Earlier today (Jan 30) at their live at clubasia, avian enthusiasts PELICAN FANCLUB announced that they plan to release their very first album this spring. Album title, tracklist and tour details haven't been revealed yet.
Through February they'll be touring with Panorama Panama Town and Age Factory, and in March they'll do a collab live with odol.
GREAT TRIANGLE TOUR 2017
2017年2月15日（水）大阪府 LIVE HOUSE Pangea
2017年2月16日（木）広島県 HIROSHIMA BACK BEAT
2017年2月17日（金）福岡県 graf
2017年2月22日（水）愛知県 CLUB ROCK'N'ROLL
2017年2月23日（木）東京都 GARRET udagawa
2017年2月24日（金）宮城県 enn 2nd
＜出演者＞
PELICAN FANCLUB / パノラマパナマタウン / Age Factory
Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas
I'm a sucker for fantasy genre. I've only seen the first ep but from what I saw, the animation was pretty nice. Need to catch up on this soon.
GRANBLUE FANTASY The Animation
Another fantasy! Read some of the manga chps in prior to this. I'm really liking the detailed animation on this one, no shortcuts used.
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2
Enjoyed the first season, so obviously I must continue this. Still hilarious! Though I keep questioning if Aqua is wearing panties at all or did the visuals make it look like she doesnt...
Scum's Wish
Another show where I've read the manga years prior to the show. Despite of it being in school setting, it's mature in its content and it's something I can tolerate.
Seiren
Let's just call it this one a guilty pleasure. Innocent ecchi romance I guess. Reminds me a lot like Amagami SS.
Tales of Zestiria the X 2nd Season
Mainly watching it for ufotable's incredible visual. I like to call it Unlimited Budget Works.
yeah I feel yah, I'm just saying compared to what these things have been going for, that's relatively cheap. The market price is dropping as new tech is being introduced and the older tech is in turn becoming more affordable. Start saving up man, that's what I did... in fact now that I see that they have dropped to $399 i might actually get another one for a dual setup but yeah you can get 1440p (or even 1080p) 144hz monitors for less than that, but it won't have stuff like gsync and the other bells and whistles. imo there's no point in getting a high refresh rate panel unless it comes with gsync or freesync, otherwise the framerate is just sickening at times.
Oh btw I'm mainly upgrading MOBO and CPU because I'm still stuck on the AM3+ platform with my FX9370.... which is starting to lag behind severely in cpu heavy modern games, but what do you expect from a 6 year old architecture XD If I had a Haswell chip as beastly as the 4770k I would also be content to run it into the ground, since the gains from it to skylake or kabylake are very negligible, at least gaming wise gains that is.
I'm still using my old Z97 board with i7 4770k Haswell cpu, and I find no reason to upgrade to the later gen parts. I'm gonna run this thing to the ground until it dies. The difference in cpus of my Haswell and Kabylake is very minimal. My PC hardly had any hiccups in terms of performance. I recently formatted my PC and reinstalled Win7 which made the performance even better! I have more than enough on my rig to satisfy my needs.
If there's anything I need to upgrade, that would be my monitors. Having a 144hz monitor will make a substantial difference but man they're pricey AF.
As a follow-up of the previous years' entries, I would like to introduce this thread again. It is a simple way to keep tabs on your listening experiences, and efficient if you were to create a year-end list for 2017 in case you are keen on those. It is an instant reminder of what your favourite records of this year are, and lists are simply fun to keep. The idea is to create a series of ratings (whether that be a five-star, or a ten-star system, or any of your choice) and keep them updated throughout the year. Please try to keep your post compact and easy on the eyes. — (2016 edition)
Long story short: My GTX 780ti died on me couple weeks ago. Sent it in to EVGA since I still had 50 days left for warranty and got the GTX 980ti as a replacement.
| Another solid effort but it doesn't stand out as much as it could.
