ART-SCHOOL

The alternative rock band Art School was formed by Japanese musicians Riki Kinoshita, Sakurai Yuichi, and Hidekazu Hinata in 2000. Based in Osaka, the group released an independent EP, Sonic Dead Kids, in late 2000, followed by Mean Street in 2001. A full-length album, Requiem For Innocence, was released in 2002, marking the band's first major-label release for EMI Music Japan. Love/Hate arrived in 2003, as did a lineup change that found guitarist Oyama Jun and bassist Hidekazu Hinata both leaving the group. The departing members were replaced by guitarist Masafumi Todaka and bassist Takeshi Uno, two former session musicians who made their Art School with the EPs Scarlet (2004) and Lost in the Air (2005). The band's third full-length album, Paradise Lost, was also released in 2005, featuring cameos from Japanese singer ACO, Scottish singer Emma Pollock, and Mogwai keyboardist Barry Burns. 2007's Flora and 2009's 14souls both expanded Art School's cult audience in Japan, and 2012's Baby Acid Baby marked the band's mainstream peak when it reached Number 28 on the Oricon Albums Chart. Meanwhile, Yuichi Sakura left the group and was replaced by drummer Hiroyuki Suzuki. With this revised lineup, Art School released You in 2014, then returned two years later with Hello Darkness, My Dear Friend.

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