notices

Music related to what has already been posted will just be added to those posts. So there won't be a new post every day, but check for new downloads by using the category list or archives ;)

Also, general comments or suggestions can be given on this post.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy the music!!

the grunge/garage killerness of The Birthday

the birthday, featuring chiba yusuke, singer of thee michelle gun elephant (dead) and rosso (active). if you havent heard them, they're all superb grunge/ garage-rock bands with really cool, raspy vocals, foot-stomping drums, guitars that energize you, and head-nodding basslines.
DOWNLOAD THEIR ALBUMS HERE:
Rollers Romantics - 2006




Night Line - 2007


Kiki the Pixy:


TMGE - The World Exposed-

where is zack de la rocha?

“Anger is a gift” -Zack de la Rocha





Rage Against The Machine need no explanation. (but I'll give one anyway :) They were a 90s icon of political music. Thousands of young people were inspired to political action, or at least consciousness, by their rabidly anti-status quo lyrics. The person responsible for those lyrics, their frontman, ZdlR, has been mysteriously quiet since RatM's break. I've only heard a few tracks over the last 6 or 7 years, most of which were collaborations with hip-hop artists (like KRS-One, Last Emperor, and DJ Shadow). The style may have shifted from the rap-infused hard rock of RATM, but the quality is still (judging from those few tracks, anyhow) right up there.

Longtime Rage fans around the world, maybe dismayed at the overall mediocrity of Audioslave, have been hoping for a Zack solo record. SO. Where is it? When will it be? Maybe they know here.

The few tracks he's worked on are actually pretty rare, so I haven't been able to get them all. I just have a 4-track set (including one song, the collaboration with Tool, which is chronologically before Zack was even considered a solo act).

Update: Here's another set of Zack songs. Now it adds up to about 1/2 an album! (There were also some spoken-word tracks out there, but... *cough* )

2nd Update: Zack is reuniting with Rage Against the Machine for at least one performance! This will take place April 29th at the Coachella fest, which RAGE headlined back in 1999! Also, I found some seriously lo-fi youtube clips of ZDLR, one post-rage, one pre-rage - or, what I like to call, his 'non-dreadlock' phases. Check:

Now On Air: Pocket Symphony

Not to be confused with the japanese rock artist Air,(who is good, too, but more on that later!) the french electronic-symphonic band Air are continuing to make some of the best songs of all time. First, their debut (LP) Moon Safari was a much more incredible album than the on-par singles (Sexy Boy, Kelly Watch the Stars) would have had you believe. Then, they collaborated with Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette) for the soundtrack to her directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, in which they exhibited a focus somewhat less on electro sounds. (They also have other connections to the film art world, working with Mike Mills (Thumbsucker) for many of their music videos.)


Electronic Performers:



How Does It Make You Feel:




10,000 hertz legend came after, continuing much of the very creepy sounds that were imbibed from the influence of Coppola's work. Later, Talkie Walkie continued their legacy of soft, jazzy, diverse music - probably the least electronic musicians to still be labelled electronica.

Cherry Blossom Girl: (caution - NSFW!)


More recently, 2006 was a busy year for the band. They composed much (most? all?) of the music for Charlotte Gainsbourg's wonderful album 5:55. Monthe later, 1/2 (the Dunckel half) of Air released his solo album under the Darkel moniker. That album sounds like an Air release, but mixed with another French techno duo, Daft Punk; that is to say, he resumed Air's electro roots. Around the same time, the Late Night Tales compilation was released, as sort of an Air-branded compilation of their influences, to be used as a mixtape for chill-out sessions, lazy afternoons, etx etx.

But NOW, Air's newest full-length, Pocket Symphony, has been made available months before its proper release in March. Whether willingly, to build hype, or covertly, maybe extracted from their studio's database by some haxxer with a killer taste in music, I care not. All I know is, I'm happy to hear another Air record that lives up to their quickly-becoming-legendary name.

