Nihongaku!

SXSW-goers got their first taste of Japan Nite 2010 at the Japan Night Preview show hosted at Austin’s own Typewriter Museum.

Hear Japan is offering an absolutely free digital album promoting this year’s Japan Nite.

Of the bands playing at Japan Nite, the one that keeps me coming back is an all-girl rock trio from Tokushima, Japan called Chatmonchy.

Sonically, Omodaka sounds like Bootsy Collins tossed a Game Boy into a blender then fermented the resultant mixture in a disco ball.

Nihongaku is about the joy in finding something new when we look beyond what’s comfortable and familiar. There’s so much more out there.