This month, I’m going to be bringing you a new favorite band of mine every week. If you’ve not already heard the band, you’re in luck, it’ll be great. And if you have already heard the band, I’m sorry. Last week I shared The Pillows with you so this week you’ll be getting something a bit more electronic. This is the last week of the “John’s Favorite Japanese Bands” mini-series, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Boom Boom Satellites

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Boom Boom Satellites pretty much always sings in near unintelligible English but they’re so awesome that nobody really cares. This is one of my favorite songs from them. I really like the trippy parts of the music video too. I think it’s pretty cool.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw40FmB3gGU']

They’re an electronic music duo consisting of guitarist/vocalist Michiyuki Kawashima and bassist/programmer Masayuki Nakano. While their music can be mostly classified as big beat or nu skool breaks with heavy jazz influences, they are famous for their heavy use of electric guitars, and the final product often has a strong (punk) rock feel to it.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDBSlQthHkM']

Not all of their songs are as upbeat and “cool” as the handful I’ve collected here. They have a lot of purely instrumental/experimental/chill songs that are still okay, they’re just not my favorites. The kind shown here in this post are my favorite kind from the band.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9FpItx4Gsg']

Since the band’s tracks are so fantastic, they often get featured in media. Everything from movies to anime feature their stuff. One of their songs was even in The Dark Night. I’m always really happy when I hear their music in unexpected places.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKAVLYuAopw']

Apparently the band did a collaboration with Tahj Mowry and Flo Rida back in 2009. I didn’t know about this until just a few days ago. While I don’t really like this version of the song, I think it’s worth sharing because a joint effort between Boom Boom Satellites and Flo Rida is like the last thing I would ever expect.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi2X2v4SAKo']

The band has been making music since 1990 and they’re still going strong. The above track is from their latest album released earlier this year. Yup, Boom Boom Satellites has still got it. They rock.

So tell me, what do you think of Boom Boom Satellites? Since this is the last music post from me this month, which band did you enjoy most? D’espairsRay, Perfume, The Pillows, or BBS? Let me know in the comments!

This month, I’m going to be bringing you a new favorite band of mine every week. If you’ve not already heard the band, you’re in luck, it’ll be great. And if you have already heard the band, I’m sorry. Last week I shared Perfume with you so this week you’ll be getting something a bit more mellow.

The Pillows

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As of 2012, The Pillows have released 18 original studio albums, several EPs and compilations, and over 30 singles. That’s a lot. The guys are like 50 years old now though, so it makes sense. They’ve been making music for quite some time. Outside Japan they are best known as being responsible for the FLCL soundtrack.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EXleSHjnGc']

They have three members, and one dude who was only with the band during their first three years. He played bass for them, but since then they’ve just had two other guys playing bass who are only recognized as support members. Also I love the drummer. He’s just so chill.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG586JxIaAU']

The band got their name when two of the guys were hanging out and an English post punk compilation record entitled Pillows & Prayers caught their eye and inspired them. From that moment on they were known as The Pillows.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r1VlZzVlI0']

Since they’ve been around so long, there were a ton of songs for me to choose from to put on here. I managed to narrow it down to my top favorites. I usually don’t like music that’s really simple, but The Pillows does it so well that I just can’t help but be happy when listening to their stuff. They have some more emotional, sad sounding songs, but those ones I don’t enjoy as much.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=987rsgpYrs8']

The Pillows is one of those Japanese bands that I don’t really mind when they sing in English. Especially with songs like this one. You really just can’t help but sing along with the English parts. At the top of your lungs. Every time. I know I do.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYXIYbC43Ug']

This clip is just a snippet, but it’s from their last album of 2012. This song is just proving that they’ve still got it. They still sound like the same Pillows we know and love. Awesome.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Asian Kung-Fu Generation – Blue Train

This week’s post was a toss up between The Pillows and Asian Kung-Fu Generation. In the end I had to give it to The Pillows just because they’ve been around for longer, but I do love the both of them. This is one of my favorite Asian Kung-Fu Generation songs. Hopefully you enjoy it.

So tell me, how do you like The Pillows? How do you think they compare to Asian Kung-Fu Generation? Worse? Better? The same? Share your thoughts in the comments!

This month, I’m going to be bringing you a new favorite band of mine every week. If you’ve not already heard the band, you’re in luck, it’ll be great. And if you have already heard the band, I’m sorry. Last week I shared D’espairsRay with you so this week you’re getting something completely different.

