Pretsy

I voted for: Boris - It's actually the first banner that I'd associate with this community right away without reading the title. Charisma.com - Seeing as I am very biased about Charisma.com, @sai (I think) did one heck of a good job in conveying the "double nature" of this duo Buck-Tick - Knowing where this forum "mainly" focuses on (or, "what kind of people" it does attract the most), and by counting the regulars' perspective too, I think BT is the perfect choice for being one of "MH's mascots" (if you will) - the great bridge between those who are still stoked about all the vk kalamazoo (newer generation), and those who are rather skeptic but still refusing to let go for better hopes (older generation). Tokyo Jihen - biased [2] + design is the perfect visualization of my "better" Ringo yearning in all honesty.

Update: Lovely Debussy remake - reminiscent of some old Zelda games (video game geeks, beware!) and even some old travel shows from early 90s or something akin to them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQd9-Xj0bSo Goldie used to be my jam whenever I was hitting my PS1, and I might consider doing it once again...to this 1-hour D'n'B monster! This kind of stuff always gets me (currently going through this plethora of Gilberto-an outputs in order to get more familiar with approaches I'd dig) Hands down my no. 1 all-time favorite electronic piece - masterful hybrid between jazz-y/bossa-y tinges and heavy D'n'B "gymnastics" Also, speaking of "modern" electro: Lyrical work aside, this (he's Saint Pepsi btw) along with some of James Blake's work is what I'd REALLY love to discover even more in the midst of all that four-step electronica garbage Also, he's gonna get featured on new Tofubeats album + will release a new album on September-ish too, GOOD YEAR FOLKS. /biased

Knowing you and your takes, I'd really love to hear what you thought of Kendrick's TPAB album though (rather surprising that this thread had little to no actual opinions on all the kalamazoo it caused) Also, that featured circle @his comeback release (or OST, more specifically) was totally expected ("his clique") - it's not like he'd be ready to dig some "tr00 underground cred" chaps he never knew in the first place in order to please old school traditionalists (or those who are still crossing fingers for "Detox") ps. Oddisee sounds great, Juka (y)

On September 16th, "multi-talented" DJ tofubeats will release a new album titled "POSITIVE" (which, as he describes it, is "his most positive effort" so far), which will feature various guests from different "corners" of the J-pop world: featured guests: okadada Shigeru Kishida (Quruli) KREVA Tetsuya Komuro Skylar Spence (a.k.a. "Saint Pepsi") Tina Tamashiro Dream Ami (E-girls) Yoshie Nakano (EGO-WRAPPIN') To promote this album, Tofubeats along with Dream Ami released a PV for the title track (which will be released as a promo single): Tracklist: CD 1. DANCE&DANCE 2. POSITIVE feat. Dream Ami 3. T.D.M. feat. okadada 4. Too Many Girls feat. KREVA 5. STAKEHOLDER 6. Throw your laptop on the fire feat. 小室哲哉 (Tetsuya Komuro) 7. I know you 8. Without U feat. Skylar Spence 9. すてきなメゾン feat. 玉城ティナ (Suteki na Maison feat. Tamashiro Tina) 10. くりかえしのMUSIC feat. 岸田繁 (くるり) (Kurikaeshi no MUSIC feat. Shigeru Kishida (Quruli)) 11. 閑話休題 (Kanwakyudai) 12. 別の人間 feat. 中納良恵 (EGO-WRAPPIN’) (Betsu no Ningen feat. Nakano Yoshie (EGO-WRAPPIN’)) 13. I Believe In You Limited Edition DVD (tofubeats music video collection) 1. 水星 feat. オノマトペ大臣 (Suisei feat. Onomatope Daijin) 2. No.1 feat. G.RINA 3. Don’t stop the music feat. 森高千里 (Chisato Moritaka) 4. おしえて検索 feat. の子 (神聖かまってちゃん) (Oshiete Kenskau feat. Noko (Shinsei Kamattechan)) 5. ディスコの神様 feat. 藤井隆 ((Disco no Kamisama feat. Fujii Takashi ) 6. Her Favorite & 衣替え (Koromogae) 7. Come On Honey! feat. 新井ひとみ (東京女子流) (Hitomi Arai (Tokyo Girls’ Style)) 8. poolside feat. PES (RIP SLYME) 9. 20140803 10. 衣替え (Koromogae) feat. BONNIE PINK 11. STAKEHOLDER 12. 朝が来るまで終わることのないダンスを (Asa ga Kuru Made Owaru Koto no nai Dance wo) Covers: Also, STAKEHOLDER from his previous EP will be included too: Source: Ronald @Arama This is gon' be goooooooooood