With the head of a human, a bird's torso, a long, flowing tail, and a voice said to surpass all the gods and angels in Nirvana, the fantastical creature known as the Kalavinka is the inspiration behind 陰陽座's fourteenth album, 迦陵頻伽 (Karyobinga). 陰陽座's known for taking heavy amounts of inspiration from Japanese folklore and incorporating it into their music - even though they sound more like Iron Maiden than anything else - so this is a positively peculiar route to follow after their recent focus on Japanese deities and folklore. The Japanese interpretation of the Kalavinka is portrayed faithfully on the album cover; vocalist Kuroneko's upper torso is dressed as a winged Bodhisattva and her lower half is birdlike. It's both a gorgeous sight and a lofty proposition.
I'm torn on 迦陵頻伽. On one hand, the feel and flow of the album are all too familiar. I peg it as some hybrid of 金剛九尾 (Kongokyuubi) and snippets of their last two albums because of the pacing and atmosphere. 金剛九尾 ranks among my least favorite of their albums, but to its credit, 迦陵頻伽 is much more polished and straightforward, as if MATATABI had a destination in mind when composing. On the other hand, there is lots of carry over from 風神界逅 (Fuujinkaikou) and 雷神創世 (Raijinsousei), which I regard as near perfect. It's not as ambitious as their last effort, and at times it feels like they're marking boxes off a checklist, but this consistency is why they've never released a bad album. An opportunity to incorporate some Indian and East Asian influences into more songs was missed and would have greatly opened up their sound, but I can look past that. If it didn't appeal to you before, this will not change your mind.
Where this album impresses me is how the mystic, haunting atmosphere of their earlier eras returns. It's no longer as dark or ominous, but still present and mysterious. Opener "迦陵頻伽" really catches what I'm trying to describe here, and it's got one of the catchiest choruses in their repertoire. Centerpiece "人魚の檻" is a masterful emotional manipulator that's hogged my repeat button for the last few weeks. Those in need of a fix of heavy metal should check out "廿弐匹目は毒蝮" or lead single "愛する者よ、死に候え", and "轆轤首" is the token track where they buck all expectations and try something new. It's tone reminds me of "無風忍法帖" and it's one of my favorites of the album. The canned strings of "轆轤首" were a curious choice, and "御前の瞳に羞いの砂" sounds suspiciously familiar, but I'll admit these are minor quibbles.
陰陽座 is in the midst of a second renaissance after the release of 2012's 鬼子母神 (Kishibojin), breaking a streak of tepid albums with a concept so beautifully realized that it still sounds fresh today. 迦陵頻伽 stabilizes this upward trend, and while it's not the best thing ever it's pretty good.
The HG Fenice was one of my favorite builds when it came out. I'm a sucker for asymmetrical designs. Unfortunately, I've moved back on campus, so I had to leave my HUGE back catalogue at home, but I brought my MG RX-78-2 3.0 with me as well as the HG Barbatos 6th form. It's the only HG Barb I haven't built yet. I haven't started building them yet because my best friend bought me a pair of these beauties so I'm waiting for them to show up (or rather for the mail room at my campus to open since they're closed on weekends) and then I'll crack into the 3.0.
Greetings, monochromians and netizens at large! I'm a bit late, but here are my top 20 Favorite Albums (and mini-albums) of 2016. In this list, I've made no distinction between Japanese and International releases, since I enjoyed much fewer non-Japanese albums in 2016 than usual. I usually never bother ranking my AOTY lists, but I wanted to give it a shot this year for fun. I do think the rankings reflect my general sentiments in a way, but...don't read too much into them lol. XD
Lastly, Please note that this list isn't meant to be some kind of objective statement on the music released last year - this is simply a recollection of the albums I enjoyed most in 2016. So have a look around, and if you have any thoughts to share, please feel free! (I also made some short audio samples for each track, for those who might be curious!)
Let's get into it!
20
The Heart Speaks In Whispers by Corinne Bailey Rae
While this album didn't entirely live up to the lofty expectations set by 2010's The Sea, there was still a lot here for me to enjoy! Corinne dabbled in her usual pop fare, but it was the strong, classic r&b and soul influences throughout the record that truly struck a chord. I adore her usually refined and elegant approach to songwriting, but it was great to hear her stretch those fantastic vocal chords and really go for it at times too.
