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!)

In what is clearly a victory for monster rock, Lordi have won Eurovision 2006!

I’ve been listening to Last.fm a lot recently, trying to find new music to listen to. So here’s some new suggestions for listening enjoyment:

Youjeen
Love Psychedelico (retro rock)
Melt Banana (noisecore)

Time to go spend some more money with CD Japan. It’s a real shame I can’t buy these via iTunes…

A number of site are reporting that DRM dramatically reduces the battery life of portable MP3 players, in some cases up to 25% (but only 8% for iPods apparently). My own iPod has a great problem with the battery going flat if I leave it unplugged (and switched off!) for more than a day, so I’ve taken to leaving it plugged into the charger overnight, every night.

I’ve not noticed much problem with DRM tracks chewing up battery life though, as the vast majority of music on my MP3 player comes from CDs I own - because my local iTunes Digital Music Store doesn’t sell music from my favourite artist (even though she sells millions of records a year…)

Her music is available of iTunes Japan, but I’m not allowed to spend money there.

Technorati Tags: mp3, iPod, DRM, Shiina Ringo

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 had to go visit the AlienPants servers today to effect a repair to a blown piece of network kit. On the way back, I took this photo:

which looks suspiciously like the station escalator used in Judy and Mary’s video for Music Fighter:

Freaky, huh?