What I've been listening to lately...

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What I've been listening to lately...

Posted by HibiscusKazeneko - January 20th, 2010

Anyone ever heard of The Alfee? I've been listening to their music off and on since this past August, and I have come to a definitive conclusion: these guys are frickin' GOD TIER. How they could have fallen into obscurity outside of Japan is beyond me.
Just check this out and tell me whether or not you agree.

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I've been meaning to join their official fanclub, "Alfee Mania", but as far as I know they don't accept international applications. :(

P.S. Another reason I posted this now is because Masaru Sakurai, the bassist, just turned 55! (Hence my choice of smiley)

EDIT 1: I think I've found the reason why no one has heard of The Alfee stateside.

EDIT 2: The video I posted earlier was removed, so I replaced it with a different one. If you're curious as to what the original was, you can still see it here.

UPDATE: I just checked iTunes, and they have The Alfee's official podcast "My Cheerful Song" as well as Toshihiko Takamizawa's Rockban (which I just subscribed to). It's all in Japanese, of course...

UPDATE 2: My dad and I ordered the Type B limited edition version of The Alfee's new album "Shinsekai: Neo Universe" and it just arrived! I was puzzled by the size of the box it was shipped in; it turned out it's because the cover is the size of a friggin' LP! My mom freaked out when she saw it since our turntable is broken...
Here's a pic. I know it's a crappy shot; I took it with my webcam.

UPDATE 3 (URGENT): I was just listening to the CD and I noticed that a good portion of track 2 is "sampled" (i.e. plagiarized) from a certain classic rock song and I can't put my finger on its name/original artist! Can anyone help me? You can hear it here.
The reason I'm posting this is I know Toshihiko Takamizawa has done this before (see Edit 1 link) and as much as I admire him (yeah, think what you want :P ), I can't let him get away with it. Not after what happened with Timbaland.
(ETA): Props to Timmy for helping me find it: the song I had in mind was the Eagles' "Hotel California." It's not close enough to the original for me to make a case out of, though...
Anyway, I switched the link so you don't have to download it to hear it. I still have a gut feeling Takamiy ripped some other songs off, too, so if you find anything remotely close to a song you recognize, please tell me. Brian Farrelly's credibility may not be in the toilet, after all.
(Mini-update 2) Haven't I heard this somewhere before? An old Chevrolet commercial, perhaps? (Yeah, it was copied in Sonic Rush too.)

RANDOM UPDATE: Today (April 15 JST, still April 14 EDT) is acoustic guitarist Kounosuke Sakazaki's 56th birthday! Here's a (somewhat old) video of him doing solo stuff.
(edit 8/19: The video I posted was removed, so I replaced it with another one, this time involving Astroturf Digby.)

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</div>EDIT: Yay! It's Takamiy's birthday today (Japan time, right now)!
Here's something of his for y'all.

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Another update: Takamiy has a new solo album and single coming out this fall! Anyone else besides me want it? (edit: I preordered it; it should be here next week-ish)
EDIT 8/26/2010 5:23 PM CDT: It's here! I added one of the bonus wallpapers to my desktop.

What I've been listening to lately...

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S-l-u-t 2010-01-20 00:35:27

Their great, but ever heard of gazette? Dir en grey? Sex-android?
Masaru Sakurai looks pretty good for his age.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-01-20 00:35:27

Yeah, I've heard of them. I got a Gazette song in a pack of mp3s once; they were all right.

P.S. That song I posted is a few years old; there aren't very many Alfee videos on YouTube (probably because they're co-owned by Virgin Records, who are well-known for their stringent control over Internet content). The members haven't changed much, except for Takamiy.

Osuka 2010-01-20 06:26:20

the song is really great :D im going to listen more songs of this band

The Japanese bands that I hear is:

Janne Da Arc
Maximun the Hormone
The Pillows

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-01-20 06:26:20

Heh, I have most of Maximum the Hormone's discography.
I hope their drummer is OK; they had to cancel an appearance in Australia because she's pregnant and on bedrest.

