It’s probably fairly common knowledge that I’m something of a Tokyo Jihen fan, to the point where I pre-order new singles and albums when they’re announced (which has led me to having two copies of 娯楽 as I mistakenly pre-ordered it twice).

However, the big news is that the album is also available to buy from iTunes UK for the bargain price of £8.99 - something I am considering doing even though I already have a couple of copies, if only to convice the powers that be to release more 東京事変 and 椎名林檎’s back catalogue through iTunes UK.

I never thought I would see this happen, but I am so happy it has: Shiina Ringo’s new single, KonoYonoKagiri (この　よの　かぎり） has been listed on, and is available to buy from iTunes in the UK:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=211809442&s=143444

Not bad for £1.99 - I just hope the new album is also listed on iTunes UK so I can buy that as well. (Yes, I do have the album on pre-order with CDJapan, but if buying it from iTunes UK means there’s more impetus to list her back catalogue, all the better!)

Tokyo Jihen’s new album Adult arrived in the post today. So of course I’ve been listening to it, and overall I have to say this album is much stronger than the first, Kyoiku. I per-ordered the limited edition ‘first pressing’, so the CD came in small box, with a bonus concert DVD (with only one track though) and a little scratch-n-sniff panel at the back of the CD insert with a special fragrance :)

The standout tracks so far have to be Tomei Ningen, Super Star and Yukiguni, which has a very dark feel, and is mostly Ringo-chan on her own with a piano. Certainly a lot different from the first, and has a lot of different musical styles interwoven throughout the album - almost as many as in Shiina Ringo’s outstanding, awe-inspiring Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana.

If you’ve never heard Tokyo Jihen or Shiina Ringo before, here’s some selected YouTube links for you:
Tokyo Jihen

• Toumei Ningen
• Shuraba
• Super Star
• YouTube search for Tokyo Jihen

Shiina Ringo

• Ringo no Uta
• Ringo no Uta (second version of the video)
• Identity - Good, old fashined rock’nroll.
• Meisai - I love this track, and I love the video too. From KSK.
• Yami ni Furu Ame - My favourite Shiina Ringo song. From Shouso Strip.
• Yattsuke Shigoto - One of my favourites from KSK. The closing bars, where a piano is played off against a harpsichord is my current ringtone.
• YouTube Shiina Ringo search.

Technorati Tags: Shiina Ringo, Tokyo Jihen

I bought tickets to see Mika Bomb months ago, and a week or so later got an email saying the show had been cancelled. I hung on to my tickets anyway (mostly as I was too lazy to take them for a refund), which turns out to be fortunate: the cancelled gig is back on. Tonight.

Mind you, I had to read about it in the morning edition of the Metro, and if they hadn’t used a picture I would have missed it entirely. So, the Mika Bomb show is back on, doors open at 8pm - and the final episodes of Funland are on at 10pm. I can’t decide whether to go see Mika Bomb or collapse at home after my Japanese class (which is also tonight…)

Shuraba arrived on Friday, and I’ve been listening to it over the weekend. On first hearing I wasn’t entirely convinced that I liked the title track, but on subsequent listening it’s certainly growing on me.

You can check out the video for Shuraba yourself: Toshibi-EMI are making it available as streaming media for the next few days, with a shorter version available from the 8th of November.

I’m a big Tokyo Jihen ( 東京事変) fan, so when new singles and albums are announced I tend to pre-order them. I got an email today letting me know that my pre-order of Shuraba has been shipped. The even better news is that it shipped a day early!

I also pre-ordered Adult (their second album) the other day, although I still have to wait until January before I get my hands on that one.

I posted recently about assumed identity and it’s impact on obtaining information about television programs I watch (via OTA broadcast) which direct me to a website I can’t access, and the impact on my music buying habits.

Phil Windley has offered up his comments on my frustrations, and associated the concept of assumed identity - or, as he eloquently puts it, presence (I like that term, it carries weighty connotations with it) - with Digital Rights Management.

One interesting side note to the whole issue of assumed identity and presence as an arbiter in DRM models is the case where I want to buy a certain album from iTunes, but it is only available to customers in a certain country. So I go to another provider such as an online store and buy the exact same album, for less, in it’s physical form, using the same payment card that iTunes won’t let me use to buy music.

And the music still ends up on my iPod.

Technorati Tags: Digital Identity, Itunes, DRM, Presence

I’ve discovered Last.fm, thanks to prodding from Julian Bond. I’d come across Audiscrobbler and Last.fm before, but not really paid much attention to them. I spent the time today, doing some searches for some of my favourite artists (椎名林檎, 東京事変, Judy and Mary, the brilliant green, Yuki) . After reading about the Last.fm audio player and ’similar radio stations’ I decided to give them a go - and I’m pretty much hooked now.

The most important thing is that it’s giving me a chance to listen to bands I’ve heard of, but not heard anything by. I can see that more of my music buying budget is going to drain away from iTunes towards CD Japan again…

New favourite album: Shoso Strip by Shiina Ringo. Go see… or go read…

I ordered these a week or so ago, and they finally arrived! Yes, they’re real, and yes, they’re delicious:

Melon Kitkat!

Lemon Cheesecake Kitkat!

I’d like to thank Viki at The Japan Connection for her wonderful site, and for making it possible to buy these special treats!