Our main focus is on the T-shirts (Merchandise) that were announced at the end of last month, because the latest news post features Icchan and the T-shirts! Yup, he models all 4 colours of the latest design, and looks so sweet when he smiles. :) Take a look below, especially at the pink t-shirt, as the website says it is particularly recommended by Icchan!

If you want to see how the t-shirt fares under colourful spotlights, Back-on.com also provides a photo of Shu with the new-t-shirt as well~

It seems that the band have also made an executive decision to reprint the New World t-shirt that was apparently sold at Anime Matsuri 2007, since it was so popular! If you haven’t already seen it before, Icchan models it again:

I have to say I really like the design for this shirt, since the skulls/chains/guns combo does seem quite morbid, but I do love the 2017-2018 venue list at the back of the new shirt! All the shirts are set to retail at ¥2,500, which is about £10 GBP or $20 USD. Except, I’m not sure where. >_< If you do know, please get in touch!

Back-on‘s other news updates involve new dates for their live gigs (August and September), which we’ve updated on the band’s Schedule page. Their diary looks very packed, and to highlight one gig: They will be performing with bands from both Japan (such as Uzumaki and Yamaarashi) and the US (Phunk Junkeez and Supe) on September 2nd 2007 at Club Asia in Shibuya. However, the most significant date is probably their second solo live gig Code002 “flower” on October 13th 2007 at BOXX in Shibuya! :)

p/s: We haven’t forgotten about Back-on‘s debut solo gig Code001 “BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…” on July 4th 2007. It’s taking a little time to collate info for the news post, so please do check back again for the full report.

This outdoors music festival, which began in 1995 and is held annually at the end of July. As one of the major events in the rock music calendar, it attracts artists from all over the world, particularly those from around Asia. Artists that have performed at FF (note the logo are mirrored Fs) in recent years include Moby, Super Furry Animals, May Day, The Back Horn, Lisa Loeb, Kishidan and Nanase Aikawa.

This year, Formoz Festival have invited groups such as OK GO (they did the ‘famous’ Treadmill Dancing video!), LM.C, Anna Tsuchiya and Teriyaki Boyz. But most importantly, Back-on, G.F.S and even Rize will be performing!

As mentioned before, Back-on will be the feature act on what is known as the Wind [風] stage, an arena traditionally reserved for the most well-known performers. There are seven other themed arenas, including:

• Forest [林] - apparently for unique performers
  
• Fire [火] – where G.F.S will be performing, and features both new and well-established bands
• Mountain [山] – which focuses on chillout music
• Electricity [電] – the stage for Electronic music
• Light [光] - themed audio-visual centre
• Stone [石] – featuring heavy metal, punk and other hardcore bands
• Fight [炎] – wrestling arena first introduced in 2003

Tao [道], the final arena, is the newest addition to Formoz Festival. Rize will be one of the headline bands for this stage alongside e.g. Anna Tsuchiya, but for a taste of what Wind will be like, you can view the picture below from the official FF site.

I really want to go! as it really looks amazing ~ alas it’s peak travel season and plane tickets are prohibitively expensive. But if you are in the area, for around £40 GBP (or $85 USD) you get a 3-day pass to all of the arenas for Formoz Festival 2007, so whilst it’s still a little on the expensive side for locals, it’s definitely a good deal when you take into account the exchange rate!

So if you are attending Formoz Festival 2007, please let us know! We would love to hear about your experiences, especially (of course) those relating to Back-on! For other readers, Back-on Online will try our best to make a full report if/when we find out more at the end of July, so please stay tuned! :D

The album, released on June 20th 2007 (and is also known as just ‘House of Punx‘) contains 15 tracks with contributions from multitudinous individuals who, like Teeda are also part of other bands. This includes the core producers of the album, who are also known collectively as Loud 69 Punx.

The list of individual artists includes (band name is within brackets, info courtesy of TowerRecords.jp):

• Akiko (Acid Head Some Rise)
• Animal-K/Jyu, Ataru and Yoshio/Doc-Rox (Uzumaki)
• Chu (Chokesleeper)
• EIG and 43K (Possibility)
• Hero (Dogma)
• Jesse (Rize)
• Ju-nn (Deltabush)
• Kojima,Satoshi and 武史[Takeshi] (山嵐 [Yamaarashi])
• Takuma
• Teeda (BACK-ON)
• Sigma (LD69PX)
• T2LOW (Skunkrice, LD69PX)
• Kai (THC!!)
• Kohshi (Flow)
• Moteki (g-freak factory)
• Naoki (ロットングラフティー [Rotten-Graffity])
• Reishi
• S-48/Shinji (Killingskill48)
• 冠 [Kanmuri] (The Kanmuri)
• 来門 [Raimon] (smorgas)
• マシューまさるバロン [Matthew Masaru Barron/Matthew Barron] (Hard Time Ballers)

