We are only half-way through the year 2008, six months since our look back at The Best Japanese Albums of 2007, and already the world has seen the release of some of the best music ever. OK, I suppose that may be a bit hyperbolic, but my point is this: The world cannot wait until the end of the year to take a look back at the year in music.

With that in mind, I present for you a list of the best Japanese albums of 2008...so far. It's only been six months, but, as you'll see below, there are already 30 great albums out that you won't want to miss.

From electro to indie-rock to some of the craziest punk-jazz you'll ever hear (and really, how much punk-jazz have you heard?) Japan has but pumping out a dizzying range of superb music. It's not all from visionary, road weary bands either. Some of the best music has arrived in the form of anime and video-game soundtracks.

Now, I won't lie to you. This is going to take some time. Please get comfortable. Find a tasty beverage. Don't hit that jump thinking you can just scan through the list, then hit up the comments with your words of scorn and amazement that your own pet bands failed to make the list. Oh no. You are going to take your time and read all 3000 words and watch all of the videos first. You won't get any pudding if you don't eat your meat. I guess what I'm saying is, eat my meat.

What?

OK, let's just ignore that and make with the list. Onward!

This week on the A-Z we've got a look back at the three bands who played at Anime Matsuri in March, as well as a closer look at Sakanaction, a classy and smooth rock band with a tendency toward the electronic.

You can almost smell the laptops, patch cords and glow sticks!

Let's hit that jump and fill our eyes and ears with a heapin' helpin' of Japanese electro greatness. Rave on! 

Time again for another round up of various and sundry bands from Japan in another installment of the painfully irregular ZB's A-Z of J-Music!

This time around we have something from the pop, vis-kei and indie rock worlds in the form of the uber girl group/force of nature Hello! Project, metal tinged vis-kei band Lareine, and indie rockers Mo'Some Tonebender and Vola & The Oriental Machine. It's a real something-for-everyone kind of gathering. Can't we all just get along?

Let's find out after the jump! 

This week on the A-Z I've got another huge collection of music and videos for you!

Audio Safari brings the calm and quiet electro-shoegaze vibe, Merengue provide all your pop-rock needs, Omodaka has some totally funky house tracks with interesting vocal treatments, Onmyo-za takes you to epic metal town and Pine AM finishes things off with quirky and fun electro psyche-rock.

Fire up your speakers, pull over that comfy chair and hit the jump for your weekly dose of informational musical goodness!

This week on ZB's A-Z, I take a look at five more Japanese bands, including a couple you've been hearing a lot about on Jtor lately. Both Tokyo Pinsalocks (here here and here) and Budo Grape (here here and here) make the list this week. Both of them will be making an appearance at various places in the States in coming months. They are also both bands that you can find on JapanFiles.com.

I also take a look at a couple lesser known bands, Bacon (one of my favorite new finds) and Sleepy.ab, as well as the much more popular vis-kei group Vidoll.

Hit that jump for the wall of text, lots of links and oh-so-many videos. Woo! Multi-media!

I have a variety of Japanese bands for you on this week's  ZB's A-Z of J-Music, from the jazzy style of Chocolat, to the epic metal of Skywings. I also take a look at a new, relatively unknown band called L'Arc en Ciel. Call me crazy, but I expect big things from them.

Hit that jump to check out all five of this week's bands, not to mention an ass-ton of videos.

This year Anime Matsuri is set to unleash some of the best in Japanese techno unto the American otaku masses. Taking place March 21-23rd at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, fans will pack into Club AM to see three rave-tastic acts perform, Aural Vampire, Bespa Kumamero and Nirgilis. Who are they and why are they required viewing? Click on to find out.

Oh and Japanator will also be smearing our drunken filth all over Anime Matsuri this year, but I'll leave that to the pros to talk about.

On to the bands!

The Japan Nite tour has a long history of bringing some of the best bands from Japan over to America for a short but blistering tour. Past shows have seen the likes of Number Girl, GO!GO!7188, The Mad Capsule Markets and Husking Bee gracing stages across the US. This year is no exception.

This year the tour kicks off with a huge bang at one of the biggest music festivals in the States, South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin Texas. On March 14th six bands will be taking over Elysium for a night of rock and roll like no other. Here are all of the dates:

March 14th (Friday) Austin TX @ELYSIUM
March 16th (Sun) NEW YORK @Knitting Factory
March 17th (Mon) BOSTON @ TT The Bears
March 18th (Tue) CHICAGO @ Empty Bottle
March 19th (Wed) DENVER @ TBA
March 20th (Thu) SEATTLE @ Hi Dive
( *ketchup mania is not performing in Seattle)
March 21st (Fri) SF @ Independent
March 23rd (Sun) LA @ Knitting Factory

Since I've already covered the basics, I thought we should take a closer look at each of the bands involved with the tour this year. It just so happens that I have a cool promo CD right here next to featuring songs for each band. Let's listen together after the jump!

Once again I find myself making up for lost time here. I keep promising to get these ZB's A-Z of J-Music posts out every week, and yet every week I seem to miss it. Then I have to sit here and try and justify my lackadaisical approach toward life. Well, I'm not gonna. Not this time. You're just going to have to accept the fact that I'm a lazy bastard and no, I'm not going to do the dishes and yeah, asking is only going to make me not do them even more.

But I digress.

This week (not to try and imply any sort of weekly-ness to these posts or anything) I have a gathering of extremely interesting Japanese bands. I use "interesting" in the mid-western dad looking at a taped performance of some sort of unholy musical performance in which his daughter's new boyfriend is the blue haired, six ear-ringed drummer for. You know. Interesting.

Click on to end this silliness and get to the goods. 

Hi there. Again, it's been a while since the A-Z has appeared in these hallowed halls of its birth. Never fear! It's back with another smattering of Japanese bands. Hopefully you'll be seeing five new bands profiled here every week. If that's not good enough for you, you can always check out the blog for the (usually) daily updates.

This week brings some vis-kei, hard rock and industrial in the form of 176BIZ, Asparagus, Blam Honey, Roach and an extended entry on super-duper group S.K.I.N.

Let's get on with it after the jump!