Another fantastic release! Li-sa-X's guitar playing is outstanding, and so is her songwriting talent (she wrote music and lyrics for this one), considering her young age.
Others have covered the majority of the relevant information on Koiai, this EP was recorded before Kanade had officially joined the band, so she isn't on the recording; though she had been their support drummer for all their live shows. They are almost ridiculously young as well, Li-sa-X & Kotono are 19, Kanade is 22 and Hazuki is the oldest and will shortly turn 29 (she's been playing with Li-sa since 2017, pre-dating Nemophila, so there's some definite older sister energy with their age gap). Wakazaemon from East of Eden & Marty Friedman's touring band has been the support bassist for all their domestic shows (Li-sa-X's younger brother played bass for a few shows in India, where her schedule didn't line up) and played on the recording session for their latest song, from the upcoming 3rd EP. Not sure if she's the session bassist for all of it though. Aside from Paul Gilbert, Li-sa has also been mentored by Ohmura from the Japanese Kami Band, recently he's being involved in modifying her speaker cabinets and experimenting with different setups to improve her live guitar tones. The idea for Koiai was born out of a Polyphia cover Kotono did with the two guitarists and a Twice (K-Pop) cover/guitar heavy arrangement she then did with Li-sa. This was around the same time as they were having difficulties with Rina the singer in their previous group, Li-sa-X Band as she was frequently not available (she has since gotten married and moved to South Korea, effectively dropping out of the music industry). Both songs/performances are available on Li-sa's own YT channel.
Kanade Sato is one of my favourite drummers (my favourite is an other jazz drummer, Senri Kawaguchi), she is mainly a jazz drummer and joined her first jazz fusion band (Ear Candy Jazz Factory) when she was 15 or so. That band is still active, although I believe the keyboard player had issues with his ears so they stopped a couple of years. She is also active with Muses (also a Fusion band) and a lot of time plays drums for her bandmate from Muses, Rie a.k.a Suzaku, her solo stuff (both live and on the albums). Most members in Muses tend to collab with a lot of different people and it might have rubbed off on Kanade Sato as well, which is great because playing different types of music is only going to make her better. Also, she is a great fit for Li-Sa-X and Hazuki with how technical she is. As far as the EP goes, I didn't really enjoy their first EP since it was extremely poppy and had almost no rock elements and I even didn't get this EP at first because I had already wrote them off as "not for me". But I heard one of the tracks and decided to give them an other shot (and bought the EP) and while it is still not my favourite type of music, I think this EP is pretty well done. Also one of the tracks I absolutely love (they also released a live video for it). I am certainly going to keep checking them out. Edit: For some more info on Koiai, they had a really weird start. They were basically the continuation of Li-Sa-X band after Li-Sa-X left Sony (which was her label since she was 12 or so) around the time she turned 18. The main vocalist for Li-Sa-X band stopped around that time as well and they started a self-produced band named Koiai with a new singer. Right after that they were asked to perform in India because Guthrie Govan had asked the organisers to give them a spot. They hadn't anything planned (they didn't know anything about it until they got the invitation) and were really new. They also didn't have a drummer nor a bassist, so they asked Kanade Sato to be a guest drummer and Li-Sa-X's brother played bass. Kanade Sato only officially joined at the end of last year and they still don't have a bass player, but East Of Eden's Wakazaemon played bass during their concert that was recorded on a Blu-ray (who is also a great fit with the 3 other musicians).
Li-sa-x is amazing, You should see the Lisa X Band videos, they're great. Li-sa-X trained with Paul Gilbert after he offered her a scholarship to his school, Her music has a lot of classic 80s feel to it, possibly due to the Paul Gilbert connection. You should watch her video that covers her whole guitar prodigy - th-cam.com/video/eqnJpXmt_jU/w-d-xo.html
This is possibly my second favorite track from Koiai. I like the, “rock” feel more than the, “pop,” on some songs, but all are very good. I’m looking forward to their third album.
super group supp. billy sheehan on bass, later wakazaemon (east of eden, marty friedman band etc.), hazuki and lisa x. please don´t miss their a new picture (totally brainmelting)
You've got a very good bunch of EPs this time. I'll be hearing the Zutamayo for the first time with you, the Neki is perhaps the most exciting and the Hagane the most consistently to my taste, but this EP definitely has my favourite song of the four (not this one). I had it as perhaps my song of the year until I realised it was released in December. In general, the light pop-rock vocals are not my favourite style, but when they blend them with prog-rock/metal music, I think they work very well. Btw if asked to name Japan's most famous female guitarist, I might have said Li-sa-X. (My thinking is that lots of people know Band-Maid, Scandal or Show-Ya but not the individual members.) I would obviously have been wrong!
![ILLSLICK - THE KING'S LANDING [Freestyle]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/feIJJnNkTfk/mqdefault.jpg)
![AC/DC meets POP??? [KOIAI - One Way or Another] FIRST TIME Reaction!](/img/n.gif)
Another fantastic release! Li-sa-X's guitar playing is outstanding, and so is her songwriting talent (she wrote music and lyrics for this one), considering her young age.
Oh yeah! Super group Koiai!
Others have covered the majority of the relevant information on Koiai, this EP was recorded before Kanade had officially joined the band, so she isn't on the recording; though she had been their support drummer for all their live shows.
They are almost ridiculously young as well, Li-sa-X & Kotono are 19, Kanade is 22 and Hazuki is the oldest and will shortly turn 29 (she's been playing with Li-sa since 2017, pre-dating Nemophila, so there's some definite older sister energy with their age gap). Wakazaemon from East of Eden & Marty Friedman's touring band has been the support bassist for all their domestic shows (Li-sa-X's younger brother played bass for a few shows in India, where her schedule didn't line up) and played on the recording session for their latest song, from the upcoming 3rd EP. Not sure if she's the session bassist for all of it though.
Aside from Paul Gilbert, Li-sa has also been mentored by Ohmura from the Japanese Kami Band, recently he's being involved in modifying her speaker cabinets and experimenting with different setups to improve her live guitar tones.
The idea for Koiai was born out of a Polyphia cover Kotono did with the two guitarists and a Twice (K-Pop) cover/guitar heavy arrangement she then did with Li-sa. This was around the same time as they were having difficulties with Rina the singer in their previous group, Li-sa-X Band as she was frequently not available (she has since gotten married and moved to South Korea, effectively dropping out of the music industry). Both songs/performances are available on Li-sa's own YT channel.
I definately want to hear the Polyphia cover 😁👍
@@react-o-mat Search for 'Polyphia - "ABC" feat. Sophia Black / covered by Kotono, Hazuki and Li-sa-X' it'll be top of the list with 666k views
Kanade Sato is one of my favourite drummers (my favourite is an other jazz drummer, Senri Kawaguchi), she is mainly a jazz drummer and joined her first jazz fusion band (Ear Candy Jazz Factory) when she was 15 or so. That band is still active, although I believe the keyboard player had issues with his ears so they stopped a couple of years. She is also active with Muses (also a Fusion band) and a lot of time plays drums for her bandmate from Muses, Rie a.k.a Suzaku, her solo stuff (both live and on the albums). Most members in Muses tend to collab with a lot of different people and it might have rubbed off on Kanade Sato as well, which is great because playing different types of music is only going to make her better. Also, she is a great fit for Li-Sa-X and Hazuki with how technical she is.
As far as the EP goes, I didn't really enjoy their first EP since it was extremely poppy and had almost no rock elements and I even didn't get this EP at first because I had already wrote them off as "not for me". But I heard one of the tracks and decided to give them an other shot (and bought the EP) and while it is still not my favourite type of music, I think this EP is pretty well done. Also one of the tracks I absolutely love (they also released a live video for it). I am certainly going to keep checking them out.
Edit: For some more info on Koiai, they had a really weird start. They were basically the continuation of Li-Sa-X band after Li-Sa-X left Sony (which was her label since she was 12 or so) around the time she turned 18. The main vocalist for Li-Sa-X band stopped around that time as well and they started a self-produced band named Koiai with a new singer. Right after that they were asked to perform in India because Guthrie Govan had asked the organisers to give them a spot. They hadn't anything planned (they didn't know anything about it until they got the invitation) and were really new. They also didn't have a drummer nor a bassist, so they asked Kanade Sato to be a guest drummer and Li-Sa-X's brother played bass. Kanade Sato only officially joined at the end of last year and they still don't have a bass player, but East Of Eden's Wakazaemon played bass during their concert that was recorded on a Blu-ray (who is also a great fit with the 3 other musicians).
glad you got to them i was going to bug you about them lol now i do not have too
Li-sa-x is amazing, You should see the Lisa X Band videos, they're great. Li-sa-X trained with Paul Gilbert after he offered her a scholarship to his school, Her music has a lot of classic 80s feel to it, possibly due to the Paul Gilbert connection. You should watch her video that covers her whole guitar prodigy - th-cam.com/video/eqnJpXmt_jU/w-d-xo.html
When it says that Kotono was a dancer for a famous unit, that implies dancer for BABYMETAL
PS: the next song “One Way or Another” has a live video. The song number 4 “A New Picture” too
Oh really? Was she one of the avengers then or how did that work out? 🤔
Also thanks for the info, will give their live a go as well 👍
@@react-o-mat Kotono was part of The Chosen Seven for the Dark Night Carnival show in October 2018.
@@2abug She was also part of the European leg of Babymetals World tour, in 2018, inc Download.
I will verify, or confirm Zabug’s comment as a huge Babymetal fan.
This is possibly my second favorite track from Koiai. I like the, “rock” feel more than the, “pop,” on some songs, but all are very good. I’m looking forward to their third album.
super group supp. billy sheehan on bass, later wakazaemon (east of eden, marty friedman band etc.), hazuki and lisa x. please don´t miss their a new picture (totally brainmelting)
Will do the whole EP 👍
You've got a very good bunch of EPs this time. I'll be hearing the Zutamayo for the first time with you, the Neki is perhaps the most exciting and the Hagane the most consistently to my taste, but this EP definitely has my favourite song of the four (not this one). I had it as perhaps my song of the year until I realised it was released in December.
In general, the light pop-rock vocals are not my favourite style, but when they blend them with prog-rock/metal music, I think they work very well.
Btw if asked to name Japan's most famous female guitarist, I might have said Li-sa-X. (My thinking is that lots of people know Band-Maid, Scandal or Show-Ya but not the individual members.) I would obviously have been wrong!
hazuki🎸🔥🤘🏻