Kemuri

Kemuri was a Japanese ska-punk band formed in 1995. They have an upbeat sound with positive lyrics which they refer to as PMA (positive mental attitude). While the majority of the songs are in English, they do also sing in Japanese.

Break Up

On December 12th, 2006, Kemuri posted a "break up message" on their web site. They said they had done much more than they expected as a band and that this break up would be the most positive conclusion to their band (keeping in line with their PMA message). Their last show was on December 9th, 2007 at the Zepp in Tokyo.

Band members

• Fumio Ito, vocals
• Noriaki Tsuda, bass
• Hidenori Minami, guitar
• Shoji Hiraya, drums
• Ken Kobayashi, saxophone
• Ryosuke Morimura, former trumpet player who died in 2003.

Discography

• Little Playmate (1997)
• 77 Days (1998)
• Senka-Senrui (2000)
• Emotivation (2001)
• Circles (2004)
• Waiting For The Rain (2005)
• Principle (2005)
• Our PMA (2007)

Kemuri Official Site

YMCK

YMCK is a Japanese Chiptune band. The band members are as follows; Midori (vocals), Yokemura (music, lyrics, arrangement), and Nakamura (music video). Their work has not been confined to Japan, having released albums in Korea, Thailand and the USA as well as appearing at various events around in East Asia and Europe.

History

YMCK was formed in May 2003 when Midori joined Yokemura and Nakamura. They soon released their first work; a CD-R containing 6 tracks. In 2004, YMCK appeared at Microdisko in Stockholm, Sweden. In the same year they released their first full album, "Family Music". In 2005, YMCK made another appearance outside of Japan, this time at the FORMOZ FESTIVAL in Taipei, Taiwan and at the FAT FESTIVAL in Bangkok, Thailand. They also released their second full album, "FAMILY RACING". In 2006, they returned to Taiwan to appear at the FORMOZ FESTIVAL for the second time. They are currently working on their third album. The band are also set to return to Thailand to appear at the FAT FESTIVAL again and are set to appear at the Blip Festival in New York, United States.

Discography

Note: The English is not necessarily a direct translation of the Japanese. The English titles are taken from the English version of the website. For example, track one on "FAMILY RACING" was actually titled "FAMILY RACING" on the Japanese release.

Studio Albums

FAMILY MUSIC (CD-R edition) (2003)
1. Opening
2. Pastel Colored Candy [パステル・キャンディーは悪魔のささやき]
3. Darling
4. Pow * Pow
5. Does John Coltrane Dream of a Merry-go-round? [ジョン・コルトレーンは回転木馬の夢を見るか]
6. Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and Black [Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and Black(YMCKのテーマ)]

Family Music (2004)
1. Fanfare [ファンファーレ]
2. Magical 8bit Tour
3. Pastel Colored Candy [パステル・キャンディーは悪魔のささやき]
4. Darling
5. POW * POW
6. Interlude
7. SOCOPOGOGO (YMCK Version)
8. Synchronicity
9. Tetrominon -From Russia with Blocks-
10. Does John Coltrane Dream of a Merry-go-round? [ジョン・コルトレーンは回転木馬の夢を見るか] 11. Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and Black (Theme from YMCK) [Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and Black (YMCKのテーマ)]
12. Your Quest is Over

FAMILY RACING (2005)
1. Opening [ファミリーレーシング]
2. Panic Racer 005 [パニックレーサー005]
3. Go YMCK, Go!
4. Come on! Swing all stars. [カモン！スウィングオールスターズ]
5. Rock'n Roll rendezvous feat. Takahashi Meijin [ロッケンロール･ランデブー featuring 高橋名人]
6. Sakana no Mabataki [魚のまばたき]
7. Milky Blue -Riddle In Wonderland- [Milky Blue ～不思議の国のリドル～]
8. Kira * Kira [キラ＊キラ]

YMCK "Family Genesis" (2008)
1. Prologue
2. sabita tobira no dai 8 tengoku
3. Pleiades
4. Starlight
5. izukata no fue
6. Curving The Rock
7. Future Invasion
8. Rain
9. System Reboot
10. Floor 99
11. Major Swing
12. 8 banme no niji
13. jidai okure no sora
14. Finale ~Welcome to the 8bit world~

YMCK official website

Ikimono Gakari

Ikimono Gakari (いきものがかり) is a three member rock band that formed in 1999. They made their mainstream debut in March 2006 with Epic Japan Records.

