Semi-free way to check out some good J-tunes

[djgizmoe]

Just FYI, but if you're looking for a semi-free, totally legal way to check out some good Japanese music, check out Last.FM. Nowhere else I know of where (ala Yahoo's Launchcast) you can develop your own custom station with some really good J-tunes. For example, I've heard Ruins, Boredoms, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Takagi Masakatsu, Susumu Yokota, Judy and Mary, Yoshinori Sunahara, Ryoji Ikeda, 5.6.7.8's, Lolita No.18, Mad 3, a lot of good Benten label punk and garage stuff along with a lot of other cool indies stuff from Europe and elsewhere. Almost as addictive as FG.

Two caveats: First, the server looks like it's just a few guys on a shoestring budget, so there are always a lot of funky bugs. Second, after one month, you've got to pay for the best service, the Personal Radio. But it's a "pay whatever you want" Paypal thing. I pay like 2 euros a month, which is next to nothing...
http://www.last.fm/

[Mulboyne]

Good Link. Thanks.
If you are a Ruins fan, I've just seen this on pitchfork
Review of Korekyojin - Arabesque

His Ruins duo hijacked hardcore punk with the intention of bringing the savage theatrics of France's Magma, Italy's Area and Sweden's Samla Mammas Manna to an audience beyond the usual dark, clinical corridors of prog. Those three influences-- all particularly rare and exotic species-- would indicate Yoshida's penchant for obscure beasts, but his Korekyojin trio (also featuring Bondage Fruit guitarist Natsuki Kido and Altered States bassist Mitsuru Nasuno) reveals a more bloated collection of fossils: Led Zeppelin, Yes (circa Relayer, no less) and Rush. Yet, ever the organized paleontologist, Yoshida cleans and polishes his bones, removes the excess mud and clay, and constructs aggressive, razor-sharp skeletons of intimidating beauty and concision.