ARTIST: The SWAG Report 92 with freebie mp3 downloads for songs by Will Currie and the Country French, Bleeding Knees Club, Brendan Benson, Halestorm, The Darcys, Seether and more! So much more! DATE: 01-25-12 WRITER: Don Loder Heya junky, Awright, I ain't got a whole lotta time ta dink aroun' witchu tuhday ya twerps, so's I'mma jus' get in, getchu yer SWAG an'get gone - ya get me? The upside fer you izzat I nabbed some pretty primo gear fo'ya dis week, [...]
The fans, the fans, the fans. It's who all bands take the time to acknowledge. At concerts, artists will always shout out partially histrionic statements like, "We couldn't do this without you...the fans!" And as a result, every fan's devotion soars through the roof (if not eternally). It's somewhat silly, though, not to realize that the fans do make everything possible. People like bands, so they buy their records, see their shows, sometimes blog about them (hey there), "Like" their Facebook pages, live chat with them on Twitter, and on super-rare occasions, even get to meet them . It's [...]
It's cliche to start any introduction by defining a word, but in this case it seems appropriate. After all, how many people actually know what "lollapalooza" means? Sure, by music festival standards, we know it as the annual event put on in Chicago each August by Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell. But its true definition, at least according to Merriam-Webster, is "one that is extraordinarily impressive," and while we can't be sure Ferrell envisioned today's version of Lollapalooza when he first named the festival 20 years ago, its title has never proved more true. Sure, especially [...]
X Japan : X [ purchase ] Man, it's almost too hot to blog here. Almost. I can't let Drum Week go by, though, without paying tribute to one of the hottest drummers I know. We've actually seen him before on this blog in his pianist incarnation, but he's also one of the world's most intense, diva-like drummers on any continent. I'm talking, of course, about Yoshiki, the prima donna, leader, and producer of J-rock group X Japan. He's one of those [...]
Filed under: News , R.I.P. Taiji Sawada Facebook Former X Japan bassist Taiji Sawada has died at the age of 45. He died Sunday, July 17, while in the hospital, after being removed from life support. Sawada left the band, which is massively popular in its native Japan but only making a go of it in America as we speak, in 1992 and went on to perform in Loudness and DTR in the aftermath. [...]
"Jade", lo nuevo de X Japan, está a punto de ver la luz. Se trata del segundo single desde la reunión del grupo japonés en 2007. Aunque tenía que haber visto la luz el 15 de marzo, el single se está haciendo de rogar ya que se vio afectado por los fuertes terremotos y el tsunami que asoló el país asiático días antes de su lanzamiento. La nueva fecha elegida, esperemos que ya la definitiva, es el martes 28 de junio . La canción ha sido compuesta íntegramente por Yoshiki [...]
In 2003, Lollapalooza made its triumphant return to the music scene after being absent for about six years. People wondered, as they always do, what Perry Farrell's motives behind resurrecting the festival were. On a webcast, he said something along the lines of, "It's just the right time. You know, like surfing, you wait for that really big and awesome wave to come, and that's what this group of bands is. It's just finally the right wave." It seems that the swell has been ripping for some time by Farrell's standards. After being one of the most notorious [...]
Today in metal is like Japan day, with announcements of a international X Japan tour, a mind-boggling charity bid on an X Japan piano, and a forthcoming new Gallhammer album; we've even blabbed about excellent J-metallists Maximum The Hormone and Desecravity. Shit, even Taiho got a nod on Tuesday. So by now your J-pumps are [...]
< hide & Yoshiki…shokku! (well, it's supposed to be Visual Shock, not Visual Kinda Odd) hide : Dice [ purchase ] Yoshiki : Anniversary Piano Concerto in C minor [ purchase ] Which J-Rock band was one of the originators of the Visual Kei movement? Which band has founders who met at the tender age of 5? Which band has [...]
