Watching paint dry was one of my habits as a child. I was so good at it that eventually people began to expect it of me, and started to compare my normal day-to-day activities with it. “KJI, you like stamp collecting?” they would ask me. “That’s as interesting as watching paint dry.” No it wasn’t, watching paint dry was definitely better.

As an adult, I witnessed two innovations in my hobby. One was the emergence of youtube, which made it so I no longer had to personally lay down paint in order to watch it dry; instead I could watch it dry online in high definition, in various speeds for those days that I was lacking time. The second one happened fairly recently, and was the “World Watching Paint Dry Championship.” Unfortunately I was out of shape during this and could not participate, but I’m looking forward to next year.

Okay, that was all a lie.

However, watching Radwimp’s newest PV “白日”(bright sunshine) is better than watching paint dry. Instead you get to watch candles melt and the sunrise.

The song is much more interesting than the video, though! 白日 was recorded all in one day, for the anniversary of the March 11th Touhoku earthquake and tsunami. Sound-wise, many people have compared their emotional singing to Bump of Chicken.

Radwimp’s post on the song can be seen on their official blog here.

SPACE SHOWER TV named the winners for this year’s MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS. The winner’s music videos were selected from 50 nominees and the categories look to have been slashed from last year’s 18 to just 5. The number of awards handed out may have changed but the winners of BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR didn’t. Sakanaction (サカナクション) takes home the grand prize for the second year in a row with their “Bach No Senritsu Wo Yoru Ni Kiita Sei Desu” (バッハの旋律を夜に聴いたせいです。) video. Coincidentally, it was also SparkPlugged’s Neaux’s top selection of 2011. Great minds…

Here’s the list of winners:

BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Sakanaction (サカナクション) – “Bach No Senritsu Wo Yoru Ni Kiita Sei Desu” (バッハの旋律を夜に聴いたせいです)

BEST ARTIST
Tokyo Jihen (東京事変)

BEST YOUR CHOICE
Maximum the Hormone (マキシマム ザ ホルモン)

BEST DIRECTOR
Shimizu Yasuhiko (清水康彦), director of RADWIMPS’ “DADA” and videos for Maximum the Hormone.

SPECIAL AWARD #1
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) – “PONPONPON”

SPECIAL AWARD #2
androp – “Bright Siren”

Congrats to the winners. Here’s a selection of this year’s winning music videos:

Sakanaction – “Bach No Senritsu Wo Yoru Ni Kiita Sei Desu”:

Tokyo Jihen – “Sora ga Natteiru” (空が鳴っている):

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “PONPONPON”:

androp – “Bright Siren”:

via MVA’s official site

It’s that time of the year again. The time when the Japanese pull off their version of the VMA awards and we get to find out what the results are. For the 14th annual SPACE SHOWER AWARDS, over 4000 videos from 2010 were considered and ultimately it was whittled down to these winners:

BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Sakanaction for “Aruku Around”

BEST ARTIST
Kimura Kaela

BEST YOUR CHOICE
RADWIMPS for “Manifest”

BEST DIRECTOR
Seki Kazuaki

BEST MALE VIDEO
Saito Kazuyoshi for “Zutto Suki Datta”

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Kimura Kaela for “Ring a Ding Dong”

BEST ROCK VIDEO
Sakanaction for “Aruku Around”

BEST ALTERNATIVE VIDEO
POLYSICS for “How are you?”

BEST POP VIDEO
Girl’s Generation for “GENIE”

BEST GROOVE VIDEO
HIFANA for “HANABEAM”

BEST GROUP VIDEO
BUMP OF CHICKEN for “Motorcycle”

BEST SHOOTING VIDEO
RADWIMPS for “Manifest”

BEST NEW ARTIST VIDEO
Sekai no Owari for “Fantasy”

BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
AK-69 for “PUBLIC ENEMY”

BEST REGGAE VIDEO
FIRE BALL for “Dreamer”

BEST CONCEPTUAL VIDEO
Utada Hikaru for “Goodbye Happiness”

BEST ART DIRECTION VIDEO
BRAHMAN / EGO-WRAPPIN’ for “WE ARE HERE”

INTERNATIONAL VIDEO
Kanye West for “Runaway feat. Pusha T”

Source: SPACE SHOWER TV and Natalie.mu

I’ve been watching the “DADA” PV every few days since it came out and it finally occurred to me — while ice fishing in the middle of nowhere — that it hadn’t made it on to SparkPlugged yet.

It’s an expectedly awesome track that begins simply enough and with some signature style before bursting into a power chord-fueled rock out. In the video, Noda Yojiro (野田洋次郎) rolls around in the lyrics and everyone takes turns tossing letters and transforming into giants and back. Very well done. You’ll be belting out the “NA NA NA, YA YA YA” chorus in no time.

RADWIMPS’ 6th album(!!) comes out March 9th. Buy it on Play Asia. Official site.

Drum roll (literally)….

The latest from RADWIMPS is here! “Keitai Denwa” (cellphone) doesn’t blow the mind like “Oshakashama” and isn’t balladic like “Order Made”. Drawing comparisons with recent RADWIMPS singles isn’t easy.

Cute PV. Acoustic guitars? Intrigue. We’ll see where they take us with this.

“Keitai Denwa” comes out June 30th alongside “Manifesto”. Two RADWIMPS singles in same day!

Of the over 4000 music videos produced in 2009, 70 were nominated, and now 16 have won big at the 13th annual SPACE SHOWER MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS.

