BACK-ON Bring Summery Pop-punk Vibes with the New Single ‘NOT ENOUGH’ Featuring Anime Anthem Heroes FLOW!

‘NOT ENOUGH’ Jacket Cover

Rock veterans BACK-ON bring summery pop-punk vibes with the new single ‘NOT ENOUGH’, featuring anime anthem heroes FLOW. The two-track single was released worldwide, and is the first single from BACK-ON during their 20th anniversary year.

Music from BACK-ON and FLOW, who are both no strangers to performing at anime and Japan festivals around the globe, has been streamed upwards of a mind-blowing 500 million times. Their songs have appeared in some of Japan’s most well-known anime franchises, including Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and Gundam, and featured in memes and viral videos around the globe.

Despite sharing a similar history and experiences in Japan and overseas, ‘NOT ENOUGH’ is the first time BACK-ON and FLOW have worked together on a track.  “As we were celebrating our 20th Anniversary, I felt honored to have KOHSHI and KEIGO from FLOW join us on this track,” states TEEDA of BACK-ON.  “We have so much in common as we have both done theme songs for various anime and have both been active overseas, I felt there was a good fusion of FLOW and BACK-ON's unique, refreshing and energetic feeling captured in the production of this track.  We really had a great time talking about the good old days and how we met, too.”

‘NOT ENOUGH’ featuring FLOW follows in the footsteps of BACK-ON’s 2021 single ‘Kill the Beat’ featuring JESSE, a rock icon known for shaping a whole generation of youth culture in Japan and whose band RIZE represented Japan on a global scale with performances at Live 8, Live Earth and the Vans Warped Tour.  The track was featured in numerous playlists across DSPs, including Deezer’s ‘Heavy New Rock’ and Spotify’s ‘J-Rock Now’ and ‘Loud Rock Japan.’  It’s also the follow-up to BACK-ON’s 2021 summer track ‘WAVES’, which was featured in one of Spotify’s ‘Pop Punk’s Note Dead’ playlists, its largest for the genre. 

The single also includes a new version of ‘SKY WALKER’, which originally appeared on BACK-ON’s latest album 'Still B/O'.  This new version, named ‘SKY WALKER (TEEDA’s BEAT JACK)’ takes the original’s high-energy electro-rap rhythm, that featured J-rock riffs, chilled beats and massive pop melodies, and reworks the lyrical content entirely to bring a fresh hip hop and urban flavour to the track.

“It might be a bit surprising, but this was actually my first time doing a solo all-rap tune, and doing it over an existing track,” explains TEEDA.  “I think it's impossible to make something better than the original track, so I tried to keep the concept of rapping in a different style than BACK-ON, and look back over the last 20 years until now.  I actually really enjoyed writing the lyrics and it was interesting how some words in the lyrics ended up being removed from the final version. I personally thought 'this kind of track ain't that bad too'.  Hopefully, you can figure out which part was censored and changed.”

Be sure to check out ‘NOT ENOUGH feat. FLOW” lyric video below, with the streaming link of the track here!

YOJI BIOMEHANIKA’s 1st & 2nd Albums that Fascinated the World with His Hard Dance will be Available on Digital Format.

“TECHNICOLOR NRG SHOW" and “TALES FROM THE BIG ROOM" Jacket Cover

YOJI BIOMEHAINKA is Japan’s world-class maestro who has been active since the early 90s, the dawn of the Japanese dance music scene, delivering world-class anthems to the world. YOJI BIOMEHAINKA will perform at the "Planetlove 2022" festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on September 10th. More than 30 years have passed since he started his career, but he continues actively making the world his stage. On August 10th, two of his albums started streaming:  YOJI's first original album, "TECHNICOLOR NRG SHOW," which was released in 2001, and his second album, "TALES FROM THE BIG ROOM," which was released in 2004.

“TECHNICOLOR NRG SHOW" includes "LOOK@THE HEAVEN," a big anthem representing YOJI's career. It also includes "SEDUCTION" and "GO MAD!” which are popular in Japan and other countries. In particular, "LOOK@THE HEAVEN" was such a big hit at the time. Every time it was played in clubs across Japan, the young people filling the floor would scream in excitement, and it remains one of the best-loved pieces of domestic dance music. This album includes the version that was played at Holland’s famous Dance Valley 2001 festival, LOOK@THE HEAVEN (THE REMIX DEDICATED TO IMPULZ × DANCE VALLEY), and this was also a version that was played by the most number of DJs.

