beni

Tracklist:
1. OUSIA
2. THE WORLD IS MY ROOM
3. 赫音-finis- (guitar & bass re-recording & full remix)
4. 失い (guitar & bass re-recording & full remix)
5. TRIPPER (guitar & bass re-recording & full remix)
6. RUVISH
7. DEJECTED RAIN (new arrange)
8. 赫音-justitia- (guitar & bass re-recording & full remix)
9. BLIND DAYS
10. THE HOPELESS
 
| I came for OUSIA and found some other goodies worth staying for too!
 

For better or for worse, I've stayed away from following the activities of THE BLACK SWAN too closely. I've been under the impression for the longest that they are another one of those bands - gaudy outfits, heavy guitars, formulaic songs, and a step above awful but nothing exciting that catch my attention. My fears stemmed from how bad NEGA burned out near the end of their career. They excelled at this gothic creepiness during their Rebirth Under the Chaos  to approximately Grave of the Sacrifice era which was mostly lost when metalcore took the wheel. THE BLACK SWAN, in contrast, suffer from no such burnout. They succeed at recording genuine depression and pain. It feels much like NEGA during that time period mostly due to sharing a vocalist, but with OUSIA -dispersed- THE BLACK SWAN breaks away from the confines that NEGA never could. It's that rare album that despite its flaws did the near-impossible feat of taking a band I once thought was derivative and making them definitive (or at least demonstrating that these members are more talented and creative than I had given them credit for).
 
  "OUSIA" is eleven minutes of perfection. Opethian riffs are supported by progressive song structures that echo Dir en grey's "Macabre" and Nega's "虚しき「生」の寓意≒「死」の真意", but with enough flair and personality to be its own creation. The guest feature of 優(yuu)(ex-NEGA) on piano is impossible to miss, managing to work in an atmosphere this band usually doesn't go for. The great use of piano, acoustic, and electronic elements keeps the song entertaining for all eleven minutes and every member (even Jin) gets a moment to shine. Yuu's guest appearance makes this song, but the guitarists are the reason why I continue to revisit. They may be no Hizaki, but their virtuosity is something to behold as well; the amount of solos in this song alone are ridiculous. This is how you use influences!
 
  No matter how many solos they throw into the mix to spice things up, Jin will likely make or break the experience. For me, this is his best and most consistent performance in recent memory. He's found the best way to harmonize with the music without sounding out of place. The worst thing I can pin on him is hitting a few sour notes here and there. Late album banger "DEJECTED RAIN" is a wonderful example of this. Jin shows his versatility as a vocalist with his arsenal of mumbling, banshee shrieks, and harmonizing. It impresses me enough to look past his limited singing range, and backed by a wicked riff it's one of the best songs on the album.  
 
Before my hopes for a progressive visual kei band fully blossomed, reality came crashing through the window. There are more than a few flaws with OUSIA -dispersed-, one of them being that there seems to be little thought put into the track list beyond putting the best one first. "OUSIA" should be somewhere towards the middle to end of the album. The follow-up song "THE WORLD IN MY ROOM" is a discordant mess where the band never feels like they're on the same page. "TRIPPER" would be cool if it weren't for those awful eight measures both a minute in and after the solo that sound so lame compared to the rest of the song. "赫音-finis-" and "赫音-justitia-" have cool melodies but don't stick with me otherwise. Ending the album on a core note with "THE HOPELESS" was the last of many strange choices. Of all the styles they showcase on this album they end with the least impressive one.
 
  As far as things sound, I would be wrong to not mention that OUSIA -dispersed- is the latest victim of the loudness war. It is very loud and the music sounds constrained on everything but my most expensive pair of headphones. It hurts to listen to after a few tracks honestly and considering the length this is a problem. The biggest offender by far in the mix is the sound of that bass pedal. It should sound more like a hollow thud or distant rumble and less like a typewriter to be most effective. The typewriter's clack permeates every track and takes quite a bit of power away from the metal.  
 
Despite some missteps OUSIA -dispersed- is a very competent album with more than a few tracks worth revisiting. Among my immediate favorites are the title track, "失い", "DEJECTED RAIN", and "BLIND DAYS". It positively improved my opinion of this band by leaps and bounds. If this is an unfinished product, I can't wait to hear what the whole thing sounds like as intended.
 
