Infro

For those who don't like to read: Infro may have perfected what post-hardcore should be.

Fuck, I really don't know what to write in this ultra boring first paragraph I always include for some reason. But man today is probably the most boring of all boring days. CS:GO is shaping up to be a fun time though, CS dominated my fucking teenage years like no other.

Onwards to Infro, and this is what I know about them: they play music. Yea, I'm too fucking lazy to research this shit. Well, I tried emailing them to ask them what they're up to, but none of them speak English and I know nothing in Japanese so that's a pretty shitty time (I start learning Japanese next week though!).

What can be said about Infro though, is that they're fucking music, and more so their full length, Melody, rip shit (that was a lot of commas). I'm going to go ahead and say this now: Melody is the prototypical post-hardcore album. Sure, they have their influences, but Melody itself is probably the best post-hardcore album to be put out in the past long fucking while. It has just about everything you'd look for, that perfect mix of singing and yelling, killer bass tone, and the fucking riffs man.

Infro - "屍にヒキガネ" live

I'm going to stop myself early though, because I felt a tangent coming along full force. It does remain though that Melody is currently one of my favorite albums, and will probably stick to being one of my favorites for as long as I remain. The rest of Infro's output is pretty awesome as well, but nothing they've done currently touches the shit kicking force of Melody (I does have a couple good songs though).

1st demo

Here Comes the Bottom Line 1

Infro & 4hou8pou split

Melody

I 

P.S. - That Here Comes the Bottom line link is the entire compilation. It rips shit though, and is definitely recommended.

alt of the society

For those who don't like to read: Emo/Hardcore band from Tokyo. They rip shit pretty hard.

alt of the society is:

■guitar AKIRA
■vo/bass toshiki
■drums kouta

Facebook Page

You know that feeling that you'll be ultra productive in something, but instead of getting shit done you just constantly think about doing it and how good it'll make you feel? Yea, that's how I've been here, I think that's called procrastination (with a side of the feel goods), but it's nothing out of the norm for me, as The Summer in Which I Hoped I Would Be Doing Stuff But Instead Have Sat on My Ass More Than Ever 2k12 rolls on. Guess that makes me one lazy motherfucker (I'm not denying it).

 I first heard alt of the society when Ryan at The Absent Trail blog sent me these files as "something I had to listen to." These songs are in fact, something you have to listen to. alt of the society's sound is pretty hard for me to pin down, they do the whole emo/hardcore thing (I feel like with a touch of Sora's focus on melodies in the softer parts). Trying to accurately describe this band is sort of making my head hurt a lot; they're different and they're good at playing different, ok?

Either way, I highly recommend that you download this and listen to it, it is one of the better demo/ep's that I've heard in the last while.

Here are some live videos to satiate your stupid thirst.

呼び掛ける声が消えて行く

Low-Pass - Trimurti

For those who don't like to read: Holy tits this is fighting for album of the year.

website

Low-Pass is:

takayuki.kanazawa
yasunobu.ono
hiroe.sannomiya

 So, Low-Pass. I'm having trouble thinking of a way to start this post off, so I'm just going to jump right into it:

HOLY FUCKING SHIT TRIMURTI IS REALLY FUCKING GOOD GUYS. Low-Pass play good ol' math-rock styled music. And now (and forever) when I think of math-rock, these guys will be the first band to come to mind. When I first tried getting into math-rock, I was seriously disappointed with what I was hearing (I ain't talkin about 90s indie/math-rock here). There just wasn't a lot of great song writing, and was a lot more "HEY GUYS, LOOK AT ME HIT MY INSTRUMENT WITH THESE COOL PEDALS MY MOM BOUGHT ME." Besides the Tera Melos/By the End of Tonight Split, most math-rock I heard just really sucks; learn to write an actual song.

And with that, Low-Pass basically shits on every band with incredible musicianship and awesome song writing ability.

I wish I could put it into words easily how great this band is, but every single member deserves a shout out for what they do. I don't really play guitar or drums at all, so even though I know that the two people who play them are without a doubt some incredible musicians, but I feel the need to comment on the bass player. Holy shit, this dude makes me feel worthless as a bass player. I guess I now have a life goal to learn this entire album on bass, although I'll probably never be that good because holy shit these dudes know how to fucking play.

If somehow, you listen to this album, and you aren't completely sold by the 2nd track, you probably just hate music as a whole.

Low-Pass - "Nitro" live

Trimurti

You can buy this for a lowly $4 from Keep It Together and Meatcube

Forget Me Not

For those who don't like to read: Oh god, Oh goddddddddd. So fucking good. No time to describe, just download.

