really my thing, especially the Snuffy Smile variant. But occasionally a band will come along that I like from that genre. Minority Blues Band, for instance, or as we can see here, Leeway. Now Leeway isn't 100% Japanese, half of the band are foreigners, but they fit right in with that whole scene. Great, female-fronted pop-punk that has great melodies, is played perfectly, and totally makes you feel young again.
The EP I'm talking about here is their new one, being pressed on vinyl shortly (or already? or CD?). It's a follow-up to their first album, Tin Cans Calling Home, which is also fabulous. Unfortunately this will probably be the last output of the band, since Ingrid (guitar/vocals) is leaving Japan this year. Hopefully they'll keep going, because the band shows so much promise.
With the resurgence of 90's emo in the States, in the form of Algernon Cadwallader and the like, Japan has definitely taken notice. Which is good, because it's given us the blessing of the marvelous Malegoat. But now we can add another infinitely fun 90's emo-esque band to our Japanese list with the new Off Season EP.
Hailing from Okinawa, this 4 piece hangs out with other Okinawan bands like Unripe and The Cops Are Inside Us, but seem much more comfortable in the screamy-singy emo scene. Watching their videos, it seems like they've really picked up the pace with these newer songs and have a much more energetic sound now (which I definitely prefer). Their sound is pretty similar to Malegoat or Algernon Cadwallader, a very upbeat, twinkly emo that makes you want to jump up and down and sing along. It's really great, and probably one of the funnest bands out of Japan at the moment.
They've put up their three song EP for a free download (!) so get it and send them a like. Here's a video from last year which is quite a bit more mellow than their new stuff.
First, an explanation. I didn't really want to write a separate post for each one of these, because there's only one song on each bandcamp. However, they're all pretty cool so I did want to write about them. So this is sort of like a grab bag thing with three unrelated bands. Anyways, let's just dive in.
Chikuwashinachikuchikuwa (I'll call them Chiku for short) seems to play shows with all sorts of different bands: Loyal To the Grave, Arbus, even A Soulless Pain (who I will get to shortly). From that, I would expect breakdowns, melodic riffage, and some guy yelling his head off. Instead, they play a long-form of post-metal mixed with post-rock. I guess the easiest description is Pelican mixed with Envy, but there's something else. Their melodies don't immediately remind me of anyone, which is pretty cool. On their bandcamp they've presented the second of two tracks from their demo. I'm really interested to hear the first song, because the second is really unique.
A Soulless Pain is supposed to be on Last Fort Records, at least that's what their bandcamp looks like, but I can't find any releases by them. Anyways, Last Fort is responsible for bands like To Overflow Evidence and Arbus, so their stuff usually straddles the line between metalcore and screamo. Melodic hardcore? Who knows. A Soulless Pain fits perfectly in there, reminding me of Naiad a lot, with those beautiful melodies stuck into metalcore songs. A Soulless Pain does it really well with good melodies and a great song overall. Only one track here, unfortunately, but hopefully they'll put up more later.
Sunday Document is probably my favorite of these three, but also don't really fit with the other two stylistically. Hmm... I'm listening and trying to think of how to describe this band. Maybe a mix between Bluebeard, Atata, and Malegoat? There's another band that this really reminds me of, but I can't remember them for the life of me. They've got equal parts poppy emo rock and really solid guitar rock. God, it just meshes so perfectly. Inspirational emo rock sounds horribly stupid, but that's what this makes me feel like. It's really bright and optimistic. The songs are a perfect length at around 3 minutes and keep it really interesting the whole way through. Unfortunately the two songs here are not downloadable, but they do have an EP of 6 songs that's only 500yen. Now where can I find that?
I found this months ago, and just now listening to it again. Maaaaaaaan, this is so good. It's like the best of instrumental rock with a very... metropolitan feel. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it reminds me of when I was a kid and we would go to the really hip part of town where there were old stone houses and lots of trees. The parks would have the coolest things to play on, like a dragon that was made out of little ceramic tile pieces. The music just makes it feel like everything is alright and it's a beautiful day outside (it's not).
