Where to Start: Japanese Emo

     I guess the logical step from Screamo would be to look at the Japanese emo scene. Right off the bat, I'd like to say that I don't know a ton about the emo scene. I enjoy the music and try to do my best to keep up with current stuff, but my tr00 passion is screamo stuff.
     For anyone who doesn't know what I mean by emo, since it's a completely arbitrary word and applying it to bands is completely subjective, I'm talking about stuff that is influenced by bands like Mineral, Knapsack, Deep Elm bands, stuff like that. I'm not interested in arguing the term, just check out these cool bands.

     Cool kids use the Emo tag to browse my site for Japanese emo bands.

Intro:
     As far as I can tell, emo came to Japan at around the early 90's. Bloodthirsty Butchers was one of the earliest bands, releasing their first album in 1990. Eastern Youth changed their sound from punk/oi to bring in a lot more emo influences in the early 90's. [Note: those bands are both huge, so I'm not going to bother mentioning them otherwise.] Dignity For All was one of the breakout bands in the late 90's, doing a split with Jejune which was release in the USA by BigWheelRecreation. Naht was another, touring Japan with Fugazi, Bluetip, and Burning Airlines, and even doing a North American tour in early 2000. From there, the sound spread throughout Japan with bands popping up all over. Lately, there has been a bit of a resurgence with the "jangly" emo sound, ala Cap'n Jazz & Algernon Cadwallader.
     Pretty notable at this point is documentary made in 2000 on emo (and other styles) in the Japanese scene. It was directed by a fledgling film maker and features the more prominent bands in Tokyo at the time, especially those that spoke some English. Check it out here: Tokyo Below.

Starting Point - Bluebeard

     Bluebeard started playing around the mid to late 90's. There's honestly almost no information on them to be found, so I don't know that much. They released a 7" in 1999, a split with Nine Days Wonder the same year, and their amazing self-titled EP in 2001. After they broke up, the guitarist/vocalist formed As Meias and the other guitarist went on to play in Naht and Turtle Island. Here's a Japanese page with a sort of history of the band.

What to listen to:

     Their self-titled EP from 2001 is their swan song. 9 tracks of perfectly executed, dreamy emo with sustained vocals playing over dreamy guitars. I've never gotten tired of these songs, which is really rare.

Where to get it:

     Nowhere, really. I post their EP here, so you can listen and view the art, but it has been sold out for many years. The CD may occasionally pop up on Yahoo! Auctions, but you'd have to grab it fast.

What to watch:

     Bluebeard @ Shimokitazawa Shelter (1997)
     Bluebeard Studio Live (1998)
     Bluebeard PV (2000)

Next - Sora

     Sora started out as a screamo band in the early 2000's. I saw them play a studio show in 2003, it was one of their first, and were the perfect openers for After Forever and Gauge Means Nothing. After their first demo, they replaced their screaming with singing, but kept their intense and melancholic melodies. The result is some of the most interesting and ground-breaking music coming out in the past decade. Their sound has not (can not?) be replicated and their breakup in 2012 nearly brought me to tears. A one of a kind band that will never get it's fair share of popularity.

What to listen to:

     It's a tough call. I would say to listen to their final album first, because it's my favorite, but their preceding EP's might better prepare the listener to appreciate the last album. For simplicity's sake, check out their first tracks when they converted to singing, from their 4-way split on Impulse Records.

Where to get it:

     Sora's final album is available to non-Japanese through CDJapan at an incredibly reasonable price. With shipping, I think it was $20USD even, which is a steal for Japanese CD's. You can also check out the rest of their discography at The Song Of Delight blog.

What to watch:

     Sora @ WARP (2010)
     Sora @ Nagoya Club Rock'N'Roll (2012)
     Sora "灯台の上で待つ" Release tour movie

Next - Balloons

     Balloons started playing in the mid-90's, but didn't release their first album until 2003 on Stiff Slack. In 2005 they did a two-week tour of the East Coast USA, which coincided with a re-release of their debut album on 31knots' label 54º40' or Fight!  Since then, they're released two more albums in Japan, jumping to different labels for each one. They're currently pretty big in Japan, for an independent band, headlining shows with Toe and the like.