Forget Me Not:

Ba/Vo: Masashi Ikeuchi

Gu/Vo: Tetsuya Matsumoto

Dr: Akinori Ikawa

So I haven't written anything in like two weeks. Weird feelings when you want to listen to music, but you feel your own sense of falling out within it. I mean, I'd put on a band, and be sort of into it, but I just wasn't feeling that same grab that I feel whenever I can truly just get into something. It's a weird and (for someone like me, who spends the majority of his lonely days listening to music) sort of eerie, discomforting feeling just not feeling that same emotional connection you always strive to achieve through the notes and noise.

Fortunately my shit got kicked right back in gear when I finally found (and received) my copy of the latest Forget Me Not CDep, "3つの終り." What a sonic force of getting fucked in the face this thing turned out to be. I mean, I've had the rest of everything Forget Me Not has put out, but this CDep, it is probably going to forever rank one of the greatest CDeps that my ears will ever hear. It's that crazy shit where a band, for 26 straight minutes, manages to play the most perfect music possible, all while doing experimenting in the process.

I mean, everything on this ep is on-fucking-point. From the tracks fading out, to fading back in, to the absolutely pinpoint precision of every time change, every shift in a song; Forget Me Not manages to nail every single on to fucking perfection. It's a rare quality to see such a unsettling ep (goosebumps feeling people) be released like this. I would call 3つの終り an experimental hardcore ep. Sure, it's not experimental in the sense of "Hey, look, we can make all these crazy keyboards with this cool Casio my parents bought me." and instead relies on 3 dudes sitting together and feeling music out with each other and playing what comes to heart most.

The chilling qualities come from how well this band gels together, these dudes have played together for a while (off the top of my head, 2007 was their first release, so probably before that), and these dudes know each other really well, it shows through the musical quality. The ebb and flow of every track is really, just shit, it's causing me to ramble. It's just straight up, some of the most quality, perfect music that I've heard in a long time.

Forget Me Not - "君の顔に映す" live

Now, this isn't to say that the rest of Forget Me Not's material can be ignored. It's just that 3つの終り is probably the most focused work they've put out to date. The rest of Forget Me Not's output revolves around the crazy experimental hardcore shit they do (I'd honestly say they have a 90s influence somewhere in their sound, but that's just me). And it's with all this shit, and especially 3つの終り, that allows me to crown Forget Me Not as one of my favorite bands. They're still around I believe, but I'm not sure if they're playing shows. I just hope they manage to release more music.

I'm pretty sure the rest of Forget Me Not's material is out of stock, but you can pick up 3つの終り from 1020distro. Just send Hideaki an email, he is a super, super, superrrrrrrrr nice dude. And order some other stuff from him as well, get a cheap demo, it'll probably kick ass!

Pictured: Forget Me Not "3つの終り" ridiculously awesome packaging. The CD is below the foldout poster. But no really, the case is way larger than a DVD case.

Side Note: Their drummer, Aki, runs Impulse Records. Impulse is seriously at the forefront of releasing the best stuff from Japan right now, so if you find any Impulse stuff in a distro, just go right ahead and order it. It'll most likely rip your face off.

3songsCDep

Doors (just FMN tracks)

Here Comes the Bottom Line (just FMN tracks)

3つの終り

The Because

For those who don't like to read: Newer Snuffy Smiles pop-punk band. So glorious, so good.

I haven't written much in the past two weeks. Instead I've been looking for a job, and I've found no success (Go America!). But this isn't my personal bitching station (or it probably is and you're all fooled into reading it hahaha sucks to be you guys), so uh, yea.

The Because are from Kyoto, Japan (or at least currently reside there). They're definitely in line soundwise with other bands apart of the Snuffy Smiles label (ya know, one of the best labels of all time). While The Because definitely do share musically with basically every band on their label, it still manages to be quite different. Where every other band is located squarely in the city of melodies and octaves, The Because focus a lot more on making jangly music (I think the "technical" term is hammer-ons and pull-offs, but I don't play guitar at all, bass, yada yada yada). Not only does it make The Because different from others, it also makes them fucking awesome because they do it so well.

The Because - "Boxcar" live. originally by Jawbreaker (if for some reason you don't know this song)

I also think it's worth mentioning that they have a female bass player, and she is cute (kawaii!) as fuck. The Because toured the US in 2009 around when they released their full-length, Get Out Through the Back Door, but I didn't get to see them because I fucked up and didn't know them. Hopefully they do it again (I've heard rumors of Gleam Garden possibly doing a US tour though. Oh boy!)

Basically, download Get Out Through the Back Door. Incredible full-length.

The Because/The Dauntless Elite Split 7"

The Because/One Reason Split 7"

The Because/Blotto Split 7"

Get Out Through the Back Door

Kolya

For those who don't like to read: Kolya was one of a kind. Will probably forever remain one of a kind.

Back to the US for one post (maybe more, I don't plan any of this stuff). I've loved Kolya for years now, and it is all because of just how different they were (then and now). Kolya really just was a band that were themselves throughout, no effects, just their instruments and voices.

