This just went from fucking stupid to fucking confusing... hold up...
...
Oh wait, I got it now! TYPE H,I,J are the only ones with bonus tracks, and buying them all will total ¥1,620, which is roughly the cost of one type of a previous single, so that's not bad! Total of four tracks being released, like most BP records singles.
This just went from fucking stupid to fucking confusing... hold up...
...
Oh wait, I got it now! TYPE H,I,J are the only ones with bonus tracks, and buying them all will total ¥1,620, which is roughly the cost of one type of a previous single, so that's not bad! Total of four tracks being released, like most BP records singles.
I think AvelCain just killed it in 2014. (I mean, obviously I'm a bit obsessed at the moment)
I admire their consistency since Eve joined as their producer/songwriter. They've definitely established a sound that is unique enough that you could pick them out of a line-up. They released like 20 new songs last year, and while none are stand out candidates for my personal list of "top 10 songs ever", I also don't think I outright dislike a single one. That kind of return on investment in VK is very rare.
...
That's all I can say...
But those clean vocaloid vocals on 【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】【L】 made me wanna vomit and run off a cliff. Literally the worst vocals I've ever heard, and not even in a "charming visual kei" kinda way, but in a "cover my ears, they're being raped" kind of way ... were fucking annoying. But other than that, the harsh vocals were nice, and the music itself was well composed, leaving me optimistic for what eve has next for AvelCain. I'd like to hear karma's voice on Lilith (with the beep-boops taken out, too).
So I had a small interest in listening to AvelCain after sampling their single Psycho, but nothing that made me jump to explore them more. So yesterday, on a whim, I listened to the eponymous debut and LOVED it! I am now wishing I took more time to listen to this band - their sound reminds me of Lycaon in the best of ways, and they have earned a new fan for the sound they were able to capture in their album.
He suffered a spinal cord injury to his neck thanks to a stage diver in late 2013, so he hasn't been able to perform. Still going through rehabilitation, but he has been a part of their studio activities and plays the bass for all the songs on the album.
I would definitely give it a few listens and some time. It may just be me, but their best songs have always been a bit slow to reveal themselves. Honestly, I was disappointed when I heard the previews, but as crazy as it may sound that just gave me a good feeling about this album.
As for the credits...
iNtO the mARkeT --- Yuu
NOnsenSe MARkeT --- Merry (started with the lyrics)
「東京」 --- Yuu
自意識過剰型木偶人間 --- Yuu, Tetsu
ZERO -ゼロ- --- Nero
暗闇にピンク --- Kenichi
Hide-and-seek --- Yuu
Zombie Paradise ～地獄の舞踏曲～ --- Tetsu
Carnival --- Nero
Station 07 --- Nero
千代田線デモクラシー --- Nero
梟 --- Tetsu
Unreachable Voice --- Yuu
群青 --- Merry
.5 points is a bonus. This thread started out funny, but lost steam pretty quickly. I definitely wouldn't sit through it again. Maybe the next'll be better?
You can laugh at me all you want, but I really like GALLOWS; I think it's a great album, I was totally psyched since the previews went public, I did not feel let down, and I do NOT regret buying it! Although, I will say that the Engrish can be quite embarrassing at times...
Also, kind of random, but I think EXODUS should have been a full-length album, instead of making it a mini with all those singles released beforehand. I think EXODUS works better like this:
・EXODUS
・I'm sick b'coz I love u (2013)
・ASHES
・BALLAD
・HIDDEN
・VANISH
・CRYSTALLISE
・THE MORNING GLOW
・BE STRONG
・LIGHTNING
・INVINCIBLE
・NIGHT
Is this supposed to get me excited or something? Because if so it failed. DELUHI's been gone for so long that their name doesn't hold weight anymore. How desperate do you have to be to re-release a lackluster best of?
Love the regular edition cover in it's simplicity.. (Can't help but think of Videodrome..)
The special edition.. Eh, it's just Yuuki. Not that he isn't stunning but I've always hated the concept of just using bandmen head shots for covers (especially for full albums) feels like a waste to me and takes away from the identity of the album. Thanks to them for giving us some of each though!
I actually really like 群青, but I really don't understand why they chose to end the album with that song. It makes no sense, pun not intended, and it awkwardly makes the album feel unfinished. It's like the band needs to take a class on track list arrangements or something. It would have been better to take out the a cappella chorus from the beginning, maybe place it between Carnival and Station 07, and give us a new song that would be more appropriate to end the album.
Post 1 - Top 10 Japanese male musician releases (♫ Just keep scrolling, just keep scolling~ ♫)
Post 2 - Top 10 Japanese female musician releases (I'm more of a J-pop head then I thought!)
