crossparallel

Lol this band will be the death of me. Look at this fine specimen of 2d trash, either MERRY are making it very clear that you need to buy that DVD, no freebies, or I'm deadly mistaken. The zombie is the best.
 
 
And it's unlisted already, like the last pamphlet trailer. If you're gonna do this just stick to it lol. Or did you know we'll share anyway? 
Edit: It's public now ^^

Lol this band will be the death of me. Look at this fine specimen of 2d trash, either MERRY are making it very clear that you need to buy that DVD, no freebies, or I'm deadly mistaken. The zombie is the best.
 
 
And it's unlisted already, like the last pamphlet trailer. If you're gonna do this just stick to it lol. Or did you know we'll share anyway? 
Edit: It's public now ^^

SOUNDS SO GOOD. Where is that goddamn album already?!

Love the song.  Classic Merry greatness

My favorites are http://imabi.net/ & http://maggiesensei.com/ which I used together with the good ol' Minna no Nihongo textbooks  
Haven't studied japanese in a looong time though.

It's being a while I don't study so I won't give a proper explanation about each website, sorry, but somethings that might be useful:
 
I studied the grammar through this website: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/
This one seems pretty complete too: http://thejapanesepage.com/
 
JapanesePod101: https://www.japanesepod101.com/
Their Youtube Channel so you can have a sample: https://www.youtube.com/user/japanesepod101
And their page to help memorizing Kanji: http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/category/kanji-mnemonics/
Reviews of their material: http://www.nihongonobaka.com/japanesepod101-com-individual-season-reviews/
 
For Android I use the app Kanji Senpai, it's similar to Anki: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.rodriguez.kanjisenpai.android&hl=pt_BR
 
This website it's a little like Erin's Challenge but I didn't use it yet to really compare: http://anime-manga.jp/index_english.html
 
Kana Practice: http://realkana.com/study/
 
JLPT Samples: http://www.jlpt.jp/tw/samples/forlearners.html
 
Japanese Verb Conjugator: http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/
 
Some dialogues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1bs_XpoPXI&list=PLPgbV0XokpA2imKtO5WLJtIt87pUS64Ct
 
Dialogues with subtitles in Japanese and English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzzweIQoIOU
 
I'll be adding more stuff I find useful and organize it better later...

To be frank at the beginning, this year was a tedious sit-through when it came down to Japanese music. Having heard most of my favourites by the end of March, the later months were a hit-and-miss, deviating between top-tier acts and absolute distastrous music that I could not find it within myself to swallow. It was therefore a heinous task to collect two handfuls of releases that I appreciated enough, resulting in a high spike of listening hours throughout the month of December where I was desperately scouring and ransacking the internet for things that I had perhaps missed. Doing so for international releases was equally as difficult, as I simply returned to the roots of my listening-experiences too late and began exploring beyond the borders of Japan again somewhere in the midst of August. Catching up and gaining a proper impression of everything wondrous released this year did not lie within my capabilities, as there was too little time left. I therefore worked with what I knew and felt comfortable with, rather than outstretching too far out of my comfort zone to perhaps pick up a few ambigious releases here and there. 
 
 
Japanese Picks:
 

「01. "地球" by 摩天楼オペラ」
 

 
Without second thoughts, "地球" may be named 摩天楼オペラ's greatest effort to this very date. There is no smothering the tremendously burgeoning acceleration with which this band grows in power metal's theatric scene — it is therefore as predicted how this group is now making a renowned name for itself outside of visual kei's tight fingers' grip, and continues to conquer the seas beyond Japan, surprising more and more ears around the world.
 
01. PANDORA
02. BURNING SOUL
03. 致命傷
04. YOU&I
05. 君と見る風の行方
06. Good Bye My World
07. 青く透明なこの神秘の海へ
08. FANTASIA
09. SILENT SCREAM
10. ether
11. 讃えよう 母なる地で
12. 地球
13. 嘘のない私で
 
「02. "SOLOIST" by 清春」
 

 
This year, a much larger fondness for soloist 清春 grew immensely through the first magical spin that was given to this warm, seasoned record. It provides every bit of a crackling ambience experienced around a large bonfire set on a secluded piece of beach, yet where flames would normally take over, it is the man's very own voice sending tepid musical streams through one's system.
 
