I just finished my intensive Chinese summer class at University of Chicago and have allowed myself to relax with some random websurfing and email checking, yeilding this lovely crop of random Japanese music links:

avant japan

Sonore is a very interesting Japanese label featuring electronics and sound artists such as Yuko Nexus6, who just played last night in Chicago, matched up with a taiko group led by Japanese Chicagoan Tatsu Aoki (head of label Asian Improv). Many Sonore releases are available on iTunes, including the latest from Yuko Nexus6, which focuses on the manipulation of the human voice.

j-pop magnet

Junk Magnet is an old West Coast zine that's been floating in my peripheral vision for as long as I care to remember. These days, it's one of those websites I accidentally end up on every now and then because, though it may not be updated that often, the writer's tastes are in the same ballpark as mine. Behold, if you already haven't, the Junk Magnet J-pop page.

I wound up on the page last night after watching Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou Chou, a seminal film for those interested in Japanese youth, music and internet cultures--it's also thoroughly depressing. Beautifully shot in digital video, the plot revolves around twisted Japanese teens obsessed with the Bjork-like and fictional J-pop idol Lily Chou Chou. For this to work, the music in question would have to be quite good... and it is. Junk Magnet offers up links and info on the singer behind Lily, Salyu.

Another find on the Magnet Japan page is PineAM, a catchy electronic girl group that crafts polished pop. Nice sounds... check out their MySpace Page. Actually, they sent me a review copy of their year-oldPull The Rabbit Ears. I sent it to another reviewer and that person never wrote the review. Sorry, PineAM!

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I've got a lot more in the old link bag, so maybe I'll stretch this out over another entry. Until next time!