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Rahzel

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  1. Like
    Rahzel reacted to frayed in Which visual kei trope would you ban?   
    Nazis.
  2. Thanks
    Rahzel reacted to Himeaimichu in Which visual kei trope would you ban?   
    I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
    So many great bands have been lost to this trope
  3. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Komorebi in Visual Kei - GET THE LOOK   
    The Extended cateye reminds me of Hitsugi from Naito who does it to this day on occasion lol and, uh, big colorful lashes are my thing. Also, the ganguro one is more like rokku gyaru style.
    Actually, if we think about visual kei aas its roots, there's really no wrong way of doing it. It's about the eccentric looks so it's not really "wrong", but there's definitely a more "simple" look that looks better with anything. Thanks for the tutorial on that one!
     
  4. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Gesu in Visual Kei - GET THE LOOK   
    The Extended cateye reminds me of Hitsugi from Naito who does it to this day on occasion lol and, uh, big colorful lashes are my thing. Also, the ganguro one is more like rokku gyaru style.
    Actually, if we think about visual kei aas its roots, there's really no wrong way of doing it. It's about the eccentric looks so it's not really "wrong", but there's definitely a more "simple" look that looks better with anything. Thanks for the tutorial on that one!
     
  5. Like
    Rahzel reacted to colorful人生 in What are you listening to 2?   
    BONUS:
     
  6. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Shaolan974 in NIGHTMARE announce 20th anniversary live “GIANIZM” (possible return?)   
    a webshop-limited memorial box will be released at 2020/02/11 through littleHEARTS official webshop (10000yen)
     
    it will include TAKE NO BREAK, GREMLINS, JAKIGAN MEISTER , BULL FIELD, LSN and NIGHTMARE live digest, offshots, comments, T-Shirt...
  7. Like
    Rahzel reacted to plastic_rainbow in BAROQUE new album "SIN DIVISION"   
    interesting! hope they bring some of the proggy influences back that were evident in late kannivalism
  8. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from violetchain in random thoughts thread   
    Hey, here's the trailer!
     
     
     
    Pretty fun game if you ask me, also much moaning. Not in the mood to play it right now although I'll probably go back to it in a while and main Godo Tsukasa but lol hey
  9. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Saga in Sexuality matters within VK   
    A easy example about how the looks don't necessarily reflect the person of a visual kei artist is the usage of the hakenkreuz by the earliests bands. We don’t see as much nowadays, but the SS caps always appears, sooner or later.
    Of course that there was some classic japanese punk nationalism in some bands here and there, but core of V系 was about shocking after all. So, the imaginary of the nazism is aesthetic, therefore should be used. 
     
    As @薔薇の末裔 pointed out, understanding Kabuki is a good way to understand this theatrical musical scene. 
     
    Kabuki in its first days was a female theater, a more accessible branch of Noh. But it was just too sexy for that confucian society. “A woman's place is in the kitchen”, said the Shogun (or it was my dad last night?). And then, the boys took the place of the woman, doing woman roles. But the boys turned out into fuckboys. “Notto disu shitto agen”, said the Shogun. And then, old man were doing woman roles. “Hmm”, long and deeply said the Shogun. Keep in mind that everyone was killing everyone in the past sengoku century, so the Shoguns could not fuck around (ha).
     
    “Ok, ok, And so what?”. Well, since being really sexy was not an option, the onnagata dudes started doing their own shit to emulate the woman sexyness. First come the fancy wig, then they started showing some little skin and so on. Little by little there was no more “man” or “woman”, but onnagata. A woman that no other woman could be. 
     
    At that point, Kabuki without man doing female roles is not Kabuki. Visual kei without man doing female roles is not visual kei? I don’t think so, exist†trace showed their shit and we digged it hard. But I would say that is highly expected to see a man doing female roles in the visual rock scene. D’s “Ouka saki some ni keri” is my pick for today. The contrast of Asagi manly vocals with his woman clothing is a perfectly example of why we love it the way it is. They do it with passion (or for money), and we love them for it, not because their sexual preference.
     
    The whole pv setting is a love letter for their culture. And it is just one example, there is so many other bands with pvs with that scenary (and probably there is a “something-kei” for it too). The pompous and bold Glam Rock found it’s home in the japanese costumes and evolved into the coolest thing.
     
