On July 12, Ken Hirai will release his second best album, “Ken Hirai Singles Best Collection Uta Baka 2.” This is the follow up to his first best album, 2005’s “Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection ’95-’05 ‘Utabaka'”, which sold over 2 million copies and was the best selling album of 2006.

“Ken Hirai Singles Best Collection Uta Baka 2” will be released in three editions: a 4CD Limited Edition A, a 3CD+Blu-ray Limited Edition B, and a 3CD Regular Edition. The Limited Edition A’s first three CDs cover Ken’s entire career, from his 1995 debut single “Precious Junk” up to this past June’s single, “Nonfiction.” The first two CDs that come with Limited Edition B pick up where Ken’s 2005 best album left off, with the 2006 single “Bye My Melody”, and ending with “Nonfiction.” The Blu-ray that comes with this edition follows the same trajectory as the first two CDs, starting off in 2006 and concluding with last month’s release. The Regular Edition’s first two CDs have the same tracklist as Limited Edition B’s.

All three editions of “Ken Hirai Singles Best Collection Uta Baka 2” conclude their CD portion with a CD of collaborations, titled “Utabaka Dake ni.” On this collaboration CD, Ken worked with 10 artists who he admires. Ken takes the “baka (foolish)” part of the album’s title seriously, entrusting the artists with the writing and composing of their collaborative song, while he just sings it. The artists that Ken worked with on “Utabaka Dake ni.” include Yasutaka Nakata, tofubeats, BONNIE PINK, and Makihara Noriyuki. The Noriyuki song, “Ichiban Hajimete no Koibito”, is the CM song for Choya’s Natsu Ume beverage, while the tofubeats song, “READY FOR YOUR LOVE”, can be heard in the TOYO TIRES commercial. Check out both commercials below, along with more information on Ken’s new best album!

Singer and dancer Daichi Miura has released the music video for his latest single “U”.

U is Daichi’s 22nd single overall, and is an upbeat fun pop track. In usual Daichi fashion the video features some impressive choreography. U serves as the theme for the NTV drama “Nou ni Sumaho ga Umerareta”, as well as the movie version of “Kamen Rider EX-AID”. The single will be released in three versions. Besides the standard CD only and CD+DVD, a second CD+DVD will be released featuring a choreography video and making-of for “Complex”, one of the singles b-sides.

U will be released physically on August 2nd, 2017. The full MV, single covers, and tracklist and can all be seen below the jump!

Hot off the heels of the release of their recent single “DANCER IN THE HANABIRA“, electronic-rock band Negoto have revealed that they will be releasing another single, this time a Double A-side, on August 30th.  Titled “Sora mo Toberu Hazu / ALL RIGHT”, the first A-side is a cover of the classic track by Spitz and has been selected as the theme song for movie “Tori Girl!”, with “ALL RIGHT” to be used as an insert song in the same film.

“Tori Girl!” stars actress Tao Tsuchiya as Yukina Toriyama, a college student whom is impelled to join the university’s ‘human powered flight’ club due a crush that she has on fellow student and club member Kei Takahashi (Mahiro Takasugi).  Things don’t go quite as Yukina plans, however, since she is instead paired with Taishi Sakaba (Shotaro Mamiya), who she takes an instant dislike to, for club activities.

You’ll find both the track list for the single and the most recent trailer for “Tori Girl!”, which contains a short snippet of Negoto’s cover of “Sora mo Toberu Hazu”, right after the cut.

This week’s guests were Kamishiraishi Mone, Kitahara Mirei, Kitayama Takeshi, Kim Yonja, Shiina Sachiko, Tagawa Toshimi, Takeshima Hiroshi, Domoto Koichi, Harada Tomoyo, May J., Yamada Shimai, Yuki Saori, Yasuda Sachiko, Flash Kaneko, and MUSIC CONCERTO.

We previously reported that Chiaki Sato, the lead vocalist for pop-rock quartet Akai Koen, would be leaving the band this August following the release of their fourth album.  The details about this record, titled “Nesshou Summer”, have now been unveiled to the public.

Coming just a year and a half after their previous album, “Nesshou Summer” will include 12 songs from the group, among them their previously released singles “Yamiyo ni Chouchin”, “Koi to Uso”, and “journey”.  The release’s Limited Edition will include a DVD which contains the music videos for each of the single songs, as well as the latest part of their documentary series “Jounetsu Koen”.

You’ll find the cover and track listing for “Nesshou Summer” right after the jump.

Following up on the release of their Best album back in March, rockers Elephant Kashimashi have announced that they will be releasing a new single on July 26th.  Titled “Kaze to Tomo ni”, the lead song has been serving as the theme for NHK’s “Minna no Uta” during the months of June and July.

This single will be released in two different versions, with the Limited Edition to include both a DVD containing the music video for “Kaze to Tomo ni”, as well as a Live CD featuring audio from their New Year’s Live at Nippon Budokan.  Of note, this release will mark the first time that live performances of tracks “Hajimari wa Ima”, “Tokyo Jealousy”, and “i am hungry” have been made publicly available.

Read on below to find the cover and complete track list for the single, plus a preview of lead song “Kaze to Tomo ni”.

SudannaYuzuYully is a dance and hio-hop trio who made their debut earlier in the year under Rhythm Zone, they are managed by LDH. The group consists of Happiness’ members YURINO and Anna Suda, as well as E-Girls member Yuzuna Takebe.

The girls will be releasing their second single titled “CALL ME NOW” on August 9th, 2017.  It will be released in three versions, CD+DVD, CD only, and “One Coin CD”. A One Coin CD only features the main a-side, no b-sides or instruments are included and it’s priced at just 500 yen.

In CALL ME NOW your eyes are instantly attacked by bright vibrant colors, a signature for groups under the E-girls family. The girls are seen laying on a bunch of colorful pillows and plushies, keep your eye out for some cute vintage toys from the 90s and early 00s that can be seen scattered throughout the pillows! The scene then changes to the girls in a black and white room where they perform an impressive dance routine, the performance scenes also take place in the colorful room seen at the beginning of the video.  A very flashy “Pop art” style is also implemented during various parts of the MV.

Watch the full MV for CALL ME NOW below the jump.

Announcer and former Morning Musume member Asami Konno has revealed that she is pregnant! The former idol shared the news in a post on her official Instagram account.

Back in January of this year Asami married professional baseball player Toshihiro Sugiura, currently he is the pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The two met while Asami was working for TV Tokyo. In Asami’s Instagram post she revealed that she’s going to give birth to a baby girl, and is currently scheduled to give birth sometime in the fall. While in preparation of her birth, Asami has decided to focus on being a full-time housewife.