“TALES FROM THE BIG ROOM" also includes "HARDSTYLE DISCO," "SAMURAI (THE KEYBOARD COWBOYS)," and "NEVER END," which were famous hard dance classics in the 2000s that attracted music lovers of all ages and generations, both in Japan and abroad. The album contains precious music with melodies that never fade away.

These two milestone albums by YOJI BIOMEHANIKA have been digitally reissued RIGHT NOW, when dance music from the 90s to the 2000s is being appreciated again, with the next generation actively playing and expressing their respect for it. We hope you will listen to them regardless of your generation.

In addition, "DING A LING (2022 REWORKED MIX)," the latest track, is scheduled to be released on August 19th. Evolution continues and be to check out the release of “TALES FROM THE BIG ROOM”  here!

Music Corner Week 116: Friends

Friends is a four-member rock group consisting of Emi Okamoto, who goes by Emison does the vocals, Ryōhei Nagashima plays the bass, Tarō Miura does guitar along with vocals, and Rui Sekiguchi plays drums and also contributes to the vocals. Hirose Hirose was the one who formed the group in 2015. Hirose wanted to put together a group for his twenty-fifth birthday. He was a member of the band Nicoten, wanted to work with a female vocalist so he reached out to Emison who, at the time, was a member of the band The Love Ningen, because he had worked with her in the past. Then Hirose invited Nagashima to the group because they needed a bassist. Lastly, they reached out to Sekiguchi to be their drummer. One night out Emison saw the sign for a bar called Philippine Pub Friends and took a picture of it to send to her bandmates. They really liked the name of the bar Friends, so they started using it. Finally in 2016 Miura formally joined the group and that was the full group until last year when Hirose decided to step away from it. In that time the group has released seventeen singles and one album which was released last year. 

The band aims to create friendship, love, and the subtleties of everyday life through a variety of pop sounds, along with exquisitely intertwined originality. The listener hears that in every song. Friends create a nice, fun, upbeat sound that draws the listener in. One of my favorite songs by them is their song “Tokyo Konya”. It has such a fun, delightful air about it and their harmonization is done well. Their latest release is their EP “Superb”, and “Yoru wa Kirai” is a ton of fun as well.

Their Twitter stays up to date with all of the news for the group along with their Official Website. Lastly, be sure to check out their song “Tokyo Konya” in the video below.

BACK-ON Celebrate 20th Anniversary with TOTALFAT Collab Single ‘1994’!

Popular rock band BACK-ON continues its 20th anniversary celebrations with the release of new single ‘1994 featuring TOTALFAT’. The release is the second within as many months to feature a band of similar age, style and history as BACK-ON. As with last month’s single with FLOW, both bands have experienced millions of streams, had songs featured in well-known anime’s franchises, and have fans all over the globe. The single is available to download and stream now.

TOTALFAT, whose vibe METAL HAMMER describes as containing “the best parts of 90’s skate punk”, are of the same generation as BACK-ON. Members of both bands hold fond memories of 1994 and bonded over the music and street culture of the time. The results found their way into the song’s music and lyrics.

The single is coupled with ‘WAVES (TEEDA’s BEAT JACK)’ and sees BACK-ON’s MC TEEDA rework the entire lyrical structure of the song. The original version of ‘WAVES’, found on latest album Still B/O was picked by official editors at Spotify for the platform’s Pop Punk’s Not Dead playlist, which has over half-a-million likes.

BACK-ON guitarist KENJI03 comments, “1994 was the year of Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’, Oasis’ ‘Supersonic’ and countless other tracks that would shape a generation. Times may have changed, but I’m glad we could share our timeless connection to this era alongside TOTALFAT.”

BACK-ON MC TEEDA comments, “It was a ton of fun to make a song with TOTALFAT, especially in the same year as our 20th anniversary. We could record while reminiscing about all the bands and fashion of when our bands first started. It felt like we were back in those days again! I think the end result is packed with references to our roots, while also full of playfulness.”