Melty Melancholic Groove Borne From Bland Visual Kei

Who else could the title refer to besides Inoran? Otherwise known as Shinobu Inoue, or 井上清信, he was the guitarist for the (IMO) generic rock band Luna Sea, and later for the generic punk-rock band Fake?. Now, he is in another generic band called Tourbillon. I have no idea how someone with so much obvious creative talent would find himself in bland band after bland band, but somehow he does. (In fact, the only band he's been affiliated with that I somewhat like is J.) However, we are all graced by Inoue's solo career, which has so far lasted from 1997's Sou to last year's Photograph. Breaking away from the formulaic rock song structures which defined the sounds of his bands, in his solo albums Ino explores the worlds of electronic, hip-hop, soul, experimental, and some much, much better rock than heard from any of his bands. One of his most beautiful songs is the single, Won't Leave My Mind, which has a bonechillingly sombre mood that Billy Corgan only wishes he could produce (ok, that he sometimes did produce). Personally, I like Fragment most, for its consistently lush, moody sound, and its favour of techno styles over hip-hop. (There's also a remix album of Fragment, called Landscape of Fragment, which I haven't heard.) The very hip-hop debut, Sou, might be more likeable to western ears, however, due to its pretty much total lack of japanese singing, in favour of anglo guest vocalists from Anelli Drecker to - a genius in his own right - Roots Manuva. The recent Photograph is a little more upbeat than the previous albums, and features the most rock riffs, making it the best choice for fans of Luna Sea (or any of his bands); Photograph can also be classified as a middleground between his two previous albums, retaining much of the urban music from Sou, while Inoran sings without as many guests. Through all his music, there's a surprising lack of emphasis on the guitar for a lead guitarist. Most of the time, the bass, samples, voice or keys out-decibel the guitbox.



Albums:

Inoran--- Photograph - 2006 - 10/10
(if you can afford it and/or like pretty packaging, get it here!)

Inoran--- Fragment - 2001 - 10/10
(give the record execs their vacation pay! buy it here.)

Inoran--- Sou - 1997 - 10/10
(maybe just request this at your local indie record store.)

Alec Empire and The Atari Teenage Riot Legacy

Back in the day, I was always ambivalent about Atari Teenage Riot. Were they extreme for extreme’s sake? Did I enjoy having my ears literally pierced by the shrieking, shouting, terrible boombast of their ‘digital hardcore‘ style? Were they a pioneering band or just one that didn’t know restraint?

I had been ambivalent until I read that, rather than sampling Slayer for all the guitar and drum parts as I believed, Alec Empire, the band leader, played all the guitar. This shifted my perception of the band entirely, from a cut'n'paste techno act with vocals to a set of vocalists centered around a main producer, much like Prodigy. From then on, the Empire has had my uncomplicated respect as an artist. I still listen to ATR, whenever I don’t have a headache (and maybe, somewhat masochistically, want one).

Alec Empire, the aforementioned producer/mastermind of the legendary band, has been continuing his solo career, collaborating with artists like Merzbow (メルツバウ) and El-P. Like in ATR, Alec still doesn’t know restraint; however, now that manifests, rather than in 300 BPM headkillers, in a diversity of sound matched by only a handful of other solo artists (most of which I have or will mention on this page). Hip-Hop, House, Metal, Ambient, and of course, Hardcore Techno all have their place within Alec’s prolific library of works. This means that, while the diversity is certainly a great thing, Alec himself is still probably going to be the only one to enjoy all of it. Fortunately, unlike with other diversity-prone artists such as Beck, Alec knows how to relegate each style to its own place. So you may enjoy or hate his albums selectively, but you won’t need to skip any tracks on those you like. Capische? < The Futurist >is his most recent offering, and it makes a good starting point to delve (wetf that means) into his works. I don’t need to write a full review since thats already been taken care of.

Alec Empire - New World Order (from 'Intelligence and Sacrifice)


Atari Teenage Riot - Too Dead For Me (from '60 Second Wipeout):

the sweet dark techno of 101A

101 - One Day . This band blew me away when I first heard them. A guaranteed Win for fans of anything remotely cool. This is their homepage.

noah (left) - vocals, guitar
the k (right) - bass, programming, voice

101A are a pretty obscure band. Not much is found on The Series of Tubes about them. They don’t exactly tear up the Oricon charts in their native Japan, either. So they truly are an ‘alternative’ band… As told by the thousand-word photo above, this is not happy music. Some of the songs (love less, sex slave), you can dance to — and thats what makes it ‘industrial.’ But the mood is not really conducive to dancing (unless someone invents a dance called the wrist-slitting doo-wop or something). Usually, there’s a persistent drum/bass line with dissonant harmonics and floaty vocals overtop. Sometimes, there is beautiful melody and chord progression. Heavy, distorted guitars also figure in strongly. But always, there is talented songwriting and performance. I consider One Day to be one of the top of the top albums of 2006. They’ve already completed a tour of Europe — here’s hoping they do North America soon!