What to listen to:

     Definitely their first album, 9:40 p.m. It is a solid, timeless masterpiece dedicated to angular, mathy emo. From there, though, I'm not really sure. I haven't got a chance to hear their later albums, so I can't vouch for the quality. Still, anything you can get your hands on will be good.

Where to get it:

     You can listen to a limited selection at Balloons' Bandcamp from their early releases. CDJapan has all but their earliest releases for sale. You can check out their debut album here on the blog.

What to watch:

     Balloons @ UNIT (2011)
     Balloons @ UNIT (2011)
     Balloons - Intensity PV (2010)
     Balloons @ ERA (2004)

Next - Curve

     Curve was a two piece for much of their existence, only gaining a third member with their most recent album. They've also had quite a bit of exposure throughout the world, touring through Malysia/Singapore and appearing an a split in the USA. They started playing in the early 2000's, and always reminded me of early Jimmy Eat World. Their more recent sound brings in some post-rock elements and the songs get seriously epic.

What to listen to:

     Curve has definitely been around the block, and have at least 3 full lengths you could check out. I say to start at the best (in my opinion), Till The End, which was released last year from Impulse Records.

Where to get it:

     You can buy Till The End from CDJapan. There's a couple of things posted on my blog, the best being their single from 2003. And you can get their 6-way split on Bear Records at the MeatCube store.

What to watch:

     Curve @ ERA (2012)
     Curve @ Shinjuku Nine Spices (2011)
     Curve Live (2010)
     Curve Acoustic @ Senseless Records (2009)

Shake Your Tambourine - Issue 3

Another awesome Japanese zine from the early/mid 2000's. This one has an interview with toe, a history of Japanese hardcore group Foodchain, some reviews, and some stuff from American emo acts of the time. Check it out!

Shake Your Tamborine - Issue 3

[Bandcamp] Saisa - 1st EP [2011]

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!

Saisa - 1st EP

1. Faith In Ordinary

2. Little Light Way

3. Lycoris

[Bandcamp] Lop Abuse On Somebody - Sanctify / Toy [2012]

Wow. Lop Abuse On Somebody are from Osaka and play really aggressive instrumental rock. I hesitate to say post-rock, because that implies lots of delay and slow build ups (to me anyways). These guys don't waste time on their songs, getting to the good parts immediately and then pushing them all the way into explosive crescendos at just the right moments. God, just listening to the first minute of Toy is just so satisfying. Ah... okay. I'll stop now. Sanctify is more laid back and pretty Toe-ish, but so, so good. These guys just really know how to craft some great songs.

These are their first two singles and they're free to download, so go ahead and grab them! Here's a trailer for both:

Lop Abuse On Somebody - 2 Singles

1. Sanctify

2. Toy

[Bandcamp] Carpool - Golden Summer [2012]

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:

Carpool - Golden Summer

01. xxxx 

02. GOLDEN SUMMER 

03. ロックンロール 

04. だけ 

05. しあわせになろう 

06. とびっきり 

07. 僕はヒッピー 

08. メン募 

09. あいさつ 

[Bandcamp] Float down the Liffey - sunnydays e.p. [2012]

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:

Float down the Liffey - sunnydays e.p.

1. fade to blue

2. white blur

3. sunnydays

4. argyi

VA - Nameless Flames [2003]

I can't remember where this came from. Maybe I bought it in Japan? This compilation has a very eclectic mix of bands, from wild thrash to dreamy shoegaze. Some of the "bigger" names on this comp are Deep Slauter, who toured the States in 2007, and Snore, who are similar to Deep Slauter. Crap, there's just a lot of different stuff on here. I don't have much inside knowledge into this comp, so just give it a try.

