Merepeoples - "Sherman"

One of the hottest Japanese alternative rock bands going now, here is the Merepeoples and their newly released "Sherman" video:




Merpeoples bewitch; The Party's . . . party



Sex and magic served up by two new Japanese girl bands

By SIMON BARTZ

Friday, Feb. 26, 2010

Via Japan Times

Four cute young women clad in ghostly white robes prance around in a forest holding twigs: No, it's not an outtake from the classic 1973 pagan spookfest "The Wicker Man." Yes, it is the excellent video for the Merpeoples' spankingly sublime song "Sherman."

Singer/guitarist Charlotte and drummer Rico must be the star pupils in their art-school class, as Merpeoples — completed by keyboardist Sayaka and bassist Ikuko — made the video themselves.

"Sherman," boasting a hypnotic but spiky guitar lick, is the catchiest song you'll hear this year and deserves to be a staple hit on all indie dancefloors. Like most of Merpeoples' eponymous debut album — released Feb. 17 — "Sherman" is dreamy pop melded to post-punk guitar riffage, but the band aren't afraid to experiment, and on the track "Midara na Story" ("Dirty Story") Sayaka's ivory-tinkling conjures up an exotic buzz — like the music from a James Bond scene in a souk.

Shame they spelled "Sherman" wrong.

"You mean it's S-H-A-M-A-N?" asks Charlotte.

I'm afraid so. Sherman is an old U.S. tank. I didn't see a tank in the video.
"Thanks, but on the CD it's in katakana, so it's OK," Charlotte says (she got her nickname 'cos a friend said that in profile she looks like Charlotte Gainsbourg).

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Japan CNN TV Tsunami Warning

Here is the current Japan CNN TV Tsunami Warning:



NHK TV in Japan is now in multilingual emergency broadcast mode repeating updated information and warnings for everyone to evacuate the coastlines.

Japan sees first tsunami waves from Chile quake

February 28, 2010

Via CNN

(CNN) -- Tsunamis from the deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile rippled across the Japanese coast Sunday, appearing to get taller with every wave.

The first one, a 4-inch wave, hit Minami Torishima, according to the Japanese meteorological agency. Minami Torishima is a small island in the Pacific Ocean.

A few more waves later, the tallest one yet at about 4 feet hit the Kuji Port in Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said.

Tens of thousands of residents evacuated Sunday morning from coastal Japan in anticipation of a possible tsunami after the earthquake. Authorities urged evacuees to stay away because a second and third round of waves could gain strength.

The northern part of the main island could be hit by a tsunami at least 9 feet high, according to the meteorological agency.

Sunday's alert was Japan's first major tsunami warning in more than 15 years, the agency reported. In 1960, a tsunami spawned by Chile's 1960 earthquake killed 140 people in Japan.

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