June: Taicoclub, Tokyo Camp kick off festival season
Students are counting down the days till school lets out, while urban commuters are starting to sweat the impending heat. Summer is coming, and a sure sign of that is ...
February: My Bloody Valentine returns
January featured a ton of great concerts across Japan, but February might be even better — hope your wallet isn't too thin this month. One of Tokyo's best shows this month ...
January: Spirit of punk alive as Patti Smith, Death Grips come to Japan
The new year is starting out with a slew of potentially great gigs throughout the country. The most anticipated of these is probably Patti Smith and her Band's seven-city tour, which ...
We got the beat: Our club picks to ring in the New Year
The end of the year is approaching, which means — if you're not stuck in the house watching popular music show "Kohaku Uta Gassen" with Grandma — it's time to party hard. For those who like beats, there are tons of dance-music events across ...
We will rock you: Our concert picks to ring in the New Year
Dear rockers, music festivals in the summer are not the only major events of the year. There's unfortunately — or fortunately — no time to waste sitting at home next to the heater. Seek out the warmth of a mosh pit instead, because a ...
Two up-and-coming electronic musicians, Matthewdavid and Anenon, are in Japan to support the local branch of Los Angeles-based, nonprofit Internet radio station Dublab and they'll tour five cities with some of this country's next big dance acts. Having released the album "Outmind" via the Brainfeeder ...
Turning 80 this year hasn't interrupted Isao Tomita in his search for new musical possibilities. Known to many as the father of Japanese electronic music, the artist is about to turn his latest dream into a (virtual) reality, by collaborating with computer-generated diva Hatsune ...
If you're looking for a midweek party to tide you over until the weekend, a pair of Scissor Sisters gigs might be just what you're looking for. A decade into their career, Scissor Sisters have shown themselves to be an enduring, refreshing and interesting pop ...
What do you get when you mix prehistoric Jomon Period ruins and free-spirited, improvised percussion and rhythm? Jomon Trance, that's what. A genre coined by global music group RaBiRaBi, it's a sound that "blends the ancient and the future to create a new ceremonial ...
Crying Nut and Yellow Monsters
As K-pop continues its rise in stature, South Korea's small but prolific indie scenes are beginning to gain some recognition abroad as well. K-punk, which mixes American-style punk sounds with soju-fueled attitude and shenigans, looks to get an extra boost with Crying Nut and Yellow ...
Emerging in March of this year promising to "challenge the limits of 'independent,' " Kiwa Kiwa — a music website and promoter (and cafe, curiously) — launched in a flurry of activity including disc and live reviews as well as columns from a quartet ...
Hokuo Music Night 2012/Finland Fest 2012: Metal Attack
Talk all you like about Cool Japan — the Nordic countries have been exporting their sound for years, and it's positively freezing. From the sweetly kitsch pop sound of The Cardigans to the otherworldly soundscapes of Sigur Ros to the black metal of Bathory, ...