Perfume

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I admit it. This song used to be my ringtone. It’s just really not possible for me to listen to a Perfume song and not be happy. Back in the day, Nocchi (the one with the short hair) used to be my favorite. These days I’m leaning more towards Kashiyuka (the one in the boots). I’m not too sure why, but I think it might have something to do with Nocchi’s recent hairstyle choices. Oh well.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAIAL601jI8']

I’d say I’m more a fan of Perfume’s mid to late career. Their earlier stuff is kind of hit or miss for me. The main reason for this is clear. Since 2003, Perfume has been produced by Yasutaka Nakata, founder of the group Capsule and the Contemode label.

Capsule is awesome, and the influence is definitely apparent. It was around this time in 2003 that the group’s original post-Shibuya-kei sound began making a transition to electronic dance-pop music, incorporating Auto-Tune, vocoders, and electro house. My kinda stuff.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gT1vIgJ2DI']

Perfume is also super popular. I mean, probably not as popular as AKB48, but still pretty darn famous. They’re in everything from commercials to international concerts these days. Perfume is definitely a successful group of girls. So far they’ve released 21 singles, 3 studio albums, and 3 compilation albums. All three studio albums went platinum or double platinum.

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As Perfume’s sound grows and matures I feel like it speaks even more and more to my interests. I’ve always really liked electronic style music and Perfume continues to deliver. I never get bored of their releases and every new track puts a smile on my face. Most of their music videos aren’t even that complicated, but they’re always entertaining.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOIdZILbCB0']

I absolutely love it when bass guitar is featured in an electro song. This one here is no exception. The band chose the name Perfume because all three original members had the Japanese character for fragrance (香) in their names. Unfortunately, before the group could even debut, the third member dropped out to pursue her education instead. She was then replaced by Nocchi.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWuCmjpvXmE']

This track is Perfume’s latest single. I really like it a lot. Not only do I really like the song but the video is really great too. It’s incredibly simple, but very entrancing at the same time. I love the hand dancing. And this is what I mean about Nocchi’s new hair. I’m really not a big fan of how she has it here.

Anyway, Perfume is great. Unlike D’espairsRay, they’re still around and still going strong. I’m always looking forward to their new releases and I hope they stay active for many years to come. As far as electro J-pop with female vocals, Perfume just can’t be beat.

This is Hilarious, Share it With Everyone

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Also I managed to stumble across this little gem here and it is just way too hilarious to not share with all of you. Just check out those dance moves!

So tell me, do you love Perfume as much as I do? What’s your favorite song and who’s your favorite member? Or maybe you’re one of the people that hate them? Why? Why would you dislike such an adorable group of girls??

This month, I’m going to be bringing you a new favorite band of mine every week. If you’ve not already heard the band, you’re in luck, it’ll be great. And if you have already heard the band, I’m sorry. At least they’re good, right?

Favorite VK Band Ever

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What better way to kick off the post than with Reddish? This is hands down my favorite D’espairsRay song. I still get goosebumps when he starts screaming at 1:45. I love this song. This is usually the first song I’ll play for people when I show them D’espairsRay. Results are mixed to say the least. I will be the first to admit, this music isn’t for everyone.

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This song is kinda creepy, but it’s still pretty awesome. I really like how all the sounds come together. Also, for those wondering, D’espairsRay was active between 1999 and 2011 and had four full-length records, fourteen singles, and two EPs. Besides Japan, D’espairsRay also toured in Europe and North America.

Throughout their twelve years, they always had the same members: Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass, and Tsukasa on drums. These days, I feel like twelve years is a long time for a band to stay consistent with their lineup. Good job, D’espairsRay, good job.

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This is another one of my favorites from the “good old days” of D’espairsRay. As with many VK bands, D’espairsRay eventually softened up both their image and their sound. Kind of lousy, but c’est la vie, ya know?

D’espairsRay – REDEEMER (new pv) by minimouette01

To me this is kind of like a transition song for the band. It still rocks, it’s just not the same harsh creepiness that we saw from the first three videos. Well, the video is still plenty creepy, just not so much the music. It’s much more melodic. There’s also hardly any screaming or growling in this one, but that probably has a lot to do with the vocalist starting to develop throat issues from a long successful career of shouting at things.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l1dLHxLTrA']

This song is around the time that I really started to miss the old D’espairsRay. Just compare this song to the first three. It’s way different. I mean, it’s still pretty good, the vocalist does have a good voice, it’s just not the same. I was starting to feel like D’espairsRay was not long for this world. I was right.