The great thing about Kolya is how jangly and 90s their sound was. The guitar never went into a twinkly mode, but they never really relied on chords to flesh out the sound of their music (the bass also sounds fantastic, but the guy plays a fucking Rickenbacker). I don't know who wrote the music for this band, but they obviously had a clear sound in mind that only they could've thought of, and they nailed it to a T. The guitar relies much more on wallowing around, following the emotional response of the vocals that are being sung. Also, yet again, the bass playing is fucking phenomenal.

Kolya - "The Story Becomes the Vehicle"

The second, and much more highly impressive quality, aspect of Kolya's music was the vocals. Simply put, no one did that way, no one still does it this way, and christ can a band start copying Kolya? Both vocalists do a great job (especially on the final track of the LP, Horizons), but it all really falls on the shoulders of the guitar player. I don't know what it is, but the guy has an amazing tonal quality to his voice. This, along with the straight poetry reading of their lyrics (that La Dispute tries and invariably fucks up, because they're awful) make for one crazy combination, considering their lyrics are fucking incredible (when I'm back home I'll do a scan of the LP insert). Their ability to just to basically talk through songs in a poetic way is the most special thing about this band, except for the track La Machine est Morte, the vocals are fucking irritating on that track.

Kolya ended up releasing a demo, 2 7"s, and an LP during their time around. Their LP is a crowning moment of 90s emo music as a whole, a true statement to the best music being made (their LP came out in 2001 though, but who gives a fuck? Certainly not me.)

Demo

Iditarod 7"

Self-Titled 7"

Self-Titled LP

Parkmates

For those who don't like to read: This is gonna be a short post anyway. Really great pop-punk.

I always like to have a little bit of info about a band before I post about them. For Parkmates, that is pretty much impossible. They have a myspace, but there is only one picture of a turtle on it. Geocities is down so I can't check that. Pretty much nothing. Are they still together? No fucking clue. Do they have anything else other than this? No fucking clue. The pictures on the cover of this cd are them in all dressed up uniforms (maybe military uniforms? No fucking clue.).

What I do know though, is that Parkmates play some fantastic pop-punk. They list their influences as Jawbreaker, Crimpshine, Dillinger Four and Descendants; these influences really shine throughout the music. Basically if I had to peg them to anything musically, it would Snuffy Smiles and bandwise, I Excuse. I ended up buying this cd on a total crap shoot. I was buying quite a large order from Go Forward Keep Record distro (these dudes rule and speak english. If you wanna make a distro order, this place is one of the places to go) and as usual, they were out of quite a few things I wanted. I ended up selecting this cd randomly because I saw there influences and thought "Hell, why not?" Ended up not being too bad of a move. If you're into Snuffy Smiles, or in general, really great fucking pop-punk, take a swing at this album; you'll probably end up liking it. Also, the keyboards on the 4th track are awesome as shit.

And they're unknown. IMPRESS YOUR INTERNET FRIENDS WITH THIS GEM.

From the Square Closet to Your Rack or One of Dumps

edit: Well, apparently you can go to their geocities page through the myspace link on their website. The last update by them shows that they played some shows in April, and are most likely kicking it around.

sgt.

For those who don't like to read: Post-rock from Japan that isn't Toe AND doesn't try and be Toe.

I have so many problems with most post-rock bands. Most of these problems stem from the fact that post-rock is usually boring beyond belief. I can enjoy a good build up to a song, but sitting their ringing out the same 2 or 3 notes with your stupid fucking delay pedal for minutes on end is just dumb. Why do people like Explosions in the Sky again?

I don't know many post-rock bands from Japan. Because after you know of Toe, really, who the fuck do you need to know about? Toe really just does everything right when it comes to being exceptional musicians writing exceptional music; this isn't a Toe post though, that'll be at the end of this month when their new EP comes out.

The thing I like about Sgt. is that they can incorporate violins and pianos so well into the music, and they don't do it to add some light, "airy" texture to the music, they in fact like to rock out hard. I feel like the secret to Sgt.'s success is the fact that their rhythm section is jaw-dropping good. There really isn't a better way to show off Sgt.'s rhythm section than the 2nd track on Stylus Fantasticus, 囚人達のジレンマゲーム. This track is basically just a 6 minute romp fest of the rhythm section stomping your fucking face in. Actually have to take a second here and just acknowledge how great this track is. Spending 3 minutes with the bass and drums playing over the same line, only to have the guitar jump into the line out of nowhere is pulled off with straight fucking perfection.

sgt. - "囚人達のジレンマゲーム"

The second really important piece of Sgt.'s sound is their violin player (total babe, by the way). Writing about this, I'm trying to find a way to say "hey, the violin player isn't a gimmicky thing," but in a way that isn't as blunt/stupid as that. BUT, HEY, THE VIOLIN PLAYER ISN'T A GIMMICKY THING. She's actually pretty fucking great at violin, and I'm not sure if she runs her violin through any effect pedals or shit like that, but it definitely sounds possible. The best song to demonstrate Mikiko's ability is 銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (I use a lot of examples from Stylus Fantasticus more than Birthday because: I've listened to it a lot more, and, holy shit this album is incredible). All 16 minutes of this song are really brought up to the next level by her ability to weave in and through sections of songs with her violin, and her ability to initiate the transitions into other sections. Every band can have a great rhythm section to hold down the fort, but bands need people to expand upon that and make music worth much more.