We've heard of strange bedfellows when it comes to projects, but this one just mike take the cake: X Japan's Yoshiki and Stan Lee . What could the legendary Japanese drummer and the most famous name in the comic industry possibly have to collaborate on? The answer, as told in a panel at the recent New York Comic Con event: a motion comic. What exactly is a motion comic, you ask? Lee defines it as somewhere between a comic and an animated film. As for the actual concept of this motion comic, it [...]
There are times when a person can get an inkling of what they're in for with a concert before the show even starts. X Japan 's gig at New York's Roseland Ballroom, their last stop on their first North American tour, was one such example. As we approached the venue, we noticed something peculiar about the line to get in, which was already moving. It wrapped around the entire block. Twice. Overexcited fans, many of them likely seeing the Japanese band live for the first time, showed little annoyance at the length of the line. [...]
Next to the Soundgarden reunion, the most highly-anticipated show at Lollapalooza 2010 may have been the American debut of X Japan. Mega-stars in Asia (moving 30 million records and selling out the 50,000 seat Toyko Dome 18 times), the band remains largely an unknown quantity in the United States. With their debut U.S. release scheduled [...]
On Wednesday night, a small yet devoted audience gathered inside Chicago's rustic Riviera, all primed to see Japan's hottest rock 'n' roll export, X Japan . While most fans got their kicks back in August at Lollapalooza , any fan would be an idiot to miss this rare opportunity. After all, this is the band's first tour through America. Whereas they kept things short at Lolla, X Japan unrolled one hell of a set this time for Chicago. Opening with new single, "Jade", the band touched down on several favorites ("Silent Jealousy", "Born to Be Free"), [...]
You've probably never heard of them. But like everything else in Japan, they're huge . Recently, Consequence of Sound had the humbling opportunity to sit down and talk with the one of the most influential musicians/composers in Japanese history, Yoshiki Hayashi. We discussed everything from Queen to being lost in translation, but mainly the present and future state of his legendary rock outfit, X Japan . Currently, the band is out on their first ever U.S tour. Although the dates are few and limited to only seven cities, it's a pretty big deal for the [...]
These X Japan photos of total Fox Theater domination prove that hair metal is still vibrant and worth your precious time. More like it: LIVE REVIEW: X JAPAN @ the Fox Theater 9/28/2010 FREE TIX to X Japan @ the Fox Theater 9/28/2010 PICTURE THIS: Scissor Sisters at The Fox Theater (Oakland) 9-12
While it may be that some of you American, rock diehards are unfamiliar with X Japan, this band is HUGE. Think Guns n Roses meets Journey, gone next level with metal. More like it: FREE TICKETS: Panda Bear @ Fox Theater 9/6 LIVE REVIEW: She & Him, The Chapin Sisters @ The Fox Theater 5/29/2010 LIVE REVIEW: Keane, Fran Healy, & Ingrid Michaelson @ the Fox Theater 7/20/2010
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me? X Japan : Joker [ purchase ] Buck-Tick : Sakura [ purchase ] Luna Sea : Moon [ purchase ] So far we've mostly talked about what Americans were up to in 1991, until David just highlighted a Swedish group in the last post. [...]
X Japan has definitely accomplished a lot as a band. Having sold over thirty million records and filled Japan's 50,000-seat Tokyo Dome 18 times, as well as being a pioneer of the visual kei movement in Japan (think glam-rock, but with a lot more makeup and androgyny), their career has been marked with many a success. One thing that they've yet to do, however, is truly bring their performances stateside. Luckily, this is about to change, as a North American tour has been announced for this fall. It isn't their first time in North America, granted. The [...]
We all know that festival shows in 90-degree Chicago weather are not exactly optimal conditions, but rain sucks it even harder. Wussing out, I passed up on seeing Miniature Tigers, Neon Hitch, and The Cribs and had brunch at a biker bar that garnishes their bloody marys with bacon and chorizo. Amazing. Sunday--Getting Lazy My latest start to Lolla ever, I arrived at 3 and thought I'd check out the hyped Mumford & Sons , but the humidity and heat combo got the best of [...]
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