D’espairsRay – Love is dead pv by sasori352

And then they came out with this surprising little gem from their last album ever which is, in my opinion, quite hilarious. I can’t not like this song. I think this is a nice send off song for the group. It’s upbeat, wacky, and lets me see them go with a smile on my face.

The Fall of D’espairsRay

On September 20, 2010 D’espairsRay announced on their Facebook page that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus following the conclusion of the Human-clad Monsters Tour. This was due to the vocalist’s rare throat condition which had been troubling him for quite a while by this point. Even though he’d been undergoing treatment, his condition sadly failed to improve.

The band’s last show ever was held on December 30, 2010 and on June 15, 2011, D’espairsRay finally disbanded. This was due entirely to the vocalist being unable to recover from his throat condition. There was no farewell concert or tour, but the band posted the following note on their Facebook page:

Thank you for your continued support of D’espairsRay. Due to Hizumi’s throat troubles, we had decided to take a hiatus immediately following our show at Yokohama Blitz on 30 Dec. 2010. However, after further discussions amongst the four members, we have decided to disband as of 15 June 2011 and cease all activities under the name D’espairsRay.

To our loving fans and supportive staff members, who have followed us diligently from our founding on 9 Sept. 1999 until now, we deeply apologize for such a sudden and troubling announcement. All four members are deeply thankful, from the bottom of our hearts, for your enthusiastic support and encouragement.

Thank you,
D’espairsRay: Hizumi, Karyu, Zero, Tsukasa.

The guitarist Karyu went on to join the band Angelo in August 2011, but I don’t really like them because the vocalist has an annoying voice. The bassist Zero and the drummer Tsukasa formed the band The Micro Head 4N’s with some other dudes, and that band is okay, but not great.

The vocalist Hizumi started a design company called Umbrella where he does illustration and design work. He also claims that there is a musical project “coming soon”, whatever that means.

They Will Forever Live on in My Heart

D’espairsRay is one of my favorite bands of all time. This was even my MySpace song back when MySpace was cool. The song reminds me of my early college days, my crazy “I don’t live with my parents anymore” hair, and just everything back from those days. Listening to D’espairsRay makes me happy because they’re awesome, but it also fills me with a ton of nostalgia. The band means a lot to me.

I’m also really sad that I never got to see them in concert. Twice (after the fact) I realized that I could have gone to a concert of theirs but I missed the boat each time. Oh well, at least I got to see Polysics…

Sites Referenced:
D’espairsRay Wikipedia

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1awua0YrSRs&feature=fvst']

The band consists of five members: Ichiro Yamaguchi (vocals & guitar), Motoharu Iwadera (guitar), Ami Kusakari (bass), Emi Okazaki (keyboard), and Keiichi Ejima (drums). Sakanaction is a combination of the Japanese word for fish, sakana, and the English word, action. Together we have Sakanaction. Or just Fish Action, but no not really – no one calls them that – that’s just silly name. Fish Action, psh.

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The band claims the fish symbolism in their name reflects their wish to act quickly and lightly, like a fearless fish in the sea not fearing changes in the music industry. Sakanaction has been enjoying increased popularity lately, and has even achieved some mainstream success by appearing on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 charts.

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Ichiro Yamaguchi, Sakanaction’s creator, was originally from a band by the name of Dutchman, which he started in 1998 with a few of his friends from high school including Motoharu Iwadera (the guitarist of Sakanaction). From 2000 to 2003, they released one maxi single titled Fly, one album titled Demonstration, and a single titled Mikazuki Sunset that was only sold at their live performances.

Unfortunately however, the band did not gain much recognition. In 2004, the members of Dutchman disbanded, leaving Yamaguchi to continue on alone with the project. Wanting to try his hand at something different, Yamaguchi then began performing as a live DJ at night clubs.

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One year later, Sakanaction was born in 2005. When Yamaguchi was working at a record store, he heard the song Owari no Kisetsu by Rei Harakami and it inspired him to create a new, totally awesome band. Enter Sakanaction. Yamaguchi founded Sakanaction together with Iwadera, while Kusakari left another band to join the ranks of Sakanaction. Ejima was introduced by a mutual friend, and Okazaki was one of the other people working at the record store with Yamaguchi.