 
 

Following their December 2014 album Days With Uncertainty, The fin. is releasing a new EP on March 6, 2016, entitled Through The Deep.



01. White Breath
02. Divers
03. Through The Deep
04. Heat
05. Anchorless Ship
06. Night Time（Petite Noir Remix）

DAIGO(BREAKERZ) has announced at 2016/01/11 that he has got married with actress 北川景子(kitagawa keiko)

Since dub has been doing well, and we've been establishing more of a community on there, we've decided to make an Official dub room run by the MH staff - just like on plug.dj. We will now be using this room to host the MH Sunday sessions, so be sure to update your bookmarks!
https://www.dubtrack.fm/join/monochrome-heaven_145247137777434

OH GOD. My apologies. The header was correct, but I made a typo in the thread wrote 8pm instead of 10pm. Sorry!

Will the good people of MH be a-dubbin' and a-bumpin' tunes tonight as well, at the usual time?

This thread is aimed at both western RPGs and JRPGs. This can be from classics, to old hidden gems to the modern lot we either love or hate. Seeing as this has recently been voted as Japan's favourite genre, surely we've got some RPG lovers in the house too. Please note anything Western and Japanese is fine, including sub-genres like SRPG/TRPG.
 
I'm personally super interested in Persona 5. I've only got Persona Arena and I didn't do my research before purchasing it since I, quite frankly, find arcade games to be a bore. Persona 5 looks more up my alley, and I'm planning to play Persona 4 whenever I have the chance. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV are the other two expected shout outs in this thread, I'm sure. With the recently announced Ni No Kuni 2, that's definitely on my watch list. Now I just need to get my own PS4...
 

 
Moving on to games I've enjoyed playing that aren't upcoming, I hold Bravely Default close to my heart for its pretty art and simple yet addicting battle style. I'm very much a fan of the Nintendo for its classy RPG titles, and that certainly goes for Fire Emblem too. Adore Awakening (and totally pumped for Fates ofc!). I recently got Golden Sun and Heroes of Mana (probably the worst game of the franchise knowing me..) that are both for the DS and sounded promising so I'm excited seeing how they play out.
 

 
I've been trying out more titles on the PSP and Xbox too (getting onto the Wii in due time), and I'm excited when I can get my hands on Half Minute Hero and many more other PSP titles I've heard are worth a go with. I'm loving how Lost Odyssey and Infinite Undiscovery are getting on, but I've only recently started them and are the only Xbox ones I got with my RPG Xbox bundle I think are worth mentioning at the moment. 
 

 
For some oldies (to an extent), Luminous Arc is my selection for the hidden gem franchise, and Avalon Code for my obscure pick. I was lucky enough to have gotten both LA games as a kid and still love them to this day. I still find it surprising I can handle the graphics, and while I'd love to get to classics like Final Fantasy's earlier works (in which I have tried a few for a few weeks at a time), this is still a barrier for me. Anyone else feel me? AC looked pretty to me, and it's got one of the best looking systems I've ever had the pleasure to play. I can't leave out Rune Factory Frontier either, since that is so addicting. Forget about Harvest Moon, the Rune Factory series wins it for appeal all round. 
 

 
So what are you favourite titles in the RPG genre? Any you're looking forward to? Any obscure ones you care to share?

This thread is aimed at both western RPGs and JRPGs. This can be from classics, to old hidden gems to the modern lot we either love or hate. Seeing as this has recently been voted as Japan's favourite genre, surely we've got some RPG lovers in the house too. Please note anything Western and Japanese is fine, including sub-genres like SRPG/TRPG.
 
I'm personally super interested in Persona 5. I've only got Persona Arena and I didn't do my research before purchasing it since I, quite frankly, find arcade games to be a bore. Persona 5 looks more up my alley, and I'm planning to play Persona 4 whenever I have the chance. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV are the other two expected shout outs in this thread, I'm sure. With the recently announced Ni No Kuni 2, that's definitely on my watch list. Now I just need to get my own PS4...
 

 
Moving on to games I've enjoyed playing that aren't upcoming, I hold Bravely Default close to my heart for its pretty art and simple yet addicting battle style. I'm very much a fan of the Nintendo for its classy RPG titles, and that certainly goes for Fire Emblem too. Adore Awakening (and totally pumped for Fates ofc!). I recently got Golden Sun and Heroes of Mana (probably the worst game of the franchise knowing me..) that are both for the DS and sounded promising so I'm excited seeing how they play out.
 