Members

• Yoshioka Kiyoe (吉岡聖恵) - Vocals
• Mizuno Yoshiki (水野良樹) - Guitar & Vocals; leader
• Yamashita Hotaka (山下穂尊) - Guitar & Harmonica
  

Information

Ikimono Gakari formed in February 1999 as an indie band based in Kanagawa, Japan. Founded by Mizuno Yoshiki and Yamashita Hotaka, the two began doing street performances and decided on their name of "Ikimono Gakari". In December of the same year Yoshioka Kiyoe joined as the group's main vocalist. However, nearly one year later the three disbanded in order for Yoshiki and Hotaka to focus on their university entrance exams. Their reformation occured in March 2002 after the two had gone through their university classes. Four years after their formation, their first album was released on an indies label. They were signed to Epic Japan Records and released their first mainstream single SAKURA in March 2006. The title song was used in NTT East Japan commercials and heard on various televised programs.

Trivia

• Vocalist Kiyoe's older brother was the classmate of both Yoshiki and Hotaka.
• Yoshiki and Hotaka met in their first year of elementary school in 1989. The two were "Ikimono Gakari" in their class, or the leaders.
• The band opened for Tamaki Nami on August 5th, 2005 at an Atsugi, Kanagawa music festival.
  

Official website

The Gazette

The Gazette (ガゼット, Gazetto, typeset as the Gazette) is a Japanese rock band, and part of the visual kei movement. The band formed in early 2002 and is currently signed to PS Company and King Records.

Member

• Ruki
• Uruha
• Aoi
• Reita
• Kai

Biography

In March of 2002, Ruki, Uruha, and Reita (all former band mates), and Aoi and Yune (also former band mates) formed a band under the name Gazette. Originally signed to Matina, they released their first single, "Wakaremichi", and a video release in April. By September they had released two more singles and another video, headlining a show for the first time in October.

In early 2003, Yune decided to leave the band, and he was replaced by Kai. Shortly after, they signed with the PS Company label, and in May released their first EP, Cockayne Soup. They started their first tour, with the band Hanamuke, and along with the tour, the bands collaborated on two songs. A second tour followed with the band Vidoll, and the bands were featured together on the November issue of Cure, a magazine focusing on Visual Kei bands.

In early December they played a co-headlining show with Deadman. On December 28 they performed at Fool's Mate magazine's Beauti-fool's Fest which was later released on DVD.

On January 16, 2004 they recorded a solo performance at the Shibuya-AX, which was released on DVD as Tokyo saihan ~Judgement Day~. On March 30, 2004 they released their MadaraOricon Indie Charts. Madara was followed in May by a companion DVD, which included six music videos and an in-the-studio documentary. The same month, Gazette was featured in Shoxx magazine's Expect Rush III, a catalogue of independent Visual Kei artists. A second live DVD, Heisei Banka, was released in August.During September and October they toured with fellow PS Company bands Kra and BIS. Their debut album, Disorder, was released in October, and made it to the top 5 of the indies Oricon Daily Charts. mini-album, which reached #2 on the

The band spent the remainder of 2004 and 2005 touring extensively, releasing Gama (another mini album) in August.

In 2005 the band released their first major label single, Cassis, in December.

Starting 2006 with a name change—from Japanese characters to a romanized script—they released Nil, their second full-length album, on February 8, 2006, and embarked on another Japanese tour, ending at the venue Nippon Budokan. That July, The Gazette performed at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany, their first show outside of Asia. The concerts were arranged in conjunction with the AnimagiC anime and manga convention.