SUPER-JOHN-DOE 2010-01-20 09:19:21

They are AMAZING :-D !

Sairex 2010-01-20 15:30:46

J-rock? *shivers*

MrDaemon 2010-02-03 00:06:56

I prefer the melodic d metal that is Blood Stain Child.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-02-03 00:06:56

Melodic death metal?
Hmmm, I oughta go check that out.

Byro 2010-02-22 20:57:38

I love your Pheonix Wrong tributes. Especially the first one you made. Very nice drawing of yourself by the way..... T.T makes me wish I knew how to make flash movies so I can actually contribute to Newgrounds. Too lazy though. Great now I'm rambling. But anyways I think this is a good band but not my type of music. If anything I listen to Maximum the Hormone. Wish they had foreign music on iTunes.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-02-22 20:57:38

They do have foreign music on iTunes, but the selection is extremely limited.
They used to have a whole lot more, but a lot of it was taken down for whatever reason (luckily I snatched some of it up while I had the chance ;)

7LuckY7SeveN7 2010-03-09 03:34:32

Solution 45 > The Alfee

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-03-09 03:34:32

In some respects, yes.
Maybe I'll make a Flash out of one of their songs someday...

AkujinRuukasu 2010-03-10 15:04:12

There are some other good ones, like Nightmare, Beat Crusaders, Asian Kung-fu Generation, and T.M. Revolution. There are also some Japanese metal groups like Deathgaze, Girugamesh, and Magane (black metal). As for typing in Japanese, I guess the only to do it in NG is in romaji.

I also watched some of your Phoenix Wrongs. They are epic!

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-03-10 15:04:12

Oi. I can't stand T.M Revolution; Takanori Nishikawa can't seem to just sing without distorting his voice to the point that you could think he had permanent laryngitis.
Asian Kung-Fu Generation are OK; they did a good song for Naruto.
I dislike the Beat Crusaders; they're just too run-of-the mill for me, plus their lyrics are both undecipherable and unmondegreenable.
I've been intrigued as to Girugämesh, however (because of that infamous Sakura-Con commercial)...

Also, I failed to mention it above, but Toshihiko Takamizawa (the lead guitarist of The Alfee) has made his name known as a solo artist and has a few singles out. I seek to get my hands on them...

Kwing 2010-03-15 14:30:48

You make movie.

I make game.

You make game less shitty.

I make movie less gamey.

Plz.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-03-15 14:30:48

I dunno, I don't have Flash anymore, and I was never any good with ActionScript...

IceDragon64 2010-03-24 20:07:06

Its Cool stuff, the guitar playing is great and the video is OK too. I guess I would appreciate it more if I knew more than ten words of Japanese.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-03-24 20:07:06

I can give you a copy of the lyrics if you like. I have a chunk of the band's discography but unfortunately the lyrics aren't available anywhere online. (I tried to submit them to AnimeLyrics.com, but the admins there are Nazis who require that everyone take a rigorous Japanese test, which I failed.)

Shady 2010-04-03 02:37:45

Sorry, but that was pretty awful.
:(

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-04-03 02:37:45

Yeah, Juliet isn't one of their better songs.

igott 2010-04-16 21:52:38

Boris - The only good Japanese band.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-04-16 21:52:38

It all depends on what your tastes are.
I've heard people recommend Melt-Banana, but I can't stand them.
(Yes, I do believe that even Japanese bands can suck.)

LordZeebmork 2010-05-08 04:16:15

if you're going to listen to generic pop-punk from badass countries, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anoNKr3VOHU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anoNKr 3VOHU</a>

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-05-08 04:16:15

Hey, that's the same song you gave out in your second mp3 pack!

LordZeebmork 2010-05-08 04:23:04

also melt banana is shit as far as noise rock goes. japan can't really do that sort of thing without throwing in a screeching schoolgirl. check out hella or part chimp or something.

