Just like regular music, only free.

Earlier this year, I flew up to Tokyo to meet Saya, the inspirational vocalist with Tenniscoats. We initially made contact in conjunction with our 4th Tada Sampler, and - truth be told - I'd become something of a Tenniscoats junkie in the interim. Though she'd been delightful in our email correspondence, I found myself vaguely nervous about meeting her in person.

日本語のリンク

This really is breaking news, so I'm just going to quote from our good friend Cal Lyall over at Soundispatch and Test Tone.

"Twenty of Japan's most unique guitarists converge on Super-Deluxe (Nishi-Azabu) for seven hours that reach deep into the avant-garde and improvisational crevices of this exciting music scene. The exceptional lineup breaks through the underground with sprinklings of folk, pop, humor, and even techno, guaranteeing much more than just joyous noise. Something for everyone with a curious and open-mind!"

A little over half a year into 2008 and TADA Music is enjoying a lot more success than we could've hoped for. So, a big, "Aw, shucks, thanks guys", to all of you.

Below are the top 15 chart rankings for our first half year. Remember, these aren't going anywhere, so you can download them anytime you like. Please do, and remember to forward the links to any friends you might have who enjoy quality free music.

An hour before TsuShiMaMiRe are due onstage, I'm stood near the bar of Fukuoka's Voodoo Lounge watching an atrocious performance by a shoe-gazing outfit whose name I won't mention (for their own good). I'm busy trying to fit myself with an extra pair of earplugs, when a foreigner steps up and shyly introduces himself. I know he can't live locally, because local gaijin rarely speak to each other at gigs like this. True enough, he's over on holiday from San Francisco, and he's traveled all the way to Fukuoka especially for this gig. I apologize for the onstage atrocities and offer to introduce him to TsuShiMaMire. Having seen them in a much larger, much more crowded setting back in 'Cisco, he can't believe his luck.

Towards the end of last month, TADA Music packed up its old kit bag and trundled off along that well-worn path towards Shibuya's O-Nest, where 7e.p. Records had put together a tasty little lineup in honor of Alabama's Kyle Field, AKA Little Wings. Unfortunately, the winged wonder was out of action - some kind of throat infection, or so the story goes - so the local acts were left to take up the slack.

In truth, our American friend was barely missed. Amongst the stars of the evening were our sprawling friends, 4 Bonjour's Parties - a band that, from the name down, are pretty hard to fathom. Not that they really want it that way, and in this - one of their first encounters with a foreign journalist - they tried as hard as their wayward humour would allow to balance things out for the unprepared world at large.

TADA Music releases the fourth in its popular, free sampler series today, this month including magnificent tracks by Tenniscoats, mothercoat, Akira Kosemura, The Loving Oven and Marihiko Hara. Complete with a bilingual, digital jacket, the sampler represents some of the finest underground music currently being made in Japan, and has been compiled as an accompaniment to the artists featured on the TADA Music website this month.

Featured on our TADA Sampler this month is Your Snore, a track from those uber-friendly purveyors of Pajama Pop, Lullatone. Following our recent review of their excellent Lullatone Presents the Bedtime Beat, we sat down with Shawn James Seymour, the male half of the married duo, for a chat about music, bathing and washing up. Interested in learning the secrets of life as a musical visionary? Read on...

I felt a sort of bemused trepidation when the editor of TADA Music, and my dear old friend, Tim, asked me to write a review of one of Japan’s (perhaps only) French folk/Electronic duos. I haven’t done this sort of thing in years, not since I toiled at my university paper, The Silhouette, at a breakneck pace of about 5-7 articles a week.

Tailor Made for a Small Room... how's that for a band name? In these seemingly modern times, when most bands opt for "The", followed by the weirdest noun they can come up with (The Loving Oven, anyone?), it's kind of refreshing to come across a band whose name not only breaks with dull convention, but also sums up their style and sound succinctly, endearingly, and with a touch of poetry thrown in for good measure.

It's been a while since we published a TADA downloads chart. Our apologies. No excuses, really, though we did head up to Tokyo last week to interview Tenniscoats and 4 Bonjour's Parties (an amazing gig - read all about it here). We've also taken the time to discover the wonders of Kabaddi Kabaddi Kabaddi Kabaddi, who we hope to be bringing you coverage of soonish, not to mention chatting with the sublime Mondialito and Akira Kosemura. Things are looking up on the Japanese underground!

In the meantime, it's all-change in the TADA downloads top 5.