☆ Melanchorinista ☆

AKG New Single !!

2007-10-20T16:41:00.000+07:00

Asian Kung-Fu Generation New Single is After Dark !!

AKG recently released After Dark on the radio! A big thanks goes to Akai who donated the recorded clip to our site. You can check it out under "Audio" :D Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and can't wait to see the music video that they will create for it.

Listen Here! akfgfan.com

After Dark Guitar Tabs

Format: CD
Number of discs (or other units): 1
Release Date: 2007/11/07
Price: 971yen (US$ 8.34/ 1020yen Tax incl.)
F.S. Points: 29 points
Item weight: 120 g
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KSCL-1176

After Dark is 7th Opening of Bleach

Dowload Full PV

Lyrics for After Dark (TV Size) from Bleach by Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Opening#7)

Romanji
Senaka no kage ga nobikiru sono aima ni nigeru
hagare ochita hana ne mo kizukazu ni tobu
machikado amai nioi ryuusenn touku mukou kara
dokoka de kiita you na nakigoe
yokaze ga hakobu awai kibou wo nosete
dokomade yukeru ka
sore wo kobamu you ni sekai wa yurete
subete wo ubaisaru
yume nara sameta
dakedo bokura wa mada namimo shiteinai susumu

English
i try to escape before my shadow is fully cast
flying away,not bothering to notice
my wings have fallen off

a sweet scent from far,far away
drifts across the street corner
and i hear a familiar voice crying out.

how much farther can we make it,
with only the night wind's fleeting
hopes to carry us?

the world trembles like it wants to stop us,
taking everything away
i'm not dreaming any more,
and we havent done anything yet,
but we'll keep going!

Fuji Rock Festival Gallery

2007-08-12T01:53:00.000+07:00

Fuji Rock Festival Gallery

Why Fuji Rock Festival is interesting ?

Summer Sonic Festival

2007-08-07T18:59:00.000+07:00

Summer Sonic Festival

The Summer Sonic Festival is an annual 2 day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and near Tokyo. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Tokyo the following day and vice versa.

Acts that have played at the festival include:

10 Years
65daysofstatic
AFI
The All-American Rejects
Amusement Parks on Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Army of Freshmen
Avenged Sevenfold
Big Strides
Blink-182
The Cardigans
The Cat Empire
The Charlatans
Daft Punk
Deftones
DJ Shadow
Editors
ELLEGARDEN
El Presidente
Fall Out Boy
The Feeling
The Flaming Lips
Fort Minor
Hawthorne Heights
Hoobastank
Keane
The Kooks
Linkin Park
Lostprophets
Massive Attack
Matisyahu
Metallica
m-flo
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Oblivion Dust
Phoenix
Daniel Powter
The Polyphonic Spree
POLYSICS
Puffy AmiYumi
Radiohead
The Rapture
Scritti Politti
Slipknot
Spank Rock
Stone Sour
Taking Back Sunday
the pillows
Tool
We Are Scientists
Zebrahead

Recently I wrote about the Fuji Rock Festival. Well, if that seemed a bit pricey, or long or far away, there’s the in-Tokyo alternative, known as Summer Sonic. It’s being held at the Chiba Marina Stadium and the adjoining Makuhari Messe convention centre from August 12th to 13th.

It’s slightly cheaper because it’s a) shorter, b) closer to Tokyo and c) well, cheaper. I’m not as excited about the line up as I was about the Fuji Rock lineup, but it may still be interesting for you.

Headlining are: Tool, Metallica, The Deftones, Linkin Park, Muse, Daft Punk and The Flaming Lips. There’s plenty more bands playing though, on smaller stages, including Japanese bands Beat Crusaders and m-flo, amongst others.

I’d recommend the whole festival though just to see my favourite band: The Cat Empire from my hometown, Melbourne in Australia. It’s their first time playing in Japan and because they’re playing on the Beach Stage it’s bound to be a fun gig.

Tix are ¥13,500 for one day or ¥24,500 for both days.