Come Down:

A New York Cultural Collage in Audio

Like many excellent music acts, Cibo Matto blended all conceivable forms of music which can be tied together by a backbone of pop, and created fluidity between them. CB was a New-York based band built by two Japanese, Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda. They collaborated with other musicians, Timo Ellis and Sean Lennon, the son of John and Yoko. Since the end of CB, Miho has had other projects, such as Smokey and Miho and singing as Noodle for the Gorillaz. Yuka Honda has also maintained a solo career as well as collaborating with Yoshimi P-We (the Boredoms, OOIOO), and touring with Sean in his latest tour. Really, their collective talent level is on par with Cornelius, Beck, and — maybe - almost - justnotquite — Air and The Chemical Brothers. The styles these musicians touched upon are as diverse as the city of NYNY itself. I cannot think of a style they didn’t at least hint at. Their eclectic sound was always very musical, however, setting them apart from typical ‘experimental’ groups. From hip-hop, rock, to dance, jazz - the talent shined through. The Cibo Matto web of music is a wonderful world that any sane music lover needs to explore. So here’s an arbitrary starting point for you. Yuka Honda' mostly instrumental Memories Are My Only Witness. Or if you prefer, the more vocal-oriented album by Miho Hatori, called Ecdysis.

^^^a really cool music video directed by the legendary genius music video director, Michel Gondry (he did the best music video of all time, Let Forever Be by The Chemical Brothers).

a dead nexus of disparate grooves... Supercar

スーパーカー SUPERCAR were (one of) the best band(s) in Japan in the Millennial era. They began with a garage rock sound, diversified by having two singers, Miki and Kouji. The sound transformed into a strongly electronic style in the years before the band’s end. Check out their OOYeah!! album here... Now, the former main musicians and singers, Miki Furukawa(フルカワミキ) and Koji Nakamura (中村弘二、aka Nyantora, ニャントラ), continue to make music which has taken Supercar’s later electronic sound as their starting points. The other members, Ishiwatari Junji and Tazawa Koudai, are also still active, but I’m not sure what labels their music is under / what bands they joined... Anyway, you can hear Nyantora's continuation of the late Supercar style on his 99-00 album.

Here's the seriously cool vid for Nyantora's Taitan, directed by Toshio Iwai, famed artist and creator of the DS game Electroplankton.

And here's the PV for Strobolights, one of Supercar's most purely electronic pieces, courtesy of divx.stage6.

(I'll get a vid of Miki up soon :)

^ Kouji

chords of cords

Vocal cords, that is. Some mantra-trained monks are said to be able to produce up to nine notes simultaneously with the human vocal cords alone. Most of the singers that I like can barely produce one. Here are a couple of great singer/songwriters.

Kojima Mayumi, 小島麻由美, is a singer/musician who’s been active since 95 but i just
recently discovered. Her music is really crazy cool stuff, hard to classify to be sure. Her voice is sometimes childish, othertimes dramatic. Swing, Pop, Groove, Jazz, everything is done - and done well. Always cool unique and nice to listen to, no matter the genre.

[she reminds me of Kino^]

The review that caught my interest. And checkout: kojimamayumi.

Here is her album My Name Is Blue. You’ll enjoy this. it has a unique, full sound of rock jazz fusion, sweet pop, and just esoteric goodness. [missing track from album upload: right here.]

if you like it, buy it and her other albums at cdjapan.

.

辻子紀子, or T(s)ujiko Noriko, is a singer whose style is usually sparse, almost to the point of spoken word / beatnik. The music underlying her vocals tends to be abstract electronic music. The mood is usually soothing, chillable, mournful, or just pleasant, but always evocative of diverse imagery. Other listeners tend to use the adjetives ‘avante-garde’ or ‘experimental’ (or, dare I use the hackneyed term, trip-hop!). She is also, like every other ‘alternative’ female vocalist, compared to Bjork (who I love, but enough already! find a different reference!). Despite being electronic music, her voice, the use of many ‘real’ instruments (albeit still sampled and effected) and the song composition lend a dominant organic sound to it. I can’t think of too many similar japanese artists, but Thom Yorke’s recent solo, The Eraser, is certainly very similar… Her career has been active since around 2000, and her latest album is scheduled for release in February... I have only her Blurred in my Mirror album at the moment. You should probably have it, too.


homepage (pretty cool looking) ... more info, pics

'Fly' Video: