News

Amidst Koshi’s solo efforts and the recent tie-in B’z song announcement「Fukiarenasai」 comes a surprise: 「Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru」 as a digital-only single! This marks the first time a Japanese song by B’z was released exclusively in digital form. The Detective Conan movie theme song and current  Detective Conan anime series opening song 「Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru」 is available now on digital music services such as iTunes Japan for 250 Yen.

This release comes at a very strange timing, only allowing us to speculate why B’z have not released this song earlier, if they considered releasing it in digital form. The best time to release the song in digital form was while the movie was fresh in theatres. Instead, they chose to release it to tie it in with the upcoming release of the Detective Conan movie on DVD & Blu-ray originally slated for a October 5th release, but got delayed to October 26th due to production issues. Furthermore, this suggests that 「Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru」 will not be collected on the next B’z album or physical single, and was released in digital form such as to save on marketing efforts and the like.

Tak Matsumoto News

Today it was made public that GLAY’s guitarist TAKURO is releasing his first solo instrumental album 「Journey without a map」. Tak Matsumoto, a long-time friend of TAKURO’s, has agreed to produce the record with him. “We both love music and guitars. I’m sure this record will have something that will make you feel something.”, says Tak. He further adds that he’s very delighted to be working together on a music project with a long-time friend.

TAKURO’s album is out on December 14th, with a Japan tour in support of the album scheduled for February 2017.

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto’s recent solo tour 「Tak Matsumoto Tour 2016 -The Voyage-」 is finally out on DVD and Blu-ray! To commemorate the release, Tak has as usual released a message for his fans. Check it out below.

News

After several quiet months on the B’z front spent in and out of the studio, the first of their latest efforts has finally been unveiled in the form of a new song entitled 「Fukiarenasai」 (フキアレナサイ, Blow Violently). The decidedly hard-rock number will serve as the theme to the new action-comedy film Shippuu Rondo which is due for release nationwide in Japan beginning November 26th. The first sample of the song may be heard in the film’s trailer embedded below.

The movie is based on the novel by famed Japanese mystery writer Keigo Higashino and stars acclaimed actor Hiroshi Abe. Production on the film began in February and ran through mid April of this year. Of the project and its tie-in theme, B’z shared the following message:

Having read the novel Shippuu Rondo, which this movie is based on, while it is an action movie that has its extravagant and sometimes funny moments, the thing that stood out the most is that every character believes in their own way. The resulting conflicts are portrayed in great detail. We have made 「Fukiarenasai」 as the product of this state of mind overlapped with the fiercely dancing snow. Please enjoy the story along with its intense visuals.

「Fukiarenasai」 itself does not yet have a release date but is could appear on the next B’z studio album alongside 「Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru」.

Tak Matsumoto News

TV Asahi’s music program 「Music Station」 celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. On that occasion, a special edition of the show is being held on September 19th, dubbed 「Music Station Ultra Fes」. Tak Matsumoto is set to appear on the show and will possibly perform a rendition of 「#1090 ~Million Dreams~」, an updated version of the very same song, that has been used as the theme song for Music Station for years.

Tak will not be in the studio in Japan, but will be performing live from Los Angeles. Possibly because he is currently at work on the next B’z record.

News

On August 23rd, a joint statement signed by 116 Japanese artists was released which strongly voices the need to prevent scalpers from selling concert tickets at a premium. The campaign’s aim is to save the future of music, as ticket scalping hurts the industry and fans alike. Fans who want to buy tickets usually find that the tickets are already sold out because scalpers have already bought the remaining ones, only to resell them at a high price elsewhere.

B’z tickets are very hard to obtain because they are usually sold through ticket lotteries. Tickets in general sale are hard to come by, as well. As such, with every live tour, be it solo or B’z, Japanese auction sites are flooded with B’z fanclub tickets, although their resale is not allowed. Furthermore, general sale tickets are also sold for very high sums.

To counter this, B’z also recently started tightening measures, requiring photos of the attendees to be uploaded in the case of very exclusive concerts, such as the fanclub-exclusive SHOWCASE last year. Upon entry, the ticket holder will be identified and matched to the information stored in the system. This system may even someday be extended to the use of facial recognition software, as already employed by bands such as Arashi.

Via: Tenbai NO