Asai Kenichi
 

Anyone else a fan of Blankey Jet City.
When I was in Japan and shopping for music a few years ago, my friend recommended them because she knew i was a big fan of Shena Ringo and that Ringo was a big fan of them. She makes small references to them in her music, even.

Here's a cute picture I found of them...I love a man with tattoos

I haven't heard any of their songs, but I've heard plenty about them.
I'm familiar with most of Asai Kenichi's solo career material though, and I like what I've heard so far.

I remember them about to major debut in 1990.
I saw them in Ika-Ten, a weekly band contest TV program in 1989-1990.
They won 5 weeks tournament and became 6th(of 7) grand king.

I found 1st and 3rd week vid on YouTube

1st week (low quality)

3rd week

The frontman boinked Ringo, that's all I heard. But their music is pretty good too.

I bought their "harlem jets"-album in Japan.

I'm quite a big fan ever since =)

Shiina has stated numerous times that BJC's SKUNK is one of her favourite albums ever.

There are a few references related to Kenichi Asai in Shiina's lyrics too.

That said, I much prefer Kenichi Asai's solo music to anything SR/TJ have ever done.

Asai Kenichi would be perfect in TJ. *day dreaming*

Oh yes:wub:
Either that or him stealing Shiina from TJ

Glad to see you guys like Benzie's music aswell!
this man just keeps on making amazing music...

YAY! fellow BJC lovers!!
I love his voice and they can really rock out.
If they stole Shena....That would be awesome.
They'd make beautiful music.

Ohh maannn, I love them BUT I only have like 5 songs and I don't know how to expand from there. Does anyone have any recommendations/places to download? (Because I'll buy an album if I like it, but I'm not going to buy something I've never heard!)

I have/enjoy "Dandelion," "Cat Was Dead," and a few others. But I have no idea where to get more!

Bang! is the definitive BJC album and I might be able to share it.

Let me know if you do... and I think you know where such a thing might go... :)

trust me, Romeo's Heart is really good. thats the one i have. they go all over the place with their music. check them out on youtube
i dont know how easy it will be to get their cds, tho

Noooooooooo..............i beg to differ, Maou don't kill me T__T
Red Guitar and The Truth
That is the one and the only undisputed grand daddy BJC album....too bad that re-issued album is not available anymore and the original is like....under a stone.
One thing amazes me that i always thought people are not so into Kenichi Asai or into BJC since there were never topics about them in RJ or here in EMF until now...

^_^
If I had to chose between Bang! and Red Guitar and The Truth, I'd go for Bang aswell :P
Though I really love 'texas' a lot

It's not that people aren't into them, it's that their music is SO freakin' inaccessible that we can't listen to enough to know if we're into them!

EXACTLY!!

It is so hard to find a cd of their's or to find anything, really...unless you are a dangerous person with a lot of connections. I got really lucky when I got that cd. You best bet for anything of theirs is to learn japanese, jump on a plane to japan and start interogating.

they rock so hard.:wub:

I've got a lot of asai kenichi stuff on my computer, but the CDs are really hard to get I guess
I only have BJC's last dance double disc and 1997-2000 original ;"(
I so want all their cd's in my room..

At JpopSuki Tracker ( http://mullemeck.serveftp.org/jps_beta/ ) there were several BJC related albums uploaded, but now all torrents are dead...

However if someone makes a reseed request they may be seeded again... :mellow:

If my computer can withstand Sendspace's wrath this time, I'll upload some albums. Kenichi Asai pretty much turns every band he's ever been in to gold, he's amazing. BJC is pretty much his iconic and most popular band, and all the members are so fucking talented it's ridiculous.

edit: dur. I have the following albums:

Skunk
Harlem Jets
Red Guitar and the Truth
The Blankey Jet City Live!
Bang!
Blankey Jet City 1991-1995
Blankey Jet City 1997-2000


Has anyone heard Nakamura Tatsuya's (BJC's drummer) band, LOSALIOS? Other members of BJC have been in and out, and they have TOKIE from Asai's other band AJICO on bass and Katou Takashi from TSPO on guitar. They're totally different from BJC, but they're so epic and beautiful.

If I'm not mistaken BJC's bassist is also part of ROSSO... Chiba Yusuke's post-TMGE-band - right? ^^

They are SO great!! their sound is mellow, but still loud and fun... a lot higher quality than TMGE - even if they were an awesome band as well

Shall I say this again, SR should kick Ukigumo out and replace him with Asai Kenichi. Seriously.

Is there actually A_N_Y thread, that you won't fill with Uki-bashing??

I'm so very sick of reading this kind of stuff, mainly from you, EVERYWHERE I LOOK on these forums!!

be sure, there is no person, who ever visited EM, that doesn't know, to what extend you hate Uki and how bad you want Hirama back/Uki replaced/... and shut the hell up about it, ok?

thx.

Okay. I will shut up until Variety comes out. :P
FYI: I said Uki's guitar in Kaban no Nakami is GOOD.

Adding other senior musican than Kameda to her band is unrealistic.
Especially Asai can't fit the role UNDER Shiina.

Seeing that the other members seem to be given equal opportunity to show off their skills now, Asai Kenichi doesn't really need to be under SR right?

Because she wanted so, she allowed it, under her intention.
TJ is pretty much her band, she definitely controls it.

Not if one of the members is her Idol King of Rock.

Then blows out TJ and starts new project.

Well, here's the thing.

justriiingo's Uki-hating (which fits some threads and seems out-of-place and uncalled for in others) isn't anymore consistent than Uki's tone and style (which fits some songs and seems out-of-place and uncalled for in others) throughout the many performances of the multi-genre band he participates in.

As for 'seniority' within the band, that would be true if we were talking about Tokyo Jihen in a more classic sense, but with the releases of this year, Shiina Ringo is composing nothing for the band, and Kameda is doing a small bit. And then presumably one or both of them are 'producing' the band. Kameda knows how to take turns at being the master - just look at Utaite Myoli vol. 1.

Why not have half a Tokyo Jihen album produced by Kameda and the other half produced by Asai Kenichi? Both halves of Utaite Myoli vol. 1 are small enough to fit together onto ONE disc anyhow. Variety is basically Utaite Myoli vol. 2, except this time it's a bunch of compositions the public hasn't heard before. It would be one thing if new songs were being composed for Tokyo Jihen, but it sounds to me like we're getting hand-me-downs. I'm sure Asai Kenichi has plenty of those available, that we haven't heard before, and even if they (in their raw form) are not necessarily up-to-grade with his works that were good enough to go public already, we can always count on Kameda to be able to chew on coal and shit out diamonds, right? You can have some criss-cross composing/producing going on within the band, where Kameda arranges Asai Kenichi, and Asai Kenichi arranges Izawa and Ukigumo. You have to admit, that would rule.

HF mach 2 am confirmed!

Glath you compared me with Uki... :'(

Heheh, Uki is getting compared to all sorts of flattering company tonight =P

:whacko:

Actually, most of them appear as new compositions, excluding OSCA and Pinocchio (did anyone confirm that yet?) (judging from the new tracks coupled with the singles). None of us can draw on the fact that it is a cover album without seeing the tracklist, and if they follow patterns with the singles, we can bet they will be new tracks. *crosses fingers*

Your signature:
Q: What do George "Dubya" Bush and Ukigumo have in common?
A: They were both second choice, and they're much more polarizing for the population than the predecessors.

It seems like one of those jokes that no one really laughs, they just kind of nod in approval. I like.

I have a joke.
Q: What has had more Japanese men lodged inside of it than the Tokyo subway at rush hour?
A: Koda Kumi's vagina!

...XD I made it myself.

I forgot that no thread among this fanbase is complete without a... loose reference to that woman. :P

I haven't listened to anythig by BJC and I wouldn't know where to start, any reccomendations?

I'm not that into Asai Kenichi's solo stuff (what I've heard), but I'm head over heels in love with AJICO, which is one of his projects where he shares the vocals with UA. Now if there were to be some kind of SR/AK superband, I guess it would turn out kind of like AJICO (rather than TJ where SR is after all the commander) and it would make our ears deaf with joy.

That's funny. I guessed wrong though :(

Can I explain how upset I am...I bought Romeo's Heart 5 years ago...and someone got in my car and stepped on it...it is now in 2 pieces.

RIP cd

^ That's one of the reasons why I always burn my music onto a CD-R before bringing them to the car.

This band is pretty interesting, but is find it hard to believe that they made one or Ringo's favorite albums @_@. According to wiki anyway.

When I bought their cd, I was looking for just good music and my friend rec. them esp because SR loves them. I can see why...they rock out, very experimental and come up with some crazy concepts.

I wanna say that, Asai Kenichi's Johnny Hell LIVE performance offers some serious competition for Dynamite Out.

Johnny Heaven > Dynamite Out
kamisori song. *nods*

Yeah! Can you imagine if Asai Kenichi was in TJ? It would be like Johnny Heaven + Dynamite Out! And oh, that lady bassist in Johnny Heaven! :wub:

Something caught my eye on sexystones.com just now
Could someone please translate these lines and confirm there's A NEW SHERBETS ALBUM coming this december????
PLEASE? :D
Oh man..:wub:

Yes, indeed there is a new Sherbets album coming. :)

Woa that's wonderful news really.

