Gaijin Kanpai Ep.141 - "Top of 2011"

It's been a really good year, and a really bad year. Forget music. Our hearts are with everyone in Japan who suffered even the slightest bit in the tragedy that was the earthquake. What we outside of Japan can be thankful for is that in true Japanese spirit, they have overcome and have continued to give their incredible contribution to the world. We only celebrate a small part of it; namely, their music. Thank You Japan!

141 - Top of 2011
Top Singles & Albums of 2011
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

So now that we've gotten in the spirit, let's take a look and listen to what the GK staff thinks are the best releases from the world of JPOP and JROCK from the entire year of 2011. Hopefully you agree. If you don't, we hope you at least give our suggestions a shot and let us know what you think!

And now, notes. :)

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.140 - "Flashback 2001/02"

GK Time Machine

AA Picks / Top Singles of 2001 / Top Albums of 2001 / Charts&News

Released: 2012-01-03, RunTime: 37min66sec

Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.139 - "GK OG"

GK OG's yo, kickin' it old school. Yeah. *some kind of generic hand sign that makes us seem "gangsta"* ...We may be nerdy white kids but we will probably never stop trying too hard. This week we are Jaylee-less. LoKi and Zer0 stick around to be awesome together, just like old times. Awww.

139 - GK OG
NICO Touches the Walls - Humania
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

Listen as we review "Milestone" by BoA! Marvel as we dissect the artistic merits and flaws of "Humania" by NICO Touches the Walls! Thrill to our GK-AA results! Shock! Amazement! Bewilderment! Alcohol!

The uStream was quite the party this week - if you weren't there, you missed a troll who failed to get a rise out of us. We called him "cute." It was quite entertaining. To make sure you never miss such events again, join us each Thursday at 7:30 PM Pacific, 10:30 PM Eastern!

Also - and this is VERY IMPORTANT - our next episode will be uStream Exclusive!! If you miss it, you miss the whole week! Just our little Christmas gift to the fans who come chat with us. Swing by, if only for a little while, as we talk J-pop by a virtual fire.

And now, notes. :)

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Editor Needed for GK - Paid!!

Hello Everybody!

I come to you today to recruit an editor for our show. I have been doing it since the beginning and I unfortunately no longer have the spare time to edit. This is a paying job that will net you $25/episode; which works out to ~$100/month. We record the podcast on Thursday nights and I'd require it to be finished editing by noon PST on Saturday.

The only requirements I have are for someone with GarageBand or comparable application experience, someone who is very on-time, and someone who has a passion to be a bit creative with their work. Liking Japanese music is obviously a plus, and one of the perks of working for us is almost-guaranteed press access to anime conventions.

I do have an episode that has not been edited yet that I will be using as a test of your skills. If I approve you, you will be paid for that episode as well. Payments will made by PayPal immediately after your final edit has been uploaded and reviewed by me. If you are at all interested, please email me at LoKi@JpopJrock.com (or the Contact link at the top of the site)

Thanks!

Gaijin Kanpai Ep.136 - "AKB48 Breaks Wind"

Wait, we meant AKB48 breaks RECORDS. And has a SONG about wind. No really! They break records and sing about wind, they break wind and sing about rec-- shit. Nevermind. They fart. Girls fart too, you know.

136 - AKB48 Breaks Wind
Kuroyume - Headache and Dub Reel Inch
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

So anyway, this episode has us reviewing now-classic J-rockers Kuroyume and their new "Headache and Dub Reel Inch" album, as well as the new single from the 3rd generation of J Soul Brothers, "REFRAIN." Boy wait until you hear what we say about them!

The uStream is always where you should be every week. This isn't opinion, it is fact. So join us every Thursday at 7:30 PM Pacific time and there shall be laughter and merriment! And you can listen to us be really weird.

And now for notes!

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.135 - "More Bitches On Set!"

The GK hosts are pimp and deserve no less than 10,000 fine-looking women in their presence at all times.

