[Press-N-Play®] Momoiro Clover Z vs Kiss - "Yume no Ukiyo ni Saite Mi na"

UM...HOW DID THIS HAPPEN, AND HOW AM I JUST LEARNING ABOUT IT?!?!

Despite my not owning any records, CDs or even a single mp3 track by the legendary rock group KISS, I still have a soft spot for 'em that dates back to my days as a lil' crumb snatcher. This is mainly because–aside from their super cool-looking visuals and superhero-like alter egos–the band had a series of toys made in their image (by MEGO), and a comic book published by Marvel (Marvel Comics Super Special #1, 1977). 

In addition to that serious soft spot for KISS, I have a fanatical love of anime that dates back to childhood. I've mentioned before how old school Japanese import TV 'toons like Prince Planet, Speed Racer, Starblazers, Battle of the Planets, Captain Harlock and others helped make me into the big ol' otaku that I am today. 

Well, the video for "Yume no Ukiyo ni Saite Mi na" ("Try to Bloom in a Dream About the Floating World") is giving me all the feels. The idol group Momoiro Clover Z did this rockin' lil ditty as a collabo with KISS back in 2015. I didn't know anything about it, though, until 10 or so minutes ago. So I'm postin' it here, cuz I know I'm not alone. 

And no, it's not subtitled in English. Deal widdit.

I mean enjoy!

[Press-N-Play®] Ice Box Baby – HUTOCCHO MAMA

Judging the CD by its old school influenced cover, the last thing a listener might ever expect to hear mixed into this 10-track album of retro and internationally seasoned pop music from Ice Box Baby (a mid-1990s here-today-and-gone-the-day-after J-Pop group) is a head bobbin' hip-hop track. But the listener's ears are tossed a dizzying curve ball with "Hutoccho Mama," track five on the group's immensely enjoyable 二人の夏曜日(1995). Paying homage to uptempo rap jams like JJ Fad's "Supersonic" and Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It," "Hutoccho Mama" features Ice Box Baby kickin' the back and forth rhyme ballistics over a booming 808 bass line, and doing it like true school queens of rap. Yours truly has absolutely no idea how much play "Hutoccho Mama" got when it was released as a single back in the day, but he hopes that it somehow saw its fair share of pretend 'hootchie mamas' up in the club, moving their lil' rump shakers on the dance floor, and rapping right along with every well placed word.

Cho kawaii!! – Crystal Kay interviews Alicia Keys

[Press-N-Play®] Finger 5 – I Want You Back (Jackson 5 cover)

Yes, The download link on the old Finger 5 post on YKFS has been broken for a while, so... "I Want You Back" is being made available again here for a limited time. (Meaning for as long as the free downloads last.) You're welcome.

Beat Fighter II – RUN-DMC vs. SNSD

In the early days of hip-hop parties, before any actual rap records were produced, the ten-second intro of Bob James' jazz-fusion masterpiece "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" was a party starting staple-- not that it ever had to be played at the beginning of a party, per se. But it was likely that at some point during a jam those valued ten seconds would be hyper-extended by a deejay who'd bounce between double copies twirling on parallel turntables. For the many of us who were exposed to hip-hop in the era of actual rap records, the first time the "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" intro was ever heard was most likely by way of "Piper Piper", the smash second single from Run-DMC's 1986 album, Raising Hell. Now three decades later (Four, actually, since its original 1975 incarnation!), the South Korean pop group Girl's Generation, aka SNSD, has breathed sexy new life into James' finely-aged jazz-fusion jam with the late 2013 release of the K-Pop hit, "Lips."

Press play 'n' enjoy.

[Press-N-Play®] Run-DMC – Peter Piper
[Press-N-Play®] Girl's Generation – Lips

The Sweet Taste of KJAMM

There are a few J-Pop podcasts to which I'm currently subscribed. At timely and sometimes not so timely intervals each one will download automatically to my mp3 player to serve up a tasty new batch of East Asian audio treats. The best of these, averaging three episodes per month and thus being the one I enjoy the most often -- as well as simply the most -- is the very affable KJAMM podcast. Devoted to the modern music of Korea and Japan, the show is hosted by the sweet-n-sexy Sam Brown, the diva-licious Jon Black and the willing 'n' able Abe White. With each episode the trio lovingly caters to listeners a very thoughtful mix of contemporary 'jamms' that range from r&b, pop and hip-hop to electro rock, dance and even jazz (apparently just to make sure the show provides all of the essential vitamins and minerals a growing ghost in the shell needs). On top of the musical main courses, each episode also offers various side dishes of pop culture laced opinion and commentary--courtesy of the multiple-personality disorders of the show's insanely quick-witted hosts. The 26th of January brought the hardworking KJAMM crew to the show's 50th episode, a noteworthy notch on the belt of any such labor of love. If you, like I do, often find yourself famished for the newest sounds in K and J-Pop (Yeah, it's filling--but then you're hungry again twenty minutes later, right?), pour yourself a cup of jasmine tea, grab a hot buttered biscuit and spread on a honeyed heap of KJAMM. The show is available at iTunes™, PodOmatic™ and through other fine podcast providers.

St. Paco
Your Kung Fu Sucks