Pretsy

They are about the same age as certain Gazette members though (32-34), so this approach seems to be still palatable. Also, you'd rather say that to Kamijo or Asagi for being still involved in those shticks despite their actual age. And:

Please be good (6500 yen + D for a goddamn mini-venue live are you fucking kidding me Morrie ghghfhgrheshshdFUCK)

I am not willingly quoting/paraphrasing certain famous demagogue here but for the sake of lolz and absurd levels of this scandal: Enon is a mess. Enon is a waste. Kaisanize this man.

Becky has something to rely on? Enon definitely sucked 10 years of life away from this poor girl

Considering Orthodox origins of my family (hence certain traditions) and my overall lack of gusto and interest towards certain means of Finnish celebration, the "blasting" period for me personally would be a few days before NYE, NYE and post-NYE week(s). The former mentions mostly are about getting around with good chaps and having a huge blast, best shittalking and all kinds of fun, whereas the latter is mostly about getting together with my fams and celebrating festivity aspects of Orthodox Christmas (read: not related nor a part of any religion but I am more or less connected to Orthodox traditions rather than diminished Santa Claus festivities in my country (RIP)).

Lucky HKers, [incomprehensible grunting] :(... I would be kinda nearby by then but dear god HK is expensive (bet tickets to this one will be skyrocketing too...).

P R O B L E M A T I C

actually @midi:nette That clip reminded me: VERY UNCANNY REFERENCE (INTENTIONAL?) IN THIS GIMMICK I GUESS? Guess I cannot help but hearing "Brother Neeerooo" when I happen to rewatch this animation again...

Scarier than it may sound but I haven't followed Hardy brothers for ages and DEAR GOD I AM SCREAMING he looks like a buff Russell Brand now D: That may also concern the quality of his on-stage humor nowadays too...

So what to do now then? To allocate the biggest internet safe space for him and his ego ? There's more to the case than alleged/supposed mental anomalies, methinks - he has been downright selfish and not necessarily "creativity"-admiring (note: the key to genuine artistry) just like any other famous VK diva for decades, so he ought to fix that first before giving a clear sign of seeking help. Just drop Twatter and similar social mediums altogether and completely if you are not able to challenge harsh cyber-commentary or anything else. I think with a guy of 40s it should be clear enough.

A real shame they could not do that recording/mixing shite around nostalgic hoods of Berlin or Amsterdam for extra 90s eurodance realness. Bring forth dem Yamaha orchestra clash synths once again, Yuuki!

Does anyone residing in Tokyo - Chiba area know whether there is something very prominent going on in terms of lives around late December this year? Would prefer e.g. some very interesting Makuhari Messe live (won't mind VK really) and preferably without spray-tanned mofos like EXILE...