01. ナザリー
02. 夢心地メロディー
03. EDEN
04. DIARY
05. ロラ
06. 瑠璃色
07. FUGITIVE
08. MELLOW
09. MOMENT
10. QUIET LIFE
11. 海岸線
12. メゾピアノ
13. 麗しき日々よ
 
「03. "心・技・体" by ダウト」
 

 
Issued in January, "心・技・体" remained a durable favourite throughout all of 2016. Holding steadfast to their jazz-influences and soft-rock incentive, ダウト waver not and refuse to yield to the overwhelming turmoil inhabiting visual kei's current questionable, and unstable state. Emotive and tight on the heart's strings, especially the latter half of the album exceeds expectations.
 
01. 心技体
02. OH! MATSURI MONSTER
03. ダァァティィ・ロマンチッカァァ
04. 53
05. 恋ができない
06. 綺麗事
07. 華麗なる外道
08. 傷心パラドックス
09. TAXI
10. おねだり
11. 国立競技党
12. SM
 
「04. "アトム 未来派 No.9" by BUCK-TICK」
 

 
The paramount, anointed kings of Japanese music continue their succesful streak of outstanding musicianship without a visible end in sight. Blessed be us, as the legendary BUCK-TICK's presence in our midst would be sorely missed. Fresh and tireless energy pours yet again from "アトム 未来派 No.9", a genuine and heartfelt succession to the veterans' longlasting, exemplary career. 
 
01. cum uh sol nu -フラスコの別種-
02. PINOA ICCHIO -躍るアトム-
03. DEVIL’S WINGS
04. El Dorado
05. 美 NEO Universe
06. BOY septem peccata mortalia
07. 樹海
08. THE SEASIDE STORY
09. FUTURE SONG -未来が通る-
10. 曼珠沙華 manjusaka
11. Cuba Libre
12. 愛の葬列
13. NEW WORLD -beginning-
 
「05. "Baby who wanders" by DECAYS」
 

 
Exiting the catastrophic and bitter era of 2016 with an arrangement of fireworks was definitely not too problematic a task for the ambitious movement that DECAYS brings us. Bringing the two further ends of the Japanese music scene together, Die combines a plethora of talents and conjures up the enthusiastic "Baby who wanders", an all-purpose, all-around jewel in the rough. 
 
01. Aesthetics of the transgression
02. Zero Paradise
03. 愛と哀を遺さず… ＜Baby who wanders Ver.＞
04. Drifting litter
05. Where are you going?
06. Vagabond
07. Imprisonment Leaving
08. シークレットモード
09. HELLO! NEW I
10. Eve
11. Rana
12. D/D
13. 綺麗な指
 
「06. "ULTRA" by SCHAFT」
 

 
It would be criminal not to include this ambigious industrial outfit awoken from slumber after nearly two decades of what appeared to be eternal hibernation. And awarded we are, for "ULTRA" is packing harsh volume and distortion that the unit composed of the legendary 今井寿 and 藤井麻輝 —who are no longer held by the restraints of an assemblage of guest-musicians— have convincingly made their very own cohesive sound. 
 
01. The loud engine
02. Vice
03. drift
04. SAKASHIMA
05. Der Zauberlehrling
06. Anti-Hedonist
07. ReVive
08. swan dive
09. Adam’s rib
10. Leidenschaft
11. 魅
 
「07. "WILLS" by HOLLOWGRAM」
 

 
Ryo and the myth of Midas are two apples from the same tree; everything they touch, turns to pure gold. "WILLS" is a short, yet emotional rollercoaster miraculously withstanding the unquestionable weight that Ryo must be feeling upon his shoulders with the amount of tasks at hand. It floats beautifully and does not stray from its dream-like purpose, not for even a mere second. 
 
01. Lucent room
02. ラブレターレイン
03. indicencia
04. Kalmia
05. Where you go
 
「08. "CORD" by Angelo」
 

 
Already anticipating for Angelo's new work to fly far under the radar, there did not happen to arise any bewilderment whatsoever of how disproportionately this album was received. A pity, as the super-group devised a praise-worthy, foot-to-the-ground hard rock record uncompromised by dilly-dallying or any further nonsense. A sublime effort, and uncontested by many of their successors.
 