Now that we’ve gone through the (rather extensive!) list of artists, aside from the fact that the CD retails at a price of ¥ 2500, has the catalogue number TSE-001 and is produced by T-star Entertainment (website is currently down, but apparently this is an Indie label) we arrive at yet another long list – the tracklisting…

1. Super Drive ft. Hero, Matthew Barron, Animal-K, T2Low
2. Beautiful Society ft. Sora-3000, K, Doc-Rox, Tsuyoshi(Track)
3. アルダケ[Arudake] ft MC Takuma, Naoki, Chu, Animal-K
4. Close your eyes ft. Doc-Rox, DJ Yugo (Track)
5. Just Right Now ft. Raimon, Ataru, Doc-Rox, *m.step~ (Track)
6. Vibes ft. K, Ju-NN, Reichi, Doc-Rox, Tsuyoshi (Track)
7. MAX BET ft. Satoshi, Kojima, Yamaarashi, Ataru, Sugi-V (Track)
8. life ft. Kai, Kohchi, Animal-K
9. kizuna ft. 43k, EIG, Moteki, Animal-K
10. TWISTER ft. Teeda, S-48, Animal-K
11. Galaxxxy in za House ft. Animal-K
12. Vein ft. Hero, Kanmuri, Animal-K, T2Low
13. Fire sky ft. Reishi, Animal-K, T2Low
14. BREEZE ft. Akiko, Animal-K
15. Fly High ft. Animal-K (Bonus Track)

So where can you listen to these songs? Alas, it seems that aren’t many sites at the moment that have samples, (probably because this is such a new CD), but to listen to Tracks #1, #2, and #3, you can visit:

http://www.audioleaf.com/ld69px/

I find these first few tracks a little heavy, but it would be good to find out what others thought! :)

p/s: A little teaser coming up, the next update about House of Punx will feature a video from the album itself, so please continue to watch this space!

In this particular update, the featured radio playlist is BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…, Back-on‘s latest single release. This means you can listen to the two title tracks, their TV-size versions as well as EYES!

With regards to the featured downloads, nearly 45% of the 270 voters wanted BLAZE LINE (Eyeshield 21 OP), whilst 30% voted for the all-time favourite, Chain (Air Gear OP!) We’ve also had a special request for Hikari Sasuhou (Survive ver.) and Drive, so to show our appreciation to the kind supporters of Back-on Online, both these songs are now available for download for one week!

Please do continue to vote for your favourite songs, but please remember, if you LIKE the songs, try and support Back-on by buying their CDs/attending their concerts!

Even if you can’t do so at the moment, seriously don’t worry, you can also help the band by spreading the word about their music! So please try and name-drop Back-on to your friends, family and the internet! :D

Anyway, Sound EX has suggested that we all visit Gori‘s personal blog to wish him a happy birthday, which I think is fantastic idea! So click on the link below to visit his blog and give him your very own birthday greetings!~

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/goribaba/

From Back-on Online –

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GORI-san! Hope you have a great time today and always! 誕生日おめでとうございます

under Back-on‘s discography, called Flower!

At present, aside from a few general details such as the release date, label, catalogue reference and recommended price (as listed below):

• Release date : August 29th 2007
• Label : Cutting Edge
• Catalogue ref. : CTCR-40261
• Recommended price : ¥ 1,200

the only significant information available regarding the single is that it is related to the anime: Eyeshield 21,

where the song, Flower, will be the new ending theme!

If this news seems completely random, Back-on were invited to write the (current) OP and ED of Eyeshield 21, and the songs have just been released as the 3-track single BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…, which included an additional song EYES.

There is also news that the first releases of Flower will be special edition CDs, with the jacket cover of the single featuring Back-on and the inside-pages of the usual booklet featuring Eyeshield 21. This isn’t too surprising, considering the first release of the single Chain also had a specially-designed booklet!

The really tantalising information about the single is that some sites have mentioned “CD-Extra“, which generally means that something extra (maybe a preview video or an actual video?) will be included with the release. Definitely something to look forward to! :D

I thought I’d write abit more about these songs, since it’s hard to explain everything on the Music page itself! You may have read a previous post about recent updates to Back-on‘s Discography, and details about a CD compilation – Survive – were added, in which Back-on contributes 3 songs:

1. NUTS TRIBE
2. ヒカリサスホウ (Hikari Sasuhou)
3. GRAB

The CD compilation was released on June 8th 2005 with songs from Back-on, Airstrike and , and some fans will already know that both Nuts Tribe and ヒカリサスホウ (Hikari Sasuhou) are songs available from Baby Rock and New World.

Since Nuts Tribe has already been included in another album, I’ve decided not to write more about the song. However, the ヒカリサスホウ (Hikari Sasuhou) in Survive is very different from the version found in New World. The lyrics differ slightly, as well as the arrangement of the music, and is not unlike Hikari Sasuhou (FK Metal ver.), a new variation by Back-on for the OP of the anime, Murder Princess.