銀河を壊して発電所を創れ (Destroy the Galaxy, Create the Power Plant (I really like the title of this song)) is a fucking monolith of a song though. It's sort of a hard/weird thing to describe, but something you totally understand listening to it though.

sgt. - "銀河を壊して発電所を創れ" It's in two parts, which is dumb. But there is nothing I can currently do about that.

Sgt. released another album last year, "Birthday." It's also a pretty awesome album. I've listened to it a few times, and it's definitely got some great tracks on it (especially Zweiter Weltkrieg). I don't want to detract from the album, but it's sort of hard to want to listen to Sgt., and not put Stylus Fantasitcus more. Definitely still a recommended album, but Stylus Fantasticus is their magnum opus for now. I'd be uploading videos of these last two songs, but Windows Movie Maker is just like "LOL NAH, THE FILES ARE CORRUPTED EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE CURRENTLY USING THEM."

Perception of Causality

Sgt./Good Music Split

Special EP

Stylus Fantasticus

Capital of Gravity

Birthday

Union of Snakes

For those who don't like to read: If you like Shotmaker (if you're human), shut the fuck up and download this. No they have nothing to do with the Duran Duran song (hopefully).

Union of Snakes is:

6 Strings/Vox)Hiko el Echizen　Jellyfish

6 Strings/Vox)Gasmask Seller

4 Strings/Vox)Kdm the Fighter

2 Sticks/Late/Absence)Yodobashi-Chu

tumblr

Soundcloud

I feel sort of weird making this blog post. I mean Ryan at The Absent Trail blog posted this a few days ago, and thats where I heard it from. And the real problem is that I assume Ryan makes up like 80% of my viewership. Awkward (and an even weirder paragraph I guess? I don't know, I just ate a baconator and I'm high off greasy goodness).

Union of Snakes live

Union of Snakes are fucking phenomenal. Not only that, they actually utilize technology! They have a tumblr, post shit on Soundcloud, and upload their demos on mediafire. They also have a heavy Shotmaker influence (they actually list their influences as Shotmaker, Regulator Watts, Rodan, Slint, and A Minor Forest) so whats not to love here? The best part of all this is they emulate the 90s hardcore sound so fucking well. This band has really taken a sound I haven't heard in a while, and they play it to perfection. In fact, they might play this sound a little too well. I sort of believe that they should go ahead and rename their newest EP, "Vol. 2.5," to "Look guys, we really fucking love Shotmaker."

Union of Snakes - "Rising Tied"

Its got everything that you could be looking for: prominent, fantastic bass lines, those sort of subdued, but yelling vocals (its a weird thing to try and describe now that I sit here trying to describe it. It is sort of like, tin canny sounding? Shotmaker sounding? God damn it just fucking listen and you'll get what I mean). If there is one new band to keep your eye on from Japan (and there are a fucking few that have been catching my attention recently), this is one that you should keep up on the top of your list. Hell, follow their tumblr if you use that sort of thing (are a teenage girl) and you'll be doing just fine whenever they do anything; they seem to update it fairly often.

It has really just dawned on me that I use parentheses way too fucking much. Holy shit.

Union of Snakes Vol. 1 & 2

Union of Snakes Vol. 2.5 (aka the we really fucking love Shotmaker EP)

Damezumari

For those who don't like to read: Damezumari play 90s-style emotive hardcore. Really well.

Oh god, this band isn't from Japan, but there name is spelled in Japanese (except for the 3 way split cd, which is actually a goof), so uh, this still counts right? I don't think it really matters, there is a bunch of fantastic music from around the world, so I'll just go ahead and feel free to visit familiar soil.

I got a chance to see Damezumari live once (it would've been twice, but that show got moved to Baltimore, and seriously, that city needs to be nuked away) and it was absolutely something else. After the show Eric told me that he felt like they weren't really into it, but I told him, and will still tell him, that he's wrong, because it was still one of the best live shows I've ever seen. I remember that they had me film the set for them, and I sort of expect the reason they never uploaded it was that I was sort of yelling along the entire time. Oops (yolo).