135 - More Bitches On Set!
Maki Goto - aikotoba (VOICE)
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

This episode features quite possibly the closest AA results ever, a micro-review of Jin Akanishi's US debut, and our usual review segments. This week features Hello!Project alum Maki Goto's solo album "ai kotoba (VOICE)" and Shiina Ringo's new single, "CARNATION." Expect plenty of fangirl and fanboy behavior from Zer0 and Jaylee, and plenty of drunkenness from LoKi. Fun times indeed!

Oh did I mention the uStream? Cuz the uStream is AWESOME. We got some folks in there that we haven't seen in awhile last night, and it was MAGICAL! Join us on Thursday nights at 10:30 PM Eastern/7:30 PM Pacific. It is always delightful, and just think of all the hilarious drunken moments you might be missing otherwise!

Notes!

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.134 - "Ruined by White People"

Insert witty notes intro here that somehow dodges sounding racist. Because there's no way we're ACTUALLY going to attempt that here. ...We're white kids who do a podcast on music from Japan, what do you expect from us at this point?

134 - Ruined by White People
YUI - How Crazy Your Love
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

On this week's accidentally girls-with-guitars-themed episode, we review the long-awaited return of brilliant green frontwoman Tommy heavenly6 as well as the new album from YUI. Good times are had by all!

Speaking of good times, the uStream had a fantastic turnout this week. Of course, we continue to extend an invitation to any fan who's free on a Thursday night and would like to hang out with us. You might get a shout out, you might even be flirted with! At the very least, you can watch the co-hosts be their outstandingly attractive selves. Join us there each week at 10:30 PM Eastern, 7:30 PM Pacific. You'll enjoy it, we promise. ...punch and pie.

You see a note left on the ground.
>Pick up note You have picked up the note.
It is now in your inventory. You are now carrying 42/50 items.
Your load is beginning to encumber you.
>Read the note You read the note. It says...

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iTunes...FAIL!

Friend-of-the-show Mith alerted me to the fact that the episodes are no longer showing up on iTunes. It seems our host dropped the feed we were using to post said episodes so I'm working with them to get it restored.

Until then, you'll just have to download them manually from our Episodes Page. Believe me, I know it sucks. I lose all my fancy metrics when the iTunes feed is down :: sad face ::

Gaijin Kanpai Ep.133 - "Guess Who Wins?"

This week, GK presents its semi-annual Quiz Show Special! YAAAY! Jaylee plays host as the other two hosts, Zer0 and LoKi, battle it out in a competition of wits, trivia knowledge, and of course petty taunting

133 - Guess Who wins?
GK Game Show 03 - LoKi vs Zer0
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
 

We skip the usual album and single reviews to make way for the game this week, but we still have news and our weekly AA segment to share with you. Education AND entertainment! The show has it all!

The uStream was absolutely the place to be, as you might expect (is it ever not?). You really should be joining us every week, it's quite badass. We record live every Thursday night at 10:30 PM Eastern, 7:30 Pacific. What the hey, it's a party - bring some friends in with you!

Anyway, here are the notes... please proceed downward in an orderly fashion. Thank you, have a nice day!

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Sakanaction "DocumentaLy" Interview Translation

Source: Oricon

It feels like we covered a lot of new ground 

--For this interview we have both Yamaguchi (Vo) and Ejima (D) with us.

Yamaguchi: Eiji [Ejima] did more work on “DocumentaLy” than on any other work of ours so far. He shouldered the burden of advancing the recording, and wrote more lyrics than even me. I was away from the group for a long time, and there was a lot of time where only the four other members worked on the album, so we were a little uneasy. We went forward with his brilliant leadership. I’m very grateful. (laugh)

Eijima: That’s not to say that I’m a better leader than Ichiro [Yamaguchi]. (laugh) To be honest, I was nervous at first, but as we four worked together, we began to understand one another better. Little by little we began to progress more smoothly.

Y: Until now everyone just interpreted the motifs that I threw out, and so the images we came up with were rather scattered. But this time, because of Eiji the ideas are much more homogenized.

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