Archives by Tag 'J-pop'

GO!GO!7188 to release tribute album ( bloodthirsty butchers,MONGOL800, POLYSICS, Shonen Knife, and George Tokoro)

Rock band GO!GO!7188 is getting its first tribute album on March 16, titled “GO!GO!7188 TRIBUTE – GO!GO! A GO!GO!” The album will feature covers performed by 10 artists: bloodthirsty butchers, detroit7, Flower Companyz, MONGOL800, opening, POLYSICS, Ataru Nakamura, THE NEATBEATS, Shonen Knife, and George Tokoro.

GO!GO!7188 (Go Go Nana Ichi Hachi Hachi), also known simply as Gogo, is a Japanese rock band with influences spanning from surf rock to punk rock to enka. The band was formed in June of 1998 by Yumi Nakashima (nicknamed Yuu) and Akiko Noma (nicknamed Akko), both alumnae of the same year at Shoyo High School in Kagoshima, Kyūshū. The band’s drummer, Turkey, joined in 1999 and they debuted on Breast/milia, a division of Capitol Records (Toshiba-EMI) in 2000.

Last year, GO!GO!7188 celebrated the 10th anniversary of its major label debut. The band is currently taking a break due to bassist Akko’s pregnancy, but in the meantime, vocalist Yuu has revived her band Chirinuruwowaka.

Ringo Shiina to model in Shiseido’s Maquillage

Singer-songwriter Ringo Shiina (椎名林檎）,32, will model in a cosmetics commercial for the first time. She will appear in a new advertisement for Shiseido’s Maquillage brand, scheduled to begin airing on February 20.

Shiina will also provide the theme song, titled “Onna no Ko wa Daredemo.” She wrote the song specifically for the commercial, and it was arranged by well-known musician Takayuki Hattori.

Shiina (born on November 25) works as a solo musician and singer and is a member of the band Tokyo Jihen.She describes herself as “Shinjuku-kei Jisaku-Jien-ya (新宿系自作自演屋).

Shiina announced at the end of last year that she would release a new single on February 23. It is now known that it will be a double A-side, featuring “Onna no Ko wa Daredemo” and another song written by Shiina and composed by Seiji Kameda, the bassist of Shiina’s band Tokyo Jihen.

ICONIQ X Shiseido’s Maquillage

Kumi Koda to release compilation album titled Dejavu in March

Japanese pop singer Kumi Koda Kumi Koda(倖田來未）, 28, is set to release a CD and DVD set of the live concert she performed in Yokohama Stadium July　2010. The compilation album, titled “Dejavu,” will include previously released songs such as “Suki. Suki. Suki” and Koda’s forthcoming single “POP DIVA,” which is scheduled for release on Feb 2. The album will also include covers, such as Koda’s rendition of the theme song to TV Asahi’s Friday anime program “Crayon Shinchan.”

Koda’s musical style is mainly Japanese Urban and R&B; however, it was only after Koda signed to Rhythm Zone that Japanese Urban and R&B became her main musical styles.

On September 22, 2010, she released her 48th Single “Suki de, Suki de, Suki de./Anata Dake ga,” 2 Ballads and a rerecorded version of “Walk”. The DVD-Version of her recent tour “Koda Kumi Live Tour UNIVERSE” was released on October 6, 2010. A week later she released her first cover-album Eternity: Love & Songs”, on which she covers songs from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

The new album goes on sale in three configurations: the CD and double DVD set will cost 4,980 yen, the CD and DVD set for 3,990 yen and the CD only for 3,095 yen.

Oricon Chart:Maaya Sakamoto, RADWIMPS, AKB48, Hey! Say! JUMP

According to the oricon chart,singer and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto ((坂本 真綾）,30, has finally topped the weekly sales charts for the first time in her 15-year career. Her seventh album, “You can’t catch me,” was released last week and sold almost 27,000 copies to earn the #1 spot. Before this, her highest ranking on the charts (for either albums or singles) was #3, which she has achieved on four separate occasions.

Sakamoto made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki[3] in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne.

STRAIGHTENER’s new album ranked #4, while a Noriyuki Makihara tribute album ranked #6.STRAIGHTENER is a Japanese rock band, started out as a duo with Atsushi Horie (vocals/guitar) and Shinpei Nakayama (drums) in 1998. They established an independent label named Ghost Records in 2002. Hidekazu Hinata joined the band as bassist in 2003, and in October of the same year they released a single, “TRAVELING GARGOYLE” Jun Oyama (guitar) jointed the band in 2008.