This is a four track EP, and MOMA has had the foresight to let you buy it on bandcamp (it's only 3 bucks, you cheapskate). The song Lyrics really hits me, especially when the cello comes in. Each song is just really well put together and great fun to listen to.
The band seems to still be together and even has a live set on the bandcamp as well from last year. They've added another member to fill out their live sets. Most of the recordings have two guitar tracks, so I'm sure it helps them when they play out.
I thought this would fit perfectly in this week. I don't really cover much metal on the blog. Part of that is because I don't know too much about it, but the other part is because there isn't that much underground metal in Japan. I'm sure I'm wrong in saying that, and some Japanese metal know-it-all is going to post on here and tell me how wrong I am (actually, please do). But from where I'm sitting, it sure seems that way. Japan has its share of power metal, but post-metal? Black shoegaze (as I like to call it)? It's pretty slim pickings.
So imagine my surprise when I found teratocarcinoma, who play a pretty depressing form of post-rock infused with black metal. This stuff is really good too. Only one guy is responsible for all the instruments, but it sounds really cohesive and just totally works. It was just the thing to bring dark clouds into my sunny morning. Highly recommended for fans of Deafheaven, Alcest, or Les Discrets.
Time to X up, boys and girls, and get your dancing shoes on. It's moshing time! Today we're listening to Capture the Sky, who have so graciously put a bunch of their music up on bandcamp for us (including free downloads!). I won't pretend to know a ton about this stuff. Usually I only listen to Japanese metalcore, because it sounds different from American or European metalcore. Capture the Sky is definitely more American influenced, but I can hear some of my Japanese favorites as well.
The first point of departure for Capture the Sky's melodic metalcore is definitely Hopesfall. Their melodies are very progressive and even their breakdowns have a strong melodic overtone to them. There's no singing, just lots of gang vocals and growling. It also really reminds me of Naiad, and I actually think that's probably the biggest influence, especially on their Demo EP. So, if either of those bands sound good to you, definitely check these guys out. There are three demo/eps up on bandcamp and two have free downloads. That's a nice chunk!
Here's a pretty rad video of them at Shinjuku Anti-Knock:
Forms of Talk is a new band out of Tokyo, 2/3 non-Japanese (or gaijin). They run in the same circles in Tokyo as From Ten To Nine, Asthenia, and Document Not Found. Two weeks ago they released their first cassette, but also had the foresight to put it up on bandcamp as well, which is great for us that don't live over there. You can even name your own price!
I don't have a lot of background in this sort of dissonant, post-punk stuff, so I had John from The Song of Delight help me out. I'm just going to paste our conversation:
John:
its a very 90s emotive hardcore vibe for me, Shotmaker or something like that
honestly getting a huge Ambassador 990 vibe
So there you have it, folks. 90s emotive hardcore. It pretty much hits the nail on the head, I think. It reminded me a lot of Union of Snakes, just as my most recent reference. It's good and has a fat recording. It's seems like the band's only been together for a few months now, so I'm excited to see what they do next. If this sounds like something you're interested in, you should definitely check it out.
I picked this demo up recently, and totally enjoyed the epic, metal-influenced screamo hardcore mashup. It's really hard to describe wombscape in words other than that. At each part of their songs, they're playing a different style than the previous part. It all comes together over the length of their two songs on this demo. It kind of reminds me of this old band Womb, which is, y'know, part of this band's name. Kinda weird.
I think the model setup here is totally ingenious. I've often struggled with a way to get Japanese demos available outside of Japan. Usually bands are selling them for 200-300 yen (around 3 bucks), which is hardly even worth the shipping over here. If I were to try and get them wholesale, the band would essentially have to give them to me for free for me to sell them at a reasonable cost. Web-based distribution, like Bandcamp, for demos makes more sense in order to get your music out to people who aren't able to come to your shows.