01. Umbilical cord
02. Cut
03. リテラシー
04. PROTOCOL
05. 嗤う月
06. Sorrow tomorrow
07. JUDGMENT
08. FIELD OF GOD
09. Daybreakers
10. CONNECT
 
「09. "憧憬、睡蓮と向日葵" by cali≠gari」
 

 
While appreciating cali≠gari not only for their peculiar oddities and quirks at random, but instead taking to their chance encounters with beautiful simplicity, "憧憬、睡蓮と向日葵" hits the hammer right on the nail's head; with melodies aplenty, the mini-album is a positively upbeat joy that doesn't take too many hours to grow in to, but then again can be repeated for many long evenings.
 
01. 薫風、都会、行き行きて
02. ギラギラ
03. 陽だまり炎
04. 蜃気楼とデジャヴ
05. アレガ☆パラダイス
06. 憧憬、睡蓮と向日葵
 
「10. "Grimoire" by forCroiX-フォークロア-」
 

 
Out of thin air, forCroiX-フォークロア- entrusted us with their headmost (and unfortunately, likely determinative) release after a four-year silence. While formed in 2012, the group has lived mostly out of our field of vision (and remains there, for they immediately dove deep yet again) — regrettably so, as their album "Grimoire" bears a courtly sound reminiscent of the magnificent days of a more gothic-redolent age of visual kei. 
 
01. resent
02. Limited Governor
03. Distracture
04. 傀儡destination
05. Rusty
06. Dystopia～断罪の聖堂～
07. Vagrant
08. 月ノ涙
 

International Picks:
 

「01. "Jumalten aika" by Moonsorrow」
 

 
With no contestant over the course of the year, "Jumalten aika" easily takes the highest spot in this list, overpowering with immense soundscapes and epic structures stretching far across tundra and frozen lands, reaching not only to the Scandinavian shores, but far beyond. Moonsorrow capture the essence of life and the spirits that give life, doing so through unbelievable legends and tales woven together into yet another Finnish magnum opus.
 
CD-1
01. Jumalten aika
02. Ruttolehto incl. Päivättömän päivän kansa
03. Suden tunti
04. Mimisbrunn
05. Ihmisen aika (Kumarrus pimeyteen)
CD-2
01. Soulless (Grave Cover)
02. Non Serviam (Rotting Christ Cover)
 
「02. "Triangle" by Schammasch」
 

 
There are no intelligible words for the monstrous enormity that is Schammasch's "Triangle", a superlative journey through the spiritual cosmos and yonder of the mere corporeal body. The avant-garde Swiss ensemble has not merely created a record; the three-way genesis is a bible —with the possibility to change one's view on existence— to those who can decipher its intentions, with an ability to transcend the human mind.
 
CD-1
01. Crepusculum
02. Father's Breath
03. In Dialogue With Death
04. Diluculum
05. Consensus
06. Awakening From The Dream Of Life
CD-2
01. The World Destroyed By Water
02. Satori
03. Metanoia
04. Above The Stars Of God
05. Conclusion
CD-3
01. The Third Ray Of Light
02. Cathartic Confession
03. Jacob's Dream
04. Maelstrom
05. The Empyrean
 
「03. "Dust Bowl Jokies" by Dust Bowl Jokies」
 

 
Coming from Sweden are the sleaze-infested Dust Bowl Jokies, but with their hearts lying not far from West Hollywood's notorious Sunset Strip, home to many an 1980's glam rock outfit. As their moniker implies, the young group seems to take inspiration from the dry desert and its gypsy-like superstition and legends — the record therefore has an impeccible design where it serves like a movie script, rather than a mere album alone.
 
01. Mama Cocha
02. The Moon Hanger Grove
03. Borderland
04. Old Fashioned Country Canvas
05. Pink Flamingos
06. Rawbone
07. Bad Juju
08. Hogs And Heifers
09. Son Of The Sun
10. Lulu
 
「04. "Night Hides The World" by Spellcaster」
 

 
The fairly recently established juniors in Spellcaster bear the legacy of traditional heavy metal acts upon their backs as if this were a weightless matter. Their most novel endeavor comes by the name of "Night Hides The World", a young take on the traditions of old — and to be fair, the production quality is the one single element separating this group from their mighty predecessors thirty years foregoing.
 