    To be deeper into to sexuallity stuff we could talk about how Japan society potentially repress the sexual preference of their people in order to have things working “in the right way” and how the west really needs to “talk about it” and not let the individuals be themselves without pushing some agenda into your fuckin throat so it’s fuckin hard to understand these japs using lipsticks just because they like it, but that stress me too much so fuck it.
  10. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Gesu in random thoughts thread   
    Well so Tatsuhisa is now a married man and I feel kinda uncomfortable going to bed listening to some married oldie moaning
     
    That's it /end journey as a seiota fujoshi
  11. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Karma’s Hat in random thoughts thread   
    I'm going to shape up this year and go back to my roots. I'll spend a week in isolation in Berlin and it'll be just me, strangers and adventures and total debauchery. I've been using my girlfriends spotify and I've noticed that it has both made me complacent and unwilling to explore the deeper reaches of my interests, and that's why I'm going to go old school; all the music on my computer will head straight to the bin and I'll soulseek the shit out of something unfamiliar that'll scare me back into taking control of my life and art. 
     
    Speaking of taking control and complacency, it's some sad shit what happened to youtube and internet in general. Homogenised by corporate interest beyond repair. I remember when I could spend hours diving down the rabbit hole of related videos from vk pvs whereas now you'll only get videos of the same channel, videos you watched in the past and then videos popular that are vaguely "related." This really killed it for me as far as finding new bands, it's now all on the shoulders of that one guy who does these top pvs of every month. 
     
     
  12. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Kerin in Introduction + How I Found My Way To Visual Kei Again 🎸   
    Oh! I had no idea Revue Starlight was an idol franchise. I was interested because Takarazuka. Thanks for rec! 
  13. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Kerin in Introduction + How I Found My Way To Visual Kei Again 🎸   
    I'm just interested in idol anime. I tried a few mobage games, but gotten tired of grinding. 😔
     
    My best idol/music anime recommendations are:
     
    - 💖 Love Live! School Idol Project AND Sunshine 💖
     
    - 🎆 The original iDOLMASTER AND Cinderella Girls 🎆
     
    - 🎸 Bang Dream 🎸
     
    - 💚 Wake Up, Girls! 💚
     
    - ❄ Pretty Rhythm ❄
     
    - 🌈 The original Aikatsu AND Aikatsu Stars 🌈
     
    - 🌠 Revue Starlight 🌠
     
    - 👑 Uta no Prince Sama 👑
     
    - 🌌 Ensemble Stars 🌌
     
    - 💙 IDOLISH7 💙
     
    - 💜 B-PROJECT 💜
     
    - ✨ Tsukiuta ✨
  14. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Kerin in Introduction + How I Found My Way To Visual Kei Again 🎸   
    Hey, welcome there!
     
    For what it's worth I enjoy k-pop such as BTS (kinda...? Somewhat? uh) and Nocturnal Bloodlust as well so, guess I can second that ACME recommendation! Also, are you with the idol mobage crowd or just idol anime? Either way, please do throw your best idol anime rec! (I'm getting into idol mobage hell again after years of being out of it and recs are always great, lol.)
  15. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Miku70 in グラビティ↗︎↗︎楽しさFULLVOLTAAAGE!!! (Gravity) new maxi-single release   
    Title :『決意ゼロヒャクMAX!!』
    Cover : TYPE A

     
    Tracks :
    1.決意ゼロヒャクMAX!!
    2.ABUSOLUTE.共鳴
    3.決意ゼロヒャクMAX!!(instrument)
    4.ABUSOLUTE.共鳴(instrument)
     
    DVD :
    2019.7.30
    TSUTAYA O-WEST公演
    1.糞客粉砕CHANGE希望!!
    2.無知
    3.TRY OUT
     
    Type B :

     
    Tracks :
    1.決意ゼロヒャクMAX!!
    2.ABUSOLUTE.共鳴
    3.LIMITED「スナイパー」
    4.決意ゼロヒャクMAX!!(instrument)
    5.ABUSOLUTE.共鳴(instrument)
    6.LIMITED「スナイパー」(instrument)
  16. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Shaolan974 in コドモドラゴン (Codomo Dragon) new maxi-single "PEST" release   
    コドモドラゴン (Codomo Dragon) new maxi-single "PEST" will be released at 2020/04/01 (3 types)
     
