ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s eighth annual NANO-MUGEN FES is just two weeks away and as of July 1st, fans can preview what this year’s edition is all about with the NANO-MUGEN FES compilation album. Festival season is a great time of year, isn’t it!?

NANO-MUGEN FES.2009 runs for two days and features 14 bands from Japan, the UK, and the US. Here’s the breakdown that proves NANO-MUGEN ’09 will be amazing:

Bands playing on both Sunday, July 19th & Monday, July 20th:
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
Manic Street Preachers – UK
Ben Folds – US
Nada Surf – US
Hard-Fi – US
The Young Punx – UK

Bands playing on Sunday, July 19th:
STRAIGHTENER (ストレイテナー)
the HIATUS
OGRE YOU ASSHOLE
Kiyoshi Ryujin (清 竜人)

Bands playing on Monday, July 20th:
SPITZ (スピッツ)
UNICORN (ユニコーン)
Sakanaction (サカナクション)
Farrah – UK

If I had to pick one day to go to, I’d probably want to show up on the 20th. While I’d really love OGRE YOU ASSHOLE and would like to see STRAIGHTENER and the HIATUS, Monday will be epic for many reasons. There’s the mega-success of SPITZ, the history and influence of Tamio Okuda’s UNICORN, and Sakanaction is near the top of my must-see-live list.

The NANO-MUGEN Compilation 2009 offers a great preview for those planning on going to the festival but if you can’t make it, it’s like the one-song set concert in a case. Although there are only 14 artists scheduled for the actual festival, the album boasts 17 tracks. Extras include songs from mudy on the sakuban (mudy on the 昨晩), lostage, and Gregory and the Hawk, which are most likely on there because of schedule changes.

Tracklist, please:

01. “夜のコール” (Call of the Night) – ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
02. “Zak And Sara” – Ben Folds
03. “Stereotypes” – Farrah
04. “Oats We Sow” – Gregory and the Hawk
05. “Suburan Knights” – Hard-Fi
06. “Silver Birch” – the HIATUS
07. “Morning Sun” – Kiyoshi Ryujin
08. “SURRENDER” – lostage
09. “Everything Must Go” – Manic Street Preachers
10. “Marm” – mudy on the sakuban
11. “Weightless” – Nada Surf
12. “ピンホール” (Pinhole) – OGRE YOU ASSHOLE
13. “ナイトフィッシングイズグッド” (Night Fishing is Good) – Sakanaction
14. “8823″ – SPITZ
15. “Magic Blue Van” – Straightener
16. “Rock Star -Understand-” – The Young Punx
17. “HELLO 蘇えるライブバージョン”, (HELLO Yomigaeru Live Version) – UNICORN

For more info on NANO-MUGEN FES.2009, check out the official site (there’s English!) and buy the NANO-MUGEN Compilation.