Every now and then the commercials that JPCMHD posts are particularly strange, and this is one of those weeks. Some of these I can’t even tell what they are selling, but they are still quite amusing to watch.
Japan’s Superfly has been rocking out for a number of years, piling up a ton of great songs in the process, and I thought it was time to share a few more. The first track is 2011’s Beep, the second is Force from 2012, the third is from their 2015 album White.
METAFIVE has a new release about to hit the shelves, METALIVE, a two disc set. The first disc is a Blu Ray with 18 live videos, and 3 songs recorded as studio live sessions including Don’t Move. The second disc is a CD with 14 of those same tracks in audio only format. Like their first album, these are only available as imports at the moment, but CDs play the same all over the world, and although Japan is in Region 2 for DVDs, it is at least using the NTSC format for its videos. The first tune presented here is Gravetrippen’ from the purely live videos, the second is Don’t Stop from the studio live sessions, the third is Maisie’s Avenue also from the studio live sessions.
Off topic, but I love Japanese cuisine and wanted to share these with you. NHK is a Japanese organization that an American would think of as a cross between PBS and the FCC, and they have a ton of excellent programming in their library. They have been streaming live online for a number of years, but they recently added an On Demand interface to their web site and their apps, so you can watch and listen to shows on your schedule. Besides the Manga/Anime/Games/Music shows I watch without fail every week, their collection includes an excellent assortment of Japanese Food programs, both video and Radio Recipe collections. Plus, they broadcast in 18 languages, one of which is English, so you don’t even have to learn to speak Nihongo to follow along. If you have ever gone to a Japanese restaurant and had a meal you really enjoyed, you will be surprised at how easy it is to cook them yourself. Just as a bonus, all of these programs are free to enjoy.
The Anisong World Matsuri takes place July 2nd and 3rd as part of Anime Expo, pretty much North America’s most intense Anime Con. The musical line up is amazing, with 9 artists including:
Eir Aoi (Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Kill la Kill, more)
Flow (Naruto, Eureka seveN, more)
JAM Project (MACROSS 7, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, over 100 more)
Luna Haruna (Sword Art Online I and II, Monogatari, more)
Minami (Haruka Suzumiya, Infinite Stratos, Mobile Suit Gundam Age, more)
OLDCODEX (GODEATER, Free, more)
Sphere (Demon King Daimao, Class of Heroes 2, more)
T.M.Revolution (Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, more)
Yoko Ishida (Ah! My Goddess, Sailor Moon R, Strike Witches, more)
The Fishman Artist Embassy Series is a presentation of the DC Jazz Festival, which celebrates Jazz from around the world. Each participating embassy hosts a concert of one of their countries most celebrated Jazz artists in a series that runs from April to June, with this years contributors including Spain, France, Italy, and Japan. The Japanese contribution this time is the Mika Mimura Group with special guest Warren Wolf on Thursday, June 16th, playing at the Japan Information and Culture Center, which is the theater in the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC. Tickets to see this (literally) world class band are only $15 a person, which is about half of what the valet would normally be tipped at such a concert in a major metropolis, so if you love Jazz and are close enough to make the show, do yourself a favor and be in the audience.