My adventures in Japanese Tower Records Land continued… I was ready and went up to the counter to pay for the “Good Morning” CD by Special Others. There was a little stack of cellophane CD cases to my side so I flipped one around and read it. “Take Free!!” was printed on the CD. A free CD? I tossed one in my bag without seeing who/what it was for as I left the store. “I might check it out”, I thought.

This CD is a free promo disc for the band All Japan Goith titled “アッパレRADIO” (AppareRADIO). It’s a promotional for their 1st full-length album, “アッパレスト” (Apparesuto), which goes on sale on January 24th.

All Japan Goith is a ska/rock band from Okinawa that formed at a university festival in 2001. The band is comprised of Chome (vocals), Enna (trumpet), TetsuG (trombone), TA-SHI (saxophone), MoCky (guitar), HamaSHOW (trumpet), Suguru (bass), and Matto (drums). That’s 8 members (7 guys, 1 girl) plus their toon mascot (Goith-kun). They’ve recently gained more popularity by touring with their friends and fellow Okinawans, the mega-popular band Orange Range.

I was impressed with “アッパレRADIO”. It’s 7-tracks of coolness done in the format of a radio show/podcast. Each track consists of a song (whole or clip) with commentary and more from the band members (hosted by TetsuG and HamaSHOW with the other members as “guests”).

Personally, I think this is a great marketing strategy. Giving away free CD’s seems pretty expensive but it works really well. Others like and myself may never hear of All Japan Goith if not for such a promotional device. I can at least consciously say that the free CD-thing worked on me. I’d like to pick up a copy of All Japan Goith’s first album when it’s released.

If I had to pick a favorite song, it’d have to be “秋風” (Aki Kaze, Autumn Wind). From what I’ve seen, it’s probably their most popular as well.

Here’s the promo, “アッパレRADIO” version of “秋風”:

[audio:http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/1/12/632671/akikaze.mp3]
“秋風” (Aki Kaze)

All Japan Goith offcial site, official blog/podcast