saishuu

He should just give up on leaving. Dude's still gonna be around for more 6-8 months?!

DEG's albums since TMOAB simply weren't fun to listen to. I couldn't enjoy them at all and I can count in one hand the songs I truly like from their last three albums prior to ARCHE. This new one, though, actually "invites" you to listen to it instead of being like "here, take a huge load of useless, lifeless and pretentious progressive and growly music and like it or not". It offers plenty of great moments and is actually fun, which is something they've been lacking since Withering to death. From someone who deeply enjoys their early, pre-TMOAB material the most, it's a nice feeling to have another album from them which I'm actually left wanting to replay over and over. I'm quite happy with ARCHE and I like most of the songs in it; Behind a vacant image, especially, is a gem. Soshaku, Tousei, Kuukoku no kyouon, Phenomenom, and Zero, Tefutefu and, much to my surprise, Midwife are other favorites from mine. The inferno is the only one I can't stand, but their good albums always have this kind of song so it's not even an issue (ugh, Beautiful Dirt is still such a terrible song).

nothing really specific so far afaik besides the new sakanaction that I know/hope is coming this first semester and the new singles + album from B'z, which is bound to come out this year too. new albums (or anything, really) from Sufjan Stevens and Utada Hikaru wouldn't hurt too. ETA: oh, there's the new Nightwish too. I'm ready for some more Floor.

It was an actual band! A very hyped one too. It was shady as hell when they broke up and right off the bat ViViD was formed with most of the members from RHYOLITE and signed to PSC.

Oh, I thought 36481? was back for a moment.

Their material has been getting terrible lately, so I'm not even sad.

I'm honestly surprised that's the best he could come up with for a solo career. Geez, that song is boring.

That guitar riff. <3 The samples sound great too. "The sad things" sounds so LUNA SEA-ish it's giving me... things. :x Geez, I'm so excited for this now.

I suck at reviewing stuff. I really do. But I felt I had to write about this single because I'm almost sure it is now one of my favourite singles from a VK band this year together with amber gris' "in the Cell". Unfortunately, Blu-BiLLioN is always under the radar for most people, but they've grabbed my attention from the start with a promising line-up and a softer sound (I'm a sucker for soft-kei) that stands out amongst plenty of "core" and heavy bands that have saturated the scene these last years. Not even their high-pitched vocalist can ruin their sound - in fact, he actually elevates it because he's surprisingly really damn good. Plus, Haku is my bae and I'm glad he's finally in a more succesful band in the scene after BABYLON. "Sincerely yours", the title song, is such a strong opener. This song (and most of their catalogue) could get pretty convoluted given how much things they put in a song (keyboards and electronic elements in addition to the other standard instruments), but everything here works so well. There are plenty of pop elements here executed to perfection, as well great production, a catchy hook, a nice and sound guitar solo and not a single boring moment throughout the whole thing. I'd say this is their best single track so far in their discography. However, the true gem here for me is the b-side "call me". This could've easily turned generic with the guitars being slightly heavier (that solo too!), but the band puts their signature sound here with their pop sensibility and it really shines. Such a sharp song. The third song, "醜悪の宴", is the weakest of the bunch. It's not bad at all and not one to skip during listens, but it fails to be up to par with the other two - it also sounds kinda derivative of Moran's "Party Monster" somehow. Anyway, I wish these guys would get the recognition they deserve. Their kind of sound is getting more and more uncommon these days and it's really exciting to still have a band like them releasing such quality material constantly. Hope there's tons of more music to come out from them.

Nice!

I hope it's better than the last one, but I'm not holding my breath.

First video under the new name: WHY DO I LIKE THIS BAND they're so corny.

I wasn't really a fan of "Z"OOM personally. But their single following it was great!

just listen to anything by Sugar tbh I might go through my library to try to find some of these songs later. I may be wrong on this, but I think the trend got more traction in early-mid '00s, at the same time some bands like SID, duraluMin and 華族 came up using mostly jazzy elements in their music.

Hmm, not really. Depends on what's being considered a marriage actually. The thought of living with someone else and the commitment don't really scare me, but the whole thing surrounding it (ceremonies, all the formal stuff, the wedding itself) turns me off completely. But I might just get married to another guy one day just to throw some people off. Shall be fun.

lol those song titles scream 解散

I'm not following k-pop that much anymore to know what's hyped these days or not, but not even one mention of Nicole's solo debut in this thread? Shaaaame!

awww, RIP.

Poor chemicalpictures.

and I'm still waiting for Lion Heads to come back.

Judging from these previews, seems like fun MERRY is back, which is awesome. I'm getting some nu Chemical Rhetoric/PEEP SHOW vibes from this. I really, really hope this turns out to be a good album.

CAO is a great album to start with. I'm glad to see it reviewed as part of the best albums this year - it's easily one of my favorites and has been in constant rotation here since it came out.

Yeah, the taste range really is expansive and it's even more clear these days as more people seem to be getting into the scene. I actually always thought of LOSTAGE as sort of an underground icon amongst more "invested" indie fans instead of Japanese rock music as a whole, especially in the western fanbase. The fact that they only release LPs every year or so helps to this fact - it gets harder for people to remember them often. I'm not sure if I'm making sense, sorry. lol Regarding OYA, I feel like their transition to this kind of sound drove many people away from the hype train and now, at least from my point of view, they're just a presence in the scene and not much of a headliner anymore. They were some of the first names that were recommended to people who were getting into the indie scene a few years ago, now it's far from that and other bands, mostly smaller ones, have taken this spot.

I feel like OYA at this point is just nice background music I wouldn't mind having on when trying to work or focus on something. I appreciate trying to be more experimental, but I think it's reached a point where it's just... pointless? With LOSTAGE, I feel like their music is just getting better. It's carrying an even more emotional load lately (which I appreciate a lot), the music itself sounds more polished, the production overall is really good and their releases are just very cohesive and pleasant to listen to. Plus, I still like "SURRENDER" better than anything OYA has ever done. So yeah, my vote goes to LOSTAGE.