Sorry for posting this so late (Eastern Standard Time) but I have been on a weird sleeping schedule since I am watching so much of the Australian Open live. And where I live that equates to roughly 9pm–5am. This week the music podcast is already split up into individual songs, because I know some users have been doing that manually. Well I’m going to start saving you the trouble. Enjoy!

Playlist

Download the podcast because you know you need it.

  1. “Mirai no Hahen” by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, from Best Hit AKG
  2. “Damn It, Shut It, Release It” by Rayons, from After the Noise is Gone
  3. “KFC” by BiS, from Primal
  4. “Glass Skin” by Dir en grey, from Uroboros Remastered & Expanded
  5. “Walking Together” by Goth-Trad, from New Epoch
  6. “Bocchi” by the Cro-Magnons, from Ace Rocker
  7. “Ichibanboshi” by MIO, from A Shining Star
  8. “Melt” by FACT, from Burundaga
  9. “Umbrella” by the Novels, from Cardiod
  10. “V.I.P. feat. T-Pain” by Koda Kumi, from Japonesque
  11. “Camouflage” by Scars Borough, from Which One?
  12. “Deep Mind” by Buono, from Hatsukoi Cider

Notes

A best of album from Asian Kung-Fu Generation? What an awesome welcome to 2012! If you have never heard AKGF then, first of all, what the Hell is your problem. Second, go get this album. It is eighty-four minutes of unfiltered greatness. Fans may want it as well so that they can stop carrying multiple AKGF albums in their car. God I hated trying to change those things on long drives….

After the Noise is Gone is the first mini-album and release by Rayons. Their quiet, piano-based music is both soothing and piercing. Don’t let the title of the song fool you; this is as far from aggression as you could get. Rayons operates in the realm of the melancholy, and there they produce soulful, touching music.

I reviewed Uroboros Remastered & Expanded yesterday but wanted to add a track from it. Particularly this version of ‘Glass Skin’ since it was not on the American CD. It’s also one of those songs that people who aren’t generally fond of Dir en grey still seem to enjoy.

Goth-Trad is a Japanese electronic artist who has been around for quite a while. I’m talking late 90’s. Over a decade in the club scene has given him more than enough time to refine his skills through experimentation. For example, on New Epoch you can hear him play around with the infusion of exotic sounding elements, heard at the beginning of ‘Walking Together’. Goth-Trad does not get the mainstream recognition he deserves in my opinion; his albums are fantastic pieces of work.

Ah the new Koda Kumi album…. That it features T-Pain should tell you a lot already. Koda Kumi may as well be a literal bridge connecting America to Japan, with people walking over her in the process. I’ll restrain from a long digression. Anyways—Japonesque is actually not a bad album. You may not like it if you are still holding on to the image of a purer Koda Kumi who was providing music for Final Fantasy 10, but that singer has long been dead. But if you enjoy club dance and R&B music then Japonesque isn’t a bad choice.

And finally, Buono! That’s right, I sucker-punched you with a Hello Project group. You can’t escape them. They are everywhere. And as soon as they join forces with Hatsune Miku we are all well and truly fucked.