Pretsy

What should I say then xD? Too many good discoveries to mention, but it's all thanks to you CAT! You're a genius

^ guess that explains something. Pardon me then. I hope those other live songs will be made into some studio release - the heck, even mini-album would be okay for me. (would've been such a ripoff if they only sold that PV + demo and let those other songs be forgotten in their own "live profile")

Kyo's twitter/sukekiyo's twitter reported that "The Daemon's Cutlery EP" (I bet it's the actual EP with all 7 songs this time) will come out tomorrow on "Penyunne Zemeckis" (Kyo's webshop).

One more back-to-the-past post until "origins of vk" comes out (mods might like to place those retro posts into that topic later): This exact "Japan mix", especially the vocal mix, reminds me a lot of those later baritone vs. high key instrumental-acts, like say, EVERYTHING by CG's Shuuji - and the intro soloing is just so vk imho.

to knock on @Peace Heavy and @rebelstrik: Yes, the bands you mentioned have had their own influence in earlier vk music, but when we take the influences most old vkei artists cited in their interviews into account - Bauhaus and Japan (band) are more often mentioned than say, The Cure or Duran Duran (and much more influencing that way) For example: Sylvian has influenced many old vk singers (Morrie, Kiyoharu, Atsushi, Hyde...even Kyo himself) and come to think of this tho, the vibe of this song is somewhat similar to Kuroyume's pop song "Kuchizuke" - you could call him, say, "the father of typical vk vocals" you can hear this kind of vocal/instrumental work (listen to those chords) in many, many post-punk-y vk songs...also: the bass. Back to the topic tho, bands that remind me of vk as I knew it and loved it would be above - I mentioned reasons above.

Seconding on this Like, how EP can have "1 song" only (EP is basically supposed to include 4-7 songs)? Or are we going to expect a half-an-hour -long prog cavalcade out of this? I highly doubt that in terms of Kyo...

"(something) Pussy Magnet" you meant I guess Takeru got overly involved with kpop aesthetics and made them leak through Sug's visual/musical appearance as well...(to be honest, I expected RINGA LINGA worship to come out in the beginning) ps. who's managing them now tho? Pony Canyon?

Necroing this now that I've seen a preview off Diary PV (no need to see the full version...): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06gd8HfSLgQ It's like they are INTENTIONALLY bugging us to say while watching: "hey, this is JEALOUS!" Might also note that the chorus is totally JESSICA as well. And to knock on defense, I have to agree with MH old school enthusiasts and say that Grieva should try something else for awhile... instead of doing 100x DEG tributes.

Something that might have influenced pop-Kuroyume vastly back in the days: (music video imagery-wise) Madonna - Rain (1993) (follow the intro scenes closely) Kuroyume - Ice My Life (1994) (1:45- onwards, scattered throughout) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpBqnbSobJ0 Kiyoharu's mic scenes are almost identical to Madonna's mic scenes in "Rain" (even the mic/scene change/posing is completely same) I am not sure if Madonna really ~pioneered~ with this kind of "mic scene" thing, but I hope pop enthusiasts here will enlighten me with more info about this one.

and in case someone's wondering about PV shooting place (Otani quarry, Utsunomiya) http://www.warawareotoko.com/archives/3679 edit: the link is dead, google that place anyway

In case someone's wondering, that fretboard/bow system is just another variation of playing taishogoto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taish%C5%8Dgoto for more info, harp-like instrument)

It's not really folky/ambient-y but I can see where those claims come from though. It has some of DEG, some of Kannivalism, some of RES and some of 9Goats. Ultimate combo tbqh!

Very nagoya-ish titles.

??? (this one's off 2001 btw)

update: source pic (their revealed shoot): also, as sugibo said: music video "aftermath" will come out 1/1/2014 on iTunes

Okay, according to many live reports a la twitter, lineup would be confirmed as: Vocal: Kyo Guitar/Piano: Takumi (ex RENTRER EN SOI) Violins/2nd Guitar: Uta (ex 9GOATS BLACK OUT) Upright Bass: Yuchi (kannivalism) Drums: Mika (ex RENTRER EN SOI) also, there was some taishogoto (harp-like instrument) used in certain songs.

