Pretsy

and now for a serious post: It's a cover. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16arn_pv-sads-porno-star_music (TITS! The whole TRGGM album has rather naughty porn samples scattered throughout if inspected carefully)

Behold - the new mysterious idol-unit straight outta Japan has come to bless us with their short-lived but "memetastic" existence!

In regards to the latest singles, a nice lil' conversation with Jig and Orange enticed me to take up on Gazette once again after my months-long hiatus (lol). I decided to go with latest ones and backtrack from there - well, guess what: Post-DOGMA singles are not bad at all (disregard my earlier statements)! Whereas I am not still the fan of Ruki's current patchwork songwriting, their attempts to patch some things up together ever since BD has helped them to discover a lot more chemistry between each others' ventures after almost monocomposed/arranged pieces that were TOXIC and DIVISION, respectively. I am not the fan of strictly loyal direction on DOGMA (hell-bent on being -coreishly heavy), but my opinion still stands: they did their homework well. A few drawbacks in their new songwriting and producing procedure still exist, however. I am not gonna discuss them here since all of you might already guess my points of criticism. Will make separate posts on UGLY and UNDYING sooner or later in case something interesting springs to my mind. But I couldn't resist writing some says off my spins here: - Aoi is my new found favorite in terms of compositions and technical experiments. Look forward to my reviews in case you want to understand my idea of "patchwork songwriting" and composer roles. - Kai has improved a lot, especially in heavier songs (?!). - Ruki doesn't sound goofy anymore when screaming/growling.

Sometimes one can only hope that social and/or entertainment-based events (e.g. EV) wouldn't be heavily politicized but woop woop~ (I honestly couldn't care about each and every performance there but rigging results is not cool, y'know)

Either a ) disbandment or b ) they will find someone else from Anzi's guitar circles (since has some prominent friends from non-vk metal scene)

*Заорали

We do have that inspiration thread somewhere already, but in any case, I thought this would be neato as a separate, dedicated thread: Since we acknowledge the fact variety of VK acts has been influenced somewhat or a lot by their non-VK compatriots and senseis, how would we approach the reverse situation? This thread is basically about (renowned) non-vk acts or artists, that were influenced to some/the very extent by our loved visual scene (VK oyajis, possible VK (ex-)household names etc.) - preferably with proofs/examples E.g. Ling Tosite Sigure Not the first band where you'd look for particular VK influences but quelle surprise: the band - or TK and Pierre in this case - have been VK aficionados ever since their early youth/pre-teens! Almost each and every interview revolving around their album-specific/overall influences had TK gone on heat about Luna Sea or Pierre having his X Japan/Yoshiki/Luna Sea (again) fanboy moment and rants about how VK should be "break free of stigmas". Whereas TK is basically the sole songwriter of LTS, there's a great handful of LTS songs where TK and Pierre implemented drum patterns, song structures or even riffs that are rather akin to speedy Luna Sea anthems. Sample song which was regarded as "one of the most "VK" efforts by TK" by various critics - from the same album which was inspired by Luna Sea's biggest breakthrough, "MOTHER" (see: Tower.jp link). Some references: http://tower.jp/article/feature/2009/05/14/100036652/100036663/100036667 JaM - session influences + overall influences Pierre and his 90s VK manifesto? - There was also some joint interview by TK and some dude on sigure.jp in which TK's youth and LUNA SEA influences were briefly discussed, I will make sure to update once I find it...

"Enon at the Height of Rudeness"

Yukari surely managed to keep them away from kaisanization by getting them on TV and whatnot. Here's hoping they will evolve further.

Basically this even though it all depends on how members UTILIZE these instruments in the first place. Therefore, they are equally important, but means of utilization and execution may rule out or emphasize particular instruments in the arrangement.