19
SECRETS by Deep Sea Diver
At the risk of sounding like a complete and utter weeb, I must admit that's it's been incredibly difficult for me to find American indie-rock bands that cater to my taste. There are, of course, some that I enjoy, but on the whole, few seem to possess the kind of rhythmic and melodic sensibilities that I go for. Seattle's Deep Sea Diver are an exception, though. They're certainly not innovators by any means, but they do have an understated quirkiness that I find extremely charming!
18
TAXIS by koh nakashima
I'm a bit surprised that there's not much mention of this guy in the Western Jpop sphere. For me, he's been one of the most impressive and promising newcomers to hit the scene. He seemingly came out of nowhere, dropping two EPs - RAFT and TAXIS - just a few months apart. I found TAXIS especially appealing for its nostalgic, yet refreshing blend of house, city-pop, uk garage, and pop. This also gets extra points for being one of the few releases where me and @beni's taste actually converge!
17
NIPPONNO ONNAWO UTAU BEST by NakamuraEmi
Speaking of nostalgia - NakamuraEmi also won me over with an acoustic-pop style that hearkens back to early 00's jpop. Though, like Koh Nakashima, she brings a hip flair to her music and even skillfully incorporates a rap flow at times; which is something of a normal occurrence in Jpop these days thanks to acts like daoko and suiyoubi no campanella. Funnily enough, "NIPPONNO ONNAWO UTAU BEST" is simultaneously Nakamura's major debut while also serving as a best-of album for her indie material. This was my first experience with her (as it probably was for most people), and I'm nothing short of impressed. She already has a well established sound, honed from years of toiling away in obscurity, and I can't wait to hear what's next for her.
16
Word in the Petals by CHERRYBOY FUNCTION
Unless you're some kind of Japanese club music aficionado, then chances are you probably haven't heard of CHERRYBOY FUNCTION. Hell, even if you're just a casual fan of electronica, coming across him or his music is unlikely given his sufficiently weak social network game and scanty remix work. Yet despite this, he's been quietly cranking out his bleeps & bloops via the small record label ExT Recordings for about a decade now, and also plays alongside more prominent electronic acts like DE DE MOUSE and TOFUBEATS. Word in the Petals is just another great dose of his colorful techno and house grooves.
15
THE NEWEST JOKE by VELTPUNCH
Despite their prominence as one of the western fanbase's treasured indie bands of the 00's, I was never much of a VELTPUNCH fan. Even when I first listened to this album, I wrote it off as being decent, but nothing more. Yet for reasons unknown to me, I gave it another try and it actually began to click, growing on me with each repeat listen. With a whopping fourteen tracks, clocking in at over an hour, the album does drag on for a bit too long. I might have placed this higher in the list if the pleasant-but-forgettable tracks were omitted in favor of the stronger moments, but there's still more than enough raucous indie-rock fun here to keep me coming back!
14
LAST WALTZ by world's end girlfriend
This was actually my first time listening to a WEG record, and to be honest, it just barely made my list. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it's simply a massive record and I felt I hadn't properly digested it yet. Though the fact that I still included it is a testament to the impression that's it's left on me. LAST WALTZ is an expansive amalgam of beautiful, cinematic landscapes, twisted distortion, and gritty electronics - right up my alley. I'll definitely enjoy continuing to digest this one in the year ahead.
13
freeform jazz by uyama hiroto
Uyama Hiroto will probably be viewed as the spiritual successor to his peer and collaborator, the late Nujabes. However, with all due respect, I would say that this album has propelled him into a league of his own. While not technically "free-jazz", it certainly feels less bound than his previous works. It's a more musical effort overall, and the drumwork is especially more organic than before, as opposed to the straightforward boom-bap approach that similar artists take. In fact, you can hardly categorize this as just "jazzy hip-hop" anymore. Hell, the entire album only has one actual rap feature (and thankfully so, because I can't stomach cheesy backpacker rap!). It's an exquisite listen with fantastic vibes.
12
remix04 rem by Chouchou
I've followed Chouchou casually for years now, but this album has completely cemented me as a fan. It's a self-remix album in the which duo have reworked their songs completely into ambient piano pieces, and it's astoundingly gorgeous! It's so well done that this albums feels like a new, cohesive work of its own, as opposed to an assortment of previously released tracks. I'd love for them to continue along this style.
