gret

i cant get over the fucking ''dude very embarrassingly trying to imitate heath ledger's joker in front of his webcam to show his high school friends how TWISTED he is'' energy those two acapella tracks on that live dist single have 

I want the last 5 mins of my time back

DEG did it for years. Maybe Dimlim will eventually go back and re-record the Issei stuff so it doesn’t sound like everyone in the band fell down a tin foil staircase while they were playing 

I have a feeling this is some environment related song? Like look at that parched grass background. Wild guess they are spreading climate change awareness haha

キズ announced and played their new single 黒い雨 (Black Rain) at today’s live at TSUTAYA O-EAST. 
 
Looks are white tuxedos, and song sounds like an anime ending, featuring Lime on acoustic guitar and Lalala’s. 
 
As as an extent to today’s simultaneous live, I attended O-WEST where they displayed a video about today’s concept. Then acoustic live of Lime (Solo). 4 or 5 songs. We were then invited to exchange our ticket for a surprise O-East full live, two hours later. Everyone was stunned lmao. 

Didn't know that two of them are just support members! I liked their last release, so looking forward to this too!

It was only a matter of time before I created this thread lol so here we are.
 
City Pop, also known/seen as シティーポップ (shitī poppu) online, is the name given to the fusion genre of funk/disco/jazz/easy-listening music that existed in Japan from the late 70's and well into the 80's, where it became the national soundtrack of the times, providing an urban expression to the success and wonders of the city-life. Japan at this time was thriving due to the technological advancements during the 70's that allowed Japan's economy to explode when it came to exportation of consumer electronics and more, essentially making them a conglomerate for tech in the next decade that followed, and creating what many refer to as an "economic miracle", yet to be seen again today.
 
Here are several articles I've saved over the years if you'd like to know more:
 
The Musical Almanac: Japan’s City-Pop
The Breathless Bliss of City Pop
A Dreamy Trip back to Japans Capitalist Fantasy of the 1980s
A Guide to City Pop, the Soundtrack for Japan’s Bubble-Era Generation
 
The recent return of the genre state-side (we're always late to this stuff) by a number of DJs on YouTube, SoundCloud, and even Band Camp have given City Pop a breath of new life, and the reception has been so great that studios existing back then have since remastered and re-released albums (even on vinyl) for collectors and new fans alike.
 
Edit: According to @colorful人生:
 
Very Cool!
 
While City Pop predates the surge of JPOP in the 90's and can be seen as one genre as a whole, I felt that City Pop deserved its own thread as the number of releases that spanned the 70's-80's are ENDLESS, and even today new music artists utilize/associate the music genre to their own work, so it's safe to make the distinction between the two.
 
Now I don't have a starter-pack for those looking to get into the genre, but I've listened to a major chunk of the releases online to give a great recommendations list for those curious. These releases are easily available on YouTube, are varied in musical style and year of release, and they were some of the first listens for me when I got started, so hopefully at least one of them will interest you guys.
 
(ラジ) Rajie - Heart to Heart (1977)
 
(山下 達郎)Tatsuro Yamashita - SPACY (1977)
 
(みき松原 ) Miki Matsubara - Pocket Park (1980)
 
(貴子間宮)Takako Mamiya - Love Trip (1982)
 
(パイパー) Piper - Summer Breeze (1983)
 
(知子亜蘭) Tomoko Aran - More Relax (1984)
 
(敏生角松)Toshiki Kadomatsu - After 5 Clash (1984)
 
(桃子菊池) Momoko Kikuchi - Adventure (1986)
 
(明菜中森) Akina Nakamori - Stock (1988) 
NOTE:
 
That being said, there are still many artists to check out, so here's are a few more names for you to search for in your spare time.
 
I'll come back and update this (took a couple days to put together lol) with more recommendations when I can.
 
So who else here listens to these J-Oldies?

Welp, I guess I'm going to enter the bidding wars for a copy of the live limited CD on Yahoo Auctions. Wish me luck lol. I wish the money could go to the band instead of the person who bought it profiting off of it but 🙃 What can you do I guess. I'm going to be buying all of their subsequent releases to support the band as best as I can from abroad. Hopefully I can go see them live sometime next year. If no one gets to it before me (given that I actually win a copy) I will probably upload it on here.

-

They will also release their 2nd full album in December.
No details yet though. 

