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	<title>The Japan Times &#187; Ian Martin</title>
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	<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp</link>
	<description>News on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More</description>
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		<title>MBV inspires Japan to keep staring at its feet</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/28/music/mbv-inspires-japan-to-keep-staring-at-its-feet/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mbv-inspires-japan-to-keep-staring-at-its-feet</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/28/music/mbv-inspires-japan-to-keep-staring-at-its-feet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:08:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cruff in the Bedroom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crypt City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kentaro Nakao]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Bloody Valentine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shoegaze]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[In February 2013, there were three events that shook the world: the resignation of the pope, North Korea&#8217;s successful test of a nuclear bomb, and the release of Irish/British rock band My Bloody Valentine&#8217;s first new album in 22 years. Dispatched with less frequency than popes and comparable volume to nuclear bombs, My Bloody Valentine [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>AKB48 member&#8217;s &#8216;penance&#8217; shows flaws in idol culture</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/01/music/akb48-members-penance-shows-flaws-in-idol-culture/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=akb48-members-penance-shows-flaws-in-idol-culture</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/01/music/akb48-members-penance-shows-flaws-in-idol-culture/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:54:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[AKB48]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[idol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J-pop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Minami Minegishi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YouTube]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The image of a young girl in front of a camera, her head recently shaved, sobbing into the lens is one that&#8217;s guaranteed to shock. But when that girl is a key member of idol group AKB48, the reaction is bound to be stronger. After being caught leaving the home of Generations boy-band member Alan [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>37</slash:comments>
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		<title>Diamond cries &#8216;murder&#8217; on the dancefloor</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/01/31/music/diamond-cries-murder-on-the-dancefloor/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=diamond-cries-murder-on-the-dancefloor</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/01/31/music/diamond-cries-murder-on-the-dancefloor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:15:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2NE1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[antidownload]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Avex Trax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diamond Weekly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recochoku]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recording Industry Association of Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spotify]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strange Boutique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[streaming]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[In its Jan. 12 edition, the Japanese business magazine Diamond Weekly decided to ring in the new year with a 10-page feature titled, &#8220;Who&#8217;s Killing Music?&#8221; It was the topic of much discussion and reaction in the music business, and the article even made the agenda during a meeting of the Japanese music industry&#8217;s trade [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Pop embraced conservatism in 2012</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/27/music/pop-embraced-conservatism-in-2012/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=pop-embraced-conservatism-in-2012</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/27/music/pop-embraced-conservatism-in-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[The 2012 general election might not seem to have any bearing on the state of pop music in Japan, but there was an eerie similarity in the way both the electorate and the pop world turned back the clock and wrapped conservatism in a neurotic embrace. Japanese chart company Oricon&#8217;s year-end rankings tell two main [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>The coming influx of an idol workforce</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/29/music/the-coming-influx-of-an-idol-workforce/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-coming-influx-of-an-idol-workforce</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/29/music/the-coming-influx-of-an-idol-workforce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Much has been made in the media over the problem of Japan&#8217;s aging population and shrinking workforce. But there is another demographic time bomb, at the heart of Japan&#8217;s most militantly youthful sector of society, just waiting to explode. I&#8217;m talking, of course, about the boom in Japan&#8217;s idol population. Yasushi Akimoto&#8217;s mass idol factory [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>No problems with Nisennenmondai&#8217;s contradictions</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/08/music/no-problems-with-nisennenmondais-contradictions/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=no-problems-with-nisennenmondais-contradictions</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/08/music/no-problems-with-nisennenmondais-contradictions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a basic disconnect at the heart of Tokyo&#8217;s Nisennenmondai. A series of small contradictions run through nearly all aspects of what the instrumental trio does, but they add up to make it one of the most intriguing bands to come out of Japan&#8217;s underground and experimental-rock scene in the past decade. It&#8217;s a contradiction [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/08/music/no-problems-with-nisennenmondais-contradictions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Western stereotypes may explain Japan&#8217;s Psy-lence</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/25/music/western-stereotypes-may-explain-japans-psy-lence/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=western-stereotypes-may-explain-japans-psy-lence</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/25/music/western-stereotypes-may-explain-japans-psy-lence/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:01:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Amid all the excitement, analysis and general horse-dancing hoo-haa over Korean musician Psy&#8217;s smash hit &#8220;Gangnam Style,&#8221; one story that has provoked a certain amount of head-scratching among fans is the song&#8217;s relative lack of success in Japan. Brian Ashcraft produced a good summary on the website Kotaku of how audience expectations and music industry [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/25/music/western-stereotypes-may-explain-japans-psy-lence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The customer is always right, but that&#8217;s what&#8217;s wrong in Japan&#8217;s live-house scene</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/30/music/the-customer-is-always-right-but-thats-whats-wrong-in-japans-live-house-scene/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-customer-is-always-right-but-thats-whats-wrong-in-japans-live-house-scene</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/30/music/the-customer-is-always-right-but-thats-whats-wrong-in-japans-live-house-scene/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[The roundly despised pay-to-play system in place throughout most of Tokyo&#8217;s live-music scene, and to a slightly lesser extent in many other cities, is something I&#8217;ve written about in this column before. A typical complaint from a band might go, &#8220;Why should we have to pay just for the privilege of stepping onto the stage?&#8221; [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/30/music/the-customer-is-always-right-but-thats-whats-wrong-in-japans-live-house-scene/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Fuji&#8217;s Rookie A Go-Go stage holds an antidote for the same-old rockers</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/26/music/fujis-rookie-a-go-go-stage-holds-an-antidote-for-the-same-old-rockers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=fujis-rookie-a-go-go-stage-holds-an-antidote-for-the-same-old-rockers</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/26/music/fujis-rookie-a-go-go-stage-holds-an-antidote-for-the-same-old-rockers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:01:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/26/%culture_category%/fujis-rookie-a-go-go-stage-holds-an-antidote-for-the-same-old-rockers/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Fuji Rock Festival kicks off tomorrow with its dependable mixture of ageing rockers from abroad, a handful of predictably chosen Japanese acts, and just a smattering of blogged-about buzz bands. This year in particular, the joy I felt upon the demise of Oasis has been replaced with the dread of the hydralike horror of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/26/music/fujis-rookie-a-go-go-stage-holds-an-antidote-for-the-same-old-rockers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Various Artists &#8220;Ripple&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/12/music/various-artists-ripple/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=various-artists-ripple</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/07/12/music/various-artists-ripple/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian Martin</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[It seems that every indie scenester in Japan wants a piece of Nagoya these days. Buzz is growing around the city&#8217;s bands, and it&#8217;s fast becoming an essential first stop away from home for Tokyo artists and DJ events. One of the reasons for this new love affair comes from the efforts of the label [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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