The five-piece PE’Z is made up of funk and jazz session players who, after successful careers backing other musicians, have set off on their own. The group started their own hype with a strong populist ethic, choosing in 2000 to ply their trade on the hip streets of Shibuya rather than hit the jazz… ...

Psycho le Cému were visually perhaps the most radical of all Japan’s "visual-kei" bands. Their vivid sci-fi costumes, extreme make-up, wild hair, piercings and masks would cause nearly anybody to do a double take. Many visual-kei bands feature goth looking metrosexuals, but Psycho le… ...

Rovo was formed as the project space rock band Taiyo No To in 1995. A number of the members have some profile from other bands they are in, including guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms, five solo albums), bassist/harmonica player Jin Hara (Bazooka Joe), and keyboards/effects specialist Tatsuki Masuko… ...

Recently stripped-down, two person bands such as the White Stripes, the Black Keys, Death From Above , Kiiiiiii and Afrirampo have found favor with music fans. More long-lived, more radical, and perhaps furthest away from mainstream success, are the Ruins, who have been blasting away as a duo now for… ...

Singer Songer was formed after Cocco got together with Quruli guitarist/singer Shigeru Kishida to re-record her track "Sing a Song – No Music No Life", a song that was originally licensed by Tower Records in their spectacularly successful advertising campaign in the late ’0s, to commemorate… ...

SMAP, said to stand for Sports Music Assemble People, are the most successful of the idol groups created by the iconic idol factory Johnny’s Jimusho (literally Johnny’s Office, usually seen in English as Johnny’s Entertainment). While Johnny’s have been creating boy idol groups for over 40 years, none… ...

While to some the name Natural Calamity brings to mind some sort of noise rock, in fact this vehicle for guitarist Shunji Mori contains melodic, dreamy soundscapes that at times suggest the Cowboy Junkies, ECM jazz, and the more ambient bits of Robert Fripp. Natural Calamity’s music sometimes seems like… ...

Depending on your point of view, Malice Mizer were either one of the most ridiculous or most brilliant of Japan’s "visual-kei" bands. The group, whose name is said to be based on the notion that human existence is full of "malice and misery", existed for nearly a decade, and despite… ...

Formed by vocalist Kumi and guitarist Naoki Sato in 1997, Love Psychedelico remains a unique voice in the world of J-Pop. Drawing heavily on music from the 60s and 70s, Kumi’s nuanced mix of Japanese and English vocals help to set the band apart stylistically from other bestsellers. Citing The Beatles,… ...

Yet another J-pop act to emerge from a university music "circle," or club is Hermann H. & and the Pacemakers, whose alma mater is Tokyo’s prestigious Keio University. "Hermann H." is a reference to German writer Hermann Hesse, while "Pacemakers" harkens back to ’60s… ...