Pretsy

A-side arouses the most interest here but b-sides, however, sound like they were lifted off the same song? Probably too reminiscent of GRUDGE or w/e that mid-tempo chugfest was.

As with my earlier outputs, I thought it would be neat to discuss about "interesting" chord progressions in our beloved, visual scene as well!  What kind of intriguing progressions (from your POV) you guys have stumbled onto while going through your VK repertoire? As long as you are able to explain your choices, it's all OK...not that this thread would gain enough exposure, lol (I am not gonna hop into another round of "what is VK music" debate and just pinpoint that even in 00s and earlier 10s it was easy to acknowledge imho what's  "so VK" and what's "not so VK" in the auditory context.)
 
Prime example or where to start:
 
"Royal road" progression (IV△7→V7→IIIm7→VIm)
VK example of this: as far as I have noticed, Gazette's "Sumire" is pretty much about that kind of progression too, no?
 
 
 

Random thoughts- thread simulator when?

I might not be the fan of this exact release but dude, you should defo carry on with your ride-along J-rock reviews!  Good to see someone acknowledging Ken's J-review format from earlier days, lol. (wonder if I've seen you somewhere @jrocknyc)

SMAP's quasi-disbandment mishaps, definitely (J-pop but it's more or less relevant here).
 
 
BOW LOWER YOU FOOLS

That super covered, super recent scandal between indigo la end/Gesu no Kiwami Otome's vocalist and TV personality/singer Becky, their affair. It even being talked about for months, from a British newspaper (the guardian) doing an article about it (granted about Japan's sexism) to April Fools day jokes (arama) on it. I remember earlier on how it was the only thing being reported in some places. Wonder if its died down yet. 

Dir en grey - Conceived Sorrow
 
unfffff boi

[MLG air horns]

this is so fucking tragic

have you guys seen Soviet Winnie the Pooh?
 

OP sounds a lot like me a year or two ago so yeah, this might be it actually. You don't have to always limit yourself to vk-only pleasures if you find current vk scene to be well, totally shit? I can say this from my personal experience: it doesn't hurt! Just start out with "borderline vk" bands and venture further into more casual ones (some bands coming out of my head):
 
- Jikkendai Marmot (perfect "borderline vk" example - genre pool varies from gypsy jazz to swing music and whatnot)
- Kannivalism ("Helios" might be a good fit if you are really interested in post-rock-ish influences a la vk way)
- DIMMDIVISION / Dim My Division (read above)
- Sibilebashir (Nice throwback to "angstier" (think of Kagerou or even Mucc) days of vk but in much more maniac-like way)
 
But yeah, don't be afraid of looking "outside of the box" as well.

Was driving around listening to Cassis getting excited for Gazette's NYC show in a couple weekends.... thought I'd record some thoughts. Let me know what you think of this (old) Gazette single!
 
(shoutout to Jrocknyc shoutboxer Ken who made a few videos like this about old school Nagoya Kei that were fun... I couldn't find any of them anymore though.)

Maybe one of his Russian bangya gave that doll to him lol

Tie-ins only really bother me when it compromises the song and/or artist in some way due to the nature and constraints of the relationship.
I listen to a couple pop artists who do a couple songs for anime and/or dramas here and there but when I listen to them, it still sounds like one of their songs that just got some outside use, rather than a song that was made for them to sing that sort of sits in an "uncanny valley" sort of place where it's the same artist but sounds slightly off.
 
Plus you also get instances where songs made for other mediums and uses tend to want to follow the style. I remember a major 'weaboo' point was that they only listened to anime openings and other music like them, but personally I've never come across it in any of the artists I listen to often, off the top of my head at least.

Patrik is saying one thing and doing the exact opposite later (i.e. denouncing "pesky neo-vk ideals" and basically adopting them full-on years after) - why am I not surprised atm?
 
 
 
 
 
edit: just show up already, Patrik.

yoshiiki_trying_to_hype_new_x_japan_album.txt
 

So they failed to reach Yoshiki to get the resources to use a hologram of Kazuki during their shows this year?