    TYPE A (1944yen) will include CD (2 songs) and DVD including "PEST" PV and MAKING
    TYPE B (1944yen) will include CD (2 songs) and DVD including "PEST" PV multiangle version
    TYPE C (1620yen) will include CD (3 songs+karaoke version)
     
    they will hold their oneman live tour "否定ノ否定" since 2020/04/04 to 2020/05/28 at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA
     
     
     
  17. LOVE!
    Rahzel reacted to Shaolan974 in アクメ (ACME) indies best-album "WE ARE VISUALKEI" and new maxi-single "嘘顔" (Usogao) release   
    it was announced at their oneman live "No.13" at 2019/12/01 at Shibuya club asia that アクメ (ACME) indies best-album "WE ARE VISUALKEI" will be released at their live and through their official webshop at 2020/01/22  (3000 yen)
     
    [tracklist]
    01. マグロ解体チェーンソー
    02. 激ヤミセレナーデ
    03. ROTTEN ORANGE
    04. Barguest
    05. CALL MY NAME
    06. 絶唱謳歌
    07. RUN
    08. ADVENTURE TIME
    09. ラストワンショー
    10. 激ヤマセルロイド
    11. 放課後の飼育
    12. モノノケレクイエム (Album Version)
    13. 腐敗蜜柑
     
    their new maxi-single "嘘顔" (Usogao) will be released at their lives and through their official webshop at 2020/03/04 (1000yen)
     
    [tracklist]
    01. 嘘顔
    02. You are my LOVE
     
    they will hold their 3rd anniversary oneman live tour "WE ARE VISUALKEI" since 2020/03/15 to 2020/05/10 at Takadanobaba AREA
     
    they will hold their US tour "ACME US WEST COAST COLLISION TOUR" since 2020/01/05 to 2020/01/12
     






     
  18. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Shaolan974 in Daichi (ex-NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST) solo project "Daichi by frostviscera" new digital single "viscera" release   
    Daichi (ex-NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST) solo project "Daichi by frostviscera" new digital single "viscera" will be released at 2020/02
     
    He will hold his live "Daichi by frostviscera launch showcase Solo Works 2020/SS “Prayers Dance”" at 2020/06/28 at Takadanobaba CLUB PHASE
     
    [Guest Artist]
    SLOTHREAT / Tomy Wealth
    [Daichi by frostviscera support members]
    Gt.來堵 (アルルカン(Arlequin))
    Ba. YUCHI (sukekiyo)
    Dr. 大熊ケイト邦夫 (ANONYMOUS,WHITEHEAD)
    Key/Mnp. 野田ダイスケ
     

     

     

     

  19. LOVE!
    Rahzel reacted to Shaolan974 in Leetspeak monsters new maxi-single release   
    Leetspeak monsters new maxi-single (title not yet finalized) will be released at 2020/03/25 (2 types)
     
     
  20. Thanks
    Rahzel reacted to emmny in Reflection: Moran (2013-2015)   
    It's your boy emmny…I’m not dead yet. It’s been almost two years since I dropped my last reflection (Kagerou 2002-2003), and I’m back for moar. It’s not that I’ve run out of ideas (real life is really busy btw, sorry!), but rather I’ve been thinking about particularly notable eras for bands I followed. Some bands are consistently good, and some bands have peaks and valleys which are kind of obvious. Choosing a band and time period to profile is challenging—I don’t want to give you anything obvious, but I want to bring light to eras which are underrated outside of a bands immediate fandom. Kagerou’s 2002-2003 phase was legendary—but the majority of their fame (esp in foreign fandom) came after. It was an era ripe with pickings—an avant-garde sound, striking visuals and some of their best songs—but I’d argue Kagerou are more closely associated with their 2004-2006 eras. The argument of placing their earlier days in the spotlight made the article interesting, and I’m not sure how much other eras are interesting in band histories. Selection is tough too—especially with bands that release intermittently and not giving enough musical ‘meat’ over the course of 2/3 years—which happen to be the most interesting (albeit financially strapped bands---*cough* yazzmad *cough*). Good music alone doesn’t cut it either—a reflection piece (in my own asshole opinion) is warranted by impact—Kagerou’s early years had influence literally a decade after they had moved on from that sound. Whether the following will have the same impact is TBD, but I will make the case that late-era Moran defined the zenith of art-kei, managing to sell out massive venues for a subgenre which was otherwise relegated to the underground and situated in a genre largely declining in popularity. In their dazzling sound, visuals, and approach, Moran kept their contemporaries on their feet and inspired subsequent kohai bands which continue to carry their flag, almost half a decade after they called it quits.
     
