Rahzel

Not sure how "unexpected" this is but: Argonavis aka Boydori now has a character who is a bandomen yay Also oldies popular shoujo manga Kaikan Phrase had a band whose guitarist was ex-vk (but since Ayabie covered Datenshi Blue as if it's a vk song ... is it unexpected?)

(disclaimer: my price range would be $0 - $20 so that's ... not in line with most other commenters and no I am not a cheapskate I am just fucking poor ......) (also what's noise cancelling I'm often alone in a big house why should I cancel silence ? ? ? ) True to the 90s boomer who listened to VK in the early 2000s I happen to own a couple of this bad bab called SONY MDR-W08 . It was my go-to headphones when I was a lil kid and now it's become sort of a cult classic with a "following". Lol go figure. But I can understand why. They're lightweight ( I can even sleep on them though it's not advisable as they can break down, not super easily but yeah. They're not replaceable so it's... not something I do regularly. Or not by accident lol. ) and their sound is pretty fine too. I wear it outside and carry it on my bag so having something that is practical and unexpensive (...considering its original price) to carry everywhere helps. If they break I'll probably go for another Sony MDR then. They aren't my absolute favorites out of all those I have tested (don't really test those in-ear with loads of speakers and big earbuds that are all the rage in AliExpress because they hurt my ear smh, ) as my dad happens to collect headphones ( he is just Into Music, and by collect I mean ... Collect. But he likes those super bass kinds I couldn't care less for lol ) my absolute favorite would be ... an older (maybe late 80s or early 90s ??) Sony model idk the name ; the one I tested came with some spongey buds that are huge but feel very comfortable, as they're on-ear and higher pitched noises are so piercing on them. I have yet to see one that's nicer for sharp/higher sounds than those 90s Sony models - I'd listen to vaporwave on them and it was a whole experience. But then again I don't see a problem with Apple earphones (... I think I may have tested earbuds, to be honest idk as I don't own Apple devices and it was borrowed so.) they're nicely balanced IMO (And again, keep in mind my price range is up to $20 lol.)

Really, yay thanks! It's just silly topics (like the one with good engrish songs and the one about ghostwriting) but if it doesn't bother people then I guess I will.

Sort of relatable (except it's more how I feel about anime since the KyoAni arson but k-pop is quickly walking towards that for me)

Insterestingly enough I'm in the "more likely to be hella angry than sad" crowd, and when I am hella angry I often listen to music and it helps but when I am sad I feel that I just want to be quiet and at peace and sleep loads. I have a history of genetically inherited severe anxiety and fighting depression alone so I'm often ✨ HAPPY-GO-LUCKY ✨ or just too angry and trying to change things unless everything Really Sucks Irremediably, so I almost didn't remember what I used to do when I am sad (which I only did because someone dear to me passed away recently so I've been feeling this crushing emptiness I haven't felt in a while again.) But I have to agree that gratitude goes a long way. I know this sounds assholey and sometimes there isn't much to be grateful for, but putting yourself down often only makes you, well ... worse - while if you're able to look at things in a more positive light you are (chemically/neurologically even) more likely to find creative solutions for your actual problems instead of watching them pile up. Of course, way easier said than done, but I find that it does work

Started reading months-old topics and now I feel like necroing a lot of topics but maybe that wouldn't be a good idea??? sighs (but is it even necroing if the topic was last updated in May or June lol) Also when I say google wants me ruined this is what I mean

