April 17, 2019

AZKi dazzles us with announcement of two new singles!

April 17, 2019/ Ken

Popular virtual YouTuber AZKi announced that she will having a double release for her upcoming tracks “Fake.Fake.Fake.” and “Inochi”, both dropping April 30.

“Fake.Fake.Fake.” is written and composed by Keita Tanaka of the music production group SCRAMBLES, which works with such artists as BiSH, BiS, and Gang Parade, just to name a few. Tanaka’s influence is heavily felt as the song is a very high tempo and energetic rock-pop song with guitar riffs fans of Tanaka’s previous work will be familiar with. Fellow virtual YouTuber Minato Aqua will also team up with AZKi by being the “center” for the single’s artwork, as seen to the right. Aqua will appear in the music video for “Fake.Fake.Fake.”

“Inochi”, on the opposite spectrum, is a very emotional pop song written by popular Vocaloid and idol composer Wataru Sena. Sena, who previously produced AZKi’s track “Real Melancholy”, brings a breath of fresh air by interloping various sounds alongside a very majestic piano track, giving life to an interesting sound that listeners may have never heard before.

Also announced was that AZKi will be holding her first live performance interestingly titled AZKi 1st Live『The Shitest Start』on May 19 in the bustling Akihabara Entas building. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Pre-order both “Fake.Fake.Fake.” and “Inochi” at the links below!

“Fake.Fake.Fake.”

“Inochi”

Find out more about our Virtual YouTuber AZKi with her latest song “Hikari no Machi” below!

April 16, 2019

Music Corner Week 3: MADKID

April 16, 2019/ Gray

MADKID is a five-member hip-hop and rap group founded in May of 2014 which originally went by the name J-Boys-5. Just a couple of months later in July they changed their name to MADKID.

Currently the members feature leader YOU-TA, one of the vocalists; rappers YUKI and LIN, both bilingual and producers of music for the group; and KAZUKI and SHIN, both vocalists. For awhile the group was comprised of just four of them after the original leader of the group decided to leave, but in 2017 SHIN joined the crew. LIN and YUKI really serve as the backbone of this group; while they both have slightly different rap styles, one never feels out of place, no matter the song. The vocalists harmonize especially nicely and pull everything together, too.

On December 8, 2014 MADKID released their very first single “I Don’t Care “Madkid””. A couple of years later on December 14, 2016 they then released their very first studio album MADKID. Since then the group has been periodically releasing singles and, in fact, just released their “RISE” single, which is the first opening for The Rising of the Shield Hero anime. Also, due out at the end of April is MADKID’s second studio album, CIRCUS.

You can check out their official website here and follow them on Twitter here.

If you are interested in pre-ordering their latest album you can do so below.

Type A

Type B

And before you go, be sure to check out their most popular song on YouTube with over six million views.

April 15, 2019

SANDAIME J SOUL BROTHERS show us just how to RAISE THE FLAG!

April 15, 2019/ Ken

Popular seven-member boy group SANDAIME J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE dropped the music video for their track “RAISE THE FLAG” on Avex’s official YouTube channel. “RAISE THE FLAG” was the B-side for the single “Yes we are”, which dropped last month. Unfortunately not a part of the single’s initial release, the music video shows off all seven members dancing a very fierce routine, a mirror opposite of “Yes we are”’s A-side counterpart.

Check out the video in question and purchase “Yes we are” at the link below!

Standard Edition

April 14, 2019

PAELLA takes us on a magic ride with preview of latest album!

April 14, 2019/ Ken

Popular four-member new-age band PAELLAS announced the release of their newest album sequential souls via a teaser trailer on Universal Music’s official YouTube channel. Scheduled for release June 5 with a CD-only standard edition, sequential souls will be the latest full album release from PAELLAS since Pressure back in December of 2016. Included with the album will be the group’s latest track “Weight” along with ten other tracks, which is creatively previewed in the teaser.

PAELLAS "sequential souls RELEASE TOUR"

2019年6月15日 Hokkaido’s SPiCE

2019年6月16日 Miyagi’s Sendai MACANA

2019年6月28日 Ishikawa’s Kanazawa AZ

2019年6月29日 Aichi’s JAMMIN'

2019年6月30日 Osaka’s Music Club JANUS

2019年7月6日 Tokyo’s LIQUIDROOM

2019年7月12日 Shizuoka’s INSA

Additionally announced was that PAELLAS will be launching a live tour to celebrate the release of the album simply titled 「sequential souls RELEASE TOUR」 which will run from June 15 until July 12 (see right for full tour schedule).

Pre-order sequential souls at the link below.

Standard Edition

Check out both the teaser and the track list for the album below!

PAELLAS「sequential souls」

01. in your eyes

02. Horizon

03. Ride

04. mellow yellow

05. searchlight

06. [wayhome]

07. just like

08. Crystal

09. airplane

10. Weight

11. Orange（new mix）

April 14, 2019

Ange☆Reve turns the heat up with announcement of summer single!

April 14, 2019/ Ken

After a very successful outgoing for their single “Itoshi Love”, the very popular five-member idol group Ange☆Reve announced the release of a brand new single July 3. Seasonally titled “Sama☆Love”, the single will feature two tracks total through three different editions: two standard editions lovingly coined Lune and Soleil along with a limited edition. Both editions will include a different B-side to differentiate themselves from each another. The limited edition will include both standard editions’ B-side tracks along with a Blu-ray copy of both the music video and dance version of “Sama☆Love”.

Ange☆Reve also announced for the group’s fifth anniversary that they will be preforming a special one-woman loving titled「『Ange☆Reve 5th anniversary live』～To Be With You～」May 18 in Shibuya’s Stream Hall.

Pre-order all of the lovely editions at the link below.

Standard Edition ~Lune~

Standard Edition ~Soleil~

Limited Edition

Track listing:

Ange☆Reve「Sama☆Love」

Limited Edition

01. サマ☆ラブ (Sama☆Love)

02. タイトル未定 (Untitled Track)

03 .キミエモーション (Kimi Emotion)

Blu-ray

01. Sama☆Love Music Video