    Moran have a storied history, but getting into it would take 1) skills I lack as a visual historian and 2) too damn long. 2013-2015 covers most of Moran’s second lineup output, and I’ll briefly get into the timeline. This is where I’ve drawn the rough boundary of time, so to coincide with Moran’s third-era all the way up to their disbandment. I’ll delineate three main eras: 1) 2007-2009, 2) 2010-2012, and lastly, 2013-2015. Era 1 is Moran’s original lineup (and probably their most beloved), which formed ~2 years after Fatima’s disbandment. Era 1 came to an end with the original guitarist Velo departing the band in 2009, and bassist Zill’s tragic death in 2010, following a short-term leave from the band in 2009. The only permanent members of the band’s history (and the OGs from Fatima), vocalist Hitomi (FKA Sanaka/Kanoma) and drummer Soan (FKA Towa) were left to carry the band. Moran took a huge beating, but as one of SPEED-DISK (Free Will subsidiary)’s flagship bands, they pushed on into their second era with support bassists and Sizna (ex-Sugar) taking over as kamite guitarist in summer of 2010 and a full-reboot at the end of the year. There was a substantial lull in activities, with almost two years passing between the two eras without music. They proceeded as a three-piece until the summer of 2012, with Ivy (ex. Dio) joining as a full-time bassist and vivi (ex-DragonWAPPPPPPER) as shimote guitarist. The band formally rebooted in December of 2012, and they released their first piece of music as a five-member group in early 2013 with Jen:ga, and that’s where this story will start.
     
    Moran (2007.12.05 - 2015.09.21)

    Vocal: Hitomi
    Guitar: Sizna
    Guitar: vivi
    Bass: Ivy
    Drums: Soan
     

    Jen:ga (2013.02.20)
    01 Barairo no jigoku / 薔薇色の地獄
    02 benisashi / 紅差し
    03 L'oiseau bleu / ロワゾ・ブルー
    04 Bulbs
    05 Melancholia / メランコリア
    06 yakouchuu / 夜光虫
    07 Wing or Tail
    08 ReCover
    09 Maybe Lucy in the Sky
    10 Eclipse
    11 Aru sakushi to no yuugiroku / ある策士との遊戯録
    12 Fuyuubyou / 浮遊病
    13 The last piece of the jen:ga
     

    Hollow Man (2013.07.10)
    01 Hollow Man / ホロウマン
    02 Fukamidori / フカミドリ
    03 Esther / エスター
     

    Mousou Nikki (2013.12.11)
    01 Mousou nikki / 妄想日記
    02 Lyric of the DEAD
     

    dark (2014.03.19)
    01 Nozomenai to shiru ketsumatsu ni, riyuu ga boku o nagusameru / 望めないと知る結末に、理由が僕を慰める
    02 The Hermit
    03 Negai to uta / ネガイトウタ
    04 Fairy Tale
    05 Ikou, hakushi no chronicle / 以降、白紙のクロニクル
    06 Haru no yoru no, hitoshizuku / 春の夜の、ひと雫
     

    but Beautiful (2014.07.16)
    01 but Beautiful
    02 Byouma / 秒魔
    03 Break the silence
     

    Daraku e to Tsuzuku Hen’ai no Kanshoku (堕落 へと続く偏愛の感触) (2014.10.08)
    01 Daraku e to tsudzuku hen'ai no kanshoku /堕落 へと続く偏愛の感触
    02 Memorable
    03 Grotesque Ride / グロテスク ライド
     

    Yoake Wo Mae Ni  (夜明けを前に) (2015.07.01)
    01 Koufuku ni tsuite no shakudo / 幸福についての尺度
    02 Reverse
    03 Yoake o mae ni / 夜明けを前に
    04 The scent of dreams
     
