• Review: Avengers in Sci-Fi – Jupiter Jupiter

    Review: Avengers in Sci-Fi – Jupiter Jupiter

    Being the type of person who both writes about Japanese music and owns the Carl Sagan – Glorious Dawn 7″...
  • Interview: Morning Glory

    Interview: Morning Glory

    Morning Glory are a pop-punk band from Gifu, Japan.  They’re all about fun, and it definitely comes across in their...
  • Interview: Ayaka Ikio

    Interview: Ayaka Ikio

    I’ve been enjoying Ayaka Ikio’s music since I first heard it.  She brings a heavy edge to the dance scene...
  • Best of 2009

    Best of 2009

    2009 has been a good year for Japanese music fans.  There have been many great releases and they’ve become easier...
  • Interview: Kulu Kulu Garden

    Interview: Kulu Kulu Garden

    Kulu Kulu Garden released Detorake Yuuenchi in Japan in August, and have just made the album available internationally through iTunes...
  • Review: Ogre You Asshole – Fog Lamp

    Review: Ogre You Asshole – Fog Lamp

    Ogre You Asshole wear their influences on their sleeves, literally.  They got their memorable band-moniker when former drummer Arata Nishi...
  • Interview: Ian Martin

    Interview: Ian Martin

    Ian Martin lives in Koenji, Tokyo where he runs his label, Call And Response Records, organizes concerts, and writes about...
  • Review: Mayumi Kojima – Arabesque

    Review: Mayumi Kojima – Arabesque

    Mayumi Kojima’s child-like voice could be an acquired taste – her voice is in the same delicate range as Chara’s,...
  • Review: Hyacca – Hanazono

    Review: Hyacca – Hanazono

    As Hanazono opens with ‘34 DANCE’ it sounds like a bizarre hybrid of Blonde Redhead and Battles.  A screeching lead...
  • LITE @ Shibuya Quattro

    LITE @ Shibuya Quattro

    At the well-known rock-venue, Quattro in Shibuya Tokyo, the experimental, instrumental post-rock band, LITE, took part in the 3-day Parabolica...
  • Interview: Nathan Reaven – President of HearJapan

    Interview: Nathan Reaven – President of HearJapan

    In an effort to better understand some of the inner-workings of the music business, I’m speaking with distributors, managers and...
  • Daito Manabe – Electric Stimulus to Face

    Daito Manabe – Electric Stimulus to Face

    Daito Manabe is a total nerd in the best possible way.  He’s an artist before he’s a musician, but makes...