Summer Sonic official website (in Japanese and English)

Fuji Rock Festival

2007-08-07T18:29:00.000+07:00

Fuji Rock Festival

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival organized by Smash Japan, held in Naeba, Japan. The 3 day event features Japanese and international musicians performing on 7 different stages. In 2005, more than 100,000 people attended the festival. The Green stage is the main stage and it has a capacity for more than 30,000 spectators. Other stages include the White Stage, the Red Marquee, Orange Court, and Field of Heaven.

History

The festival began in 1997. The first festival was actually located near Mt. Fuji, hence the name, Fuji Rock. Unfortunately, that first year, a large typhoon nearly destroyed the festival. The organizer was criticized for not having enough preparation for the bad weather, and the lack of enough bus transportion between the venue and the nearest train station.[1] The audience was forced to stand in the severe weather conditions during festival, and had to wait for many hours afterwards for the buses. No deaths were reported, however, many folks in the crowd became ill on the first day. The organizer considered it impossible to carry on with the event and canceled the entire second day of the 2-day event.

The second year, the festival moved to a temporary location in Toyosu, Tokyo. It was in 1999 the festival found its home in Naeba, at the Naeba Prince Hotel ski resort, Niigata prefecture. Naeba is not anywhere close to Mt. Fuji, however, the festival still retains its original name. After experiencing the horrific first year, the organizer has basically been running the festival smoothly up till present.

The location in Naeba is stunning, set amidst forested mountains. Be prepared for lots of walking as it isn't very close between stages, and some parts of the mountain trails are hilly.

2007

The 2007 festival runs from Friday, July 27th through Sunday, July 29th.

The bands announced for 2007 so far include Ash, The Ataris, The Album Leaf, Blonde Redhead, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Chemical Brothers, The Cure, Fountains of Wayne, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, The John Butler Trio, Jonathan Richman, Justice (French band), Kaiser Chiefs, Kemuri, Kula Shaker, Less Than Jake, Mika, Muse, Ocean Colour Scene, The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, Ratatat, The Shins, and Simian Mobile Disco. Ticket prices for the 2007 festival appear to remain unchanged from the 2006 event.

2006

The 2006 festival ran from Friday, July 28th until Sunday, July 30th (actually Monday morning).

Artists booked for the 2006 festival included Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Happy Mondays, Jet, The Raconteurs, Sonic Youth, Wolfmother, Snow Patrol, The Hives, Dirty Pretty Things, KT Tunstall, Jason Mraz, The Cooper Temple Clause, Madness, Mogwai, Scissor Sisters, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Super Furry Animals, Gnarls Barkley, The Zutons, Denki Groove and many more.

Tickets for the 2006 festival cost ￥39,800. Early bird advanced tickets were available for ￥32,000. It was possible to buy a 1-day ticket. The cost was ￥16,800, however, only 10,000 1-day tickets were sold each day. There is an on-site campsite, which costs ￥2,500 per person. Parking is available at a cost of ￥2,000/day, but you must have a minimum of two people travelling by car.

2005

The 2005 festival ran from the weekend of July 29-July 31, 2005. Headliners on the

Green stage include Foo Fighters, and Coldplay on Friday, Fatboy Slim and Beck on Saturday, and New Order and Primal Scream on Sunday. Other artists to perform in 2005 were Röyksopp, Cagedbaby, Mylo, Night Snipers, Sugiurumn, The Longcut, Laurent Garnier, Shibachoff, and many more.

2004

Notable international performers from 2004 included The Chemical Brothers, Franz Ferdinand, Jamie Cullum, Jet, Lou Reed, The Stills, The Streets, Ben Kweller, Santos (artist), Sikth, Pixies, Courtney Love, The Killers, Dizzie Rascal, PJ Harvey, Primus and The White Stripes.

