This week’s episode includes the latest from KMF, Christopher Shayne, Novanta, Luna Rosa, Mark Anthony, and the Blue Soap Music Blue Soap Box Top 10 in independent tracks.
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The Mootekkis Release Against the Ropes (The Week in #Indie Segment)
Tokyo’s The Mootekkis are one of those bands that deliver the musical goods every time. And I mean every time. And this time is no exception with the uber-catchy ‘poptastically’ decadent track that is ‘Against the Ropes’, from their new album ‘Pucker Up‘ (check out our review HERE).
The video above gives the quirky story of love lost, found, and lost again on the epic streets of Tokyo while the band plays on. The video harks back to the glory days of MTV and solidifies the band’s stature as one of those #indie bands that truly get it. Look, and sound like a million bucks and, guess what, you’re a million bucks.
‘Pucker Up’, from The Mootekkis is out now. Get your copy HERE.
The Mootekkis
This booze-loving Tokyo-based 5-piece – Australian, American and 3 Japanese – garage rock’n’roll band was formed midway through 2008 by Jude (guitar) and Mike (vox) and two years later were featured on the front cover of Japanzine after winning the magazine’s nation-wide battle of the bands with their 2010 EP track “Hey…What You Want?”.More recently a number of their tracks from 2014 debut album “Heckling the Dawn” have been used for the Skateboarding Japan podcast while their tune “The Whiskey” is the theme music for drinkers and skaters delight podcast Got Faded Japan.
Prior to this, in August 2012 they embarked on a 10-day tour of New York where they played Manhattan hot spots Bowery Electric and Piano’s as well as New Haven’s Elm Bar and a handful of basement and loft parties in Brooklyn – before this trip 2 members had never been outside Japan.
Brooklyn’s Ishmael Osekre, an organizer of the festival Aputumpu, had this to say after seeing The Mootekkis at a Bushwick loft party: “This was pure rock’n’roll in a way that most people around here haven’t seen for a long time…it was just amazing.”
The Mootekkis have had the good fortune of having a lot of good people behind them. In 2013 they crowdfunded their debut album and in 2014 they finished in the top 10 of Tokyo’s 126 bands trying to earn a spot at Summer Sonic thanks to immense local and foreign support.
They’re truly humbled and wholly committed to giving rock’n’roll lovers something new with decades of respect for what has come before.
The Mootekkis are:
Mike (vocals)
Jude (rhythm/lead)
Koji (rhythm/lead)
Yo’cchan (bass)
Takahiro (drums)LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/themootekkis
https://twitter.com/themootekkis
https://themootekkis.bandcamp.com -
Brim Liski Premieres ‘A Different View’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)
It has been seven years since their latest album, their previous one being ‘The Repetitions’ album in 2012. They released their eponymous ‘Brim Liski’ album in 2009.
Brim Liski presents a blend of electro, goth and future pop that is slightly gazey. This is a mixture of the diverse sounds both artists bring to the table, becoming something a bit different than the typical electroclash that is currently out there.
Their music is inspired by epic sounds you might imagine occurring in the cosmos. This is dark, limitless night music perfect for driving down an endless moon drenched highway.
“Like the EP as a whole, ‘A Different View’, is about the challenge of acceptance to new unexplored territories in our lives. Making big changes. Accepting things aren’t working and to move on. I personally had many issues blocking me from being who I wanted and needed to be,” says Ryan Policky.
“I had been falling victim to acceptance to things I should be pushing away, and once those things were fully pushed out of the picture, things became that much clearer. Just like the discoveries of new galaxies, formations on other planets, and other unknowns, the focus is becoming more apparent as technology and time move on.”
Brim Liski may have formed in 2008, but they sound more closely resembles a band from 2024. Their music is about as cosmic and dreamy as Saturn’s Hexagon, which also features on the cover art of their new EP.
Today Brim Liski is a duo comprised of experimental multi-versed digital artist Cacheflowe (aka Justin Gitlin) and Ryan Policky, who is vocalist and producer for renowned prog-gazers A Shoreline Dream.