 
I've been trying out more titles on the PSP and Xbox too (getting onto the Wii in due time), and I'm excited when I can get my hands on Half Minute Hero and many more other PSP titles I've heard are worth a go with. I'm loving how Lost Odyssey and Infinite Undiscovery are getting on, but I've only recently started them and are the only Xbox ones I got with my RPG Xbox bundle I think are worth mentioning at the moment. 
 

 
For some oldies (to an extent), Luminous Arc is my selection for the hidden gem franchise, and Avalon Code for my obscure pick. I was lucky enough to have gotten both LA games as a kid and still love them to this day. I still find it surprising I can handle the graphics, and while I'd love to get to classics like Final Fantasy's earlier works (in which I have tried a few for a few weeks at a time), this is still a barrier for me. Anyone else feel me? AC looked pretty to me, and it's got one of the best looking systems I've ever had the pleasure to play. I can't leave out Rune Factory Frontier either, since that is so addicting. Forget about Harvest Moon, the Rune Factory series wins it for appeal all round. 
 

 
So what are you favourite titles in the RPG genre? Any you're looking forward to? Any obscure ones you care to share?

This thread is aimed at both western RPGs and JRPGs. This can be from classics, to old hidden gems to the modern lot we either love or hate. Seeing as this has recently been voted as Japan's favourite genre, surely we've got some RPG lovers in the house too. Please note anything Western and Japanese is fine, including sub-genres like SRPG/TRPG.
 
I'm personally super interested in Persona 5. I've only got Persona Arena and I didn't do my research before purchasing it since I, quite frankly, find arcade games to be a bore. Persona 5 looks more up my alley, and I'm planning to play Persona 4 whenever I have the chance. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV are the other two expected shout outs in this thread, I'm sure. With the recently announced Ni No Kuni 2, that's definitely on my watch list. Now I just need to get my own PS4...
 

 
Moving on to games I've enjoyed playing that aren't upcoming, I hold Bravely Default close to my heart for its pretty art and simple yet addicting battle style. I'm very much a fan of the Nintendo for its classy RPG titles, and that certainly goes for Fire Emblem too. Adore Awakening (and totally pumped for Fates ofc!). I recently got Golden Sun and Heroes of Mana (probably the worst game of the franchise knowing me..) that are both for the DS and sounded promising so I'm excited seeing how they play out.
 

 
I've been trying out more titles on the PSP and Xbox too (getting onto the Wii in due time), and I'm excited when I can get my hands on Half Minute Hero and many more other PSP titles I've heard are worth a go with. I'm loving how Lost Odyssey and Infinite Undiscovery are getting on, but I've only recently started them and are the only Xbox ones I got with my RPG Xbox bundle I think are worth mentioning at the moment. 
 

 
For some oldies (to an extent), Luminous Arc is my selection for the hidden gem franchise, and Avalon Code for my obscure pick. I was lucky enough to have gotten both LA games as a kid and still love them to this day. I still find it surprising I can handle the graphics, and while I'd love to get to classics like Final Fantasy's earlier works (in which I have tried a few for a few weeks at a time), this is still a barrier for me. Anyone else feel me? AC looked pretty to me, and it's got one of the best looking systems I've ever had the pleasure to play. I can't leave out Rune Factory Frontier either, since that is so addicting. Forget about Harvest Moon, the Rune Factory series wins it for appeal all round. 
 

 
So what are you favourite titles in the RPG genre? Any you're looking forward to? Any obscure ones you care to share?

This thread is aimed at both western RPGs and JRPGs. This can be from classics, to old hidden gems to the modern lot we either love or hate. Seeing as this has recently been voted as Japan's favourite genre, surely we've got some RPG lovers in the house too. Please note anything Western and Japanese is fine, including sub-genres like SRPG/TRPG.
 
I'm personally super interested in Persona 5. I've only got Persona Arena and I didn't do my research before purchasing it since I, quite frankly, find arcade games to be a bore. Persona 5 looks more up my alley, and I'm planning to play Persona 4 whenever I have the chance. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV are the other two expected shout outs in this thread, I'm sure. With the recently announced Ni No Kuni 2, that's definitely on my watch list. Now I just need to get my own PS4...
 

