THE TOMBOYS – exclusive London show: 25 March 2016

Event Name: JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents THE TOMBOYS
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/558339214341814/
Support Bands: The Johns, The Picaresque, DJ: JPU Tom
Date: Friday 25 March 2016
Location: The Pipeline (basement), 94 Middlesex Street, London E1 7DA [map]
Nearest Tube/Train: London Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Shoreditch High Street
Entry: £5

Japan’s all-girl rock squad THE TOMBOYS are currently recording their debut EP in London. To celebrate, they will perform a one off show in London on 25 March, before jetting back to Japan.

THE TOMBOYS started life in 2011 as a cover band of SCANDAL, one of Japan’s most successful all-girl pop rock artists. Called NoName, they entered SCANDAL’s annual cover band competition and got to the finals, where their drummer picked up the RINA Award from SCANDAL’s drummer.

Since then, NoName started recording their own original songs and touring Japan with their cute and fun response to punk and rock music. They also continue to enter SCANDAL’s annual cover band competition, and have so far picked up the HARUNA award too (gotta collect ’em all).

Now the band has changed their name and working on their first EP under the new moniker. Don’t miss this rare chance to see the band in their one and only overseas show, before they head back to Japan.

THE TOMBOYS: (previously known as NoName)
http://noname-band-official.tumblr.com/

 

PLUS! Make sure you get down early to catch indie rockers The Johns and Japanese pop punk locals The Picaresque perform live! Plus the latest Japanese hit courtesy of JPU Tom from JPU Records, Europe’s hottest label for music from Japan.

The Johns

The Picaresque

5 Reasons to Visit JPU Records at HYPER JAPAN

1. Meet Eir Aoi!
Yep! JPU Records will not only be exclusively selling Eir Aoi’s official merchandise and albums, but every Eir Aoi CD sold at HYPER JAPAN comes with a token to meet the singer and get stuff signed! Purchases over £18.50 also receive a special postcard. We will be stocking several sizes of her “EIR AOI ROCK THE WORLD 2015” tour shirt, as well as Eir Aoi wristbands in blue, green and red.

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2. Get Dempagumi.inc’s album before it’s official release!
The otaku idol’s CD will get its official European release in August, but you can get it right now by visiting JPU Records at HYPER JAPAN! Why not come and grab their brightly coloured (and brilliant!) album and see them live in the same day! The girls will be the Festival Stage on Friday 10 July with JPU Tom for a special talk at 6:30pm, and they’ll then perform on the HYPER LIVE Stage at 10:45am on Saturday 11 July and close the HYPER LIVE stage on Sunday 12 July at 4:45pm. There’s also a chance to meet the band and get the CD signed on Saturday.

Here’s the full stage schedule for all the acts. (Save it! Very useful!)

3. Get Ling tosite sigure’s Best of Tornado CD before release date too!
Not only have we licensed Ling tosite sigure’s killer Best of Tornado album (featuring 14 tracks re-mastered by John Davis (Led Zeppelin, Royal Blood, the Prodigy)), but we will have it available to buy nearly a MONTH before its 7 August release date! The band will be in London on Saturday 11 July to join VAMPS and [Alexandros] at JAPAN NIGHT at inidgo at The O2. Alternatively, get the album right now on iTunes!

4. Friday is the re-release date of NIL from the GazettE!
That’s reason enough to come and visit us, isn’t it?! We’ll have the album, fresh off the press, along with the band’s other releases through JPU Records, as well as a selection of super rare singles and EPs from their indie days. Not to be missed for any hardened fan!

5. Meet the JPU Records team!
Not sure why anyone would want to, but if you do, you can! We’re not only there to flog you a couple of CDs or vinyl, but also to offer advice, recommend and suggest bands, and just have a bit of a chin-wag about music in general!

HYPER JAPAN is the UK’s largest celebration of Japanese pop culture and takes places from Friday 10 – Sunday 12 July 2015 at The O2 in London.

taffy, PASSEPIED, moumoon and Yosi Horikawa in JAPAN RISING Showcase at The Great Escape 2015

FB Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1381477455513705/

Four Japanese artists have been confirmed to perform at The Great Escape, held 14-16 May in Brighton, England. taffy, PASSEPIED, moumoon and Yosi Horikawa will appear at the JAPAN RISING showcase on the afternoon of Saturday 16 May at Queens Hotel, accompanied with a buffet of free sushi. They will perform in front of fans from all over Europe, music industry professionals and media outlets. All four artists will also perform separately during the festival with other international bands.

Held annually in Brighton since 2006, The Great Escape is Europe’s fastest-growing music marketplace and consumer festival. This year, 400 selected artists from over the world will perform at 35 clubs around the city.

