Wrapping up on a somber note, we say goodbye to some great acts this year. Dream5 suddenly announced at the end of December that they were disbanding practically immediately. Member Tamakawa Momona had already left the group earlier this year under suspect circumstances, so their future was already unknown as it was. In any case, it’s a bummer to see them go. To me they’ve always been an awesome mix of idol-like music and that Avex sound I fell in love with so many years ago. They were well known for the anime tie-in “Youkai Taiso Daichi”, but my personal favorite from them was “Koi no Dial 6700”. Really good music all-around though. I’ll miss them.
On an even more somber note, the Electronic Rock group BOOM BOOM SATELLITES disbanded this year after Kawashima Michiyuki relapsed for the fourth time into a battle with brain tumors. On October 9th, 2016 he passed away from the illness. I’ve known of this group for many years, and they’ve been around since 1997. A lot of their music has been tied into anime series such as the “Appleseed” movie, “Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn”, and more recently “Kiznaiver”. Beyond that their music was just really good Electro-Rock. Their albums were always really creative and fun to listen to. Their releases will be missed, and thoughts are with Kawashima’s friends and family.
