J-Rock

FACT: BURUNDANGA

FACT released their self-titled major label debut in Japan in 2009 -- a decade after they were formed in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture -- and quickly gained a strong national and international following. They have since become one of Japan’s biggest and most-loved rock bands of the decade. In fact, their first two albums reached the top 10 in Japan and their popularity has only grown since, their third album, In the Blink of an Eye, debuting at number 6 on the Oricon weekly chart. Burundanga is their third album and their long-awaited U.S. debut.

CLUTCHO: BILLY BILLY

Clutcho is a Japanese rock band consisting of Yuto on vocals and guitar, Shinichi on bass and backing vocals and Shingo on drums. They made their debut in 2002, yet I could find surprisingly little about them online.

PASSEPIED: FEVER

Passepied is a Japanese indie pop rock band with strong jazz influences. And that's really all I was able to learn about them online. Well, aside from the fact that they're on tumblr, but they only post videos and photos there, so I wasn't able to actually learn anything else from them bio-wise. But they certainly seem artsy, which is pretty obvious from listening to their music.

SAITO KAZUYOSHI: ONE MORE TIME

Japanese singer/songwriter Saito Kazuyoshi debuted in 1993 with the single "Boku no Mita Beatles wa TV no Naka." In addition to continuing to release music of his own, he soon found himself writing music for television commercials and songs for artists like Puffy and Isa Koutarou. To date, he's released roughly 50 singles and over 13 original studio albums, plus a half dozen best of type compilations. Suffice to say that he's quite accomplished and has a massive fanbase. He will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his career this August.

[CHAMPAGNE]: FOREVER YOUNG

[Champagne] -- they always stylize it like that -- is a Japanese rock band that was formed in 2007. They are said to have chosen their name because it symbolizes being rich and famous, two of their biggest goals in life. In 2010 they played major festivals including Rock In Japan Festival and Summer Sonic 2010. They apparently cite Michael Jackson, Nirvana and Oasis as their influences. They released their second album, I Want to Go to Hawaii during March 2011 and it quickly rose to the top of Oricon's indie chart.

GIRL NEXT DOOR: STANDING FOR YOU

Hot on the heels of their hit singles "signal" and "all my life" -- remember, they don't like CAPS -- girl next door are back with their new single "standing for you." The song begins with singer Chisa cheerfully singing along to sunshiny synth, courtesy of keyboardist Daisuke Suzuki. Soon guitarist Yuji Inoue enters the picture, helping to give the up-tempo pop rock track its solid rhythm, though the song is definitely dominated by the glimmering synth and Chisa's sugary vocals.

THE SKETCHBOOK: スプリット・ミルク｜REFLECT

The Sketchbook is a J-pop/rock trio originally formed on an anime show. I'm not sure what the show's name is, but I think it's Sket Dan, which is the name of the trio's group on the show. In the series, each member of the group starts off playing with another band but those bands fall apart just before a battle of the bands show, so these three musicians come together, forming Sket Dan for the talent show, which I believe they win, and they remain a group after that. Apparently, Sket Dan is also the name of a campus support group at Kaimei High School on the show.

MAN WITH A MISSION: EMOTIONS

Man With A Mission is a Japanese band who make music that ranges from hard rock to dance pop. The members all use stage names: Tokyo Tanaka (vocals), Jean-Ken Johnny (guitar), Kamikaze Boy (bass), DJ Santa Monica (disc jockey), and Spear Rib (drums). As if some of those names weren't strange enough, the members of the band wear wolf masks when they play concerts or appear in their music videos. Yes, you read that correctly -- they wear WOLF masks. And Wiki has a weird explanation for why they do that.

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SHISHIDO KAVKA: MUSIC

Shishido Kavka is a model, actress, drummer and singer. That's right -- she plays her own drums. I think that's the first time I've come across an instance where a J-pop or J-rock singer plays his or her own drums. So, props to her for that. And I'm pleased to say that she's equally skillful behind the microphone and the drum kit.

KYLEE: DAISUKI NANONI

Kylee is a Japanese American singer/songwriter, though thus far she has only released music in Japan via DefStar Records, a division of Sony Music Japan.

FAYLAN: GOD FATE

FAYLAN: GOD FATE

Faylan -- or Feinyan, as her fans call her -- is back with her first single since last August's "Realization" with her new single "God FATE," the opening theme of the new TV anime series Hakkenden: Toho Hakken Ibun, which is based on the popular comic book of the same name.