Here's some Deep Slauter:

VA - Nameless Flames

1. Deep Slauter - Peeping

2. Deep Slauter - A Full Stop

3. Fakestarfakes - Can I Close My Eyes To Sweet

4. Fakestarfakes - God Stays

5. ExVxS - New Word

6. ExVxS - Nauseating Sight

7. Slick - After The Deep Grief

8. Slick - Leave Tracks

9. Remainasit - 見つからない

10. Remainasit - Byeture

11. BxQx Idol - DxMxNxG

12. BxQx Idol - 有象無象

13. BxQx Idol - インチキジャスティス

14. BxQx Idol - ExLxD

15. Guernica - Kings

16. Chavo - Meaning

17. Chavo - Fuck All

18. Chavo - I Was At A Loss For Words

19. Weatherroll - Asayake Meets My Cartain

20. Zillion - 断

21. Zillion - 研ぐのは誰か、使うは我か

22. Zillion - 散乱の中心

23. Zillion - 人人人

24. Snore - 空白

25. Snore - 美しい物に心を蓴われてそこに在る哀しみに耳を傾けようともしない

Fragments - Let It Go [2006]

Fragments is sort of a super-group, but not what you would expect from any of the members. Spalding, from Minoritybluesband, fronts the band on guitar and vocals. Aki, from Forgetmenot, Off-End, Conception, Impulse Records, plays drums. Both of those guys are playing slightly different styles, but for Fragments they don't really meet in the middle. Instead they play folk-ish indie rock that reminds me of a less country Chamberlain. This is really, really laid back stuff; it has a definite calming effect.

They released a full album on Impulse Records, but have since quit playing. Spalding is in What-A-Nights now, and Aki continues to play in one thousand bands (exaggerating). Check this out for something a little different from some scene legends!

Buy it Here!

Fragments - Let It Go

1. Undecided

2. Motherly Sea

3. Some Jingle Jangle Morning (Originally By Mary Lou Lord)

Butch - Break It Make It [2000]

Butch is a weird nut to crack. This is their second output on Imomushi Records. It's sort of a mix between post-hardcore and... grunge? They played in the same scene as 1000travels of Jawaharlal, whose singer contributes some vocals to one of these songs, but doesn't quite match stylistically. They released an EP after this, Green, which I also have and it is really amazing. This EP is just a little weird. There are some great tracks on here, but also some tracks that kind of confuse me. Anyways, the main guy went on to be in Strange Over the Sun. Check this out for nostalgia sake, or you may totally dig it. I'll post Green soon, cause that EP is great.

I couldn't find any videos thanks to their ungoogleable name...

Butch - Break It Make It

1. ドライヴ職人

2. MoMoGaNa

3. Farewell Circle

4. ゆうえんち

5. Pioneer under the Sun

6. インドシナ

7. Mass of Majority

[Bandcamp] LEEWAY - Sick of Nostalgia [2012]

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.

Here's a nice vid of their live show:

Leeway - Sick of Nostalgia

1. Red Paper Moon

2. Doubts Are Quiet Things

3. Small Town of the Living Dead

4. Losing Sleep

5. A Lie For My Life

6. Remember to Remember

Sense Of Identity - Self-Titled [2002]

Pretty good pop-punk / post-hardcore crossover. They're still more Snuffy Smile than they are Infro, but it's got great melodies. I know virtually nothing about the band and can't even remember how I got this. It was probably just something I randomly picked up at a record store. Anyways, try it out if you like this kind of stuff. Here's a video of them playing:

Sense of Identity - Self-Titled EP

1. To Valuable Stranger

2. Blame Me Only

3. The Back: The Course

4. Call It A Day

5. Faint Light In Pleasant Night

6. You

Nitro Mega Prayer - The Reason Of Hers Smile [2003]

Nitro Mega Prayer started releasing stuff back in the early 2000's (the earliest thing I have is from 2002) and went through several phases. I saw them play at Whoopee's in Kyoto while I was studying, and they were in their "emotional metalcore" phase. I wasn't overly impressed by the live show. The music wasn't horrible, but I remember being pretty unimpressed. Later, once I'd returned to the States, I started corresponding with the singer, Nakano, and did a trade or something. Somehow, I got copies of their split with Blue Sky Resemble Sorrow (I'll post that on Friday), and possibly this full length (it was 9 years ago. please forgive my memory).  Between the split and this album, their sound changed dramatically. Most of the members stayed the same between the two releases, but their sound became far more emotional and "screamo", I guess. What's true is that they came up with their own style, which is a weird amalgam of screamo, a little metal, and some pop-punk (the last track on this album is a cover of a NOFX song, and it still kind of sounds like NMP).

