Monday, October 19, 2009

Godzilla 2009

Keeping up with the umpteen artists that I endeavor to cover here at Hipster, please! is tantamount to herding cats. I mean, I can suggest that they send me their tour and album release dates or maybe let me know as new tracks are leaked, and, on my side, I can do my best to stay on top of the several dozen relevant sites and RSS feeds, but in the end it's easy for the ball to get dropped. Still, sometimes a message creeps into my inbox that reminds that there's someone looking out for me. That person is Karl Olson.

Though we haven't heard much from Rai Kamishiro since her amazing contribution to MC Frontalot's "Shame of the Otaku," she has obviously been hard at work inside her secret Mecha-Godzilla lair. In fact, her debut album – now known as Electric Sheep – is coming "VERY VERY SOON." Of course, the aforementioned Ultraklystron is taking care of things on the production-tip, and the preview video (which I've embedded below) makes it apparent that the project is even more bright and frenetic than their previous collaborations.

Pre-order information is already available at Karl's site. Meanwhile, Rai is offering regular updates concerning the album and its contents (in her own indubitable fashion) via LiveJournal. There's talk at both sites about a special limited edition print, so get on that shit quick if you want access to alternate cover art, extra tracks and remixes.

I've been a huge fan of Rai's since her appearance on the original Rhyme Torrents compilations, even going so far to co-found a cult based on her inexplicable doctrine, so this is the kind of release news I would term a very pleasant surprise. For those unfamiliar with the Once and Future Queen of J-Nerdcore, you can also hear her cover of Samurai Champloo's theme song "Shiki No Uta" on my very own Nerdcore Undercover compilation, and you can get a glimmer of her delightful eccentricity via our interview from 2006.

Suffice it to say that Rai is one of a kind.

No comments: