In an age where almost every piece of historical information is available at our fingertips, Thomas Mars and Laurent Brancowitz of the French band Phoenix surprise me with a fact that doesn't seem to exist anywhere on the internet. "One of our first shows was ...

The 2017 edition of Fuji Rock Festival boasts one of the more eclectic lineups the long-running gathering has had in recent years. The headliners tell the tale: Cartoon rockers Gorillaz share the same font size as electronic pop star Bjork and dance music weirdo ...

Purity Ring is sorry for not coming to Japan since 2012. "We've only been there once. We played Fuji Rock about a week before (debut album 'Shrines') came out," says Corin Roddick, one half of the Canadian duo. "We never went for 'Another Eternity,' it ...

When Ryan Adams performs at Studio Coast on Dec. 9, it will mark his first ever headlining gig in Japan, after playing Fuji Rock twice — in 2005 with the Cardinals and 2015 with the Shining. On his third visit to the country, he's ...

Lou Barlow is looking forward to his trip back to Japan. It's the cuisine, more than anything that has him anticipating his return to the country, but it's not what you might think. "I look forward to the egg salad sandwiches at 7-11 or Lawson," ...

Carly Rae Jepsen has a major crush on Japan. Proof of this came last summer when she released her latest album, "Emotion" (rendered "E• MO• TION"), in this country a whole two months before anywhere else in the world. That kind of ...

Pop-punk veterans Ash are in the mood for celebrating. This year the band's 1996 chart-topping debut album, "1977," will turn 20 years old, and frontman/guitarist Tim Wheeler says he and his bandmates — drummer Rick McMurray and bassist Mark Hamilton — are looking to ...

Every few years or so, an argument surfaces that hip-hop has reached a new "golden age." Think-pieces are written, panel discussions at industry conferences are held and major artists write self-aggrandized raps supporting the claim. Yes, we are currently being rewarded with envelope-pushing music ...

When The Jesus and Mary Chain reunited nine years ago, it was both as a way to celebrate the past and the future. Immediately after getting back together in 2007, Jim and William Reid announced they would record a new album. And while that ...

No matter how hard her fans and the music press campaign to make it happen, Grimes will never become the true pop star they want her to be. Although her otherworldly, Ableton-assisted music is crammed full of hooks fit to sit alongside Rihanna and ...