Press Release: FLOW Announces 15th Anniversary Anime-only Concert “FLOW The Carnival 2017”

Last month, in July 2017, FLOW began their 15th Anniversary year, and the band recently finished the first round of their 6-city celebration tour in Fukuoka August 6th.

On the final night of the tour, FLOW announced a special, one-night-only concert to take place on December 21st titled “FLOW THE CARNIVAL 2017 ~Anime-only~”, which will include 21 songs from anime-related works. The teaser video for the one-man live has been released on FLOW’s Official Facebook.

Since 2004, when their 4th major single “GO!!!” was chosen as the opening theme song for the TV Tokyo anime series Naruto, FLOW has provided 21 anime-related songs for 10 anime series and OVAs. The strong melody from the band’s twin vocalists and their wide range of music has allowed them to appear in both domestic and international rock music events and anime-related events, creating a bridge between rock and anime music.

FLOW chose to begin their second round of 15th Anniversary concerts with the special “anime-only” event (the first in the band’s history) in order to show their pride, gratitude, and respect for the anime projects and their fans.

FLOW released their 15th anniversary commemorative album Fighting Dreamers in June, which features 11 anime voice actors taking part in the lead song’s chorus, and each of the 5 band members writing a new song, coming together to create an album representing FLOW’s new era.

FLOW THE CARNIVAL 2017 pre-sale tickets went on sale August 6 for members of FLOW’s official fan club, “26ers”, and will be available to the public starting Saturday, August 19th. Ticket prices also include exclusive special items. In addition, FLOW has announced that they will organize a 5-city Battle of the Bands tour “FLOW THE PARTY 2018″ starting in February 2018, adding even more activities to their 15th Anniversary celebration.

Details are available on the FLOW 15th Anniversary special site

FLOW will perform live in Washington, D.C., at Otakon® on August 12 as part of Anisong World Matsuri, along with JAM Project, T.M. Revolution, and Yousei Teikoku.

FLOW THE CARNIVAL 2017 〜Anime-only〜
Date: December 21st, 2017
Venue: Nippon Seinenkan
Doors open/Show starts: 5:30pm/6:30pm
Contact: Disk Garage 050-5533-0888

FLOW Official Fan Club “26ers” pre-sale
Application period: August 6, 2017 (Sun) 8:00pm – August 14, 2017 (Mon) 11:59pm

Public pre-sale
Application period: August 19, 2017 (Sat) 1:00pm – August 28, 2017 (Mon) 11:59pm

FLOW THE PARTY 2018 – Battle of the Bands Tour
February 2018
5 cities: Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo — FLOW will welcome amazing bands in each city.
* Details will be announced at a later date.

Press Release: Anime Music Streaming Subscription Service “ANiUTa”

Anime music record companies cooperated and established a new company called “ANIUTA,INC.”  The new company announced and launched the worldʼs first anime music specialized paid subscription “ANiUTa” today.

ANiUTa will tap into a new market in music streaming subscription by creating a service specialized in anime music. With the rise of demand for anime and anime music concerts outside of Japan, this subscription service originating in Japan will take on the market worldwide.

The music lineup includes music from anime, game, superhero productions and vocaloid. The 100% pure content will definitely satisfy users from different generations.

ANiUTa plans to provide exclusive original services such as pre-release streaming during anime airing season and collaborations between voice actors/actresses. Services based on anime music, such as exclusive concert ticket application and exclusive merchandise online shopping will also be launched within the service.

The biggest feature of this subscription service is that users can search music from specific anime, which is an exclusive feature that can only be done through specialized anime music service. ANiUTa contains more than fifty thousand tracks while about twenty thousand tracks are released in subscription services for the first time. The service is expected to launch abroad in the end of 2017.

About ANiUTa
ANiUTa is established by the CEOs of the leading anime music makers – Shiro Sasaki from FlyingDog, Inc. and Shunji Inoue from Lantis Co., Ltd. Since the emergence of paid music subscription services such as “Apple Music,” “Google Play Music,” and “Amazon Prime Music” back in 2015, the market has grown rapidly. Witnessing anime music fans worldwide during anime music events held abroad, two companies believe that in order to satisfy anime fans, there should be a specialized service tailor made instead of having massive all-genre music platforms. The new project establishes a unique platform towards fans. This is the concept of ANiUTa – Anime music makers directly approaching fans worldwide and providing a service that satisfies their fans.