With that being said, you can grab this demo for 2 bucks American, which is a steal. One of the songs is listenable on bandcamp, but the other only comes with a purchase. The second song is a lot longer than the first, at around 9 minutes, so you're getting a chunk of music. And actually, the second song is a lot more epic and post rock-ish, with a little later-Deftones-like vocals, which I am 100% behind. Pick this up, it's a nice view of a Japanese band doing something a little different.
Midnight Parade has definitely been making the rounds. They've released stuff on Say Hello to Never Records, Further Platonix, even showing up on the Love the Fate compilation. So, they've definitely been busy and all, but I have none of these and had never heard them before. So, on top of my normal pleasure at finding a Japanese band with uploaded songs on bandcamp, I finally get to hear a band that has been on all those distro pages for so long.
The songs available on bandcamp are scattered, only one is off a release I could find available. Still, there's 3 studio tracks and 2 live tracks, and you can get a good sense of their sound. They have a bit of a Toe influence with the instrumentation, a little 3cm tour in some of the songs, and something else that I can't think of. Each song is plenty long and goes through lots of different moods before their epic endings. My favorite song of the three is 8cm先の憂鬱, which has a more aggressive tone than the others, and definitely reminds me of 3cm tour, or maybe Birth.
Check them out, and get their releases if you can. Now I have to add them to my list of stuff to buy in those intermittent orders to Japanese distros. Man, wouldn't it be great if there was a distro in the US that was trying to bring over Japanese stuff...
I have to say though, this video below, which was one made for the release of the unripe split, is so frickin' boring. These guys are just standing around, only playing their instruments. No emotion guys? Oh well, the music's good, so that's fine, I guess.
I'm not going to embed all these songs (they're all listed separately), so you can just visit the link below:
I never want to be one of those old guys, desperately holding onto the music that they loved in their teenage years. I always want to keep looking for new things and evaluating new sounds. There's always those people saying the music that "kids these days" are listening to is just noise, and I really don't want to be that way (unless it really is noise, and I'm totally cool with that).
But, listening to September December really reminds me of high school, when The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World were putting out their greatest albums. It's just that great nostalgic feeling that pulls me back. Sure the sound is updated and September December adds in bits of that Japanese flavor, but there's that undeniable feeling of optimism that can only honestly exist before real life has been confronted (how's that for cynicism?).
I couldn't find any videos or anything else, but they've upped their demo onto Bandcamp, and it's really, really good. Just take a listen and remember back to those earlier days (or maybe your current days or whatever) when life was good and you had no responsibilities.
I am just not doing great with my schedule this week. Hopefully none of you guys are checking this blog at 12:01pm and getting disappointed by my laziness. If you are, then I'm sorry (ps. get a life).
Today we're going to listen to Gauge Means Noth... oh... um.... Atari. We're going to listen to Atari. Sorry, got a little confused there. Well, when a band lists Gauge Means Nothing (GMN) as their biggest influence, you know you're getting something interesting. To their credit, Atari really nails it. And they nail it in the right sense.
What makes GMN so special and amazing is the refusal to cater to trends, only playing what they want. Other bands will fade with time as their sound is dated and rehashed, but GMN will always stand out as unique as when they were still playing. There won't ever be another GMN, no matter if a band tries or not.
So, we have Atari here, and they definitely sound like GMN. Essentially, if GMN had created a genre then Atari would be in the same genre for sure. There is some similar parts between the two, but I think Atari reflects the spirit of GMN even more than the sound. This is reflected in some of the parts that are almost more grind or d-beat, definitely not what GMN ever did but still feeling similar. It's that mad mixing of genres and moods that made GMN so special and unique, and I think it makes Atari pretty special and unique themselves.
They've put up two songs on their bandcamp that have nice studio recordings, and the songs are pretty badass. There's another song on their myspace, but the new songs on the bandcamp are the best, in my opinion.
Check them out and hopefully the band will be releasing this stuff physically somewhere! Here's a video of them playing recently:
