Tokyo's Coolest Sound

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1. Nomiya Maki's 30th anniversary concert
   Text by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound. Photos by Kasuga Miwa. On Monday March 19, I went to Nomiya Maki's 30th anniversary concert held at O-East, coincidentally (?) almost the same place where was held Pizzicato Five's last concert...
   Posted on March 23, 2012 at 22:31
2. Portable Rock "Lost & Found"
   Portable Rock, the 80's band fronted by Nomiya Maki, has a new CD coming! This contains 2 songs that had remained unreleased back in the day, one of which surfaced on Maki's 30th anniversary album "30". Both songs have lyrics...
   Posted on March 4, 2012 at 18:39
3. Various Artists "Hatsune Miku sings New Wave"
   Out this week is this new Hatsune Miku compilation of new wave covers sung by the virtual idol. Included are songs originally by Plastics, Nomiya Maki, Portable Rock, Juicy Fruits, Hikashu, P-Model, Halmens, Cosmic Invention and more. The compilation is...
   Posted on October 25, 2011 at 00:24
4. Portable Rock "Beginnings + 5"
   Portable Rock was an 80's techno-pop band featuring Nomiya Maki (later of Pizzicato Five) with Suzuki Tomofumi (guitar) and Nakahara Nobuo (bass). First released in 1990, "Beginnings" is a collection of early recordings, now being reissued with 5 rare bonus...
   Posted on October 19, 2011 at 23:46

1. Nomiya Maki "30 ~Greatest Self Covers & More!!!~"
   Let's start 2012 with a bang! Finally here's a new album by Nomiya Maki! This time she celebrates 30 years of her singing career by doing self-covers in collaboration with various other artists. Featured are Cornelius, Kaji Hideki, Takahashi Yukihiro,...
   Posted on January 2, 2012 at 13:00
2. Vanilla Beans & Negicco release day in-store event
   Text by Patrick for Tokyo's Coolest Sound This week was the release of Vanilla Beans' 2nd full-length original album "Vanilla Beans II"! They are now touring several record stores around the Kantō area in a promotion rush, but it all...
   Posted on July 24, 2011 at 00:00
3. Vanilla Beans "tengoku e no kaidan (Stairway To Heaven)"
   Vanilla Beans are back this summer with a 2nd original album coming in July, but first here's a "one-coin" single that contains new covers of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" (!) and Pizzicato Five's "Baby Portable Rock", along with two...
   Posted on June 25, 2011 at 19:43
4. Vanilla Beans & Negicco press conference
   Text and photos by Patrick Benny for Tokyo's Coolest Sound Tonight was a special press conference for idol groups Vanilla Beans and Negicco, held at Tower Records Shibuya's Stage One venue downstairs. It was in a way open to the...
   Posted on June 3, 2011 at 23:58
5. Sweet Jam Style "Shibuya-kei Bossa"
   Bossa nova cover project Sweet Jam Style's first release is a collection of Shibuya-kei classics. Included are hit songs by Pizzicato Five, Cornelius, Kahimi Karie, Original Love, Flipper's Guitar and Ozawa Kenji. The album features various female vocalists, and is...
   Posted on July 20, 2010 at 22:10
6. Moonriders "Moonriders Live at Shinjuku Loft 2006.4.15" (DVD)
   Moonriders have a live DVD coming up next month, of their 30th anniversary show where they shared the stage with Portable Rock! If it includes encores, as it seems to do, that would mean that you can catch Nomiya Maki...
   Posted on November 30, 2008 at 21:01
7. The 30th Anniversary of NYLON100%
   Celebrating the 30th anniversary of NYLON100%, a café/bar that was located in Shibuya from the late 70's throughout the 80's (now defunct) and had an important place in Japan's punk and new wave scene, a bunch of artists from the...
   Posted on May 1, 2008 at 13:44
8. arcorhyme and the Soundmatic Circle of Friends vol.2
   arcorhyme, the unit of Takanami K-taro (ex-Pizzicato Five) and singer Nishimura Ikuyo, brings us one of their biggest events so far. It will be the first time that they perform on stage in Tokyo with their all-star recording members, so...
   Posted on April 8, 2008 at 17:30
9. arcorhyme "amai hibi ~la douce vie~" & "Soundmatic Brain"
   arcorhyme, the new unit of Takanami K-tarō (ex-Pizzicato Five) featuring Nishimura Ikuyo (ex-devbacc), finally has some CD releases coming up! In January we will be treated to not one but two albums! The first, "amai hibi ~la douce vie~", is...
   Posted on November 15, 2007 at 10:51
10. Various Artists "Technoroid - Japanese 80's New Wave Sampler"
    This 80's new wave compilation features many gems and rarities, several of the songs even being available for the first time on CD. Not only for maniacs, it's definitely a good opportunity to get accustomed with many leaders of Japan's...
    Posted on June 27, 2006 at 16:51
11. Portable Rock live
    Believe it or not, Portable Rock, Nomiya Maki's mid-80's band, is back on stage once this April! Also playing are the Moonriders. Shinjuku Loft 30th Anniversary "Rock of Ages 2006" on 4/15 at Shinjuku Loft Live: Portable Rock Moonriders Cinema...
    Posted on February 16, 2006 at 23:19
12. Pizzicato Five "we love you", "I love you" + 15 re-releases
    A 5th anniversary of the break-up can't go without a bang... As you can see below, most of Pizzicato Five's Columbia catalog is being re-released on the new columbia*readymade label. Pay particular attention to the two new greatest hits albums...
    Posted on January 13, 2006 at 14:28