“I had been working with Justin at an ad agency – working on games for a bunch of entertainment projects for Sony and the like. I found out his passion for music production and we instantly hit it off. He had been working on material and setting up PR for his project, Cacheflowe, and I was working super hard on getting A Shoreline Dream up and going,” says Policky.
“We exchanged ideas and eventually started working on remixes, eventually leading to Brim Liski, which was a side project for both of us, but an important one. One of my dearest girlfriends Michelle Brim had just passed away, and I was torn apart. Brim Liski, named in her memory, became that passion project to get those emotions out, and I was lucky enough to have Justin’s talent help bring it to life.”
With strong initial support from XLR8R and Filter Magazine, it was clear that Brim Liski’s videos feel more like a blurred out dream being torn apart by technology. Their unique and dramatic live shows blend the art of dynamic installations and vivid colors.
LINKS:
http://www.brimliski.com
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Brim-Liski-589032774456227
https://twitter.com/brimliski
https://twitter.com/latenightwn
https://www.instagram.com/brimliski
https://brimliski.bandcamp.com/album/duels
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/brim-liski/334774461
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2D1djVg5W8mSqKuZiMvajn?si=NFlh7qSLQZCmgUl28h9EkA -
Bentley Jones Premieres ‘I Could Be Your Girl’ Video (The Week in #Indie Segment)
Bentley Jones has just dropped his new video titled ‘I Could Be Your Girl’. Bentley is one of those artists that, when he releases something, I quietly think to myself ‘About time…’. I say this because he is a constantly and truly evolving artist. Each release is somewhat of a reinvention of both the artist and the music. This is just as true with ‘I Could Be Your Girl’.
The video is at times hypnotic and captivating yet gives that sense of solace and yearning. A dark longing for love and romantic closeness in a time of social distancing lending to that certain something we all feel at times, especially these times, in that we all need someone. I hear the words ‘Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’ when I first watched this video and now those words have a meaning to me. This is a message to the world that beauty is more than sexual and sultry; it’s something we all have, and by knowing that you can get the deeper meaning of the music.
to me, Bentley is an artist who deserves everything he’s worked for and worked very hard for. Now entering his tenth year as an artist, he is just as fresh and new as ever and it shows.
Click HERE to watch Season 6 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.
Click HERE to watch Season 5 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.
Click HERE to watch Season 4 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.
Click HERE to watch Season 3 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.
Click HERE to watch Season 2 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.
Click HERE to watch Season 1 of Jammerzine’s ‘The Week in #Indie’.ABOUT BENTLEY JONES
Bentley is continuing his reign as an independent pop pioneer by wrapping up his 10th anniversary before launching a brand new 2020 album. He has single-handedly amassed over 40 million sales and gathered remix credits for the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, Kygo & Whitney Houston, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga (who also follows him on Twitter).
If that wasn’t enough, he’s contributed scores to some of the world’s best-known franchises like “The X-Files”, “Tekken”, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, “Gradius”, “Titan Wars” and “QQ Dance”. With a taste of international success as a producer Ben looked further afield to make his debut as a recording artist before planting his roots – unintentionally – as far away from home as possible.
After taking a risk signing the first-ever British artist to release a Japanese album on a major label, EMI-Universal tested audiences with the debut single “Sunaoninaretara FINAL NIGHT”. Without any promotion or radio play, Bentley sold over 30,000 copies placing the song in the top 5 of Japan’s International Chart and cemented his stature as an international breakthrough artist.
Bentley continued his success in Japan with various projects including the 2012 album “UPGRADE 1.0” which saw him collaborate and perform with native artists for the first time including May J. She was enamored by Ben’s sound and called on him to write and produce for her next album. Ben’s work also caught the attention of May J.’s record label AVEX who signed him to their management arm as he became the first-ever foreign writer and first-ever foreign producer to join Japan’s biggest music company. Ironic that it was also the same management label of Ayumi Hamasaki who offered her personal approval of Bentley’s debut at the start of his Japanese career.