Post 3 - Runners up (that should be in the above two categories but couldn't fit in), the mixed vocals + honourable mentions (all previously brought up in ChristMHas list)
Post 4 - Top English album + single (only one of each because I'm more of an Asian music listener than anything else)
My top 10 Japanese male musician releases
TK from 凛として時雨 - Fantastic Magic /
asobius - pray & grow /
THE NOVEMBERS - Rhapsody in beauty /
MEJIBRAY - シアトリカル・ブルーブラック /
Lycaon - 馬鹿ね。+ 悪女の微笑 + Shadow /
AvelCain - AvelCain /
Plastic Tree - echo /
PLASTICZOOMS - Secret Postcard /
yazzmad - niche['ni:tʃə] /
LM.C - PERFECT FANTASY /
For the full length (unedited) review, click on the spoiler tag below:
Here's my end of the year list. I quickly realized I only listen to cross-dresser crap and don't follow many western bands closely enough to pay attention to new releases. Oh well~~~.
Now with working mp3s
Albums:
Kamijo : Heart
Kamijo graced us this year with not one, but two albums. As this was his only full release, I’ve included it in my list here (although Symphony of the Vampire was equally as good, just for different reasons). As many other reviewers have said before me, this album truly showcased what aspects of Versailles Kamijo really had contributed. Ripe with a mix of classic tropes from his past bands, Heart brings the best of several worlds together in a one gilded soundscape. In it, he has some Versailles-esque neoclassical tracks (“(闇夜のライオン”), some Lareine-ish melodic songs (“Romantique” and “抱きしめられながら”), and even an epic-length track (“Heart”). In spite of the many critiques his previous band received about becoming stagnant after exhausting their classical influences, Kamijo has managed to keep his signature style while revitalizing it just enough to keep things fresh and interesting. If this year is any indication of how things will go for Kamijo, it looks like the King of Rose-kei will keep his throne for years to come.
闇夜のライオン:
己龍 : 暁歌水月
One more first album of their career!! Just kidding: if there’s one thing the Kiryu is good at, it is releasing an absurd amount of CDs with very little time to breathe. 暁歌水月 is their 4th full-length in their discography and is one of their stronger albums to me. While their crazy take on Japanese folk-metal may get tiresome to some, their formula works exceptionally well for them and clearly stick to the motto “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Here you’ll find a good mix of their dark and chaotic songs, as well as their melodic and softer ones, all held together by their signature use of traditional Japanese instruments. As this album showcases more than ever, The Kiryu have some of the best riffage in the scene and do not let stereotypical visual-kei earmarks get in the way of their progressive individuality.
愛怨忌焔:
Azealia Banks : Broke with Expensive Taste
Another year of firsts for this artist—Azealia Banks dropped her long awaited full length album late this year. After originally announcing to come out in the spring of this year, the release date kept getting pushed further and further back. Thankfully, the wait was well worth it. Filled with her typical poignant disposition and clever lyrics, Broke With Expensive Taste offers a smattering of musical styles all over the spectrum that work well together and do not fall victim to tokenism. Her claim-to-fame track “212” made yet another appearance, as well as other singles “Yung Rapunxel,” “Heavy Metal And Reflective,” and “Chasing Time.” If you’re looking to try out an album that goes from playfully singing in Spanish, to a song called “BBD” (which stands for “Bad Bitches Do It”), and a surf rock song about a rebellious teen that goes to a nudist beach, this album is a must-try.
Lana Del Ray once again leads the sadcore pop scene with her second album, Ultraviolence. Lana is an artist I tended to shy away from for a while, but this album seems to have won me over. It’s disposition is much more melancholic than what I’ve heard from her first album, and its lyrical content are more about coming out of tight spots in her life, such as abusive relationships. The musicianship here is top-notch, and her voice, hell, her whole persona, fits the album’s 70’s revival vibe so well. If you’re in the mood to watch the rain with flowers in your hair while Facetiming with a sepia filter, this is the perfect album to do that to. Definitely recommend checking out “Cruel World,” “Shades of Cool,” and “West Coast.”
West Coast:
Sukekiyo : Immortalis
Already wrote a bit about this on the Christmas list, but basically this is what Arche is derived from and I like this better. While I don’t necessarily like most of their members, when they put their heads together they really do come up with some wonderful ideas.
斑人間:
ギャロ : NERO
Completely out of left-field for me this year, I tried their split single with AvelCain and had to have more. Kind of quirky, but doesn’t use that as a crutch to base their musical decisions on, The Gallow are truly a band to keep an eye on. In a way, they kind of remind me of Cali Gari but more aggressive. Do not let this band stay under your radar!