11
DEEPER by HITORIE
Wowaka's musical mind never ceases to amaze me. As a former vocaloid producer, he brings to HITORIE all of the colorful melodies and infectious riffs that I love, while thankfully leaving the actual vocaloid at home. If it weren't for the tail end of the album, DEEPER would have been much higher in rank, but the first half is so strong and has received SO MUCH playtime from me that it warrants a place on this list!
10
"inori de wa todokanai kyori" by JYOCHO
The spirit of uchuu combini being resurrected in the form of JYOCHO was no doubt the biggest year-end surprise for me. For the most part, JYOCHO picks up exactly where the band left off, except this time adding a flutist into the arrangement. Even the new vocalist Rionos is barely distinguishable from uchuu's Emichoco. All in all, It's a lovely dose of math-pop, and just what I needed in my musical diet last year.
09
DISTORTION by THIS IS JAPAN
These 4-piece alt. rockers appeared with yet another awesome debut EP last year. Citing influences such as Fugazi and Japanese indie legends NUMBER GIRL and Bloodthirsty Butchers, these guys play a style of rock that smashes together fun and catchy melodies with pure, spastic rawness! At a time where the smooth grooves of city-pop and the chilled sounds of western indie are trending in the J-indie world, THIS IS JAPAN is a breath of fresh air!
08
Floa by Mammal Hands
With the emergence of acts like mouse on the keys and fox capture plan, bands fusing post-rock with piano-based jazz seem to be appearing more these days. Mammal Hands was my latest discovery in this style, and unlike their labelmates GoGo Penguin (who also released a solid album in 2016), this trio are a bit more loyal to their jazz influences. They have a pretty awesome saxophonist, which definitely supplements their jazzy predilections and gives them a more notable edge over similar bands. I like to imagine that Floa is what Uyama Hiroto would sound like if he went in a more jazzy and cinematic direction.
07
Flames & Figures by The Seshen
The Seshen was another serendipitous new discovery for me last year. I stumbled across them while perusing one of my favorite UK music labels, Tru Thoughts, and I was enamored immediately. They make the kind of forward-thinking soul music that I love, with hints of electronica, synth-pop, and psychedelia all bundled into one, crisp, enthralling package. I've seen them described as "Little Dragon meets Erykah Badu", which is brilliant since I love those two. Apparently, they've also supported acts like Thundercat and Hiatus Kaiyote (who I also love!).
06
IKI by HITORIE
No, you're not going crazy. This is, indeed, another HITORIE album on my list lol. They released two last year, and as you can see, I'm smitten with them both! IKI, however, is the second one to be released and also the better of the two. It doesn't have the powerhouse singles that DEEPER did, but it's the more cohesive and balanced work. Whereas DEEPER fizzles out towards the end, IKI is thoroughly engaging throughout. The amount of quality music that HITORIE released last year is just baffling!
05
A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
I'm most likely a fan of any Japanese band that you can describe as sounding Radiohead-esque - sleepy.ab, downy, trico, wooderd chiarie, ar - so it only makes sense that I'd be a fan of the masters themselves. I can't even tell you why I like them so much, but I guess their sound just speaks to my heart on a visceral level. This album is like the soundtrack to a dream of infinitely unravelling splendor. The arrangements are gorgeous and the production is as pristine and masterful as it gets. Amazing!
04
Ugly Slave Children by No Party for Cao Dong
These Taiwanese rockers completely swept me off my feet after seeing what I'd easily consider my favorite music video of 2016. Admittedly, the album took a while to grow on me, with its unexpectedly danceable nature, but I've really come to love its uniquely passionate blend of grooves, mathy passages, and emo outbursts.
03
SONASILE by Shohei Amimori
I was beginning to lose faith in PROGRESSIVE FOrM, my favorite Japanese electronic label, as the quality of their releases have been shoddy over past few years, but Shohei Amimori has completely dispelled my growing stigma with this album! SONASILE is an absolutely incredible sonic feast of colorful IDM and sunny glitch-pop. There are also hints of modern classical and jazz piano strewn throughout, and even some very strong Shibuya-Kei influences. I'm surprised that the western fandom seems to have overlooked this one!