2003
Anthrax - Björk - Coldplay - Elvis Costello - Evanescence - Iggy Pop - Massive Attack - Mogwai - Primal Scream - Underworld

2002
The Chemical Brothers - Ian Brown - Pet Shop Boys - The Prodigy - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Sonic Youth - Muse - Midtown - The Get Up Kids

2001
Alanis Morissette - Eminem - Manic Street Preachers - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - New Order - Oasis - System of a Down

2000
The Chemical Brothers - Ian Brown - Primal Scream - MDFMK

1999
Blur ,Chemical Brothers ,Happy Mondays ,Rage Against the Machine,Underworld ,ZZ Top

1998
Beck - Bjork - Ian Brown - Iggy Pop - Primal Scream - Prodigy - Garbage - Elvis Costello - Blankey Jet City - Sonic Youth - Tomoyasu Hotei

1997
Beck - Green Day - Foo Fighters - Prodigy - Rage Against the Machine - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Southern Culture on the Skids - The High Lows - The Yellow Monkey

Fuji Rock Festival - official page in English

BECK : Mongolian Chop Squad

2007-08-06T18:28:00.001+07:00

BECK : Mongolian Chop Squad

BECK (ベック) is a manga, which was later made into an anime under the name BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. It was created by mangaka Harold Sakuishi and was originally published by Kodansha in Monthly Shonen Magazine. It tells the story of a group of Japanese teenagers who form a rock band. The manga is currently licensed in the USA by TOKYOPOP. The series has also spawned three guidebooks. BECK won the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.

The original 26-episode anime television series was aired on Japan's TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2005. It was created by Osamu Kobayashi, animated by Madhouse and produced by Takeshi Shukuri and Yoshimi Nakajima. The series has received critical acclaim and was translated into English.

Overview

Yukio, known by his friends as "Koyuki", is a regular 14-year-old Japanese boy who enters junior high school with two childhood acquaintances. One is now a useless pervert, and ironically the other is a highly sought after female student. Koyuki's boring life is changed when he saves an odd-looking dog, named Beck, from some kids. Beck's owner turns out to be an emerging rock musician, Ryuusuke Minami. The two become friends and their crazy, fun, and sometimes dangerous music adventure begins.

The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their punk and rapcore band named BECK. There's also an important subplot that deals with Koyuki's relationship with Ryuusuke's sister, Maho.

List of BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad characters

Yukio ("Koyuki") Tanaka:
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
The main character, the series follows his rapid development from an average person to an outstanding guitarist. Being extremely polite, he cannot help but let others push him around, a possible metaphoric stereotype on the very proper and manner conscious Japanese society. The last member of BECK, he is the second guitarist and vocalist. He is the last person to talk to Eddie and hears the song. Yukio has a very beautiful voice that is mostly used for Beck's slower songs. He owns a Fender Telecaster.

Ryusuke ("Ray") Minami:
Voiced by: Yuuma Ueno (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)
A Japanese character with a long history in America, he speaks fluent English, and frequently uses both Japanese and English in his conversation. He lives alone in a shack by the fishing pond. His skills and taste in music inspire Koyuki to take up the guitar. The band's creator, Ryusuke is BECK's lead guitarist. A once-younger Ryusuke and Eddie Lee stole the Lucille from the boot of Syke's vehicle.

Yoshiyuki Taira:
Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)
The first recruited member of BECK, Taira is the bassist, and the most talented band member next to Ryusuke. He plays Music Man StingRay bass. Little is known about him, and his attitude may sometimes come off as uncaring. He has been seen working as a traffic officer.

Tsunemi Chiba:
Voiced by: Shintarou Oohata (Japanese), Justin Cook (English)
Main vocalist for BECK, he is the key member that Ryusuke needed to bring Taira into the band. Compared to Koyuki, his voice is more punk and rock oriented, like the majority of the band's songs. He also named the band "Beck" after staring at Ryusuke's dog for a few moments.

Yuji ("Saku") Sakurai:
Voiced by: Tooru Nara (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
The fourth member to join, he was also Koyuki's first good friend, sticking with him even when the school bully and his gang beat him up for breaking the silent treatment on Koyuki. He is the drummer, inspired by his brother, and replaces the original drummer of BECK who followed Ryusuke from his original band, Serial Mama.