AMMOFLIGHT: アルタルフ〜この恋の終わりに〜

Ammoflight continue to be one of Japan's greatest pop rock bands of all-time with their stellar new single "アルタルフ〜この恋の終わりに〜" (Google translation: "At the end of this love ~ Arutarufu ~"). Their soulful vocals, rich guitars, luscious bass and driving drums all sound entirely fantastic, but even more noteworthy is their colorful, melodious songwriting, which is what ultimately makes this song such a winner.

DIR EN GREY: 輪郭

Dir En Grey continue to refine their sound with their latest single, "輪郭" (Google translate: "Outline"), which features lots of melodic singing in lieu of the old school death metal screeching found on so many of their past releases. Everything about their sound is cleaner and crispier here. The guitars are less grimy, instead possessing more of a clean sound like you would expect from bands like Helloween and Anthrax. Sure, there are still some crunchy guitars and the rhythm section still projects a doom-like vibe, but this is more accessible than most of their previous singles.

KANAE ITO: COLORS!

Super popular voice actress Kanae Ito's new single "COLORS!" is one of those songs you either love or hate and it only takes one listen to decide. At least that's all it took to hook me. It's full of hooks, in fact -- guitar hooks, vocal hooks... You get the idea. This is a wonderful up-tempo pop rock gem. Kanae sings it totally upbeat, like she's having the time of her life, and that enthusiasm and passion that she puts into her vocals is nothing short of contagious. The guitars reach out and grab you, too. Honestly, if you don't like this song then you probably don't like J-pop.

SPYAIR: WENDY ～It’s You～

Spyair is a Japanese rock group hailing from Nagoya. They were formed in 2005 and the members are members are Ike (Vocal), Kenta (Drum), Momiken (Bass), Uz (Guitar) and DJ Enzel. The band initially produced and released their music themselves, later doing so for an indie label called U-PROJECT, but in 2010 the finally signed a major label deal with Sony Music. Earlier this year, their song "Love Game" was featured in the new movie The Amazing Spider Man.

YO SHIBUSAWA: 花はここに咲いています

The title of this mini-album's English translation is "Flowers Are Blooming Here," which is actually quite funny when you listen to it because the first four tracks especially sound nothing like flowers or other sunshiny things. On the contrary, they're full of anger and attitude and they can leave you feeling downright assaulted -- like a brick has struck the front of your head -- if you're not a fan of gritty, down and dark rock 'n' roll with smidges of punk and metal.

The mini-album opens with one of its most brutal tracks, "破壊BOSSジャム聖飢魔IIメイク" (Google translation:

HARUNA RUNA: OVERFLY

Well, it seems Haruna is still having an identity crisis. You may recall that when her first single, "空は高く風は歌う," came out earlier this year everyone was calling her Haruna Luna, Luna evidently being a homage to that single. But, for better or worse, that nickname has stuck. Mostly, anyway. If you search for her as Haruna Runa on Yes Asia you won't find her. But Haruna Luna finds her immediately. It's the opposite on CD Japan, which has her listed as Haruna Runa. It will be interesting to see what happens as her career progresses.

KOMINAMI YASUHA: 121212

Singer/songwriter Kominami Yasuha's new mini-album is called 121212, in other words 12/12/12, which happens to be the date of the mini-album's release. Better still, it even features a song called "１２月１２日," or, as translated by Google, "December 12, 2012." I imagine that even the Mayans couldn't pull off -- or predict -- something this calculated. That said, calculated isn't a word I'd use to describe her music. On the contrary, it's raw, bleeding and rough-around-the-edges and that's part of her charm.

FT ISLAND: POLAR STAR

FT Island -- sometimes written as F.T. ISLAND or FTIsland -- is a Southern Korean pop rock band which also releases material in Japanese and has a strong following in Japan accordingly. The group's members are Lee Hongki (lead vocals), Lee Jae-jin (bass and vocals), Choi Jong-hoon (guitar and keyboard), Song Seung-hyun (guitar and vocals), and Choi Min-hwan (drums). The group made their debut in 2007 and have been scoring hits ever since.

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TAKUMA TERASHIMA: MAGIC WORDS

Takuma Terashima is a hugely popular voice actor who has worked on over 50 anime films since he started in 2005. Some of the films he's worked on include One Outs, Shigofumi, Princess Lover!, Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, The Idolmaster, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE and Kokoro Connect. He is a graduate of Tokyo Announce Gakuin where he studied voice acting. Until the end of 2008 he was represented by Holypeak, but since then he's been represented by AXL-ONE. Magic Words is his debut as a singer.