So, this album. It's definitely a classic of Japanese screamo. Nitro Mega Prayer played a huge part in the Kansai scene. Nakano worked at Kobe Club Blue Port for awhile and organized a lot of shows (including one I played with GMN, Dip Leg, Nitro Mega Prayer, Yarmulke, and Gamy). But let me be honest, this album is fricking hard for me to listen to. And there is one simple reason why: the bass is completely out of tune for the entire album. I'm sorry, but as a musician who has recorded a good amount, being out of tune is ABSOLUTELY unforgivable. If you're going to pay a chunk of money to record your music, you want your listeners to be able to hear it and enjoy it. Unless you want to be out of tune, you shouldn't be. NMP doesn't want to be out of tune, they just are. The bassist plays with a fret-less bass, and that's where all the out of tune-ness comes from. It's such a shame, because every time I listen to this album, the music is really great. They do sooooo many interesting, original things on here that no one has done before. But then there is that annoying bass that just ruins my enjoyment. Why, Japanese-God-Of-Screamo, why?

Still, this is a great album and only sets you up for the absolutely amazing things that NMP does after this. I won't be posting their following EP and split with Balboa, because you can buy them right now online (click where I linked you to). But, basically Nakano scrapped the whole band and replaced everyone. No more out of tune bass, no more drummer who wasn't so bad but had a weird style, no more guitarists who had some pretty neat ideas. Instead, he added a bunch of dudes, and most influentially, Ponchi from Gauge Means Nothing on guitar. He became the mastermind for the following songs and created some of the best Japanese screamo ever with the band.

When I was practicing the songs in preparation for playing with Gauge Means Nothing for their Malaysia tour, Ponchi sent me one or two songs that they were in the process of writing. He had recorded them all himself with just a metronome providing the tempo. I was completely floored by these songs. They were nowhere near completed, but the level of quality in the songwriting was amazing. It was different, and in some ways a lot better, than what GMN had done before and I was so excited to hear the finished product. In the end, we didn't play them on the tour, and Ponchi shortly left the band so they were never made into finished songs. But, Ponchi kept creating songs and once he got into NMP, the world got to see how amazing his songwriting was.

Here's the kind of music video for one of their newer songs:

Nitro Mega Prayer - The Reason Of Hers Smile

1. オレンジの太陽

2. 探し物

3. 近づけない

4. 窓の外の赤い景色

5. ただそう思うだけ

6. アーチ

7. 繊細すぎる笑顔

8. 運命

9. Lori Myers (NOFX cover)

[Bandcamp] Off Season - Bookmark of Travel [2012]

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.

Off Season - Bookmark Of Travel

1. Bowling Kids

2. Bookmark Of Travel

3. The World is Indeed Comic, But the Joke is On Mankind

Dig A Hole - The Cost of Digging EP [1998]

I've had this sitting on my computer for awhile, just been procrastinating. Here is the earliest recording I have from Dig A Hole. It's pretty much what you would expect from them, noisy post-hardcore/post-punk from the late 90's. They were one of the few bands around at the time doing this sort of stuff. Their contemporaries in Tokyo (Wall, Swipe) and Sapporo (Next Style, Dignity For All) were pursuing a similar sound, but in totally different places. The scene in Japan was not so closely knit back then, so I'm not sure how much those bands played together despite having similar sounds.

When I scanned this art in, I saw that they have actually released another album. This means my "Dig a Hole" collection isn't complete (sadface). Tag Rag released it, but I don't know of a really good way of finding old shit in Japan other than being over there and scouring used CD places. Well, I prefer Dig a Hole's later stuff anyways, so maybe it's not a total loss. Apologies to Arthur for it taking so long for me to post this!