I would like to respond to this after seeing the "final" spot of their future album: Why are certain people missing their "Feminism" era tho? It's because of how much variety was placed in one small package - by the time after that release, Kiyoharu's main role in songwriting took its toll and caused Kuroyume's repertoire to become, say, too simple. Reunion in this case disappoints me the most, because okay - it's taken for granted that artists take influences from their solo career onto their main bands' repertoire. BUT talented artists do know where to draw the line - you won't achieve "refreshing" sound by recycling your other projects' sound. Primary example, j-rock-wise: Hyde is, despite his partial obnoxiousness, more creative than Morrie and Kiyoharu in this case. Why? Latter artists made drastic changes to their main acts by incorporating most of their solo career onto their sound. What does that result in? Unintentional continuation to your solo career, of course. This is where Kiyoharu suffers the most - the lack of "actually" refreshing ideas. Yea, hard to judge anything on that 30-sec-sample, but hey - by knowing most of Kiyoharu's tricks (he's not "avant-garde", so my expectations might be pretty much 80% correct), I'd say this is going to become another UNDER THE SUN leftover. No offense, fellow Kiyoharu fans - but this is much more saddening than his "Headache" comeback. I don't want another Feminism tho - I want an album with vastly varying, "out-of-Kiyoharu's-border" ideas.

Kinda okay sample I guess (then again guys, we did same remarks on Rinkaku sample like a year ago) Rinkaku-meets-Unraveling?

Basically yes. And about complaints towards this "imperfection" performance-wise: it's something what you could witness mostly these days only, not like 5-7 years ago - when vk listeners weren't really consisting of "pedant melomaniacs" (I don't ever remember early batsu/Tonberry people talking about "production quality" and such matters ~actively~) When people said that DEG's performances back in 2005-late 2006 had some "raw edge" in them, they were almost 100% correct about it - there are many cases where certain "mess-ups" might lead to positively interesting outcomes (example read: each "Kodoku" performance by them is something I find very entertaining. Why? I have grown fond of Kyo intentionally skipping the verse part just to mutilate himself "for no apparent reason" - and bark unintelligibly throughout the end) Just my two cents.

Sadly enough this is one of the worst DEG livesets ever - not because of the songs, but because of Kyo's performance level (he was truly exhausted, and I can see that in for eg. constant lyric skipping and unintelligible screaming instead of proper one) And to think that "Code of Vulgarism" was one of the best livesets by them EVER, and that was like 1-2 years before the performance above. Why "one of the best" tho? Most people here pinpointed that DEG aren't technically "brilliant" enough - as the long-time listener of DEG I should say that this is what attracted me the most in the first place, and caught my attention again after a long pause: charm through imperfection. I wouldn't imagine myself listening to them that much if they were, say, very "clean" technique-wise. I mean the hell, what would happen to Zan for instance if it was actually a proper "thrash metal-lish" song? What would happen if Shinya was in sync with bass and guitars? (Bad example, I know, but I am trying to give some insight on this matter) There wouldn't be any charm in their attempts without this sense of "imperfection". You might find this absurd, but come to think of it - is "very clean performance" something you would be sympathizing for very much? Wouldn't that feel a bit too "dry" ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pCIgyRo_kA Case in point, "CONCEIVED SORROW" is where Kyo usually couldn't nail his highs - and yet we can hear his struggling in the near end - which gives us fittingly eerie, melancholic vibes. Imagine this same song with highly trained male vocalist. Would you be more pleased with this result? I might have railed back and forth in terms of topics, but you will get it anyway

Eww.

Railing off-topic again but I must say that they are definitely nailing "LOTUS" off better than earlier (you could hear vast improvement in vocals as well) >please, let's forget COUNTDOWN JAPAN flopping in Kyo's part (I know, it has been hard on him but seriously) And no matter how much that song is cherished by new wave of DEG fandom (okay okay, I kinda like it too), I think Kyo shouldn't really go that far with highs. I am feeling uneasy every time when I hear that chorus

Luna Sea's standard live opener (as in PA intro (= the song that plays until all the members are ready and set)), "Gekkou" (as most setlist sources indicate) is basically Moonlight Sonata with D'n'B beats I am gonna bet that Gazette's PEOPLE ERROR (outro off Stacked Rubbish) is heavily influenced by that classical piece as well.

Late post, but I dig that Wakusei record too - is sorta reminiscent to older Shiina Ringo material (might call it "Muzai Moratorium-lite", if you will), which I don't mind at all!

Short list is short: Japanese: Capsule - CAPS LOCK DIR EN GREY - THE UNRAVELING Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Nanda Collection SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS - CIRCLES Towa Tei - Lucky Perfume - Level3 Non-Japanese: Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals A$AP ROCKY - LONG.LIVE.A$AP Daft Punk - Random Access Memories Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels There are too many runner-ups/"close but not cigar" releases tbqh.