Soft Ballet
Soft Ballet was a Japanese electronic group formed in 1987. The group consisted of three members, Maki Fujii, Ken Morioka, and Ryoichi Endo, though they employed extra support members for live shows. While Soft Ballet weren't necessarily chart toppers, they had a strong cult following and were considered pioneers of modern electronic music in Japan in the 1990s. History Formation and Alfa Records Years Soft Ballet was formed in 1987 as a side-project when Ken Morioka and Ryoichi Endo (who had already been working together in a band called Volaju) joined with Maki Fujii. That year, the trio released their first single ''Tokio Bang!'', which was released in very limited quantities, making it a sought after collector's item today. Ken Morioka at the time was also already in the band Granny Takes a Trip, which split in 1988. Afterwards, Soft Ballet became a full-fledged band. Their combination of light synthpop with hard European-style EBM attracted great attention for being a unique ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter's Oricon record charts in April 2002. The charts are compiled from data drawn from some 39,700 retail outlets (as of April 2011) and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations. Results are announced every Tuesday and published in ''Oricon Style'' by subsidiary Oricon Entertainment Inc. The group also lists panel survey-based popularity ratings for television commercials on its official website. Oricon started publishing Combined Chart, which includes CD sales, digital sales, and streaming together, on December 19, 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Demon Kogure
, previously known as , is a Japanese musician, songwriter, entertainer, journalist, sumo commentator, actor and voice actor. He first gained fame in the 1980s as vocalist of the heavy metal band Seikima-II, before starting a solo career in 1990 and branching out into other forms of entertainment. His real name is not publicly known and he is noted for always working entirely in character, which includes wearing face paint. Early life and education Demon attended kindergarten up through his first year of elementary school in New York City. He moved to Tokyo for second grade of elementary school, before moving to Nishi-ku, Hiroshima in 1971 for three years. Returning to Tokyo, Demon grew up there from 6th grade on. Between 1982 and 1983, Demon attended an acting school in Tokyo. In March 1986, Demon graduated with honors from Waseda University with a degree in social science. A fan of sumo since childhood, he was a member of the university's sumo club. He was also a membe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kaikan Phrase
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mayu Shinjo. The manga was published by Shogakukan in ''Shōjo Comic'' between 1997 and 2000, and collected in 18 bound volumes. It was adapted as a 44-episode anime television series by Studio Hibari, and as a series of novels. The series tells the story of Aine Yukimura, a high school student who becomes the lyricist for a Japanese rock band, and her relationship with the band's lead singer, Sakuya Ookochi. To promote the anime, a real-life band was formed: Λucifer, the band the story focuses on. The rival band, e.MU, seems to have been active before the manga was created. Both bands continued after the anime ended before disbanding. In the series, Λucifer's original name is Lucifer, changed to Λucifer (using the Greek letter lambda) when the band decides to go international. For the purposes of the article this second name, Λucifer, is used. Japanese names are given in Western order, with family name last. Plot Y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Julianne Regan
Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly one of the more talented singers of the late eighties British goth rock scene". Early life (1962–1981) At the age of 15, Julianne Regan was given a Woolworths electric guitar by a cousin and taught herself to play. From Zig Zag to The Swarm (1982–1984) Regan moved to London aged 19 and found work as a journalist for music magazine ZigZag, while studying at the London College of Fashion. In her capacity as a journalist, she interviewed Gene Loves Jezebel and subsequently joined that band on bass guitar. Soon after, apparently unhappy with the tension between the group's twin frontmen, she left to make music with friend and former Xmal Deutschland drummer Manuela Zwingmann, while working in a book shop on Charing Cross Road after Zig Zag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only permanent member), has proven versatile over the years, experimenting with techno, breakbeat, industrial, dub and jazz fusion while touring the world and influencing major acts such as Nine Inch Nails, the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy. Some of the band's earlier work has been credited with influencing the rise of the trip hop, big beat, and drum and bass genres. History Early years Dangers and Stephens had formed the English pop group Perennial Divide in 1986 with Paul Freeguard and released the first few Meat Beat Manifesto singles as a side project. The first release under the Meat Beat name was 1987's ''Suck Hard'' EP on Sweat Box Records. They left Perennial Divide in 1988 to record a full Meat Beat album. The tapes of what wou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raymond Watts
