Lite (band)

Lite, stylized as LITE, is a Japanese rock band that has been termed "one of Japan's top instrumental rock acts." The band is made up of Nobuyuki Takeda (guitar), Kozo Kusumoto (guitar & synthesizer), Jun Izawa (bass), and Akinori Yamamoto (drums), and plays math rock. All of their albums have charted in Japan, with For All the Innocence charting the best, at number 85 on the Oricon chart.

Biography

Formed in 2003 in Tokyo, Lite played many gigs around Tokyo and self-released two demo CDs. In 2006, they released one mini-album, Lite, and one full-length album, Filmlets, through Transduction in the UK and Cargo in Europe.

Lite's sound combines the precision and musicianship of prog rock with the emotionally charged cinematic compositions of art rock, in a heavier, more modern package that they describe as “math rock”.

They toured the UK and Ireland in 2006. In July 2007, they played at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and followed that with another UK & Ireland tour in September, coinciding with a split release with Funanori (Kaori Tsuchida from The Go! Team and Mike Watt from the Minutemen). Titled "A Tiny Twofer", the split CD features three songs each. In 2008 they released their second album Phantasia. In May 2009, they made their American debut in New York City opening for Mike Watt's Missingmen.