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Ryotaro Aoki
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 25, 2014
Quattro's Yuichi Ushioda hits the sea for a solo album
"The philosopher Shunsuke Tsurumi said in an interview that, when you see something like a rainbow and feel moved by it, that moment is eternity," singer-songwriter Yuichi Ushioda tells me at the 3rd Stone Cafe in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa area. "I want to be able to notice moments like that. These moments...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 18, 2014
Ska innovator gets new acts on Spacetrain
Ray Charles was the innovator of soul. Rei Mastrogiovanni wants to innovate ska; he says it's in his blood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2014
Hysteric Picnic opts for cassette grooves and imperfections on 'Cult Pops'
In an age where the traditional guitar-bass-drums-vocals setup of a rock band is being eschewed in favor of more stripped-down groups using laptops and synthesizers, at first glance Hysteric Picnic may seem like it's just another band following the trend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
The best Japanese albums of 2013: Church of Misery, ‘Thy Kingdom Scum’
This year, the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath released its first studio album since 1978, and while it was a fine album, I think they may have been "out-Sabbathed" by Japan's very own doom-metal band, Church Of Misery, who released its fourth album, "Thy Kingdom Scum," in June.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 22, 2013
Lemon's Chair shoegaze festival adds Nagoya to its list of stops
"It's about the urge to drown out your inner weaknesses with the guitar," says Masashi Imanishi, guitarist for Osaka band Lemon's Chair. "There's a sentimental aesthetic to it that's about picturing scenery through sound, but I don't really have a strict definition for it."

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