The artist lineup for Coachella, arguably the most famous music festival of the year, has been revealed.
Among the large lineup of artists two native Japanese bands will be performing this year, X JAPAN and Otoboke Beaver. X JAPAN is no stranger to the American festival scene, previously they have performed at Lollapalooza. The legendary rockers will be performing on April 14th and 21st, the second days of the festival weekends.
They will be joining headliners Beyonce, Post Malone, alt-J, Tyler the Creator, HAIM, and Angel Olsen.
Otoboke Beaver is an indie band who formed in 2009. They uniquely describe themselves as “Japanese girls ‘knock out or pound cake’ band”. Honestly, same.
The girls are also no stranger to the American festival scene, they have previously appeared at the Texas festival SXSW. They caught a lot of attention with indie enthusiasts overseas last year with the release of their single Love Is Short. Their performances will also take place on the second days of the festival.
Coachella will begin on April 13th, 2018. The full lineup can be seen below.
We recently had the opportunity to have a Q&A interview with R&B songstress Che’Nelle!
Che’Nelle quickly made her mark in the J-pop scene with her hit songs, Baby I Love You, Believe, and Happiness which earned Che’Nelle the distinction of becoming a multi-platinum recording artist, earning her the nickname of “Princess of Love” all throughout Japan.
Her songs have been used as the themes for countless acclaimed films and drama series’ including Brave Hearts: Umizaru, Dear Sister, and Reverse. She has gone on to win 7 Gold Disk Awards and just recently released her brand new all English EP Calm Before The Storm.
We chatted with Che’Nelle about the origins of her name, learning to sing in Japanese, and the difficulties of being Asian while trying to make it in the U.S scene.
Check out the full interview on the next page!
We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon this week 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.
This week, Hey! Say! JUMP topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “White Love”, selling 287,061 copies in its first week.
BOYS AND MEN topped the Oricon album chart with their new album “Tomo Arite..”, selling 77,785 copies in its first week.
back number topped the Oricon digital single chart with their new single “Mabataki”, selling 71,614 copies in in its first week.
EGOIST topped the Oricon digital album chart with their new best album “GREATEST HITS 2011-2017 ‘ALTER EGO’”, selling 3,040 copies in its first week.
misono’s big sister Koda Kumi will making her return to the scene with two brand new studio albums, for the second year in a row!
Last year Koda released two albums on the same day, W Face ~inside~ and W Face ~outside~. It seems this strategy worked for her as she’s repeating it again this year, but with a slightly different touch.
Instead of releasing both albums at the same time, the second one will be released later in the year. Her first album of the year will come out on February 28th, and features 10 songs in total. All three of her previous limited edition singles LIT, HUSH, and NEVER ENOUGH will all be included on the album.
A CD only, CD+DVD, and CD+blu-ray version has been announced with all versions coming with a B-2 sized poster at select retailers. Furthermore, a super deluxe limited edition version will be available only for members of Playroom, Koda Kumi’s fanclub. Priced at 10,000 yen it comes housed in a giant 12 inch size box. It comes with a music card, 32 page hard cover photobook, and two discs of live songs from KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2017-W FACE-. Information on the 2nd album is expected to be released shortly after the first album is released.
(rhythmzone)
On December 31, CDTV Special! Toshikoshi Premiere Live 2017→2018 aired. The show featured performances by the likes of Keyakizaka46, Hoshino Gen, Daichi Miura, CHEMISTRY, aiko, Leo Ieiri, GENERATIONS, and BoA. Check out the full show below!
Three members of Keyakizaka46 collapsed during their performance of “Fukyouwaon” on Kouhaku. This is their second performance of the song featuring a collaboration with main host Uchimura Teruyoshi. During the performance, Hirate Yurina was already seen shaking and breathing hard. In a pose with Uchimura, her hands were trembling hard and could not pose properly. At the end of the performance, Suzumoto Miyu fainted during the final triangle formation. Hirate Yurina and Shida Manaka also collapsed in the end.
According to NHK, the three members were diagnosed with hyperventilation and were attended by a nurse and physical condition recovered. They were not transported to the hospital and rested in the dressing room.
After the program, the official twitter account of Keyakizaka46 posted a commemorative photo. The three mentioned members show off their smiles in the photo although fans are still voicing out their worry over their condition.
Fujii Shuuka of Flower (and former E-girls) announced her retirement from the entertainment industry on December 31. She will be leaving both Flower and ShuuKaren, a unit with her younger sister Fujii Karen. Last October, Shuuka took a break from activities due to a cervical herniated disc.