Raymond Watts (also known by his former stage names Nainz, Nainz Watts and Ray Scaballero) is an English musician, the founding and sole member of the industrial music project PIG, sometimes written as <PIG>. Watts was an early member and periodic collaborator of KMFDM, and has been a visible part of the industrial music scene since the early 1980s. He has toured with KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails, Schaft, Schwein, and Einstürzende Neubauten. History Recent activity (2010–present) Watts, Dr. Shinto and John Gosling released a four-song EP titled ''Mellan Rummen'' on 15 November 2010 on Amazon.com. On 8 June 2012, Marc Heal revealed a demo version of "the first new PIG track in eight years" titled "Drugzilla (Rough As A Hog's Arse Mix)" via Cubanate's Official Facebook page and providing their followers a link to his personal SoundCloud page. The link was reposted by Watts a few hours later. A second demo titled "Shake" was released on 15 July 2012; again via Heal's Soundcl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buck-Tick
Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi (musician), Yutaka Higuchi and drummer Toll Yagami since 1985. The band has experimented with many different genres of music throughout their three decade career, including punk rock, industrial rock and gothic rock. Buck-Tick are commonly credited as one of the founders of the visual kei movement. They have released 22 studio albums, nearly all reaching the top ten on the charts. History Formation (1983–1985) Buck-Tick was originally formed in 1983. All five of the band members lived in Gunma prefecture. Hisashi Imai originally had the idea for the band, and wanted to start despite not being able to play any instruments at the time. He recruited his friend, Yutaka Higuchi (musician), Yutaka Higuchi, and the two of them began to pr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hisashi Imai
is a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is known as lead guitarist of the rock band Buck-Tick since 1983. He has also performed in musical side-projects such as Schaft (1991–1994, 2015), Schwein (2001), and more recently Lucy (2004). Career In 1984, when Imai and his friend and then Buck-Tick singer Araki graduated high school, they moved to Tokyo together, where Imai entered design school.''Love Me'', Yasue Matsuura, Takao Nakagawa; Shinko Music Publishing Company, Ltd. 1989. . He has been the guitarist and main composer of Buck-Tick since 1983. In 1989, he was arrested for LSD possession. In 2008, he announced on his blog that he got married. He announced the birth of his first child in August 2013. He has also appeared on/composed for Mika Kaneko's ''Kick'', Naoko Nozawa's ''Tonkichi Chinpei Kanta'', Der Zibet's ''Shishunki II'', Soft Ballet's ''Million Mirrors'', The Stalin's ''Shinda Mono Hodo Aishite Yaru Sa'', PIG's ''Sinsation'' and '' Wrecked'', Yukinojo M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire was an English music group formed in Sheffield in 1973 and initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk, and Chris Watson. The group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, the Zürich nightclub that served as a centre for the early Dada movement. The early work of Cabaret Voltaire consisted primarily of experimentation with DIY electronics and tape machines, as well as Dada-influenced performance art, helping to pioneer industrial music in the mid-1970s. Finding an audience during the post-punk era, they integrated their experimental sensibilities with dance and pop styles. They are often characterized as among the most innovative and influential electronic groups of their era. History Formation By the early 1970s, Chris Watson of Sheffield, England, began experimenting with electronic devices to make "music without musical instruments." Inspired by the tech geekery of Brian Eno of Roxy Music, and helped along by his work as a telephone engineer, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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LFO (British Band)
LFO was a British electronic music act formed in 1988 consisting of Mark Bell and Gez Varley. They released their acclaimed debut LP ''Frequencies'' in 1991 on Sheffield label Warp. After Varley left the group in 1996, Bell continued solo to release ''Advance'' (1996) and '' Sheath'' (2003). Bell died in October 2014, effectively ending the project. LFO are considered to be pioneers of the bass-heavy " bleep techno" style. AllMusic called them "one of British techno's most important, agenda-setting groups." History Early years Varley and Bell met while studying at Leeds and named their group after the initialism for the common synthesizer function low-frequency oscillation. They gave their first track, the eponymous "LFO", to Nightmares on Wax. The popularity of the demo in clubs led to the track being released by the Sheffield-based Warp label in 1990, and it was a Top 20 hit in the U.K., reaching number 12 in the singles charts in July. DJ Martin (Martin Williams) is cred ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |