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was a Japanese
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band formed in 2003 and signed to Sony Music Japan. Their visual image is oshare kei,''Shoxx Bis'' No 3 October 2004 issue, pg 69 and they describe their music as "
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refere ...
Dance Rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and dis ...
". The group has released six full-length albums, two compilation albums, and four EPs. On September 1, 2009, the band announced that after their live show on January 4, 2010 at the Nippon Budokan, they would suspend activities and put the group on hiatus, however they stated they will not disband. In 2012, after a two-year break, the team announced the resumption of activities. In June 2018, the band announced the departure of all members but Miku and a hiatus beginning in January 2019.


History

An Cafe was formed in May 2003 by vocalist Miku, guitarist Bou and bassist Kanon. Miku's former band, Revirii, had disbanded two months earlier in April, and even though the band did not have a drummer at this point, they started to perform at several events. They were later joined by Teruki after he left his former band, Feathers-Blue. In 2004, An Cafe released their first demos and signed a record deal with Loop Ash. Their first release, " Candyholic", was released in March and reached the second spot on the
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 ...
indies single chart. The band continued touring and releasing, including their first album, ''
Shikisai Moment is the first full-length studio album released by An Cafe on November 9, 2005. The album peaked at No. 39 on the Japanese albums chart , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies st ...
'', in 2005. The band released even more singles in 2006 until their second studio album, ''
Magnya Carta is the second studio album by An Cafe, released on November 29, 2006, in Japan and on May 21, 2007, in South Korea. A limited edition was released as well, containing an additional DVD with several music videos. The album, which was also Bou's l ...
'' (a play on " Magna Carta"). In 2007, the band announced their first overseas appearance at
Project A-Kon A-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held during June at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance, A-Kon is North America's longest runn ...
. The announcement of this was followed shortly by the departure of guitarist Bou. The last performance with Bou was on April 30, 2007, and was featured in a DVD titled ''Hibiya On ☆The☆ 0 New Sekai''. After Bou left the band, two new members were announced: Takuya was to replace Bou as the guitarist and Yu-ki was to join An Cafe as a keyboardist. The first single with their new lineup was announced as "
Kakusei Heroism is the twelfth single by Japanese band An Cafe. The single is available in three types, two including different bonus DVDs, and one with a bonus live track. The title track is the second opening theme of the anime series, Darker than Black. "Kaku ...
" followed by "
Ryūsei Rocket is a single by Japanese band An Cafe. The title track is the opening theme in the drama Fuma no Kojirou. The song peaked at No. 19 on the Japanese singles chart. Track listing ;Disc one (CD) #"Ryūsei Rocket" (流星ロケット) – 4:35 #"Koi ...
". At the end of 2007, An Cafe announced their first overseas tour, taking place in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
in 2008. In the opening weeks of 2008, An Cafe announced their upcoming single, "
Cherry Saku Yuki!! A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
", in February, as well as their next studio album, ''
Gokutama Rock Cafe is the third studio album released by An Cafe on March 14, 2008 in Europe and April 9, 2008 in Japan. The European release of the album also featured three bonus tracks which were previously only available as B-Sides on their last three singles, ...
'', which was released on April 9, 2008. An Cafe's EP, ''
Harajuku Dance Rock ''Harajuku Dance Rock'' is an EP released by An Cafe on March 13, 2009. Available only in North America and certain parts of Europe, "Harajuku Dance Rock" includes seven audio tracks and three music videos on a separate DVD. There is also a full- ...
'', was released by the
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
based
Maru Music Maru may refer to: People * Maru (given name), a Spanish given name, a shortened form of Maria Eugenia * Maru (surname), a surname of Indic origin * Maru (mythology), a Māori war god * Ngāti Maru (disambiguation), several Māori tribes of New ...
on March 13, 2009. This special release was made exclusively for overseas fans in North America and Europe. '' BB Parallel World'', An Cafe's fourth studio album, was released in Japan on September 9, 2009; and in Europe on October 6, 2009. It contains title track singles "Aroma", "Summer Dive" and "Natsu Koi ★ Natsu Game", and eight other songs. In 2010, An Cafe announced that they will be taking a break from activities. It is unknown as to how long they will be on hiatus, but they have not stated they will be disbanding. The message, issued on their official homepage, claims that "after the Budokan show, each member will concentrate on their own activity to be prepared for the band to restart in the future." The aforementioned Nippon Budokan show took place on January 4, 2010. During the hiatus, several members were involved in other projects. Kanon headed a mobile phone game called Pinky☆Distortion, which was released in July 2010. He was also a guest at Otakon 2010 as a panelist and a guest DJ, as well as pairing up with Kanon Wakeshima to form a duo act called kanonxkanon. Miku served as the vocalist for the new visual-kei band, Lc5, which started in June 2010. Teruki played as a support drummer for the band Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra. On April 1, 2012, An Cafe announced that they will be resuming activities and will be doing a world tour in November in Europe and the UK, the tour being named "An CaFesta '12 Summer Dive". On 30 May, An Cafe announced that they will be releasing a mini-album titled ''Amazing Blue'' on August 8, their first release since returning from their two-year hiatus. Later in the following year, they announced a three-month consecutive single release coupled with a large tour to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary. The singles would be released in the months June, July, and August, the tour finale being on January 4, 2014 at the Nippon Budokan. The band performed for first time in Canada at Animethon on August 9, 2014.''An Cafe - Animethon 21 Guest''
, retrieved April, 2014
Also they performed in Brazil at Anime Friends Convention in July and in Mexico in November for their third solo concert in the country. Their first major debut studio album under White café, a subsidiary of
Being Inc. Being Incorporated, d.b.a. Being Giza Group, is a Japanese private entertainment conglomerate based in Tokyo's Roppongi district, founded on November 1, 1978 by musician Daiko Nagato. Being Inc. and its subsidiaries are the main supplier of the ...
was released in 2017, titled ''Laugh Song''. On June 22, 2018, An Cafe announced they would enter an indefinite hiatus, after all members were leaving the band except for Miku. They held their last concert ''Live Cafe 15th Anniversary Year Grand Finale'' at the EX Theater Roppongi, in Tokyo on January 9, 2019. The last concert was released on DVD on April 24, 2019.