01. Aria 
02. Night Hides The World
03. The Lost Ones 
04. Betrayal 
05. I Live Again
06. The Accuser 
07. The Moon Doors
08. Prophecy 
 
「05. "For Crying Out Loud" by Shiraz Lane」
 

 
As an absolute blast from the past, Shiraz Lane have emerged from their Finnish time-machine in long hair, denim shorts and high-top sneakers. With a close absence of modern influences, the group still manages to take hold of an entirely individual style, procuring themselves a place in the hearts of those reminiscent of their youths, and the ones longing back to an era where music, —perhaps— was spoken more truly.
 
01. Wake Up
02. Momma's Boy
03. House Of Cards
04. Begging For Mercy
05. Same Ol’ Blues
06. Mental Slavery
07. Behind The 8-Ball
08. For Crying Out Loud
09. Bleeding
10. M.L.N.W
11. Kill Me (With Your Love)
 
「06. "False Highs, True Lows" by Plebeian Grandstand」
 

 
Positively vile and absurd, Plebeian Grandstand might very well be the next sludge-metal act to arise upon the scaffolding they so deserve. While their previous releases were purely chaotic mixtures of hardcore and violence, "False Highs, True Lows" has mutated through an exposure to raw black metal influences, turning it in to an absolutely distraught and murderous apparition from the very depths of the nine circles of hell.
 
01. Mal Du Siecle
02. Low Empire
03. Tributes And Oblivions
04. Volition
05. Mineral Tears
06. Oculi Lac
07. Tame The Shapes
08. Eros Culture
 
「07. "Post Pop Depression" by Iggy Pop」
 

 
A tribute to the late David Bowie, or a complete musical interpretation of Iggy Pop's longlasting legacy? Perhaps being a little bit of both, "Post Pop Depression" siphons just that what its title refers to; it is moody, oblique and hypnotic, a middle-finger to the very world and yet so relatable on a multitude of levels (perhaps that being exactly why). What a powerful farewell, what a glorious and complete manifesto.
 
01. Break Into Your Heart
02. Gardenia
03. American Valhalla
04. In The Lobby
05. Sunday
06. Vulture 
07. German Days
08. Chocolate Drops
09. Paraguay
 
「08. "Mystical Future" by Wildernessking」
 

 
Black metal from South-Africa — this is a correlation not often predicted, and therefore did Wildernessking meander within the musical scene without too many loud exclamations. However, upon the very first listen to "Mystrical Future", it became clear that these men from below the equator have conjured up something truly unpredictable and magical, something belonging only to themselves.
 
01. White Horses
02. I Will Go To Your Tomb
03. To Transcend
04. With Arms Like Wands
05. If You Leave
 
「09. "The Armor Of Ire" by Eternal Champion」
 

 
Eternal Champion are journeying toward their grasp on might and glory, with a sword in their right hand, and a shield in their left. Thunderous and heroic, the epic "The Armor Of Ire" rampages over a battlefield drenched in blood, while it gets ours pumping and running coarser through our veins. The United States have not yet given up on their challenge declared to their contestants in the ancient Europe. 
 
01. I Am The Hammer
02. The Armor Of Ire
03. The Last King Of Pictdom
04. Blood Ice
05. The Cold Sword
06. Invoker
07. Sing A Last Song Of Valdese
08. Shade Gate
 
「10. "Kodama" by Alcest」
 

 
One does not have to enjoy atmospheric black metal to understand that the talent behind Alcest is unquestionably a musical mastermind. His subtle handling of musical instruments and ethereal phonetic accentuation give life to transcendental French creations truly as beautiful as thousands of individuals claim. If we had some knowledge on the voices of angels, Neige would come close to turning myth into certainty.
 
01. Kodama
02. Eclosion
03. Je suis d'ailleurs
04. Untouched
05. Oiseaux de proie
06. Onyx
07. Notre sang et nos pensées

Yeaah!!!
The year has already started good with this news.