Sorry, i saw band logo and I only saw Nintendo's MOTHER game. XD
 
BAD JOKE BOIS

Songs are on spotify now!    
 

Half-right. I was around when the original "Glamorous sky" released, and in order to fully understand, we need to backtrack a bit.
 
The amount of people I knew (mostly girls) that were into VK/Japanese Rock at the time (2001-2005), were also hardcore manga readers (Japanese everything, amirite?), and the series NANA (already been out for maybe a few years) was definitely one of the top selling manga at the time (I'm sure both in Japan and Internationally). Tying HYDE into it, L'Arc~en~Ciel had just recently resumed activities after their hiatus, and it was definitely their song "Ready Steady GO", used in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, that shot them back up into the limelight here in the USA. Their old albums were dusted off the shelves and played non-stop (there were AMVs for their songs all over the internet at the time), and when people heard that HYDE was composing a new song for the live-adaptation of NANA, to be sung by none-other than Mika Nakashima (who was the main character for the live-film, and already recognized as the music artist she was), the hype got real. So real in fact, that you can check billboards for Japan and any articles online reviewing the song, it was a #1 hit for WEEKS.
 
I also knew people that were fans and could play the guitar, and apparently "Glamorous Sky" is very easy to understand composition-wise, and can be dissected to play certain parts that the fans are comfortable with, without ruining the song.
 
I never really looked into the song after about a year of its debut, but with the recent re-recorded version of the song (included in the single Kiss of Death (Produced by Hyde), which was the OP of the anime Darling in the Franxx), I was surprised that the reception to a song that was already 13 or so years old was as good as it was. It was snuck in there, and if it weren't for the advertising, I don't think people would have noticed. I definitely recommend you listen to the 2005 version of "glamorous sky" before checking the 2018 one (her voice has changed slightly in this one, and the emotion of the song is almost non-existent).
 
Just an FYI, the reception of the song influenced other music companies to implement the same strategy, such as the 2018 version of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis (Zankoku na Tenshi no Tese)", which was used for the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, and sung by Yoko Takahashi. Definitely another heavy hit song of the times before Mika Nakashima.
 
 
EDIT:
 
For those wondering, the anime-adaptation of NANA was not that big of an influence to the overall popularity of the series or the song "Glamorous Sky", so much as the Manga/Film was. The anime is now recognized as a "must watch" by those around in the anime scene at that time, but the song by Mika Nakashima/HYDE is separated only by the order in which everything happened. More people will know of the song before they know about the anime/manga they are associated with. Which explains why a lot of "covers" don't reference the series so much as Mika Nakashima herself.

Yumeleep's official statement on Urara's dismissal/withdrawal/firing/whatever ☕☕☕
 
Key points include:
- Urara had wanted to leave the band for a while (which can be found on his own statement as well); he repeated this many times to members
- He had also wanted to quit visual kei as well ("I'm not in a band to take cheki"; "I want to quit makeup"; "it's troublesome putting on this horn")
- The drums from the live-limited single they released recently were done by machine due to budget issues with mixing, so Urara never participated/was not included in the recording
- Members have pointed out (in member comments below) that Urara is a different person onstage and offstage. They have been dissatisfied with his poor conduct in band activities, such as reoccurring incidents where he may disclose band info to other people,  so the band held a staff meeting to deescalate the situation. However, during the meeting when Urara was confronted with these accusations, he appeared to have no desire to change his behavior so the meeting ended abruptly.
-Second page - members attempted to correct Urara's behavior to no avail; it's also interesting how it was pointed out that long gone members of the band were quoted as saying they couldn't stay because of Urara. 
- This part is a little sketchy to me, so help would be appreciated - the band had initially announced that Urara withdrew, so that if it were revealed first thing that he was actually fired, he wouldn't be able to perform anymore and retire. They also acknowledge his statement on being bullied and harassed, but I can't quite decipher the whole thing.
 
I am not a translator whatsoever, so please don't quote me on this. Also corrections are welcome.
 
 
Member comments:
 

all jrockers are rich in std's, and life experience.....

All their songs are great, I do have my favourites, but this is the reason they're my top band, because I don't get bored listening to any of their songs 😊

Sousou is my favorite song! Personally I prefer their newer stuff but songs like BLACK STAR is really good too imo

Hiii, that's a hard question, I love all their songs 💜 but I have to go with RAD MUSIC!! and Sairen, also Sousou is really good even tho I didn't like it at first, since it didn't feel like Codomo Dragon, but afterwards I realised it SCREAMS Codomo Dragon 😂 Love all their songs 🥰

Welcome! Always nice to have another zigzag and codomo dragon fan!
 