    Moran have the distinction of being a pretty damn consistent band throughout their 8 years of activity. Their art-kei trademark of jazz/oshare/indie-rock/dream-pop/shoegaze/swing sound was a constant in their discography, with the specific flavour depending on the release. Moran largely presented a polished version of the ideas originally leveraged through Fatima’s output, which was largely experimental and toyed with combinations of genres and sounds. In my opinion, this polishing process continued into Moran’s first eras, with highs (most of Heroine and Replay) and lows (“Sea of Fingers”, “Stage Gazer”, “Party Monster”), but nowhere near as bipolar as some of Fatima’s highly questionable tracks. Early compositions were mostly Zill and Velo pieces with some Soan contributions, which diverged from their later eras which saw Sizna and Soan as key composers, with some vivi tracks here and there. Zill and Velo made some magic, but Sizna and Soan really made the band shine and polished all residual traces of odd melody and some awkward compositions. If you’re unfamiliar with art-kei, Moran laid the template for the sound in their early eras—give “Onaji yami no naka de”, “Element”, “Kimi no ita gosenfu”, “Helpless” and “Arikata” a listen for exemplars.
     
    Hitomi’s voice is a gorgeously husky and also quite nasal, a total acquired taste. If you liked Moran, you probably loved what Hitomi did on their tracks. If you disliked Moran…you were probably deaf or just didn’t like Hitomi’s voice. Hitomi’s contributions toward 3rd era Moran were notable, as he actually composed a track on dark (“Fairy Tale”), and veered into some more experimental, spoken word type tracks like “Vega no Hana #2”. True Hitomi fans know he had a poetry column throughout Fatima and was an incredible lyricist, so it was amazing to get more longer-form musings. I will say that Ivy as a bassist was a downgrade from Zill, who basically set Heroine on fire with the most fascinating basslines, counter melodies, and solos to come out of a visual bassist in a while. He played with electrifying gusto and a sharp ear toward rhythm; I can only think of a few bassists in his era who had comparable basslines. His departure and subsequent death was truly a waste of talent, but Ivy did a job well done given the high standards Zill set. That said, I think Ivy definitely had his moments (holy shit “Eclipse”), and will be glad to point them out. Soan has a nicely jazzy twang to his drumming with some great fills and cymbal work. He’s far from a perfect drummer—don’t ask him to do anything technical, but his flavour suited Moran perfectly and Ivy danced around him with ease. Also notable among his repertoire is his piano skills for which he’s credited in Moran’s releases—I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the string/piano/other instrumentation arrangements were through Soan’s background as a classically trained musician. Moran’s more baroque leanings came in around the time Soan took the wheel, so I see it as no coincidence and attribute it to his taste.
     
    In case you live under a rock, Sizna is a guitar god, and he basically carried Moran through pretty miserable circumstances and may or may not have been the glue that kept Moran together toward their end, with dueling egos from Hitomi and Soan leading the band to implode. Sizna’s instrumental and compositional prowess led Moran through what would have basically made any other band disband, and he had the tracks to back it up. I think vivi basically followed his guitarlines, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sizna wrote all the guitar parts himself, but vivi was an excellent rhythm guitarist. While the newer members were arguably weaker musicians, they breathed life into Moran and revitalized their sound—magic happens somehow somewhere—right?
     
    I want to talk about individual songs, but Moran released almost 30 tracks between 2013-2015, so that’s kinda impossible too. I will speak more about major themes across the releases, with particular attention to stand-out tracks and larger releases. Moran, while playing with a unique, multicoloured palate, did release music that could be understood as variations of a broader theme. The 2013-2015 era saw Moran release their best party songs (because IMO, the prior ones sucked). These tracks are characterized by upbeat tempos, cheeky and catchy, jangling, dueling guitar lines, heavy yet tasteful synthwork, and soaring vocal melodies. These songs are Moran’s most accessible, but far from tepid, generic pop songs—take the funky bass/drum solo break and ascending vocals in the bridge of “but Beautiful”; the wailing synths, bridge breakdown and verbose sing-along chorus of “Eclipse”; the start-stop-instrumentation and killer guitar solo of “L’oiseau bleu”. The 1 minute 30 exuberance of “Melancholia”, sugary sweetness of “Bulbs”, “Reverse”, “Break the silence” are also exemplars of their charismatic charm. Across these songs, traditional structures are subverted, pacing is played with, and the listener is taken on fuckin’ journeys through textured verses, dazzling choruses, and layered instrumentation. No one is close to touching Moran on these tracks, and they stand out as highlights in their discography.
     