帝都四号魔水路:
DEZERT : 「タイトルなし」
Another branch of the homage-kei trinity, DEZERT finally managed to put out a full-length album this year after releasing quite a large discography before doing so. Miraculously, nothing on here was from their previous singles (which is unheard of in visual-kei????) . Hard-hitting and fast paced, 「タイトルなし」 serves up some cool nü-metal influenced tracks as well as some metal-core ones. Compared to their earlier discography, this was probably their most accessible release to me and a strong step in the right direct for this band. My favorite tracks include “Doze,” “「擬死」,” and “胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚.” While they’re not exactly similar, per say, if you’ve enjoyed AvelCain’s album odds are you will also enjoy this one. Cake, anyone?
胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚:
AvelCain : AvelCain-アベルカイン-
AvelCain released their first full-length as this year, self-titled “AvelCain.” This album falls under the homage-kei umbrella, giving praise to many different acts from the late 90’s and turn-of-the-century visual-kei. Here we find a return to motifs about psychosis, darkness, and ball-jointed dolls in a more modernized fashion. From hard hitting singles like “Psycho” and “ID,” to equally as powerful (and slightly deranged) tracks like “操り人形,” this album brings back all of those feelings of not quite fitting in and teen angst right back. The band does show their softer side with songs like “千羽鶴.” There’s even a Puppet Mammy cover song, as most likely suggested by their drummer and producer who was a part of that band. This is a great album to start with when trying to get into AvelCain. My only complaint with it is that they used quite a lot of rereleased material here and it could have benefitted from a larger repertoire of new songs.
PSYCHO-サイコ-:
Buck-Tick : 或いはアナーキー
Visual-kei legends Buck-Tick released their millionth album this year. While I haven’t really followed them for too long, it seems as though their sound has evolved at every step in their career from all different genres. According to Wikipedia, they are currently in their “straight rock” phase, although I’m not sure how true that holds when descripting 或いはアナーキー. This album has many different influences in it, spanning different genres they’ve already covered at some point in their career like post-punk, new wave, gothic rock, and quirky punk. Even with the massive genre shifts from the start to the end of the album, it all somehow works. A surprising favorite of mine is “Survival Dance,” which is one of the most fun songs released this whole year. Even if you’re afraid of Buck-Tick’s gigantic discography, this album is a good place to dive in (it’s actually the first full album of theirs that I tried out, myself). Oyaji rock has never sounded so fresh. So what?! So What?!
Survival Dance:
UNDEAD CORPORATION : 神速
This album is actually my first time listening to Undead Corporation. As you could probably tell by the album art, they’re a Touhou group. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect on my first listen, but what I got was a donkey kick in the stomach because this album goes hard real fast. As much I hate to use “brvtal” to describe something, even ironically, that’s basically the most succinct way to describe what this album has to offer. However, there is enough craftsmanship to this album’s music that it isn’t heavy for heavy’s sake—each song seems deliberate and thought out, even if those fleshed out ideas are pants-on-your-head crazy. This album spans a few genres, mostly hovering around metal-core + death-core, dabbling a bit into technical death metal and even pop, and it makes use of beauty and the beast vocals without being grating or trite. Another interesting point about this album is that there are really only 8 songs and then the rest are reinterpretations or remixes. Off the top of my head, I know that there is at least one song that was redone without any harsh vocals, for example. Even if you aren’t really a follower of the touhou scene, or don’t quite “get it” (trust me, I do not fall under either of those), this album is great ear bleach to cleanse all of those no-name bands trying to do the same thing and failing.
八十八ヶ所巡礼 : 攻撃的国民的音楽
This band is bizarre in one of the best ways possible. They’re like looking at a modern art gallery and instead of being like “uggghh this is sO DUMb” you feel “wait…I actually…get this?” Maybe there really is some deeper meaning behind the unsettling egg men, only found when meditating to the cascades of arpeggios and bends oozing out of 88’s 4th mini-album. Keeping their spot as one of Cat5’s most favorite indie bands, this album still retains all of the technical goodness and androgynous multitasking that all of their previous works had to offer, but this time around it is presented in a way that is somehow more accessible. While I do love crazy key changes and time signatures, there was always this layer to 88’s music that I found somewhat draining, with the exception of a few songs. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re fantastic, but I could never listen to them for extended periods of time. 攻撃的国民的音楽 fixed this issue and has allowed me to sink into their vibrant world again and again. “赤い衝動-R.I.P-“ is like a religious experience for me, and “都会の魔界” some of the coolest bass walks ever.
赤い衝動-R.I.P-:
Singles:
アルルカン : 墓穴
Arlequin started off as what I thought would just be a guilty pleasure for me. Now they’ve grown into a legitimate pleasure and one of the best vkei bands currently active (even if their full-length was a bit lackluster). This single here is their best release to date, imo. The chorus of the title track is phenomenal and I love how the guitar solo mimics the main melody of the song, then transitions into a rehash of the same theme seamlessly. We all have classics that we will love for forever, and I feel that this single will be one of those classics for me. A+ beep-boop-core clown music.