*cracks knuckles* well... 👀 Okay I am not going to put anyone in these forums through k-pop mvs (though I am well qualified to do so I'll refrain) but *will* share the one k-pop MV that got me into k-pop after years of being "eek" about it. (ironically my ~ult bias~ which would be the kpop equivalent of a honmei turned out to be the white haired guy lol.) Now moving on to less k-poppy stuff... To be honest I am uninspired now (blaming it entirely on whoever made my mind go to k-pop MVs.) but ... some of my favorite MVs lately would be not-particularly-outstanding-just-emotional things like Colorful World by Kariya Seira and melt by TK/suis ; Guess sometimes I like "everything an artist puts out" because they are just so charismatic and/or creative like Alice Vicious or Sayuri or Shishido Kavka etc. Or because they are purely 100% amazing (thats amazarashi) 😞 ... I wish I didn't sound that biased but honestly the only Japanese video aside from these that I remember vividly in the last ~2 years was that one where the SCANDAL girls came out. Maybe I'm that out of the loop in Japanese MVs lol In general hmm ... American/British PVs interest me more. I guess the production values are better which in turn makes the whole thing better. But k-pop beats it all remember the MV that made Ayabambi worldwide famous? A k-pop group did that recently, dumbed down with bad music, by the way. When it comes to vk these days I was reminded of Dance My Generation which is great, which in turn reminds me that Pentagon and Golden Bomber had some amazing PVs. On The Other Hand my faves were never ... exactly known for great PVs (HAHAHAHAHHA ... the understatement), so no recommendations here lol. (for proof, here's the best of Shounenki and Nightmare honestly.) For what it's worth sometimes I really like Miyavi's PVs though that's ... not vk (does Ashita Genki ni Naare count in prime 2020?) ... Anyway, where were we? K-pop MVs! Thanks

Lol to be honest I'm beginning to feel we have a discussion like this here monthly, only with a few different words maybe To answer the beginning question well obvious... VK bands often don't last more than 2 or 3 years, so yeah it's not like you can just go back after years and your old fav is still kicking. There is going to be at least a drummer in jail for doing drugs or fighting in a bar or hospitalized or something lol. Which brings us to it: VK is, well, usually not very gentlemanly. It's not the kind of culture you'd want to show your (japanese) kids or anything, so it's prone to not being very popular in general I guess ; and whenever it did get popular, that was because a few bands and bandomen took upon themselves to spread the word even worldwidely (which is a lot of work in itself and not one many bandomen would be up for honestly) and then they started appearing in variety shows and whatnot, which is ... what kpop stars do every single day. They wake up to plastic surgery, handcreams (trust me those feel marshmallow-y), learning english (which in itself is a bit easier for Koreans I feel due to sounds and letters ...), global marketing strategies, perfect waifu/husbando image tm and variety shows with groups they are (not so) buddy-buddy with. It's just, well, a lot of marketing. Besides, k-pop sounds all the same which is positive for it as a "culture", while calling vk a "genre" means lumping X Japan and Purple Stone in the same box. And of course, well, not everyone who likes one would like the other. Now on a more personal level I have never been a "typical visual kei fan" , as I never liked bands such as Malice Mizer / X Japan / Dir en Grey / old L'arc en Ciel / the Gazette / (insert here any ~cool~ popular vk bands), I just liked some bands I heard in anime first (particularly Nightmare but also the occasional SID/PIERROT/MUCC/abingbon boys school ...?) OR knew through friends who liked "bigger" bands and acts, (such as alice nine/Miyavi idk) which is how I first knew about visual kei while never being a "typical fan". And I guess many weeb kids are/were on the same boat lol which is why there is a lot of "turnover" ; it's not like they can go on gigs with a lot of bands so they can get to know other bands and buy cheki and live-exclusive albums and merch or anything, so yeah once their fav bands are gone (no matter how big they are/were,) they're done with it. Because, again, there is no "global marketing strategy" unlike, say, k-pop, so less accessible materials = you tend to be less obsessed about it and/or know less bands = more turnover as there is nothing to take that place (and, again, saying "if you like X Japan you may like Purple Stone lol" is ... not a thing. ) it requires a lot more effort in a sense so, unless you're reeeeeally obsessed with the whole cultural aspect of it (which is... very localized anyway,) you're prone to getting over it - and, well, the rebellious emo phase (fortunately) doesn't last forever for everyone I guess. (not saying everyone who likes vk is ANGSTY but yeah it takes an appreciation of an alternative aesthetic which is usually ... something you like when you are young ??). As for me I am definitely in that boat - I don't think I have ever considered myself a vk fan though if you ask me I'll say "oh yeah, I know it, it's ok", I've probably heard most popular bands at least and I was definitely a Nightmare fan by most standards for quite some time In short, I guess I liked vk for the rock but also for the hand elephants and Mana variety shows, in which sense kpop definitely pales in comparision but I'll still take kpop over RAHFJSNDNNRRK *guttural noises* anyway. 🙊 Edit: It's worth mentioning I got back to vk because I was bored&unemployed and my kpop faves made a MV with Golden Bomber Jun as I translated Japanese videos for the fanbase, so of course I knew everything that was going on and I was rather surprised vk in itself was Still A Thing. So in my case that was The Call Of The Bandomen and not the other way around ironically