JAPAN RISING will present the first UK performances from major-label artists PASSEPIED and moumoon; the former being iTunes Japan’s “Breakout Artist of 2013” and the latter bringing a dose of unadulterated J-pop, whose latest single featured as the opening theme to hit new anime series Assassination Classroom. The special showcase will also be opened by Tokyo shoegaze-pop quartet taffy, while experimental DJ Yosi Horikawa, who was recently part of compilation Nihon Kizuna which raised over £20,000 for earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Northern Japan, will conclude the proceedings.

The showcase is organised by The Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture (PROMIC), supported by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) and coordinated by Japan Underground. It is part of a remit to create overseas showcase opportunities for performers at Tokyo International Music Market; further showcases will follow.

Venue / Time:
Queens Hotel, Saturday 16 May (11:30-4pm) – Entry with festival pass only

taffy: 12:00-12:30pm

taffy is a four piece fuzzy guitar pop band with a female vocal Iris. They are often compared to the Britpop and the Grunge bands from the 90s. Their music is described as art-punk (247magazine) , shoegaze (Buzz), 90’s Britpop revival (NME), highly addictive (DiS) and so on. The band has three albums out already, and has done 4 national UK headline tours so far. And the new EP “Darkle” out on May 4th 2015 includes a song “Young Tines” which was remixed by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

moumoon: 1:00-1:30pm

moumoon is a made-up term with a French word “mou(soft)” and “moon”: soft moon.
Ever since their inception in 2005, they have continuously gained recognition through their radio live-performances on various networks and had their songs featured in commercials and television dramas. They have taken further steps in their career as they performed in large-scale music festivals and went on their biggest tour to date (16 different areas in Japan) in 2014.
Recently, they have been holding live performances overseas, in an attempt to showcase Japan’s high quality pop songs to the rest of the world.
Also playing: 8:30pm Saturday 16 May @ Brighton Museum

PASSEPIED: 2:00-2:30pm

Formed in 2009 by keyboardist, Narita Haneda. Their name, PASSEPIED was taken from a composition by French composer, Claude Debussy. Ever since their formation, PASSEPIED are causing sensation in the Japanese music scene with their unique music style created by Haneda, who has a classical background, and the illustration/artwork and music clip animation created by the band’s own vocalist, Natsuki Ogoda. Their sophomore album “MAKUNOUCHI-ISM” was released on June 18. In October, the band released “MAKUNOUCHI-ISM e.p” which includes 4 tracks from the latest album “MAKUNOUCHI-ISM” re-recorded all in English on iTunes Stores worldwide.
Also playing: 8:00pm Saturday 16 May @ Komedia Studio Bar

Yosi Horikawa: 3:00-3:30pm

t’s clear that Yosi Horikawa is not only obsessed with music, but sound itself. The Japanese producer consistently incorporates field recordings into his tracks to vibrant effect offering an exciting musique concrete version of electro beat.
He released his first EP, « Touch » on Eklektik Records (FR) in 2009 and his LP « Vapor », on First Word Records (UK) in 2013. He recently performed among international festivals (Sonar, Mutek, Glastonbury etc.). 2011 academy grad, a documentary about him « Layered Memories : Searching For Sound With Yosi Horikawa » have been released on 2014 by RBMA
Also playing: 6:45pm Friday 15 May @ Unitarian Church

moumoon and PASSEPIED, Two of Japan’s Rising Talents, Announce Special One-off London Show

Event Name: JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents moumoon x PASSEPIED – JAPAN RISING Warm Up
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/454371931382680/
Date: Wednesday 13 May 2015 (from 7pm)
Location: The Pipeline (basement), 94 Middlesex Street, London E1 7DA [map]
Nearest Tube/Train: London Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Shoreditch High Street
Entry: £5

Schedule:
7-8pm: Japanese music DJ session
8pm: PASSEPIED
9pm: moumoon
10pm-close: Japanese music DJ session

Two of Japan’s hottest rising talents, moumoon and PASSEPIED have already been selected to represent the best in new talents from Japan at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton between 14-16 May 2015, and now they have announce a very special one-off show in London to warm up for the festival appearance, accompanies by DJ sessions from UK-based Japanese music label JPU Records.