Main Anime Music (Starting with fifty thousand tracks)
Attack on Titan
Free!
Genesis of Aquarion
Girls und Panzer
K-ON!
Kantai Collection
Kira Kira☆ Pretty Cure A La Mode
Love Live!
Lucky Star
Macross Frontier
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Re:Zero ­ Starting Life in Another World
Yuri!!! on Ice

Participating Companies
FlyingDog, Inc.
Avex Pictures inc.
Frontier Works Inc.
Kadokawa Corporation
Lantis Co., Ltd
Marvelous Inc.
PONY CANYON INC.
Sunrise Music Publishing Co., Ltd.
TOEI ANIMATION MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., LTD.
TOHO CO., LTD

Press Release: NYC Orchestra Performs Action Anime Music

New York’s animation ensemble iconiQ The Soundtrack Orchestra opens it’s 2016-17 performing season with “Kick-@ss Music,” a tribute to shounen anime, Friday, October 7, 7:30pm at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

The first of 4 concerts celebrating shounen [“young boy”] and mahou shoujo [“magical girl”] soundtracks, iTSO’s rock-orchestral fusion concert “Kick-@ss Music” will feature musical works from popular action anime series such as Astro Boy, Lupin the Third, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One-Punch Man, and Saint Seiya. The 17-piece chamber ensemble will also honor the end of the Tite Kubo’s Bleach series with a special concerto composed of Shiro Sagisu’s latin-inspired “Arrancar/Hueco Mundo” score.

“Kick-@ss Music” will be held at Mary Flagler Cary Hall inside The DiMenna Center for Classical Music located at 450 W 37th St, New York, NY on Friday, October 7. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $20 for general seating with discounts for students and 2016 New York Comic Con attendees and can be purchased online at: http://www.iconiquestra.org/kick-ass-music . No admission for guests under 18 years of age without an accompanying adult.

ABOUT ICONIQ THE SOUNDTRACK ORCHESTRA: iconiQ The Soundtrack Orchestra is a musical organization dedicated to preserving, appreciating, disseminating, and promoting the performance and study of music written for animated films and programs, cartoons, Japanese anime, and video games in New York and its surrounding communities. This is accomplished through free and affordable public concerts, music releases, and educational programs for audiences of all ages.

Kick-@ss Music: Action Anime in Concert
Presenter: iconiQ The Soundtrack Orchestra
Venue: Mary Flagler Cary Hall at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
Address: 450 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018
Start Time: 7:30pm
Ticket Price: $20
Buy Ticket Link: http://www.iconiquestra.org/kick-ass-music
Read more at http://www.iconiquestra.org/kick-ass-music

Press Release: 2015 J-Pop Summit Announces Day 1 Live Programming & Music Concerts

The 2015 J-POP SUMMIT, the Japanese pop culture event held annually in San Francisco, has announced DAY 1 programming. This year’s festival is highlighted by live music from a wide range of pop, ani-pop, electronica, punk/alternative, and a cappella artists, as well as live comedy and other acts to complement an extensive roster of attractions, participants and exhibits, and other live programming.

The 2015 J-POP SUMMIT takes place Saturday and Sunday August 8th & 9th at the historic Fort Mason Center in San Francisco’s Marina district. Tickets and V.I.P Passes are available. Both types of passes include access to daytime programming as well as the J-POP LIVE NIGHT concert. V.I.P Pass holders will have priority access to a premium viewing area and will be invited to an exclusive Meet & Greet Event with JAM Project on Saturday, August 8th and Eir Aoi on Sunday, August 9th respectively. Details to be announced soon!

This year’s live performers reflect the diversity and unique creative expression that is burgeoning in Japan and capturing a global following. The first-ever 2-night event J-POP LIVE NIGHT tops off DAY 1 Saturday, August 8th, with an evening concert by anime music super-group – JAM Project – as well as live sets from pop singer, Eir Aoi, frenetic rock band, Gacharic Spin, and returning all-girl punk rock acts, JinnyOops! and the Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass.