So for the sake of convenience, this version will be referred to in the future as Hikari Sasuhou (Survive CD ver.) or something like that, at least on this site!

How about Grab? I personally love the music from the verse(s) more than the chorus, and it seems to be a firm favourite by listeners, judging by the reponses so far. Oddly, this song hasn’t yet been included in any of Back-on‘s own releases so far, but it has been featured on another compilation – BASTA LA FESTA – sun face side - – which was released on October 25th 2005.

First thoughts on both songs?

Hikari Sasuhou (Survive CD ver.) is probably the closest (at the moment) to a full version of Hikari Sasuhou (FK Metal. ver.), which is one of my most favourite Back-on tracks, so it’s impossible (for me) to dislike! However, it’s quite clear that Back-on‘s music has improved since 2005 as the Survive CD ver. has quite a raw sound – ie. less polished. The introduction is a little long (58 seconds?), the singing is rather less polished than it’s recent counterpart and there are fewer ‘special’ effects. Nevertheless, it’s a damned good song which also provides an insight into Back-on‘s earlier work.

I also love Grab – it has an upbeat-intro and the underlying melody is fantastic. Alot of emphasis is made on the guitar work and the rap-part of the song, which really carries the entire song, even if the chorus doesn’t quite make the same benchmark in my humble opinion. So overall, the song is very strong in the sense that it’s just makes for great listening, and I hope that Back-on will consider re-recording it to include in their own album at some point.

If you haven’t already listened to the two songs, they are available for streaming from the Radio on the Music page. It would be interesting to find out what other people thought about these two songs in particular, and whilst I still maintain that we should all support Back-on by buying their CDs, one could probably make an exception for compilation tracks, so we at Back-on Online will be providing download links at some point for the songs!

• Discography – New sections for Demos and Compilations/Collaborations have been added in to incorporate information about the other music that Back-on has worked on. This includes some brief info about their first demo (which sold for ¥100 at the time) as well as some of the earlier cd releases, which were only available on the night at the venue of their performance.

  To give a quick run-down of some titles in this new update: Luv Graffiti 2, MONSTERS ROCK VOL.1 & 2, OPTION presents STREAM Z J-LOUD EDITION and STOP AIDS CLUB MOVEMENT. Most of the songs found on these compilations can actually be found in the tracklisting of their later releases.

  However, the complete list isn’t finalised yet because it turned out having over 20 (Firefox) tabs open to view and verify information was surprisingly mentally tiring. So you’ll have to forgive me… ^^; On another note, it seems that Back-on may have created more PVs than previously thought, but it’s something I haven’t yet investigated fully yet so…

• History - The update made to this page is actually less complete than Discography, but features a brand new sub-section called Time-Line, which I should re-iterate is a work-in-progress.
  

  Did you know that (apparently) Back-on were called Garden before they were named by Jesse of RIZE?

  I learnt something new today anyway ;) This was (apparently) back in 2000, before the ‘official’ year/month of Back-on‘s ‘formation’ (which is September 2002 for the record and what every Back-on fan should know for their pub-quiz!)

  The other new sub-section is Artists, which will probably be moved to it’s own page in the future, but when writing out the time-line, it was quite useful to also compile a list of websites of artists that were somehow related to Back-on through their collaboration on albums.

As usual I promise new updates (when I can) but I have to admit the Lyrics section will probably be less of a priority at the moment, so hope you all don’t mind too much! If there is some huge objection (or pro-lyrics movement) then feel free to let me know via the comments box. I am easily swayed open to all sorts of opinions! :D

Oh and before the end, you may have noticed that we now have a count-down counter on the topright of the page (under Search) indicating the time till the official release of BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming… Only a day or two now, so ganbatte!

Another promotion video from new single “BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…” is completed !

It will be uploaded soon !

Please check it !

Sound Ex has said (in the same forum thread) that the PV should be released ‘in a week or so’ so keep an eye out everyone! :) I’m certainly looking forward to it’s release!

However, this time, to celebrate the forthcoming release of Back-on‘s latest single: BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…, instead of just featuring 2 songs for download, for the next 5 days – until June 6th 2007 (the official release date for BL/ADD) – all 4 songs that were featured in the previous vote (where 169 people participated for their most-wanted download) will be available!

These are:

1. Believer (Chain)
   
2. Rain (New World)
3. Gaku-Ten (Baby Rock)
4. Nuts Tribe (Baby Rock)

After that, just the top two winners will remain as usual (as bolded)
You can reach the Music page by visiting: http://www.backon-online.com/multimedia/music/

Again, the aim of the downloads section is to provide a ‘one-stop’ place for fans and potential fans to listen to Back-on’s work – ‘try before you buy‘. You can support Back-on even more by buying their albums and attend their concerts. There is more information about where you can purchase the cds avilable on the Music page.

Finally… there hasn’t been any change to the Radio section of Music for the moment… but check back in two weeks! :) Don’t forget to vote in the new Poll in the meantime!