Members

* –
vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
(2003–2019) * – bass,
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
(2003–2018) * – drums (2003–2018) * – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2007) * –
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s, backing vocals (2007–2018) * –
keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...
, synthesizers (2007–2018)


Equipment

Yu-ki (keyboards) uses a
Korg X50 The Korg Triton is a music workstation synthesizer, featuring digital sampling and sequencing, released in 1999. It uses Korg's HI Synthesis tone generator and was eventually available in several model variants with numerous upgrade options. The ...
and a Yamaha MO6 in a firm Ultimate AX48B rack. His speaker is a Roland Jazz-Chorus 120 and he has a Mackie 1202-VLZ PRO mixing panel as well. A lot of functions are used, for instance the excessive use of pitch bend in
Respect Mommy Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...
on the Yamaha MO6 and the use of his arpeggiator (on the Yamaha MO6 as well) in
Cherry Saku Yuki!! A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
. Takuya (guitar) uses many guitars, among those being a Royal Blue Paul Reed Smith Custom 24, Black Gibson Les Paul Custom, Candy Apple Red Fender American Standard Telecaster, Dean Z, and guitar pedals, including a Korg Pitchblack, Vox Wah, Boss Super Chorus CH-1,
TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pr ...
ND-1 Nova Delay, MXR Phase 90, Musicom Lab EFX MK III + Audio Controller, and previously a Boss Delay DM-2. He runs his signal through Hughes and Kettner amps. Kanon (bass) uses two basses, a Sunburst Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass and a Black Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass, along with an EBS Multi Comp, Providence Vitalizer, MXR D.I.+ M80 Preamp/D.I., and Basson amps. Teruki (drums) has the following setup: one Splash Cymbal (Paiste 10"), two Crash Cymbals (Paiste 16" and 18") Cymbals, one China Cymbal (Paiste 18"), one Ride Cymbal (Zildjian 20"), one Hi-Hat (Zildjian 14"), onei-Hat stand (Pearl), a Bass Drum (Pearl 22" x 16"), a Snare (Pearl 14" x 5,5"), one Mid Tom (Pearl 12" x 8"), one Floor Tom (Pearl 16" x 16"),two Pedals (Pearl) and Behringer amplificat.