Yes. It has been given already that we are witnessing the birth of "visual" among new "visual kei" bands (i.e. dropping the "kei" out = becoming pretty much the same as any other BVB-y act around these corners). So it is very blatant to name newer generations "visual kei" anymore since they lack the "original face" that vk used to have among every sub-scene.Probably? I find it really hard to sympathize with newer acts - especially for reasons described above. Very cute but hollow shells with no substance or roots to the past or whatsoever. Give most of us over 10 years of this stuff (e.g. me, since 2001) and you will realize what I am about.To be really cruel and straightforward: yes. I had my statements wide open earlier and I don't think I have to provoke anyone again by repeating myself.Just lump me into the tea party club of ex-weeaboo gentlemen circa Jrocknyc-angelfire era and I can spend my days being grumpy and sobbing about vk back in its definitive, moderately varied and sincere glory. VK will be no more - I say.
/not trolling/

Not that I'd defend her intentions here in the first place but aside from agreeing with you, I'd add my own cents about "understanding" this lukewarm song:
 
1) Both songs apparently revolve around Utada's personal motherhood matters - those who are very familiar with musicians that dealt with fatherhood/motherhood surely acknowledge the fact that "coming back with a bang" is the least you could expect from them
 
2) She has been out from the scene for like...8 years? Japanese scenes have changed a lot during these years - the wake of singers-songwriters is still in question, since you get to see mostly collectives in the J-pop/urban scene more often than in take say, 2008. I might be getting too speculative (as a semi-dedicated fan), but I ought to believe in this paradigm shift severely affecting Utada's artistic choices post-motherhood.
 
3) Both songs are apparently ballads - the first one (i.e. the snippet above) is a family drama theme song, while the other one will be accompanying some news program. The former clearly says a lot about how "safe" the song should be really, as it shows there.
 
All in all, we could only hope in the next song being Final Distance-tier at least (I shalt let you MHers decide what kind of ballad wouldn't be out of place in some news program)

Translated and edited from here.

Kind of a bland comeback to be honest. As someone who makes really incredible ballads - Sakura, Final Distance, Deep River, Simple and Clean (original version not Kingdom Hearts version), this was way under par. Hopefully this is just a warm up single to get her feet wet to make a really big splash again.

"VK music is going way too far from its roots" - first of all, VK music in general is not stemming solely from (glam) metal scene - plus some say X Japan "was the sole creator of vk style", which is truly false.
 
Yes, X Japan was perhaps "the first" act to be "the vk powerhouse in music markets" with their special looks, which later became a palatable factor for future MAINSTREAM vk acts - you'd have to look wild, cool, colorful and beautiful.
But they had a little to do with music (other than Hide's psychedelic creations).
Who's the main "IT" behind music then? As it was said years ago in a topic I cannot remember, there are other 3 bands in "the big four of visual kei" - COLOR, D'erlanger and Buck-Tick. COLOR's probably included due to Dynamite Tommy, who would later become pretty much a "big godfather of VK music marketing" with Free-Will/Firewall Div. policy etc.
 
Only D'erlanger and BT remain - both acts are tied to their pasts with sympathy towards post-punk/"goth-ish" music, which later granted those familiar "gloomy instrumentals and emotion-ridden vocals" you hear all the time in vk. OF COURSE, acts after them such as say, SADS (which might have invented "fashion kei" that Lycaon/Gazette cherish) or Baroque (which "invented" the signature elements of oshare kei music/looks) that had a little or nothing at all to do with post-punk fandom, BUT if you would exclude heavy post-punk influences out of VK roots, all you would get is a mixmash of power / nu metal /core and happily-ever-after-Canon rock, NOT "ultradeep dark music" most of you like.
 
Back to the topic - as I mentioned "the mixmash", it seems to have completely taken VK out of post-punk rails and "killed" the past sound, which unfortunately took our lovely scene to ultra-"American alternative" stanning - which after many thoughts, SICKENS ME. Yes, I might be accused of "sympathizing" towards these acts who actually sound like "American alternative" I talked about but hey - as long as it stays in LOW percentages of "alternative", I will be fine. Gazette for instance STILL has certain Luna Sea vibes to balance with cheesy Linkin Park/Slipknot riffage. Passable choice, briefly put.
 
You can get what I am saying just by comparing instrumentals. I would rather stand diminished chord raping than drop C chugging, which I have heard for like 1000x times. ALSO: if you don't know how to growl (looking at you, many neo-vk acts), then DON'T DO IT. Just sing FFS, and don't recycle chorus melodies from other bands!!!