Monthly Archives: April 2009

Blip.fm widget added to sidebar, or did I just cop to listening to the Outfield?

I pointed out a long time ago I was on Blip.fm, and I even have my profile listed under the "Social nets" section of the side bar. (See it? Way, way, way down there?) I’m not sure how many readers here also listen to me there, so I figure I may as well stash another widget on the site and bog down the load time of my pages even more.

I’ve been having fun posting all sorts of myriad items, including a few Japanese tracks on occasion. Blip.fm is limited to what’s searchable on the web, so I haven’t been able to blip Tokyo Jihen’s "OSCA" (or better yet, "Kuronekodou") or anything by the Waitresses that isn’t "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping". But I did manage to find the theme to the old Children’s Television Network show, 3-2-1 Contact.

Quruli releases new album in June

Quruli is set to release its eighth album, titled Tamashii no Yukue, on June 10, reports Bounce.com. The duo recorded the album in New York, similar to how the band recorded its previous album, Tanz Walzer, in Vienna. The album is expected to include the singles "Mikatsuki" and "Yukai na Peanuts". A special edition first pressing will also include a bonus track. Quruli embarks on a tour to support the album in June, starting in Hokkaido.

The backlog, or I bet this is going to take another five months to finish

The last time I wrote this kind of entry, it took five months for me to get my butt in gear. I anticipate the same kind of turnaround because I have been concentrating a lot more on other activities than updating this site. Still, it was kind of helpful to have that roadmap, despite the glacial follow-up.

Albums about which I’ve been meaning to write in greater detail:

  • … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Century of Self
  • Department of Eagles, In Ear Park
  • FLiP, Haha kara Umareta Hinekure no Uta
  • Jennifer Koh, String Poetic
  • mono, Hymn to the Immortal Wind
  • Morton Feldman, The Violia in My Life / False Relationships and the Extended Ending / Why Patterns?
  • Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
  • Office, Mecca
  • The Bad Plus joined by Wendy Lewis, For All I Care
  • Van Tomiko, Van.
  • Wendy & Lisa, White Flags of Winter Chimneys

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Catching up: ART-SCHOOL, VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE, cutman-booche

Four entries so far in April? And it’s almost the end of the month? Man, have I been neglectful. I even managed to miss out on posting these latest Bounce.com missives:

  • Drummer Sakurai Yuuichi has left ART-SCHOOL to form his own band. I’m surprised he didn’t go on to join STRAIGHTENER.
  • VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE releases a split EP, titled 50/50 with Italian band Hey! Hey! Radio on June 17. The two bands met through Myspace.
  • The new cutman-booche album, my way, includes a cover of Cocco’s "Tsuyoku Hakanai Monotachi".

Now that I think about it, this month has been pretty slow.

Shiina Ringo release new album on June 24

Bounce.com reports Shiina Ringo releases her first new solo album of original material in six years on June 24. Details about the album, titled Sanmon Gossip, were vague, but an upcoming single, "Ariamaru Tori", plus a new song featured on the NHK program Minna no Uta ("Hutaribocchi Jikan") are expected to be included. An e-mail from CD Japan states the album will have 14 tracks.

Bounce also report the coupling track of the "Ariamaru Tori" single, titled "SG ~Superficial Gossip~", features a collaboration with Jazztronic’s Nozaki Ryouta.

My, haven’t we been scarce as of late, or again with the Eponymous 4 pimping …

After such a flurry of posts in March, I’ve all but disappeared this month. I have two excuses. The first is a whole of shopping I got done at the end of March, between the Waterloo storewide sale, the Austin Record Convention and my monthly eMusic quota. So I’ve actually been busy listening to a bunch of new stuff, trying to figure out about what I’d eventually want to write.

The more immediate excuse is the release of the first full-length Eponymous 4 album. Don’t get excited — it’s really just an over-glorified demo, and I’m branding it as such. (For the time being, I’ve even installed a widget on the right side there for you to hear the whole thing.) Head over to the Eponymous 4 official site to learn more about the album. Heck, you can even download the tracks for free.

But if you’re so inclined to purchase it, you can get it from such fine retailers as CD Baby, Bandcamp and Amie Street. CD Baby has also delivered the album to retail, so it may pop up on iTunes, Amazon and Lala any day now.

Oh, and this album is an online release only. I don’t have the cash to press up CDs, and really, who’s going to buy one when I don’t even play live?

Sasagawa Miwa releases new album in May

I received an e-mail from CD Japan this morning alerting me to the release of a new Sasagawa Miwa album on May 20. The album is titled miwaMIRAGE, and unlike her last two releases, this one will be available through retail. CD Japan, Amazon and HMV already have listings for the album, which contains 12 tracks, 10 of them original songs and the other two bonus tracks.

The Evil Sharing Networks gave me opportunity to listen to miwaBLUE, the mini-album she released after ending her contract with Avex Trax. It took a few spins, but I grew to like it. I’m glad this new album will be available in stores, but now I have to wonder whether I should just wait till November and save on shipping.

(Since I mentioned it, my brother has already booked the flight and hotel to Japan, so the trip really is going to happen.)