Pretsy

I've gotta make this clear too since I am hella confused about Capsule's fanbase at the moment: did you guys really listen to the albums that preceded CAPS LOCK? Nakata just turned back and decided to carry on with his SW/WoF route, so I cannot see any logic behind fandom masses jumping on something I'd coin as "EDM hatewagon". If you are really being all anal about EDM, then good - you should have missed the hype train 4-5 years ago, kek (as Furik said already, Nakata had this in mind since the day he made FC) Now to the topic: The content in general left me quite pleased - considering that I wasn't really fond of CAPS LOCK after trying to get over its obvious lack of replay value (my no. 1 issue in terms of CL). WR showcases a lot of features that made Capsule as loved as it was in our mostly electronica-appreciating masses since '07-'08: - "Hero" screams out SG/FB-nostalgia - think of it as "Sound Of Silence" of our decade. - "Unrequited Love" and "Dancing Planet" are very reminiscent of their "Player" counterparts - "The Music" and "Factory" respectively (and surprisingly much better) - "Another World" and "Beyond the Sky" won't be out of place in "STEREO WORXXX" either. - The album in general shares highly similar traits from earlier electronica albums in terms of build (e.g. Player) Not to mention that, as Furik pointed it out, Nakata really knows what he is doing (even he leaves most of us rather appalled in many cases, e.g. Perfume being a letdown lately). Be it the fact that he was perhaps a bit overenthusiastic when he plastered Knife Party drops and frills in "White as Snow", which resulted in unintended mishmash, or that most tracks might feel too "linear" compared to his wilder approaches in SW (e.g. "Feel Again"). Review writing in general is not really my cup of tea anymore, so let's summarize: Pros: - Familiarity, carefulness and orderliness of the content - Certain decent bangers, e.g. Another World, Dreamin' Boy, Hero - At least one "no-frills-all-serious song" (Depth) included (Pretsy's note: so it's not just "another club banger album") Cons: - Carefulness of the content (Nakata's a bit too careful though) - Linearity (Feel Again, Unrequited Love) - White As Snow might be as well the most pointless song here (no familiar Nakata traits + mishmash) :/ for now.

"KUR" abbreviation is puzzling me as well :/ I am not sure about skiing holiday either but they shot the PV in Nagano (at least that's what credits say)

Be it the fact that they are "stepping back" with this release - they still have no other fitting options unless Nakata is really cool about losing most of his fans (seeing as he is still starting to attract club banging folks these days). Therefore, I am gonna play devil's advocate here and say that WAVE RUNNER might be the "best" choice for Toshiko and Nakata - I couldn't really imagine Toshiko being represented well in CAPS LOCK due to its "experimental" nature, but she really fits in this "appealing our ageHa-nightclub masses" direction of WR like a glove imho. Speaking of which, most people seem to forget about WoF (which is pretty much the same as WR but w/ late-00s trends thrown in) - did you guys even listen to it? Also, songs like "Hero" should be already familiar to those who enjoyed FB/M!M!M! to some extent... It's definitely not their best*, but still - a step in the right direction. *by saying "not" I am not defo implying it's their worst - WR still retains its replay value unlike the predecessor (CL), which has lost it quite fast...SHIFT and RETURN were fine tho.

FULL PV

They should give up on their Kamen Rider-y name tho, lol.

edit: my apologies, OP post got wiped out, so here's le revision: daoko, or DAOKO (after her signup to TOY'S FACTORY) will release her major debut album "DAOKO" @25/3 and will include the following tracks: 01. 水星 02. かけてあげる 03. 一番星 04. ゆめうつつ 05. 流星都市 06. ぼく 07. きみ 08. 嫌 09. ミュージック 10. JK 11. ないものねだり 12. 高い壁には幾千のドア sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkdQZ-ctkYU source: natalie.mu More daoko, the better I guess?

New Shishamo and new Silent Siren This year is gonna be lovely

Mind you that I am not on an EDM hate bandwagon either (even though certain J-acts/artists have shown unfortunately much lazier traits in their music when they began to embrace EDM, e.g. Capsule, Ayu...) - I actually umm-ed at the way band explained their new "soundscape", but anyways - crossing my fingers and hoping that Kameda will do something interesting with boys from Flumpool (which I unfortunately don't follow...didn't click yet, I guess?) "It's Alright" for those who never heard of them before + protip: in case GEMA happens to country-block your videos (I think I witnessed someone complaining about this PV being Germany/NL-blocked? Idk), I strongly advise you to switch to jpopsuki.tv in case you want to enjoy (mostly) HD PVs without those SMEJ/Universal pests - no registration required!

THE TURTLES JAPAN, the superband consisting of Seiji Kameda (producer, known for his basswork in Tokyo Jihen) and Sakai + Yamamura (from Flumpool), will release their debut album titled "ELECTRIC HUMANITY" @8/4/2015, and "will mainly express "lack of natural traits in modern human relationships" by adopting EDM sound that *might* appeal masses these days" (pretsy's note: ummm...) They also announced the arena tour with the same name Promo pic: https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQCuCvgdN3TAdEaB&w=484&h=253&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theturtles.jp%2Fassets%2Fimg%2Fogp2.png&cfs=1&sx=0&sy=1&sw=1200&sh=627 No other details except that their single "It's Alright" will be included as well source: ro69

"nightmarket" reminds me of Limp Bizkit's "Nookie" so much lol Other than that, neat samples Really looking forward to Sug's arrangement of "HELLYEAH"!

