Traxan

Japanese companies are notoriously bad at selling their product outside Japan. That may sound funny looking at the car and electronics makers, but it's true. Not to mention they are grossly overpriced. I was looking at Cyntia's album on Japanese iTunes. 250 Yen per song. That's around $2.50 each. The whole album was 2000 Yen, or $20. You can't do that in America, period. So I am curious about something. Why are Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's videos full length? There's no editing. if "Ponponpon" was cut off after 90 seconds, it never would have gone viral like it did. So why did they post the full version of that and every other video she's made?

Time to shock you. Sorta. No it's not on YouTube. Go here: http://www.jpopasia.com/group/aldious/discography/ To the immediate left of a song title, you will see what looks like 35mm film icons. That means the entry has a video. Most are on Youku, some are on DailyMotion. But they are in their entirety. I do agree that they are stupid for putting partial videos on YouTube, but I can see both sides of disabling comments. On the one hand, fans are denied a chance to communicate with the band (as I understand it, the girls own Bright Star Records, which posts the videos). OTOH, they are probably sparing themselves some obnoxious sexist and racist comments. I am thoroughly sickened by what I've seen said about the Babymetal girls by people who don't like them.

Well the girls came, saw, and kicked ass in LA last night. Sold out crowd of 1200. The A/C went out during the show and the girls sweated like pigs on stage. THey were all badly dehydrated after the show but despite reports of hospitalization, none of them were. Review: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-babymetal-fonda-20140728-story.html

This is track 5 off the album and my translator said it was the toughest he ever had. This is it for Aldious translations. I'm not going to bother my translator any more. ----- The star like heart is melting like the moon disappearing into the dark night extend out the hand light and shadow returning to the sky the track of tear reflects the loneliness that remains in my heart I will continue to pray even if I would to rot away and keep on getting hurt You are burdened with having to relive through the forgotten guilt, memory filled with blood. The least I can do for you is to break you completely myself just like that day I will put my hand on my chest and continue to pray toward the sky my eyes reflect the blood and tears I will continue on even if I stay lonely and keep on getting hurt You are burdened with an old wound that has opened up again, having completely lost your voice The least I can do for you is to not hesitate and break you completely myself just like that day The tears reflect the loneliness that is left in my heart I will continue to look up even if I rot away and keep on getting hurt You are burdened with having to relive through the forgotten guilt, memory filled with blood. The least I can do for you is to not hesitate and show you the end myself just like that day The judgement of Shion (shion is a type of flower Aster tataricus and its flower language is 'I won't forget you') to the tainted memory and broken you

Well, the girls went to Sonisphere, a major metal show that takes place every summer in Europe, and pretty much took over the place. They got to hang with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, among others. http://www.metalinjection.net/around-the-interwebs/babymetal-meet-members-of-metallica-slayer-carcass-deftones-more

This is the third track off "Deep Exceed" and the title is in Kanji. I'm using the title provided by the JPopAsia Site. Original lyrics here: http://www.jpopasia.com/group/aldious/lyrics/deep-exceed/yoru-chou::47902.html Translation from a friend, who warns with the caveat that literal translations are not possible, and some poetry/flow is lost. A straight translation is tough. You approached me silently to present me with everything you have I will use my eyes as a weapon and seize everything you have hidden from me In this space where a group of night butterflies gather together and spread their colorful wings (note, the night butterfly, which is pronounced 'yachou', is a slang for club hostess) They spread the scales which will make you my slave and only capable of looking at me I won't suck up to anyone I also don't take orders from anyone There is another side to these pair of beautiful eyes, they have seen all the darkness you can imagine drool falls from my lips, I have lived my whole life without showing anyone the real me. I am afraid to trust anyone....I am scared to do so Before I can realize it though, I am affected by your straight forward emotions, which I can't forgive myself for I only know the world at night Even the pair of wings which is covered in darkness is dyed white by tears Now I am a night butterfly that is flying toward the sun with you in a world without lies

A friend translated this for me. This is the original. The band now does a Re:No version, which likely changed. ----- I pretended to not see the hand that is reached toward me I ran away because I was afraid to get involved with the warmth of people There are grey clouds in the sky, cold snow is falling I laid face down while loneliness pushed me from behind while I was down, you came and shone the light on my heart; which was wandering in the darkness, with your smile Ah I am filled with emotions that I want to get across to you I hope that it will expand like wings along with this song My wish song The saying that the world is filled with rose color is a lie It is actually surrounded by high walls However, you are the one that lead me out of the confinement Ah I want to cherish the different feelings , which is like a rainbow, with you and sing this song Ah Ah LaLaLaLa It doesn't matter what the world is like I want to cherish the bond with you and sing together My wish song

I would think Aldious would post a RIP message on their board to acknowledge her passing. But the fact her blog and twitter feed have been completely quiet since she left the band is telling. I suspect she might just be laying low, no longer "Rami" the singer but living a normal life away from music so she stepped away from all that. If I had to guess I'd say she suffers from seizures. In one of her comments, Bing translated it as her running the risk of collapsing on the stage. She's way too young for even early onset dementia. It could be tumors, non-malignant. James Murphy, an American metal guitarist, suffers from them. He can't play live so he tries to earn a living as a producer. He's had some serious tumors in his brain that weren't malignant, but you don't want golf ball sized tumors in your brain regardless. EDIT: One last note from my translator. He said Rami wrote her doctors told her not to perform again due to her condition. Damn.