Manga

Genre Shonen, music,slice of life

Authored by Harold Sakuishi
Publisher Kodansha
Serialized in Monthly Shonen Magazine
Original run 17 February 2000 – Ongoing
No. of volumes 30 Volumes
I Ate Jimmy

Anime

Directed by Osamu Kobayashi
Studio Madhouse
Licensor FUNimation Entertainment
Network TV Tokyo
Original run 6 October 2004 – 30 March 2005
No. of episodes 26

Goods

Beck Limited edition Zone 2

95,000 - 100,000 ￥

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

2007-08-05T04:53:00.000+07:00

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

The band was first formed in 1996 by Kensuke Kita, Takahiro Yamada, and Masafumi Gotō who met in a musical circle of Kanto Gakuin University, with Kiyoshi Ijichi joining the band shortly after. They played in many small venues until they released their first indie EP in 2000, a six-song EP of English cover songs. In the following year, the band tried to get their first Japanese single, "Kona Yuki" (粉雪, "Kona Yuki"?), onto indie radio shows. The song was eventually picked up by a popular radio DJ and put into heavy rotation due to the demand of listeners. The band released their second indie CD containing songs with Japanese lyrics later in 2001. In 2003, the band would release their first mini-album Hōkai Amplifier (崩壊アンプリファー, Hōkai Amplifier?), which received immense critical acclaim with the sales of the album reaching 35 on the Oricon charts.

In 2003, the band released the singles "Mirai no Kakera" (未来の破片, "Mirai no Kakera"?) and "Kimi to iu Hana" (君という花, "Kimi to iu Hana"?), which would catapult them to fame. Their first full album, Kimi Tsunagi Five M (君繋ファイブエム, Kimi Tsunagi Five M?), sold over 25,000 copies and landed in the number 5 spot on the Oricon charts in its first week. As their fame grew, fans began calling them simply Ajikan (アジカン, Ajikan?) or AKG, shortened versions of their full name.

When 2004 came around, the band won the award for Best New Artist; their video "Kimi to Iu Hana" also won the award for Best Music Video. Over the course of the year, the band would release four more singles: "Siren" (サイレン, "Siren"?), "Loop & Loop" (ループ＆ループ, "Loop & Loop"?), "Rewrite" (リライト, "Rewrite"?),which is the opening song for the anime Fullmetal Alchemist and "Kimi no Machi Made" (君の街まで, "Kimi no Machi Made"?). Their song "Haruka Kanata" is the second opening of the anime Naruto. The band also released their second album, Sol-fa (ソルファ, Sol-fa?), in 2004. The album would go on to sell more than 600,000 copies and reach number one on the Oricon charts for two weeks straight.

In 2005, they released a DVD that stayed at number one on the Oricon DVD charts for an entire month, and played at sold out venues during their Re:Re: tour. The band also held the Nano-Mugen Festival 2005, where eight different bands played to a sold out crowd. Later that year, the band released another single "Blue Train" (ブルートレイン, "Blue Train"?), and held a short tour in the winter.

The band released two albums in 2006: Fanclub (ファンクラブ, Fanclub?) and a B-side compilation called Feedback File. Fanclub stayed in the Oricon top five for nearly two months while Feedback File entered the charts at number two. In July, the band held a sequel to their Nano-Mugen Festival known as Nano-Mugen Festival 2 which featured 12 different artists and sold out for all of its performances. The band then went on to release three singles in 2006, "Blue Train", "World Apart" and "Aru Machi no Gunjo". Blue Train managed to obtain a #5 spot on the charts while World Apart went on to become the band's first number one single.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation's single and album covers are designed and created by Yusuke Nakamura.

