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Yasuo Yoshida’s ‘Jakai’ hits stores on March 23rd
Veteran utasaa (Okinawan folk musician) Yasuo Yoshida has a new album out today titled “Jakai.” Yasuo-sensei is one of the most I’m-happy-to-be-in-the-background-kind of musicians I’ve ever met so I’m quite eager to listen to the album. Many of you who follow shimauta and O-pop (Okinawan pop music) will probably be familiar with his wife, Yasuko…
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melody. blogs release date for her forthcoming album ‘Lei Aloha’
J-pop artist and Karakui.com favorite, melody., blogged the release date of 4/9/08 for her upcoming album, “Lei Aloha.” According to her blog post, the theme for “Lei Aloha” is kizuna (bonds) and it will be melody.’s 4th album following 2007’s “READY TO GO!” The album will feature 14 songs (track titles are already up on…
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O-Reggae goes SOUTH!
Okay, I admit, that’s a pretty silly title for a blog post. Heh. Anywho, Okinawan reggae duo SOUTH released a new album on the 22nd titled “Walking Up.” The 7-track album will feature their style of reggae dubbed (get it?) “Okinawan happy reggae.” The freshly released “Walking Up” follows their debut album “Peace-Full-Piece” from 2006.…
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Tatsuya Shimabukuro’s debut album ‘Tunugi’ hits stores on March 12!
Perhaps the most anticipated CD debut (for Okinawan minyou) of the year is Tatsuya Shimabukuro’s “Tunugi” which is set to be released on March 12. Tatsuya’s “Tunugi” will contain 12 tracks including two that he composed the music for. The reasonably priced ¥2,500 album, from Campus Records’ Tundami label, will also feature the talents of…
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Album: HY’s 5th album ‘HeartY’
It’s pretty cool to see a band, in this case HY, remain indie and onto their 5th album. “HeartY,” to be released on April 16, follows the album “Confidence” which was released about two years ago. The title of the new album is a play on the H and Y of their group name and…
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Beni Arashiro to release best of album in March
J-pop singer and soon-to-be big screen actress Beni Arashiro (21) will release her best of album on March 5th. The yet untitled album will include her singles from 2004’s “Harmony” to 2007’s “Luna.” Also included on the album will be the songs “SouthernStar,” “BIG BANG,” and “Mellow Parade.” At ¥800 more than the regular version,…
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Joutou (best) of 2007
What’s a blog without a Best of 2007 list? I’ve been planning to do one for a couple of weeks now but you know how that goes so here it is, barebones and just in for the final day of 2007. BEST ALBUM Artist: Kazutoshi Matsuda Title: Diigunii Genre: Shimauta Released: 6/15/2007 It took him…
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D-51 to release their first best of album in February
Having a best-of album released after only three full-albums in the US would probably be a subtle hint by the record company that the artist is not selling as much as they had in the past. In release-happy Japan though, where an artist normally releases an album a year, a best-of album can be a…
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They call him ‘jimihen’
Continuing their tradition of releasing a commemorative t-shirt with album releases from legendary utasha Seijin Noborikawa, Respect Record has the “Suikojizai” shirt available for purchase at record stores (like Takara Records on Kokusai) or online at their website. The album is set to be released on 1/16/08. (Via the Campus Record Staff Blog.)
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Shopping: CDJapan has Coco d’Or 2 CD on clearance sale
CDJapan has a clearance sale just in time for X-mas shopping and you’ll find the second album from hiro’s (ex-SPEED) Coco d’Or project on sale at 40% off of its regular ¥3,800 price! The 2006-released clearance sale item is bundled with a bonus DVD (AVCD-16102) containing two music videos.
Karakui 