Highly recommended Japanese band fronted by artist, Shintaro Sakamoto. Yura Yura Teikoku - Sweet Surrender

Japan's best kept secret, Yura Yura Teikoku are the only Japanes psych band to really break the mainstream and enjoy success in the country, but despite their homegrown notoriety they've broken almost no ground abroad. Working their way up through the Tokyo underground they were regulars at the UFO club and appeared on compilations from the legendary PSF label. The band's 1998 album 3x3x3 is a potent mix of garage rock and power pop that along with a reputation for remarkable live shows, elevated them to icon status. Now Mesh-Key records has released their latest record Sweet [...]
Just as I owe U2 for helping me discover the greatness that is Curtis Mayfield , I am in debt to Rajeev for insisting I go with him to see Yura Yura Teikoku live at Northsix earlier this month. Even though I went into the show with only vague memories of the one song I had heard from them, I had lofty expectations. I expected the band would serve only the finest in Japanese psych-rock, hand-crafted with care and delivered with mind-blowing power. Did YYT measure up? I set my expectations too [...]