Yura Yura Teikoku

My favorite Japanese band is finally getting played on national television, though it's only on a fifteen second commercial and they broke up about three years ago. The ad is for Kirin chu-hi. Chu-hi is flavored alcohol. I think of it as a girls drink, but it's not looked at that way in Japan (also, Zima still exists here). This particular ad is for the grapefruit flavor.

Sony just posted a video for this song two weeks ago. I guess they're hoping to make some money off the commercial. Here's the full version if you're interested. It's called 空洞です　(kudo desu), which they translated as, "Hallow Me."

Shintaro Sakamoto

This happened last November, but the former lead man of Yura Yura Teikoku came out with his first solo album entitled "How to Live With a Phantom". It's a bit groovier and happier than YYT's music, which, depending on who you are, might sound like a horrible thing. At times it can be too groovy (I think he has a bad habit of putting jazzy saxophones in otherwise great songs), but overall this is a very good album. Check out the single "You Just Decided" below. Sakamoto not only wrote the music, but also animated the video. Either he's really motivated, or he just wants to show everyone how much free time he has.