メトロノーム(Metronome) new album "CONTINUE" will be released at 2017/03/15 (2 types)
 
limited edition (6,480yen) will include CD+DVD (including complete scene of their one-man live at Zepp Tokyo at 2016/09/19, "解離性同一人物" PV & new song PV), and regular edition (3,240yen) will include CD only

Xaa-Xaa will release an albm called 「不幸な迷路」(fukô na meiro) on 2017.03.15.
 
TYPE A : 3500 yens + taxes
CD :
1.入口(iriguchi)
2.不幸の始まり(fukô no hajimari)
3.ぐちゃぐちゃ(guchagucha)
4.排水口(hasui guchi)
5.気付いて(kizui te)
6.人殺し(hitogoroshi)
7.ラストダンス(last dance)
8.落とし穴(Otoshiana )
9.交尾をしてよ(kôbi o shite yo )
10.ユメオチ(yumeochi) ? 
11.最後の歌(saigo no uta)
12.出口(deguchi)
DVD :
1.ぐちゃぐちゃ( MUSIC VIDEO ) (guchagucha)
2.オフショット集 (off-shot collection)
 
TYPE B : 3100 yens + taxes
CD :
1.入口(iriguchi)
2.不幸の始まり(fukô no hajimari)
3.ぐちゃぐちゃ(guchagucha)
4.排水口(hasui guchi)
5.気付いてk(kizui te)
6.人殺し(hitogoroshi)
7.ラストダンス(last dance)
8.恋人ごっこ(koibito gokko)
9.寄り道(yorimichi)
10.落とし穴(otochiana)
11.交尾をしてよ(kôbi o shite yo)
12.ユメオチ(yumeochi) 
13.最後の歌(saigo no uta)
14.出口(deguchi)
 
 
 

 
 
To promote the release of the album, an one man tour called 「ソォルドアウト2」 will begin on 2017.04.07 at 名古屋ハートランド  and will finish on 2017.04.30 at 大阪MUSE
 
 

But what if a spent counterculture is actually more subversive than an active one?
 
For me, there are two very different ways of thinking about countercultures and the transgressive work they are performing. The first is where you try to build rapport, get more people interested in the subculture, then flag it up as some kind of collective protest. In practice, this has always been the mode by which identity politics operated in the public domain--through aggregation, coalition-building, and ramping up the numbers. There are good reasons for this, but there are problems with it, especially for its cultural parallel. Some of us here might be familiar with a book published some decades ago by Dick Hebdige on British youth subcultures (punks, mods, etc.), in which he observed that every subculture that has historically evolved in ostensible protest against popular/mainstream culture cannot elude the inevitable fate of commodification by social and cultural institutions. This spells the death of that subculture either because the ‘transgressive’ force has by that point been entirely neutralized through its absorption into mass culture, or because the “angry young men” who are in them just to make a deafening aesthetic/political statement about themselves have migrated to another fledging subculture en masse before that could happen. I have a hunch that the "scene culture" today that Disposable alluded to might be linked to precisely this. Just look at how cultural scenes have become increasingly dispersed, and interest groups increasingly fragmented (and alienated from one other) since the last decades of the 20th century.
 
The other way of thinking about transgression, I think, is to simply not concern oneself with it. This might sound somewhat counterintuitive but I’ve always been struck by how it’s actually incredibly difficult in this day and age to be totally useless. Think of NEETs who are sitting around at home relishing how they aren't contributing to society; but by being held up in the mass media as exemplary negative "case studies" that parents ought to dutifully warn their children about, they are nevertheless serving an important social function. All of this is a very laborious way of saying that even as we admit to ourselves that it's no longer possible to be radically transgressive in the way most of us had hoped to be at some point in our lives, at least the Wildean decadent who doesn’t give a damn whether the subculture he’s participating in is still relevant or subversive wouldn’t rehearse the problematic we encountered in the first case--where, by reacting violently against the mass culture we absolutely detest we’re in some sense being held hostage to it and playing by its terms. Which reminds me of something Slavoj Zizek said: sometimes, doing nothing is the most violent thing to do. He isn’t taken very seriously by most of his colleagues within academic circles, but I think there’s at least a grain of truth in what he said there.
 
In any case...
 