And two simultaneous live DVDs released on the same date as the new album?:hmph: Benzie, I want you to never ever think about my wallet.


edit: Those are re-releases of older Sherbets lives aren't they? :D

I'm not sure that the material is completely new, or if it's old stuff that may have been available on VHS all along.

Yeah, you're right
http://www.t-n-f.co.jp/coldminkclub/...y/vhs-dvd.html
Both of the DVD titles at least are older releases, but doesn't matter since I didn't even know these guys back then.

It's a chance for me to get those XD

So I recently got my hands on the limited version of Johnny Heaven (long after it was sold out - thanks to Yahoo! Japan Auctions), thinking the t-shirt was the only bonus. Well, now that I've finally got around to looking at the DVD, it comes with an Asai Kenichi guitar pick, and the DVD itself has more content on it than the regular edition! The regular is 6.66GB, while the limited is 7.71GB. The extra 1.05GB is for a couple of Dynamite In-like segments that you can't buy separately, including an acoustic version of Why People? (that alone would have been worth the extra money of the limited edition if they hadn't cut that performance off so early).

I already decided a couple of seasons ago, that it's probably a good idea go after Asai Kenichi's limited editions whenever possible, but knowing what I know now, I'm not going to waste any time on pre-ordering anything new. Speaking of which, a new Sherbets concert and completely new album, have both recently been announced. The last Sherbets concerts we got on DVD were already available on VHS years before that - the upcoming DVD is from their more recent tour. God was a great mini-album, with better tracks on average than Miracle (not that Miracle was a huge disappointment or anything), so I hope the next album continues that upward trend without having to re-introduce much from God.

*double-post*
(should be permitted after a month)

It's just been announced that 8 of Blankey Jet City's albums are being released in SHM-CD, after most of the normal CDs have been out-of-print for years. Release date is December 17th, 2008. All of these releases are limited edition, but coming from Blankey Jet City - that's really not unheard of. They've kept most of their CDs and DVDs throughout the years as limited, and reissued them in small (but still limited) batches. Usually it hasn't been so many of their albums/concerts at once.

For anyone who doesn't own many of the albums yet, this is a great opportunity. Just try not to take the SHM-CD hype too seriously - it's not worth replacing an original Blankey Jet City CD. If the first (or the only) thing you do with your CDs is rip them, and listen to your own high-quality MP3s/FLACs/whatever, or burn a copy for your car, then SHM will make zero difference. The 1s and the 0s on the CD (the laser either reflects off or it doesn't) are what dictate the inherent sound quality, and they are the same no matter what material the disc is made out of.

SHM can make a difference in expensive CD players, not because there's any hidden information, but because CD players are so stupid about how they read CDs. But the best CD player sound, isn't going to be better than the best computer sound. There are $15000 CD players, and while they may sound noticably better than $50 CD players, it's like producing a house of cards in chateau form - it is still a house of cards.

If you burn a copy of an SHM-CD, the CD-R will sound the same in any computer as the original SHM-CD in the same computer. At the end of the day, SHM is merely a CD that is easier for players to read, and carries no exclusive information.

The reasons to get excited about a slew of SHM-CD releases, are that:
1.) You know the albums were recorded & mixed properly the first time, because none of the SHM releases seem to be remasters. This means there's a very strong chance there won't be any CD "remasters" of Blankey Jet City later on. You buy the SHM-CD (or the non-SHM CD that came before it), and the rips or the burnt copies will be as good as you are ever going to get out of a CD - the SHM editions just happen to be the more accessible of the two choices right now.
2.) For roughly $200, you can now have 8 of Blankey Jet City's previously elusive albums, which is practically all of them.

I am going to try and get these ? I have nothing from the Blankey Jet City and these seem perfect to get the lot in one fell swoop!! hopefully I'll have enough cash together by the release date ? that's if they don't all get pre-ordered really fast ? we'll see I guess ?

I can't speak for the other vendors, but I've noticed that most Asai Kenichi related rarities, don't disappear from CD Japan very quickly. The first-press of Kiken Siguru (debut single of his solo-career) sold out a week or two before the release date, then his "X2" albums (Rod Snake Shock Service and CHELSEA) sold out on first-press a week after release. All of his other first-pressings and limiteds have taken a much longer time to disappear - especially anything from SHERBETS.

Blankey Jet City releases in general, might be available in more limited of quantities than releases from all of Asai Kenichi's other bands, but I don't think there's going to be a buying frenzy for it either. There is a very strong chance those SHM-CDs of Blankey Jet City will still be available in January 2009. I'm not going to take any chances mainly because I'm getting very sick and tired of paying deputy service fees for things I've discovered early but hesitated on buying, or discovered late. In two years, Shopping Mall Japan has collected roughly two thousand dollars from me in commissions alone, and it's not that they charge too much for the service they provide - but that every little bit adds up.