On the single’s coupling track ‘WAVES (TEEDA’s BEAT JACK)’, TEEDA also comments, “there was a lot of skate culture mixed with other cultures in the early 2000s, so I thought it would be interesting to mix that sound with contemporary rap. I also played around with the song’s hook, and worked it to have a West Coast vibe. Both tracks on this single are perfect for summer, I hope they’re the soundtrack to yours!”

Shun from TOTALFAT says, “The longer we go on, the more we look back and realise how important our roots are. Creating ‘1994’ helped to remind me that BACK-ON and TOTALFAT have been able to keep going strong because our foundation never fades. Above all, the joy of celebrating the 20th anniversary of BACK-ON by collaborating with our dear friends of the same generation is something special. BO and TF never die! Happy 20th anniversary, from the bottom of my heart!”

Jose from TOTALFAT adds, “I really enjoyed singing with BACK-ON because the sounds and words they create are filled with many elements that resonate with me because of being the same generation and having similar roots. I think this song is truly a song filled with the stuff us 1994 kids can connect with. I hope you enjoy this song this summer!”

: Seductive Girl Group FAKY Release Music Video for Cute, Sexy New Song ‘Choco Fudge’!

“Choco Fudge” Jacket Cover

On July 27, seductive Japanese girl group FAKY released a raunchy music video for their new song ‘Choco Fudge’, the second pre-release single to be taken from their upcoming debut full-length album ‘F’, due October 19. And it has set the internet on fire.

FAKY are a girl group – or “girls’ union” to their fans in Japan – made up of five members of various nationalities with a diverse selection of roots and styles. Their ‘CANDY’ EP reached No.3 on the iTunes all-genres album chart behind only Ariana Grande and Radiohead, and entered the Top 10 of the Spotify Viral Top 50 chart in the United States. The group have also performed successful overseas concerts in countries such as Brazil, Canada and Spain. After joining the group in 2019, members Hina and Taki gained a huge fan base among teens after they appeared on the popular romance reality series ‘Who is the wolf?’ on streaming video service ABEMA, taking the group’s domestic success to all new heights. 

The theme of FAKY’s new song ‘Choco Fudge’ is “erotic chill”. The track was co produced by Sweater Beats, who has worked with CL (2NE1) and Lizzo as well as with FAKY on their single ‘Sayonara My Ex’; and SUNNY BOY, who has worked with BTS and ØMI (Hiroomi Tosaka of J SOUL BROTHERS III from EXILE TRIBE), as well as writing the lyrics for FAKY’s recent single ‘Diamond Glitter’. It was co-written by FAKY members Lil’ Fang and Akina.

As a partner song to their 2016 single ‘Candy’, it is a cute and naughty pop track that coats its spicy intentions in sweet chocolate for ultimate temptation – perfect listening for a lazy day.

The music video begins with the five members of FAKY eating chocolate in their bedroom. As they hit a sugar high from the mysterious chocolate, things become ever more surreal: The world in front of their eyes begins to warp, they are suddenly able to use magic, and the bedroom floor floods with sumptuous pools of molten chocolate. Combined with the girls’ red-hot lingerie outfits, the video shows both the cute and sexy sides of FAKY.

The music video was directed by Takuto Shimpo, who also worked with FAKY on their previous video ‘Diamond Glitter’. Shimpo won the Best Japanese Group Video Award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2021 for his video for Official Hige Dandism’s ‘Cry Baby’, as well as the Best Video Director Award at the Space Shower Music Awards 2021. The new video is filled with the retro texture and conceptual vibe typical of Shimpo’s work.

The release of the video set fans ablaze on social media, with comments like “It’s so cute, and sexy too – an awesome song that shows so many sides of FAKY!”, “FAKY’s sex appeal is off the charts!” and “They look amazing, and I can’t wait for the album”.

Keep an eye on FAKY as they gain momentum in the runup to their first full-length album release in October.

Sweet and chill new song ‘Choco Fudge’ is tearing up your favorite streaming service here, with the music video below!