Interview & Free Music: Koboloris

 Today, we have a special treat for everyone! This is our 100th blog post - on the 2-month anniversary of our founding. It is a big anniversary for all of us and we are delighted to bring you guys an interview with the rising stars of British black metal - Koboloris from Leeds!! So, read on for more info on these guys, as well as a FREE DOWNLOAD!

RIP Jon Lord Song of the Day - Child in Time - Deep Purple

So, as we all know, I'm a big fan of classic rock. Imagine my joy today, when I signed onto Twitter and saw Deep Purple trending.... well, until I actually clicked on it and found out Jon Lord died. Jon Lord had been a co-founder of Deep Purple, and a legendary keyboardist. His playing gave the band's music its unique quality - I understand, when Deep Purple debuted, it wasn't so common to integrate keyboards as part of a band's sound. 

Steady & Co.

In 2001, members from the bands Skebo King, Rip Slyme, and Dragon Ash, combined forces to make one of Japan's most epic Hip Hop groups of all time, Steady & Co.

Steady & Co. consists of 4 members:

Kenji Furuya (Dragon Ash)

Bots (Dragon Ash)

Ilmari (Rip Slyme)

Shigeo (Skebo King)

The band's only major release was in 2001, an album titled "Chambers." The Chambers album is packed from front to back with awesome songs, as to be expected from Japan's 2001 Hip Hop dream team.

Song of the Day - Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels

"The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
And he was willin' to make a deal"

Come on, any song that starts like this, cannot be anything but awesome - which is why this is our song of the day today! 

Song Of The Day - Children Of The Sun - Billy Thorpe

Released as the title track from the album in 1979, this song still resonates well - the beat, the vocals, the whole feel of the piece being slightly ahead of its time. Thorpe is credited on this album as a jack of all trades -    guitars (lead, bass, rhythm), vocals, record producer, sound engineer, keyboards, synthesizer, sound mixing and harmonica.

Song of the Day - SHINGO☆西成 - 大阪Up Pro.By DJ Fuku PV

This just came out, a PV of a song off of SHINGO☆西成's new album that comes out the 18. It is SO energetic and has just about every hip hop and reggae person in it from Osaka! Very cool and different video, SHINGO☆西成 has yet another hit right here.

Nobuaki Kaneko's New JDrama - VISION

Nobuaki Kaneko, the drummer to the popular Nirvana-esque Japanese garage punk band RIZE, finds himself behind the camera once again in this summer's new police drama- Vision.

Nobuaki Kaneko (NK) has been a drummer his entire life. When he was 17 years old, he created the (now famous) band RIZE with his lifelong friend, Jesse McFaddin. RIZE has gone on to release 7 major full length albums, spanning the genres of Rock, Reggae, Rap, Punk, and JPop. It is also rumored that RIZE will release a new album in 2012 (or early 2013), but the release date has not yet been confirmed.

In Vision, NK plays the role of the lead character Kazuma, a cop who frequently finds himself on the wrong side of the law. In episode 1 - Awakening, the plot reveals that Rena, the lead actress, thinks she is being followed by a ghost. I won't spoil anything though, so if you want to find out what happens in this summer's hottest JDrama, head over to Crunchy Roll and check out the first two episodes.

Fade - 天 TEN

Fade's follow up to Kings Of Dawn - appropriately called 天 TEN as 2012 marks the band's tenth year together - begins with the "In The End," a tune that will have one head banging until the last note.

And that's just the beginning of this powerhouse CD.

REVIEW - Young Hastle - Can't Knock the Hastle

The other day I bought Young Hastle's new album off of iTunes and have been listening to it, well somewhat constantly or at least a lot every day. I've been a fan of Mr.Hastle for a while and was very excited for this new album, especially with all the great features and producers on it and the single Spell My Name Right pointed towards greatness as a whole. Read on to find out if you can in fact, Knock the Hastle.

FIREBALL (Japanese Reggae)

The Japanese reggae scene has seen an explosion of talent in recent years. From Ryo the Skywalker to 卍Line, and Def Tech, the Japanese music scene continues to embrace the irie culture. One of my personal favorite Japanese reggae bands is FIREBALL.

FIREBALL consists of four members:

CRISS

TRUTHFUL 

CHOZEN LEE 

JUN4SHOT

If you see FIREBALL perform live, you might be confused to see more than four people on stage performing with  them. Providing FIREBALL's irie sound while touring is their supporting (back up) band, Home Grown. The two bands intermingle frequently, as seen in the Home Grown song "Stay with Me" featuring Criss from FIREBALL.

Events: Soul Train: "The Hippest Trip in America" Free Screening in Harlem

Heads up, folks. Here's a fun event that I wish I could go to tomorrow. Since I won't be able to, though, I thought I'd share the last-minute news with everyone. There will be a free screening of the documentary on Soul Train at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on Thursday 12th July, 2012. The title is Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America.

Song of the Day - Lupinotuum - Koboloris

Today's song of the day comes to us from the gloomy, rainy Leeds, where angry people make black metal music worth listening. 

Song of the Day - The Queen and I - Gym Class Herores

I remember, it was sophomore year of high school, I'd just gotten a Myspace, and a boyfriend, and this song was a hit on the radio. Ahh, yes, memories - those things it's best not to look into too deeply. Myspace was kind of lame now that I think about it, and the at-the-time boyfriend was a douchebag. Thankfully, the song still rocks.

Song of the Day - DJ Ken Watanabe - Hang Over ft.Young Hastle, Y's, 十影, Raw-T

This song has been stuck in my head and I've continued to play it constantly. A great beat with a great list of featured artists. Props to EillyHustleHard for making another great video. Very different and original.

Be sure to check out DJ Ken Watanabe's new Mix CD A+ Tokyo Shit Vol.3 dropping later this month! A+ @ HMV

EillyHustleHard - Twitter
Young Hastle - Twitter
Y'S - Twitter
十影 (Tokage) - Twitter
Raw-T (Ice Dynasty) - Raw-T @ Ice Dynasty OHP

PaymoneyTomyPain

One of my personal favorite bands from Japan, PaymoneyTomyPain offers up a collection of rhythmic hits, each with their own catchy guitar riffs and punk/rock hooks. Formed in 2005, PTP continues to make waves throughout the Japanese music scene.

The band consists of four main members: 

K - Vocals

Pablo - Guitar

Zax - Drums

Tsuyoshi - Bass

Albums

• Another Day Comes (September 12, 2007)
• After You Wake Up (March 18, 2009)
• Remember the Name (January 26, 2011)

Song of the Day - 14:41 - Hidden Dissonance

Our apologies for not updating, we were having another zombie crisis. It's always the damn zombies, you know? And when it's not zombies, it's work and stuff. Really frustrating. I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter as well.

Song of the Day - Cherry Pie - Warrant

It's Fourth of July here in the US of A, and y'all know what that means - barbecue, fireworks, and pie. Oh yeaaah. It's a party in the USA and everyone's invited! Thus, today's song of the day is Warrant's Cherry Pie. They've managed to fit all the hair metal cliches into one video, it's almost hilarious to watch.

Song of the Day - Sister Christian - Night Ranger

Not going to explain why this song, today, but why not, they're good.

Song of the Day - GOTHIC CIRCUS - Sads

As usual, when low on Song of the Day ideas, we look to Sads for inspiration and material. Generally it is hard to find disappointment - everything is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. 

Song of the Day - Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas

I sweaaaaar I was not watching Supernatural today. Or anytime in the past year, actually. It's an awesome show, I'll give it that - however, my interest in classic rock dates waaaay back before Dean Winchester ever drove a Chevy Impala.