The latest/upcoming SHERBETS album will also be available in SHM-CD. I already pre-ordered it over a month ago, but now I've added the Blankey Jet City SHM-CDs onto that existing order - this way my shipping fees are consolidated, plus I won't have to pay up until the middle of December. I'm going to be very tight this quarter of the year, mainly because of my big November shipment from HMV Japan.

Somehow, the only Asai Kenichi project I'm really enthusiastic about is AJICO. I can't stand his vocal and his personal style for long. The only songs I often skip on Fukamidori are the one that sound the most like his stuff - Freedom and Garage Drive.
I've tried 2 of his solo albums, the JUDE best-of... can't remember if there was anything from Sherbets but I'm kind of put off now. Is Blankey Jet City worth it? Or is it more of the same?

Another 4 Blankey Jet City limited edition SHM-CD releases have just been announced for December 17th. That's a grand total of twelve albums! I might have to work some overtime to keep up with all this.

For anyone who buys all 12 albums, there is a "Special Box" to hold them all!

Attachment 2859

My latest treasure haul.

YesAsia is having a Spring sale, and the Ajico Show DVD is only 8$USD !!! That's a great price for such a wonderful concert!

http://www.yesasia.com/us/ajico-show...0-en/info.html
Be quick if you want it, because they usually remove their price once a certain stock has been sold...

Thanks for the alert. I still have around $12 in store credit from when I tried to buy Stem a few years ago.

The only thing I forgot to mention is that is the priced-down reissue that's on sale, not the original print.

I figured as much (because I hit the AJICO link and saw what else YesAsia was offering), but for $12 (what it cost me after the non-free shipping), I'm not going to complain. Singles cost me more than that. I already have a DVD ISO of Ajico Show, so I know that it's nowhere near nonstop action like Ringo EXPO 08 - but $12 to actually own it, doesn't feel like a waste of money.

I was going to buy the priced-down DVD (18€ at that time), but then I found out through some sites (and Maou) that it's not a conventional Concert DVD and only includes a handful of complete performances, so I dismissed it.
Wouldn't mind buying this priced-down priced-down version, if I had money to buy more items.

Btw, the priced-down version was only going to be available until March 31...

Maybe it would be better to change the topic title to "Asai Kenichi"?

I received my DVD and there may have been a catch to this sale. The DVD was already very loose within the inside of the case before I had unsealed it. I found the disc to be very scratched upon opening the case up. It could be that only the shaky discs got sold for so cheap. If anyone received a similarly-loose disc from this same YesAsia 'promotion', then I think it's time we joined together in hating YesAsia more intensely and collectively than any of us have ever hated YesAsia before, almost like a WTO protest in Seattle. :P

It's nothing that my PX-716UF with DVD Decrypter can't handle (and I know how to burn dual-layer copies that will work in pretty much any player), but I was expecting a factory-pressed disc in good condition, and that's not what I got. The average rental DVD in the sloppy-&-careless US of A is in better condition than this.
Oh well.

Wanna give these guys a go. What album would you you recommend listening to first?

My top three (from first to last) are Skunk, Metal Moon, and Love Flash Fever. But everyone has very different favorites.

You can always try the BEST OF and go from there...

Asai Kenichi is a genious. Blankey Jet City are insanely good but, believe it or not, I think I like his work on Ajico and SHERBETS even more!

I lost count on how many times I've listened to Fukamidori, Vietnam 1964, Natural and MIRACLE. And MAD DISCO is just tremendous!

wow
so you're living here in brazil(sp)?
welcome
/o/

Yeah, for the past 17 months already.

Thanks, I'm really enjoying it! ^_^

I just wanted to say it's nice to have another Asai Kenichi fan around here. I'm not the most acquainted with Ajico, but I'm very familiar with the entire recording history of Sherbets and it's difficult to find an album of theirs that I don't like. I want to say that Vietnam 1964 is a brilliant album, but what about Siberia? It's kind of like the Muzai Moratorium of Sherbets even though it's not their very first album, and people don't seem to appreciate it enough because these other albums such KSK or Vietnam 1964, flow together so well.

I'm trying to become an intimately-familiar Blankey Jet City listener, but it's not easy even when you own all their albums, because there's just so much stuff to dive into and it's so easy to get lost when you're late into the game. Upon hearing a song, I can almost say which Blankey Jet City album it came from, but I'll be damned if I have to tell you what the song's name is. That's where I'm at.

My JUDE familiarity could also be better.