If nothing else, people who stick by visual kei even after it’s no longer the fad are usually those I enjoy talking to the most. I had an uncannily similar experience in classical music: over there, the same handwringing we’re having now in this thread had taken place approximately half a century ago and by this point everyone I know has basically given up trying to ‘make it relevant’. Thankfully, it’s always more fun associating with people who consume a cultural product because they genuinely enjoy it, and not because they want to appropriate it (consciously or not) as a proxy to make a conspicuous statement about themselves.
 

Time moves on and irrelevant art forms and their instruments get thrown into the very crowded dustbin of history. If you have any doubt about this, I'd like to ask you to name the top 10 premier bebop musicians today, or how about something that sounds like it was from the paradise garage? how about poodle rock? is anyone playing like Weber lately while painting like Monet and catching the salon by storm? They're all gone from the popular consciousness and live as mere perverse retro curiosities ( new post-punk and goth rock fucking eww ) for a handful of people. Scenes, genres and movements always come, go and never come back in the same form. If you ask an enthusiast he'll no doubt tell you about all the killer up and comers, but that's all bunk and they know it too. Nobody's touching Billie Holliday, there's not going to be a new Beatles, nobody's turning back the clock and doing nu-Bach in a manner that won't be scoffed upon by anyone who's serious and in the know. Visual kei in that regard is, to be quite honest, finished. I'd say its creative, artistic peak ended right when the turn of the millenia labels dissolved, and the European boom was caused both by the hot air from that period and the aptness of visual kei musicians to appropriate the emo/scene stylings as mentioned before (see the mallgoth act D'espairsray and nu metal Girugamesh for proof of this ). Visual kei's adaptability has given it such a lifeline for sure. There's not a whole lot of genres that can keep moving the needle and making money both domestically and internationally the way that it has. We've literally outlived and survived the deaths of hair metal, goth and mallcore. Probably only the general metal subculture can boast such a staying power, and they too have been struggling to stay on the surface since all that Anthrax skate metal and the alt-rock Metallica boom faded away. Now even big names can't sell out in fucking _Finland_ and underground classics struggle to pull. In my pessimistic thinking we are at the tail end of this rock guitar saga, and it's due to the gradual withering away of rock music's cultural and demographic base. 
 
I have my own fantasies about the evolution of visual kei as an active counterculture as opposed to a dull consumer culture. Agendered danger lurking in the metro stations near you; they'll know us by the trail of blood and the smell of hairspray. It's all complete fantasy however that I entertain with like three people max. In reality I know we're over and done with as a seismic cultural force. This however doesn't mean that everything is lost. While I don't think MH contributed to the fad beginning or ending, I certainly think MH has contributed massively to the staying power of visual kei on the internet in an age where everything else is disappearing. That Japanese indie analogy is an apt to make, because there's no reason why we shouldn't be in that same position had there not been these stalwarts of vk culture like MH have withstood the storms of the passing time. This was achieved by the unending dedication and efforts of the core-group that keep coming here year after year after year. If there were double the people with as much heart, perseverance and ability, who knows where we would be. Could the boom period had been extended by the valiant and most importantly of all, smart and applicable endeavors of a few dozen dedicated enthusiasts? I don't know. Bless this website either way and all you people who keep coming and contributing.
 
I won't dare to wager ( but i'll haughtily speculate ) why the laptop took over rock 'n roll, but stuff like the global demographic shifts were just too much for it overcome. The popular sphere has drastically diversified both nationally and racially. The stuffy dadrock crowd is losing their death grip on the entertainment zeigeist and big festival lineups are a testament to this. The rock bands pulling the big crowds are really fucking old, and the audience is only a notch younger. Sure the vk bands can draw a garage-full of people and enjoy the company of a few snappy young women — that's it though, no one else cares. The faucet has dwindled down to a point where it is increasingly harder for bands to sustain themselves. It just happens to be a form of music that doesn't speak to the majority of people anymore, not to the young person in school or the higher cultural crowd either for that matter. Electronic music is thriving both commercially and artistically, even hip hop is still doing a fabulous job of innovating itself; all the while one of our biggest newcomers ripped off a decade old deathcore album just last year. Even selling CD's in this day and age is dated, and labels are dying to adjust before the inevitable fall. The electronic underground, even hip hop has managed to adjust and evolve to a degree in the way music is released and spread ( a lot of the big names aren't even releasing full LP's anymore. Just songs, for free on youtube and whatever ). 
 