Three more singles were released followed by another studio album, Stacked Rubbish on July 4, 2007. It reached #2 on the Oricon charts within a day from the release. The album debut was followed by a promotional tour from July through September. In October, The Gazette started their first European tour stopping England, Finland, France, and Germany.

The Gazette OfficialSite

Tokyo Jihen

Tokyo Jihen (東京事変) (also known as The Tokyo Incidents) is a Japanese band formed by well-known rock artist Shina Ringo in 2003. The band was originally comprised of the backing members of her Sugoroku Ecstasy Tour. In 2004, the band debuted with the single Gunjou Biyori . The band's most recent album, Adult, reached #1 on Oricon charts.

Current Members

• [2004-present] Shiina Ringo (椎名林檎) (vocals)
  
• [2004-present] Kameda Seiji (亀田誠治) (bass)
• [2004-present] Hata Toshiki (刃田綴色) (drums)
• [2005-present] Ukigumo (浮雲) (guitar)
• [2005-present] Izawa Ichiyou (伊澤一葉) (keyboard)
  

Former Members

• [2004-2005] Hirama Mikio (昼海幹音) (guitar)
• [2004-2005] Hiizumi Masayuki (H Zeddo M) (H是都M) (keyboard)
  

Information

On May 29, 2004, after announcing that Shiina Ringo would be ceasing to release solo singles/albums anymore, it was revealed that she would in turn become the leading vocalist of a band she had formulated, called Tokyo Jihen. The band consisted of five members: herself, bassist Kameda Seiji (who previously worked a lot in arranging music in Shiina's solo career), drummer Hata Toshiki (who had similarly worked with Shiina as a live session drummer), guitarist Hirama Mikio and the pianist for the band PE'Z, Hiizumi Masayuki (who went under the stage names "H Zeddo M" and "HZM" during Tokyo Jihen). These band members were previously the band for Shiina's last live tour, her Sugoroku Ecstasy Tour (in fact, you are able to see the members play during Shiina's Electric Mole DVD concert).

Gunjou Biyori was then released as the band's debut single in September. The song was used for the KDDI CDMA 1X WIN W21SA cellphone commercial song, and managed to reach #2 on Oricon charts (just below the mega-hit single by Gorie with Jasmine and Joann, Mickey). The band's sophomore single, Sounan (released just one month after their first), received similar rankings (by reaching #2 on Oricon charts) though it did not exceed the record sales of their first.

The band would then release their debut album, Kyouiku, one month after the release of Sounan. The album reached the same position as both singles (#2), below Hirai Ken's SENTIMENTALovers. Interestingly, band member Kameda Seiji had arranged many of the songs on Hirai's album.

In the first quarter of 2005, Tokyo Jihen's first major tour entitled Dynamite! spanned the nation, with over 14 different concerts. It was announced at these venues that the band would release a follow-up single to their debut, entitled Himitsu (秘密). However, the single was postponed and finally cancelled.

In July 2005, it was officially announced that two members of the band, guitarist Hirama Mikio and keyboardist Hiizami Masayuki were to leave the band. Reputedly, Hirama left to start his solo project, and Hiizami Masayuki left in order to become part of PE'Z once more. It was not until two months later in September that two new replacement members were announced, guitarist UkigumoIzawa Ichiyou. The band's crane logo also changed with this announcement. and keyboardist

Shiina was asked to sing the theme song to the drama Oh-oku ~Hana no Ran~. While Shiina already had a song in mind - Shuraba - she noted that she had to tweek the song to fit the drama. While this single was not as successful as the band's previous two singles, it still reached #5 on Oricon charts and sold a total of over 100,000 copies.

This single was be followed by the band's second full length album, Adult. The album would contain the aforesaid planned first single as its first track. Adult would become the band's first #1 release in their two years of activity. Following the success of Tokyo Jihen's second album, the band went on the largest tour in any of the member's careers. The tour entitled DOMESTIC! Just can't help it. spanned over 21 different concerts in over 17 different areas in Japan.