PASSEPIED (www.passepied.info)

Named after French composer Claude Debussy, PASSEPIED have became a sensation in the Japanese music scene since forming in 2009. With their unique music style crafted by keyboardist and founder Narita Haneda, who graduated the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a degree in classical music, and illustrations, artwork and music clip animation created by the band’s own vocalist, Natsuki Ogoda. This will be PASSEPIED’s very first performance outside of Japan.

moumoon (www.moumoon.com)

moumoon is a Japanese group formed by YUKA (Vo.) and MASAKI (Gt./Composer). They both grow up with classical music with Masaki playing piano and YUKA playing violin. Their present musical style covers various types of music such as pop, alternative rock, electronica, folk and indie rock with YUKA’s lyrics and vocal adding scenery and a story to Masaki’s sensitive but dynamic melodies. After moumoon was formed, their songs were power played on radio and used in many TV commercials earning them name recognition. Their latest single is also currently being used in hit new anime series Assassination Classroom as its closing theme.

moumoon and PASSEPIED are in the UK to take part in the JAPAN RISING showcase at The Great Escape on Saturday 16 May, where they will be joined by Yosi Horikawa. The showcase is supported by The Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture (PROMIC) and Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), and coordinated by Japan Underground. It is part of a remit to create overseas showcase opportunities for performers at Tokyo International Music Market; further showcases will follow.

JPU Records Host Official HYPER JAPAN After Party

London’s Largest Japanese Music Label Teams Up With the UK’s Biggest Japanese Pop Culture Event for the Ultimate J-pop Party

When: Saturday 26 July 2014 (7pm-midnight)
Where: Namco Funscape, County Hall, Riverside Buildings, Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7PB. (map)
Nearest Tube/Train: Westminster, Waterloo.
Tickets: Free entry (500 capacity – one in one out if full)
Performances: Broken Doll, YANAKIKU, Kero Kero Bonito, Kelsey Ellison
DJ: JPU Records staff
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/491089981036648

JPU Records is proud to announce that it will be organising the official HYPER JAPAN after party on Saturday 26 July 2014. The event, celebrating all things J-pop, will take place at Namco Funscape in County Hall, Westminster, from 7pm and will be entirely free entry for all.

Four performance artists will be joining the event. Coming all the way from Japan will be cute punk rockers Broken Doll and ‘KimiCos’ duo YANAKIKU, plus British talents Kero Kero Bonito and Kelsey Ellison. There will also be popular tracks from Japan spun by JPU Records to keep the party atmosphere buzzing, as well as arcade machines, a licensed bar, snacks, dodgems, bowling and more available at additional costs.

JPU Records will also be exhibiting at HYPER JAPAN in Earls Court between 25-27 July, selling a wide range of CDs and merchandise from Japanese rock, pop and metal artists. The label will also be collecting ‘get well soon’ messages from fans of its artist SPYAIR. The pop-rock band, which has music in The Amazing Spider-Man and anime series Bleach and Gundam, recently had to postpone tour dates due to vocalist IKE suffering from acute bronchitis.

BROKEN DOLL:
Equal parts band, part Harajuku-fashion brand. Broken Doll are a culmination of Japanese pop and street culture influences with a twist of punk rock energy. Channelling the spirit of Blondie and Sex Pistols via Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (who also wears Broken Doll’s fashion accessories) and Babymetal, Broken Doll are guaranteed to charm and kick-ass in equal measure. This will be part of their first performances outside of Japan.

YANAKIKU:
Combining mainstream and sub-cultural Japanese influences, this cool and quirky decora influenced J-pop duo have a unique perspective on the world. Having earned themselves a sizeable UK fanbase the last time they visited, their next step along the road to global culture domination includes an English version of crowd favourite “Fujiyama△Disco”.

Along with their trademark catchy melodies and dance routines, this pair distinguish themselves from the rest of the J-pop crowd with their ‘Kimocos’- a totally original mashup of cosplay and kimono that are taking the music and fashion worlds by storm!

KERO KERO BONITO:
An electric-pop trio featuring vocals from half-Japanese kawaii rapper Sarah Bonito, and funky chiptune and electro beats created live from Gus and Jamie Bonito.

KELSEY ELLISON:
Kelsey Ellison is a professional performer from the U.K. who also uploads videos to YouTube. Her videos include a variety of subjects such as Japanese and Korean pop covers, English covers, vlogs, reviews and tutorials. She has recently released her debut single titled “Pom Pom“.

As of now she has almost 47,000 subscribers, over 6 million total views and has topped the weekly YouTube Japan music chart at #2 numerous times.

HYPER JAPAN 2014 
Date: 25th – 27th July 2014
Address: Earls Court One, Warwick Road, London, SW5 9TA
Nearest Tube: Earls Court

Opening Hours: 
• Friday 25th July – 12:00 – 19:00
• Saturday 26th July 09:15 – 14:15 or 15:15 – 20:15
• Sunday 27th July – 09:30 –18:00

http://hyperjapan.co.uk