 
Moving on to games I've enjoyed playing that aren't upcoming, I hold Bravely Default close to my heart for its pretty art and simple yet addicting battle style. I'm very much a fan of the Nintendo for its classy RPG titles, and that certainly goes for Fire Emblem too. Adore Awakening (and totally pumped for Fates ofc!). I recently got Golden Sun and Heroes of Mana (probably the worst game of the franchise knowing me..) that are both for the DS and sounded promising so I'm excited seeing how they play out.
 

 
I've been trying out more titles on the PSP and Xbox too (getting onto the Wii in due time), and I'm excited when I can get my hands on Half Minute Hero and many more other PSP titles I've heard are worth a go with. I'm loving how Lost Odyssey and Infinite Undiscovery are getting on, but I've only recently started them and are the only Xbox ones I got with my RPG Xbox bundle I think are worth mentioning at the moment. 
 

 
For some oldies (to an extent), Luminous Arc is my selection for the hidden gem franchise, and Avalon Code for my obscure pick. I was lucky enough to have gotten both LA games as a kid and still love them to this day. I still find it surprising I can handle the graphics, and while I'd love to get to classics like Final Fantasy's earlier works (in which I have tried a few for a few weeks at a time), this is still a barrier for me. Anyone else feel me? AC looked pretty to me, and it's got one of the best looking systems I've ever had the pleasure to play. I can't leave out Rune Factory Frontier either, since that is so addicting. Forget about Harvest Moon, the Rune Factory series wins it for appeal all round. 
 

 
So what are you favourite titles in the RPG genre? Any you're looking forward to? Any obscure ones you care to share?

Best of 2015
I tried.


Crippling depression, chronic sickness, and a disinterest in almost everything coming out had me thinking twice about releasing a list this year. You guys motivated me to get off my ass and finish this, so this post is for you. I can say that most releases I was looking forward to from the beginning of the year either never came out or disappointed me. I also came across a lot of music that was "great" but not necessarily something I would enjoy sharing on this list. I waffled between adding one or two more albums but decided at the last minute to exclude them. This is by far my shortest list ever with only 13 entries but I kind of like it that way.

BLU-SWING - FLASH
Songs: FLASH and 満ちていく体温
Charisma.com - OLest
Songs: お局ロック and こんがらガール
COHOL - 裏現
Songs: Depressive and Arche Pathogen
Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
Songs: Solace and Off Top
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Songs: Re Run Home and Change of the Guard
KEEL - Cthulhu & R'yleh
Songs: deep sleep and fanfale
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
Songs: u and How Much A Dollar Cost?
lynch. - D.A.R.K. - in the name of evil -
Songs: EVOKE and BEAST
THE NOVEMBERS - Elegance
Song: きれいな海へ
the piqnic - ZyouK
Song: krs
Sigh - Graveward
Songs: A Messenger From Tomorrow and The Tombfiller
sukekiyo - VITIUM
Songs: leather fields and celeste
和楽器バンド - 八奏絵巻
Songs: 暁ノ糸 (Akatsuki no Ito) and Perfect Blue
Thanks for reading (or skimming)! Leave me some comments below.

A classic was calling for me.

Not cool, Kyo. You may not agree with thom35's opinion, but that doesn't make it irrelevant. There's absolutely no reason to be rude, so let's chill out a bit.

I JUST GOT TO THIS, PHEW.
 
I only have two nominations. Might edit this before tomorrow to add more.
 
Until Dawn and Final Fantasy Type-0.
 
I'd like to say P.T (Silent Hills), but that was just a demo and cancelled. ;;

I'm a big fan of Dragon Ash, but somehow I completely forgot Kj released a solo album this year. Really need to get around the listening to that eventually. "Vocals similar to GALNERYUS" has me feeling a little scared though...
 
Nice to see GMA on your list as well. I watched the videos they released, but I still haven't gotten around to the rest of that album yet either, so it's good to hear that it's worth checking out.

