SUBLIMINAL

O HERPES.

I didn't think I would find mine, since I've changed last.fm accounts far too many times, but I did get this one from 2007/2008, back when D'espairsRay was automatically directed to DéspairsRay and I had about 30,000 plays. I've had about ten new accounts since then, because I can't stay in one place for too long. alsjda;l. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/200803 ... uppettalk/? How embarrassing some of those artists are. I do miss listening to Plastic Tree so much, though. This inspired me to dig out those CDs! Don't even remember what パラレル sound like. I did have an account back when it was audioscrobbler but I can't remember my username and rest assured my taste was even worse and I was even dumber. ETA: http://replay.waybackmachine.org/200808 ... raveofmind Found another one from 2008, derp.

No pictures as yet (only some of the whole litter) but I'm in the process of purchasing a new puppy!

Wait, so she's dropped the "Tramps" part and this is her new shit? This is what I've been waiting years for? How anti-climatic.

Hm. I had to give this quite a bit of consideration. My mother and father's music collections were pivotal in my taste's progression. I know for a fact that if I hadn't been exposed to my dad's rock music or my mum's electronic/synthpop obsessions, I would be drowning in top 40 tracks right now. Deep Purple, Guns 'n' Roses, Pink Floyd and specifically Electric Light Orchestra on my dad's side (who stick out most because they were the band he would put on the loudest). He used to listen to a lot of Sex Pistols too, but, boy, I hated that band. Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and INXS were an influence from my mum's speakers. My grandfather all but forced me to listen to classical music when I was six and through him and it I learnt how to play the piano, which has given me an in built affinity for the instrument in music. It also introduced me to opera, which has made me appreciative of tenor and soprano vocals and classically-inspired genres, such as symphonic metal and neo-classical. Metal often uses the same structural techniques as classical music. I can't pinpoint any particular artist, but the genre in general has had an enormous impact on the evolution of my musical taste. Lacuna Coil. I was in love with them in my early-to-mid teens. I had listened to heavier music prior to Lacuna Coil, but I had never been so attached to a band that was even remotely metal. I wasn't too big on harsh vocals or growls then either, but Andrea Ferro (mediocre vocalist that he is) was a helpful stepping stone. Through them I began to get interested in female-fronted rock/metal and, believe it or not, female-fronted bands helped me embrace my sexuality. Additionally, they taught me to appreciate languages other than my own in music. So without them, I might've cast aside anything Japanese thrust at me. Dir en grey. They were by no means the first Japanese band I heard, but they were the... weirdest, for want of a more appropriate word. And they were the only one who once upon a time embraced androgyny. I'm not a huge Dir en grey fan anymore, but they were the first visual kei band I actually liked and I began to search for more after hearing them, namely D'espairsRay. I'd basically sever all ties with visual kei if not for D'espairsRay. I wouldn't say they shaped my musical taste in any way, but since they're my favourite band and have been for years now, they have shaped me. Arjen Anthony Lucassen's projects. Pulled me out of the musical slump I was in and introduced me to an array of new, awesome musicians who have since become irreplacable in my library. The Gathering, too, broadened my musical horizons more than I can express. Katatonia and Opeth, especially the latter, for teaching me to love growling. Alcest and Neige's other outfits (mainly Amesoeurs). Before discovering this man, I would typically dissociate myself from black metal. I had no idea "atmospheric black metal" existed. I'd always assumed black metal was all br00tal kvlt death to all! satan rules! and I wasn't into that variety at all. And then I heard Alcest, around the release of Souvenirs d'un autre monde, and was speechless that this was made by a well-known name in the black metal community. Eventually I came to love everything Neige touched and started to explore similar artists. I even tried some of those oh so frightening black metal bands I otherwise would've steered clear of (such as Negură Bunget and An Autumn for Crippled Children) and enjoyed them.

I'm not a gay man but I'm 99% sure that's called bottoming from the top :X

Who the hell falls for profiles with "musicians" updating in English? Seriously?

I had to give it some thought and came to the conclusion that only one of my favourite Japanese bands is disbanded (merry go round), although plenty of others are now on hiatus. Most of them are quietly active and continue to release fresh material. It doesn't matter to me if a band is disbanded, stagnant, or on an indefinite hiatus. Sure, I'm sad when I find out there won't be any more music, but I can love and listen to what they have released with zeal. I can still find pleasure in purchasing their CDs because I'm a shameless collector and, more often than not, I can follow their new bands. The excitement of a new release is the only thing missing, really. But music is timeless. Favourite musicians retiring from music, though. That blows.

Mail order, eh? Can never have enough Kazuma in my life.

I love her music, she's so brilliant.

IMPLYING THAT ALBUM ISN'T AWESOME.

AW YEEEEAH

+ The Gathering - Probably Built in the Fifties (7:26) Alcest - Printemps émeraude (7:20) Ayreon - The Sixth Extinction (12:18) Fen - End of the Dream (8:13) Agalloch - In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion (14:42) Devin Townsend Project - Awake!! (9:44) & Heaven Send (8:54) Cult of Luna - Dark City, Dead Man (15:49) Gojira - Flying Whales (7:45) There are more, but my laptop is about to run out of battery, so this'll do for now. Usually if I'm that into a song, I never even notice the length!

I brought mine to school once when it was all the rage and was obviously much younger and the principle confiscated them, I never saw my collection again.

Feel your pain unseen pain and longing for solitude | under a sky engulfed in ashes the end may have brought you peace | but your bitter laughter still fills my mind. A translation of what's written in the booklet. English lyrics aren't written down, so that's all I can get. Unless you mean you want a romanisation...

Eh, kind of sensed it. He's been weirdly depressed for a while.

Finishing BioShock 1 & 2.

New look, nudity: Hnnnnghhh.

I don't have an mp3 player anymore. I used to have an 60GB iPod but I gave it to my mum, now I use my phone, which only has about 4-8GB of space for music, I forget, but artists I can't bare to leave off it include: D'espairsRay, naturally The Gathering Katatonia Ayreon Devin Townsend Project Sneaker Pimps Utada Hikaru KOKIA Rurutia Ellie Goulding David Sylvian More recently, XA-VAT because they make for awesome ringtones.

I wish people in the music business would stop telling Rebecca Black she is brilliant.

Who the fuck are Quaff.

deadman merry go round Jaguar, I guess.

There is a lot of historical and religious symbolism in MONSTERS-era releases. .... In all of D'espairsRay's releases, actually. For example the instrument fans joked about being a vuvuzela was, if I remember correctly, a horn used to signal death, which Hizumi used to lead his "parade." The masks they wore in the LOVE IS DEAD video/photoshoot were based on masks worn by doctors during the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) to spare them from infection. The crossed arrow is a mixture of (or their own interpretation of) Latin/Christian symbols that mean death or that the person marked with it had died in battle, which makes sense since the song CROSSED ARROWS relates to war and death for love. I think the symbol has sort of been modified to form a "D" and "R." All in all death seems to be a theme throughout.

My HMV order arrived a day before it was scheduled to. D: really!!?? =O Did you order it before or after the earthquake? xD Two days before! But I have a friend who ordered during and her order arrived fairly quickly as well, maybe a little bit later but quicker than expected given the circumstances. Did they announce that things would be slow or something?

Suddenly my BioWare thread is really active!