Swedish crosswords magazine Nostalgikryss, published by newspaper Aftonbladet. This edition focuses on the 1970s, so nice nostalgia. Singer Björn Skifs on the cover. He was the first Swede to have a #1 hit in America back in the day.
(My shot of said publication)
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We have a project called The Rock Orchestra that is going places. The new video of the classic AC/DC song “Thunderstruck” gives us an interesting peek into something that is actually quite interesting. Sounds really good. Singer Daria Zaritskaya is excellent, nice violin playing by Mia Asano. This could be fun to experience live.
(Cover seen here is from official platforms)
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I stumbled across a recent rerelease of the 2016 album “Vampire” by Japanese singer Akina Nakamori on Vinyl, which is cool because not only is it a nice record, it also sports a fantastic cover. Her singing career started in 1981 when she won a contest in Japan and from then on she had a long list of hits in Japan, as well as success as an actress. In later years, she has taken charge of her own musical direction and she is still active releasing new music and doing concerts. “Vampire” is a covers album, with songs spanning from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s. A nice mix of City Pop, funky grooves and rock (remember that most Japanese music includes guitars, so some of this is just as tough as, say, Bon Jovi – although she is not a rock singer per se). Her singing style is very nice to listen to. I am very happy to have found this artist and I will dig a little deeper into her catalogue (loads of stuff out there to explore).
(My shots of front and back of said album, photography by Michael Freeman)
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This is a DVD single from a Japanese J-Pop group called Berryz Kobo that were active between 2004 and 2015. This single came out in 2005 (their 8th, titled “21 Ji Made No Cinderella”) and they said farewell with a show at the Budokan after 36 of them, plus 10 studio albums in 2015. They were kids when they started and adults when they broke up. Very happy music, brass section with saxophone being a big part of it (I dare say this would never happen in my neck of the woods). Positive vibes, what you get here is two videos plus an on location video. I think the concept of DVD singles is not a bad one. Maybe it was a thing in Japan back then? DVDs are often put out as Limited Edition extras these days, I know that much.
(My shot of said single, cover shot by Hiromi Miyasaka)
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Well I wrote about my 1983 meeting with jazz fusion drummer Alphonse Mouzon back in June 2020 so you can go back and check that out. Saw him with photographer Michael Johansson at a club called Fashing in Stockholm, and had a chance to meet him for a quick chat the next day (he was obviously going to play some tennis). The second he spotted that Deep Purple t-shirt he must have known that I wanted to talk about Tommy Bolin. Nice chap. Not sure when this saw print, I know we saw Iron Maiden in Stockholm on that trip of mine as well. Good times.
(My shot of said article, Mouzon shot by Michael Johansson)
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Saki is filling in for guitarist Tomozo while she is on maternity leave from Dollsboxx later this year. This band is a side project of singer Fuki and Gacharic Spin. And over in Okinawa we have the 7th Heaven Summer Festival 2026 coming up in June. George Murasaki and family (Ray, Leon) will be there naturally, and so will an impressive line-up that includes members of Loudness and Zilqy, as well as familiar faces like Maki Oyama, Eye and Kazami. Quite the line-up, as usual.
(Ads seen here are from official platforms)
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Maki Oyama and Risky Melody is in Europe at the moment doing gigs, which is cool. If you have a chance to catch a Japanese artist/band, take it. I also want to support the funniest podcaster out there today, which is obviously the great Andy Edwards. He has been doing some top notch stuff for a while now (nearly every episode has hilarious moments, the guy is a pioneer). Screenshot seen here is from the episode “10 rock singers that sound bad to me – ranked”. The phone skit is one of his trademarks, works every time.
(Maki/Risky Melody ad is from official platforms, my screenshot from the Edwards episode)
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Found a bunch of old magnets in a drawer today so the gals from ABBA has got some company on the refrigerator now.
(My shot of said magnets)
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Japanese guitarist Ryoji Shinomoto has released an album of classical masterpieces played on guitar and cello (Watary Mukai), originally composed by Vivaldi (3), Beethoven (3), Liszt (1), Paganini (1), Chopin (1) and Mozart (1). I find this a very interesting project, obviously well executed. Check it out on YouTube.
(CD cover seen here is from official platforms)
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I enjoyed the Poppy feature in Metal Hammer 412 (May 2026 issue). She popped up on my radar (for real) when she worked with Babymetal recently, and she has a great deal of charisma. I would not mind seeing her live some day. Another interesting piece is the take on the metal scene in Thailand. It would be a natural thing to highlight the current Japanese scene in a similar way. Lets shine some light on Hagane, Nemophila, Saki, Koiai, Empress, Zilqy, Coven Japan etc, and why not Sixiwanzi from China? The magazines that are not on the ball at this historic point in time are losing credibility fast. I am grateful for the coverage of Babymetal, Lovebites and a couple of other outfits, but we now live in the age of a gigantic Japanese phenomenon and an explosion of talent. The Internet is alive, I see people go crazy on how good the scene is every day.
(My shot of said issue, Poppy cover shot by Hector Clark – inserted live image is a screenshot from the Babymetal “Live At The O2 Arena” DVD)
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