Indie Corner Week 32: sankara

sankara is a two-member hip-hop group formed back in 2013. While the Japanese hip-hop community is a small but vocal one within the music industry, sankara stands out with their minimalist background music and the way they let their lyrics do the talking. sankara takes an interesting twist on the genre by dabbling both in English and Japanese. While this twist isn’t new, per se, within the genre with groups such as m-flo and SIRUP leading the charge, sankara does it in such in a minimalist style that the listener might not even the notice when the switch happens. This is evident in their song “Off”, which shows off rapper Toss’s skill to spit out rhymes all while being supported by Ryo’s smooth vocals—which comes off as an interesting balance. 

While they only have one “street” album interestingly coined Wash The scar Off My life, they are definitely a group to look out for in the future.

Check out their official Twitter here and the music video for “Wash” below!

Indie Corner Week 30: Bright Lucy Television

Bright Lucy Television is a five-member pop rock band that serves listeners a fresh take on jazz for the next generation. While older fans of the genre might not agree with their interesting spin on it, one has to admit that it’s an exciting evolution with the capability of reeling in newer listeners. An example of such an enticing song would be “Naked”; with Fumika’s uplifting and calming vocals coupled with keyboardist Cammy’s amazing melody, listeners are slowly ensnared by the track’s charm to hit repeat over and over again.

Currently Bright Lucy Television has one single, “Naked”, released September 2018, with a digital single “Sculpture”, released December 2018. 

Watch Bright Lucy Television’s music video for “Naked” below and check out their Twitter here. 

Indie Corner Week 26: Grated Parmesan Cheese

Grated Parmesan Cheese –yes, you’re hearing it right—is a four-member pop rock band born in 2016. With a simple premise of hyping listeners to feel full of energy, overflowing with laughter and brimmed with happiness, Grated Parmesan Cheese makes sure that all who listen to their songs have a smile on their face. Just by listening to vocalist Minatsu’s high energy paired with guitarist Takki’s amazing compositions, listeners will feel as energetic as Minatsu. This is well represented through “Prism”, which sounds like a familiar beat, yet it turns out something a step further than that.

Currently they have one single, “Rotation” (2016), and one album, Next☆Stage!!! (2017).

Check out their official site here, check out their official Twitter here and thier song “Prism” below!

Grated Parmesan Cheese stars Shain (Bass)

Minatsu (Vocals)

Sakyamon (Drums) 

Takki (Guitar) 

Indie Corner Week 25: aomidoro

aomidoro are a four-member rock band, born in 2013, uniquely classify themselves as a "twin vocal cabaret rock band"; both lead singer Sally and bassist Maka lend their vocals. They both sing with a very emotional style that can even rival the best funk/lounge style bands. This is evident in their song “Love Side Lover”, which just breaks down any barriers that listeners might have when they hear the words “cabaret band” and continue to transcend that style of music with Sally’s powerful vocals.

They have currently released only one album, 1992, back in 2015, and one mini-album, Hiroku to Roman, which was released in April this year.

Purchase a copy of Hiroku no Roman here, and check out the music video for “Love Side Lover” below!

aomidoro stars Kiki (Gutair)

Maka (Bass & Vocal)

Sally (Vocal)

Haru (Drums)

Indie Corner Week 24: Mosaïque-arts

Mosaïque-arts is a five-member pop rock band formed in 2018 with one basic premise: to treat each track of their song as one unique piece of mosaic art. Whether it be guitarist Tomotake’s amazing guitar riffs or keyboardist Shotarou’s intelligent compositions mixed in with vocalist Konoha’s outstanding vocals, every song of Mosaïque-arts feels unique. Whether it be a gloomy and emotion-filled melody like “kaze”, a more synthesized heavy rhythm song like “８日”, or a more expression heavy song like”終わらぬ旅路に” (Owaranu Tabijini)", no two songs are thought of the same. 

Currently Mosaïque-arts has several demo songs on their YouTube page with hopes to release a mini-album within the next couple of months.

Check out Mosaïque-arts official site here, and Twitter here. Check out their song “Owaranu Tabijini” below!

Mosaïque-arts stars Shotaro (Keyboard)

Kazuki (Bass)

Konoha (Vocals)

Tomotake (Guitar)

Mitsui (Drums)