These selections of mine are ones that have not been mentioned before on any project of the ORZ, so not all of my favourites are gathered here (save for a few select song favourites from some albums that have been previously mentioned in BNTs). To check out the rest I enjoyed, see the Staff album selections.   Because I have so many picks for this year since I got to a lot more music than in 2014, I'm going to be posting a handful of releases one by one within two days, preferably in a weeks amount of time. That's 70 picks! After picking out from what I had gotten to throughout the year and enjoyed, I ended up with a good 112 releases I adored from this rather 'weak' year alone (laugh with me, go ahead!), so I just HAD to feature an honorable mentions for the lot I was forced to remove to whittle down the ever growing list.   Be sure to look out for the bold yellow text = HONORABLE MENTIONS and bold red text = TOP TIER ALERTS (top tier means I found the whole release to be perfect) whilst you're at it! Every release has bolded tracks that indicate my favorite songs on the particular release and a shortish description of the sound/genres.   This list isn't ranked but in alphabetical order. Click the first spoiler tag for my honorable mentions or don't if you want to check them out with the list when they're called out in the blurbs for references. Not all will be commented on though!   Without further ado, enjoy~  

 

AKINO with bless4 - Decennia


 

[Alexandros] - ALXD




 

あまざらし (amazarashi) - あまざらし　千分の一夜物語　スターライト (Senbun no Ichiya Monogatari Starlight)




 

雨ニモ負ケズ (amenimomakez) - 結い (Yui)




 

Atlantis Airport - A[ ]Passport-EP+2




 
BENI - Undress


 

BIGMAMA - The Vanishing Bride




 

BiSH - Brand-new idol SHiT
 



 

ボンジュール鈴木 (bonjour Suzuki) - さよなら。また来世で (Sayonara. In addition, in the afterlife)
 



 
Tune in on Sunday for the second batch~

Perfect, love the layout. If I would check out non Japanese music more often, I'd totally try out more of Baraz (yes netflix and chill is right) and Dråpe. Really need to check out more from haisuinonasu and siamese cats. Nice seeing suiyobi, ofc, and not surprise with mothercoat, ofc~ Tierpark is new to me, must check that out. And I should really get to THE NOVEMBERS' and the piqnic's albums now, aha. Also, I had no idea ART-SCHOOL's guitarist is a part of ropes. I have that in my dls but haven't gotten to it yet... Really must now! Thank you for such a lovely made list.

Fuyusuruneko is a good pick. I feel like that band is really starting to come into their own.

Also, I was right about the H△G album? Does that mean I'm getting better at recognizing your taste?

ladies, please, not all at once.
 

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Greetings everyone! I actually did not plan on making a list this year, as 2015 wasn't my favorite year in music, but I was moved to do so after viewing everyone else's wonderful shares! Please note that this isn't a "best" list by any means, as I believe that music is much too subjective and personal for that to apply. This list is simply the things I enjoyed most over the year.

This time, I made no distinctions between Japanese and non-Japanese music. The order is also inconsequential, as I can never bring myself to create rankings. Inspired by @hiroki, I created some short audio snippets, so don't hesistate to sample some of my picks! If they don't start immediately, please give them a second or two to load. I also apologize if the loading time for my post is initially a bit slow, but it should work itself out after a few seconds. ^^;


Finally, if you take a moment to go through my list, I'd love to know your thoughts about it! Did anything catch your eyes/ears? Were there picks that you could agree/disagree with? Feel free to comment!





CAT's favorite music of 2015





宮内優里 - 宮内優里miyauchi yuri - miyauchi yuri


I could literally sit and listen to miyauchi yuri's glitchy folktronica all day and not get tired of it. Overall, his work DOES tend to be quite interchangeable, but I'm so utterly enamored with his sound that it doesn't even matter. I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy whatever he makes, and his latest self-titled album is more of the delicious same. This one does seem to be a bit less overtly melodic and more focused in ambient and IDM, though. So a few minor differences, but it's all just as lovely as ever!




Braids - Deep in the Iris


I've always thought of Braids as the Canadian counterpart to haisuinonasa, as both bands share a dreamy mix of electronica and indie-pop with just the right amount of experimental tendencies. They're also both very similar in atmosphere. But on this new album, Braids have taken that sound and made it more accessible and poppy. The results are stunning! Deep in the Iris is one of the few albums that I was looking forward to in 2015 that actually exceeded my expectations - I fell in love with it instantly!