Endorsements

An Cafe has been a longtime supporter and endorser of popular Japanese
fashion label Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...
Sex Pot Revenge, and they are frequently seen wearing clothing from that label. They have appeared on the cover of Sex Pot Revenge free company magazine, ''V!nyl Syndicate''. In 2008, An Cafe
vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
Miku hosted Volume 2 of Visual Kei DVD Magazine alongside the magazine's
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
, Biju.


International recognition

An Cafe has gained great success in Japan. It has also gained moderate success in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, mainland
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
(
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, China),
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In 2008, the band visited Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK, Spain, the US, and Korea on their first overseas tour, "Live Cafe-Tour '08 - Nyappy Go Around World". They played a total of twelve concerts in the eight countries. As of November 2008, An Cafe confirmed an overseas tour, "Live Cafe Tour '09 Nyappy Go Around the World II -Harajuku Dance Rock Night-" which encompassed twelve countries: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and the USA. This tour took place over March and April, playing a total of 17 dates. In 2014, An Cafe had many overseas concerts in several countries of Europe, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.


Discography

;Albums * ''
Shikisai Moment is the first full-length studio album released by An Cafe on November 9, 2005. The album peaked at No. 39 on the Japanese albums chart , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies st ...
'' (色彩モーメント, November 9, 2005) * ''
Magnya Carta is the second studio album by An Cafe, released on November 29, 2006, in Japan and on May 21, 2007, in South Korea. A limited edition was released as well, containing an additional DVD with several music videos. The album, which was also Bou's l ...
'' (マグニャカルタ, November 29, 2006) * ''
Gokutama Rock Cafe is the third studio album released by An Cafe on March 14, 2008 in Europe and April 9, 2008 in Japan. The European release of the album also featured three bonus tracks which were previously only available as B-Sides on their last three singles, ...
'' (極魂ROCK CAFE, April 9, 2008) * '' BB Parallel World'' (September 9, 2009) * ''Hikagyaku Ziprock'' (非可逆ZiprocK, November 6, 2013) * ''Laugh Song'' (ラフ・ソング, February 22, 2017) ;EPs * '' Amedama Rock'' (飴玉ロック, February 23, 2005) * '' Ko Akuma Usagi no Koibumi to Machine Gun'' (小悪魔USAGIの恋文とマシンガンe.p., October 29, 2008)
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 ...
Singles Weekly Chart: No. 12Oricon.co.jp
''Antic Cafe Single Rankings'' Retrieved Nov 4, 2010
* ''
Harajuku Dance Rock ''Harajuku Dance Rock'' is an EP released by An Cafe on March 13, 2009. Available only in North America and certain parts of Europe, "Harajuku Dance Rock" includes seven audio tracks and three music videos on a separate DVD. There is also a full- ...
'' (March 13, 2009, North America and Europe only release) * ''Amazing Blue'' (August 8, 2012) ;Compilations * '' Antic Cafe'' (December 9, 2009) * ''Best 2015-2018'' (December 5, 2018) ;Singles * " Candyholic" (キャンデーホリック, March 24, 2004) No. 75 * " √69" (June 6, 2004) No. 88 * "
Komou Cosmos was a Japanese pop rock band formed in 2003 and signed to Sony Music Japan. Their visual image is oshare kei,''Shoxx Bis'' No 3 October 2004 issue, pg 69 and they describe their music as "Harajuku Dance Rock". The group has released six full-le ...
