BACK-ON Connected at 3:58!

Watch Connectus and selfish PV below:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq973zVrTXI

You can see a screenshot of KENJI03‘s adjusting the amplifier above (about halfway through the video) and of course, what this PV means is that you can listen to with you feat.Me in full for the first time if you haven’t heard it already from other sources!

If you’re wondering what happens after the teaser : misono sings the first half of the second verse, but then TEEDA rocks the song with some trademark rapping – which he does (awesomely) again during the bridge  (2:25) – and we get to see some lovely cinematography (with a hint of TEEDA smiling and a scene of GORI lighting a cigarette – although the ciggy isn’t there any more when the song resumes after the musical interlude). As a fan of Shu, I am personally ecstatic that he is wearing a shirt and tie! <3

And first impressions of the single: some will prefer the B-side Nagareboshi (Shooting Star) – which is a lovely mellow rock song – to the title track (for various reaons), and with you [Tales of] remix is definitely more varied in style than flyaway [Tales of ] Remix and features the voice of Hirano Aya, but all I can I say is that you will need to listen to all these songs on decent speakers to do them justice!

Hope you enjoy watching the PV! :)

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The video has been uploaded by pochomuking0310, and you can watch it by click on this link or even below the cut-off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPtRlxTlAX4&NR

As you can tell from our title, this remix features the voice of Kanonno Grassvalley aka. Hirano Aya – who is arguably more well-known for her role as the seiyuu of Suzumiya Haruhi from “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi” anime series.

with you [Tales of] Remix is definitely a different style to flyaway [Tales of] Remix, but I am a huge fan of this song already, especially with Hirano Aya‘s gentle vocals that flow so very smoothly with KENJI03‘s singing that makes the song seem far more relaxing (even with all the fast electronic beats) – especially as the song starts with a long musical intro of synthesised guitars.

Let us know what you think! Or better still – come join us on our Fan Forums!

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I only wish the clip was longer but we can safely say that the rumours that misono is Me were true! Definitely a bit of the Crazy Town sound imho during TEEDA‘s rap bridge, but the chorus brightens up again with more misono and KENJI03.  I personally can’t wait to get my hands on the lyrics!

What do you all reckon? :)

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Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year break. In case you hadn’t already caught the news on the redesigned BACK-ON.com (screenshot below) or even on their official Twitter, you can now watch the official PV for TELL ME on Youtube!

Click here to watch it (and add it to your Favourites of course) or click on ‘Read more’ below to view it on BOO.

Do I like the song? The answer is: I *absolutely* love it! It reminds me of the time I first heard Chain, as it is so memorable, even though the style of music is slightly different. One of the main highlights has to be TEEDA‘s rapping over the heavy guitar riffs(?) between 0:37 – 0:47 but if you’re after some great verses, a super catchy chorus and bridge, then I reckon you’ll definitely like TELL ME, as KENJI03‘s vocals are just so good.

As for the PV: fans who attended BACK-ON‘s Anime Matsuri concert in 2010 will be in for a treat, as the band decided to go down the BLAZE LINE route and feature clips from their trip to the USA; and from what I recall on the Forums (posts by IchiI think!), they actually performed this song during the concert, so if you catch yourself in the PV, please do let us know~ :)

So without further ado (and don’t forget to tell us if you like it) the PV:

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These photos are from the official live report and I really wish there were more! Loved TEEDA‘s hoodie top by the way:

And this is a map of the entire venue – BACK-ON was right in the heart of everything!

Icchan and Kenji03 certainly look as though they were enjoying themselves (see Icchan‘s full blog post):

Finally, to give you an idea of what the atmosphere is like at this massive music festival, take a look at the official Attractions & Audience photos and videos from Osaka – we’ve included a few below:

With warm thanks again to MONSTERSNITE for the news, it is probably the first time the band’s live performance of any of their songs has been released as a DVD! We have seen a few standalone recordings (on Youtube) and even in the BLAZE LINE PV, but nothing like this, although some of us BOO Forum folk would love to have a dedicated DVD!

The DVD will have a Retail Price of ¥ 7,140 and a running time of approximately 240 minutes (4 hours?) . According to this post by Anoop Gantayat on AndriaSang.com :

This is a “set” in that it contains two DVDs, one each for the afternoon and evening versions of the June 14 show. Buyers can look forward to talk shows and skits, much of which differed depending on the showing. In addition, the set will include bonus promotional footage, specifics about which have yet to be shared.

I only wish that the release date wasn’t so far away, but at least we have got BACK-ON‘s European debut at Connchi in Germany to look forward to in September. And before I forget – if you haven’t already heard – we are organising a GIGANTIC FANBOOK PROJECT for the band by fans. All ideas and fans are welcome so please do come and participate if you can!