Tokyo Jihen begun preparations for their third album while Shiina was working on her concept album/soundtrack to the movie Sakuran, Heisei Fuuzoku. A large amount of the other band members' demo material was collected and the best songs were chosen. The band's fourth single, OSCA, was written and composed by guitarist Ukigumo and is described as a fast, wild rock tune.

Tokyo Jihen unofficial site

Do As Infinity

Do As Infinity (ドゥ・アズ・インフィニティ, Du Azu Infiniti) was a popular japanese band which debuted on september 29, 1999 with the release of their first single, "Tangerine Dream". Their name is sometimes abbreviated as D.A.I., revealing that Do As Infinity was named after the band's guitarist and composer, Dai Nagao. With the release of their A-side compilation album Do the A side, Do As Infinity disbanded on September 29, 2005 after a career which spanned six years, six albums, twenty singles, seven compilation albums and eight live DVDs.

Main members

• "Van" — Tomiko Van(lyrics, vocals)
• "Ryo" — Ryo Owatari (lyrics, guitar, backup vocals)
• "Dai" — Dai Nagao (composition, guitar)

Other members (Great Tour Band)

The members listed below are not the only band members that DAI has gone through during their career, however, these musicians are the more notable ones because of their work for DAI.

• Naoki Hayashibe (guitar)
• Jun Matsumoto (drums)
• Kazco Hamano (chorus)
• Michitaro Shimamoto (bass guitar) (former member, went on to play for Otsuka Ai and other artists)
• Jun Takase (keyboard)
• Yoshiyasu Hayashi (bass guitar)
  

  History

  Dai Nagao started out as a composer for an amateur band. After its disbanding, Nagao continued composing songs, sending demo tapes to more than fifty record companies in Japan. Nagao was eventually hired by Avex Records to work as a composer. He was immediately given a task to compose songs for Ayumi Hamasaki and hitomi.

  1999

  Eventually, auditions were held, and he chose Tomiko Van as lead singer, and Ryo Owatari as guitarist. Ryo turned up for the auditions in a red tracksuit with a Fender Jaguar and his effects pedals. He was asked to perform a small segment, but instead played three songs. Tomiko sang "Heart" as a band member forty-two hours after the Avex staff read her application. On September 29, 1999, the trio released their first single "Tangerine Dream", and held a live concert at the Shibuya AX. They performed almost daily at a number of locations, ranging from Shibuya's 109 (which is famous for street performers), to Yokohama Station and traveled to Fukuoka and other cities. Before "Tangerine Dream" was released, DAI and their fellow workers were giving out copies of their recordings for free to passers by.At their one-hundredth concert, held at Shibuya AX for free, the members of DAI recognized that the fans were the same bunch that bothered to listen to them.
  
  The remainder of 1999 was spent performing both on the street and at in-store concerts at CD stores across the country. They also took part in choice events nationwide, including a festival in Tomiko Van's native Kumamoto prefecture. Their legendary streak of street concerts ended at one hundred, with a free concert for their fans, held at Shibuya Kokaido. Photos of some of their street performances were compiled into a PV for the song Field of Dreams which can be seen on the PV Collection 8 as well as in the background of the Live in Japan during a performance of the song.

  Heart

  Do As Infinity released their second single, "Heart", in December. They continued to do public appearances all the way up to the year-end Avex Millennium Count Down 1999-2000 held on New Year's Eve in Roppongi's Velfarre club. Heart was actually written before Tangerine Dream, but was recorded together in July due to the complicated drum samples. The band continued to appear on radio shows and at CD store events. Their third single, "Oasis", was released at the end of January. It was their first Top 30 hit and it was chosen as the official TV commercial song for Kanebo Cosmetics' Testimo line of products. This was the first time their song was chosen to become a theme song for advertising.

  Love 2000

  The next single, "Yesterday & Today" was chosen as the theme song for a drama series Nisennen no Koi, which starred popular actors Miho Nakayama and Kaneshiro Takeshi and was given the primetime slot. The c/w-track, Raven, was used as the ending song to the horror movie Uzumaki, which gathered more mainstream audiences for the band.