During the afternoon of Saturday, attendees also will be treated to the U.S. début of Little Glee Monster, an extraordinary 6-member female a cappella group that has received wide acclaim in Japan for their unique vocal treatments to a range of popular Japanese and English songs. Also making their début at J-POP SUMMIT will be FES★TIVE, a unique act built around the concept of Japanese “festivals” that has garnered a global following with their up-tempo, catchy sound. The hilarious antics of the comedy duo, Jaru Jaru, also come to U.S. shores for the first time as does the stylish female pop duo, Faint★Star.

J-POP SUMMIT also introduces attendees to a brand new way to show their love of favorite Japanese idols with the Cheerz App, on which users can upload photos to show support for a wide array of top artists, including ones performing at J-POP SUMMIT. Cheerz users also can receive additional opportunities for visibility and promotion based on their photo’s popularity among other users of the app. Over 300 top Japanese artists are currently active on Cheerz and since its launch in December 2014, fans have cheered on their favorite idols over 40 million times.

Stay tuned for J-POP SUMMIT DAY 2 programming to be announced very soon!

J-POP LIVE NIGHT Artists
J-POP LIVE NIGHT on Saturday begins at 4:30pm on the J-POP SUMMIT Main Stage inside the Fort Mason Pavilion. Specific set times will be posted shortly.

JAM Project (Japan Animation-Song Makers Project)
JAM Project is an anime music super-group founded in 2000. The group is composed of the top vocal artists that are each renowned for their work in the anime industry. The members came together to create and perform powerful theme songs for anime, tokusatsu (SFX movies and TV), and video games. Since their début, the JAM Project has produced and released hundreds of anime and video game theme songs, including the themes to Super Robot Wars, GARO and Tomica Hero. The group toured internationally in 2008, 2012 and 2015. Current regular members are Hironobu Kageyama (singer of “Dragon Ball Z” opening theme), Masaaki Endoh (singer of “Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s” opening theme), Hiroshi Kitadani (singer of “ONE PIECE” opening theme), Masami Okui (singer of “Revolutionary Girl Utena” opening theme) and Yoshiki Fukuyama (singer of “Macross 7” opening theme), who will all perform in San Francisco!

Eir Aoi
Eir Aoi is a Japanese singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido that is signed to SEM Records (Sony Music Entertainment. She gained wide popularity after several of her songs were used as the opening and ending themes for many popular anime series including Kill la Kill, Sword Art Online II and Season 2 of Aldnoah.Zero. She has built a worldwide fan base and embarks on her first international tour this summer.

Gacharic Spin
Celebrating their 5th anniversary this year, Gacharic Spin is a true force of musical power from Japan! One of their songs is now used as the ending theme for Dragon Ball Kai. Taking their name from the word, “Gacha,” derived from a Japanese word gacha-gacha, meaning clattering, each members’ character and sound clatters and mixes perfectly with singers Hana and Oreoreona’s powerful and melancholic voices, to result in a spectacularly unique sound. The band is signed to the JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corp. Taking hints from everything from pop to rock and industrial music, their energy-filled live performances and excellent musicianship have made them a very fun band to watch!

JinnyOops!
Returning to J-POP SUMMIT for their first time since 2010 is JinnyOops!, the 3 -piece indie punk band from Osaka, Japan. The group, which is composed of Mitsuyo Ishibashi (guitar/vocals), Chihiro Ishida (Bass), and Hitomi Futemma (Drums) are known for their wild and explosive punk sound and have made several appearances in the US.

Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass
The Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass are a Japanese female punk rock trio from Tokyo. Formed in 2005, the band has Kei Sofue on drums and sisters Yumi and Miki Uchizono on vocals/guitar and bass, respectively. After playing at SXSW 2012 in Austin, Texas, the band embarked on a US tour and headlined the J-Pop Summit Festival in San Francisco. Known for their energetic live performances, the band has played countless shows internationally and have established a loyal fan base in Japan, as well as overseas.