Don't we all! 😞 Lately one of the few things that actually bring me joy is updating my neocities and following other retro websites there. And it's just confirming my suspicions - I am old old Internet is still fun, social network monopolies are unnecessary And as for Demi she was the only Disney singer I not only tolerated but actually liked in my teens when she still did ~rockish songs~ lol a pity the Disney singer label weighs so heavily because she is so fine and could do much better. Gotta love her versatility in going from Let It Go to FOB - Irresistible unscathed In another subject, isn't this new release from Utada Hikaru pretty amazing? _______________ Found this song and I am surprised at how much the monotone vocals sound like some contemporary singers but with a positively 80s/early 90s beat and sound ofc. And it bothers me how much she sounds exactly like someone I should know well (Etsuko Yakushimaru? Komuai? Something-like-that-but-not?) (kinda offtopic but, the whole citypop revival of the last half of the decade made me realize how many of these trends that have become all the rage in japanese experimental/alt dance (-inspired) music in the 2010s actually began in 1970-80 and it's just crazy. Wish I could say something convoluted about it but to be fair I think Golden Bomber - Dance My Generation summed up the trend better than I could ever lol.)

Yeah honestly the timeline of events is fucking me up. Why? Oddly Enough, I've been having respiratory symtoms I never had before for a while now. Like mid-late 2019 ?? At first I thought it was stress getting the best of me and I was developing psychosomatic breathing difficulties on top of everyday rhinitis. But around Feb ... I used to do meditation/exercises and found myself not being able to hold air for the same amount of time during a "flu", then it got better but I kinda gave up on exercises because I feel unable to hold my breath for so long and it frustrates me ... Again thought that was anxiety but eventually I realized they'd been hiding COVID-19 cases for a month so from "welll, there's ebola in Africa and I'm alive ..." I went to "AM I alive ???". Worth noting I was That Girl who goes to every Asian music live/event/etc I can while living ridiculously close to the biggest seaport in Latin Am and working in a slum ... so if it turns out it'd been roaming the world I'll be mad as I struggle with my brain when it's not lacking oxygen nevermind when it is.

Just listening to the quintessential vk song of the era of Yaoi Paddles today My tastes just keep getting worse and worse lmaooo

My relationship with Seven Deadly Sins is "it's that 1 in 10 shounen I (Almost) Liked". Tried to watch it recently again and... well, again I thought "hey, this is ok!... let's never watch it anymore" again. It's a pity because I love their seiyuu festivals (as my 2 favorite seiyuu happen to co-star there ...) but. Waste. But honestly, IDK why but the only anime that has really hooked me up in the past 4 years or so has been Netjuu no Susume (ok, I do know - it's because I was a mmo nerd lol.) aside from KyoAni stuff of course ; Tsurune was a bless and I just wish 2019 hadn't happened 😕 In Other News, this Youtube channel is great and knowing Pizza Hut never paid enough for their product placement in Code Geass made my day

Honestly my playlist just rolled and I wanted to share this instead: So we were talking about Shoutan me and a friend and it's just amazing how he takes the 3D Bishounen Aesthetic to another level?? Cheesy choreo, check. Flawless looks, check. Actually bearable music, check. Doubles as an idol and seiyuu, check. TECHNOLOGY, check. Can't really point any flaws. Guess that's where years of j-pop and k-pop took us. I'm fine with this

Actors making memes about how they've been feeling make me calmer bc it's all so relatable. Good to know celebs are getting fucked over just as much as me, I mean it's bad but it's good to know they're ALSO trying to make things work through creativity and just trying to have some fun amidst the mess yknow. Speaking of which, bandomen should do that too. (they won't but those would be... possibly the best.)

Thanks! Yeah I'm thinking of just... pasting urls to my playlists in every website on a pastebin or something so as to organize 'em. 😕 Guess it's the only viable option for now.