Heh. I've had the same 6 songs from them for the past 7 years, but I've loved those same 6 songs for the past 7 years. 8-D

Asai Kenichi is one of my current fascinations, and CHELSEA is my favorite so far =)

This is exactly why I haven't been in a rush to buy older SHERBETS albums yet. I don't take SHM-CDs very seriously (especially not when my tests indicate these discs are more difficult to read than normal discs), but I do like that all SHM releases have been packaged in cardboard sleeves. I already own the vinyl LP for Siberia, so that's as hardcore of packaging as you can get (since the SHM releases are packaged like mini-LPs), but the tracklist of the LP isn't the same as the CD.

Nearly every CD of Asai Kenichi that I own from late 2006 and onward, has been available in cardboard sleeve. I've got 16 Blankey Jet City SHM reissues in cardboard sleeves, plus Asai Kenichi's entire solo career which is another 8 CDs so far (none of which were available in SHM but they all came in cardboard sleeves anyway), plus the latest original SHERBETS album (MAD DISCO) was available in SHM.

Now what I don't understand, is why Siberia is getting reissued before Sekilala. I mean, I do admit I like Siberia better, but I'm just hoping they don't decide that some of the older SHERBETS albums aren't worth reissuing. I guess if I could only have one SHERBETS reissue, Siberia would probably be it, but I hope they'll eventually give the mini-LP treatment to Vietnam 1964 too, with or without SHM.

Anyway, two completely new Asai Kenichi solo-career singles are coming out this season, so there will probably be an album that follows. I have no idea which of his bands the material will most closely resemble.

I love benji !

and blankey jet city is my favorite !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtmkzY_AxrE This song rock !

There's an upcoming solo-career album called "Sphinx Rose", which hasn't been announced in any vendor newsmail yet. Presumably both of the A-sides for Friendly and Mad Surfer will be included.

"Sphinx Rose" will be available in Blu-spec* with a bonus DVD (CD Japan | HMV Japan | Tower.jp),
or available as a normal CD without a bonus DVD (CD Japan | HMV Japan | Tower.jp)

Amazon.co.jp and YesAsia haven't listed the new album yet.

*: It's another implementation for record label(s) trying to increase the readability of a standard CD. SHM-CDs are a readability gimmick of the Universal/EMI camp, while Blu-spec is a readability gimmick of the Sony camp. Asai Kenichi's solo career is published by Sony. Blankey Jet City and Sherbets both started with EMI and then jumped ship to Universal. That's why there haven't been unilateral announcements everytime some SHM-CD reissues are getting released, and this is why there hasn't been complete consistency among Asai Kenichi's bands/acts for what kind of CDs are released.

I used to listen to hide, Shena Ringo and Chihiro Onitsuka. But today my favorite artist is Kenichi Asai.its pretty nice!

Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or did Masami Tsuchiya really participate in an Asai Kenichi concert?

Masami Tsuchiya?

I already knew that Tsuchiya was involved as a producer or an arranger for few of the later Blankey Jet City tracks, but that was right at the turn of the century, and I never heard about any involvement between these two guitarists happening ever since.

Now aside from Tsuchiya showing up, does anyone know what happened to Asai Kenichi's Johnny Heaven through Sparkling Movie crew? I don't see them in this concert or in the latest PVs.

While I can't say that the second guitarist in the video played exceptionally well, the idea of Asai adding another guitarist to the band in a live environment is an exciting development (first time I've seen/heard it happen). I've always thought that a second guitarist would add needed texture/oomph to the music, esp. during Asai's soloing.

Regarding his ever-rotating backing band, I'm not surprised to see him changing it up, esp. within the "Asai Kenichi" incarnation - I mean naming the band after himself does imply that he is the focal point. I personally couldn't care less, but I do hope that Jude continues with the players on Electric Rainbow/Shampoo - fantastically talented drummer and bassist.

Edit: I think the bassist (and perhaps drummer?) in the above video are in the "Mad Surfer" video as well. I can see a second guitarist there, too. Cool!

This second guitarist is no stranger to Asai Kenichi. If you have any Blankey Jet City albums, look through the booklet credits for "Masami Tsuchiya" and you'll find his name in a few of them.

I'm surprised you don't know who Masami Tsuchiya is. He's even more polarizing of a figure than Ukigumo. Back in Ringo Jihen days, the strongest Ukigumo defender declared Masami Tsuchiya as one of the few guitarists they liked even more than Ukigumo, while one of the strongest 'haters' disliked Masami Tsuchiya even more than they disliked Ukigumo - if that tells you anything. You can't really see or hear a lot of that in the performance I linked to. You have to listen to his own songwriting where he has more creative control to play the guitar in whatever style he wants.

HIGH SCHOOL has always been a two-guitarists song. You know where the second guitar came from? The SHERBETS keyboardist. You'll see this in the PV (found in the bonus DVD for Miracle), and in ghost flowers.

I think you're right.