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We made a new band together and named it “Sakanaction”. When I first suggested “What do you think of the name Sakanaction?”, he said “I hate it”, but I forced.
-Yamaguchi

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTRLVB8UHt4&feature=related']

Sakanaction first started to gain mass appeal during the 2006 Rising Sun Rock Festival and the band’s first physical release was Go to the Future in 2007. Three songs originally from Dutchman were also rereleased as Sakanaction releases. Mikazuki Sunset and Inner World were included in Go to the Future while Word was part of a digital download release, and later made it to the NIGHT FISHING album.

On August 9, 2008, Sakanaction performed as one of the main acts on one of Japan’s top music stations, “Music On!” in an event called Summer Sonic ’08. Sakanaction performed alongside Paul Weller, The Fratellis, Death Cab for Cutie, Cajun Dance Party, Band of Horses, Blood Red Shoes, and These New Puritans. Not too bad.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdWX0IDhbCU&feature=related']

On December 26, 2008, Sakanaction made it to #9 on Billboard’s Japan Hot 100 list with their single Sentorei. The song moved from #91 to #9 in just four weeks. This was a big accomplishment for Sakanaction.

In December of 2008 the band announced their third album, Shinshiro, which ended up being released in January of 2009. The album debuted at #8 on the Oricon weekly charts. Sakanaction held a national promotional tour, Sakanquarium2009, in February and March of 2009. On January 13, 2010, the band released the single Aruku Around, which hit #3 on the Oricon weekly charts.

On August 8, 2010 they made appearances at both the Summer Sonic and the World Happiness 2010 rock festivals in Tokyo. I don’t know about you, but any rock festival by the name of World Happiness sounds like a pretty good time to me.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZbXHt3xPr8']

So far they have 5 full length albums and 3 EPs. I for one am very much looking forward to hearing whatever they have to offer in the future. I think my favorite song and video is the last one included on this page (I really like that one man dance line). What’s your favorite?

P.S. Did you know that Sakanaction has a Twitter? Well so does Tofugu.
P.P.S. Want to share some other lesser known bands? Leave us a comment on Facebook or Google+.

All band information obtained from Sakanaction’s Wikipedia and Last.fm pages.

Formed in 2005, the members of The Telephones include: Akira Ishige (石毛輝) on vocals, guitar, and keyboard, Ryohei Nagashima (長島涼平) on bass and chorus, Nobuaki Okamoto (岡本伸明 ) on keyboard and chorus, and Seiji Matsumoto (松本誠治) on drums. And now onto the music!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29iH4JOgZJI']

I found this band a while back while I was looking for new bands and searching around on last.fm and YouTube. I also think it was around the time I found out about Vola and the Oriental Machine, but I’m not sure, it was a while ago.

Anyway, The Telephones are really, really good. They have a great unique sound and their music videos are awesome. So please, continue on and feast your eyes!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwwucy5gxOY&feature=related']

After playing their first show together in January of 2005, The Telephones began to ring with resounding potential. The electronic rock quartet released their first demo in July of the same year and established their official line up not too long after that. With their roster set, The Telephones released their second demo in February of 2006 and followed things up with a short summer tour around the Kanto region of Japan.

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The Telephones released their debut mini album, We are the Handclaps, with July Records in April of 2007 and have continued to rock the nation of Japan with their discotheque rock anthems ever since.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv0zJSbMLEI']

July 2009 saw the release of The Telephones’ first full length album, Dance Floor Monsters. The debut single from this album, Monkey Discooooooo, was in heavy rotation on MTV Japan. You can watch said video near the end of this post.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMAMMiyn1qM']

Band Information Source: last.fm

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Pre-2010 Songs

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I like their latest stuff the best, but here’s a few of their older songs. Which batch do you like better? The older stuff or the newer stuff?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph64dJTpIzI']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwAdNyL6ZIo']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hynRUScO67A']

Akira Ishige’s Solo Career

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It would also seem that the lead vocalist has gone solo. I just discovered this a few days ago and it’s a real departure from the sound of The Telephones. What do you think? It’s much softer, relaxing, and not disco-like at all. How strange!

P.S. Already heard of the Telephones? Tell us what bands we’re missing out on over on our Twitter page.
P.P.S. Missed our other great band recommendations? Check us out over on Facebook and Google+.