ハイスイノナサ - 変身 haisuinonasa - henshin


Like @Pho, I'm also a proud haisuinonasa fanboy and agree that they've never released anything less than excellent. Unfortunately, their high bar quality seems to come at the expense of a slow and infrequent release schedule, but that just makes everything they put out even more precious. 変身 is only a single, but it's also a complete experience. It's fraught with all of their imaginative and technical post/math-rock signatures, but it shows various new sides of the band as well. I love this single, but it's such tease with no album in sight!




Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare


When Aoki Robin of Downy mentioned that he enjoyed Doldrums in an interview, I didn't hesistate to seek out their music, and I'm more than glad I did! Doldrums shares a similar, warped, Radiohead-esque aesthetic to Downy that resonates with me easily. There's something very dystopian and 'cyberpunk' about it that just tingles my musical senses!




水曜日のカンパネラ - ジパングSuiyoubi no Campanella - Zipangu


I managed to avoid the hype for this group, but was finally swayed this year. I'm still not completely sold on the vocalist, but the songwriting is so infectious and the production so masterful that I can't help but be charmed. "Wedcamp" is just a completely fun and vivacious mix of Jpop, hip-hop and club music.




Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Urban Flora


Smooth female vocals, sleek, coercive beats, and dreamy overtones? I'm always game for this type of music and Urban Flora delivers it in spades. The tone and the lyrics of this EP are incredibly sensual, but it's all very tasteful too. Great music to vibe-out or chill to...or netflix and chill to. XD




湯川潮音 - セロファンの空Yukawa Shione - Cellophane no Sora


Despite being one of the more reknown modern folk-pop artists in Japan, ----I've avoided trying Yukawa Shione's music until this year, but this just happened to be the perect time for me to do so. Cellophane no Sora is probably her most adventurous album yet and features production and instrumentation from musicians of acts like NATSUMEN, EGO-WRAPPIN', PETROLZ, pupa, anonymass, and more. With a line-up like that, you can't go wrong and Yukawa certainly did not!




Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon


So-called "future soul" band Hiatus Kaiyote has been on my radar since 2012's "Tawk Tomahawk" and what they've delivered on this exquisite follow-up was well worth the wait. "Choose Your Weapon" is a magnificent album with strong soul influences from the past and forward-thinking execution.




mothercoat - GOHUM


My favorite quirky indie-rockers have returned with their first album after changes to their line-up, and while GOHUM doesn't have the instant accessibility that allergies had, its off-kilter charm will burrow into your ears and reveal itself on repeat listens.




Pretend - Tapestry'd Life


I had a mighty need for math-rock in 2015 (as I do every year), and other than haisuinonasa, no other band was able to appease my appetite like Pretend did. Tapestry'd Life is only nine tracks, but it's an absolutely massive album with most tracks easily pushing past seven minutes. It's an absolutely eargasmic listen with a non-stop barrage of lush, mathy guitars and incredible, spastic drumming that never misses a beat.




Dråpe - Relax/Relapse


The last timed I listened to Norse band Dråpe, they were a dreamy shoegaze band with female vocals, but most of that has changed on Relax/Relapse. The vocalist is now male (although you could easily mistake his voice for female like i did). Most of the shoegaze elements have vanished and been replaced with neo-psychedelia - a move that made this band a winner in my ears!




シャムキャッツ - TAKE CAREsiamese cats - TAKE CARE


siamese cats originally started off sounding like a poor man's OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, but they've refined their sound over the years and become a force of their own. TAKE CARE is a short, twenty minute EP, but it's easily my favorite release from the band so far. It's summery, laidback, and carefree indie-rock with impeccably smooth execution. Despite siamese cats having a substantial presence in Japan's indie world, I'm always surprised that they seem to go unnoticed by overseas fans - their music would fit perfectly in a playlist with bands like ミツメ (mitsume), CARD and younger acts like Tempalay and never young beach!




the north end - balance


The Japanese emo veterans have returned after seven years since their last nation-wide release with the "Balance" EP, and it's a uniquely powerful mix of emo sensibilities, sprawling post-rock, and dub grooves. Simply three tracks were not enough for me!