Member profiles

Masafumi Gotō (後藤正文, ゴトウマサフミ?)
Birthdate: December 12, 1976
Place of Birth: Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Vocalist and rhythm guitarist
Equipment:
'75 Gibson Marauder
Gibson Les Paul Faded Double-Cut (Faded Yellow)
Gibson Les Paul Junior Faded Double-Cut (Worn Cherry)
Roland Custom JC-160 amp
Major: Economics
Favorite Bands: Weezer, Number Girl, Teenage Fanclub, Eastern Youth and Howard Jones

Kensuke Kita (喜多建介, キタケンスケ?)
Birthdate: January 24, 1977
Place of Birth: Kanagawa Prefecture
Lead guitarist and background vocal
Equipment:
Gibson Les Paul Standard (Cherry Sunburst)
Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus (Cherry Sunburst)
Gibson Custom Shop 1954 Les Paul Standard Reissue (Ice Tea)
Marshall 4100 JCM 900 Head + cabinet (half-stack).
Major: Economics
Favorite Bands: Radiohead, Mannix, Supergrass and XTC

Takahiro Yamada (山田貴洋, ヤマダタカヒロ?)
Birthdate: August 19, 1977
Place of Birth: Shizuoka Prefecture
Bassist and background vocals
Equipment:
'62 Fender Jazz Bass (Lake Placid Blue, 3-Tone Sunburst)
Ampeg Bass AH 300 Amp head
Major: Literature
Favorite Bands: The Beatles, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Pet Shop Boys

Kiyoshi Ijichi (伊地知潔, イヂチキヨシ?)
Birthdate: September 25, 1977
Place of Birth: Kanagawa Prefecture
Drummer
Pearl Drums (custon set)
Sabian cymbals
Major: Engineering
Favorite Bands: Brian Setzer and Hi-Standard

Gibson Marauder

2007-08-05T04:46:00.000+07:00

Gibson Marauder

The Gibson Marauder is an electric guitar model. This short-lived series of solid-body guitars was produced in the USA from 1974 to 1979. Only one Gibson Marauder was shipped in 1974. These guitars were an attempt by Gibson to break into the single-coil-pickup, bolt-on-neck guitar market dominated by Fender. The Marauder originally sold for under $400 USD.
The Marauder sports a contoured single cutaway Les Paul-shaped body, and a bolt-on maple neck with a headstock similar to the Flying V's. Marauders were made with alder, maple, or mahogany bodies. The fretboard was produced in the traditional Gibson rosewood, or the more Fender-like maple, with twenty-two frets. All maple Marauder fretboards had dot markers. Many of the Marauders with rosewood fretboards had trapezoidal markers.
The Marauder features custom-designed Bill Lawrence pickups sealed in clear epoxy, a feature which was considered ahead of its time, and this was and still is considered to be one of the best qualities of this guitar. The guitar has a humbucker pickup in the neck position and a single-coil, solid-blade style pickup mounted at an angle by the bridge. This arrangement resembles the Fender Telecaster. The resulting sound was closer to the Fender sound than that of most Gibson guitars.
Early Marauders have a three-way toggle switch in the lower bout of the body, to to turn on either one or both pickups. Later examples were fitted with a rotary potentiometer instead, which allows a range of blends between the two pickups. In still later Marauders, the potentiometer was positioned between the volume and tone knobs.

Marauders all have Gibson's tune-o-matic bridge and a stop tailpiece. They have enclosed tuners, and typical Gibson strap buttons.

Published reviews characterize the guitar as heavy and durable, but with weak pickups.
Due to the bolt-on neck construction and unusual Fender characteristics of the guitar, the Marauder was not a success. It was too much like a Fender for Gibson buyers to like, and too much like the Gibson for those who liked Fender qualities to enjoy. After its slow reaction, the Marauder was discontinued by 1982. It is, however, considered a solid-quality, if unusual, vintage guitar.
In 1976–77, Gibson produced the Marauder Custom, with a premium finish and construction details. Also starting in 1976, Gibson started producing the Gibson S-1, similar to the Marauder in appearance, but with three single-coil pickups. It, too, was unpopular and was discontinued at around the same time as the Marauder.

Gibson Marauders were played, and smashed for effect, by members of Kiss (who, according to a Gibson advertisement called the guitar a Kiss axe). Masafumi Gotō of Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Joshua Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk have also played Marauders in later years (McCaughan plays a Marauder that was smashed by Paul Stanley of Kiss in 1978).

Masafumi Gotō