Category: Uncategorized
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JP ALT’s Best of January ’26
January Highlight: ass_atte- The Greatest Hits That Should Never End Following his 2024 release To be in Hell is to drift: to be in Heaven is to steer, home recording artist ass_atte released his latest EP in January. Featuring guest narration from bercedes menz member Wada Kazunari. This five track mini-album hosts a notable progression…
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THE SUSUMU HIRASAWA FILES #2:THE P-MODEL DAYS
New Year’s Day 1979, Hirasawa family house in Kameari, Tokyo. The members of freshly dead Mandrake and Susumu’s brother, Yuichi, sat around and discussed the band’s future. Progressive rock wasn’t cutting it anymore for Mandrake, and the growing pains connected to the genre’s decline in Japan propelled them to change their artistic direction. At the…
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In Retrospect: An Indie Pop Comp You’ve Probably Never Heard of Various Artists – Killermont Street 2001
Killermont Street 2001 is a diverse showcase of Japan’s rich indie pop scene in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Although released by LD&K, a smaller label most closely associated with the local Shibuya-kei scene, the content isn’t restrained to any one particular genre or style. Instead, you can expect to hear everything from bright…
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INTERVIEW: MITSURU TABATA -The Final Tabata
Photos by Alex Zucco From Boredoms to Acid Mother’s Temple, Mitsuru Tabata has an impressive and influential decades-long career of solo, band and collaborative projects, working alongside notable and renowned figures in Japanese and English music. Combining traditional Japanese folk-music and early post-punk in Noizunzuri, post-hardcore noise rock in his 20 years with Zeni Geva,…
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Japanese Alternative’s Guide to JP New Wave
Welcome to JP ALT’s introduction to Japanese new wave. New wave, or “new music” emerged in the late 70s and found prominence in the early 80s. While its roots are heavily tied to the new romantic movement which overwhelmed the UK in the 80s, Japanese new wave is often forgotten in the new wave history…
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(ESSAY) Yellow Magic: YMO, Mirrors, and the Reversal of Orientalist Gaze
“YMO’s music and thoughts function like a mirror, reflecting how the West looks at the East, and also how the East looks back at itself from that gaze.” Yellow Magic: YMO, Mirrors, and the Reversal of Orientalist Gaze “YMO’s music and thoughts function like a mirror, reflecting how the West looks at the East, and…
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JP ALT’s Best of ’25
JP ALT’s Seb, Emily and Cam pick their favorite releases of 2025. This list is not ranked, and exists to showcase the best projects released in the past year, spanning from mellow indie rock to wildly experimental noise. Seb’s picks The Dresscodes- † For me, the current musical landscape lacks bands like the great 90s…
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“My Character is That I Do Not Want to Be On The Side With Power”:In Conversation With Botsu of Dos Monos
“My character is that I do not want to be on the side with power.”
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Welcome to JP ALT
What are we here for and who the hell are we?
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SUSUMU HIRASAWA FILES #1- THE MANDRAKE DAYS
The beginnings of Susumu Hirasawa’s legendary career