Tierpark - The Moment Two Worlds Meet


I don't know much about music from Korea, but much like many other Asian countries outside of Japan, their indie scene seems to be experiencing a boom of sorts lately. Thankfully, my musical confidant @Pho has a keen ear to the scene and recommended Tierpark to me - a band with strong, emotive female vocals, soaring post-rock instrumentation, and a few mathy rhythms for good measure. What more could I ask for? I've always had a natural predilection towards female vocals, and since this area of music often tends to be overwhelmingly male-oriented genres, this recommendation was extra fortuitous for me!




muffin - 茂みとイバラmuffin - Bushes & Briars


muffin is a little-known, singer/songwriter from the Japanese indie-folk realm and an absolute gem for me. 茂みとイバラ (Bushes & Briars) is her latest release - a CD-R that's not widely available for purchase, but definitely worth obtaining. It's enchantingly distilled psychedelic-folk, with sweet, somber vocals laid atop a variable mix of warm and cold acoustic melodies. muffin reminds me of her fellow indie-folksters ゑでぃまぁこん (eddie marcon), who incidentally pitched in and played on this record as well!




THE NOVEMBERS - Elegance


THE NOVEMBERS have gotten to the point where it's difficult for them to do any wrong in my ears. Elegance does lack their darker, more melancholic side that I prefer, but they've tackled their lighter, fluffier sound like never before here. It's often compared to its similarly sunny predecessor "GIFT", but whereas that was more expansive and rough around the edges, Elegance is more reigned in, polished, and catchy. It's probably THE NOVEMERS' most cohesive record yet, with each track maintaining the whimsical and dreamy atmosphere (except for the last song). Elegance may not be the most compelling release from THE NOVEMBERS as a whole, but it's an impressive mark of refinement for the band, and one that'll grace my speakers for a while to come.




シベールの日曜日 - Gypsy HouseCybele no Nichiyobi - Gypsy House


Psychedelic rock is perhaps one of Japan's least prominent music exports, at least in modern times. There are plenty of Japanese bands playing psyche-influenced material, but very few contemporary acts play it as faithfully as Sundays & Cybele. Gypsy House doesn't attempt to bring anything new to the genre, and it doesn't have to - If you're like me and enjoy this sound in general, then there's plenty of it here to wrap your ears around!




Ropes - dialogue


Dynamic indie vocalist Achiko and ART-SCHOOL guitarist Masafumi Todaka took me by surprise with their second album as Ropes. I found their debut album pleasant, but forgettable overall, so I wasn't expecting much, but on dialogues, their songwriting seems much more self-assured and purposeful. Achiko's wilting vocals now bring out the best in Todaka's sentimental guitar play.




PLAY DEAD SEASON / This Time We Will Not Promise And Forgive Split


Japanese emo/post-hardcore bands PLAY DEAD SEASON and This Time We Will Not Promise And Forgive have proven themselves to be a perfect pair on this new split. Each track is brimming with emo-rawness punk spirit and it makes me hopeful for future releases!




the piqnic - ZyouK


Major thanks to @Jigsaw9 for recommending this one, as ZyouK became a favorite for me almost instantly. The fact that they sound eerily similar to THE NOVEMBERS (one of my favorite bands) certainly had a part to play, but they've definitely got their own things going. Some have even compared their brooding atmosphere and expansive soundscapes to bands like Boris. Extremely impressive for a CD-R release and a band that seems to have cropped up out of nowhere. I'm very optimistic about this band's future!




Thank you for viewing, and indulging in my awkward taste for a bit! ^^

So I did a thing today.
 
I fucking love it.

So, I went to hike a while ago.
 
Eh, people do hike, right?

My mom's reaction to this was hilarious
 

 
 
god I miss Lycaon </3

All hail Yuuki god Melissa TT_TT <3.
 

CHiCO with HoneyWorks - 世界はiに満ちている (Sekai wa i ni Michiteiru)
 


  Controversial Spark - Angels of a Feather



  三浦大知 (Daichi Miura) - Fever



  Div - SECRET
  FLiP - BIRTH



 

FOLKS - SNOWTOWN

 

浮遊ｽﾙ猫 (Fuyusuruneko) - 浮遊ｽﾙ猫 (MuWoToku) 

 

グッドモーニングアメリカ (Good Morning America) - グッドモーニングアメリカ (GOOD MORNING AMERICA) 


 

Hauptharmonie - Hauptharmonie


 

ハジ→ (Hazzie) - ハジベスト。 (Hazzie best)