Here’s a full run down of who took home what for what (Red = links = videos!):

BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Amuro Namie for “FAST CAR”

BEST ARTIST
Shiina Ringo

BEST YOUR CHOICE
RADWIMPS for “Oshakashama”

BEST DIRECTOR
Kodoma Yuuichi

BEST MALE VIDEO
KREVA for “Shunkan speechless”

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Shiina Ringo for “Tsugou no Ii Karada”

BEST ROCK VIDEO
Chatmonchy for “Last Love Letter”

BEST ALTERNATIVE VIDEO
Yakushimaru Etsuko for “Oyasumi Paradox”

BEST POP VIDEO
Kimura Kaela for “Butterfly”

BEST GROOVE VIDEO
m-flo for “SOUND BOY THRILLER feeeeeeeeeeat.LISA”

BEST CONCEPTUAL VIDEO
Sakanaction for “Native Dancer”

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY VIDEO
BIGBANG for “GARA GARA GO!!”

BEST ART DIRECTION VIDEO
Amuro Namie for “FAST CAR”

BEST SHOOTING VIDEO
EXILE for “Futatsu no Kuchibiru”

BEST INTERNATIONAL VIDEO
Lady Gaga for “Paparazzi”

BEST NEW ARTIST VIDEO
The Bawdies for “Emotion Potion”

BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
RHYMESTER for “Once Again”

BEST REGGAE VIDEO
PUSHIM for “My Endless Love”

BEST CREATORS’ CHOICE
Monkey Majik for “Aishiteru”

Information and images via SPACE SHOWER TV and Natalie.mu

Here’s a blast from the past, RAD style! I really like the album version of “祈跡” (Kiseki), which appeared on RADWIMPS’ second album in 2005 but I had never heard the single version, which was released in ’04, until a friend showed me the PV recently. I don’t know why I hadn’t heard the single version before but I love the stark tonal contrast between the single and album versions. Both songs run over eight minutes but where the album version takes a slow, calm, and introspective turn, the single version lets loose with energy.

Even if you’re on top of things and have seen the single’s PV, it’s worth another viewing just to remember how young they looked back then =P

As many of you know, RADWIMPS finally released their latest album on March 11th to much fanfare and it even rocketed to the top of the Oricon charts. The PV release of “おしゃかしゃま” (oshakashama) created quite a buzz and hyped up アルトコロニーの定理 (altocolony no teiri) and the album does not disappoint.

The first track (and second PV) off of アルトコロニーの定理 is titled “タユタ” (tayuta). Though it’s much mellower than “おしゃかしゃま”, the song is a beautiful fusion of RADWIMPS’ restless sound and their more reserved one. Thanks again Kumi-san! \m/>_<

Amazing!! Here’s the latest PV by RADWIMPS, titled “おしゃかしゃま” (oshakashama). It will be on the band’s upcoming 5th album, アルトコロニーの定理 (alto colony no teiri), which is due out March 11th! Mark your calendars because this is going to be big.

Critics are already saying this is RADWIMPS’ best album ever. ありがとうございますくみさん！

Well chances are this band will not give you the same reaction but, because I know you, the readers of Sparkplugged, generally have far better taste in music than the general populace, you’ll definitely be able to appreciate these guys.

Enter Galileo Galilei. (I’ll save you the anguish of a lame joke. Thank me later.)
Take this into consideration: at an age when Bump of Chicken had just barely formed and were doing covers of The Beatles at school events, Galileo Galilei has put out 2 full albums and a single, won a major music festival (SENKOU RIOT 2008), and is about to embark on their first national tour.
Not bad for a bunch of youngins who still have yet to escape the stranglehold of high school hey?

“But Jimi,” you curiously ask, “this is a pretty impressive resume, but how can they possibly be great if they’re so young? Truly great music takes years of refinement, and life experiences that mere high school students couldn’t have possibly gone through.”

Honestly, this is a bit of a mystery to me too.

Let’s take a gander at their latest album which was released Jan 21 2009: 雨のちガリレオ (ame nochi garirero / Galileo after the rain). It’s apparent in a handful of tracks that they’ve taken inspiration from many of the upbeat, heavy hitting bands of today. For example, “PIXIE” has some obvious pillows-esque guitar work. “Monday7s” has a playfulness reminiscent of Bump of Chickens’ FLAME VEIN album. Their flagship song, “ハローグッバイ” (hello, goodbye), is earnestly sung, with soft rolling rock melodies that fans of RADWIMPS should be familiar with; and so on. You can kind of sense Galileo Galilei is in a way, feeling around; trying different things to see what works for them and what they can incorporate into their own budding sound.

But then you have a song like “管制塔” which doesn’t have any immediately distinct influences other than being an amalgamation of all the bands previously stated. Thus making it original and fresh; not to mention it’s surprisingly well composed. It starts off with a lonely guitar rift that is soon joined by a steadfast bass, progressively building guitar, drums and vocals and in a moment of triumph breaks through into vivid daylight. An instant classic; it’s one of those great motivational songs that can pick you up on dreary days.

And then there’s “扇風機”. A solemn yet powerful song that that shows a level of maturity that you would think is unattainable at such an early point in the bands history; let alone at such a young age.

I realize we’ve touched upon their age quite a bit in this article, but I can’t help but think about the ocean of potential
Galileo Galilei has. At such a tender age they’re already producing high caliber music that’s close to, if not on par with most of the breakout acts of recent years. They’ve already rocketed up to one of my favorite bands along with Bump and tacica. Just imagine what another 5 or 10 years of experience will do for them.. oh the goosebumps.

Watch 管制塔 performed live at SENKOU RIOT 2008 (auto starts at 4:41)

Listen to a sample of “ハローグッバイ” from the album via youtube.

Buy 雨のちガリレオ