What makes this particular interview rather different from others before is that firstly, there are two versions. One version is Japanese-only, where you hear Jennifer Ho ask Teeda (and Kenji03) the question in English – in an Aussie accent (as expected) – which is followed by their reply in Japanese.

The other version is almost exactly the same, except that now Teeda and Kenji03‘s replies have an unobtrusive English voice-over, which enables us to understand what they are saying!

Without spoiling the interview for you (although we have provided a full transcript below the cut) there is a really funny moment where Kenji03 launches into an answer and then forgets the question (best heard in the Japanese version) and it seems that Teeda really likes koalas? It is also interesting what he says about how the band came to work with GReeeeN:

GReeeeN and BACK-ON have the same producer known by the name of JIN. Sometimes he brings GReeeeN’s new tracks for us to have a listen to or take our tracks to GReeeeN, vice versa, which has made us realise we had the same message to tell, even though we come from different backgrounds.

What we want to express with our music is no different, and we thought we could make
something really cool together – mixing rock and Jpop – that’s how we ended up together.

Teeda then talks about what BACK-ON brings to Ashiato, their first single with GReeeeN as BAReeeeeeeeeeN:

GReeeeN’s music is more of a pop music, with a kinda popular straightforward sound, whereas BACK-ON has been playing in the underground rock scenes in Japan and occasionally overseas.

We’ve brought that kind of BACK-ON taste into the collaboration: we’ve turned it more ‘rockish’ by adding some features like rough raps or distortion to the sound.

Of course there is more, and you can listen to the interview for yourself by visiting the link below:

Listen to the interview on Alchemy’s Asian Pop Show

I would really highly recommend it, although here is some breaking news about their plans for 2009: BACK-ON‘s first full album YES!!! is going to be released in Europe! Apart from doing more live gigs, they would also like to do a tour in the US and possibly Europe and Australia.

Hope you will enjoy listening to it as much as we did :) A big thanks must go to Jennifer Ho and Mika Nakamori for their fantastic work! As mentioned above, if you are unable to access the audio, you can read the full text transcript of the interview below:

Interview Transcript

Teeda (and Kenji03): To everyone in Australia, including the koalas, this is BACK-ON’s MC Teeda and Kenji with Jennifer on Alchemy’s Asian Pop Show!

** Chain plays in the background**

Jennifer: Recently one of the things about you guys is the new collaboration with GReeeeN. What are some of the things you guys have done to promote your collaboration with GReeeeN?

Teeda: Well, GReeeeN actually keep their identity a secret and never show their faces to the public. To keep it that way, they can’t perform live or appear on TV shows with us. For that reason promotional activities from the BACK-ON side were restricted as well.

We only did TV ads and commercials.

Jennifer: What do you think (of) the idea that they try to hide their identity?

Teeda: The positive side of it, I think, is that no one would recognise you, so you could walk on the streets without being spotted. That would be one of the good things about it I guess.

Jennifer: How did you and GReeeeN end up together and become BAReeeeeeeeeeN?

Teeda: GReeeeN and BACK-ON have the same producer known by the name of JIN. Sometimes he brings GReeeeN’s new tracks for us to have a listen to, or take our tracks to GReeeeN, vice versa, which made us realise we had the same message to tell, even though we come from different backgrounds.

What we want to express with our music is no different, and we thought we could make something really cool together – mixing rock and J-pop – that’s how we ended up together.

Jennifer: What role does BACK-ON play in the new single ‘Ashiato’?

Teeda: GReeeeN’s music is more of a pop music, with a kinda popular straightforward sound, whereas BACK-ON has been playing in the underground rock scenes in Japan and occasionally overseas.

We’ve brought that kind of BACK-ON taste into the collaboration: we’ve turned it more ‘rockish’ by adding some features like rough raps or distortion to the sound.

** Ashiato plays in the background**

** BLAZE LINE plays in the background**

Jennifer: Now let’s focus on BACK-ON. How’s the new album YES!!! special to you?

Teeda: Is it ok if Kenji, our guitar/vocalist takes over from here?

Kenji03: Domo. Good morning. BACK-ON’s guitar and vocalist Kenji03 here.

Since it was our first album, we wanted to create the best thing possible… I’m sorry what was the question again? It was a rather… complicated question.

Teeda: No it wasn’t.

Kenji03: What was it again?

Mika Nakamori: *repeats the question*

Kenji03: There are no special thoughts as such, but this is our very first album. We’ve always wanted to release one for so long, so we’ve tried creating the best thing ever, which makes it a very special album for us.