THIS pretty much I really don't like when I have to dabble around with vids and hope that it's not "accidentally" a VEOH clip (most channels tend to "discard" Vevo-title out of their name, see) or anything that's GEMA'd (a.k.a country-blocked) Guess we should suggest that they could utilize other streaming sites as well? Might be a bit complex for them ofc, but still...

for those who are not digging proxies: http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Negoto---endless/6c4b8172761f665b7c69e0999a32ed74 ENDLESS pv

http://aramajapan.com/news/mariko-goto-announces-hiatus/16579/ thx to arama for translating her blog post I linked above...man, she's really down

ОК Мне просто омерзительно, конечно, видеть как русскоязычные, ноющие идиоты (типа тебя уми, и тебя тоже, "некки-я-не-чил") вместо того чтобы обсудить на самом деле о чём-то "интеллектуальном" в "вашем" (я же финн тролололол) треде, редают о своих обидах (и обкакивают свою Родину в пух и прах, и троллят "свойх же" нонконформистов ...да на себя в зеркало смотрите! Хотя мне ваши мотивы уже w/e) и устроят в честь этого "коллективный онанизм" или если мой мунспик вам не очень андерстенд - "circlejerking" (лол) and without moonspeak so that every (stalking) non-russki member + mod (über alles!) gets the gist: 1) I will let the mod/admin staff decrypt your hysterical PM threats if you are still gonna throw tantrums and go way too personal with me, nekkichi - I think everyone of us is entitled to say our thoughts out loud and you don't deserve any "special rights" to corner people who do so + "don't like/say stuff you like/say". You are more of a diva than troll now, tbh. 2) In case you are gonna accuse me for blatant "anti-Semitism" ("kike" is not even that extreme (tbqh, yeah - stanspeak abbreviations/acronyms ftw amirite, eh? ) - a tip: you both are using slurs too - talk about hypocrite asshattery... /эндтред

aaayyyy lmao

Okaydokay, any bets on them hitting the Nordic side as well? Just wondering if this forum has folks with organizer contacts and a bit of knowledge on possible revelations...

Прежде чем жаловаться на "недостаток манер" и винить "рашку", тоесть Россию (называй вещи/страны своими именами, ж****ка) за свой личные обыди в прошлом, начинай-ка ты Уми-нивушка (опа!) "интеллектуальную беседу" первым, хм? +

she had this one in her personal blog http://gotomariko.exblog.jp/ (anyone willing to translate pls? I can get some bits about her being totally depressed - especially that "I don't want to be hated" spammage) Rather hysterical post methinks?

Mariko Goto from ex-Midori fame announced on a 13/2 twitcasting livestream that she will pause music activities - and she also reacted to fans' commentaries afterwards by hinting that her complete retirement (as in leaving music completely) will be highly probable ("never gonna be on a stage again") due to her ongoing troubles. She also cancelled all of her gigs Source: natalie.mu : - (

Double-post: http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Sheena-Ringo---Shijo-no-Jinsei/7590b872c4c94f318e41ca066b98c6e5 Full PV for Shijou no Jinsei

For those who care about sales: Vitium marks the 9th spot in Oricon weekly charts with sales of 7,098 units (shame that Sandaime a.k.a EXILE a.k.a "hunk AKB48" sub-unit broke the charts tho...) Rather impressive for a band that does not practice promotional tricks that actively

Now that I came back and gave it a chance: Tsuioku, Dark Night, Shadow, Baka ne, Akujo no hohoemi, marionette (too short tho) and Gypsy a.k.a the best song of CO (ofc) Hint: I took Liar, Melancholy, Anemone and other fillers out and replaced them with most of their previous b-sides and some A-sides too (Memai for instance, transitions well from Kuchizuke SE imho)

Look, it's Yasutaka Nakata...!!! just kidding tho lmao, she looks fine

Oookay: Viet Cong - Viet Cong Sample: Genre/sounds like: read below Take Marquee Moon, Daydream Nation, Bloc Party, This Heat and a tinge of something what Syd Barrett would do - and smash 'em all together. With this being done you will spawn a neat Canadian quartet avec two ex-Women (some might remember that band...) members called "Viet Cong" - and their self-titled debut full-length! The album might be a bit of downer with its weak indie (in my case "Continental Shelf", kinda) but genuinely cool, post-punky tunes ("Death", "Bunker Buster") will defo make up for partial snooze... Bonjour Suzuki - Watashi Kobuta Tic Sample: Genre/sounds like: Chara-meets-cokiyu-meets-daoko Cutesy, young Japanese girl with neato taste (check her YT channel out, dem playlists!) and ASMR-stimulating, husky voice slammed one of the best newcomer AOTYs - in case you find my "soundalike" description enticing, but still have doubts, just go ahead and give her vids a chance! It might be just a mini but it packs some love for softer pop aficionados Carpenter Brut - Trilogy sample: Genre/sounds like: read Jig's post Le collection of Brut's 3 EPs (incl. the one in Jig's post) - I think Jig summed up what I really wanted to say about this (pardon, my laziness)

^ the full song is out on Jps and it sorta reminds me of "Mellow"...except in "SUNNY"-er (HA!) format. Speaking of which, she had a new, interesting live arrangement of "Marunouchi" out (shout-out to Uki and HZM!!!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWj4_QFlWdE + she strolled around LA during Grammy after-parties and whatnot, lol edit: anyone looking forward to Ringo Expo '14 DVD? You better expect some neat bangers, and let this preview (for instance) convince you to look forward , daaaamn