Tak Matsumoto News

As the Japanese release of Strings of my Soul draws near, certain stores have announced that they will offer pre-order bonuses. These bonuses differ from store to store, but in general you will be able to get a set of postcards, a clear file holder or a set of stickers. This entirely depends on where you are pre-ordering. The letdown is that this mostly applies to actual stores in Japan.

A select few online stores offer a pre-order bonus, though. You can find a list of shops offering a pre-order bonus below.

• Sticker set: [HMV.co.jp] [Musing Online shop]
• Clear file holder: [Tower Records Online]
• Postcard set: [Yamano Gakki Online]

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto’s latest solo album entitled Strings of my Soul will be on sale in the United States on August 7th through 335 Records.
The rumor has been around for quite a while after a friend of mine (www.bznobise.eu) has reached out to 335 Records a while ago and asked if they could imagine an international release. They got back to him and said that the album could be released in August. And now, here we are. This has yet to be confirmed officially, but Amazon is listing it already.

This is also a great chance to save some dollars, too. If you do not feel like importing the record from Japan, you should definitely wait and grab the US version. The Japanese version will set you back at least $36 plus shipping for the regular edition! However, it is currently unclear whether the limited edition will also be on sale in the United States.

Source: Strings Of My Soul on Amazon.com

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto’s very own label, House Of Strings, has announced that Tak Matsumoto’s latest album Strings Of My Soul is going to be released on June 20th, 2012. Tak’s new album gives off a feeling that it is a best-of compilation as quite a few tracks have already been released on Tak’s previous works.

A huge part of the album is made up of tracks from Tak’s self-described solo magnum opus, Hana (2002). Tracks such as “Koi-Uta”, “#1090 Sen Mu Ichiya”, “Hana”, “BLUE” (“Misudouji BLUE”) and “Romeo & Juliet” are all from Hana, leaving it to account for five of the thirteen tracks from Strings Of My Soul.

While this may the vibe of a best-of compilation, all of the tracks on the album have been remixed and remastered. In addition, Grammy Award winner Paul Brown has been involved as producer, engineer, and mixer on a couple of tracks such as Tak’s new song “Live Life”. Tak’s old friend Larry Carlton also makes an appearance on the track “SUKIYAKI” where the two play a cover together.

The album comes in two flavors: a CD-only edition and a limited CD+DVD version. The CD version will set you back 3,059 Yen while the CD+DVD version will cost you 3,780 Yen.

Pre-order:

CDJapan: [Regular Version] [CD+DVD Version]
Amazon(JP): [Regular Version] [CD+DVD Version]
HMV: [Regular Version] [CD+DVD Version]

See the track listing as well as the CD+DVD version content after the break.

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Tak Matsumoto News

Hello fellow B’z brothers!

The hype meter is constantly growing with B’z being in the middle of recording and Shane being back in Tokyo after a short break!
News should be out any day now… Everyone’s hoping for February 1st (JST), so check back tomorrow in case there’s some hype news!

Photo taken by: TOMUJI OHTANI

Japanese music magazine “Player” has posted a teaser for the new issue on their blog. It will feature a C’mon tour live report as well as a report on Tak Matsumoto’s latest gear. The very same gear he also used during the C’mon tour. To get everyone excited, they posted a picture of the latest guitar prototype Tak is using at the moment: The Gibson Tak Matsumoto DC Prototype 2011 #1. (ver wondered what guitar Tak is holding in the picture on B’z official website? Well now you know.

Perhaps I can get ahold of that issue (out Feb 2nd) and report back to you guys! Would certainly be interesting to read that live report… and of course the Tak Matsumoto gear report 😉

Source: Player Blog

Tak Matsumoto News

Popular Taiwanese rock band Mayday (Chinese: 五月天) has released their 8th studio album Second Round (Chinese: 第二人生) on December 16, 2011. The album was a major hit in Taiwan, generating 129,958 pre-orders in just one week. On that album, there’s a track called 三個傻瓜 (“3 Idiots”). If anyone can provide a proper translation for the title, I’d be very grateful.

Anyway, close to the end of the song, the singer shouts Tak, come on! and we get to hear Tak’s signature sound. His solo proves to be a worthy finish for the song. In the album’s booklet he’s credited as “Feat. Tak Matsumoto by courtesy of VERMILLION RECORDS”.

Check out the song below. Tak’s solo starts at around 3:30.

Tak Matsumoto News

After having released her triple A single “UNCHAINED GIRL” last month, rock singer Anna Tsuchiya has recently announced on her official website that she’s going to release a “Best Collaboration Album” on December 21st. The album is going to come in two flavors: CD and CD+DVD.

Among others, Tak Matsumoto has been mentioned to be on the collaboration album as composer.

*UPDATE (January 23rd, 2012)*: The launch of the album was postponed in December, but a new date has now been announced: March 28th, 2012. The title of the song Tak is collaborating on has also been revealed: ALL RIGHT NOW. This is a completely new song by Anna Tsuchiya and will feature Tak. It is currently unclear as to what extend Tak is involved. My guess would be: Composition, Arrangement and Guitar.

Past projects Tak Matsumoto was involved in include(but are not limited to):

• Fantasia by Takamiy (Released: August 25, 2010)
• Chuo-sen by Kine Naoto (Released: April 7th, 2010)
• SET IT ON BLAST!! by Stevie Salas (Released: July 15th, 2009)

Source: B’z松本、ハイスタ難波書き下ろし曲収録!　土屋アンナのコラボ・ベスト登場 – TOWER RECORDS ONLINE