returnal

I have to thank Serah from Labaiser for posting the link to that article, while also commenting "Labaiser prohibits in-band romances, so we don't have to worry about this". legendddd

the femme fatale fanclub of monochrome heaven are sending our official condolences to the band and their fans!

cali≠gari will hold their special oneman live celebrating their 16th anniversary of activity suspension and 10th anniversary of their return on June 23 at Tokyo Toyosu PIT. At the event, they will also release a new pamphlet containing the song, "ヘルニア" (hernia).
 
The band will also hold their 25th anniversary live at Shinjuku Blaze on August 31.
 

Definitely peep this thread:
big fave of mine is カリメロ
 

Definitely peep this thread:
big fave of mine is カリメロ
 

Where in the fresh hell did they go? 
 
One of my absolute favorite aspects of exploring niche genres is stumbling upon some random compilation albums featuring bands that maybe released only a couple songs total in their entire life span. It's pretty much the easiest way to stumble upon both the true hidden gems within a genre and the absolute worst it has to offer, sometimes right next to each other. Speaking broadly, the psychedelic, (post-)punk, industrial and minimal synth scenes all have a tremendous number of absolutely great v/a albums catering to different niches and local scenes, with new ones coming out even to this day.
 I remember from my early days in the VK scene back in the mid-2000s is that it felt like there was always some  compilation album or split cd coming out every few month or so. Many of them seem to have been tied to magazines, live venues or live events, but there were also the occasional tribute albums here and there, as well as crossovers that seemed to be done just for the hell of it. Some of those compilations were absolute fucking bangers too (never forget those Tokyo Guerilla ones my dudes........)
Sadly it kinda feels like over the past decade the stream of v/a albums just kind of dried up. I can't really remember any notable ones being released that WEREN'T tribute albums for instance. Part of me wants to blame this lack of non-tribute compilations on the fact that streaming and downloading music is so much easier these days than back in the day, and as such the need for these officially sanctioned mixtapes to create exposure just isn't as high as it used to be, and I'm sure the fact that several VK publications and live venues have bitten the dust in the past couple of years must have a role in it as well. 
I'm just left here hoping that maybe some day some OG VK nerd will step it up and create the weeb counterpart to those 'Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era' comps
 
tl;dr: this thread is dedicated to v/a albums, both ones connected specifically to the vk scene and japanese music in general. what are some of your favorites? which ones were absolute godawful abominations in your eyes? where did all the compilation albums go?
 

I remember someone asking for links to files back on inertia’s board, what must have been 14-15 years ago.
 
Someone honestly responded;
”Why don’t you just buy the CDs, instead of being a leech?”
 
Yes, because someone back in 2004 can just walk to the store and buy whatever VK CD they want, or just go on to Western iTunes, and have the whole world at their fingertips. Or, they could blindly buy a $40 CD. Amazin’!

god thisthisTHISTHIS the culture of "give me an EQUALLY RARE mp3/PV/etc. if you want this intangible file" has always been so bizarre to me.
 
Also, so many people in the scene give off this vibe of band/artist fandom ownership, like they're more entitled to be a fan than someone else. Seems kind of esoteric, but I can't be the only one who notices this?

They say everything in sarcasm or irony.

i have some super ultra rarez but I'm not going to share them because I'm an asshole 

"You only listen to post 2010 VK? I, an intellectual individual, avid connoisseur of the Visual Kei scene with peak music taste know that only obscure 90s bands with unpronounceable names count as true VK" 

imagine having that many sugar daddies tbh

his cober album "DRESS" will be released at 2019/06/23 (2 types)
 
Crowdfunding special edition for those who participated to the crowdfunding, they will have a special gift + regular edition (3500yen)
 
[tracklist]
愛の讃歌 (Ai no Sanka) / Edith Piaf（美輪明宏訳詞）
誕生 (Tanjou) / 中島みゆき (Nakajima Miyuki)
リフレインが叫んでる (Refrain ga Sakenderu) / 松任谷由実 (Yumi Matsutouya) 
異邦人 (Kotokunibito) / 久保田早紀 (Saki Kubota)
ミ・アモーレ(Meu amor e…) / 中森明菜 (Nakamori Akina)
難破船 (Nanbasen) / 中森明菜 (Nakamori Akina)
背徳のシナリオ (Haitoku ni Scenario) / Wink
やさしいキスをして (Yasashii Kiss wo Shite) / DREAMS COME TRUE
それでも明日はやってくる (Soredemo Ashita wa Yattekuru) / 鈴木結女 (Yume Suzuki)
カウントダウン (Countdown) / Cocco
罪と罰 (Tsumi to Batsu) / 椎名林檎 (Shina Ringo)
Cage / 鬼束ちひろ (Onitsuka Chihiro)
鮫 (Same) / 天野月子 (Amanotsukiko)
 
[musicians]
DIE（hide with Spread Beaver/Ra:IN）
人時（黒夢）
közi（MALICE MIZER/ZIZ）
千聖（PENICILLIN/Crack6）
LEVIN（La’cryma Christi）
SHUN.（exFANATIC◆CRISIS/THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S）
櫻井有紀（Raphael/rice）
Ruiza（D）
seek（Psycho le Cému/MIMIZUQ）
YAMATO（UCHUSENTAI:NOIZ）
ヒカリト(AIORIN)
おおくぼけい（アーバンギャルド）
小春（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）
友納真緒
須藤千春
篤人（eStrial）
田浪真悟（Z’s）
鴇田望
坂井崇人（from新潟）
平岡健一（from札幌）

vk needs more bands with proper screamo-style vocals and less growling / pig squeals imho

"Hey guys so remember the time we sold our album Gauze on vinyl but it was limited to 100 copies?"
 
"Yeah, why?"
 
"Well we're just about to release our new album so let's do the same thing, but get this, let's only limit it to 10 copies"
 
"Great idea management! I'm sure we would love to give out ten LPs to people who will definitely sell them for a ludicrous price which will end up being scratched and then fuck over everyone else by not releasing all our albums on vinyl for the near future and the albums that are on vinyl now are too expensive"
 
Diru please re-release every album on vinyl plz. Kaoru senpai plz I want WTD on vinyl plez

#ressurectvk

Disrespectful to the Jun Togawa project w/ the same name t b h

my first exposure to x-japan was a vocaloid cover of "crucify my love"

you may think this release is useless but look at these covers
 

 

😄😄

Anyway, for those of you who wondering what deadman ex bassist takamasa doing.....
 
He founded a marketing company, two non-profit organization(education/music). Now becoming a politician.
 

i've never listened to a full x japan album and have no desire to fix that.
 
kurenai is a cool song tho.
 
 

That reminds me; when I was about sixteen, I made one of those cootie-catcher fortune teller things that would tell you who your VK boyfriend was, and I kept bothering my straight male friends with it. If I remember rightly, the ones I picked for it were Juri (ex-DELUHI/Breakin' Holiday), Reita (the GazettE), Hitomi (ex-Moran), Chisa (ex-DIV/ACME), Shiina Mio (UNiTE), Kamijo (Versailles), Lay (Fatima) and Gackt. I could be totally wrong with some of those. I'm beginning to wonder if I still have it knocking about somewhere. I'll look for it, and if I find it, I'll see if I remembered them all correctly.
 
ETA: I was right with everyone except Lay. I had Yo-ka from DIAURA... shoulda known. I haven't changed a diddly-darn bit.

You should have rigged it to read “Gackt” in all cases.