Damezumari has been around since 2003, from Tulsa, OK. They're technically just Eric Titterud on guitar/vocals, and then the worlds biggest revolving door of bassists and drummers. They generally have a bassist ready to tour with him when he wants, but they haven't been able to find a reliable drummer for just about ever, which is really one of the more bummer things in the world. I really can't seem to think of a band that deserves a full cast more than Damezumari, they definitely are one of the better bands to put music out in the past 5 or so years.

Damezumari - "Groundhog Day"

One of the things that has always drawn me to Damezumari is the fact that every song they write is fucking incredible musically. I'm pretty sure it's just Eric who hammers out all of these songs, but every releases of theirs includes some of the most technical, amazing drumming followed by really well thought out song structures and riffs that are all put together so seamlessly. It really makes every single Damezumari song a fucking journey through the music itself. It is a weird thing to try and describe, and more of something that you have to listen and experience by yourself. Musically, Damezumari play stuff in the vein of 90s emotive-hardcore stylistically, uhhh, maybe like a post-hardcore type deal to explain it easier? I'm really bad at this, but Damezumari are one of my favorite bands ever and their music fits a style that I always want to hear (and maybe one day play? Haha, that joke always kills me).

Damezumari - "The Meaning You're Believing"

I'm not going to blither and blather (which is something I end up saying every blog post) so I'll just go ahead and end it here (also something I end up saying every blog post). You can download everything for free at their website, located below. I would recommend going for the Hitherandtithering Waters Of 10" first, or maybe the songs off the Fire Team Charlie Split LP, but it's all good stuff so tart where you want to start.

Damezumari Web Site

ぐしゃ人間 (Gusya Ningen)

For those who don't like to read: Psychadelic/Post-Punk/Noisy shit from Tokyo. This band is weird man.

Same shit, different day. I need to find a job so I can do stuff with my life, or will that take up my time? I have not a fucking clue. Not having money sucks though.

I really don't get why I listen to this band as much as I do. I mean, just listening to it feels like it's something I could never really be into, but deep down in my bones, I'm super fucking into this band. Maybe because it's basically an all girl band (they usually just have a dude drum for them for shows and shit), or maybe it's because they seem to epitomize all of the weirdness I love about Japan. Gusya Ningen definitely have a weird definitive sound to them though, and I'm not just talking about their cover art (but whoever does do it gets a special mention, it's awesome).

ぐしゃ人間 - "FFV" PV

Maybe you'll find the nose picking sexy? You sick fuck.

There is a couple things I'm able to say about their sound though. I really like the girls voice, no matter what crazy shit she does to it. Also, the guitar player can write some balls-heavy riffs. The cool thing about Gusya is that they're able to write these balls-heavy riffs into song structures that just make no sense at all (basically where the noisy tag goes in, although they seem to have amped up the noisy stuff in their latest album, ババアの祈り) while still keeping an enjoyable song altogether. They also do the psychedelic stuff pretty well, it doesn't sound like some shitty 70's psychedelic prog bullshit, but instead sounds like they crafted their own awesome sound.

ぐしゃ人間 - "ゲシュタルト崩壊"

There is a definite shift in sound though between their two full lengths. It's hard to put into words (as is with music that is basically out there like this), but the second full length is much more cohesive. The band may have found solid ground for their sound with their first album, but they went ahead and put it all together with their second album, making a much better, solid piece of music.

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

RIFFS

As usually happens whenever I try and describe music, I'm gonna have to stop myself before I get too far ahead (The looming fuck head of a thunderstorm might also have something to do with me stopping early as well, though). Gusya Ningen is defintely a fuck-incredible band though. You should check them out and enjoy the post-punk-y/psychedelic-y wave of noisy shit. That makes sense, right? No? Well burn in hell then. Enjoy this picture of Gusya Ningen live.

グシャノ食卓

ババアの祈り

Minority Blues Band

For those who don't like to read: I've touched on Minority Blues Band before, but fuck you, this is my blog so I'll write about what I want you shit machine.

Minority Blues Band was George, Spalding, and Yumi.

I'm fucking tired but I can't fall asleep. And since I'm currently out of school and have a boring worthless job, hopefully I'll be able to entertain you less and less with shit you won't read. Whatever, I'm trying to think but my brain is all sort of like "nah fuck you dude, you are a lazy piece of shit so I'm gonna give you nothing to write about along with nothing to do." I'm too tired to play Dota 2 as well, it's just a hard fucking knock life for me.

As you've probably guessed from the general theme of this blog, Minority Blues Band are from Japan. Where from? I haven't a fucking clue. It's not like that shit really matters, or maybe you have some weird hate for a random part of Japan, and it burns so bright you have to hate every single thing that comes out of that specific spot. Get some help. Minority Blues Band released just about everything of theirs on the legendary Snuffy Smiles label. You should just know by that that this is some of the top-tier shit. Minority Blues band called it a day in 2004 after 6 years of ripping it apart, and then released a nice compilation of their splits and shit in 2009.