I'd honestly like to know what kind of social factors contributed to the rise of scene culture. Remember those bands like BrokeNCYDE, BOTDF and etc.? Where were we at the time, as a culture, that stuff like that was tapping into our consciousness. Nothing happens in a vacuum and people don't just decide what to think, feel or do out of the blue. There are reasons for everything in the social and economic fabric of societies and It's an interesting question fo' sure.
 
 I know my way enough that if I want to make an impression, I wouldn't go telling a cool stranger by four euro latte's that my taste in music is essentially the Japanese Poison and Coal Chamber. I'd embarrass myself either way if I left it at that or started nervously flinging my hands and explaining how deep down this culture is really gr8 and transgressive art. My heart stays true to bijuaru kei either way. I'm going down with the ship and I'll keep on making-a-fool of myself on a daily basis. So that's why this is my favorite thread, because I have a hard time of letting go of the glory days of my youth and its music, endlessly try to rationalise it by intellectual gymnastics. While my death slowly approaches and even the last patches of grey hair are falling out, in my mind I'm still young and full of cum, ready for adventure. 

Very easy : First wave.
Although I'm much into the early bands (BUCK-TICK, BY:SEXUAL, AUTO-MOD etc.), the first wave is the one that's got the bulk of bands I like (Kuroyume, Malice Mizer, Plastic Tree etc).
Also, little note, I've seen all these bands play live since I was in Tokyo during the first wave.
PS: Kuro Yume Live at La-Miss Ration 1994. Shot by me.
 

 

I'm beyond shook at this. I've been freaking out all day.
IDEK

Wait. What. 

you can totes use my account, cuz idk how to use that site or even record tbh

Covers have been released and they are slaying my fucking life
 
Type A

 
Type B

 
Regular edition

 
Purchase privileges:
TOWER RECORDS All stores (including online / some stores excluded)
-Original postcard A

All HMV stores (including online / some shops excluded)
-Original postcard B

TSUTAYA RECORDS all shops (some shops excluded) / TSUTAYA online shopping (reservation only)
-Original postcard C
 
Amazon.co.jp
-Original sticker A
     
General store (excluding some stores)
-Original sticker B

I went to the doctor's the other day and he told me that the reason I am so healthy is because I listen to Buck Tick at least once a day. huh who knew?
 
But seriously buck tick news is always good news.

BUCK-TICK has just announced a special project of sorts for their debut 30th anniversary coming in September 2017. Here is what is for certain so far:
 
- they will release an Anniversary Best Album
- they will hold an Anniversary Special Live in September
- they will hold their annual THE DAY IN QUESTION gig on 2017/12/23, and then a special two-day one on 12/28-29
- this will also be preceded by a domestic tour from October (if I'm understanding it correctly)
- aaand they will release their new album in spring 2018
 
Can't waittttt~

(Before that, I’m so sorry the length of this introduction reads like an essay but please bear with me ><)
 
I have many interests, but let’s talk about visual kei as this is the one constant that has taken up most of my life.
 
2009 was a time of change for me and visual kei. Ameba launched its virtual community Pigg, which instantly sucked the life out of me and as it turned out, so many vk bandmen had no life as well.
 
t's embarassing to talk about it now, but as teenagers with nothing better to do with our time, my friends and I would send as many friend requests as we could to band members and ‘stalk’ them whenever they logged online. Suddenly vk had become so much more intimate as we could interact with vk bandmen in real-time like never before.
 
But pigg was more than that. Some of my fondest memories have been the designated VK showroom where you could stream youtube videos to a crowd, meeting new people in the club rooms who share a common interest and of course having to witness the silly antics of some of those bandmen. I got to know a lot of bands that I would otherwise never had found out about, had conversations, learning about their personalities and interests. I also got to learn that some of the musicians in the darkest and heaviest bands have the cutest personalities behind the keyboard, fawning over the colourful array of virtual fashion items pigg had to offer. 
 
(Asanao from lynch. case in point)
 
It was a fun and unique experience. And at the same time, information was not only more accessible than ever before, but more abundant as well, and keeping up with blogs, news, forums, and playing pigg consumed every moment of my every day which back then, I had the time and youth to do so.
 
But eventually, I burnt out.
 