  Break of Dawn

  Their first album, Break of Dawn, debuted on number three on the Oricon album charts in March of the same year, only a month after "Yesterday & Today". They continued to make public appearances and do numerous live performances all over Japan. In August of that year, the band released the single "Rumble Fish", which was used as the theme song for the hit movie Kamen Gakuen; the cover of "Rumble Fish" was taken in Taiwan, and the trip provided the inspiration for "Shinjitsu no Uta". Also in August, the single "Summer Days" was released, which would go on to become a staple at all Do As Infinity live concerts, and was used as a theme song for Fuji TV's OL Police. "Summer Days" is also notable for being Do As Infinity's most well-known all-English song (following their first, "Break of Dawn", from their debut album). During the November of that same year, the band released the festive single "We Are.", which Tomiko has often said is one of her favorite DAI songs. The band would end the year with another countdown live held at the Velfarre club in Roppongi.

  Moving on to the bigscreen

  2001 was a whirlwind year for the band. With an album and six singles under their belts, the trio was well on their way to becoming seasoned veterans in the business, but they still had not appeared on national television. That changed with the release of their first single in the new millennium, "Desire"; "Desire" was once named M-42, which was used in their street performances.The single was performed on the hit TV show "Music Station". However, for some reason Van represented the band by herself. Nevertheless, the song and the band got national exposure. The televised performance brought Do As Infinity to an even wider audience, and helped to make their new album, New World, debut at number one on the Oricon charts.
  
  In the following month they would release their first promotional video collection on DVD, simply titled 9, and would go on tour throughout the month of May. After release of New World, Tomiko Van was contracted to advertise for Japanese haircare company LAVENUS. Van took part in all six commercials, including one which she rode a Harley-Davidson motorbike. Van can also be seen riding the Harley-Davidson in the "TAO" promotional video. The B-side of "Tōku Made", "Signal" was used as the theme song for the first commercial. Six commercials were made in total, the other three songs included "Tsubasa no Keikaku", "Boukensha Tachi", and "Nice & Easy"; "Boukensha Tachi" was used three times.
  
  Their ninth single was released at the end of May, "Week!". The following month would see the release of "Fukai Mori" (Deep Forest), which was chosen as the second ending theme song for the hit anime series InuYasha. The song was a huge hit, and would soon become the band's signature song. The remainder of the year was spent in preparation for yet another live concert tour, which would begin in November, not long after the release of their eleventh single, Boukensha Tachi, and their third album, Deep Forest, which debuted at number one on the charts.

  Asia tour

  January 2002 started with Van appearing on the Avex charity album VARIOUS ARTISTS FEATURING songnation, and the release of the band's twelfth hit single, "Hi no Ataru Sakamichi", the following month. Then the band went global. After releasing a best album, Do the Best in March, the band traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong in April for a special campaign. Their following overseas was almost as huge as in their own country, drawing 500 fans to their in-store event held at the HMV CD store in Hong Kong. They were nominated for the seventeenth annual Gold Disc Award in Japan for the best Rock & Pop album of the year and won. The band took a short break upon returning to Japan, but released their thirteenth single in July, the double A-sided "Under the Sun / Under the Moon". In August the band participated in avex's a-nation tour, performing in eight venues all over Japan.

  True Song

  Do As Infinity's fourteenth single, "Shinjitsu no Uta", was released in October, and sparked the beginning of a new project for the band. "Shinjitsu no Uta" was also chosen to be the fifth ending theme for InuYasha. "Shinjitsu no Uta" became famous in China in July 2002 and was also translated into Mandarin. In the booklet of Do The A-side, Kawamura stated that "Shinjitsu no Uta" was actually written two years before the actual release. Dai said that he left it as a demo because he felt that something was missing in the song. Despite their success, Do As Infinity wanted to show their fans that they had not forgotten them. They advertised on their website for fans to send them short stories using the band's previous releases as themes and using the word shinjitsu (truth) somewhere in the story. Entitled Your Truth, these stories are now available in book form. The band closed out the year with another live tour, understatedly titled Do As Infinity greatest year 02 ~ALL STANDING~, and the year-end release of their fourth album, True Song.

