Surely, Western fans of Japanese music have to be looking at JapanFiles like this right about now:

JapanFiles had been distributing much of the Up-Front Works catalog both digitally and as select physical CD releases since November of 2008, starting with the debut EP of ex-MoMusu members Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa’s J-Rock/goth/electropop duo Hangry and Angry. Morning Musume got three releases – their past two studio albums Platinum 9 Disc and 10 MY ME and their summer 2009 single “Shouganai Yume Oibito” – the single release tying in their their overdue debut American performance promoted by Anime Expo in Los Angeles – out of the deal, and a few other select artists were getting physical CDs pressed in the US as well.

Unfortunately, JapanFiles did a lot of ball-dropping and other mucked plays in their otherwise sincere efforts to make J-music more easily available. Distribution – a big key in that availability – was the biggest factor. Not counting the label’s own site, JapanFiles’s physical CD releases were available only at Hot Topic here in the States. No other retail store in the country – unless they made a few special orders right through the website – carried the releases in store, and none of the other online retailers one would go through to buy a CD had any of JapanFiles’s licensed titles in stock.

Some of the same titles were also coming up as downloads on the US iTunes store, but JapanFiles in general was basically claiming that their own website was the exclusive, go-to place for getting their digital releases.

Which brings up the big kvetch: The artists and their fans deserve better service than that.

Devoted fans might know to go direct to someone like JapanFiles for their downloads, just like they know they could order just about any Japanese CD release from CDJapan, YesAsia, or the Japanese sites of Amazon and HMV – but when it comes to expanding that audience, JapanFiles didn’t even seem to bother. JapanFiles basically suffered from a strain of the same tunnel-vision-like affliction that proved fatal to Tofu Records, who had gone through the whole rigmarole of boasting easier availability of Japanese recordings – Puffy AmiYumi being the biggest act on their roster – but had idiotically focused distribution and product placement (no one outside of the anime department at Suncoast Video seemed to carry Tofu titles; Puffy’s only release through Tofu, Splurge, was nowhere to be found when this writer was at Virgin Mega’s Times Square store in 2006, although their previous Bar-None and Epic releases and the import edition of Splurge were.)

I’ve said this before in past columns, and this bears repeating. “Making Japanese releases more available in the US and elsewhere” is not supposed to mean “Let’s just press a small bunch of CDs and only sell them where the nerds will find them.” Here’s where it really should mean, using the Up-Front roster as examples:

Step One: Get Morning Musume and their stablemates signed to a REAL label – preferably a large independent label like Merge or Matador, or a major label devoted to making career artists, like Octone or Wind-Up. Labels like these will have the promotional clout and the distribution reach that acts like Morning Musume deserve, and they won’t just throw them against the wall like most major labels seem to do in the hope that they’ll stick. They’ll also have a bigger target audience than the JapanFiles/Tofu “let’s target the wota” approach. Someone that already listens to Morning Musume doesn’t listen to most Top 40 pop artists (save for acts like Lady Gaga) – more than likely, they’re listening to alternative and indie rock acts like… well, what a coincidence, the ones signed to labels like (surprise, motherfuckers!) Merge, Matador, Octone, and Wind-Up.

Remember how I said a few paragraphs ago that the artists and fans that JapanFiles seems to be kicking to the curb deserve better? That “better” means making the releases widely available. Widely available means record stores everywhere – chains like FYE, independent record stores (they’re still around) like my beloved Gallery of Sound, big-box stores like Best Buy and Target, online shops like Amazon and CD Universe. Widely available also means digital downloads available in all of the major outlets we know of – not just iTunes but AmazonMP3 (which seems to be seeing iTunes’s taillights at this point insofar as competitive pricing and selection), Rhapsody, eMusic, Napster, and so forth.