Yes, I must claim total ignorance when it comes to knowing who Masami Tsuchiya is, although I have seen his face (hair style?) before (most likely in some Japanese rock magazine). He may very well be a great and interesting guitarist - my comment was regarding his performance in one song. Is he in his own band? Could you recommend anything for me to listen to?

Technically you're right, Qumico backs Asai on guitar during High School, but to me, that doesn't really count. I'd love to hear a real guitarist for an entire show - that would be cool.

I recorded a Jude and a Sherbets show around 2005-2006 on a mini-disc recorder. If I knew how to transfer the music on my computer I'd try to upload it here. The recordings turned out very well (I also have 4 TJ and a Losalios show). Since I moved back to NA, I have no way of doing so digitally. :(

I haven't listened to Sphinx Rose (2009.09.30) yet, but it's looking like Sony is really milking the fans now.

Let me review the whole release process.

FRIENDLY was the first single for this latest.. wave of Asai Kenichi's solo career.

You could buy it with an Asai Kenichi figurine, but if you did so, you only got 3 tracks:
01. FRIENDLY
02. Bad Strawberries
03. SPRING SNOW

If you bought the single on its own, the tracks you got were:
01. FRIENDLY
02. Bad Strawberries
03. SPRING SNOW
04. SENSATIONAL ATTACK

This is alright if you're a moderate collector because all you're going to buy is the single on its own. But if you're serious enough to buy the figurine, you're also serious enough to buy the single on its own, because you don't want to miss out on SENSATIONAL ATTACK.

Okay, so now that the album is out and the tracklist has been made clear, here's what's on Sphinx Rose:
01. スケルトン
02. Mad Surfer (album ver.)
03. Your Smile
04. チーズバーガー
05. FRIENDLY
06. Runaway Girl
07. Bad Strawberries (album ver.)
08. 大きな木
09. COOLER
10. SENSATIONAL ATTACK
11. はかない命
12. 光のスクリュー
13. SPRING SNOW

If you're still following me here, basically anyone who bought the single on its own and bought the figurine.., well, they got really screwed. If you were getting the figurine, there was no ultimate gain for buying the single on its own because the album includes SENSATIONAL ATTACK.

But the outrage doesn't end there. No matter whether you bought one version or both versions of the single, the only unique music you got out of it is a non-album version of Bad Strawberries. If you bought the album once and the single twice, you've got a total of 5 tracks throughout your two singles, which are completely redundant. Plus you've got two copies of the non-album version of Bad Strawberries, plus one copy of the album version.

The release process wasn't this bad a couple of years ago, but Asai Kenichi seems to have shifted from one Sony subsidiary to another, and under the new management they are trying to trick the fans into triple-dipping now.

Admittedly Mad Surfer (the second single before the album) wasn't a wasteful thing to purchase. The A-side isn't the same version as what's on the album, and the B-side was completely unique. If you threw extra money at the Mad Surfer single, you could get a bonus DVD with several PVs on it which were not featured in the bonus DVD for the album.

So the Mad Surfer single - I'll give that a thumbs up.
But damn... there was so much corporate greed surrounding the FRIENDLY single.

I'm not going to be in any rush to pre-order his later singles.
You probably shouldn't be either.

I don't understand what you're talking about, Glath, but as I'm currently 'getting into' Blankey Jet City/Asai Kenichi, I will do eventually.

I started with SKUNK because someone in the thread posted that it was Shiina's favourite or whatever. Well, I liked what I heard so I'm deciding to start that shit from the beginning and work my way up.

Blankey Jet City takes awhile for a new listener to full digest. I'm barely into the familiarity phase where I could hear a song and tell you which album it came from, but I'll be damned if I have to remember all the specific song names.

The albums I can most distinctly remember, other than SKUNK (the very last of the original EMI studio albums), are the three later studio albums published by Universal - which are more surf rock than rockabilly.

The first album of Blankey Jet City sounds as much like SKUNK, as MM sounds like KSK. I prefer the remakes on THE SIX, over the originals from Red Guitar And The Truth. It's not a very polished album, and yet it is also not a very edgy album.

SKUNK was the definitive Blankey Jet City sound, before they took a 1-year break and started making surf rock. SKUNK was also just before the formation of SHERBETS.

While I'm nowhere close to being as big a BJC fan as I am of Asai's other bands, I appreciate and listen to "BANG," "幸せの鐘が鳴り響き僕はただ悲しいふりをする," and "Harlem Jets" (to a certain extent) the most.

SKUNK never really appealed to me.


Regarding Sphinx Rose: Good, but as already noted, way too many non-exclusive tracks.

I downloaded a lot of albums by his bands and as a solo artist. So I have about all his solo albums, about all from Blankey Jets City, and one or two as Sherbets.

I want to say that I find it unbelievable how consistently good I find his songs. I've listened to about 2 albums from each group and they are all quite different and excellent.

I'm now a huge fan!

You have to listen to the rest of Sherbet(s). Their albums are consistently better than the rest of Asai Kenichi's bands/acts. I'm still digesting Miracle and Mad Disco (their latest two albums), and meanwhile their oldest albums still have plenty of replay value for me.

I've recently come to realize you (as an informed fan) have to put an (s) on Sherbet(s), because first they were Sherbet, then they were Sherbets - technically two different bands. Their first single and album were Sherbet releases - everything later on has been Sherbets. The difference was, they were signed under EMI and they had a second guitarist and no bassist. Then they changed record labels and swapped the second guitarist for a bassist. This makes their first album interesting in that it is their only double-guitar album. High School is the only double-guitar song they ever ended up doing later on, and that's from their keyboardist "pulling an Izawa".

Thanks for the info.

By the way, I find it odd.. usually I'd feel some irrational jealousy that Shiina Ringo is boinking anyone. Just a sharp pain in my heart :P But it feels good knowing she boinked this guy, because I love his music.

*talks to his shrink*

welllll, it's never been confirmed outright, I don't think. Just a strongly suspected rumor. But, kinda likely.

Well, let's describe in detail how it might have happened then. Or is this against forum rules? heheh

Looks like 2/3rds of Blankey Jet City have got back together as a new band.

PONTIACS will release a new CD, and they'll perform something at the Fuji Rock Festival this year.

But there are a few unanswered questions:
Does the CD consist of remakes (like AJICO unveiling their own version of Pepin), entirely new songs, or both?
How much of the Fuji Rock Festival concert will consist of old songs? If there are any old songs, will the setlist weigh heavily on Blankey Jet City material, or will it be a balanced combination from Asai Kenichi's other bands as well?
How long will the new band remain intact?
Will any concert performance of theirs ever get recorded and officially sold? (doesn't seem to happen with Fuji Rock Festival performances).

Hopefully we'll get answers later this year.
Meanwhile it's too bad I won't be in Japan in July. This is BIG.

sparta
that's interesting news.

While I'm no BJC expert, without the original drummer, I can't imagine this will be such a big deal. To me, BJC was Nakamura and Asai (the bassist never really registered much of a presence) and without both of them together, this is just another one of the Asai's numerous side-projects.

Maybe it's my female-ness but I sure can't imagine BJC without Terui.:wub::wub:
Ah, what am I saying I love them all. It won't be the same without Nakamura (or Asai's teenage piss'n'vinegar)...but Terui can scream too, he just has to think about it more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frP9o...os=itmj4ZBmtJ8

I won't be able to afford anything from the Pontiacs for a looong time, someone let us know how it sounds whenever you get your hands on their tunes, please?

What excites me about this new collaboration is that if any new material is being produced, then it's more important that Asai hook up with Terui instead of Nakamura - if he had to choose between the two.

If you check the CD booklets, you'll see that Terui contributed more songwriting than anyone else throughout Asai Kenichi's entire portfolio (aside from Asai himself). Terui co-wrote quite a few of the songs, while some songs were written by him entirely. Many of those songs he was involved in happen to be among my favorites.

I'm so happy. I think it's time for me to admit Asai Kenichi is now my favorite artist. I'd rather be stuck with his music on an island than Shiina Ringo at this point, mostly because he is so prolific and I like his songs more on average.

And today I'm even happier because I finally managed to find albums by another of his act, JUDE. I had albums from Asai Kenichi standalone, Sherbets, Blankey Jet City and AJICO, all of which are good in their own way and are different from each other... and each of them having multiple albums! And now I discover JUDE.

For people curious about him who want to sample his stuff, I would recommend these albums/songs to start:

Asai Kenichi - Chelsea (songs 1 to 4 are my favorites)
Sherbets - MAD DISCO (every song is awesome and special)
AJICO - Under the album Shinryoku, listen to 02 - Suteki na Atashi no Yume.mp3. It's Asai Kenichi style with a really good female voice by UA, a pop singer I think.

Other songs...
from the SHERBETS album NATURAL, songs 2 and 4 are great.
From the SHERBETS album Siberian Madness, song #1 Black Butterfly and song #4 are awesome.

I think Sherbets are my favorite act of his so far. I love so much stuff that I didn't list here, and there are about 10 albums just under that name.

His blankey jet city albums are more hard rock and I don't really know song names or have favorites. I just listen to them while playing first person shooters...

The good and bad thing about JUDE, for me, is that when I started listening to the music, I felt like I fully absorbed it right away. I felt like my subconscious immediately understood everything it could ever deduce about the music. For me JUDE was a phase where I instantly liked it, then got tired of it rather quickly.

