Pretsy

Basically the opposite of this thread, but same concept (rules etc.) is still applied - and as a reminder: MAX. 4 PICKS PER PERSON/POST AND NO OUTROS ALLOWED (I consider outros to be one form of cheating tbqh) Also: some people were curious about whether they are allowed to post non-Japanese stuff too - answer is: yes - feel free to post anything, as long as it's a "proper" closer (in your opinion) + make sure to explain briefly why you chose the certain song etc.. Just because we are "J-music based community" doesn't mean that we should be "STRICTLY" limited to "only JP music" policies FFS - so cast your prejudices aside and go-go! OP's example/picks: 1) Plastic Tree - Circus La Grande Finale of one of my favorite Pura releases, "Puppet Show" - pretty much showcases their talents and ability in expressing their unique, dreamy imagery through britpop-ish influences (and most britpop-influenced acts don't really showcase their "messages" vividly imho). I also like how it changes its tempo fittingly along the way and gives a nice spotlight for Ryutaro's vocals as I knew them back when I began to know them. Gorgeous song is gorgeous. 2) Dir en grey - Inconvenient Ideal What would sound like a normal semi-power ballad in the beginning soars beautifully to the immense levels of "wow"-factor til the end - as a Dir stan I found it difficult to find a fitting favorite out of their closers, but "Inconvenient" hands down gave me the same impression today as it did back in November 2008 - pure pleasure. I got to note that I find build-ups during the chorus and climax (along with "300"-y gang chants) really epic and something what you'd memorize even after many years. 3) MUCC - Hanabi One of those "totally unexpected, but neat" closers - you'd normally put your volume down/skip when you hear opening notes that remind you of those cheesy piano ballads way too much, but...BANG! And there goes almost "festive" part of Mucc's Hanabi. I might be the only one who feels this way, but "Hanabi" feels very "Japanesque" to me but not in stereotypical a la "Kiryu/Kagrra" fashion - perhaps the melody has some folk-ish tinges? That aside - Mucc has many good closers (Zutazuta, Freesia...), but as I noted earlier - the "wow" factor is important to me whether I listen to certain parts of an album, and "wow" here is totally existent - and BIG too. 4) The Dillinger Escape Plan - Mouth of Ghosts Moody and emotional, almost jazz-ish in parts and immense build-up...here might lie my key recipe to "closers that totally get me in". Sure - the song itself isn't necessarily of what they're doing normally (this sounds more like an unique approach on some late FNM song), but you gotta give kudos to them for total surprise! Might not be your cup of tea, but "one of a kind-ness" is certainly retained in MoG - as I see it.

Tsuzuku better deliver something like this http://macchalatte.blogspot.fi/2013/05/mejibray-kase-to-chinou-english-lyrics.html then Always straightforward .

Who's the most active member social network-wise though? It's quite plausible, considering that it's not the first time when someone from vk scene reads our randomness...

+ this is a collab between Takeru and TeddyLoid (who's quite known for example co-producing/arranging handful of songs in Gazette's Division like "Derangement" etc.)

*insert MejiBLAZE jokes here* Intriguing.

^ If you didn't see any "only Japanese"-reminders out there, then feel free to post anything outside of Japanese music spectrum too. (read: I didn't reduce this to certain nationalities/language, in case I wasn't clear enough)

That My Fairytale vo. guy is so out of place there, haha.

Some neato openers you guys have there! Keep them coming - any genre goes as usual AND REMEMBER - only max. 4 picks per post/person (let's play it fair and square)

Yay.

So, new pre-release Shiina rumors start spreading like a wildfire in Baidu and here we go with the source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3271318191 The person who "could predict" the release of Reimport-album and NIPPON before their actual releases informed that Shiina will release new album in November titled "Hiizurutokoro" (transl. "Land of the Rising Sun"), and it will be sold in 3 different versions. The jury is still out on the question whether the album is "purely original full-length" or another cover album. Shiina's /Universal's representative staff is yet quiet about this but by basing our assumptions on facts that her albums were usually informed about like ~2-3 months before the actual release, we could presume that the rumor is pretty legit (at least imho). Thanks 2 [email protected] for informing, btw.

