New Merpeoples: “Ikenai Rouge Magic”

None of this computes whatsoever. Young Tokyo Band who released a good albeit far from overwhelming mini-album in 2010 returns the following year by covering a wretch-worthy J-Rock song from the 80s. They handle said slab of cheese pretty carefully, delivering a version of this two-decades-old tune that simultaneously hovers closely to the source material…

Make Believe Melodies’ Guide To South By Southwest: The Japanese Bands You Should See

Starting this Tuesday, thousands of music nerds will descend on Austin, Texas for the music portion of the South By Southwest festival, or every blogger’s personal Shangri-La. Over the course of five days, bands from all over the world will play an ungodly number of concerts at all sorts of wacky times while various fans/writers…

Make Believe Melodies’ Top 50 Japanese Songs Of 2010: 40-31

40. The Telephones “Kiss Me, Love Me, Kiss Me” The video tries to trick you into thinking The Telephones remain the same attention-rattled guys as before, the type of band who would make finger puppets the big draw of their clip. “Kiss Me, Love Me, Kiss Me” the song, though, finds the group getting a…