His first independent English EP “So Much More…” including the title track which was featured in the number 1 selling video-game “SEGA All-stars Racing”. It also featured 1 of 3 songs that received a staggering 1.1million streams in just 5 days after a promotion with the US social network Gaia Online. The sequel album “TRANS//LATION 2” made Bentley the 19th most viewed musician on YouTube the week of its release and his adaptation of the theme from “Devil May Cry 4” has accumulated 1.7 million streams.
Realizing he could continue his success as a fully independent artist, Bentley unleashed 2015’s “The Rebellion” to critical acclaim; “Articulate, brilliant and haunting.” (BuzzJack) “The must-listen-to album of 2015.” (Muzikman) “Let this album be an inspiration to us all.” (J-Wave’s 25 Best Indie Albums of 2015). 2017’s “Unravelling” was also a smash with critics being described as “powerful and meaningful… Bentley has bounced back better than ever!” (Essentially Pop) and became his highest-earning independent album at the time with over 310,000 sales.
Bentley’s 10th anniversary has been the colossal celebration we’ve come to expect from such a reputable artist. Proceedings kicked off at the end of 2018 with a live performance on Japan’s prestigious music show “Nodojiman THE WORLD!” (12.1 million viewers) which coincided with the release of his Japanese single “Lay Down on My Heart”. The song was premiered in the UK by BBC Radio and was the first-ever J-pop song broadcast by BBC Introducing leading to Bentley being awarded the “Sound of 2019” (BBC).
His 10th-anniversary album “Translated” – a celebration of his Japan debut – gained 270,000 sales during its summer release resulting in his decision to reside in Japan where he headlined at the Tokyo Summer Bon Festival. He’s even found time to compose music for the upcoming “Titan Wars” video-game, the theme song for From Aqua Mineral Water commercial, the main theme of the AVEX Influencer Academy as well as continue working with Asian artists such as Carrie Lai and DJ KOO (TRF).
ABOUT ‘I COULD BE YOUR GIRL’
His bold new image – an enticing amalgamation of muscles, stilettos, lace, and skin that celebrates his fluidity, sexuality, and defiance – is a telling statement of the difficult journey he’s been on to get here. Following acclaim from Billboard Japan (“a must-listen-to artist”), BBC Radio (“incredible”, Sound of 2019) and Miami Beach Pride (“an LGBTQ+ icon”), independent pop juggernaut Bentley Jones is finally delighting fans with lead single “I Could Be Your Girl” (out now) – a delicious slice of sultry, sexy pop R&B that (according to Jones) “was composed almost entirely in a dream.”
Bentley has enjoyed a considerable amount of success in Japan, which is why last year he turned his entire life upside down and moved to Tokyo. At first, he flourished; performing on the prestigious TV show “Nodojiman THE WORLD!” to 12.1 million viewers and headlining the Tokyo Bon Summer Festival.
However, the company promising to sponsor his visa – as well as provide promotion and touring for a new album – suddenly about-turned and began pulling their support from a contract they had been negotiating for months. As Bentley explains in a video blog, the company said he was “too controversial” and became “worried about what people will think”.
Ben made the heart-breaking decision to walk away from the contract and return home to the UK.
“After working so hard and risking everything, it was soul-destroying,” Ben expresses. “But this album and these songs are fundamental to who I am and what I stand for. It feels amazing to finally start releasing them exactly the way I intended.”
Last month Ben helped raise over $14,000 for community aid performing at Pride Collective – a virtual festival formed by the several US Prides. Miami Beach Pride was so impressed they selected Bentley to represent them at Global Pride on June 27th where he will make the first-ever live performance of “Girl” alongside such legends as Adam Lambert, Kesha, Todrick Hall and more.
“I Could Be Your Girl” is out everywhere now, with the music video following on June 19th.
LINKS:
http://www.bentleyjones.com
http://www.facebook.com/BentleyJonesMusic
http://twitter.com/Bentley_Jones
http://www.youtube.com/BentleyJonesMusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/BentleyJones