Dig A Hole - The Cost of Digging EP

1. My Habit of Saying

2. Words Eye

3. Instant Life

4. Recirc

5. One (Live)

[Bandcamp] A Soulless Pain / Sunday Document / ちくわしなちくちくわ grab bag

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?

[Bandcamp] MOMA - MOMA [2009]

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.

Seriously, get this now:

Toe - Re:Designed [2003]

After Toe's amazing debut, Songs, Ideas We Forgot, they followed it up with a remix album which, in my opinion, is the best thing they ever did. Something about the clinical precision of their music lends itself so much to electronic remixes. Of course, the EP isn't all remixes. You also get 3 fresh new tracks which continue to amaze as only Toe can.

I can't write anything else about Toe, sorry... So tired. Get this now.

Toe - Re:Designed

1. I Dance Alone (Light on Light mix)

2. Yoru Wa Akeru (re:dsgn.d)

3. Leave Word (Cigarette Papers mix)

4. Path

5. Past And Language (re:dsgn.d)

6. Velvet Blanc

7. Past And Language

24 page - Kotonakarehibi [2003]

When I was studying in Japan, I would spend hours every night in the computer lab, following link pages, finding new bands. I would usually find 2-3 bands a night, and catalogue them somewhere to remember them. Not many had audio samples, usually just those mobile sites with almost no information other than a band name. One band did have sound samples, and a show coming up soon in Osaka. That band was 24ページ, who we'll just call 24 page hereafter (technically it would be "page 24", cause when they're in a classroom and say "Turn to page 24" they would use the term 24ページ. But, that changes the flow of the name, so 24 page works better for me).

I attended the show at the smallest club I'd ever been to (I can't remember the name, but I have a ticket at home). At the door they asked which band I'd come to see. I said 24 page, and the doorman marked a single tick in the blank area under the band's name. I'd heard of this practice before, but it never happened at any of the other shows I went to. Descending into the basement, I came into a room that was about double my bedroom. Seriously, the place was about 1500 sq. ft. with even a little bar and sound engineer corner. I stood in a corner and tried to make myself inconspicuous, which was hard being the only white guy there.

24 page finally played, 2 guys and a girl on keyboards and guitars with a drum machine providing the rhythm. It was heavenly and amazing, a complete contrast to the grimy neighborhood I'd passed through. For about 20 minutes I experienced their set. In some ways it was raw, but not like I usually use that word. It was raw like early Beatles would be raw, like an unrestrained pop genius. These simple but deep electro-pop songs totally hit the spot with me.

I stayed for the other bands, and then left. On the street outside the club, one of the guitarists from 24 page motioned to me. He asked if I had come to see them (I guess since I was the only one, the doorman told him it was me), and we talked for a bit. I bought their demo (will post that later) and we traded some contact information. They seemed really excited. I wasn't really sure if it was because someone that they didn't know had come to see them, or because I was a foreigner.

We kept in contact and after I returned to the States and started my distro, I carried some copies of this release, which was their first EP. Here are seven tracks of laid back electro-pop with soothing melodies. This is perfect music to chill to, sleep to, drink to, whatever.

Surprisingly (I had a WTF moment), their new album is available on Amazon, and probably iTunes. If you dig these tracks you could do more wrong than to buy their album and support these guys:

Buy 24page-Self-Titled at Amazon MP3

24ページ - 事勿れの日々

1. はじめに

2. 事勿れ主義

3. 午前四時に

4. 解決しない

5. メトロノーム

6. Flashback

7. 大いなる遺産

New Stuff in the Distro!

I don't mention my distro as much as I think maybe I should, but this past week or so has been really good with new stuff and I thought it would be cool to bring up some of the new releases in there that you can get your hands on RIGHT NOW. So without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the new Japanese stuff I've got:

Madpress / In the Unknown split CD - $8.00

Two of the best epic screamo bands in Japan today. Madpress has a very strong Forget me not vibe, but are a little more aggressive with it. In the Unknown plays similar, but have a different feel to their melodies. Overall, this has really been one of my favorite releases of 2012 (even though it came out in 2011). When I was able to get this in the distro, I literally girl-screamed with joy. Do yourself a huge favor and get this now.

