"Rock and roll doesn't necessarily mean a band.
It doesn't mean a singer, and it doesn't mean a lyric, really.
It's that question of trying to be immortal."
For some reason this guy remind me a lot of Bob Dylan. Both are master of words, a natural story teller, born poet, similar love-it-or-hate-it vocal quality, Kenichi's face look a bit like a younger, asian version of Bob Dylan and both have stand their ground with their own brand of music without much help from mainstream media and survive the test of time.
Though if I really had to choose one, its really a no brainer. Kenichi got a major advantage, his god-given guitar talent. And time.
Chiba's work in the period between TMGE dissolvement and the kick start of The Birthday. This stuff become slightly rare outside Japan maybe because the facts that these bands are shortlived (1 album each) and lack of commercial succes i guess, so most people opt to post his more high profile band like Rosso and The Birthday instead. Most of this stuff sound very different from his TMGE, Rosso, The Birthday-more like an experimental phase, so consider yourself warned..
1. Raven
-Not much that I can find about this band other than it is actually a solo project of Terui Toshiyuki (ex-BJC) in which Chiba sung in all but 2 song.
-Straight to my top 10 most awesome band name! After disbanding Rosso, Chiba and Imai Akinobu join forces and create 'Midnight Bankrobbers' duo in 2006. Most of the songs are instrumental and my personal favorite tracks are Shoplifter Runaway to Hell and Shoplifter Runaway from Hell, purely from the awesomeness of the titles. Just kidding, these tracks are great and would be the perfect theme for any midnight bankrobbing..
Midwest Viking are: Lacoste, Arnold, Toroy and Hang Ten. In no particular order.
-Well this project is just for fun. All the members true identity never revealed, everyone wear shades, sombreros and hide their faces with bandana. And they wear footbal jersey. Their only output, a maxi-single 'Vamos Tokyo' is written in support of their favorite football team FC Tokyo. An ad from Tower Record reveal that it is "sang by original TMGE Chiba and Kuhara".
Ah..what the hell. Lets get this out of my system. Since we're already here lets just have some Chiba-Yusuke-featuring-orgy.
You can convert the youtube video to .mp3, just use google.
1. Chiba Yusuke with Murder-All Day and All Night(The Kinks cover)
2. Rock n Roll Gypsies featuring Chiba Yusuke-Do The Boogie(The Rooster cover)
3. Katteni Shiyagare featuring Chiba Yusuke-Romeo single
4. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra: a) Kanariya naku sora(Canary crying sky)-hands down Chiba's best hairdo.
b) Rosie(the Rooster cover)
5. Star Casino-Stroll Around the World
-This one track is made solely for the ost of Lumines II videogame. And it is Chiba+ electro music, kinda strangely trippy too.
Now that is one long ass post. If anyone want to request anything J-Rock related, just ask and I'll try my best to find it or at least point ya to the right direction. And Visual Kei stuff is NOT in my definition of J-Rock, so all you squealing fangirls can get the hell outta my page. Peace out, hombre.
It seem that two of my bass gods finally get themselves some high-profile gig recently..
1. Ueno Koji( ex-TMGE, Radio Caroline), current bassist for the Hiatus and Muto Syohei solo project has join the band 'DAD MOM GOD'. It is a solo project from ex-TSPO Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta which featuring many veterans of Japanese rock scene like Junji Ikehata(Rock n Roll Gypsies), Masaki Mori (EGO-WRAPPIN’), and Dub Zombi (SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS). This might be a shortlived side project though, as Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta is currently..how do you say this.. only on hiatus from TSPO. He is focusing on recovering his leg injury that he got couple of years back in a Thailand car accident. Due to heavy local and worldwide touring schedule of TSPO, his leg never fully recovered. The band's debut album 'Poem Like a Gun'-produced by Asai Kenichi's Sexystones Record-sound a bit like TSPO familiar territory of highly energetic ska-rock-jazz. But with lesser member, the band's sounds appear less messy, simpler and more focused.
2.Terui Teshuyuki( ex-BJC, Rosso) is finally reunited with his old comrade-in-arm Asai Kenichi in a new band The Pontiacs. Thats right people, 2/3 of Blankey Jet City creative muscle once again resurrected from the depth of Hades to blow our mind with their destructive Rock n Roll tunes. WAHAHAHAHA!!!Okay..thats a bit overdramatic. Unfortunately the band currently only produced one single-'Galaxy Head Meeting'- and I cant get my filthy-downloading-hand on them yet, so you guys just gonna have to wait.
The Pontiacs-Teaser Preview
"Do you ever wonder what you're doing with your life? Do you ever lay awake at night, and stare at the stars with your headphones on? Do you ever feel like you can do more with your life, and the rules are holding you back? If you wake up for your 9-5 just to come back home for beer and TV, then The Pontiacs are not talking to you.
The curve of the guitar body, the faded polish of the neck, the hum of the tube amp, the rattle of fingers sliding down the neck, the vibration of the kick drum hitting your chest, the glisten of sweat off the mic., the intense stare of three musicians losts in sound. These are....The Pontiacs."