     
    While these songs are Moran at their most polished, rough-and-tumble Moran is fun too. “Maybe Lucy in the Sky” is a rioting, gang-vocal mosh track meant to get the crowd jumping around, and “Esther” is a hella odd take on something between metalcore-kei and deadman, all ran through a lo-fi cassette playback---I’m not kidding. “Byouma” is also one of their darker tracks (not saying much, Moran are softies), marked by ominous synths, moody riffs, and a rap-sung chorus. It almost sounds like Moran doing Mejibray…in their own twisted way of course. I think what contributed to Moran’s longevity was their ability to stay true to themselves while still playing amongst basically everyone—oshare, abare, and art kei alike. They were chameleons within the visual circuit, and probably had a setlist for every occasion, reeling in curious fans of other bands with a range of styles and sounds. They weren’t outsiders playing to the same crowd at Ikeburkuro Chop every week, and they were able to spread their sound accordingly…the residual fame/notoriety from Fatima (and ikemen good looks/fanservice) likely helped as well.
     
     
    Next is the jazzy/bluesy/swing/calypso (yes) bangers, being fellow A-side singles “Benisashi” and “Daraku…” and “Hollowman”, which to me, always had a more jazzy flavour than the other upbeat bangers, but was too rock-ish to fit in among the jazzy tracks. Another nice crossover honorable mention is the band’s cover of SiD’s “Mousou Nikki”, which they infuse with extra urgency through tremolo picked riffs, complex lead fills and extra dramatic vocals from Hitomi. SiD’s early years were notable for jazzy leanings, and Moran’s cover picks up with even more jazzy touches with an extra quirky rock flavour—which fits the stalker fan concept of the lyrics. Of special note is the calypso flavoured interlude of “Hollowman”, which they took all the way in the romantic mid-tempo “Daraku”. Hitomi’s vocal line is delicate as the acoustic guitars and tempered percussion, with an energy that hearkens back to the more rock-but-pretty-acoustic “Ningen no ningen no ni yoru ningen no tame no koiji”. Moran, throughout their lineup changes and style fluctuations, were always conscious of their roots, and for them to revive that sound is a treat.
     
     
    “Benisashi” opens up with tight bluesy, melodic-yet-dissonant lead guitar work from no one but Sizna, leading into Hitomi’s crooning over the jazzy verse and bombastic chorus. I wish I had more words in my vocabulary to describe the nuances of their sound, but I’m not well versed enough in jazz/blues lingo. What I can say is that its fucking awesome, give it a listen. The jazz tracks on Jen:ga are by far the most balls-to-the-walls, with the elegantly restrained smoky cabaret opener of “Barairo no jigoku”, to the maddening swing-your-partner-by-the-arm jig of “Aru sakushi to no yuugiroku”. This is easily some of the jazziest/bluesiest music I’ve heard from a visual band—far from the shitty metalcore-swing transmutations of recent years.
     
     
    Moran also had a good repertoire of slower, dreamier tracks. Jen:ga outtake “Yakuchuu”, “Wing or Tail”, “Fuyuubyou” and Hollowman b-side “Fukamidori” compliment each other well in their delicate, romantic style and . Speaking of midtempo (and slowwww), Moran pulled out all their stops for the ‘ballade’ concept mini-album dark. They literally made my art kei dreams come true and dropped A WHOLE FUCKING MINI ALBUM’s worth of ballads. I will preface this by saying that I’m a ballad person—If you’re not *cough* like @saishuu *cough* then you better sit tight because I’ll try to fuckin convert you. There is nothing better than some sad fucking guitar chords layered over some slow, moving rhythms and subtly ornamental basslines and a beautiful comforting vocal line. Moran give me all that and more with dark. “Haru no yoru...” is the spiritual successor to my all-time fav Moran ballad “Snowing”; “Negai to uta” is a quasi post-rock, spoken word-y duet with female vocals complement Hitomi’s crooning; “Nozomenai to…” is  driven by charging drums over weeping strings, bringing to life a heartwrenching narrative of lovers split by the sea shore. The whole album stands out for being a dazzling display of Moran's compositional prowess, with each song having its own taste despite the otherwise monotonous theme of balladry. "Fairy Tale" is a barebones acoustic track, "Ikou, Shirakami..." plays with dynamic shifts and swelling delayed guitars like Mono, while "The Hermit" is a shoegazy piece with a hard-ass breakdown toward the end. Moran's ballads are removed of visual cheese, with attention paid to maintaining a bitter sweet sound, in which they remain melancholic but not absorbed by melodramatic displays of emotion. If you've been shy to approach ballads because of the affective excess ever so present in visual kei, I'd urge you to give Moran a shot.
     