Midnight Parade / Kitten split CD - $8.00

You may remember Midnight Parade from when I wrote about them a few weeks ago. This is their newest release and offers up two more of their post-rock influenced emo songs. Kitten shares members with Document Not Found and Stereo Type, and play some very angular and frenetic screamo. This CD just comes together so well with both bands contributing stellar songs and blowing away my expectations.

 Tetola93 / Visyaaa split CD - $8.00

I don't think I hide my love of Tetola93, but if I didn't mention it yet today: I love Tetola93. They're just so extreme, playing with so much passion and originality, it's everything that is right about music. This is their newest output and arguably their best songs to date. I usually call them a mashup of Killie and Louise Cyphre, but I feel like there's more to it (there is). Regardless, if you like loudish music, Tetola93 could be your next favorite band. They split the disc with Visyaaa, who play some wild thrash done really well.

 Breaking Concept Vol. 01 - 5 way split CD - $9.00

5 amazing bands playing in 5 distinct styles. This disc is great not only because of the quality of each band, but because it totally mixes it up. Sort of like a compilation, but more tracks from each band so they really sink in. FLEX play have a sort of DC-style emotional hardcore, but updated to 2011 (when this was release). Nothing, nothing, nothing have former members of Next Style & Dignity For All and play a more Ebullition influenced late-90's emotional hardcore style. Blue Ray Dance play that San Diego wild screamo sound, ala Swing Kids. TG.Atlas play angular post-hardcore, influenced by The Jesus Lizard. And finally, Threadyarn remind me of that Sapporo screamo sound, ala The Carnival of Dark-Split. Overall, really good stuff here for everybody.

And that's not all the new stuff, I just didn't want to make this post too long. Here are some more things I've stocked recently:

• Phone / Tetola93 / Ao Split CD - $8.00
• VA - It's All Really There Compilation CD - $6.00
• Dying In Motion / Years Passing / Fair Root / S-Explode split LP - $8.00
• Malegoat - To Face The Music Cassette - $4.00
• Midnight Parade / Unripe Split CD - $8.00
• VA - Hate Yourself And Love The Fate Compilation CD - $8.00
• Detrytus - Blind Fields CD - $8.00
• Low-Pass - Trimurti Cassette - $4.00

Bed - Turn It Off [2007]

Oh look! It's a Japanese band with a really simple name! Surprise surprise. I really can't wait to move to Japan so I can start a band. I was think of naming it "Is." Well, there might be some copyright infringement thing with Was, but surely past tense and present tense is different enough, right?

Anyways, Bed was another random order from a few years ago. I didn't know anything about the band, but was just grabbing anything unheard from Oto Records' distro. What a frickin find this was. With such a simple name, you don't always expect the most, but bed delivers on so many subtle levels. It could be argued that there aren't many world-class emo bands in Japan. Toe comes to mind immediately, maybe Malegoat. I would say that Bluebeard's pronunciation is too bad and Curve's voice too whiny to stand up next to their counterparts. But Bed is certainly on that level.

Here they offer their first three songs, full of smooth, jazzy emo. You can tell Karate is a big influence, by the jazziness and rhythmic quality of the music. But beyond that, there is just such a nice cohesiveness to the music. Nothing is jarring or sounds out of place. Even when the band gets slightly heavy, it still just feels so right.

I haven't cared much for Bed's output after this. It isn't bad, but it just doesn't approach how amazing and out-of-nowhere this EP was. Maybe I'm just super picky and only want bands to record short outputs and then break up and be completely unheard. Yeah, I think I'm just a sadistic bastard after all...

Bed - Turn It Off

1. おとしもの

2. Immovable Guy's Salvation

3. Ain't Nobody (Past And Present)