DAY 1 Daytime Live Performances

Little Glee Monster
This 6-member group composed of teenage girls has gained wide acclaim for their exceptional vocal skills and harmonies. Little Glee Monster was formed in Tokyo in 2013 by winners of a “Best Young Female Singer Audition” contest. The music video for the group’s first single, Houkago High Five, featured on their major label début for Sony Music has been viewed more than 500 million times! Little Glee Monster’s “Gao Gao All-Star” was selected as the ending theme song for the Pokémon XY anime series and their music also will be featured in the upcoming anime feature, Pokémon XY The Movie: The Archdjinni of Rings.

Faint★Star
Faint★Star is a Japanese pop-duo consisting of Hina (formerly of Tomato’n Pine) and Yuria that debuted in 2014. The duo gained international popularity after a Tokyo Girls Update article on their 1st music video became the most viewed article on the site. Faint★Star is produced by one of the most famous music agencies, “agehasprings,” and are known for their live performances that integrate advanced visual technology.

FES★TIVE
The 8-piece Japanese idol group, “FES★TIVE, is a unique act that builds on the concept of “festivals” and focuses on performing at Japanese festivals all over the world. FES★TIVE made its major label début on Tokuma Japan in May, and throughout 2015, they will continue to showcase their “FESTIVAL FROM JAPAN” theme to intentional audiences. With their up-tempo and catchy sound, FES★TIVE is a rapidly growing force in the international music scene.

Jaru Jaru
Jaru Jaru is a Japanese comedy duo made up of Shusuke Fukutoku and Junpei Goto, and managed by the Yoshimoto Creative Agency. The pair is one of the most successful and popular comedy acts in Japan with their brand of Manzai – a traditional style of Japanese comedy consisting a fool and a long-suffering companion. In the twelve years that they have been active, the duo has received countless awards, made many TV appearances, and even starred in several movies.

Pres Release: Scandal World Tour 2015 “Hello World” U.S., Tickets on Sale Now

Japanese girls’ band, SCANDAL has just announced Chicago, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Mexico headliner shows for the North America leg of their WORLD TOUR 2015 “HELLO WORLD”!
Ticket sales are on sale now and a select number of VIP tickets will also be available for each show.

May 15, 2015
Anime Central-Chicago, Illinois
May 20, 2015
Wednesday@ 8PM
El Plaza Condesa-Mexico City
http://www.ticketmaster.com.mx

May 22, 2015
Friday @ 7:30PM
House of Blues– Los Angeles, California
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Scandal-tickets/artist/949557

May 23, 2015
Saturday @ 7PM
House of Blues– Anaheim, California
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Scandal-tickets/artist/949557

SCANDAL WORLD TOUR 2015 “HELLO WORLD” official website

Album “HELLO WORLD” and more music from SCANDAL available at U.S. iTunes and Amazon MP3.

About SCANDAL
SCANDAL was formed in August, 2006 with four high school girls who went to the same vocal &dance school in Osaka, Japan. They started performing as SCANDAL with aggressive sounds with pop characters.
In March 2008, they were invited to the Japanese culture convention Sakura-Con in Seattle, and they went around six cities in the U.S to see over 7,000 fans of them. In July 2008, they generated 10,000 people to Japan Expo in France and 8,000 to Anime Comic Fes in Hong Kong in August.
In October 2008, they released “DOLL” as their debut single. “DOLL” was rewarded for Power Play from over 40 FM/AM/CS radio stations in Japan.
In June 2009, they released their 3rd single “Shoujo S”, and it was ranked 6th in the first week on Oricon chart, and 5th on Reco-choku Chakuuta Full (Full digital download provider) weekly chart.
On October 21st, they released their first album “BEST★SCANDAL” and ranked 5th on Oricon chart in their first week of the release. For the girls band’s album to be awarded within 5th in their first week of the release was the first time in 7 years and a half.
In 2009, they were rewarded for New Face Award from Japan Record Award. – New Artist Their 7th single “Shunkan Sentimental” a tie-in song with the smash-hit animation series “FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST”, has again scored high on the charts. #7 on ORICON and #4 on the Reco-choku full (full track download) chart.
They released their 2nd album “TEMPTATION BOX” in August 2010, and this was awarded 3rd place on Oricon daily chart. In October, “Scandal nanka Buttobase” was released, and awarded 3rd place on Oricon weekly chart, the highest ranking on Oricon weekly in their history ever.
In April 2011, single “HARUKA” was released and it also ranked #3. In August 2011, their 3rd original album “BABY ACTION” was released, followed by “VIDEO ACTION”, 1st video clip collection DVD.