This is kinda funny because Shin seems to be really annoyed (he does have good ties with Hitoki though as indicated by most tweets) there, lol. Also, in regards to whatever happened during Feminism songwriting (!) AND recording phase: 1) Most critic info tidbits and wiki articles just state that Feminism recordings just took place "around 1995" - even though most songs have been already planned to play during lives right at the beginning of Cruel touring! (November-December-ish of 1994!). So this heavily Kiyoharu-biased information assumes that even songs happened to be crafted in the matter of 2-3 months they had left after Shin's departure! So by logical means and sensible graphic of usual 90s pop/rock recordings in Japan, they merely had time to work on a few completely new songs and just refinement of already finished recordings (additional frills, mastering). There was one article on SHOXX or some relevant vk magazine back in very early 1995 (January-ish?) when Shin was still in the team, and while discussing their final tour for "Cruel", they already pointed out that there was a "batch of songs" ready and that was Shin's remark! I might be too quick to jump into assumptions but for the most part Shin always had the lead in Kuroyume (main songwriter, the actual definer of their VK style) and hence him being the "main man in charge" of the process. Let's take a look at one of those songlists off their last Cruel tour, shal l we? source: their wiki which on the other hand was based on magazine reports of their Cruel tour (there was some livejournal mag scan page dedicated to Kiyoharu and similar figures of mid-90s and earlier periods but I will update this once I find it) But even so, back to the recording revelations - based on my findings off those scans (I will provide the link once I find it), the "main focus" - i.e. feminism-themed products by Hitoki and Kiyoharu were in fact those directions which were mutually decided in cooperation with its producer, Masahide Sakuma (?) ! "Shiro to Kuro", "Silhouette" and the last song were noted recordings by Kiyoharu during POST-SHIN INTERVIEWS (around early spring of 1995?), whereas Hitoki was responsible for creating songs akin to "Kamakiri" during the same period - so why no mentions about other tracks though? Because actual process for Feminism was more of the collage, which extended to the late autumn of 1994! http://www.livefans.jp/events/354752 Here you could see the first mention of "Kuchidzuke", which would be initially thought as something totally off Kuroyume's usual flairs but it's not really far off if you remember Shin-approved efforts like "Ishi Hakujaku" (what was initially the transition song for Kuroyume's RoS tour "MCs" as envisioned by Hitoki AND Shin from melodic point of view - see: RoS tour VHSes). Also, if we believe the "close voices" and Shin himself when it comes to his own facebook feeds - he "approved" efforts that were still rooted in Cruel-era stylistics! That also involved "Kaitou Jikken" which aside from being unusually industrial adopted abrasive, almost disturbing flairs Kuroyume has been always known for. So that being said - we have: Gossip Miss Moonlight (which was described to be very Shin-oriented!) Yasashii Higeki (the only bit of Shin left in the final recording was his solo - this was confirmed by Hitoki since he admitted that "he would never succeed in doing Shin's things") Kuchidzuke (oddly enough debuted during the halfway of Cruel touring? Hmmm) Feminism (another "typical visual kei" effort) Kaitou Jikken (one of the very first songs planned for recording around January of 1995 if we have to be exact about months) Yet to be questioned: Love Song (then again, no specific remarks have been made about this song while pinpointing Feminism's theme @interviews!) Kamakiri (strongly influenced by earlier efforts like "Sick" which may not be really in touch with what kind of theme both Hitoki and Kiyoharu promoted on Feminism) So that makes 7 songs (since "gossip" is a b-side) which we need to inspect when it's about fairness and correctness of credit sharing between these two - or THREE in this case since Japanese media has been always playing nice games on Kiyoharu instead rather than his band fellows. Go figure. tl;dr this "sudden" transition phase is more than enough to cast second thoughts on anything Kiyoharu when they were quickly eager to drop the visual act and achieve mainstream attraction of mid-90s trends. You may sense newly-awakened Shin bias right here but reasons I defined above are more than enough when it comes to justifying my siding. This guy deserves more than all that crap for being "just another background guy". I know that most Kuroyume fans here are really worried about preemptive doom for Kiyoharu's spotlight career but think of his faults - shouldn't he finally realize that his multifaceted project selfishness has just given him a very bitchy image among adequate and understanding critic circles? Here's hoping that he realizes this karma but otherwise: *EDIT: so the scans in question can be found in kuroyumescans@tumblr and jrock scans@livejournal. Mind the era (10.1994-02/03.1995) for wider scope of band's own words. Oh, and Morgianasama@livejournal provided other mags for those live reports so google her out!

I have gone through this almost every single time when I had a chance to rant but: - in order to be a good rhythmic backbone, your individual contribution (drums (!) or bass) has to uphold the structure that is called the arrangement of your band's song - NOT TO DISTRACT listeners from it. I really don't want to see the new generation inspired by "hey you can be the little kid with a huge ass drumkit/x-stringed bass" idiocy that apparently happens to be vogue in this community and certain other SPECIFIC fanbases I won't mention for now. - Whoever mixes and masters most Japanese rock albums (as in both vk and non-vk) needs to note that by abiding to the principles of "giving your instruments some punch" is not the "dirty western ideal" : that is hands down the most universal and convincing effort when you want your listeners to go "WOW!". No wonder that mixing or mastering now that we mention it happens to be the most typical pet peeve for critics outside of our comfort zone (and yes, their voices matter too) - VK scene as the umbrella of different genres and themes needs new waves of talents with capability to "change the mold" as we see it as "typical vk music" today. But unfortunately VK - just like any other focused scene - happens to be the love nest of corrupted oyaji hacks (back in the day this would have been some sort of ohnotheydidnt-gossip but they are not hiding it anymore - see: "VK Oyaji" and his suspicious background) with rather disregarding interests and pretty much downgrading attitude towards their subordinates - or "male prostitutes" for that matter. So this scene is bound to face even worse kinds of judgement and perhaps eventual demise once people realize the issue as a whole. - If synths serve no particular purpose in your song aside from just contributing the lead melody: DON'T OVERDUB YOUR ROCK ARRANGEMENT WITH THEM. #IllogicalInstrumentation. Looking at you, bazillions of vk bands - especially acts like Lycaon with dated Yamaha synths that would have made 2 Unlimited really jealous if time warping was invented today.

I consider @inartistic's take on this to be rather legit considering the fact that they look far more "conservative" to what they were back in Lycaon (especially Zero) so all we gotta do is to wait for those samples to flow in and decide whether there was truly something drastic going on (I am not assuming that they'd "leave" VK but there are vk acts who would prefer to be associated as something "outside" of usual VK league fares, e.g. KEEL or so on) Also: "initial L"? What is this alter ego sorcery?