"Dated" is barely descriptive when it comes to criticizing something (I ought to blame jrocknyc and similar circles for introducing this term to the world of VK-infested bonanza) but that "lol" PV definitely "missed the train" or got shelved for a decade - totally carbon, "dated" AAA copycat, yup. I have no hopes for Namie pulling herself together, but a collab with Crystal might sound like something worth checking out (seeing as mainstream urban scene @Japan had nothing that interesting happening lately) Toki Asako's latest might be something her dedicated fanboys (um, maybe girls too) might enjoy, eeeeh: Moumoon's "latest" PV is rather surprising (positive/negative-ly? Be the judge) when it comes to introducing (possibly) the new direction they are heading towards: Ummm... Also, your daily dose of Kyary/SuG Takeru hybrid: "yaaay, I wear MYSELF xDDD"

Just remembered how much I used to love this song when I was *still in touch* with anything vk, WHOAAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAA-AAAAH <3

Welp, looks like D didn't learn a trick or two while having a "deserved" break - it's definitely not a MUST to enjoy something they have done to death for many years (see: their other upbeat songs...oh, count Yami no Kuni something in too). Little to no effort here, and this is how I perceive it - certain someone (bb <3) doesn't have to take this personally And I liked a few songs from their later phases, incl. that Chinese-themed song and Dying Message (lol) ("Genetic World" (along with "Neo Culture") will be still one of my favorite post-00s vk albums for sure!)

That exactly is what bothers/bothered Pura for years - great techniques, very tired structures/melodic approaches. Even with the "most experimental" efforts of theirs (count "Piano Black" as one), they are way too restrained and go for lazy 4-chord-isms instead Just c'mon, Akira and Ryutaro

Samples sound marvelous! I am really looking forward to this

for those who still care http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Sheena-Ringo---Kamisama%252C-Hotokesama/a7f5f12aaa40b3d413f4789fc55d6abc It's not really bad at all! Kinda digging that sudden finale...(I think I can understand 2chers when they said it's very "Zazen-y")

It's a real goddamn shame that Gazette is really looking forward to PLEASE THEIR FANS instead of being more loyal to their own interests and ideas (most careful ones could pinpoint this after witnessing the humongous amount of hype Ruki has tried to build up while making us wait). My tinfoil hat is not on atm, so I am not gonna let my Tomomi-isms slide in and blame it all on PSC... Actually, I remember when me and a few co. from our community had a small discussion on "what-if" situations (in terms of Gazette ofc). Even if most disagreed or just saw it as something absurd, I REALLY THINK the band should reflect their auditory (heh) interests a bit more instead of letting Ruki refine their visual image to match #2k15#rad#wack-tumblrist pseudo-fashion. Say: Why won't Gazette delve further into sea changes (new, general approaches on soundscape/technical department etc.), instead of sticking to (how Stallion or others would express it) "good ol' Gazerock"? I don't know about you, community, but I never witnessed them doing something radical (even DIM was something half-expected back in the day, methinks)...PSC policy? No. The band being unable to take risks TOGETHER? Yes. TL;DR - wake me up when Gazette is gonna pop up with a new release w/ e.g. dominant "urban music" sensibilities (or anything that's more or less "sudden") that were unfortunately so subtle on "Stacked Rubbish" (Agony, Calm Envy, backing vox @ FITB)* Gazette is not a purely alternative act with sympathies towards experimentalism, yes - but knowing the variety of "colors" they have amassed on their "palette of sounds" (e.g. b-sides), I am pretty confident in them being anything but one-trick ponies. *Ruki and Kai are rather avid urban music enthusiasts (in Ruki's case e.g. Tricky-ish alt. hip hop stuff), I tell you

A real shame that SuG's "teenAge dream" wasn't mentioned seeing as the song itself marks SuG's (eventual) return to form (BLACK already showcased it but I am expecting more obvious signs) - as for anything else vk-related, don't count my commentaries in (I am not really in touch with the scene, except for a few acts). As for the "non-VK" department, I was actually pleased with Fitz' choices (no no no, don't blame me for favoritism lol) and really intending to give them a chance once I get over my nostalgia ventures I'll keep that new Toe in my mind as well... Ps. new SEKAI NO OWARI ain't half-bad either - very odd tie-in choice though! @@CAT5: We cannot call Yumi's song "blatant stealing" if the said riff happens to be sampled from Usher's track (god knows how much they modified the said snippet - it's 2k15 fhs). Someone has to up single sleeves so we could see those credits Thumbs up to for TOWA TEI, btw!