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LeetStreet Boys Will Be Going On Hiatus

LeetStreet Boys is an otaku themed band that gained fans with their music and animated videos.  The “band” consists of singer, songwriter, and face of the band Matt with Frogs the producer, guitarist, and bassist.  They use the idea of a fictious version of their band in their videos, merch, and webcomic, but really they are the two who make all the music.  They first came to fame with  Yuri The Only One in 2008 and have released three albums and plenty more music videos.

Last week Matt made an announcement concerning the band’s future.  They are going to end the band after releasing one more song.

He cites the difficulties in booking at conventions even with their strong fan base.  He has mentioned in the past cons not realizing the difficulty in reproducing the music of the band live when booking.  They have not been able to play live in over a year.  Resulting in a lack of chances to mingle with fans and lost chances to sell their merchandize.

Matt has decided to focus on his career as a music composer and producer.  He has produced music for a number of games, commercials, and other projects.  You can find more info on his work at his website.

You will still be able to buy their CDs, posters, buttons, and games they worked on at their site.  At least till they run out.

If you would like to send your thoughts, comments, or questions to the band, contact them on their website or Facebook page and they will do their best to get back to you.

This looks like more of a temporary situation, well that is probably what they want it to be.  They will hopefully be back with more music in the future.  They just need a little down time.

 

Ongaku Overdrive II, Music Festival For Gamers & Anime Fans, Announces Lineup & Day After Show

Ongaku Overdrive is a music festival in Winter Park, Florida (somewhere around Orlando it seems) for fans of anime, video games,  sci-fi, and the like.  Saturday May 10th will be their second event at The Haven Lounge.  Doors open up at 2pm and will go till 1am.  The event includes a mix of rock, chiptunes, J-pop, nerdcore, and electronic music that draws inspiration from video games, fantasy, comic books, and other realms of nerddom.

New acts this year include Armcannon who preform rock renditions of classic video game music; otaku rapper Cashamil Anime Boy; chiptunes/electronic artists Professor Shyguy; videogame/vocaloid synth-rock band Final Weapon; chiptunes and guitarists Danimal Cannon; and finally one of the blog’s favorite rappers Mega Ran.

Returning acts are J-Pop artist Rai Kamishiro; famed otaku rapper Richie Branson; nerd rock band Sci-Fried; video game remixer and DJ, Benjamin Briggs; the blog’s other favorite rapper Adam Warrock; and 16-bit wizards MagiTek.

Tickets for the event are $15 online and $20 at the door.  Attendees must be 18 and bring ID.

An after-party called “The Day After Show” will be held on Sunday May 11th at The Geek Easy starting at 4pm and goes till 1am.  It will feature performances by DJ Roborob, Benjamin Briggs, DJ Cylon, Doug Funnie, Shammers and Shinobi the MC, MC Wreckshin, Eye Q, and more.  A donation of $5 for the artists performing is asked of those attending.  There will also be a grab bag raffle.

This event has one of the best line-ups I have seen in a while and with a cheap price.  I would like to see this expand to at least two days though to give the performers more time.  Someone go and send me a review of it, ok.

 

Top 10 Ninja Music List to Assassinate To

Ninjas have become a stable of genre media.  From TV shows, film, comics, novel, and even music.  Some write songs about ninjas.  Others base their whole music act around ninjas.  Here is just a taste of what you can find out there.

1. Everybody Needs a Ninja by Matthew Ebel

2. The band Shinobi Ninja from NYC.

3. Ninja Girl by Mega Ran is about Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII.

4. Feng Shui Ninjas and their album Home Shuriken Kit (in case of emergency, throw disc).

5. The rapper Shinobi the MC and duo Krondor Krew have back stores about being ninjas.

6. Ninjas Wailing on Guitars by Soggy Potato Chips tells of ninjas skill with shredding on guitar.

7. The jrock band Otokage is made up of ninjas as well.

8. Ninja Drinking Song by Sci-Fried is an Irish pub crawl song about ninjas.

9. There is a heavy metal ninja band called “Ninja.”

10. Redneck Ninjas by Tom Smith gives us a little different take on ninjas.

Honorable Mention goes to the opening theme from the anime Naruto.  All of them.