This is a bit (really) late but I wanted to share my two cents on it. Please keep in mind my technical knowledge on music is... a bit lacking (could be summed up in: - once I saw 3 vocal classes on Youtube to make my Smule listeners a bit less sad about life - sometimes I watch videos from music critics and students criticizing my favorite artists - well I played Sakura Kiss on the recorder for the school festival when I was 13.) but... Well, I listen to a lot of music in English, Japanese and Korean (and Brazilian Portuguese and whaetevrrs) so I could see what you mean. From what I can judge with my untrained ears indeed Japan puts less emphasis on ~vocal techniquez~ than musical ability/instruments in general. Not to say Japanese music is less "developed" as some people here put as I think it's the opposite: you'll realize genres like "math rock" (however you wanna call it) flourish in Japan as you'll also notice rock/punkish music, in general, still thrives as "pop music" whilst it doesn't anymore in other countries and many popular "anison" bands are rock bands. Also, you're talking a country where people are not allowed to speak on trains and school kids go to music clubs in the afternoon to learn instruments mostly, so it's a different culture than singing in the church choir you know. (In other words, whatever my dad used to say when I played Japanese music on the car, something about "but why do u only listen to weird music". It's just Different Tastes, Man. If I wanted to listen to something like whatever is on the radio I wouldn't go through the trouble of bringing my pendrive anyway.) If you're talking about "vocal technique" in visual kei I'd say it's definitely not as big (as, say, American pop music - actually, American pop music has so many ballad singers and fewer and fewer instruments... this is an unfair comparision, isn't it?). I guess the explanation is pretty simple, though: as other people mentioned its roots are (also) metal/punkish so there isn't really an emphasis on vocal technique as much as style, also they do drink and smoke often so it's just... not really worth it to sacrifice their "lifestyles" so to speak for technique I feel and, well, it's sort of a moot point to ask something like "would they play different music if they actually knew how to sing?" because the same stupidity could be said about singers like Beyoncé - "maybe if she actually knew how to play a loud instrument instead of just being in a girl group she wouldn't have to train her vocal technique so much?" It's sort of lousy, isn't it? Of course these artists are just doing what they want. Are they straining their voices? Possibly. But, again, it's not like their "lifestyle" and "culture" in general favors the health of their vocal chords so it's pretty much pointless to ask that, IMHO - and I'm speaking as a fan of Nightmare the famous vk band with TAKE NO BREAK'S (I make a point of saying that name whenever I can...) Yomi so take that lol. Of course I can see why you'd be bothered if you're a trained vocalist with a classical background, but... yeah. This isn't it. On The Other Hand obviously there are still some rock vocalists that aren't just "emo kids playing in their early 2000s garage band" (which is... what vk usually is lol) and as far as I can tell actually know what they're doing, on an "ok" level. People here mentioned Gackt and Takanori Nishikawa both of whom I like (here. I don't hate Gackt.) so here's them singing a ballad live. As someone who isn't interested in Taka but not in Gerard Way either I guess I can only agree on his sound being "boring" and sort of a copy of whatever some American rock bands do. But please do realize that he started his musical career, uh, as a (rather popular) boy group member (say, Japanese equivalent of SMEntertainment.) at the age of (iirc) 13 perhaps? until he got in some trouble for being a brat and doing drugs and chose to be a rock star. Meaning a) his voice may have been compromised from the beginning and b) he got in it for the trashy anyway - being technically impressive at first was hardly his intention (possibly the opposite). As someone who is perhaps more "trained" in visual arts, makes me think of those kids who go into art school because they enjoy drawing manga and get frustrated because art teachers think it's shit so they study anatomy just to graduate. It's... another standard sorta. Personally Dir en Grey doesn't do it for me not in a "they're unskilled" way just "I don't like it" in which I guess I'm the same as you. It's certainly aesthetically weird and experimental, and the foundation for much of what vk is nowadays so. It's... stylistically relevant, even if I don't personally like it. (actually, I don't even like the style, I like oshare - sue me.) For Kaya I saw him live and funnily this was exactly what impressed me - the live felt like a club with its bright louds and loud DJ noises and there he was, singing like there's absolutely 0 noise in the background. I thought "well, he's good, even if I don't love his style". Summarizing it, from what I gather IA that vocal skill isn't really the point of Japanese rock music which in turn goes for much of Japanese music in general, the vocalists often become popular for their style/voice tones/charisma/lyrics (and trust me when I say Japan is one of those places where there IS emphasis on lyrics and those of us who don't understand Japanese well end up googling it who knows how many times I cried to Japanese songs lol.)/gimmicks/organic-ish skill or whatever and then (as their music does have an worldwide reach after all) they go on to practice their technique, which is why Gackt or Kyo show slightly better technique than Tatsurou or Kiyoharu who in turn show better technique than (generic vk vocalist number 178178) etc. Not unlike, I should say, American pop-rock. Of course, if you venture into other genres, such as... J-pop hah, you'll see it's a bit more diverse really. Anyway, really sorry I can't be of much help in here (...because, yeah, there's not an emphasis on it = we don't really notice it. Just googled "best visual kei vocals" out of curiosity and it brought me a list of "hottest vk frontmen" and some "favs" lists with nothing but guys with deeper voices so... lol) but I hope you could at least find something more interesting in this month!