Jennifer: So tell us about the process of putting this album together, for example the recordings and some of the difficulties you guys have faced?

Kenji03: It took us a while to select the first track. We wrote several songs to use as the first track, but we couldn’t decide it. What we thought was the right one was actually the first… I’m not really sure what I’m talking about *laughs*

But, anyway, what I meant is it was difficult to write a song for the first
track of the first album.

This is because when you listen to your CD or samples at the CD store, you’re most likely to start from the first track, right? The first track is always the key track of an album, so we considered it more seriously.

** Hate Naki Michi E [LA mix] plays in the background**

Jennifer: And what is one of the most unusual ways you guys have come up with a great song that you love?

Kenji03: Teeda will take over from here.

Teeda: For the song called ‘Color’, it’s actually for BAReeeeeeeeeeN. I came up with the verse and the pre-chorus sections whilst I was having a bath in the hot spring.

** Color plays in the background **

Jennifer: And I hear that you guys have been trying to film the new music video for the new single ‘flyaway’ and the weather hasn’t been too good. So share with us a little bit – what’s this single going to be about?

Teeda: ‘flyaway’ will be the opening theme for the sequel of Namco Bandai’s popular video game: Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology.

Jennifer: Are there any plans for 2009 that we can look forward to?

Teeda: We were too busy with recordings this year and didn’t get to do gigs very often, so we want to get out and do more gigs next year and hopefully do a tour in the US.

As our album ‘YES!!!’ is set to be released in Europe, we’re hoping to go to Europe as well. It would be great if we could also have a chance to go to Australia. We would love to kangeroos and koalas, and of course Australian fans.

Kenji03: Yeah!

Jennifer: Yes, I will take you guys to see kangaroos and koala if you come.

Teeda: Yatta. Kenji is also saying Yatta!

Kenji03: YATTA!

Jennifer: If we were going to visit you in Japan, where will you take us?

Teeda: We’re from downtown Tokyo, so we can go on a pub crawl in Asakusa to eat monjayaki, okonomiyaki and udon. How does that sound?

Kenji03: I’d like to recommend a track called NEW WORLD, simply because it rocks! YAY!

** NEW WORLD fades into the background **

This is definitely the first time that BACK-ON has ever reached the Top 10 of any Oricon charts as themselves (they did reach #1 with Ashiato – their collaboration with GReeeeN – as part of BAReeeeeeeeeeN) and it seems that Oricon is finally recognising the achievements of BACK-ON, and have featured them in this week’ s RANKING パラダイス (RANKING Paradise)!

This news comes courtesy of Sesshy, who posted all the details on our fan forums right here, and even included an annotated screenshot of BACK-ON on the frontpage (yes, frontpage) of Oricon.co.jp. The programme, RANKING Paradise, which is hosted by Yui Kanno and Brother TOM also features a group of 5 girls known as Ranpara Girls. You can watch the full video (there are quite a few Pocky ads and random mini-clips) by visiting:

http://tv.oricon.co.jp/ranpara/

Unfortunately we don’t really understand (fully) what is being asked during the Q&A between the hosts and BACK-ON, but there were certainly plenty of laughs and every single member of BACK-ON made a contribution.

Some of the things that did happen:

• Icchan was asked to describe what GReeeeN were like, to which he replied ‘GReeeeN are like kind older brothers’;
• The band were also asked what GReeeeN actually looked like – a very normal question given that they’re still ‘anonymous’ – and in the end, Teeda was asked to draw a picture of their face!
• Gori had to talk about what ‘type’ he liked (a lot of laughter here)

Oh and as Sesshy said… if you are wondering what everyone is holding in the photo above, they are inflatable Pocky. :) Hopefully we can find out what they actually said at some point, but in the meantime, do click on the link above and watch the video!

To provide some background: flyaway[Tales of]Remix is an extended remix of the title track from the single flyaway, and features the seiyuu of one of the main characters in the game, Kanonno Earhart, who is voiced by Ito Kanae (伊藤かな恵) and the bgm (background music) from the battle scenes of the Tales of the World:Radiant Mythology 2 game, although – with thanks to Sok for the info – it does include music from an earlier game in the series.

You can either click on the link below to enjoy the song in full (all 5:40 minutes of it!) or watch it after the cut/read more… link on BOO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43SkGVtBGvA

Either way, hope you enjoy the song as much as I/we do – it’s very upbeat and definitely a fantastic addition to the Limited Edition version of the flyaway single! :) You can also listen to the rest of the new single on our Music page; yes, we are talking about:

• flyaway
• where is the future?
• Re:Start
• flyaway[Tales of]Remix

flyaway[Tales of]Remix uploaded by moyu27:

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