     
    You can’t talk about ballads without their goodbye single, “Yoake wo mae ni”,  which places Hitomi as the proverbial prince in the fairy tale that was Moran. While he was going to close the chapter of Moran, he wanted to leave their fans with something to remember and his hand to hold on to. The PV reaches Malice Mizer drama heights, with the band members disappearing one-by-one as the song comes to an end, a-la "Au revoir" or "Le ciel" (an ironic touch, given Hitomi's entry into VK as a MM roadie). My favourite part is the end interlude where most of the instrumentation cuts out and Hitomi delivers an uncharacteristically dynamic vocal solo, which is even more goosebump-inducing in the footage for their last live (linked below!). As Hitomi delivers the vocal line, the audience belts it out with him, and you can clearly hear them holding back tears as they sing “I silently listened to your heartbeat; its very steady; in this way, I can share the loveliness of the night with you”. English translations (thank you translation blogger) don’t do it justice in the least; the verbs used in the Japanese version like “resonance” and the use of “beloved” with “night” sounds like Hitomi kissing his fans goodbye in his ever-romantic, poetic style.
     
     
    With that, Moran bid us farewell. Basically, the tensions between Hitomi and Soan probably drove the band crazy and they peaced out. I’m no expert on Moran’s member drama, but a glance at the band news threads on here should offer a healthy dose of visual tea. Hitomi and Soan are apparently good now, with Hitomi’s solo projects Ameyasame and Umiyuri having played with Soan’s solo project (Soan Project with Akuta; Temari) on occasion. Should Moran come back? Vivi’s hands are tied with DEZERT’s current fast-track to visual major fame, Ivy is juggling side projects with Yoru (Temari, ex-amber gris’s solo project) and Tenten’s Lack-Co. Sizna has mostly left visual outside of a Sugar one-night revival, and is now teaching guitar in his own business. The funniest part of it all is that Velo had a guest appearance on Umiyuri's debut EP and is currently playing with Ivy in Yoru. I’d like to think of this as no bad blood between the art-kei dudes. The talent that graced visual kei from 2013-2015 is still present in some form in the indies circuit, although no solo project has reached the heights of Moran’s fame; routinely selling out AREA, playing onemans at O-East and ending their career at a packed Zepp Tokyo.
     
     
    Oldheads on here will remember that amber gris died shortly after, and with the deaths of cocklobin and 9GOATS BLACK OUT in the near past, no major art kei band was left to carry the scene, the splintered solo projects and off-shoot bands haven’t been able to drive up interest like before. This may just be that the bands aged out of the super-touring style of SPEED-DISK bands—Hitomi and Soan were around 40 when Moran called it quits, and by then, most of their fans that followed them since Fatima were probably retiring as bangya. Luckily, the youngins behind Develop One’s Faculties have been able to carry the torch of Moran, reaching similar peak venues without members deeply rooted in art-kei like Moran. Yuya’s charismatic vocals, perplexing lyrics and intricate guitarlines certainly give him the starpower to take over Moran’s legacy while being different enough. I’d argue there are lots of parallels between current DoF and later day Moran, especially with DoF’s ability to be visual chameleons while staying true to their sound. The same can be said for Chanty, who have a distinctly indie-rock crossover flair and straddle the boundaries between j-indie and visual kei. Hell, Akuta, the vocalist of Chanty is also the star of the more rock-flavoured part of Soan Project. Belle has a slightly jazzy twang to them too, but they remind me more of classic Oshare than the former three bands. I can’t think of any other notable bands that followed in Moran’s wake, but I think as visual’s popularity continues declining—there will never be another Moran. I’m not entirely okay with that, but DoF and Chanty are doing god’s work. In the meanwhile, we can look back fondly at Moran’s later years, smiling, dancing, bopping and shedding tears with some of the best visual kei of the 2010s.
     
