SEOUL, Korea – Today, CONVERSE Inc. announces the track release for its first-ever Korea based Three Artists. One Song collaboration. The music initiative brings together three diverse and unique Korean artists, featuring indie icons, Jaurim; rising hip-hop stars, Aziatix; and award-winning electronic act, Idiotape. The new track, “#PeepShow,” is available to music fans globally starting today via free download at http://play.converse.com/?p=11700.“#PeepShow” is a cross-pollination of three distinct music genres, weaving together Aziatix’ signature rap lyrics with Jaurim’s indie vocals and Idiotape’s electronic sound.  Recorded in Seoul, Korea, the genre-bending track pushes the dial on youthful expression and brings an edgy new sound to the Asia Pacific market.  Fueled by Idiotape’s driving bassline, Jaurim and Aziatix bring a new dimension to the song with their lyrical commentary on youth and pop culture.

“We’re excited to be a part of Three Artists. One Song and to bring a brand new concept to the Asia Pacific music scene.” said DGURU, front man of Idiotape. “By not limiting ourselves to any specific instrument or genre, we were able to come up with a very original and unique sound.”

“Converse embraces a rebellious young audience and the notion of self-expression,” said Eddie Shin, lead vocalist from Aziatix.  “With “#PeepShow,” we wanted to elevate this young voice and inspire creativity among music fans in Korea and beyond.”

Three Artists. One Song invites artists to come together and express themselves through the creation of an original track. Recent song collaborations include “Warrior” by Mark Foster (Foster the People), Kimbra and A-trak and “Doyathing” by world-famous Gorillaz, James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) and Andre 3000. Now in its eighth series, the unique music platform is set to launch in Korea, widening the scope for the celebration of international music talent. Following the track release, a music video for “#PeepShow” will premiere at www.converse.com in June 2012.

About Jaurim
Named after a purple rainforest, Jaurim is lush modern rock quartet whose 15 years together as one of the best live bands in Korea have made them icons in the indie music scene. Nominated for “Best Live Performance” at the 2011 MNET Asian Music Awards, the dreamy foursome reigns as main stage headliner at Korea’s biggest international music festivals. Currently running their own Soundholic record label, Jaurim is busy producing new acts as well as preparing new tracks for their ninth studio album, slated for release later this year.

About Aziatix
Hailed as “Best New Asian Artist” at the 2011 MNET Asian Music Awards, Aziatix is a Korean-American urban hip-hop trio who has reached icon status in 2012. After gracing the Korean cover of Newsweek Magazine and completing a nationwide American concert tour, Asiatix released their second EP ‘Awakening’ and watched it not only hit #1 on K-Pop singles charts in Korea, but also soar to #1 on iTunes R&B/Soul album charts in US and Japan. This year Aziatix will continue their musical trailblazing by putting the finishing touches on their follow up full-length album.

About Idiotape
Eliciting waves of rave reviews at the 2011 Canadian Music Week, the South by Southwest Music Festival, and Summer Sonic Japan, the electro-punk triad, Idiotape, returned to Seoul energized to mix-master one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, ‘11111101.’ Winner of “Best Electronic Dance Album of the Year” at the 2012 Korean Music Awards, Idiotape accepted an invitation to appear on the network TV show, SBS ‘U&I,’ and unleashed a smashing live set on unsuspecting primetime audiences, catapulting the band to become the #1 most searched online artist in Korea. Idiotape will be devoting the rest of the year to working on a batch of studio projects interspersed with a series of club and festival gigs.

Article and photo via: Nike Inc.

Every Little Thing have been a staple in the Japanese music scene since the mid-1990′s. The duo of Kaori Mochida (vocals) and Ichiro Ito (guitar) have released ten albums. Acoustic Latte is an compilation of their most popular songs.

Water(s) is a very soothing song that makes you feel like you’re in a Paris cafe. Ai no Kakera is a guitar-driven melody coupled with Mochida’s sweet voice. The songs Fragile and Ai no Uta are ballads telling of a future that the couple cannot realize.

If you’re looking for a nice, soothing album and you don’t mind sweet Japanese singing, this is the album for you.

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Every Little Thing is signed to Avex Trax

Growing up, my dad always listened to Elvis. I never understood. I just thought it was annoying. When I tried to connect with my dad and I became hungry for knowledge, I soon learned about the man known as “The King. Television controversy. Serving in the U.S. Army. Movies in the 60′s. A lifetime achievement Grammy award at 36. But before all that, he worked at Sun Records.

Everyone knows about his popular music career but before he made it big, he was just like any other musician trying to break through. Elvis had some unsuccessful material and was goofing off in the studio when he accidentally recorded his first hit, a remake of an R&B song called That’s All Right.

Classics like Blue Moon of Kentucky and I’m Right, You’re Left, She’s Gone have strong country sounds. Songs like Harbor Lights feature his future ballad skills. Songs like Trying To Get To You have a very bluesy feel. Overall, you won’t be disappointed with music if you’re a fan of music from the era.

The Sun Records Sessions give a glimpse of a young musician having fun. You can hear all of it in his voice. These are recordings of Elvis trying to find his sound. Elvis also recorded with the likes of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis during his time at Sun Records.

Time would eventually tell the tale of a Elvis the movie star, Las Vegas lounge lizard and music legend. But before all this, Elvis’ early work shows a glimmer of that special something his potential would become.

The Sun Sessions are a great listen when you’re trying to relax and enjoy the day. But don’t take my word for it, Rolling Stone magazine ranks it #11 of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Check out the Sun Sessions on iTunes or on your Spotify account.

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Elvis Presley official website | Elvis.com
Elvis Sun Sessions available at retail stores

It can’t be… Kakkarot, a super saiyan!? It all started with First Impressions. The crudely recorded EP showed glimpses of what could be. With the instrumental track Opaque and killer T&C, Thrice got the ball rolling in a major way. Who knew that a video game melody could unlock such a badass song (not to mention that it had words to it? lol).

And she calls from the doorway… This hard style continued into  The Illusion of Safety. This album literally blew my mind. During this era, there was nothing like a Thrice live show. I’ve probably seen them live 10 times during a three year period. Deadbolt continues to be one of my favorite songs of all time.

They are sick, they are cold. When Artist in the Ambulance came out, my friend Thomas and I ditched class to find them signing albums at Lou’s Records in Encinitas, CA. We booked it, stood in line for an hour and talked to the band about their new stuff for another hour and then drove home listening to their best album yet.

Woke up to a brand new skyline. Their newer stuff after (notably Beggars and Major/Minor) I have a love/hate relationship with even though they’ve become a staple in my relaxation music. I didn’t like it as much because I love the old stuff but as I grew as a person, the music grew with me. That’s not something I can say about a lot of things and I appreciate this the most.

The band has expanded greater than I ever imagined musically. They went from mashing up individual parts to creating melody as a unit. Whatever they do now, I’ll be supporting it.

Dustin, Teppei, Riley and Eddie. Thank you for almost fifteen years of music.

Farewell… for now.
- from Abe, Lester and Mylene

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Thrice: website | Thrice.net and twitter | @OfficialThrice

Instead of having the entire discography like I did for Thrice, I’ve linked you all to the album entitled, “Tales From The Emerald Sword Saga.” This is an album that features all the great songs off of five – that’s right five – of the band’s discography. Without having a tl;dr, the story is about a hero by the name “Ice Warrior” who goes on a quest to find the legendary Emerald Sword so that he can defeat the evil Dark Lord Akron.

Story Descriptions:

- Legendary Tales

- Symphony of Enchanted Lands 

- Dawn Of Victory

- Rain of a Thousand Flames

- Power of The DragonFlame

Aside from the amazing Emerald Sword Saga. Some other notable pieces that the band has done was during their renaming. More specifically in 2006 when the band put out the album Triumph or Agony. It was here where the band was really dubbed a symphonic metal band when they decided to write a 16 minute epic known as The Mystic Prophecy of the Demonknight. 

Even more so, believe it or not, Christopher Lee (Count Dooku / The White Wizard: Saruman) did a ballad piece with the band as well!

If these two videos did not convince you there here is the link to the Spotify account. Be sure to look for the playlist with today’s date on it and feel free to listen to the other recommendations from Monday’s past. Comment below and share your thoughts!

Both @999HP and myself (@TX3017) take some time off our busy schedules to give you a recap of this month’s posts and a sneak peek of what’s to come in April. Enjoy the video posts? Let us know! We are actually venturing to do a whole lot more!

This past Friday during Anime Conji at the Town & Country Resort, I left my table at Artist Alley for an hour to check out a cover band called Kirby’s Dream Band. I first received the invite to check out this band through mutual friends promoting the event a couple of weeks prior to the convention. If there’s one thing that I really, really love: they’re cover bands. Let alone: cover bands covering video game music!

I checked out their Facebook page and scoped them out a bit and fell in love with the fact that they don pink garb on stage.

What surprised me even more is that this band is local to San Diego. Where in the world was I when they were playing?! I’m glad I caught them when I did, since they’re actually heading to the studio to work on their first album.

Prior to the concert, I checked out their demos of King Dedede and Whispy Woods and instantly fell in love. It’s the combination of nostalgia and well-crafted composition that drew me to this band. I’ve had my fair share of investing tons of hours in Kirby’s Avalanche, Kirby’s Adventure/Nightmare in Dream Land, and maining Kirby in Super Smash Brothers 64 so hearing Kirby songs in this fashion made me fangirl like crazy. Check out the demos for yourselves:

The one quirk I love about them is their stage presence. Depending on the video game that they’re covering, they change hats in a Kirby-like fashion. During their Street Fighter II performance, I nearly lost it when the drummer took out Chun-Li buns. I cracked up each time they changed their hats; not to mention, the person who crafts their hats is a very talented individual.

I wish I recorded a number of their performances but I was too engrossed in listening to everything! Personal favorites from their set were the Street Fighter II medley, Sonic 2 medley, Chrono Trigger, Revenge of Meta Knight, and Cave Story. THEY FREAKIN’ COVERED CAVE STORY. CAVE. FRIGGIN’. STORY.

I did manage to snag a portion of the Street Fighter II medley on my phone in which it’s not in its entirety: I got distracted by Ken’s blonde hair.

By all means: check this band out! I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for them when they start playing shows again.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kirbysdreamband
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/kirbysdreamband
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kirbysdreamband
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/kirbysdreamband
SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/kirbysdreamband
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kirbysdreamband
Hats provided by: Colleen Straley of Scraps Patchwork

Bust a Move: Dance & Rhythm Action
Platform: PlayStation
Release Date:  January 29, 1998

Anyone remember the Japanese game publisher Enix? You probably know them better because of their merger with SquareSoft. Anyhow, they are most famously known for the Dragon Quest RPG series. However, they made quirky games and the Bust A Move series was definitely a diamond in the rough.

An extremely easy game to pick up.Gameplay focuses on controller input to the beat of the music. Players score points and make combos based on how well they time their input to the beat. They can also go to some wicked solos. If you can keep a beat, you can play!

A fighting game about dancing?! Yes! You can disrupt the other player with a booming attack. Disrupt the other player right before his/her solo. You’ll see how what happens and how mad it will make them! Whoever has the most points at the end of the song wins the match. 

Bust a Move 2: Dance Tengoku Mix
Platform: PlayStation
Release Date: March 31, 1999

The music to both games is really good! I cannot stress this enough. Both games have a diverse cast of characters with unique styles. Each cast will cater to any gamer’s tastes. The bosses are rather interesting as well, but I’ll let you find out why (check out the gameplay video above.)

I loved the first one. I felt like I had a greater experience playing the second one. With the obvious dancing game choice being Dance Dance Revolution at the time, picking up this game made it possible to enjoy dancing games without actually having to do it. Having that fighting element made it a little more competitive. With a great soundtrack and unique cast of characters, see who your favorites are!

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Why do I refer to this game as Bust A Move? The name of the first game was changed because of legal issues (Bubble Bobble JP = Bust-A-Move US). Therefore both games were released as Bust A Groove here in the U.S.

All images and video are property of Square Enix Holding Co., Ltd.

All of us here at Rhythmemotion love Gundam Wing. Whether it’s the infamous “Endless Waltz” to the more recent “Gundam Unicorn,” we are always all about mechs in space destroying stuff. Thanks to our resident artist / writer Mylene (@lenejenius), we have become fans of Youtube rapper Richie Branson. Check out his little rendition of the Two-Mix song, “White Reflection.” And for those of you who have no idea what we’re talking about, here’s the original: White Reflection

With the announcement of the band taking a hiatus after their 2012 tour and the fact that this is seriously my favorite band of all time, today’s #MusicMonday post is about the rock band known as ThriceFormed in 1998 by guitarists Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi, Thrice has been on the forefront of music creativity and a prime example of how artists do not necessarily need the music industry to produce an amazing record.

Very early in their career, the band was known for hard, fast music with crazy time signatures and amazing lead guitar parts (in fact, this is the main reason why I got into the band!). However during their fourth album, “Vheissu” the band ventured off into more experimental sounds incorporating synthesizers, electronic sounds, and unique ways of audio engineering. All of this was drawn by inspiration of art, political issues, and C.S. Lewis (Very prominent in “The Artist In The Ambulance.”) This new style slowly turned into the band’s now refined sound which can be heard on the most recent album, “Major/Minor.”

Included in today’s playlist, is the full discography of Thrice. From their first studio album “Identity Crisis” to their most recent album, I highly recommend this band because of how musical every record sounds. Every record that Thrice produces is indefinitely different from the other one. Each album has its own personality and gives off a different vibe. The amazing thing about Thrice is that I can confidently call them the “Apple Inc.” of the music industry because even the fans don’t know what they are going to come up with next!

I have two fond memories of this band. The first being how I met my girlfriend (now fiańcee) through the record, “The Artist In The Ambulance,” with the song of the same name, and the second being extremely excited when the band produced a 4 disc album entitled, “The Alchemy Index;” where each album took a theme from a different element (fire, earth, wind, water).

Lastly, on January 23rd, Kensrue stated that the band will be having a farewell tour starting in May of 2012. It will start in St. Louis and end in California. Furthermore the band stated that they will be taking a hiatus from music but not breaking up. However, we all know how that usually ends up.

In any case, this band holds a special place in my heart and it hurts me to see them go. So before I see you all at the show here in San Diego, CA. take a listen to their discography. Learn the words, pick up a guitar, cause I know that you too will love this band as much as I do.

Link to Spotify Page

Songs to listen to: (song | album)

1. Phoenix Ignition | Identity Crisis
2. T&C | Identity Crisis
3. Deadbolt | Illusion of Safety
4. Under A Killing Moon | The Artist In The Ambulance
5. Stare At The Sun | The Artist In The Ambulance
6. Paper Tigers | The Artist In The Ambulance
7. The Artist In The Ambulance | The Artist In The Ambulance
8. The Abolition Of Man | The Artist In The Ambulance
9. Image Of The Invisible | Vheissu
10. Music Box | Vheissu
11. Red Sky | Vheissu
12. The Whaler | The Alchemy Index Vol. 1 & 2
13. Daedalus | The Alchemy Index Vol 3 & 4
14. Come All You Weary | The Alchemy Index Vol 3 & 4
15. All The World Is Mad | Beggars
16. Yellow Belly | Major / Minor