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-05-08 04:23:04

Blech. I don't really like noise rock.
I prefer songs I can actually sing.

LordZeebmork 2010-05-09 15:11:41

well then <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrVqDgGsZMs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrVqDg GsZMs</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XttkgXn-k2I">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XttkgX n-k2I</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_m4Na8Lbl0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_m4Na 8Lbl0</a>

Elric3010 2010-09-04 17:11:21

It's true the The Alfee is completely unknown here in the States, I live in Massachusetts and have run across them completely by accident. I was looking through Amazon-japan for some U.S. or European band cds and ran across Kazukoh which is a side project run by Sakazaki from The Alfee and Kazuhiko Kato from the Folk Crusaders. I liked Kazukoh and that led me to The Alfee. While some of the Alfee's music is a bit too bombastic for me, there is also a lot that I do like. I don't know a lot of Japanese bands, mainly Balzac and Shonen Knife. I have picked up The Alfee's Single History 96-01 and 02-08 and am picking up more of their albums, but the only tough thing is that is difficult to know who sings lead vocals on what song. I also think that Toshihiko should let the other members write some of the songs, this would provide for some more diversity. I give him credit for trying a lot of different things in his guitar solos though, he's a very talented guitarist. I, for one, do like the song Juliet, I think it is a fun song. While not in their normal style, it is a song that shows the band members having a lot of fun. Aside from Kazukoh, I'm not sure what else Sakazaki might do for solo work. And I wonder if Masaru does any solo projects? One final thought, is considering some of their influences, I'm surprised that they haven't covered Queen's Teo Torriatte, which is sung half in English and half in Japanese,

Dan

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-09-04 17:11:21

Sadly, Kazukoh doesn't exist anymore, as Kazuhiko Katoh killed himself last October.
To answer a few of your questions:
I can tell all three singers' voices apart; it takes a little bit of time and concentration, in addition to watching a few videos of them :P
I don't know if either of the other two members have the creativity or the know-how to write songs. Songwriting is a tricky business,.
Kohnosuke Sakazaki (whose real first name is Koji, by the way) has involvements with the Leica Domei and the Japan Uranium Glass Collectors Club, and he also cares for a large collection of cats and exotic pets, such as lizards and owls. He actually got in trouble with the law in 1994 for keeping an endangered lizard without a license. He has since donated a large portion of his menagerie (mostly fish and other aquatic animals) to an aquarium in Tokushima prefecture.
No, Masaru Sakurai doesn't have any solo projects. He is married and presumably has children (who by now are most likely grown). His family runs the Sakurai Tadenji Shoten in his hometown (Chichibu, Saitama prefecture) and I hear he helps out there when he's not working with the band. He has appeared on several variety shows, however.
Also, I think "Te wo Toriatte" might have been referenced in the bridge of the Alfee's 1990 single "Flower Revolution."

Elric3010 2010-09-05 10:17:11

Hey, thanks a lot for the info. Yeah, i had run across news of Kazuhiko Kato's death online not long after i discovered Kazukoh. I think you're right, You Tube videos would be the best place to see who singing what for the Alfee. I had seen before on youtube the video for You Are The Rock. so I recognize Kohnosuke's voice from that and also on the song Concerning Peace from Going Your Way. As for the Alfee ever getting famous in the U.S., it's always possible now with the internet, actually someone should expand on the english Wikipedia site for them, or maybe they'll end up in the next Grand Theft Auto soundtrack or some such thing

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-09-05 10:17:11

It's unlikely, considering the less-than-stellar press they got in the early 1990s.
It's a shame, since a good portion of the Internet rock community have at least heard of Takamiy thanks to pictures of some of his unique custom guitars hitting the Internet.

IFuckingSuck 2010-09-06 02:28:03

FUCK YOU

HibiscusKazeneko 2010-09-06 02:28:03

FUCK YOU TOO

What I've been listening to lately...

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