墓穴:
Scapegoat : 赤いバスルーム
Scapegoat are like the D’espairsRay of today: a lot of people like them, but we just keep forgetting they’re around. I discovered this single by watching their music video and was total blown away. While they are beep-boop core as well, they put more emphasis on the –core than the bloops (I’m so good at writing, omg). The title track is dark and moody in the best way possible, and the rest of the single has better wubs than whatever the fuck the gazette have been trying to do since 2010. Hell, even Cat5 liked this single. This is a band I have to keep reminding myself to check out because they are tight.
赤いバスルーム:
少年記 : Bang Me
Hyped to kingdom come, the title track of this single was actually really good. I love the 90s boyband harmonization going on here, and the vocalist can actually sing well. While the musicianship isn’t anything ground breaking, it is good at what it needs to do and “Bang Me” is so catchy that it really doesn’t matter if the guitars are bland or not. I don’t consider myself to be a fan of this band, but I’ll be there for them if they keep releasing catchy pop rock songs like this and their previous single. Originally I tried this out to see what all the hype was, expecting to roll my eyes. Then I ended up really liking it, hue. Para + Mi’hen: 1, Me: 0.
Bang Me:
Ru:Natic : 「M」/ foggy night
The OG homage-kei band that never quite made it. This is their first single that was released since they decided to become self-produced (and quite frankly, much better. Good move on their part) and it takes a break from the La:Sadie’s worship to experiment in some more melodic aspects of late 90’s vkei hallmarks. Unfortunately, and fortunately all at once, they’ve traded in the dolphin noises to channel the ghost of Mana’s past. Truly a fantastic single, and hopefully not their last.
Penicillin : SOL
Penicillin are one of the oldest vkei bands ever, and technically have been active for longer than both Kuroyume and Luna Sea (as they didn’t take a break for 10 years and then decide they ran out of money). This year marked the release of their 200522nd album, which was more or less super bland, as well as their 3004000101st and 3004000102nd singles. While the previous single of this year, “幻想カタルシス”, was also great, the b-sides weren’t strong enough to place it above SOL. Not sure what “SOL” is supposed to mean (“Shit outta Luck??”), but the title track is a great post-Ultimate Velocity pop rock song, and the songs they chose to cover as b-sides were superb. Their covers also didn’t smother the original integrity of the songs and actually sounded like Penicillin trying to cover them, not butcher them. Awful album art though, jfc
北ウィング -PENICILLIN ver.- :
Honorable Mentions:
Kylie Minogue : Kiss Me Once
Kylie is an artist that I didn’t know I knew, but after listening to more of her stuff I realized I knew who she was (lmao). This album here is a good mix of different flavors of pop, like the dub-steppy “Sexercise,” the catchy “Les Sex,” and the softer “I was gonna cancel.” To be honest, this sounds more like Madonna than anything Gaga has ever done, but internet stan wars are for the mentally ill. My favorite track is actually the weird-ass b-side “Mr. President.” Apparently I’m the only person who likes it, so I’m just going to consider it written specifically for me.
Mr. President:
D機関 : 羅刹國
羅刹國 is the first album by D機関 , which is like the same thing as 黒夜葬 but different enough to warrant making a different band for. Idk, all I know is that is the same kind of gawfy Moi Dix Mois Castlevania nonsense that people here dig, but ignore because they don’t wear dresses. Good album nonetheless, just didn’t make my top list because nothing stood out enough on it to really floor: it’s merely a solid album. Definitely an improvement over his first mini-album under this name as well, which showcased some good ideas with very poor execution.
Variant Cell→Apotosis (索敵機、発艦始め！):
グリーヴァ : 黒イ百合ノ花ト×××
グリーヴァreleased their first mini-album this year. To my dismay, it was only 1.75 new songs and the rest were all rerecordings. Thankfully, those rerecordings are great and were not just “remastered” (read: copied and pasted onto this album). It contains a great smattering of their early tunes, as well as early-like tunes, that are more aggressive than what can be found on their 2nd album. Thankfully the left off that god awful song “無常成ル世界ノ解答.” The unplugged and acoustic versions of their songs are surprisingly good as well. This didn’t make my top list because it could have used more unreleased material, although it was good for what it was.
相剋ノ[baiser] -黒イ百合ノ花ト×××version-:
Gwen Stefani : Baby Don't Lie
I’ve always liked Gwen, even when No Doubt were first starting to become popular in the early 90s when I was a little kid. Always dug her solo work too, even if I didn’t like the hyper exposed song “Sweet Escape” which still plays all the time on mom radio stations. This is her comeback single, and honestly I liked it a lot. It has enough catchy aspects and oomph to both make me remember it and want to listen to it again. The reason this is on the “honorable mentions” instead of the real list, however, is because of the embarrassing part in the middle. The music video is super vapor-wavy too, which is awesome.
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