Music - A-to-J Connections

Somehow, Someday, Somewhere: An Interview with Jazz Pianist Ai Kuwabara

7/25/2017

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing award-winning jazz pianist, Ai Kuwabara during her two-date tour of the US. We caught up to her at her show at The Blue Whale Bar in Little Tokyo Los Angeles and in between her crowd-rousing sets we discussed her recent album and her work musicians Steve Gadd (Eric Clapton, B.B. King, etc) and Will Lee (The CBS Orchestra, etc.). Be sure to check it out and keep an eye out for more awesome music from her in the future!

Ai Kuwabara is an award-winning jazz musician who released her first album "from here to there" in 2012 with the group ai kuwabara trio project. The following year she released her second album titled "THE SIXTH SENSE" and performed some concerts in the US to support this. Named a "genius" by AERA magazine, she also won the Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition in Kawasaki Japan. She released two more albums as ai kuwabara trio project and followed this releases by partnering with legendary musicians Steve Gadd and Will Lee for her latest album "Somehow, Someday, Somewhere". Following these US dates she will tour with both Gadd and Lee in support of this album.

Cornelius Returns With The Aptly-Titled "Mellow Waves"

7/21/2017

It's been 11 years since internationally-acclaimed musician Keigo Oyamada released an album under the name Cornelius. In that time he's worked on countless collaborative projects with musicians all over the world, but Cornelius would always be there waiting for his triumphant return to the spotlight. Enter: Mellow Waves.

Kinoco Hotel Has Something For Everyone On "Play Girl Dai Makyo"

7/20/2017

Note: this is a compilation album made up of re-recordings of older songs by the band for their 10th anniversary. At the time of writing, the reviewer was unaware of this fact.

In probably the most closed-minded decision I've ever made, I passed up on this album when it came out about a month ago because the cover made me (falsely) assume this was gonna be yet another alt-idol group riding the coattails of the already heavily-saturated alt-idol scene. Oh boy, was I wrong. (Also the cover's pretty cool, whoops)

Horror Films, Construction Sites, and Mosquitoes: An Interview with Aural Vampire

7/19/2017

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Aural Vampire at Anime Matsuri XI in Houston, Texas where they were both performing and headlining that year's rave! Being no strangers to performances in the US, there was a lot to talk about such as the formation of the group, their distinct musical sound, their unique (and creepy) songwriting process, and several funny stories that occurred during lives!

Aural Vampire is an electronica/darkwave group (sometimes duo) made up of vocalist EXO-CHIKA and DJ RAVEMAN. They released their debut album, "Vampire Ecstasy", in 2004 which featured the popular song "Freeeeze". This was followed up by "ZOLTANK" which featured other popular songs like "Hot Blood Workout" and "Darkwave Surfer". They made their US debut at Anime Matsuri in 2008 and have performed overseas many times since including a well-received tour with The Birthday Massacre. In 2012 they released the single "Soloween" which featured a full band for the first time. This band can be seen on their more recent releases "Razors on Backstreet" and their cover EP "Mimic Your Hairstyle". Along with several collaborations, such as one with visual kei band BLOOD, they recently provided a song for the video game "Let It Die".

"Dear" Marks A Return To Form For Boris

7/13/2017

In 2014, legendary experimental rock/metal band Boris dropped their LP Noise, which received relatively mixed reviews from most critics. Their second major label album was seen as a bit too clean, lacking in the punch and passion of previous Boris releases. It wasn't quite the hollow indie pop of Attention Please, but it was nowhere near the triumphant doom and sludge metal of Pink. Noise felt overall like a weird amalgamation of Boris' greatest strengths and weaknesses; we got the powerful Heavy Rain right before the critically panned pop song Taiyo no Baka (a song which I admittedly like very much, but one that doesn't fit into the Boris milieu). After Noise, Boris spent their time touring and releasing collaborative efforts with Endon (the New Noise Literacy trio of urban dance, warpath, and asia), a conclusion to their experimental series The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked, and another collaboration with famed noise artist Merzbow (Gensho). Now in 2017, Boris returns to their sludge roots with Dear, an album which almost marked the band's retirement.

Anisong World Matsuri Rocks Anime Expo 2017 with Two Amazing Concert Experiences

7/5/2017

Anime Expo really outdid themselves with the musical guests for 2017. Anisong World Matsuri was this year's stand-out event and it alone had ten musical guests for attendees to enjoy with concerts that were spread over two days. According to their website, Anisong World Matsuri operates “with a goal of delivering Japan’s anisong concerts worldwide in the highest quality” and is produced by “Japan’s leading entertainment companies”. Let's see if they met that goal!

Nitro Day Releases New MV For "Seinen Knife"

7/4/2017

Nitro Day (ニトロデイ) released their debut mini-album in February, and will be back this month with a new single/EP (it's credited as both on their website). The indie rock band channels the likes of Number Girl and AKFG on their noisy and passionate new MV Seinen Knife. Listen to to the incredible song below. Seinen Knife EP will officially release next week on July 12th.

-Justin

Boris Debuts New Track From Upcoming Album

7/2/2017

Heavy-hitting experimental outfit Boris will be dropping their 24th full-length LP Dear later on this month, and have put up a teaser track on Bandcamp for their fans to salivate over during the wait. Titled Memento Mori, the roughly five-minute track is a love letter to everything Boris has held dear over the course of their career. The booming percussion, Takeshi's vocals soaring over sinister guitar lines, it all screams pure Boris. It all leads to an epic climax which actually gives off a slight hint of mid-era Muse. The track winds down with some chilling vocals from Wata in what could only be described as a musical cliffhanger - this teaser track leaves you craving more, anticipating the next moment in the album. The album, of course, can be heard worldwide on July 14th. You can pre-order Dear HERE, as well as hear both Memento Mori and the previous teaser track Absolutego.

-Justin

DAOKO and Kenshi Yonezu Announce Collaboration for Anime Theme Song

6/27/2017

Reported via the official Oricon website early Wednesday morning, it had been announced that female rapper DAOKO and singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu will be performing the theme song for Iwai Shunji’s much-anticipated film, Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? The song, entitled ‘Uchiage Hanabi’ (Fireworks), was written, composed and produced by Yonezu, with the two performing the song as a duet. A short preview can be found below.

Rockin' It: An Interview with X4

6/19/2017

Recently we attended FanimeCon 2017 in San Jose, CA and we had the pleasure of interviewing music Guest of Honor, X4! We discussed everything from their formation, their recent album, and their time at Fanime. Their answers were fun and unique and we hope that everyone supports them in their future efforts!

X4 is a five-member vocal and dance unit that is lead by Yuya Matsushita who previously attended Fanime as a guest in 2011. They originally debuted as a four-member group in 2015 and released their first major album "Funk, Dunk, Punk" in 2016. This album broke into the top ten on the Oricon charts and they followed this album with another in March of this year titled "Xross Mate". From the group's formation to now every one of their singles has topped the Oricon R&B charts and FanimeCon 2017 marks their overseas debut!