Just ask Dir en grey. After a good, yet short-lived, association with Warcon here in the States, they found a more receptive American label home with The End Records, a label devoted to the kind of hard rock DEG writes and records that is well aware that their general target audience already has a large slew of fans who were buying their imports (and the Warcon US rereleases) as well as fans who might have heard of them and wanted to know what the fuss was about – and they’ve been on a serious roll ever since.

Just ask Shonen Knife, who has the most devoted American label in their career – seemingly, EVER – with GooGoo Dolls bassist Robby Takac’s indie label Good Charamel Records, who have already released their three most recent albums here in the States and has regularly brought the band on tour here twice in the space of two years.

Music fans are a somewhat peculiar bunch. We tend to like options. A lot of options. And not just CD, mp3 or vinyl, but where we can get those.

Music fans also like to browse. A devoted Morning Musume fan already knows when they’re going to put records out, and where to get them. A more casual music fan that likes to roam the racks of their favorite store or stalk the appropriate areas of their iTunes Store app for something different to jam to isn’t going to know Morning Musume can be easily had (without breaking copyright laws) unless they have a friend or relative that is already a devoted fan.

Labels like JapanFiles and Tofu are always going to shoot themselves in the foot – or elsewhere – if they keep operating in such a manner.

DIR EN GREY
Uroboros
(The End [US]/Freewill [Japan])
Available on CD, double LP and on iTunes 

I have tried to write about this album several times since both my import CD and my US double vinyl arrived in my PO Box (the latter arriving a month after its release – what’s up with that, The End Records?), listened to it, enjoyed it… and had trouble trying to summarize things well enough for a review at the time.

That having been said, the album – irregardless of its edition – is an absolute masterpiece. Compared with their two previous American releases, Uroboros takes a lot more musical risks than its brutal predecessor The Marrow of a Bone, with songs that have earned comparisons to Led Zeppelin (“Dozing Green”, which could have been on In Through The Out Door) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Stuck Man”). The classic DEG instrumental sound and feel is still intact, and of course there’s no singer anywhere in rock whose voice is as multiple-personality as Kyo’s (probably his closest contemporary is Slipknot’s Corey Taylor). Bottom line? Best hard rock or heavy metal album of the year; in fact, so good, it knocked Metallica’s comeback album Death Magnetic out of contention for the Top 10 this year.

Obviously, my intake of Japanese CD’s has continued at a steady rate this year – loyal grabbings of Morning Musume/Hello! Project releases, Koda Kumi’s most recent album and singles, EPs by The Husky and SCANDAL, the best-of anthology from The Possible, Mai Kuraki’s newest effort, and some initial forays into the world of AKB48 (which is going to be an article in and of itself soon) all come to mind. My interest in enka has also taken a turn towards mostly digital works (both CD and legal downloads – another reason to keep the account balance up on my Japanese iTunes account), which is a good thing.

Then I tried to think back to what non-Japanese CDs I’d bought this year. That was harder, as I tried to recall what was the last non-J-Pop CD I bought.

I kept trying to think it was Metallica’s Death Magnetic, given their having Rick Rubin replace Bob Rock and do some music that harkened, if not to their Ride The Lightning/Master of Puppets days, then at least to …And Justice for All. And kept thinking that I was wrong. It’s on my iPod – that much is sure as I went right to AmazonMP3.com for that one. Why am I thinking that the last American CD I bought was Hawthorne Heights’ new release?

I booted up my iTunes and sorted everything by date added, then combed through some rips of old records I did and older CDs that I’d added (for the first time, or added back). OK, research tells me that the last CD I bought was Slipknot’s new album – and then Hawthorne Heights and Black Stone Cherry before that.

Then I took a break from that, decided to fire up the turntable and pull out a few records that I felt like listening to.

While looking for the 4LP heavy-vinyl edition of Radiohead’s Best of album, I came across Metallica’s Death Magnetic. Yeah, I did buy it – on double vinyl. (No, I wasn’t going to spend over $100 on what is nothing more than five 45RPM singles in a fancy black box – nor did I like the idea of getting up and flipping sides for every song.)

