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REVIEW: AKB48 “Koko ni Ita Koto”
AKB48 Koko ni Ita Koto (You! Be Cool/King) Available on CD, CD/DVD and on iTunes Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Given the amount of long playing albums – fourteen in total as of this writing, counting...
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…And Gomaki’s Career Takes Another Odd Turn…
Maki Goto’s singing career has been on rather uneven footing since she abruptly announced her then-impending departure from her original agency Up-Front Works and the label that released her solo...
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REVIEW: SHONEN KNIFE “Osaka Ramones”
SHONEN KNIFE Osaka Ramones: Tribute to The Ramones (Good Charamel) Available on CD, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars [AUTHOR'S NOTE: This review was originally intended for what I...
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Stop! Kyary Time!
I’ve been rather ambivalent about Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and her seemingly overnight success with her first single, the admittedly infectious “PONPONPON”, but I won’t lie: both of her singles, the...
View ArticlePerfume Doesn’t Like You, Get Over It!
This is something I originally let pass without comment, but since it cropped up to the top of my Flipboard and on my Twitter feed almost out of the blue today after two months, the situation is...
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BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #4: SCANDAL “Baby Action”
SCANDAL Baby Action (Epic/Sony Japan) Available on CD, CD/DVD, and iTunes The Osaka Four are still unstoppable. This album is just more proof of why that is so. And the whole SCANDAL album catalog is...
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BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #3: KYARY PAMYU PAMYU “Moshi Moshi Harajuku”
KYARY PAMYU PAMYU Moshi Moshi Harajuku (Warner Bros.) Available on CD and iTunes It’s warped, it’s ridiculously sugar-coated and electrionic-heavy… and it’s one hell of a guilty pleasure. And it’s not...
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BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #2: MORNING MUSUME “Fantasy! Juuichi” and “12, Smart”
MORNING MUSUME Fantasy Juuichi (Zetima) Available on CD, CD/DVD combo, and iTunes12, Smart MORNING MUSUME 12, Smart (Zetima) Available on CD, CD/DVD combo, and iTunes Japan Looking back, both of these...
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One Musician’s Opinion on AKB48 as an Instrument-Wielding Pop-Rock Band…
AKB48′s self-played performance of their forthcoming single “Give Me Five” under the assumed name/side project Baby Blossom is getting a lot of attention in the J-Pop blogosphere. Despite the raw...
View ArticleOne Does Not Simply Grow Out Of Their Passion For Music
“When are you going to grow out of that J-Pop stuff?” This has a frequent question from my wife Tara, who I’ve known since 2004 and have been married to since 2010. The question doesn’t seem to come up...
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