I attributed my losing touch with vk to information overload. It’s been more than 4 years since I stopped going on pigg and ameblo for good, but those few years of intense dedication, even today, felt like an aeon. 
 
I used to make a lot of parodies of bandmen, and loved deduction and connecting the dots - which bands had photoshoots at which set and making 6-degrees of separation connections between members of different bands and loved hearing stories from the past.
 
I also had a enthusiasm for drawing, having drawn over a ton bands over the course of 2 years between 2011 and 2012, but suddenly it’s 2016 and all I have are 3-year-old drafts and unfinished sketches. 
 
Everything had been halted because life kinda got in the way… shattered-tranquility had long stopped being my home page and my internet’s search history doesn’t remember vkdb.jp anymore.
 
Hmm.
 
So in that gap between about 2012 and now, I had the mother of existential crises, questioning whether I was really going to follow vk for life.
 
But my passion in the music is genuine and still alive.
 
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been disconnected from the community that I love for far too long, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to forget the memories I’ve made, the bands that I’ve followed, the stories I’ve heard and the things I’ve learned along the way - be they good or bad. I don’t want my interest of VK to die, and I don’t want to stop making funny content about VK forever.  
 
(And most importantly, I don’t want to be the only VK fan in Australia that I know. So if you’re from Sydney, please hit me up so I don’t feel lonely :3)
 
I want this to be the place where I can share my knowledge about vk so ask me anything and I hope to relearn what I’ve lost these past few years. And once again, I’m astronomically sorry about the length of this introduction (I hope it was bearable).
 
Merry Xmas btw

MERRY Christmas from MERRY ♥
 
 

I'm somewhat surprised, I found parts of DIAVOLO pretty damn catchy, and they still have a tendency to randomly pop into my head even though I haven't spinned the whole album proper for months at this point. I mean, yeah, it's definitely not reinventing the wheel or anything, but it's just quirky enough to stay memorable in the ocean of staleness that is modern-day visual kei (also thank GOD they're not one of those boring straightforward heavy bands lmao)
 
New DEZERT album's good. Kinda hoped it'd have more tracks in the vein of the 2nd track, but I still enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed their first full album.
 
 

Day 22: アトム 未来派 No.9 (Atom miraiha No.9)  by BUCK-TICK

 
Release Date: 2016-09-28
Label: Victor
Genre: Visual Kei/Industrial
 
 
Impressions from @doombox:
 
 
Impressions from @Zeus:
 
 
Impressions from @ShanethVarosa:
 
Sample song:
 
Buy the album:
CD Japan | Amazon

This is giving me early '90s British alternative realness. I'm digging it.

Full details:
New look
 

 
 

 
Type A
Tracklist:
01 念力 (Nenriki)
02 creep
03 念力 (Nenriki) (Instrumental)
 
DVD - Bonus live "Black Silent / White Noise" final performance
・うつせみ (Utsusemi)
・フラスコ (Frasco)
・みらいいろ (Mirai Iro)
・メルト (Melt)
・くちづけ (Kuchizuke)
・ピアノブラック (Piano Black)
・時間坂 (Jikansaka)
・サナトリウム (Sanatorium)
・影絵 (Kagee)
・サイレントノイズ (Silent Noise)
 
 

 
Type B
Tracklist:
01 念力 (Nenriki)
02 creep
03 念力 (Nenriki) (Instrumental)
 
DVD - Bonus live "Black Silent / White Noise" final performance
・シンクロ (Synchro)
・メランコリック (Melancholic)
・スラッシングパンプキン・デスマーチ (Thrashing pumpkin death march)
・マイム (Maimu)
・バリア (Baria)
・静かの海 (Shizuka no umi)
・剥製 (Hakusei)
・曲論 (Kyokuron)
・あバンギャルど  (Avangarde)
・クリーム (Cream)
 
 

 
Type C
Tracklist:
01 念力 (Nenriki)
02 creep
03 念力 (Nenriki) (Instrumental)
 
DVD
01念力 (Nenriki) MUSIC VIDEO
 

 
Regular Edition:
Tracklist:
01. 念力 (nenriki)
02.creep
03.サーカス(circus) (Live Arrange Version)
04.念力(Instrumental)
 
Also the Video music of nenriki: