THE NOVEMBERS - Misstopia

Blog revival! New song from the Novembers!
Love the sound of it, though it's undeniable that the melody is quite streamlined and poppy. It reminds me a lot of "philia", first track off their last release. Beautiful layers of sound~ The video fits the song perfectly. I love this band.

New album "Misstopia" will be released March 10th.


http://www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

sleepy.ab - メロウ

New music video for the track "mellow" from sleepy.ab's upcoming album "paratroop". The album will be released November 25th, and it's the band's major debut. Personally I don't think this song is as exciting as the previously released song "Aquarium", but it's still fairly good.

【MyX 09.11】sleepy.ab / メロウ

MyX | MySpace Video

http://www.myspace.com/sleepyab

The band has also been selected as MyX's band of the month for november. An interview and a live clip will be added to the site later this month.
http://www.myspace.com/myxjp

sokabe keiichi band - present

New single from sokabe keiichi band. I tell you, Keiichi Sokabe is one productive man. The band released their second album earlier this year, before that the single "hoshi", then the EP "minna no uta" then a live dvd. Plus various releases and remixes as a solo artist, playing solo, playing festivals with the Rendevouz Band, long touring with the band, reuniting with Sunny Day Service and doing some live shows with them, releasing a book (although only containing previously released song lyrics). He also runs a café in Shimokitazawa called City Country City, and the label Rose records etc etc. Plus he has a wife and at least 3 kids. I have to wonder how he finds the time to do it all?

Anyways, enough of my babble (rant continues below), here's the video for "present". The single was also released on a limited edition 7" vinyl. 500 copies personally decorated by Sokabe himself.


It's a cute and catchy song, but not unlike the latest album "happiness!" I'm starting to think that the songs have become a bit too soft. They don't make as much of a strong impression on me as the earlier songs have. I think it might be because it's become a bit too sunny and rosy red in the sokabe universe. By all means should the man be allowed his happiness, but I'm just saying... Not saying that the self-proclaimed "king of mellow rock" should be miserable, I love that feel good-atmosphere that sokabe keiichi band has, but if you compare to the first album of theirs "kira kira!" it simply has better songs, like the title track, "umi to autobai" or my favourite track "yume miru youni nemuritai". There's a stronger nerve in these songs, I think. Either that, or the problem is that I'm miserable.

"hoshi" got my hopes up for the second album, but it did not turn out to be representative of the rest of the album. "Pure & True" and "nagai yoru" are quite good though. I read in an interview that Sokabe wanted to focus more on the live aspect of the music for the second album, so that could definitely have something to do with the outcome. Their live shows are always incredibly fun. Also, he might be saving up some songs for the Sunny Day Service comeback. Who knows. At his rate there'll probably be at least 50 more albums released before he retires.

Speaking of releases, the cover album "Sokabe Sings" that was previously only available for sale at his solo tour around new years will be released on Dec. 4th, containing covers of the Beatles, the Pixies, the Velvet Underground and Madonna(!) among others.

This post got a bit longer than intended, so if you made it this far here's the video for "nagai yoru".

about tess + LITE

I discovered this band called about tess through mixi. Twin drums, twin bass and twin guitars. Pretty cool.



http://www.myspace.com/abouttess

Kind of reminds me of LITE, although LITE seem to have shifted direction a bit since last time. From their new EP "Turns Red":




http://www.myspace.com/liteband

Psysalia Psysalis Psyche - Titan Arum

Music video from their first album "Matin Brun" which will be released Oct. 21st, but which has already been released on iTunes. The single "midunburi", previously posted here, is also on the album.


View video here: http://psysaliapsysalispsyche.com/
(it might take a while to load)

To be honest, I have no idea what to make of this. That goes for both track and video. Their sound has changed. A lot.
I've listened to the samples of the album tracks on iTunes too, and except for a few tracks it sounds a lot different from their previous EP. In "Take Me Out" they seem to have kept that raw sound from before though. The album also features a new version of "Butch & Sundance Kid". I'm not going to make a judgement on the album based on 30 second samples, but I've become a bit sceptic...

http://www.myspace.com/psysalia

plenty - 「ボクのために歌う吟」

New up and coming band called plenty. Apparently they're quite young (20y) and are just about to release their first album, but they've been invited to play as opening act, along with the Novembers, for Art-School on their "14 Souls Tour". Not bad at all. Art-School are pretty big on the indie scene in Japan. At least among the indie kids. Personally I'm not a big fan, but I think it's safe to say that a lot of people (read: everyone) who likes the Novembers also likes Art-School, and I think plenty will appeal to the same group. Indierock mixed with a good portion of melancholy. I quite like this song (called "boku no tame ni utau gin"). The album 「拝啓。皆さま」(haikei. mina-sama) is released on Oct. 21st.

Ogre You Asshole - Headlight

New music video from OYA's upcoming album "Fog Lamp" which will be released Oct. 7th. Cool song. Very unusual for a single, I think, especially compared to "Pinhole" which was very poppy. This one's pretty catchy too though. Strange and funny video.

Karen - Enemy

Music video for "Enemy" from Karen's 2nd album "Sunday Girl In Silence" which was released at the end of August. I have their first record "Maggot In Tears" and although I have to admit that it's not the most exciting album, I think it has a lot of good tracks. This video promises well for the new album too, although it doesn't seem like they've evolved a whole lot. I like the more experimental instrumentation.

The band includes members from Art-School and downy, but I think the vocalist, Achiko, deserves all the credit. I love her voice. A talented singer and she's really charismatic live.

http://www.myspace.com/KARENofficial



a couple of tracks off the first album:

sleepy.ab - Aquarium

Before, I didn't get the thing with this band, but I saw them live a couple of months ago, (they were playing with Karen among others) and I thought they were quite good. Still, I had not listened to them again until I stumbled over this video now. I think it's interesting how music that I did not have any interest in whatsoever before, suddenly sounds really good.

Some of the songs remind me a lot of Radiohead, others have a more post-rock style like Sigur Rós. I like the mellow, tender songs, and the vocalist's voice is beautiful. The songs might sound a bit too similar in the long run though, but I'm going to check them out more. "Aquarium" is their latest single I believe.

Psysalia Psysalis Psyche - Midunbri

New music video from Psysalia Psysalis Psyche for their new single "Midunbri" which will be released on August 5th.

You can also hear samples of the other tracks on the single on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/psysalia

edit: You can buy "Midunbri" at HearJapan.

I first heard Psysalia when they performed at an all night event in Shibuya. The sound was crap, and I wasn't overly impressed by their live performance, but I liked their energetic kick-ass rock. A pretty hard sound, I guess, but still melodic and cool.

I have theory that the reason they were a bit docile on stage might have something to do with the fact that they were slightly drunk. Japanese bands usually stick to good ol' water when they play, but because it was an all night event and all. They were at least dead drunk afterwards - but hey, all the more fun. The vocalist wrapped himself in Christmas lights and went crazy on the dancefloor.

Their mini album "Psysalism" which came out last year is really cool, and I think they have potential to get even better.

mp3: Psysalia Psysalis Psyche - Subway Killer

homepage: http://psysaliapsysalispsyche.com/

CLISMS - GO!!!!!

I stumbled over this music video by CLISMS. It sounds really different from what I've heard of them before. Kind of post rock-ish? It's an instrumental track that lasts for over 6 minutes. Sort of slowly builds up and breaks out with a "GO!!!!!", then continues on in a very comfortable pace. Makes me want to listen to it over and over. I especially like the piano parts, and the fact that they have twin drums. The music video is nicely shot too.