Minority Blues Band - "God Bless'em Not Me"

Minority Blues Band have been my primary jams for the past couple of weeks. They play a form of melodic pop-punk that is just so ahead of the fucking game it's ridiculous. The song structures are a lot slower than most pop-punk's hyper speed bullshit, but they still manage to nail a sense of urgency (I guess that's the word?) that just seems so impossible for the slower song structures. I'd also like to throw out a mention to the vocals too. They really do have a special quality to them that I like to point out, they just seem better than every other pop-punk band from Japan (barring the ultra-kuwaii female vocals of Pear of the West and others of the sort).

Minority Blues Band - "Running" I fucking love the riff in this song, it's just so out there to me.

I'll try and be more active just for you. I'll even post about new bands. But seriously, listen to more Minority Blues Band.

Capitalized Suffering

Grab the Fire Swinging in the Rain

Momentary Beautiful Burnout

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal

For those who don't like to read: Japanese Melodic Punk/Hardcore at its finest. Owari Wa Konai is one of my favorite Japanese Hardcore LPs.

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal was:

Kouichirou "Kojak" Shimoda: Vo/Gu

Shinichi "Gan" Iwata: Ba

Yasuaki "PRN" Nakazono: Vo/Dr

So I'm almost finished finals week. I plan to post more when academia stops using me as a cheap 2 dollar whore. Regardless of all the lack of sleep and shit, I haven't had a fucking second to do anything else. Although I did get to watch Cold Fish by Sion Sono recently, and man what a fucking film. Now I have to check everything else out by this guy and just hope it's all as depraved and fucked up as Cold Fish was (mannnnnnnnnnn, I couldn't even guess that fucking movie for a second, fuck that movie).

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal Live in Tokyo. I'm pretty sure the song is "Gurasu No Mukou"

But that's really not the point. 1000 Travels played some next level fucking melodic hardcore. They were from Kita-Kyushu, Japan. I've heard a few people speak about this band, but for some reason they were referred to as "poser shit." I honestly don't know what to make of this, maybe it was just some bitter asshole? (the world has plenty of those, ex: me) Maybe they really were poser shit, although I don't know how they would be. I would usually dismiss something I heard like this as pure stupidity, but i mean, it actually sort of blows my mind someone would call them poser shit, because Owari Wa Konai is really one of the best albums I've heard. (best record score ever was just finding this fucking thing)

Owari Wa Konai is some designated time of fucking force. Shit, the first time I listened to this album in 2008 or so was quite the experience, blowing my stupid, little ears away. I don't really think it gets better Japanese hardcore than the tracks "With Smile and Slobber," "There is Nothing," and "Don't Turn Your Eyes Away." Just all melodic perfection. I'm trying really hard not to repeat myself here I promise. None of these guys do anything particularly incredibly or noteworthy with their instruments on their own, but all 3 of them together play some of the most fucking groovy, melodic, and fantastic riffs that I've ever been apart of hearing (at least in my eyes).

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal- "With Smile and Slobber"

While 1000 Travels wasn't ripping the universe with their LP, they put out a few splits with Snuffy Smiles bands, such as Minority Blues Band and Pear of the West. Outside of all files readily available on the internet, one could make a point that the rest of the 1000 Travels stuff doesn't exist because holy fucking shit, I can not find a thing after years of searching for all of them. Not a picture of one, not a file from there; the only thing that credits the existence of these splits and demos (split with Bowfura, split with Pear of the West, and their Demo) is the fact that their official website says that they existed at some point of time.

I have no fucking idea what any of these guys are up to now, because to be honest, I really have no way of figuring out. If you know of any other bands that they are in (or if you have any of this unfindable stuff) please let me know, I would totally be interested in hearing what else this band did.

The 4th track of letter skips. I don't know why. I can't find a version where it doesn't skip. So fuck you.

Letter CDep

Split w/ Minority Blues Band

Owari Wa Konai

Split w/ Aghast

Sora

For those who don't like to read: Sora is a really great band. Go for the gold and download.

Sora is:

Kenta Uchida: Gu/Vo

Noriyoshi Mitamura: Gu/Vo

Yusuke Sakamoto: Ba

Nero Yamaguchi: Dr

Sora's music is a little weird to me. It's like they want to be apart of the whole indie/emo thing in Japan, but fuck it, they want to screamo hard as well. Their earlier sounds (primarily the Demo and Doors split) have a much rawer, but that may be lent much more to their poorer recording quality (not that it detracts anything). The great thing going through Sora's entire discography though (and it's a short one) is that, even through their short life, they have managed to up their game quite considerably, as I feel there is a noticeable difference between their demo tracks, and their latest mini album, 耳鳴りとその訳.