    I want to hear your opinions? Are you a holic? What are your fav Moran songs? Are you with me and think their best era was 2013-2015 or are you a diehard first lineup fan? Will art-kei live forever? Do you happen to hate Moran (YOU MONSTER!!) for some odd reason? Let me know! Ps thanks to @peffy for the lyrics and @The Moon for literally being a whole Moran street team in one person.
     
    xx
     
    emmny
  21. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from monkeybanana4 in random thoughts thread   
    Well it seems that after getting addicted to that game called "Here we have OCD style Suzuki Tatsuhisa as hot blue haired moaning bishounen the game" now Bandori is gonna have a male cast spinoff and there's a VK guy band and the guys in this band are fucking Fukuyama Jun aka my favorite seiyuu ever + Fucking Yonaga Tsubasa... I mean....... where do I call this shit quits??? I don't wanna become a mobage addicted fujoshi in prime 2020 lol what's with my life .........
  22. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Gesu in random thoughts thread   
    Well it seems that after getting addicted to that game called "Here we have OCD style Suzuki Tatsuhisa as hot blue haired moaning bishounen the game" now Bandori is gonna have a male cast spinoff and there's a VK guy band and the guys in this band are fucking Fukuyama Jun aka my favorite seiyuu ever + Fucking Yonaga Tsubasa... I mean....... where do I call this shit quits??? I don't wanna become a mobage addicted fujoshi in prime 2020 lol what's with my life .........
  23. Like
    Rahzel got a reaction from Gesu in What's your Myers-Briggs personality type?   
    It's been like 5 years since I last did this quiz and I was kinda obsessed with it before actually becoming a psychologist and having to face its throwbacks and how I actually didn't like Jungian psychology but, hey. At least it is fun.
     
    Johns:
    49% INFJ
    11% INTJ
    10% INTP
    5% INFP
    4% ENFJ
     
    Keys 2 Cognition: INTJ
    extraverted Sensing (Se) ******************  (18.9)
    limited use
    introverted Sensing (Si) ****************************  (28)
    average use
    extraverted Intuiting (Ne) ***********************************  (35.1)
    good use
    introverted Intuiting (Ni) *******************************  (31.2)
    good use
    extraverted Thinking (Te) *******************************************  (43.5)
    excellent use
    introverted Thinking (Ti) **********************************  (34.1)
    good use
    extraverted Feeling (Fe) *********************  (21.7)
    limited use
    introverted Feeling (Fi) ***************************  (27.9)
    average use
     
    16Personalities: INTJ-t
    Mind: 21% Extraverted - 79% Introverted
    Energy: 51% Intuitive - 49% Observant
    Nature: 53% Thinking - 47% Feeling
    Tactics: 58% judging - 42% Perceiving
    Identity: 36% Assertive - 64% Turbulent
     
    I definitely felt more comfortable answering Johns and 16Personalities so maybe these are more accurate. Somehow. Maybe. Actually, being kinda neuroatypical might be a good reason as to why my F/T axis always gets a little weird. Also, back then I consistently tested as INFP/(sometimes INTP) so I guess I'm more organized now.  All that's really happened is now I have to deal with "adult life" in a non-creative job and a rigid schedule lol.
     
  24. Like
    Rahzel reacted to colorful人生 in Last Thing You Bought   
    Just cassettes 😎
     
    Vaporwave/Future-Funk:
    Flamingo Funk Vol. 2 (White Shell) Luxury Elite - Blind Date/Rose Quartz waterfront dining & 猫 シ Corp. - With Love 愛を込めて PowerPCME - Kmart 1989-1992 (Translucent Blue Shell) Midnight Television - Self-titled Diskette Park - Reading Room Saint Pepsi - Empire Building If everything goes smoothly, I should have 中原めいこ (Meiko Nakahara)  - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE FOR YOU. It's a bit more of an obscure release, b/c it's just a ballad compilation and it's not on vinyl. I'm expecting the tape to be in rough shape as it's 30 y.o, but I knew going in. I have a couple of 30+ y.o tapes myself that still function, so I'm cautiously optimistic. 
  25. Like
    Rahzel reacted to Zeus in random thoughts thread   
    .,...this might explain why i've gained so much weight recently
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