I got a translation. HPでは「体調不良」と簡潔に書かせて頂いておりますが 実際は重く、完治が見込めない脳の病気です。 世の中には沢山同じ病名の方がいらっしゃいますが 私には私だけの症状があります。 病名は身内にしか知られたくないので、お察し下さい。 "Even though on our official homepage, it is simply stated as 'not feeling well', but the truth is it is a severe/serious condition of the brain that can not be completely cured. There are many people out there that has the same disease as me, but I have symptoms that are specific to me. As to the exact name and detail of the disease, that is something that I want to keep within my family and I, thank you for your understanding." Therefore, it is indeed a disease related to the brain, but I don't know if it is either physical or mentally, but it is very serious and might even be life threatening. She also wrote this paragraph afterwards ブログで、命に関する内容のものを沢山書くようになりました。 それは、私が死の淵に直面した出来事があったからです。 "I started writing entries in my blog regarding life. The reason I started was because I have to deal with the possibility of death directly" ------- Thing is, she never blogged again. Man, that's sad.

Ok I think I found an answer. Does anyone here speak/read Japanese? http://mixi.jp/view_bbs.pl?comm_id=5474589&id=72120559 Both Google and Bing translate say she has some kind of brain disease and will never fully recover. Can anyone confirm? HPでは「体調不良」と簡潔に書かせて頂いておりますが 実際は重く、完治が見込めない脳の病気です。 世の中には沢山同じ病名の方がいらっしゃいますが 私には私だけの症状があります。 病名は身内にしか知られたくないので、お察し下さい。 ブログで、命に関する内容のものを沢山書くようになりました。 それは、私が死の淵に直面した出来事があったからです。

Aruto from Aldious. That she can play drums like she does in that ridiculous dress is impressive. Her drum skills make her that much more appealing to me. Yui from Cyntia is hella cute. The fact she's so small that her guitar looks enormous only adds to it.

so by now I assume you've all heard the girls will open for Lady Gaga on 5 dates around the western US. It'll be curious how Gaga's audience, which skews heavily to gay men, will react. I thought KPP would be a better match for Gaga, tbh. The gimmick won't last once they hit puberty, but look at the crowd in that video. Those people are going nuts. So the gimmick works. We'll probably see new Babymetals as the girls grow up. I think the oldest will have a good career as a pop singer herself. She's got a nice voice and presence. Not sure on the two little ones.

TIL most U.S. pennies from 1910 to 1940 have no mark on them to indicate which mint they were made at, and the ones with a mint mark are worth a lot of money and very collectable. Yes, I am a beginner coin collector.

I'm tempted to say that if you can dedicate an entire site to one genre of music, it's oversaturated, but that would be oversimplistic. Take a lesson from hair metal in the US in the 80s. When did it get oversaturated? When Motley Crue and Poison took off for the stratosphere and every major label had to sign two or three glam bands. They all tried to one up each other in the outrageous department and the music suffered. Labels grabbed whatever they could and the scond- and third-tier bands were getting signed when they should never have gotten out of the LA clubs. Now in the case of the poodleheads, most people say grunge killed it, but that's false. Glam was already on the way down a few years prior. Most who know better think what killed glam in the US was a documentary called "Decline of the Western Civilization: The Metal Years." The first "Decline" movie was about punk but it showed what punk was about and railing against. Glam in "Decline 2", on the other hand, came off terribly. The bands and fans were pathetic, embarrassing, laughable jokes. Megadeth came off as the adults in the movie, and they were raging heroin addicts. Mustaine got such a laugh out of that. But followed "Decline 2" glam bands stopped getting signed and emphasis fell off. Metallica had begun its ascendency and Guns n Roses exploded on the scene, and they were definitely not glam. They were a modern day Rolling Stones. Raw and raunchy but they had the music to back it up. So I got one question: would you all say the latest in VK is a bunch of third-rate bands not fit to be the roadie for the top bands? Because there is your answer.

BTW, my favorite Japanese band for the last 13 years has been a decidedly NON-VK band, Shadow. They are a melodeath band from Osaka very reminiscent of In Flames, before IF started to suck harder than my Dyson. I have played those two albums to death over the years and never got bored. What a shame they only made 2 records. That guitarist is insanely talented.

Aldious, Rami-era. I feel like they softened their sound with Re:No because her voice is too soft for metal, whereas Rami could shout her head off. There's just nothing on "District Zero" that comes close to "Deep Exceed." Also liking Anthem a lot more. Has Naota fully recovered from his bout with cancer?

So nothing then? Sad. The more I listen to her, the more I realize how right she was for Aldious and Re:No is just plain wrong.

Has anyone heard anything on her status? Her blog and Twitter feed went silent when she left the band. Was she really in that bad a shape? It's unfortunate she had to quit because the more I listen to the old material, the more she fit. Re:No is a good singer but wrong for Aldious, and their sound was seriously toned down because of it. Anyway, enough rambling. Has anyone heard anything on the girl?