Sora - "Mushoku no Keshiki"

For me, the difference not only lies in the change of production quality, but song writing as whole (did I just repeat myself? Probably, but not giving a fuck goes a long way). Their newest (and newest is used loosely, I think this came out in 2010?) mini album 耳鳴りとその訳 shows this way obvious jump in song writing. Not only is the re-recording of one of their demo songs, Sora no Shita, sounding way better, but their guitar parts are also vastly improved. The greatest example of this is in the song Last Days, which has some really killer fucking riffs (no really, super killer, fucking riffs). The interesting part about this mini album is the vocal delivery. Sora has always teetered on the indie/emo delivery and just straight ripping their vocals, but they make a switch on this mini album towards just more indie/emo delivery. The majority of this mini album revolves around this progression in sound. It's a lot more focused on their guitar playing (which I would like to point out here, it doesn't sound as "bright" as the rest of the scene, and instead seems to have a little distortion/or whatever in it. It's really refreshing to hear something different.) and what I find to be some fantastic drumming as well.

Sora - "Last Days"

I have no idea what Sora is up to now. Their website says their still playing live shows, and their twitter is still active. I read some blog post a year or two ago that said these guys were on their way to recording some new tracks, so hopefully they're still up to that. Other than that, download it and get to listening. Also, sorry the 2nd track on いつかのテープレコーダーCDep is shitty quality. It's all I can find because my original download had a corrupted file, and the only available was from some jackass who ripped the cd at 128kbps and 22050Hz (SERIOUSLY, WHO DOES THIS?).

Demo

Doors (only their songs)

いつかのテープレコーダーCDep

耳鳴りとその訳

You can also buy 耳鳴りとその訳 from Go Forward Keep

Folio

For those who don't like to read: Indie/emo from Japan. This guy's voice is awesome.

Folio is:

Soutaro Kimura: Gu & Vo
Takayuki Ishimoto: Gu & Cho
Kazuteru Niinomi: Bass
Masataka Enomoto: Drums

So here I sit, finals approaching quicker than tears as Bryzgalov lets in another goal, and I'm refusing to study and instead am writing about some band. It happens all the time, and the thought of not studying is the true motivator for me to continue all projects in my life. I remember telling myself that I'd make a conscious effort to better my study habits once I've gotten into college, but that hasn't happened yet, and smart money says it won't. (I'll try next year though!)

Served up hot and fresh for you is Folio, one of many bands coming out in todays Indie/Emo scene from Japan. Japan is really fucked up in a way, during the early to mid 2000s, you couldn't beat the melodic nature of Japanese pop-punk. In the same way the Indie/Emo scene rings true now, you just can't beat the stuff that is coming out in Japan (Climb the Mind, Balloons, Sora, As Meias, etc.). In the subconscious of my mind, I continually fight out the battle of which of these bands I like more, but fuck it, they're all great and will all probably end up on this blog in due time.

Folio- "Proof" live

The one thing that stands out the most for Folio is their vocalist. I'm not even sure if I can truly explain why I find these vocals so much more enjoyable than other bands in Japan doing the same thing, but it definitely has to do with the delivery of them. I don't know, there is more "umph" behind the vocal delivery? Something about it really pushes this band up to the next level, especially on their full-length "The Curve Causes a Shiver." Their music definitely falls into some of the more lighter stuff coming out of this scene in Japan right now (think like Climb the Mind's new album, "ほぞ"), very mathy, slow to a degree, but very tight and intricate. Pretty much just think of a revamped version of American Football, Japan seems to love American Football. Folio's full-length album is definitely an album that I highly recommend to all fans of music of the lighter persuasion. It's been a couple years since that album, which was the last thing they put out; but considering they're still touring, I imagine they (hopefully) have some new stuff in the works.

You can contact Folio at their website. I'm not entirely sure if they speak English, but that is something I'll find out next week, and I'll be sure to update if/when I get a response. Buy a shirt or something!

Standout Tracks (I'm gonna try this out and recommend a few of their better songs):

Fragmentary Trace, I Have

Count the Night

One of the Tenderness

Demo 2005

The Curve Causes a Shiver

The Urchin

For those who don't like to read: Arguably one of the best pop-punk bands out of Japan.

When it comes to late 90s to Mid 2000s Japan, there had to be something in the fucking water. I say this because in that era, Japan put out some of the most killer pop-punk that I've ever heard. I want to say The Urchin is my favorite out of all these bands, but it's really fucking hard when you have to compare them to bands like: The Because, Pear of the West, Minority Blues Band, Cigaretteman, and that is just off the top of my head. Whatever though, I can't complain about this at all, Snuffy Smiles records is one of the best record labels that ever existed, and continually killed it as far as putting out music goes.

The Urchin has been around since 1998 apparently, and they've put out a few 7"s, a couple split 7"s, and 2 full-lengths (as far as I know). Everything I can get my hands on so far is gold, but I'll have to keep looking out for their other releases. I honestly have no idea if they're together anymore, but smart money says that they most likely aren't.

