The latest from the legendary Akihiro Namba (難波章浩) leaps from the pages of popular rock history that he was part of. “JUMP!JUMP!!JUMP!!!” is a thrilling throwback to 90s pop-punk . The song is a fun, flashy midpoint between Namba’s punk rock roots with HI-STANDARD and his witty, experimental electronic project, ULTRA BRAiN.

Namba’s upcoming album, THE WORLD IS YOUR’S, comes out March 3rd.

Visit Akihiro Namba’s official site!

A podcast seems like a good way to sum up my COUNTDOWN JAPAN special. I figure it deserves a fair finale since I’ve been hacking away at for the past week. This is the only mainstream diversion. Indie and noteworthy artists will return for episode 4.

SparkPlugged Podcast episode 3

                         KREVA, ULTRA BRAiN, Overground Acoustic Underground, Bennie K

Continue to the show notes,

show notes:

featured artists
KREVA – “The Show” (regular & instrumental mix): official site
ULTRA BRAiN – “VIS”: official site
Overground Acoustic Underground – “Squall”: official site
Bennie K – “Happy Drive ~Taste Your Stuff~ (featuring m-flo): official site

more
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Of all the bands that I saw at COUNTDOWN JAPAN, ULTRA BRAiN was the only one that I didn’t know anything about previous to their performance. After watching them I can comfortably say that ULTRA BRAiN is very strange. But if you know me or the things I like, “strange” pretty much equals “good”!

While presented on-stage in a band-form, ULTRA BRAiN is essentially the work of one person, TYÃœNK BRAiN (aka Akihiro Namba). Namba is most famous from his days as the vocalist/bassist of the punk band, Hi-STANDARD (you may also know of his former Hi-STANDARD bandmate Ken Yokoyama and his solo project). ULTRA BRAiN is the latest project and essentially is a “collective” of performers headed by Namba. Their music incorporates elements of punk with electronic and the like. The title of ULTRA BRAiN’s only full-length album describes their music well, it’s “NEO PUNK”.

  An official shot of ULTRA BRAiN performing, courtesy of the COUNTDOWN JAPAN quick report

The show that ULTRA BRAiN put on was unlike anything that I’ve ever seen. TYÃœNK stood out the most with his bright red hair, white-rimmed sunglasses, and spike-studded jacket. His headset microphone allowed him to travel around anywhere on the stage. Behind him was a member who followed the rhythm of the music as he colored on a giant sheet of paper. There was a member on a drumset and another playing a conga drum. The programmer/dj caught the much of my attention. He was dressed in a full monkey suit, complete with a adorable giant head piece (think Super Monkey Ball style). The band later switched things up a bit when they sported their signature “brain helmets”.

Depending on the song, dancers in different costumes appeared. From a Speedo-sporting swimmer, to a ninja, to a gun-toting soldier, the costumers were diverse, strange, and symbolic. The soldier came out for “NEW WORLD IMAGINATION”, an intelligent and politically-charged song. My favorite performance was probably for the song “DOLPHIN” which the crowd was enlisted for to help sing the simple vocal line. The group’s hit “ghost busterz” were amazingly performed as well.

At the time of ULTRA BRAiN’s performance I had no idea who was who or which songs were which. Following the show, I was intruiged enough that I made a trip to the official CD stand and picked up a copy of their NEO PUNK album. I was able to remember which songs the band performed as I listened to the LP.

ULTRA BRAiN isn’t for everybody, that’s for sure. Chances are you’ll either be captivated by their seemingly abstract sound and signature look, or you’ll be turned off scratching your head. While their influences may be distinguisable, ULTRA BRAiN sounds completly unique, unlike any band I’ve ever heard.

ULTRA BRAiN’s amazing performance was one of the most engaging live shows I’ve ever seen. Similarly their music is intruiging with its illusion of simplicity though it is anything but. I look forward to a new release by ULTRA BRAiN and they surely made a fan out of me at COUNTDOWN JAPAN 06/07.

COUNTDOWN JAPAN 06/07 official site, rockin’ on Japan
ULTRA BRAiN official site, “ghost busterz” PV

Tomorrow’s live report: OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND

I’m going to Japan for Christmas and New Years. We’re going to do a lot of things especially touring Kyushu: Kumamoto and Fukuoka. But we’ll also visit the cities of Kyoto and Osaka. In Osaka we’ll attend the COUNTDOWN JAPAN concert.

COUNTDOWN JAPAN is a 3-day concert event (12.29-12.31) to celebrate New Years. There are two different venues: one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka. The Osaka event will feature over 50 musicians!

Yes, we had to enter and be selected simply to buy tickets. It makes sense though since this is such a huge mega-concert. Luckily we were selected.

I will attend the concert on December 30th. On that day 16 musicians will play. The artists that are booked are:

• ACIDMAN
• ULTRA BRAiN
• OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND
• Captain Straydum (
• KREVA
• QURULI
• THE CROMAGNONS
• Salyu
• Chatmonchy
• The Back Horn
• Beat Crusaders
• Fujifabric
• Furukawa Miki
• BENNIE K
• Maximum the Hormone
• Yoshii Kazuya

I’m so incredibly excited…especially to see ACIDMAN, QURULI, THE CROMAGNONS, The Back Horn, and Fujifabric! I can’t wait to see ‘em all though! Some of my other favorite artists (Art-School, Base Ball Bear, Remioromen will play on other days but I’ll take what I can get. 12.30 has the highest frequency of my favorite musicians

Before I knew about this concert, I could only dream about seeing some of these artists lives. It still sounds too good to be true, haha.

I’ll keep everyone (and myself) updated as trip time and showtime near. For now, all I can say is “AHHHHHHHHHHH, YAY!!!!”

COUNTDOWN JAPAN