SHERBETS takes a lot longer to chew on - particularly their MAD DISCO album. I've listened to that at least a hundred times without getting sick of it yet. Every once in awhile something like Under The Bed Blues will pop into my head, and I'll notice there's more layers and awesomeness to the song than I had already thought there were.

Black Butterfly was originally released by EMI on the Sekilala album (the "SHERBET" album without an S - when the band roster was different), then was later re-recorded for Siberian Madness even though Siberian Madness was released by a different label. I don't know how they got the rights to that, when they didn't manage to include Ghost (another really good acoustic song on Sekilala). Oh, and Hiwamari (performed at AJICO SHOW) is another Sekilala song. You would probably really like that album.

So you listen to Blankey Jet City while playing first-person shooters? Which ones? Hopefully none of the ones where you or your opponents might be sneaking around (like Counterstrike). I've got the id Software super pack on Steam, so basically all of the Dooms, all the Quakes, etc.. Maybe I should try Blankey Jet City with that.

I've been curious about him for some time now, but I didn't respond to that feeling yet. So, would you recommend me his solo work to start with? Is there any substantial difference between his phases?

I downloaded Sphinx Rose some time ago, however I know there is always a risk that the latest works may not show that essence of the artist. I don't know if I'm being clear enough... anyway this very forum is an obvious example of what I mean.

For first person shooters, I mean fast-paced action ones like Unreal Tournament 3. The only sneaking around in UT3 is to use a tank and "silently" run over your opponents from behind :)

Carlx, I find that his work is very different from one album to the next, and especially from one "name" to the next. And I would recommend you start with MAD DISCO from Sherbets, and Chelsea from Asai Kenichi. They are VERY different. Once you get hooked on these, then it will become easier for you to experiment with his other stuff which takes longer to start liking, since you will surely be a fan by then :P Sekikala from Sherbet is also a good choice and is different from the others, and was also made a few years before the other Sherbets albums.

Also, I haven't found other solo albums of him that remind me much of Chelsea, I think it is the most unique one so far... You recognize the artist the most between his Sherbets/Kenichi albums. His Blankey Jet City albums are very different though and I don't like them as much. His AJICO albums are similar to Sherbets albums, but with a female singing.

Glathannus, I had the Sekikala album but thought it was from sherbetS with an S. I really liked it too. I prefer the newer Black Butterfly version though since on it I can at least fantasize to be playing and singing it alone to a girl given that there is only a guitar, no violin on it :) I don't know the meaning of the lyrics though. And Himawari is how I realized who AJICO was after I had downloaded their album and misplaced it. I instantly reconized Kenichi's style from this song, and from song #2 of their non concert album.

Another Ajico album would be so nice. <3 UA and Tokie. My main complaint about Asai's music is that his songs are often too long. Ajico didn't have this problem as there was always something interesting happening to keep the songs fresh. I know Benzie is credited for most of Ajico's compositions, but I hear UA's influence all over Fukamidori.

PONTIACS is coming out with a full album in November, and I didn't stumble upon any information about that until today. Turns out a lot of other CD Japan customers already knew (even though you can't request newsmail alerts specifically for artists who aren't in the shop registry yet), because the pre-order for the +DVD edition of this album is sold-out at CD Japan already.

The only way HMV Japan can still offer the +DVD edition isn't so much because the size of their inventory, but it's more because HMV knows this release is popular and they're capping customers at 2 copies each. I haven't noticed HMV Japan capping the buyer-quantity on anything I've been interested in since MoRA (two years ago), and I do remember CD Japan selling out on their pre-order availability more quickly than HMV Japan on that.

As far as I can tell, HMV Japan has never capped customers on a Asai Kenichi release before. Meanwhile, there are limited edition Asai Kenichi releases from before which haven't sold out yet, and they're still uncapped. I think there's simply a buying surge on a limited edition if that release corresponds with Asai Kenichi starting a new band. I remember the first-press of Kiken Sugiru selling out before the release date, and I remember the limited editions of Johnny Hell and Johnny Heaven selling out fairly quickly too, but none of his later solo-career stuff has disappeared. You can still buy the 2-disc edition of Deadly Hair, even though it's one of the best concert videos he's done since Interchange Coconuts (which I recently finally saw for the first time). Speaking of Interchange Coconuts...

For the Sphinx Rose tour, Asai Kenichi even hooked up with Shiino Kyoichi (from AJICO and sometimes JUDE - including the Interchange Coconuts concert DVD). The Sphinx Rose studio recordings also featured the entire roster of SHERBETS, even though it was a solo-career project. So I guess you could say Asai Kenichi likes to give his old associates (including Shiina Ringo and Masami Tsuchiya) opportunities in his latest projects, even if it's been 5 or 10 years since the last time they worked together.