On the singles chart, rock band RADWIMPS took the top spot with their new song “DADA,” selling close to 90,000 copies. This is just their second time to achieve a number-one single.

AKB48 became the first artist to ever have 4 singles in the top ten for three consecutive weeks. “Heavy Rotation,” “Beginner,” “Chance no Junban,” and “Ponytail to Chou-chou” all dropped from last week in the rankings, but they still managed to chart at #5, #6, #8, and #9, respectively. “Beginner” has now sold approximately 995,000 copies, which means that it may pass the million mark next week.

In DVDs, Hey! Say! JUMP’s “SUMMARY 2010” sold 74,000 copies in its first week to rank #1 in the overall category. This is their third consecutive release to top the overall DVD charts, and their fourth consecutive release to top the music DVD charts.

Japan Nite 2011 to include Mo’some Tonebender, Lolita No.18, Hystoic Vein

Music site HearJapan has noted that early information about the 2011 Japan Nite tour is available. It has scheduled shows in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in 2011. In addition to the Japan Nite event held in Austin at the SXSW Music Festival.

The lineup appears to be still be incomplete, but the currently listed roster includes Mo’some Tonebender, Lolita No.18, Hystoic Vein, and ZUKUNASISTERS.

March 18 (Fri) Austin @SXSW　Japan Nite
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/oh sunshine/ White White Sisters

March 20 (sun) New York @ Bowery Ballroom
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi/White White Sisters

March 22 (Tue) CHICAGO @ Empty Bottle
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi

March 23 (Wed）SEATTLE @ Chop Suey
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi

March 25 (Fri) Las Vegas ＠ TBA
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi

March 26 (Sat) LA @ Viper Room
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi + Opening Act

March 27 (Sun) SF @ The Independent 　
MO’SOME TONEBENDER/ Lolita No.18/ Hystoic Vein/Zukunashi + Opening Act

ZUKUNASHISISTERS: All girl soul blues band

oh sunshine : ex: Tokyo Jihen, Mikio Hirama new project.

White White Sisters: Electoro rock band rookie

Ai Kawashima performed for earthquake victims in Kobe

Singer-songwriter Ai Kawashima (川嶋あい）, 24, on January 16 held a free concert at Minato no Mori park in Kobe as a tribute for victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which occurred on January 17, 1995. The park, which opened last year, is a popular spot for local artists. Some 300 fans gathered in a light snow for the performance.

Kawashima has been dreaming to become a singer from a young age. Her father vanished before she was born, and she was raised by her mother. She first began learning to play the piano at the age of three. Kawashima’s mother died when she was just 3 years old. She was taken to an orphanage and eventually adopted by the Kawashima family, owners of a construction company. Her adoptive father died when she was 10, and her adoptive mother died when she was 16. Every year since her adoptive mother’s death, she has held a concert on August 20th in her memory. Now she is singing not only for her mother, but also for people who listen to her songs, wishing for world peace. Kawashima has also helped to establish schools in poor countries, 3 schools have already been built, her goal is to build 100 schools.

Before she became famous, she set herself the goal of performing 1000 times on the street, finally accomplishing this after she became well known.

Kobe earthquake occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 JST round Kobe. Approximately 6,434 people lost their lives; about 4,600 of them were from Kobe.

Kawashima played three songs, including “I Remember,” and “Tabidachi no Hi Ni.”for the earthquake victims in Kobe.

Japan’s International Manga Award 2010

Namie Amuro vs Maori haka dance in Coca-Cola Zero commercial

Namie Amuro is sporting a little New Zealand pride in a Coca-Cola Zero commercial, leading 11 female dancers against a troupe of studs from Kiwiland in the traditional Maori haka dance. Read the rest of this entry »

Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet- World Tour 2010

Versailles announced that they will launch a world tour this year.
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X Japan x Lollapalooza festival

Yoshiki announced that X Japan intends to play at Lollapalooza festival, scheduled for August 6-8, 2010 in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

Kiyoharu’s Kuroyume and SADS Revival

Kiyoharu (清春） has announced that both Kuroyume (黒夢）and SADS, his popular bands between the ’90s and the ’00s, are having revivals this year.
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Namie Amuro’s PAST < FUTURE hits No. 1 in Asia

Namie Amuro(安室奈美恵)　 has created a new record for female Japanese artists after her album “PAST < FUTURE” was listed as number one on the music charts of five countries.

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Asian Beauties unite for Kao ASIENCE CM song

Kao  (花王) has gathered six female music artists for its new promotional campaign for the Asience line. Now, those six are forming a special unit called The Asian Beauties to sing for the brand’s commercials.
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