  Gates of Heaven

  The band got busy on the concert tour of TRUE SONG and new recordings, their fifteenth single, "Mahou no kotoba ~Would You Marry Me?~" released as their first single in 2003. It became one of the most frequently played songs at weddings in Japan, becoming one of the band's most publicized singles of the year. "Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari" followed the popularity of its precedent single, it was previewed in their annual summer activity, a-nation. During this promotion period it was the first time the vocalist cut her hair short and with a bright blonde dye, she changed it back to a dark brown dye after the release of this single. The single's promotional video was filmed during their a-nation 2003 activity and combined many different a-nation 2003 visits in different areas in Japan, marking another success for the band. "Hiiragi" was released in November of the same year and the announcement of the fifth album followed. Tomiko met with famous American singer, Michelle Branch, during her visit in Japan to promote her album Hotel Paper, for a magazine interview and photoshoot. After the release of Gates of Heaven the group took a short break and performed in New York City, New York and Dallas, Texas in the summer of 2004 as a small warmup for their next album; footages of this can be found in the DVD LIVE YEAR 2004. They performed in Korea during the Korea & Japan Friendship Week in JEJU along with JTL.
  
  In early 2005, the band were in the midst of yet another live concert tour, showcasing their brand new album Need Your Love. Along with video collections and recorded live concerts, Do As Infinity were still going strong. Although Dai Nagao was not as active as he was in the beginning (he did not participate in promotional events anymore, such as video clips or photo shoots) he was still the main composer and the brain behind the band. He did, though, appear in concerts from time to time.

  TAO

  TAO became Do As Infinity's twentieth and last single, released on July 27, 2005. The lyrics of TAO described about friends parting ways and this caused many rumors among the fans about the disbanding of Do As Infinity. TAO was also the main theme of Tales of Legendia, an RPG videogame released in Summer 2005 and developed by Namco. The band announced on September 14, 2005 that they would disband on September 29, 2005, exactly six years to the day since their first single, Tangerine Dream, was released. Their last concert was at the Nippon Budokan on November 25, 2005. Three days before the final concert, Dai Nagao released the Do As Infinity last song called Trust on the official website through internet streaming. The vocal featured in this song is Mizushima Utana from one of Nagao's side project artists I-lulu. Many fans hoped for a CD release of the song recorded with Do As Infinity, however, it has yet to happen.
  
  Tomiko Van, the lead singer, is pursuing a solo career. She debuted March 29, 2006 with her album, Farewell. Ryo Owatari, the guitarist, is currently working on his band, Missile Innovation, and released their first single on February 1, 2006. Ryo has also been working with other avex artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Otsuka Ai and AAA. Dai Nagao currently works with Amasia Landscape and other artists under the True Song Music label, writing songs for various artists.

Kagrra

Kagrra or as how it is pronounced in Japanese ka-gu-ra 神樂 comes from a Japanese traditional performing art that was practiced in ancient time temples. Kagura literally means 'The Music of The Gods', a form of divine and sacred dance accompanied by holy music.
Taking in this concept Kagrra makes up a band that plays visual-kei music intertwined with ancient lyrics and sounds. Isshi(vo) who is the main lyricist of the band complements the bands namesake by writing perceptive lyrics edifying tales of lost souls and the secrets of nature. This combined with the compositions of Akiya(gu) their main music maker, presents us with one of the most authentic and rare visual band there is in the indie scene.
Formerly known as CROW under the Key Party label, Kagrra promotes a rather feminine and mystical presence. Now under a leading indie label, PS Company, they are a band that takes modern music into a length beyond reach ---beautiful sound, amazing performances, remarkable members. Kagrra is a no miss.

Lineup

• Isshi (一志) – vocals
• Akiya (楓弥) – guitar
• Shin (真) – guitar, koto
• Nao (女雅) – bass
• Izumi (白水) – drums

Kagrra official site