Should we limit this to vk-related acts only or is it possible to 'modify' the thread title as something in the vein of "where does J-music (as in vk/non-vk in general) find it")? Running through vk bands and their "originality" is getting a bit boring so it'd be refreshing to list those with no relation to vk as well... Either way, I think Plastic Tree (despite their genreistic "intrigue" in the midst of their standard "vk" colleagues) should have a dedicated thread on their "inspirations" (just lump any ripoff or homage into this one): Known ones: Fujunbutsu (2007?) -> Nirvana's most popular song that doesn't need to be mentioned... Andro Metamorphose (2007) + Makka no Ito (2007?) -> Mew - Comforting Sounds (the song - formerly mentioned, the MV concept - latter) Rira no Ki (1996?) -> Radiohead - My Iron Lung Slide (2000) -> Nirvana - Breed (main riff) Platform (2002) -> Coaltar of the Deepers - C/O/T/D Ruisen Kairo (2007) -> Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Blue Train ...speaking of which, some jrocknyc user (Ezra might be aware of this) made a small-ish compilation on various Pura albums with various "inspired" pieces...all I can say is that it is quite safe to lump Smiths, Cure or even Television into their plethora of "cheat sheets". (p.s. doesn't change my thoughts on the band btw, just thought this kind of inspection would be neat to bring up)

Ayyyyyyyyy

I apologize beforehand in case I come out as a bit too "offensive" but What in the fuck

Seconding these: Adding these (avec brief explanations):

Necroing is fun! Anyways, just wanted to note that I cringed a bit at my previous choices (except for Placebo and JL - those can stay there). Oh, and of course - necessary pick of mine: Shibuya kei/indie: Cornelius - Fantasma (1997) Allow me to say this: it is almost impossible to define the exact "representative album" of Shibuya-kei scene...like what exactly is "the perfect representation" of Shibuya kei to begin with? Neojaponisme sorta summed it up quite well without resorting to one-sided, phony takes by wiki and RYM (and alike): By that sense, I wanted to bring up at least one album what could tie various sides of this movement together in some kind of way - you have one side with 60s Warhol/Hefner-ian utopia embellished with Ye-ye & bossa trickeries (Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine), the other side with penchant for Europhilic approaches (Kahimi Karie for retro-Francophiles, Flipper's Guitar for retro-Anglophiles) and various acts that were more or less interested in churning out something akin to trending club music from the States (ex-Deee-lite member Towa Tei, Cibo Matto etc.). In this case, ex-Flipper's Guitar frontman Cornelius managed to form a decent "in a nutshell"-kind of compilation of what this movement holds in at first glance. The intriguing smorgasbord of Beach Boys-ian vocal harmonies, mid-era Beatles-ian walls of sound, Supercar-ian indie rock, Bossa/Ye-ye-an rhythms and small frills, moderate Beck-ian genre-hopping folk, out-of-nowhere breakbeat silliness, intricate sampling from various "retroish" sources, adderall-ian experimentalism in the vein of early Pink Floyd...you might as well say that such mix was certainly ahead of its time back in the day (seeing as most might bring up Arcade Fire or similar acts to challenge this "combo-wombo indietronica"). Do not let my genreistic descriptions fool you - if you are at least a bit of totes open, avid music listener, give this album a listen! I am pretty sure that "Fantasma"'s powerful, ever-changing soundscape won't fool you...and might as well get you hooked into the whole Shibuya hassle Sample:

That new Ayumi song would've been a lot better without those dated EDM "horns" (?) Speaking of which, new Tofubeats arubumu will be out this september: (y) Also: new Kyary and Perfume singles/songs will be out this autumn too...except that Nakata's current problems can be showcased by throwing this in: The guy is running out of ideas and...well you know the rest already, lol. Towa Tei though: #instantsummerhit PAN-PAN-PAN-PANDEMIC~ edit: let's not forget that fun-ish SEKAI NO OWARI song either.

Nah, it's Tsuki to Taiyou (they had a cameo @previous Merry PV too) "previous Merry PV" in question:

He is one heck of a Cipher fanboy, lol (down to the point of adopting some of Cipher's standard ways of playing his guitar + tattoos and maybe a bit from looks too) By the way, the moment I clicked on that PV @FB, the site gave me Miyavi's "HORIZON" PV as one of the suggested videos...lmao, I wonder why