Consider the following: 1) DEG bandmates aren't in talking terms with each other ever since DSS. Shinya and Kyo were in fact very open about the fact that they do their thing in the band because "they have to". You do know that considering your job, or in this case DEG musicianship, as some kind of "sweatshop" publicly says a lot about your genuine feelings? Let's not forget those particular DSS/Unraveling moments where they all were pro tools'd on their laptops quietly in the same room instead of idk, initiating a brainstorm/scrum about songwriting? 2) True - solo careers do in fact help to keep things fresh and possibly salvage certain tiresome relationships. However, there are many cases where artists might end up "rediscovering" their calling elsewhere and prefer calling quits on their initial project instead of forcing themselves to backtrack and move on. Kyo was, at least according to those ARCHE interviews with Boo, not attending a significant share of ARCHE-related sessions due to his "preferred focus on solo activities". Roughly put, we could easily assume that he just came in to record a chunk of vocal lines and GTFO'd in an instant. You might of course call bullshit on each and every bash I make on DEG. However, you should at least take these things in a closer scope and see what I am exactly about. Their current, "grave" attitude in promos and all that shizznit goes beyond their musical gimmicks - it doesn't take a genius to see that they are visibly and perhaps even audibly (!) very tired of each other (god knows if they do in fact hate each other's guts). All in all, we might not expect immediate kaisanization or something similar from DEG, but there's more than meets the eye in the midst of bullshit spewed by Will or Patrik about how skeptical fans "have no proofs" or "attempt to spread hysteria" (the latter is of course the phobia of their DEG-dependent identity).

Pics for non-Finns and those who didn't bother to go to today's gig (incl. me lolol) My reaction's still the same...

1. Ringo Shiina + Tokyo Jihen 2. Midori 3. Ling Tosite Sigure 4. Boredoms 5. Cinema Staff 6. Melt-Banana 7. Happy End 8. Karasu 9. Indigo la End 10. Shishamo Something like that for now. I tried to make sure that they are at least counted as "rock acts".

I also wanted to link a coupling to my hats-off-ish post above separately (if staff allows that): Hands down one of their greatest efforts to me personally. I might have not been the fan of their prospective direction but it doesn't take their legacy away, like this or the whole s/t album for instance (which, despite my vast development in tastes, is still somewhat significant). Really saddened to see these guys go (especially Ryo, my new found interest)

I don't think even the most critic voices would dare to say anything negative about them at this point seeing as they played a huge role (along with other acts) in this 00s-10s VK wave or w/e you name it (i.e. how we, 20-somethings and prolly 30s know VK in its glory).

As it was stated in Arama already: Anything but idols (AND ninjas). No need to trash Japan's economically crucial image further...

Technically speaking, any song which stays in the scope of particular key is somewhat easy to play once you get the gist. E.g. heavier Lycaon songs are usually done in Bm (which is not hard when done in drop B ), which makes them rather effortless sans specific Slash tribute moments by Satoshi (which require a bit more practice, frankly speaking). Or the hell, majority of obviously nu metal-inspired fares in VK (DEG's six Ugly-WtD era as a case in point) won't require much from electric axemen tbh... @sai is not necessarily hanging around here anymore, so I am addressing anyone with similar intents: in order to develop your skills in any kind of field, you need to look for "fittingly challenging" scenarios - or repertoires and/or specific collections in terms of musicianship. This means that you shouldn't necessarily go for "easypeasy" tracks but more or less "medium" ones. Go for songs where you'd be somewhat able to realize specific influences and "rules" of the particular genre they are played in. A decent chunk of knowledge about keys, scales and other factors belonging to the basis of music theory will be as useful and perhaps even necessary before delving into the art and practice of rock music AND J-rock respectively (unless you aspire to become a wizard of djent/prog/avant wankery). Tl;dr: if you didn't bother to read much of the stuff said above - my personal picks for each and specific style I could think of for an aspiring musician with enough patience to assess this songcraft: Rock ballads: - Gazette's Cassis (just play the chords, forget the Uru parts for a while) - Dir en grey's Undecided (half-ballad but slow down a little bit and practice the (essential) chord structure) - Luna Sea's ANOTHER (very accessible ballad from guitarist's perspective in a very rookie-friendly setting, go with this one for basic understanding about key changes etc.) - L'Arc~en~Ciel's Pieces (assessment of Japanesque pop melodies requires you to get familiar with unusual concepts like "Royal Road progression" etc. This ballad follows the said progression a little bit with its intriguing key and chord changes along the way. Fittingly challenging after two formerly mentioned tunages) "Rockers": - Penicillin's Romance (very distinct chord progression, moderate key changes, must-cover for almost every self-respecting JAYRAWK hobbyist) - hide's ROCKET DIVE (descending/ascending guitar riff here shouldn't be hard to decipher but assess the pop punk aspect here - you will need it for oshare songs etc.) - Kuroyume's Miss Moonlight (welp, kote/pop territory! Practice necessary hook solos for older and perhaps newer J-rock songs here) - Janne Da Arc's Shining Ray (...deeper and deeper into the basic axeman shredding and riffage! Practice your essential progressions once again AND usage of electric shreds etc. here) - Raphael's Hana Saku Inochi Aru Kagiri (in case you are willing to get familiar with doodlings for Bearsighs and other fast-paced acts, get used to this one) Not exactly the most recommended choices here but I had to think of "coverable" numbers anyway! NOTE: practice standard/Eb tuning first - go for drop tunings only if you have to (since starting out with drops is blatant cheating/clear sign of laziness)

No more Spongebob ukulele/guitar solos for us, I guess? I wonder if Byou carries on with his gyaruo model career though...

Well, that was rather unexpected (considering Ryo and so on) :/

I could honestly admit that Uroboros seems to be the most "possible" album in terms of actual live renditions/performances. Even ARCHE (which *was* supposed to be the "live vibe" release in the first place) suffers from various, unconveyable matters in the eventual live context: - Kyo has severe difficulties to keep up with his original tempo during faster tracks a la "Revelation" - "Uroko" sounds very tragic in the vocal and drumming department. MEOWMEOWMEOWMEOW (Kyo had 3 manipulated vocal tracks during "Kyoperas") and lots of wasted potential with those tom rolls. Kinda unbelievable that fans attempt to sweep this issue under the carpet... - Why is none of the guitarists playing the rhythm part on "Behind" during lives? And yeah, at least double-track Kyo during lives, please. - Some MH users said that they heavily compress guitars and other instruments during DVD recordings...well they don't! Even the most pro-shot-ish footages showcased that their live mixing does not match their current 7-string/5-string setups (whereas random oldies sound better when done so) - I have addressed Rinkaku earlier already, no need to delve back. In that sense, merely "Un Deux", "Tousei", "Midwife" (from what I've heard idk), "Sustain the Untruth" and "The Inferno" were such numbers which they had no major nor noticeable difficulties with. Passion? Technique is a prerequisite for being able to project passion or any other feeling. And from what I've witnessed, they do not utilize their possibilities to project the said things well. E.g. Kyo definitely has no professional idea about how his voice truly works in a variety of circumstances, nor does Shinya have any specific interest in realizing whether his e-drumlines make sense in a realistic scenario. Inter-bandmate relations are not my field of interest but I am seriously suspecting that their lack of specific interest towards each other and their expertise is starting to show up too much. Go figure.

What about Salem's Lott (have they been mentioned already?)? Some true glam/X Japanesque crossover shit right here

Maybe now but the last time I remember, they had releases in general too but MOSTLY in VK before the MH revamp. Anyways: Kaisan immediately!

The staff usually lumps e.g. Wagakki band uploads into VK department for some reason even though a ) They have more non-VK members than VK-associated peeps (a collective of popular Nico Nico artists). b ) As Para said it already, acts like these (doujin/vocaloid/anime-related aficionado circles) very rarely get in touch with other visual bands live-wise. c ) Yuko NEVER coined her collective as "visual" (nor did Machiya btw). This matters a lot when we discuss VK in a large-scale context. My additions which some might find "blatantly unlegit": d ) Production values and general approach adopted by Wagakki Band has a lot more to do with e.g. groups and Utaite under Lantis' (anime/game/related OST label) wing than how we normally see new waves of visual kei bands. e ) Vocaloid/Doujin background is still audible in their music. Could you name at least one (widely accepted) VK collective with genuine loyalty towards those scenes? Nitpicking is definitely tiresome but giving it some thought would be nice and less *ignorant*.

Since Shinya grilling seems to be the hot topic (HEH!) right now - your favorite Shinya drumlines, pt. III? Mine are pretty much divided between certain MACABRE numbers (e.g. Taiyou no Ao for that continuous buildup/lax reggae amalgamation) and MOAB (since I consider him to be more or less suitable for nu metal-lish drumming instead of attempting to go all prog or deathcore on us)

Perhaps it might hint about potential/prospective Gazette influences? Lol. Either way, not the first time when we have seen such weird merch: + other odd buzzwords.