Down And Out In Denver

Morning peeps! First things first, the FREX can bite me. It left me stranded in Denver on Monday and I had to crash at some friends of mine. Big ups to them, and a super big ups to The Pavillion for the POWER HOUR! I’m cutting back on the drinking, but 2.50 drafts is tempting, even for a beer hater. Can’t beat a bargain, peeps.

So, as the regular readers know, I like Japanese (and to a lesser extent Korean. A REAL lesser extent because they are truly hit or miss with the good and the craptastic) popular music as much if not more than I like US music. Yet I get a lot of questions from some people who are close minded and all around jerkasses about what it sounds like. Well, it is hard to explain but I will try. So today is a special mid-week edition of…

Learnin’ With Master Chief Chachi!!: J-Tunes Edition!

Okay, let us start with a given. If you dig the sultry, border line slutty style of Christina Aguilera but like me think she is the best singer in her class and a kick ass performer then you will love...

Kumi Koda

I have been a fan for a while (never seeing her mind you) of Ms. Koda and then I saw the video for the FF-X2 signature song Real Emotion. By the way, FF-X2 is a very underrated game that if you love the FF series you should check out. Don’t let the ‘girlie’ look fool you, it kicks ass. Anyway, as you have seen from her live performances that I have posted on here she is a very good singer and a better dancer than most of her counterparts. You know the Chachi loves a good show. So if you love female pop with a R&B twist to it give Ms. Koda a listen, Keep in mind it’s in Japanese, but you can get past that after looking at how FINE she is.

Now for the people who want to rock we have two options that are popular. While there is Dir En Grey (who I have been kind of indifferent about) and L~Arc~En~Ciel (HYDE RULES!) they are more the icons of rock. If you are looking for something new school like Hoobastank or Incubus, I recommend

UVERworld

Anyone who reads this knows that I would punch a puppy for a chance to see these guys live just once. Even though they have several songs that are your modern rock tracks, they have a ska and punk mix tossed in there and even some not-so-shitty emo tracks for you My Chemical Romance/Fall Out Boy fans. If you are more of an Evanesence fan we have…

HIGH AND MIGHTY COLOR


I will be the first to admit that I am not the biggest fan of HIGH and MIGHTY but they aren’t bad. They sound a little TOO MUCH like Evanessence but that is just me. Aside from that, Pride for the Gundam opening is worth becoming a fan by itself and makes up for a lot of average tracks they have. Now if you are more a fan of Linkin Park or the Beastie Boys we have my personal fave….

Orange Range


The good thing about Orange Range is that they are kind of all over the place. From Asterisk to Locolotion, their songs are all so far away from eachother musically that it is easy to not get bored with their style, In my opinion, anyway. Also, having a three member singing corps is something that I had never thought would work but the three different voices mixed with a very eclectic song selection make them well worth a listen. For those hip hop fans out there that dig ‘Skateboard P’ and the Neptunes you will love…

M-Flo

If you love beats, you will love M-Flo. If you want to hear good rapping…you may wanna go get some Rip Slyme or Soul’d Out because Verbal is no Jay-Z. Even still, their original work with Lisa has a great vibe (I’m listening to Come Again as I post this. I love that song!) while their whole ‘M-Flo love Everybody’ style reminds me how Ja Rule was everywhere in 2003-2004 but a lot less annoying. Check out ‘Love Bug’ with BoA and ‘Taste Your Stuff (Happy Drive)’ with Bennie K. Both are good stuff. Well, Chachi hopes you have learned from this post. Your homework. Listen to the music at the bottom of the Blog. You won’t be disappointed.

Well, aside from the World Cup it has been a slow week. Oh, except for the flooding in DC. If this isn’t a sign that Uncle Ruckus was right and God really is Ronald Reagan I don’t know what is.

New Orleans AND Washington D.C. within a calendar year hit with floods that were poorly planned for? Not a coincidence. I’m just waiting for Detroit and Oakland to get hit with hurricanes because then we will truly know it is a conspiracy.

Oh, and it has finally come to pass. The Chachi has purchased the greatest instrument since the bass guitar. Which I DON’T OWN…anymore. All I can say to you is MORE COWBELL, PEEPS! Pictures will be up soon.

Well, I am gonna head back to the grind. I will try to put something up either Thursday or Saturday. It depends on how the weekend goes. Be sure to celebrate the biggest birthday of the year this coming Tuesday. No not Santa’s, AMERICAS! Go America, it’s yo birf’day soon! Stay up, peeps.

Oh, hell yes. I have been trying to find this video for years. P-P-P-P-P-UNIT!!

Okay, now Chachi's out.