With The Urchin's music, it's the standard affair of melodic as fuck pop-punk. The difference between them and all the fantastic pop-punk bands in Japan, is that they somehow do this simple style of music way better. The easiest thing that I could say for this is that The Urchin contained some ex-members of "Blew," and everything that has to deal with Blew (Disgusteens, others (I know this is really lazy, but I don't feel like digging deep in horse shit to find out every single band these dudes played in)) is fucking incredible, and I can't stop listening to it all.

The Urchin- "Chairman of the Discount Liquor Store"

Expect a lot more Japanese pop-punk bands over the coming days/weeks, it's about all I can listen to right now, and I don't really see myself stopping anytime soon. Hopefully I can make it to Japan some year, and then I'll just buy every Snuffy Smile record I can get my grubby little hands on.

Another Day, Another Sorry State

Fragile Songs in Lukewarm Dreams
Versus Brand New Equalizer EP

Split 7" w/ Anti Justice

Split 7" w/ The 'Tone

Split 7" w/ The Thumbs

Split 7" w/ One Leaf
Split 7" w/ Monikers
Split 7" w/ Hush Puppy

First Recording by the Band Using the Old Weapon 7"

as I find some of these records, I'll throw them on here

Gauge Means Nothing- The Absent Trail Of An Echo And My Future Plagued By Surrender

For those who don't like to read: I've wracked my brain over this CDep for 5 years now. I still can't pinpoint how I feel about it after all these years. This band has few more releases, but I really can't find them (although I'll admit, I haven't put a lot of effort into that)

It's 3AM right now, I'm supposed to be studying for tests, but instead here I am channeling bullshit here. I remember the first time I downloaded this album, it was sometime in 2007, when I first first first started to explore the depths of hardcore/screamo (that wasn't City of Caterpillar mannnnnn). I downloaded this because I thought the black and white art of the album was cool looking, and man, what a fucking title. I don't remember being so turned off so repulsively by a CDep so quickly. Listening to "Pilgrims" all I could think is, "what in the fucking christ is going on here? clean female vocals, frantic shouting followed by clean sung vocals, sometimes all at the same time!; this music is way too fast paced for 7 minutes of shit." I wasn't the smartest kid in high school, I'll go ahead and admit that right now. So I stashed this album away, doomed to the abyss of which I will never listen to it again. Every fucking year though, like clock work, I would find myself listening to the first song on this CDep (for some reason, I never progressed past this song, I just gave up halfway through because "I didn't get this," or whatever. Yet again, not the brightest.) For me with the first song, it really just repulses me around the 4:20 mark, when it's the female clean vocals over a violin in drums. It just sounded like shit to me then. Hell, I'm still not a fan of it, although I've warmed up a little bit.

I think the main problem with Gauge Means Nothing for me truly lies in the vocals. Although it's something I'm all fucking about now, it took 4 and a half fucking years for me to get into them. On the first listen, and multiple subsequent listens, it's just way too fucking much to take in at once. Couple that in with the music that'll just have different instruments thrown in whenever the fuck they damn well like it (pianos, violins, xylophones (i think?)). It's certainly something unique though. I feel the need to make this point though, you need to give it a chance, let it grow on you. This music fucking twists and turns like no other, and the vocals take you on an even crazier ride. It all changes on the fly, and it can get especially wary when it constantly shifts between frantic yelling --> clean female singing --> clean male singing --> frantic yelling + clean female singing --> frantic yelling + clean male singing --> fuck it, why not all of them at once?

So lets call me an idiot for this mistake, and hope that you don't repeat it (although you just may not like this release, I still encourage you to revisit it when you want to though). And forgive me for such a grievous mistake, for I never made it to the song "(Surely) Dies Black."

Gauge Means Nothing- "(Surely) Dies Black"

for some reason this song is listed under youtube as "Pilgrims," I dunno man.

First off, holy shit. What a god damn fucking song. For all the crazy tempo changes that happen on the other 3 songs on this CDep, this song motherfucking nails it. From the super slow start at the beginning, you don't really see the heaviness building into a complete stop that transitions right into the usual frantic screaming this band pulls off. The true shit hits at the 3:48 mark, in what I would like to put in my "Top 5 parts of any song, ever." It really doesn't get any better than this fucking part, in which I can not describe in words, because it is too fucking good. I mean the rest of the song is great as well, but the amount of times I've listened to this excerpt from the middle is way too fucking high to count. It seriously transcends most shit people right though, and is worth your time alone for you to download/listen to.

The Absent Trail Of An Echo And My Future Plagued By Surrender

buy this here (for only $3, quite a steal)

if this 4shared links act shitty towards you, let me know. I'm too lazy to upload this on my own this late at night. I'll provide a new, not-4shared link though if wanted.