Jigsaw9

The title is "Asphalt. EP", and will contain 2 songs (my guess is one new track + one remix).

Awesome!

A solo album - now he's got my attention.

This is/was exactly me, lol. Used to go home after school, do the homework, study a bit, then that's that. However, in university I began to be like "...mehhh" and then it got really bad by the very end, but still managed to pull through of course. Nowadays it really depends.

Poor Izumi, the temptation of the Dark Side was too strong...

Shoutout for including Lucifer's underground, somehow I completely forgot about them (and I even enjoyed their mini!).

Cool list! Nice that you mentioned BugLug and Xaa Xaa, the latter almost made my list too with their 1st mini!

Whoah, interesting to see these guys resurface.. xD

I'll try to be there too, not dead on time tho.

sukekiyo & the piqnic <3 Interesting selection! I remember listening to the album by mouse on the keys, quite a nice surprise. Spangle call lilli line didn't do it for me tho (then again, I'm not rly into that kind of sound to begin with).

DEZERT & glamscure yasssss Also I gotta admit I thought ∀NTI FEMINISM's mini was kinda forgettable, but awesome to see them featured on a list.

;w; <3

Cool list, I like the variety! ...even tho most of the bands I know did nothing but disappoint me this year, lmao (okay, maybe GazettE's album wasn't that bad, just easily forgettable).

I really liked Angelo's EPs too (the first one a bit more maybe), very solid stuff!

I was really happy that Pura were releasing a new album (they've always been an 'album band' for me), but I couldn't even finish it on my first listen. So terribly flat and boring, it's like nobody really plays what they play with any sort of active interest and Ryuutarou's vocals are like "I'm getting too old for this guys, I don't rly give a damn anyway." I'll try my best to re-listen sometime in the future, but the urge isn't too strong... On a positove note, I liked the sounds of Insomnia Blues. Cant remember the actual song for the life of me tho, only that it was pleasant.

Nice list, even if I don't listen to or don't now 90% of these bands. xD I keep seeing this band Vistlip in a bunch of people's lists, so they must've done something right with their latest album. Gonna try to investigate for myself soon. ;>

^ You should really try those! ;3 And yep, I had THE HAKKIN's mini album on my 2014 list. As for the Western bands, I'm sure I plugged Disgrace, Grave Pleasures, Terrible Feelings and Algiers before.

Cool to see VANIRU mentioned finally (even tho I was kinda disappointed with the actual content/production of the album). And now you reminded me that I totally forgot about Sick2's existence for the past year, lol. Gonna check out what they released.

^ If you like Nagoya-style bands like deadman or the god and death stars, you won't be disappointed imo!

Yay for WING WORKS love! Other than that, I have to say I really enjoyed Mucc's mini album too, despite not having any expectations beforehand. A good mixture of their different 'sides'. Also, I just ~know~ I listened to Codomo Dragon's album but can't remember anything about it, lol - other than not being put off by it, so it was okay I guess.

Cool stuff here! I really really enjoyed PELICAN FANCLUB's, Kuroyuri to kage's and Koochewsen's releases this year too. Not top-quality but really really close! Some other stuff also caught my eye that I haven't heard of before and sounds interesting (particularly Pony), so I guess I'm gonna try those in the future.

(Some of) my favorite non-Japanese releases 2015 Algiers by Algiers This band came out of the blue and instantly swept me away. A bizarre mixture of post-punk, industrial electronics and... soul, gospel and blues? As weird as it sounds, it works amazingly. Trilogy by Carpenter Brut The mighty French mastermind of dark retro synthwave released a collection album, much to my delight. The perfect soundtrack to your life, if you're living in a zombie-filled '80s B-movie that is. The Anthropocene Extinction by Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is one of those few bands that I'll always dig, no matter what. Hard-as-balls deathgrind onslaught that will melt your face off, but only after pummeling you into the ground. True Enemy by Disgrace Speaking of pummeling, Disgrace's debut album is one mean listen. This lethal combo of death metal and metallic hardcore is your perfect choice if you had a bad day and wanna cut loose. I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside by Earl Sweatshirt It's no secret that Earl is my favorite from the (now defunct?) Odd Future collective, and he doesn't disappoint here either. Hazy and bleak hip-hop delivered in the usual Earl fashion. Dreamcrash by Grave Pleasures One of my most-anticipated albums of the year, Grave Pleasures' first full-length offering is a potent cocktail of romantically morbid melodies and haunting post-punk melancholia. Bodies by Haust Utterly vile and crusty black metal'n'roll with a surprisingly atmospheric undertone. Expect anything from cosmic keyboards to all-out punk nihilism. One of the very best of 2015! Exercises in Futility by Mgła The Polish brothers did it again. Imagine everything that is awesome about black metal, channeled through fantastically crafted misanthropic tirades. Essential metal listening. Life Rips & Assholes by Mommy Long Legs These girls just came and stole my heart right away. Their two cassette EPs are packed to the brim with hilariously fun (and funny) DIY garage-punk tunes that will stick in your head. Slumber party! Key Markets by Sleaford Mods A dude with a microphone and a dude with a bottle of beer and a laptop. So simple yet genius. The guys are doing their usual fare of vitriolic rants and minimal punk-hop beats and winning. Ten Solid Years of Applause by Super Luxury A totally random discovery of mine, Super Luxury play abrasive in-your-face noise rock that just sounds so honest and knuckleheaded (and even catchy) that they immediately won me over. A legszebb éveink by Szabó Benedek és a Galaxisok Benedek Szabó, one of Hungary's young singer-songwriters, finally released his second album and oh boy, is it fine! Bittersweet lyrics and instantly hummable melodies, the total package. Tremors by Terrible Feelings This band is so good, I just don't get why they aren't known more. Heartbreaking melodies layered on top of vintage-sounding punk'n'roll hymns, straddling the line between melancholic and uplifting. That's all, folks! Bear in mind that this is only a small segment of all the cool music 2015 had to offer. I had a really hard time narrowing my lists down to 10 entries (so I made this second one 13, lol), especially considering how I started out with 30-35 entries for my Japanese list and more than 100 for the non-Japanese one! So I guess this is more like a spur-of-the-moment type listing, but still, I hope you'll find some good stuff here.

Hope they'll release more deliciously trashy music.

(Some of) my favorite Japanese releases 2015 テクノ・ナルシスのすべて by Burgh (All About Techno Narcisse by Burgh) Newcomers Burgh deliver a quick round of catchy post-punk tunes with heaps of that surfin' punk flare you can’t help but love. Fun and dancey goodness. A band to look out for! 12 by cali≠gari It's no secret that cali≠gari is close to my heart, so naturally this was gonna be on here. Quirky, melodic and always interesting - a very strong album with a surprising amount of diversity. 妄想主義者ノ背徳。by グリーヴァ (Mousou shugisha no haitoku. by Grieva) I must applaud Grieva: after losing a drummer, they quickly found a new member and proceeded to release some of their best work to date. This mini takes the cake, such kote-kei goodness. ホログラムを登る男 by 平沢進 (Hologram wo noboru otoko by Hirasawa Susumu) Hirasawa outdid himself once again, serving up his unique brand of futuristic new-age synth pop. Soaring melodies and arrangements bursting with bio-mechanical personality; the very best. Cthulhu & R'lyeh by KEEL KEEL is undoubtedly the Nagoya-kei supergroup of the year for me. Four excellent musicians, two mini albums, a cool dark style with garage-y undertones. Couldn't ask for more, just perfect! 近代ブラック by マルコ (Kindai Black by Marco) Marco are one of the big positive surprises of 2015. Even though their style is unmistakably borrowed from MERRY, they manage to crank out killer tunes like it's nobody's business. VITIUM by sukekiyo Kyo & co can practically do no wrong with their mystical progressive style of music, no matter how challenging it may seem at times. The overall length is just right for it all to click too. 情緒 by THE HAKKIN (Joucho by THE HAKKIN) Sadly THE HAKKIN is no longer with us, but before their demise they released a full-length. This baby is full of shameless '80s new-wave nostalgia. If you can handle cheese - dig in! I AM MORTAL by THE MORTAL BUCK-TICK's Sakurai Atsushi turned his goth-o-meter to 11 and, with his talented crew, cooked up a boiling cauldron of dark rock elegance. Bauhaus called, they want their swag back! CUTE by TOWA TEI With a plethora of impressive guest artists (and a telling album title!), master TOWA TEI made one of the best electronic pop albums of the year: full of bleeps, bloops and sleek Shibuya chic. Stay tuned for my list of Non-Japanese favorites - coming soon!