My- Fucking. God. My home uni school truly lacks flexibility in decision-making when it comes to at least assessing the certain degree of empathy and understanding of student's genuine intentions. That's not how you solve the brain drain problem, the land of frozen wastelands and dead-born startups.

Deep, deep inside me there's a little sadist-like, jolly person wishing that the current atmosphere in elections (presidential ones, duh) would trigger the most extensive series of HAPPENINGS ever... and no seriously, as much as the majority of humanity happens to live in the world of predictable events and cliches, I happen to favor "unexpected flavors" of life

By coming back to Dir's record of Shinya's earlier, not-necessarily-proggy drumming style, I saw his restrained beats and fills as something which would support the harmonious entirety of Dir's arrangements. Unfortunately now his post-MOAB drumming seems to be the kind of shoddy attempt to overtake each and every tom or china whenever any long or medium-length piece comes by - think of little kids who listen to newer prog metal acts for the first time and attempt to emulate all of that into one drumline...that would be Shinya as I see him on Uroboros or DSS or ARCHE to some extent. "B-B-But he is basically influenced by Neil Peart - he conveys them well on Vinushka, Ware, Yami Tote.. etc. etc.!" To clarify what I meant No matter how campy prog performance this may be, even heavier acts who would at least respect their influences like Neil Peart (the guy above) or any other drumming powerhouse, REALIZE that they still have a band to follow and there's A HUGE TASK behind all of that - you can do all kinds of fills you want but make sure that they CONTRIBUTE to the song as whole and not just distract or go complex for the sake of being complex (i.e. anything Dir when we question *weird* songs). Following and trying to get the gist of songs like Rinkaku had a huge eye-opening effect on me after I realized how much of wank has been really involved in this song which could do better with a few tracks rather than multi-tracked walls of noise. Shinya HAD a record of following and contributing something interesting to DIR arrangements in a precise, moderate but tasteful manner - but where did it go? This is moderately complex but yet still, very supportive drumline without any unnecessary, distracting frills. Pay attention to his drumming - this moderate approach would ease his playing to the metronome rather than programming his drums and consequently going severely off a la Dum Spurdo Spärde (especially during Kaoru/Die compositions - Toshiya/Kyo comps can be pardoned like Dreambox or Shitataru) Justsayingthisagain.gif tl;dr - respect the rhythmic backbone of the band - don't overshadow it.

Would love to see Shou performing Laruku songs really.

My bets for now are on Eve x Yuuki collab feat. some members if we are lucky enough. I don't wanna speculate but there's a reason why Eve might be more in touch with Yuuki rather than other Lycaon members tbqh

My personal picks: Melt-Banana - Zero (album: Fetch) Even in the midst of Melt-Banana's trademark mashup of quirky and fast-paced noise frenzy and poppy hooks, you ought to expect almost down-to-earth but still the most definitive song of "Fetch"'s organized chaos as a soundscape. The tempo and overall accessibility of this song is unusual for otherwise the act of songs below 2 minutes of high-pitched, guitar-squealing chaos if we delve back to their back catalogue. Nonetheless, it's a great way to showcase how much they have managed to look behind and encapsulate all things left there in a bit mature way. Tokyo Jihen - Honto no Tokoro (album: Color Bars) Ever thought how early catalogue of THE BACK HORN would sound with an intentionally godawful vocalist (read: the joke track) and the lyrics being a huge piss at alt. emo anthems? The dynamo of jazz rock-meets-alternative genres, TJ, makes a huge setting for goodbye with this mini, while not forgetting about the last and final contribution of their hue and glamour - their drummer's first and last real song! A lot of insider humor for TJ/Ringo fans but I won't be surprised if some do not understand the point of this track really lol. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDk1Mzk1Mzc2.html Skip to 40:50

^ Can anyone with adequate nihongo knowledge confirm whether that statement he posted matches with that Yahoo reality or not? I am kinda shocked that Hitoki seemed to have no say on this (i.e. is this basically assuming that Kuroyume *IS JUST* Kiyoharu in this case?)

Utaite career?

inorite FULL PV for Nijikan (Shiina x Utada collab) https://cdn-e2.streamable.com/video/mp4/0pmc.mp4 Lesbian space opera <3 edit: am I the only one who noticed obvious throwbacking to Ringo's "__kan"-clocking easter eggs she had since that 3 min song off 2009?

aaand now there's a Shiina Ringo x Utada Hikaru collab (AGAIN)! http://www.utadahikaru.jp/lyric/ The first PV snippet you see there, click on that @herpes@beni and @CAT5 !!! Also, other cameos: (by Owatari @Arama)