Kimura Kaela "Mamireru" Exclusive Interview Translation

Source: Oricon

Bad to “be covered” by important things

--In the liner notes for your new single “Mamireru,” you specifically request listeners to read the title with an accent on the “ma.”

Kaela: I want them to pronounce it like “parareru” [“parallel”]. The world of the internet, the world of my emotions, the world of emotions for others... There are a lot of parallel worlds, and the image here is of all those feelings people don’t share or try to get rid of, collected into a “Mamireru World.” That might be a little hard to understand because it’s just a feeling I tried to attach to the song, but that’s more or less the idea. (laugh)

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.158 - "You Love My Diction"

And that's all you love about me. You're quite shallow.

158 - You Love My Diction
MEG - La Japonaise | S/mileage - Dot Bikini
Download: [MP3]
 

One of these days we'll finally figure out Erin's audio and GK will sound as good as it did last week. Until then, enjoy over-modulated Erin. Sorry about that. All the more reason to join the uStream, amiright? 

So this week we're reviewing a weird one from MEG. It's an Anime (ah-knee-may) song cover album, but with the help of such producers as Yasutaka Nakata. Remember when I said Nakata saves all his good stuff for Perfume? There's also the latest offering from S/mileage. Ya...we're a real tour de force this week. Good news is that the B-Side is a cover of a Country Musume song (this one), which brings a small smile to my face :)

Also, thanks again to everyone who commented on Kamen Kanpai. It will be making its return in the near future.

Until then....MANY NOTES!!

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MEG "La Japonaise" Exclusive Interview Translation

Source: Natalie

The reason for my hiatus

--You stopped your activities in Japan in 2010 and moved your base of operations to France. So my first question is, what did you learn from your experiences there?

M: I released a best-of album [in Japan] in September of 2010, and then I stopped my activities after my birthday live in October, but I still had releases. Nakata [Yasutaka] is very quick at creating music, but it felt like we had the lyrics written and the music recorded for the album in three weeks.

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.157 - "Kamen Kanpai"

Games and Shows. Shows with Games. Game Show!

157 - Kamen Kanpai
GK Game Show!
Download: [MP3]
 

I love Game Show week on GK. The problem is that prepping for them is a pain in the arse. Researching. Drawing up a game board. Figuring out points. Me being horrible at the actual games. These are things I like to avoid, AND AVOID THEM I HAVE! Thanks to "Kamen Kanpai", I don't need to prepare a damn thing! Pick a Japanese celebrity, bring up their wikipedia page and then treat the contestant as if they are them until they figure out who they are. Genius! I had a blast playing it and, if you guys like it, it's something we can do fairly often in place of a single review since it's so easy to put together. Let us know in the comments!

I want to apologize to the faithful listeners who come to the uStream. "Kamen Kanpai" works great on the uStream, but whether it was my internet or uStream being sucky, it didn't go too smoothly. Hopefully next week will be back to normal!

"Well, when you're the guy who presents the Notes..."

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Orange Range "NEO POP STANDARD" Exclusive Interview Translation

Source: Natalie

We always felt a little like going against the flow

--In July of 2010, ORANGE RANGE started their own independent label, “Super Echo Label.” This is the first time you’ve spoken with us, so I’d like to ask how it felt to separate from your old label and start your own.

N: We were of course thinking a lot about whether we’d be able to convey the novelty of our situation when it came time to put out information and music. I mean, before that, when we were at our previous label, if we made music they didn’t like it wouldn’t be released, and we wouldn’t be able to play it in anticipation of a release date. But now that we have our own label we can release anything we want to do. That’s obviously a huge difference. If we think to ourselves “We want to put out some music today,” we can just up and announce it. We can play new music at our lives right away, and then release it later. When we make music, we want people to hear it immediately. Our listeners can can be in lockstep with our feelings from day to day. It’s invigorating.

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.156 - "Bring in the Rollerskating Transvestites"

It'll all make sense, I promise you.