" (孤妄, November 24, 2004) No. 91 * " Karakuri Hitei" (カラクリ否定, March 30, 2005) No. 64 * " Tekesuta Kousen" (テケスタ光線, July 20, 2005) No. 67 * "
Escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...
" (エスカピズム, August 24, 2005) No. 75 * " Merrymaking" (メリメイキング, September 21, 2005) No. 63 * " 10's Collection March" (10's コレクション マァチ, March 1, 2006) No. 42 * "
Bonds ~Kizuna~ is the ninth single by Japanese band Antic Cafe. The title track is featured on the album ''Magnya Carta is the second studio album by An Cafe, released on November 29, 2006, in Japan and on May 21, 2007, in South Korea. A limited edition w ...
" (BondS ~絆~, May 17, 2006) No. 39 * "
Smile Ichiban Ii Onna is the tenth single by Japanese band Antic Cafe. The title track is featured on the album ''Magnya Carta is the second studio album by An Cafe, released on November 29, 2006, in Japan and on May 21, 2007, in South Korea. A limited edition w ...
" (スマイル一番 イイ♀, September 20, 2006) No. 32 * "
Snow Scene is the eleventh single by Japanese band Antic Cafe. The title track is featured on the album ''Magnya Carta is the second studio album by An Cafe, released on November 29, 2006, in Japan and on May 21, 2007, in South Korea. A limited editio ...
" (スノーシ一ン, October 18, 2006) No. 26 * " Kakusei Heroism ~The Hero Without a "Name"~" (覚醒ヒロイズム~THE HERO WITHOUT A "NAME"~, August 22, 2007) No. 13 * "
Ryūsei Rocket is a single by Japanese band An Cafe. The title track is the opening theme in the drama Fuma no Kojirou. The song peaked at No. 19 on the Japanese singles chart. Track listing ;Disc one (CD) #"Ryūsei Rocket" (流星ロケット) – 4:35 #"Koi ...
" (流星ロケット, November 7, 2007) No. 19 * "
Cherry Saku Yuki!! A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
" (Cherry咲く勇気!!, February 27, 2008) No. 20 * "
Summer Dive Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, ...
" (August 30, 2008, live distribution only) * "Aroma" (March 11, 2009) No. 16 * "Natsu Koi ★ Natsu Game" (夏恋★夏GAME, August 12, 2009) No. 13 * "Bee Myself Bee Yourself ~Jibun Rashiku Kimi Rashiku Umareta Story wa Hajimattenda~" (Bee Myself Bee Yourself ~自分らしく君らしく生まれたストーリーは始まってんだ~, June 12, 2013) * "Itai Onna ~No Pain, No Love? Japan Girls in Love~" (イタイ女〜NO PAIN,NO LOVE? Japan GIRLS in LOVE〜, July 10, 2013) * "Roman ~Let's Make Precious Love~" (狼MAN 〜Let's make precious love〜, August 14, 2013) * "Mōsō Mo Mō Sorosoro" (モウソウモモウソロソロ, September 24, 2014) * "Sennen DIVE!!!!!" (千年DIVE!!!!!, August 26, 2015) * "JIBUN" (March 16, 2016) * "Atsukunare/Ikirutame no 3 Byo Rule" (熱くなれ/生きるための3秒ルール, September 14, 2016) * "Ikenai Moso x Abunai Monster" (イケない妄想×アブない珍獣, October 4, 2017) * "Negaigoto wa Hitotsu sa" (願い事は1つさ, March 28, 2018) ;DVDs * ''Like An Cafe'' (ライカ・カフェ, October 10, 2004) * ''20051203 Shikisai a On'' (20051203色彩亜音, December 3, 2005) * ''Yagai de Nyappy'' (野外でニャッピー, December 17, 2006) * ''Hibiya on ★the★ o New World'' (HIBIYA ON★ザ★御NEW世界, July 2, 2007) * ''Nyappy Go Around Fever'' (April 25, 2008) * ''AnCafesta '08 Summer Dive'' (December 24, 2008) * ''Live Cafe - Tour '08 Nyappy Go Around the World'' (March 11, 2009) * ''Finale of Nyappy - Kawayusu Rock de Go Gogo!!'' (November 4, 2009) * ''Live Cafe 2010 King of Harajuku Dance Rock Ikinari Nyappy Legend'' (August 22, 2010) * ''AnCafesta '12 Summer Dive - Daikoukai Jidai - (March 27, 2013)


References


External links


Official website

Official blog

MusicJapanPlus profile
{{Authority control Gan-Shin artists Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Visual kei musical groups Dance-rock musical groups Japanese power pop groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical quintets Japanese pop rock music groups