After performing with such bands as Toho Sara, Ohkami No Jikan, Musica Transonic, and Mainliner, Japanese guitarist Makoto Kawabata decided to continue his musical explorations by bringing together likeminded individuals to create trippy psychedelic freak-outs inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krautrock, and '70s progressive hard rock. Acid... [+] Read More

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Comets on Fire hail from Santa Cruz, CA. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and vocalist Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create a rhythmically and sonically intense music that paid no attention to categorizations -- all the while being suckers for anthemic rock riffs, psychedelia, and crunching... [+] Read More

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Tokyo's Guitar Wolf plays loud, fast, dirty punk rock. The trio -- which consists of guitarist Seiji, bassist Billy, and drummer Toru -- formed in the late '80s. Though the group's first two albums were released only in Japan, imports of the records and word of mouth about Guitar Wolf's incendiary live shows secured U.S. distribution for their... [+] Read More

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In the '90s and early 2000s, the Boston area was known for having one of the healthier jam band scenes on the East Coast. Major Stars is relevant to that scene in that the outfit (which is based in the Boston suburb of Cambridge, MA) does a lot of jamming and improvising; the New Englanders favor the sort of looseness and spontaneity that jam... [+] Read More

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Though little-known in America prior to 2000, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant formed in Japan back in 1991 and began playing raucous garage rock & roll inspired by the Stooges, Thee Headcoats, the Who, and MC5. Futoshi Abe's thrashy guitar riffs propel the fast-paced, hard-hitting tunes over the driving rhythms of Kouji Ueno's thick bass grooves and... [+] Read More

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The roots of Japanese neo-psych legends White Heaven date back to 1980. Originally dubbed Living End, the group was shaped from a series of jam sessions helmed by singer/guitarist You Ishihara, its sprawling, ever-revolving lineup of musicians eventually crystallizing in 1984 around You, guitarist Tetsuya Sakamoto, bassist Takayuki Nakagoshi,... [+] Read More

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