The half-way point of the year is approximately July 2, since 365 days divided in half is roughly 183. 2008 was a leap year, so July 3 would be the midpoint. All that to say it's close enough to the perfect time to evaluate the Favorite Edition 2008 list thus far. The first quarter had an unusually impressive number of memorable releases, but the second quarter absolutely dropped the ball. So far the domestic release schedule of Q3 hasn't offered anything to grab my attention, but in Japan, a lot of interesting activity is coming up. (It'll be interesting to see how ...

Back in February, I wondered what happened to Music with a Twist, the major label effort to sign gay and lesbian artists. The label's site had shut down, its Myspace pages remained unattended and its first signing, Kirsten Pierce, was dumped before her album could be released. The release of Kathy Griffin's comedy album, For Your Consideration, pretty much relaunches the label, who now list The Gossip and Griffin as its only acts. What happened? I'd be reading between the lines and guessing, but if the press release for Griffin's album is any indication, Music with a Twist is ...

Man, it's tough work keeping track of upcoming releases. I was far more diligent back in 2002, when I would scour HMV and CD Japan for release dates, when I read just about every single item in ICE magazine for interesting tips. Now it's a game of cross referencing and chance. With more artists using alternate means of distributions -- bypassing labels and traditional distributors all together -- lists with even a great track record won't necessarily intersect with things in which I'm interested. I missed the bit about BLEACH and Sasagawa Miwa. I'm not so connected these days. Once again, here's ...

If I were scouring web sites the way I used to in 2002, I probably would have been hip to the following recently-released items. First, Sasagawa Miwa, who left Avex Trax after the release of her fourth album Mayoi Naku, has released a 7-track mini album on independent label April Records titled miwaBLUE. It's available from the label's web site, but it's pretty obvious international sales aren't supported. A listing at Amazon is already sold out, and I see no signs of it at HMV. It was released June 6, 2008. Also released on the same day is a new ...

I've been doing the very bare minimum in trying to get enigmatics released -- my marketing plan is essentially bugging my family and co-workers -- and it was still enough to keep me distracted from writing much here. I warned as much a while back, but even I wasn't prepared for the amount of work that goes into getting a release launched. And I don't even have distribution. As a result, my playlist is once again crossing the threshold of a full work week in length. It's time to prune the list, which means some of the entries I had ...

Billboard reports ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead has started its own label, Richter Scale Records, and is recording a new album scheduled for a January 2009 release. Conrad Keely says the move back to an independent label allows ... Trail of Dead "to seek the creative freedom envisioned by the founding fathers of our great nation, immune from the tyranny of the corporate ogre." These guys are so quotable. The band left Interscope after the release of 2006's So Divided, and while they're no longer beholden to Universal Music Group's bottom line, they aren't entirely ...

ZAZEN BOYS releases its fourth album, aptly titled ZAZEN BOYS 4, on Sept. 17, reports Bounce.com. Details about the album have yet to be announced, although the band did record with NUMBER GIRL producer Dave Fridmann. It's been 2 years and 8 months since the release of ZAZEN BOYS' previous album, ZAZEN BOYS III.Tags: new album zazen boys ...