Thought of making this, since I find it odd that no one ever discussed about their "favorite album openers" here, so yup: Feel free to post your (some of your) favorite openers (max. 4 links and no order needed + doesn't matter if its studio or live) here...and a reminder: Intros are not counted (the definition of "intro" is pretty vague - but I think you get my drift anyway - my excuse would be "just because", sorry!) To start this thread, I will post some of mine (as an example/template if you will): 1. Tokyo Jihen - Ikiru http://pann.nate.com/video/215614571 One of those songs I consider to be "the total bangers" of Shiina's repertoire - unusual ("Imogen Heap meets Queen-ish" ), sparsely arranged song ending up with good ol' TJ cast playing up to the max. I see this having a lot potential to surprise even those who are not necessarily fans of this kind of genre - which is why I recommend you to try out the link above (Ultra C live version - not for those who *dislike* Shiina's vocals). 2. Capsule - Soratobu Toshikeikaku Someone might be already saying "but Perez, this is an interlude?!" - no, it's not an interlude. If you are even a bit familiar with house/electro music in general, you know pretty well that "lyricless" full-length songs can be openers as well as sole songs too. I see 'Soratobu' as Capsule's - no, Nakata's most brilliant and creative effort he has ever produced/done during his career. It's not a farce when people say that "good songs make you imagine things more vividly and even "live them" - and 'Soratobu' is worth being the showcase to those opposing the idea. No wonder that it even has a PV done by Ghibli staff (or Ghibli subsidiary staff, JIC)... 3. Luna Sea - Loveless If we have to make a manual on "how to make a good opener", this has to end up there - talk about a way how to introduce the band carefully: the song progresses slowly by not having members appear at the same time but otherwise - and finally ends with all the elements combined together without making certain instruments "drown". Atmospheric, theme-setting number - and perhaps quite legendary too!

It's the fact that Miyavi just stopped being creative and got stuck in "hey, I hire some American Idol-level writers down here and I'll let my new sound say it"-kind of stupidity - and this "experiment" is nothing different from it. Okay, cool - we've had "Day 1" and "Ahead of the Light", but I considered those to be quite okay for "era-related experiments" - but him moving on to the soundtrack for "europop-inducing, stationary bike-riding audiences who like to flex their muscles/asses to their phone cameras and put a serious number of hashtagged gym slang @instagram*" (a.k.a his self-titled release)? An obvious sign of "not trying", duh. And "Real?" showcases no evolution, nor him willing to express his creativity further - looks like I have to sob while listening to Dokusou or Samurai Sessions, I guess? *no offense to active gym visitors though - keeping yourself fit through regular exercising is always welcome, but don't do it for the sake of being "trendy" (aka spending more time in front of the mirror/mashing your android than doing actual work), sheesh.

^ probably because it's a MASSIVE letdown (come to think of it, horrible YOOMAZAFAKADURRR-type of metal would have pleased us joke factor-wise)? Also, what's with that odd take on Botticelli @album cover? The title is so out of place too...

Just...what :DDDD Me understanding the most of that isn't helping much either 5/10

http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/TK-from-Ling-tosite-Sigure---Fantastic-Magic/7b98e8054e68f3d3554804880c6536d2 Fantastic Magic PV.

http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/MIYAVI---Real/12bef3999597eeb33d4391bfca6e9733 Full PV No, no, no, no - and NO.

Sony-TV-showcase/"nature" demo-meets-Ibitsu visual-wise and total snoozefest audio-wise - my,my.... also, 42,500 yen is quite cheap tbqh for a Walkman model like that (then again, are Walkmans even "trendy" anymore?)

I am a lazy writer so I'd rather copy everything what aramajapan said: and a "lead PV": Sounds solid.

A sample of 'Sen no Tsubasa' (with 9mm's vocalist) Sounds like any poppy 9mm song, I guess lol?

not necessarily a parody but MejiBLAZE (came up during mine and Jig's conversation about Mejibray's "Decadence" PV during its release week - since it was the first time I/we noticed a bong mask in vk PV) Spookykyo (Sukekiyo - I think Peace coined this first?)

http://direngrey.co.jp/discography/discography-a_knot/ Tour2012 In Situ "a knot"-limited DVD, hmmm? (was released in mid-2013 too, so I highly doubt that it's a 'long time')

I find it odd that there's no "Arche-exclusive webpage" up yet (compare: Uroboros promotions which went like this: 1) News about the album 2) album cover (aka "Uroboros-exclusive page") 3) release info PLUS a number of tracks etc. 4) the actual tracklist 5) previews)

Some interesting previews out there

^ there are bands that looked better in their late 30s/early 40s (aka Dir's current age) (even without photoshop and make-up magic).