First off, a bit about JapanFiles.com. They are essentially a digital music download site. That's chock full of a rather astounding range of Japanese music. Of obscure Japanese music. They don't bother with your L'Arcs and your Hikarus. Instead they are full of bedroom electro experimenters, garage bands, shoegazing cafe acts, indie rock, hip-hop and a lot of other weird stuff. Things you would never find anywhere outside of the bargain bin in some out-of-the-way mom and pop music shop in Tokyo. (Note to self, find out if out-of-the-way mom and pop music shops actually exist in Japan anymore.) Their store is also very easy to navigate, and at $1 per song it's very easy to load up your cart for a (not, for once!) steal.

Naturally, the quality of the acts varies wildly. Luckily you can listen to clips of every song by every band before you buy anything. Which is great because we all know you can't trust anyone who tries to write about music. Hearing is believing. If you're an obsessive music fan, you'll want to set aside some time before you visit the site. After all, they have 225 bands available.

I would not want to be the one to have to distill this impressive catalog down into a single 15 track CD. Yet it must be done, and Fresh Cuts From Japan - Volume 2 is indeed a worthy representation.

Things start off with one of their most recognizable acts, Ketchup Mania. "Number 1/Always Great Days" is exactly what you'd expect for them, namely very energetic pop punk, full of candy and pink panda backpacks. Aurorante brings a much more rough and jangly rock beat with "Chinjaoro-su." Dogg Bone bring the nu-rock/rap vibe, and Silk Road bring the hip hop.

The genre change ups continue throughout the album, though it sticks to rather safer territory than I would prefer. Then again, I like the weird stuff. Sprinkled around the solid rock and slightly heaver solid rock are a few more interesting gems like "Tea Time" by TsuShiMaMiRe. The all-woman trio jumps from a little funky beat with child-like vocals, to a growling nu-metal break, to a skipping, smiling-faced ska chorus and back again. Budo Grape's "Aijou Kyuraku" brings a much needed dose of electro squelch to the table (seriously guys, where are all the awesome low-fi electro acts?) along with their tight new-wave guitars and goofy vocal style.

One minor non-music side-note. While the CD insert is very high quality and six pages, it offers up no information on any of the bands. Each page has band photos and their corresponding Japan Files web address, yet they don't use any of that ample space to share info on the bands, or, in fact, any info on the web site or its staff. As a guy who likes to pour over liner notes while listening, I found this to be a huge disappointment and a missed opportunity.

Overall, Fresh Cuts From Japan - Volume 2 is a very solid grouping of just-out-of-the-spotlight indie acts from Japan. While it plays things safe, it nevertheless delivers a nice range of music, from dreamy indie rock to hip-hop to slick pop punk. It's definitive proof that the Japanese music scene has just as much to offer (if not more) as the rest of the world. Whether or not it will inspire you to dig deeper is up to you.

Now go to the site and find the really awesome stuff.