 

 

Top 10 Anime Music List

Anime (animation from Japan) invokes a lot of passion from people who watch it.  So of course some turn this passion into music.  Here is my top 10 list of music inspired from anime.  Songs and albums about a specific series or two.  This does not listen soundtracks, cover songs, or songs about general life as an anime fan.

1. Adam Warrock and Neo-Tokyo, his album about Akira, the classic movie based on one of the greatest comic series ever.  He also has songs on Gurren Lagann and Evangelion.

2. Beth Kinderman has Heavy as Stone about Fullmetal Alchemist and Vash’s Song about Trigun.  Slower and sadder than rest on this list.

3. The Man Power has a song about one of the hottest women in anime Fujiko from Lupin III.

4. Maja and his Bleach album Bleach’d Out was one of the first nerdcore albums I ever listen too.  Remixed music of Bleach and smooth raps.

5. Tom Smith wrote two songs about Death Note.  The first one is Who the F @#$ is Matt, about a short-lived character in the anime who still gets lots of fangirls (not child safe) and the second one he wrote while sick and he got both Death Note and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.

6. Area 11 is a British band who’s first album, All The Lights In The Sky, features 11 songs, with 6 of them having a reference to an anime: two songs for Code Geass, one for Elfen Lied, one for Death Note, one for Cowboy Bebop and one for Gurren Lagan.  They have done more since then too.

7. Richie Branson, know for his Toonami rap, did an album about one of the most popular Gundam series, Gundam Wing.  He has another one, Otaku Tuesdays, about various other series.

8.Ever wanted an album that contained a bunch of songs about Speed Racer on different genres and artists with some tracks from the original soundtrack?  Ok so no one wanted this till it was created, but here it is Speed Racer: The Soundtrack.

9. Mikal kHill‘s, of the Thought Criminals, album with Romero Shaw, dust, has a track about Big O called R. Dorothy Wayneright.  An almost love song from Roger to Dorothy.

10. If you are a fan of Dragonball Z or thought it was pretty stupid than I suggest checking out That Darn Anime by Flying Like Wilma.

Honorable Mention goes to Luke Ski and his song Anime Fan with Carrie Dahlby.  A huge list of various animes get named drop through out the song.  Also check out this cool AMV for it.

 

 

Death Of Disko Warp

A message from Disko Warp, a electronic music and lifestyle label from Seattle WA,  founder and owner Pete Ellison aka Initial P;

After 8 years of running independent dance label Disko Warp, I’ve decided to place it on indefinite hiatus to pursue other activities and new artistic directions. I feel like the Disko Warp team has accomplished a lot of great things, but unfortunately all things must change and it’s time to move on to other projects and areas of work. You will probably still see me produce new songs from time to time, and I’ll still be participating in The Paradise Last’s Eurobeat Forever project, and maybe some more toho or anime remix projects. We’ll have to see what comes up. I’ll still be DJ-ing, so I hope you’ll come see me play at a rave or convention some time.

For myself, the decision to retire the label comes with a shift in focus to my personal artistic expression and visual art. I’ve started a new site to showcase and offer my work for sale, so I hope you’ll check it out.

You can continue to follow me and my creative activities: Tumblr, Deviantart, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: petehasabeard.

I want to thank everyone who has supported the Disko Warp label since its inception in 2005, purchased our releases, come to our events and cheered us on. Maybe Disko Warp will return again some day when the time is right and the stars align. It’s been and always will be a pretty significant part of my life. As a way of saying thanks to Disko Warp’s fans, I’ve decided to publish the majority of our back catalog for download at no charge. You can check that out right now. Please feel free to spread that link any way that you see fit.

You can still support our efforts by purchasing Disko Warp CD’s, DVD’s and merch, including a special CD+DVD+Swag bundle for $25 while supplies last.