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.
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.
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
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.
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 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.
Feisty all-girl group KINOCO HOTEL will be rockin’ ‘n rollin’ across the UK this May. The Japanese, 1960s hotel-themed band, known for their shocking performances and eye-catching, matching uniforms, play original garage-rock‘n’roll tunes inspired by Showa pop (1960s and 1970s pop) and the Group Sounds scene (The Beatles-loving bands from back in the 1960s). The following dates are confirmed, with more to be confirmed:
15th May: Hipsville, Surrey. (As part of the Horror A Go! Go! Weekender) [Tickets]
20th May: Frat House, Bristol.
22nd May: The Prince Albert, Brighton.
23rd May: Rhythm Factory, London. [Tickets]
Japanese avant-garde metallers dir en grey return to the UK this May, ready to perform tracks from their brand new album ARCHE for the first time live in the UK.
The band will be performing at the O2 Academy Islington in London on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May 2015 as part of the European leg of their TOUR15 THE UNSTOPPABLE LIFE tour, which also includes shows in Germany, France, Holland, Poland and Belarus. Regular tickets are on sale now from TicketWeb with a face value of £28.12. VIP tickets are available from See Tickets and start at £80.
Bold and sensitive, chaotic and melodic, over the course of nine albums, dir en grey have become one of the biggest names in Japanese rock to break outside of their home country. Embraced by the international rock media, support for the band has been overwhelmingly positive, especially in the UK, where they became the first (and so far only) Japanese band to appear on the cover of Kerrang! Magazine.
New album ARCHE is out from 2 March on double CD from Gan Shin Records (order from Amazon), and is also out now digitally on Amazon MP3, iTunes and partically on Spotify.
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.
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).
FB Event page: 
Event Name: JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents moumoon x PASSEPIED – JAPAN RISING Warm Up
Japan Underground | JPU Records Ltd. 