My favorite band is Codomo dragon too, though all I have been doing is listening to dimlim.
What are your favorite songs by them?

Wow @ this thread.
 
Anyway for my unpopular opinion: Michelin should stop ranking asian food because they suck at it. I suspect it's because most, if not all, the reviewers are westerners, and have widely different tastes from actual locals.
 
Music wise, the only legit kpop group to me is SHINee. They don't write most of their songs or compose them, but their albums are always refreshing and different from the one before.

Wow @ this thread.
 
Anyway for my unpopular opinion: Michelin should stop ranking asian food because they suck at it. I suspect it's because most, if not all, the reviewers are westerners, and have widely different tastes from actual locals.
 
Music wise, the only legit kpop group to me is SHINee. They don't write most of their songs or compose them, but their albums are always refreshing and different from the one before.

page 1: ice cream's pretty bad guys
 
page 14: FUCK TRANNIES & GAYS, IMPERIAL JAPAN DID NOTHING WRONG, IT ISNT PEDOPHILIA TO WANT TO JACK IT TO CARTOON CHILDREN
 
this thread is somehow escalating as suddenly as your average shounen anime

Also, further re: the 'CGI is shit' topic - A lot of the time that stuff ABSOLUTELY definitely does inexcusably suck assk. There are scenes from the The Hobbit trilogy and many of the more recent MCU films that look like they're straight up taken from an early PS2 or PS3 game, and those are movies that cost MILLIONS to produce. The main problem, from how I've understood it, is that nowadays a lot of the time the CG  work you see in those 'epic' large scale fights in the Avengers and that sorta work. is outsourced by the Hollywood studios to some random companies in India or China to cut costs, something that may happen quite late in the movie's 'development cycle', meaning there's a definite case of time crunch involved as well. The results, understandably, are mediocre at best. Moreover, the type of VERY conspicuously CG'd stuff ages fast, extremely fast, even compared to practical effects work. Look at the CG in a film like The Lawnmower Man and just TRY try to convince me that shit holds up, I dare you. Hell, even the CG in the early Harry Potter movies is beginning to show its age already. Meanwhile, a lot of the practical effects in movies like Blade Runner, John Carpenter's The Thing, etc. still hold up well even to this day. Yeah, I'm admittedly cherrypicking w/ my examples, and there's definitely a lot of low-budget movies (and hell, even AAA ones) with hokey practical effects as well, but still, you get my point. Unlike with a lot of practical effects work, the best kind of CGI is the variety that you wouldn't actually think is CG'd in because it looks so inconspicuous, like inserting family photos into picture frames in the background for example. This contemporary practice where some films are nearly entirely shot in front of a green screen is a crock of bs

Literally when has art not been political though? As much as I'm a fan of the ideal of art for art's sake, you can't really pretend  that art hasn't been co-opted by politics since like Ancient Rome. 
 
Edge and lack of sense are fine for me, not everything has to be conventionally beautiful or coherent to be good IMO. The main problem I personally have with a lot of contemporary art (at least the type  you'd stumble upon  in art galleries and such) is that half the time it feels like the works themselves are a mere afterthought and the narrative behind the work weighs in heavier when it comes to audience appreciation than the way in which said narrative is translated and ultimately expressed visually  by the artist (I'm just limiting this to visual media at this point, but you can definitely expand it beyond that scope to incorporate music and literature as well). It's all good and well  to incorporate your personal ideologies into your work, but the works themselves have to remain enjoyable on their own merits as well. The 'message' should be there to further enrich and enhance the material, it shouldn't subsume it and BECOME the material. At that point it just becomes soapboxing at best and outright propaganda at worst. I've disagreed with the idea that every creative work apparently needs to have some deeper layer to it ever since my first lit class in secondary school, and I don't think I'm ever gonna change my mind on that one. People often use the expression  'style over substance' to deride stuff, but apparently they just straight up forget that style IS substance as well, doubly so if we're talking about visual art. To me this type of people are equal to the ones who'll go like ''this song sucks bcuz it has no lyrics i can relate to :(" while entirely ignoring the actual music itself. It's focusing too much on one aspect of things and losing track of the bigger picture