I don't know how exactly "full of teenage angst" and "osa/koteosa mayhem" makes previous vk wave much worse than this wave of dissonant arpeggio solos #101299 (that most Deluigi-copy bands in the vein of Galeyd, Jiluka go for...and over which our vk fans here go jisming for no reason whatsoever), "BVB-went-Suicide Silence" carbon copies (Nokubura, DADAROMA, vk bandomen that try to fool around with deathcoreisms atm or just anything that is too akin to their western generic -core riffages (not that I have anything against coreisms - western acts just happen to do it better and I really fail at seeing that how vk bands are "special" on that department ffs). Just give me a Mucc carbon copycat (I might as well assume that Kuroyuri to Kage (for instance) goes for partial Zekuu worship but it's just me though...I can dig it!) everyday and ditch all those uprising Deluigi worshippers. At least this "teenage angst" gave an emotional value to vk performances back in the day - now there is absolutely nothing what could make vk music (in any department, except for "oldies" - maybe) somewhat "sui generis" in the world of music trends where good ones are ditched and most scenesters are more likely to suck in new "Pro Tools"-isms like sponges for the sake of being "rad" (technical values become "too complex" for new fandom generations to digest, and go for looks + superduper br00tal moaning breakdowns in vk's case). As the matter of fact, reasoning for my old skwl favoritism is simple: 90s acts were more eager to adopt various influences and let their looks just "reflect" their general, musical visions instead of putting up some idiotic mishmash masquerade and go for out-of-context soundscapes. As the case in point, SHAZNA's (that legendary old skwl band no one cares about) visual ideas revolved around ideas of combining The Blitz Kids' (Boy George, anyone?) and old skwl culture -isms together - and GOLD SUN.../Pure Hearts (check "Magenta Story" for further examinations) were very stellar representatives of what they were going for...by that sense, we could say that even during your "dreadful" angst era both visuals and music went together hand in hand very well (even fricking RES got the idea of how to go with their looks while developing their early Sphire-Croid era-sound, ffs). Speaking of which, nu metal helped to develop an emphasis on this "emotional value" I talked about - and I double-dare you to look up for various boards in which fans back in the day described that WHY they became interested in vk in the first place. Most might go with this: the rich palette of emotions and soundscapes accompanied by corresponding looks or visual themes. Now where is this "rich palette"? Vk is nothing more but one heck of a sponge of brainwashing trends and zero technical/emotional finesse now, smh. I never saw legit reasoning on why people SHOULD dig vk music as it is now (other than being hushed and threatened with bans), so I decided to kickstart this circus. The stage is yours, folks. *and everything above mainly concerns upcoming and current acts, doesn't have to do with most old acts that e.g. mentioned (of which some are not really vk to me anymore in all honesty)*

As Stallion already mentioned it, Die's "staple style" is clearly audible in the midst of well, "radio-friendly" antics as you guys would put it (FUNKY playing!). I am pretty optimist about the fact that they will have a lot more to showcase, their drummer already gave a sneak peek thru his twitter on collabs with Koba and the fact that they will defo stay much longer together than you think... also: LANDING SLOW EVER PS. just let the man have his fun for once - it's really refreshing to see someone from DEG pulling out some "upbeat" stuff unlike colleagues (Kaoru/Kyo) with hella "moodier" sets.

Knowing that his "main colleagues" a.k.a MOON CHILD drummer and Koba are there, it is less likely that this will end up as some sort of "nu-DEG"-kind of thing (your definition sounds like something Kaoru would rather do than Die himself...since Kaoru's the "main tailor" of Dir's sound after all): - Both Kashiyama (drummer) and Kobayashi ("guest" guitarist) are rather huge brit rock/shoegaze enthusiasts (common favs including Ride, The Smiths, The Cure...you can get the gist already in case you know these) - Die always used to be the person behind the most melodic (Kaishun) and rather "alt. rocking" (I suppose "Wake" counts as one) numbers in DEG repertoire (i.e. definitely not a "metal" person, nor a person with "complex" tastes) - Both Die and Kobayashi seem to be a lot into exploring various guitar trickeries and riffages, and their traits on that matter make them really stick out well in their respective bands - Marine-colored, foil-based room scenes are not doing much in case they want to express what you just called "more watered down Sukekiyo"-effect (most artsy bands aim to expand and clarify their "visions" by adding a lot to the visual effect as well, see: sukekiyo's "Aftermath" PV) All in all, ender's expectations (I suppose mine too) are more likely to happen according to the factors I expressed above.

^ This actually reminded me of how Kamijo based his Lareine-band's post-BLUE ROMANCE era look on "The Rose of Versailles"-manga (down to the point of Kamijo adopting Lady Oscar's look + the band covering one of its anime themes as a case in point): (you can pinpoint a few similarities) also, their cover of anime version OP: Not to mention that one of Lareine's works (Lillie Charlotte?) has Riyoko Ikeda's (the artist behind the said manga) works w/ Lareine's anim00 counterparts

LOL talk about flashbacks A real shame that this book won't include any "special poem-to-song" contributions like his earlier pieces e.g. This was hella quirky back in the day