Japanese hip-hop duo m-flo just released their latest remix album, electriCOLOR.

electriCOLOR is the remix release of COSMICOLOR, their latest original album released earlier this year. The album’s formal title is electriCOLOR: Complete Remix.
When they say ‘complete’ they mean complete. electriCOLOR features a 2-disc set and 44 total tracks!
Disc 1 is the actual COSMICOLOR [...]

The Japanese rock band The Birthday blends both old and new in multiple ways.

The Birthday was formed in 2006 by a group of veteran rockers. Lead by frontman Chiba Yusuke, the former lead singer of Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and vocalist for ROSSO, The Birthday has decades of rock experience under their belts.
Vocalist [...]

So I finally picked up a copy of Kanye West’s new album Graduation.
While spinning the CD in my stereo I was flipping through the album book. We’ve all seen the cover of Kanye’s album but I never questioned who the artist behind the work was. I just thought, “that looks cool”.
All the art on [...]

With popular artists releasing so many singles, the CD cover artists in Japan must be busy.
Japanese hip-hop artist SEAMO’s (シーモ, Shiimo) latest single “軌跡” (Kiseki, miracle) is coming out. Listeners can hopefully expect an album due out soon as well (though there is no official word as of late).
Since 2005, SEAMO has released 8 [...]

After what seems like forever, KREVA’s new album is finally here!
The stylish Japanese emcee dropped his new album in the early part of September. His long-awaited 3rd album, よろしくお願いします (Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu) hit stores and quickly entered the Oricon Album charts Top 10.
The time in between the first single and the final release of the [...]

Quite a bit has happened so far this month dealing with the Space Race 2.0 or whatever you want to call the recent surge of interest.
First off is the most exciting, Google and the X Foundation just teamed up. They are offering $30 million in rewards for the first privately funded rover to [...]

Hinouchi Emi’s latest single is…well, “goodie”.
The Japanese songstress Hinouchi Emi (日之内エミ) recently released her new single titled “GOODIE MEMORIES”. The vocalist, who gained fame from her collaborations with hip-hop duo m-flo and was pretty much discovered by m-flo’s Taku Takahashi, is once again actively pursuing her solo career.
Released on Sept. 5, “GOODIE MEMORIES” is [...]

m-flo has been holding it down on the Japanese popular hip-hop scene since the turn of the century. Since 1999, the iconic group has released 5 full-length albums, remix albums, 2 best-of collections, over 20 singles, and more.
Here at SparkPlugged, I compiled a list of my favorite m-flo LPs countdown-style. My thoughts on each [...]

The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, just announced his plans to resign, with less than 1 year in office. He stated political reasons; however, Abe was hospitalized shortly afterwards. How much of it was based on his health vs his political career remains to be seen.
His popularity as of recent has taken [...]

“New Legend” is the fittingly-titled single off of Galneryus’s latest album.
The premiere power metal band from Osaka, Japan recently released their fourth album, ONE FOR ALL - ALL FOR ONE and along with it, the single “New Legend”.
Syu (lead guitar), Yama-B (vocals), Yu-To (bass), Yuhki (keyboards), and Satoh (drums) strike back with another fast [...]