156 - Bring in the Rollerskating Transvestites
Kis-My-Ft2 - Kis-My-1st | Kalafina - To the beginning
Download: [MP3]
 

Some of you think we only review albums and singles that we all *want* to review. That is very much not true. Case in point: Kis-my-1st. While I may have been interested to see what these Johnny's boys can do, Erin turned up her nose, and Jaylee....well, let's just say he bled to see color again*. Kis-My-Ft2 literally spew rainbows, so I don't know his reasoning. Maybe you'll catch some glimpses as to why.

We also review Kalafina. They are great. Not only are they a "chamber-pop" group which I think is an awesome genre, they also have Keiko as a member. Ah, Keiko. How I love you. With your beautiful voice, your extreme elegance, and your...bangs. You are one the very few women whom I consider perfect. If you're reading this and ever want to become a chubby-chaser, you give good ol' LoKi a call. I'm waiting. No, seriously.  

You will definitely want to join us next week on the uStream next week because it's GK Game Show week! We're going to shake it up a bit and play a game we're tentatively calling "Kamen Kanpai". Wanna know what it is? Hit up TotallyRadShow.com and watch one of their "Secret Identity" segments. Swap movie/games/TV characters for Japanese equivalents and voila! You can catch that on Wednesday night at 7:30pm PST with here on JpopJrock.com/LIVE

* Jaylee does not cut himself. Nor should you. It's a joke. Deal with it.

Until then, enjoy the show and our NOTES!

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GK PV Play: Lighter Than Air Edition

Many music videos are released every month in Japan to promote the latest single or album coming out. Though we often talk about the music videos that accompany the music we review, some PVs slip through the cracks. This week we task our lovely writer with the difficult job of reviewing some of the recent vids to make their way all the way from Japan to our computer screens in the US.

AKB48 - Manatsu no Sounds Good
Shinee - Sherlock
AAA - Still Love You
moumoon - Wild Child
Itano Tomomi - 10Nen Go no Kimi He

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Gaijin Kanpai Ep.155 - "Under the Covers"

It's all about the B-Roll, people.

155 - Under the Covers
BENI - Covers: | Perfume - Spring of Life
Download: [MP3]
 

If you're one of those listeners who skip the end of the show (I know you're out there. I'm always watching you...), it behooves you to listen to this week's B-Roll. it contains colorful language so please, get your parents' permission. 

In the ongoing mission to make Erin's audio sound better, we bring you reviews of BENI and Perfume. We've reviewed both in the past, but you've probably heard of one of them more than the other. Those Perfume girls are everywhere, amiright? TV, Movies, American Movies, My Dreams....it's pretty crazy. Now if only they would release a candy commercial where they play mouth-telephone and it looks like they're making out. BRILLIANT!

We record the show live every Wednesday at 7:30pm PST at JpopJrock.com/Live and we'd love to see new faces in the chat, watching the video. Why can't it be yours? Yours is pretty! (or handsome!)

HANDSOME NOTES!

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Perfume "Spring of Life" Exclusive Interview Translation

Source: Excite

--Just as you'd expect from the title, "Spring of Life" perfectly represents the season of spring.

A-chan: Perfect! When I hear it I can't help but move and sing along.

Kashiyuka: It's totally refreshing.

Nocchi: I think it's a very passionate song.

--It's your first single of 2012. Did you ever speak with Nakata Yasutaka about what kind of feeling you wanted from the song?

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Jin Akanishi: The Japonicana Tour Live Report

Image Credits: Johnny & AssociatesThe familiar intro of Jin Akanishi’s “Sun Burns Down” began playing in the Best Buy Theatre of New York City as hundreds of fans began to scream and cheer. The excitement of the audience reached new heights when the curtain was pulled and beams of red and yellow light filled the stage, flooding the crowd. As the vocals kicked in and the man of the hour began making his way down the stage, the time spent waiting in the winding line outside felt miles away compared to the aural and visual delight that awaited us. 

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