That’s when I realized that a lot of the new non-J-Pop albums I’d bought this past year weren’t on CD. Elvis Costello’s Momofuku? Double 180-gram vinyl. Conor Oberst’s solo album? Vinyl. Nine Inch Nails’ The Slip when the opportunity came to buy a physical edition? Vinyl. Coldplay’s Viva la Vida or Death to All our Friends? Vinyl. New Alkaline Trio vinyl? Vinyl. Tokyo Police Club’s Elephant Shell? Vinyl. Against Me’s New Wave? 180-gram clear yellow vinyl (talk about pleasing both pro-analog audiophiles AND collectors!). Even some new reissues and compilations haven’t escaped the opportunity to pick the vinyl option – Morrissey’s Greatest Hits, the remastered third U2 album War, another Coldplay album (X&Y – a Vee recommendation, BTW), Mission of Burma’s Ace of Hearts-era releases… you get the picture.

Yep, my buying habits have taken that odd turn where my owning a nice Numark TTUSB turntable has led me to looking to see if forthcoming new releases will be coming out in vinyl editions. Hank Williams III’s follow-up to Straight to Hell is going to come out on double vinyl with a bonus CD next week. AC/DC’s offering their forthcoming new album in double vinyl as well (but I doubt I shall be buying that one, given that the only way American fans will be able to buy the album without pre-ordering it is to go to Wal-Mart). Given that I own a turntable that can plug into my computer with a USB cable, the lack of a bonus CD or a download code is no barrier to my putting the album on the iPod. Dir en grey’s forthcoming new album [UROBROS]? Already pre-ordered the double vinyl from the label.

My turntable has also become quite the bewildering force to my fiancée Tara, who has already patiently seen me pour through the record bins at record stores all over Eastern Pennsylvania and in the Times Square Virgin Megastore looking for vinyl both new and old. On one recent visit to my favorite record store, Tara watched as I paid $20 for a stack of old vinyl records and said to me, “You do realize that it’s 2008, right?” Tara either sees all records as “old” or as a pointless option in the age of CD’s and mp3s. Given the proliferation of new vinyl releases with either download codes or bonus CDs enclosed, that’s really a moot point.

At this point, it should be apparent (and probably be pointed out if it isn’t) that I’m not a format nazi when it comes to buying music. Obviously I’ve bought CDs this year when no vinyl existed, happily used the enclosed bonus CD in certain releases to save me the time of digitizing the album for my iPod, and done my fair share of legal downloads (Ever since Amazonmp3.com started having daily cheap-album specials, I’ve been checking there every day to see what they’re offering.) But it does beg the question: if Morning Musume’s, Kuu-chin’s, Puffy’s, or any other J-Pop artist that I follow were to start putting out heavy vinyl releases, would I buy them?

Yes… but the idea of MoMusu on vinyl is another column, and besides, this one’s finished.

Last month, when I wrote about this situation (inspired by a friend who hipped me to what was going on with the group of late), I put forth speculation that the band were embarking on a North American tour first in order to secure a new American record deal.

As of today, they’ve already gotten that deal. Dir en grey announced on their MySpace that they signed with American independent label The End Records, a label specializing in metal and other dark/heavy music. The End Records, whose roster includes Voivod, Mindless Self-Indulgence, and ex-Swans member Jarboe, are apparently no stranger to giving American record deals to foreign metal bands that have cult interest in this country: Norwegian black metalists-turned-experimentalists Ulver, Japanese black metal veterans Sigh and Finnish GWAR-meets-glam rockers Lordi (infamous for winning the Eurovision Song Contest, a competition usually more suited to Celine Dion clones, in 2006) are also signed to the label, apparently making the label a perfect fit for Dir en grey.

Also a more promising sign: The End Records also has better distribution than Dir en grey’s previous label. Their distributing partner, RED Distribution (formerly known back in the early 80′s punk and metal days as Important and then as Relativity), also distributes many other labels that are no stranger to being easily found in most record stores (and thus, to sales and chart success); Trent Reznor’s new self-owned label for his post-Interscope releases, The Null Corporation, is distributed by RED, as is Motley Crue’s current label home Eleven Seven Music and the notorious Chicago punk/indie label Victory Records.

For the cherry on top: The End will be going the extra mile for the American release of [UROBOROS]. Unlike what Warcon/Fontana did with Withering To Death and The Marrow Of A Bone, where merely CD editions were released… well, we’ll let The End Records’ press statement as reproduced on their MySpace blog tell it:

In an effort to satiate fans’ unique preferences and desires, [UROBOROS] will be available in the US in four formats: digital album; CD jewel case; deluxe limited-edition CD digipak with bonus track and DVD; and double vinyl LP with a digital download card included.

There’s also an option for fans to grab all three versions plus a T-shirt for a discounted price. I went with the double LP.

How well Dir en grey will fare in their second go-round on an American label remains to be seen, but considering that for awhile it looked like the group would not have an American label to call home again, it’s a very good shot in the arm for them. Every Japanese group with a cult following in this country should be so lucky (cue that A.B. quote again, please…).

For now, though, that repetitive sound you are hearing in the background is probably the staff at Warcon/Fontana kicking themselves… repeatedly.

The punch line is, they don’t have an American record label backing that tour.

As of this writing (August 22, 2008), their official MySpace lists them as being “unsigned” in North America, while still having a deal with Freewill in their native Japan. This ominous sign presents a major problem with the group’s original intended plan to have [UROBOROS] be the group’s first release to see simultaneous worldwide release. Their official English-language MySpace pages gives links to order the Japanese import editions of [UROBOROS] and its advance single, “Glass Skin”, through Amazon.com, although at prices ridiculously inflated to most pockets compared to CDJapan and YesAsia.

Dir en grey’s last two studio albums, Withering To Death and The Marrow Of A Bone were issued in the United States, but at times long after the albums were available as imports. Withering To Death’s US issue came fourteen months after its Japanese release in March of 2005; a mere thirteen days separated the Japanese and American editions of The Marrow Of A Bone.

Now, however, there has been a split between the band and their former American label home, Warcon. Rumors are rampant that business differences between Warcon and Dir en grey’s manager, Dynamite Tommy, are to blame for the split, in spite of Warcon’s sincere determination to market the group as career artists.

Although Warcon had substantial distribution to American record outlets through Universal Music’s independent distribution arm, Fontana, that same distribution leaned towards spotty in some places. While Withering To Death was available in every record store I looked in at the time it was a new American release, The Marrow Of A Bone was curiously not to be found in my otherwise reliable independent record store, only at FYE. Make of that what you will.

So why would Dir en grey, the biggest J-Rock act on the planet, tour North America without having an American record deal? Sure, they have the fan base, and pre-orders for tickets are said to be quite promising.

Is it possible that Dir en grey are using this tour to attract a new American record deal? Odds of this being the main reason for the tour starting in North America are even – word is that the North American tour plans for the group were pushed forward primarily to attract a new label; had their Warcon deal still existed, their North American touring wouldn’t be happening until early 2009.

More importantly, what American record label would be the best fit for Dir en grey? And, keeping those aforementioned rampant rumors in mind, would those potential labels be willing to deal with Dynamite Tommy?

Some new scuttlebutt has also come to light of late that Freewill America may have been cut out of the picture entirely as far as managing Dir en grey’s non-Japanese business is concerned (although current merchandise deals may remain in place for contractual reasons), replaced with a yet-to-be-named American manager.

No answers or public clues are available as yet, but with the American tour and the forthcoming release of “Glass Skin” and [UROBOROS] in sight, most, if not all, will surely be revealed.