Like I honestly think the ONE good thing 2020 brought me aside from staying home longer (which was overcompensated by shit .......) was having my fav teen pop singer from my teenage years go full on y2k myspace emo like I've always wanted 😙😋😍🥰🤩😜😛 Everything else was just dumb mistakes bad health dollar on the high and live concerts on the low tho (On a less "ew what have I jus listened to", things like this isn't why I like her... this is actually.)

I'm a B+ and, incidentally, a sagittarius, both of which serve to prove to me that all of this horoscope astrological blood type bullshit is, indeed, bullshit and doesn't happen in real life at all as I'm possibly the most boring person you'll ever meet (but it's good excuse to make you look INTERESTING when you're not) This also serves to prove I would not only be hardly employable in my current reality, but also in 60s Japan

Does anyone use Playmoss or anything of the sort to organize playlists? I *wonder* if there's any way I can manage my phone/Google Play, my YouTube and my Deezer playlists at once

refined musical tastes are overrated

... it was supposedly to follow bandomen news but I guess lately I am rambling more than doing that (/Come to think of it, there was a website ages ago (like... 10 years?) which was a myspace/facebook sort of community like "share your ramblings/secrets"? And there were communities/groups like "depression", "cheating" or whatever? I miss the link to that website ) But yes I've had my fair share of bad doctors too sigh. It's always "go to 10 doctors until the 10th finds out something (that should've been really obvious probably) and saves me". Last time I talked about my experiences in an online forum people were so unsettled I picked a fight and left it so I digress but well ; I am actually a health pro bc I thought somewhere around these lines as a teen lol, but then Everything Went Badly and I gave it up which is another reason I've been so anxious during this COVID-19 frenzy, people are always asking a lot of health professionals and it's unfair and I don't wanna be the "just find a vaxx!!!" person. On The Other Hand, (rambles about how doctors failed to discover an obvious tumor that one time) ... SO YEAH I don't ask a lot But Come On (- title of my autobiography maybe). Anyway, after a small crisis I am back to "ok... let's just go to ANOTHER doctor". It's expensive and lame to pay 10 doctors so the 10th finds out that one obvious thing you had suggested but I'm not giving up !!! ganbatte (ง'̀-'́)ง hwaiting ヽ(•̀ω•́ ゝ) and shit

What I told the psychiatrist: so I overwork a lot because Im poor and I hate that, and migraines were killin me before quarantine, tired of being diagnosed with a lot of random stuff though Im positive Im undiagnosed ASD and last time someone I loved passed away I had an epiletic seizure and peed my pants on the street so can I get help this time unlike every other what 10 times What she MUST HAVE heard: I engage in dangerous activity outside and must be prescribed topiramate after all nothing better than prescribing a reasonably wishing-2-b-dead person a long-term drug that a) is knowingly uneffective (to ASD patients) and b) has a high risking of ruining their single kidney so they have to rely on hemodialysis for life after talking for ten minutes to them The bitch actually said "so what do you want?" JFC maybe I want you to do your job how about that? I swear I am better off calming myself thinking of how I would shoot certain people if I snapped out instead of going to a doctor again. /vents

Huge misfire woops

This is almost too much information and I may take a few days to process In other matters, celebs are making me wanna watch this new season of Pokémon ... how sads that