The Pillows is just about the only Japanese band I can be bothered to write about, when a concert in the Western world is at stake. If you live anywhere near Boston, or have the means to drag yourself all the way there next month, I strongly suggest you do so, and mark your calendar for March 22 - when they'll be performing at the Hynes Convention Center, as part of the Anime Boston 2008 convention (held between March 21-23).

If the name alone doesn't ring a bell (shame on you), The Pillows is commonly known outside Japan for their kick-ass songs from the FLCL anime. But their discography goes all the way back to 1990, with some very cool early albums as well. Their latest one (though by no means the greatest) is "Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!" from 2007, from which they are likely to perform a few songs at the concert ("Wake up! dodo" and "Scarecrow" should be among them), along with some good old FLCL stuff.