2008 was quite a year for discovering music - a big thumbs up to Last.fm and some good friends for that. Hands down, my most listened-to album of the year was Tan-Tan Therapy, by Tenniscoats. A stone cold classic, and no mistake. Interesting that Saya says her personal fave is We Are Everyone. It's a lovely collection, but Tan-Tan Therapy has that feeling of being a consolidated project. An essential to any decent record collection.

The trouble is, it was released in 2007. Here then, in case anyone cared, is my top 5 from 2008. Feel…

I had the very great pleasure of joining Tenniscoats onstage at their recent Fukuoka gig to play Takashi Ueno's guitar part on Baibaba Bimba while he took on harmonica duties. An early Christmas present for we members of The Grizzly Folk!

Actually, it was a total surprise. I was performing with Nanbanjin the previous Tuesday, when Tenniscoats were also on the bill. Ueno and I jammed the song backstage, but that was all. He called me onstage mid-tune in Fukuoka (actually, he came down into the audience and dragged me up - not that I was in any…

"The P-Vine label must be delighted to be getting this little gem, just as Japanzine is delighted to be one of the first publications allowed to review it. OneOne's AoooO is the album we've been waiting for all year and, as we stumble into December, it's a relief to say that the best things have been kept 'til last. "

To read the rest of this article, including an exclusive interview with Saya Ueno, click here:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1897/OneOne:+Barking+Up+the+Right+Tree+++

This article makes reference to:

OneOne
AoooO
Tenniscoats
Deerhoof
Ueno
Blur
Damon Albarn
Radiohead
The Pastels
Arvo Pärt

"On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love said to me, "aren't the musicians in Tokyo frickin' lazy 'round this time of year?"

"Yes," I replied. "And you've just given me a pretty cool structure on which to hang this month's Tokyo Live article."

"Good luck with that. I can see it going absolutely nowhere." And with that, she reeled away into the winter night, never to be heard of again. These true loves aren't what they used to be."

For the rest of the article, click here:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1883/Tokyo+Live:+The+8+Gigs+of+Christmas+

This article makes reference to:

Tenniscoats
The Clash
Nikaidoh Kazumi…

"Japanzine has always prided itself on being a forward thinking rag that pips its readers to the post on most things going down in these parts. Occasionally, however, you guys come up with some new-fangled movement, and you make us feel old. Truth be told, it's happening more and more these days. Case in point; we recently sat down with London-raised MattB to chat about his involvement with the glitch hop movement, currently finding its feet in Tokyo."

For the rest of this article, head over to:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1882/Tokyo+Underground:+MattB+and+the+Glitch+Hop+Massive+

This article makes reference to:

MattB
Made in Glitch
Lunice
Turbo Crunk…

"Director and “pink film pioneer” Koji Wakamatsu is obviously one weird cat. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on in the black and white photos in the CD insert from this soundtrack to his 1970 cult film Shinjuku Mad, but naked girls covered in blood seem to be a recurring theme. As for the music on this 2008 reprint, it’s by the infamous Food Brain, a psych-free-jazz fusion improv supergroup featuring members of April Fool, Strawberry Path, Speed, Glue & Shinki and Golden Cups (no, I don’t know them either, that’s how freakin’ underground this…

Join the Japanzine Music group at: http://www.last.fm/group/Japanzine+Music

"When it comes to guitar chops, there are few that have trumped the technical wizardry of former Megadeth supremo, Marty Friedman. Throughout the nineties, he topped poll after guitar-legend-poll, before giving it all up to move across the world and pursue a career in J-pop. On the eve of his 7th solo release, Friedman spoke to Japanzine about the ins and outs of becoming a gaijin tarento."

http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1324/Hebi+Meta+San:+The+Marty+Friedman+Interview

This article refers to:

Marty Friedman
Megadeth
Ayumi Hamasaki
Metallica
Dave Mustaine
Nanase Aikawa

"It's 3:30am on a cold March morning, and I'm quietly soiling myself. As always, I've not thought this through properly. Being a "homely" rag, Japanzine isn’t used to dealing with big celebrities, and my rash promises to "land Yoko" were received with the kind of humor usually reserved for a senile relative. A few tentative emails later, and here I am hanging on the end of a phone line as an assistant takes an eternity to put me through to The Dakota building."

http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1104/Season+of+the+Witch:+The+Yoko+Ono+Interview

The article refers to:

Yoko Ono
The Beatles
John Lennon

"His delicate singing style owes something to the Paul Heaton School of Northern Sensitives, but don't be alarmed - Kev Gray comes without the obligatory Man-At-C&A outfit favored by others of his ilk. He's a northerner with style - in itself, something worth paying to see - and he's about to release a collection of some of the finest songs Japanzine has heard all year."

http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1852/Kev+Gray:+A+Bit+of+a+Genius

This article refers to:

Morrissey
Billy Bragg
Kev Gray
Paul Heaton
The Beautiful South
Jellyfish Records
Bob Dylan

Over the years, Japanzine's music critic JP DuQuette has kept us informed on the latest releases from this country. Here are a handful of issues to get you started…

Maru, Super Wamono Beat, Yukari Fresh:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1849/CD+Reviews,+November+2008

Suishou No Fune, Ultra Bide, Broken Haze:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1814/CD+Reviews,+October+2008

Doddodo, Lite, Shiina Ringo:
http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1729/CD+Reviews+-+August,+2008

Join the Japanzine community on Last.fm at: http://www.last.fm/group/Japanzine+Music