ArtistoftheWeek: Gentleman Reg 7/30/12-8/6/12

Gentleman Reg's vocals are very different than many musicians out their that it can catchy your ears like Rihanna's vocals. His previous releases were very much of a singer/songwriter style. Throughout his music career you could hear how much he's grown as a musician by listening to the songs from his debut album to his recent songs. They became more profound, more relatable and of course, more catchy.
I found out about Gentleman Reg from a movie I watched called Wilby Wonderful because it had Ellen Page in it. I heard his song, "Given The Chance To Fall" play at the beginning of the film and was instantly hooked to his music. Mostly because of his different vocal style and catchy yet simplistic sounds. I then checked out his song, "We're In A Thunderstorm" when Psapp remixed it and found out about his album Jet Black that released in 2009 and  was introduced to even more powerful and soothing songs for that everyday life.
Now, Gentleman Reg is coming back with a hard hit this year. He's kind of been out of the picture with his last release. He's releasing the new album in three parts, he's released the first part on July 3rd and let me tell you, if the songs on the first one represents the style of the album, I'm giving it a five star rating. It's songs filled with pop/rock elements and relatable lyrics that you can easily remember and sing to in your car. I'm sure that Mr. Reg himself would appreciate the love if you recorded yourself actually doing that. I have to say I am excited for the new album and will purchase it when it comes out this fall!

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Purchase his music here! Listen to his music here!

Free Downloads
Give Me The Chance To Fall
Selective Songs From Jet Black
We're In A Thunderstorm (Psapp's Megacake Remix)
Waiting Around For Gold

~His look reminds me of Winter~

ArtistoftheWeek:Kyary Pamyu Pamyu 7/16/12-7/23/12

If you haven't heard about PONPONPON then you should check it out now before I start off.
Now that we've caught you up to speed (or got you back on this page after hours of being lost in Youtube) we can talk about the success of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and her music.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu started out as a Harajuku model at the age of 14. She's kept up with the world by keeping a blog telling people about her travels and her photo shoots. She had fun modeling with food, machines, and creatures made from paper-mache but after a few years of doing all this she developed the desire to sing, so she released an indies track (in Japan unknown releases are called "indies") and got a little bit of recognition from people, but not enough. One day, Yasutaka Nakata took a look at Kyary and said, "I'mma make you a star", and the rest was history. She worked with him in the studio while he was also working with, Capsule, MEG, Perfume, Ami Suzuki, Coltemonikha, SMAP, the list goes on and on. I don't know how in God's name he does it (Adderral) but nonetheless he took the girl, worked on her with a few tracks and released the "PONPONPON" music video and single worldwide on July 16th 2011.
*Today is the anniversary of PONPONPON.*
The world responded to the music video in various ways, in shock, fear, enjoyment, fun, judgement and addiction. The music video has received more than 20 million views and people are still watching it even after a year of it being out. She then released an EP titled Moshi Moshi Harajuku which topped Electronic charts all over the world especially in the US. After that she released two new singles, "Tsukema Tsukeru" and "CANDY CANDY". The music videos for the two songs are ranking up in millions in views as well.
In May 2012, she released her debut album Pamyu Pamyu Revolution. This album topped the charts in both Japan and America (US iTunes Electronic #1 & Oricon Charts #2). The album has been well-received by critics and fans of KPP. Kyary has toured a little bit in the US and has been played on American radio stations (in California but hey that's a start). It'll be great to see where this success with take Kyary, Yasutaka Nakata and Jpop in the future.
Free Downloads
Chodo Iino (English lyrics)
Drinker (English lyrics)
Jelly [Capsule Cover]

~Keep Calm & PONPONPON~