02
dai roku sakuhin-shu "mudai" by downy
As expected, downy's 6th untitled album is absolutely singular! It's much different from their previous album, yet just as good. Robin Aoki's vocals are more prominent than they've ever been, and the production seems a bit more earthy and natural, as if the album was produced specifically with live performances in mind. It's brought out a new kind of warmth to their otherwise stark and cold, dystopian sound. The general soundscape of the album isn't as varied as their previous releases, but it works in downy's favor here. Instead of going for an outwardly expansive sound, the album plays out like the band exploring their own inner workings, and it's a whole new world unto itself. I'm not sure how these guys do it, but they keep evolving while remaining a uniquely potent force.
01
siraph by siraph
You know those "create your dream band" topics? Well, I've ruminated on those kinds of subjects quite a bit and never in a million years would I have thought to create a band as perfect as siraph. These guys are literally a dream come true - mostly due in part to the god-tier combination of haisuinonasa's Yoshimasa Terui and school food punishment's Masayuki Hasuo. Terui was the driving force behind haisinonasa and Hasuo was responsible for school food punishment's best material. With both bands in the throes of oblivion (the former appears to be on hiatus and the latter has been disbanded for years), their unique sounds seemed at danger of being lost to time. Thankfully, siraph has appeared with this godsend of a debut to save the day! The EP combines Terui's offbeat, math rock-sensibilities and Hasuo's eccentric synth grooves to brilliant effect. Both composers wrote three tracks each, and while their individual styles are obvious, they couldn't be any more complimentary as a unit. Singer Annabel completes the circle, bringing with her an anison charm that completely invigorates Hasuo and Terui's already imaginative compositions. With this EP, in addition to their demos and recent single, siraph has single-handedly made my 2016!
There are so many quests h e l p . I even ended up finding a dungeon on my own and got a Scepter of the Pious. Pretty sure I'm not supposed to have that yet!!
I love them! Really enjoyed New Place in 2015, one of my favorite albums from last year New Generation is also a really good album. I agree that the music can be kind of same-y at times, but it's still so good regardless.
As for Stage, I really like it. Pretty awesome single and the b-side are great.
So after getting to play it and trying a few games out, I think it's a good console. The screen is big enough to play games but small enough to carry it around.
The controllers are a little too small, but it's a matter of getting used to them, the console comes with a joystick kind of thing that you can stick the tiny controllers in and turn it into an xbox/ps4 controller of sorts, which was very comfortable to hold.
It also has motion controls, I didn't see any game that used them as well as most wii games have, but it's there.
Handheld mode and TV mode both run smoothly. Graphics are obviously not Nintendo's selling point, but I saw variety and creativity which is good enough for me. Imagine wiiu' s graphics a bit more polished.
Seem like Nintendo is breathing new life into the Mario series, I don't care for Mario games (including the kart series) but after trying the new games out I'm pleasantly surprised.
For a 2 in 1 console, the price is okay. So, probably something I'd buy in the future.
Edit: I'm also not a zelda fan, but the demo for the new one had me impressed. Huge world, easy and smooth game play.
The pond in my neighborhood was frozen yesterday! So, I braved it and took a self-portrait on it.
It was frozen pretty solid so I actually ice skated a little too (haha).
Started a new playthrough of Darkest Dungeon, I'm on week 40 and kinda tired of the constant grind. I think they overuse the bullshit moments for artificial difficult, and the progress is slowed unecessarily. May not finish it.
Started Trails in the Sky too, looking good so far, the characters are trope-y, but they have heart. Some dialogues/reactions genuinely suprises me. The PC port is really lame tho, could've be much better optimized.
Tons of Overwatch and some Division DZ to top it off
Original Saku reacted to CAT5 in Ame no Parade to release 2nd album "Change your pops" this March
Original Saku got a reaction from nick in Show Your Desktop
Original Saku got a reaction from Chi in PELICAN FANCLUB to release 1st Full Album "Home Electronics" on May 10
Original Saku got a reaction from Flame-X in Show off your Rig
Original Saku got a reaction from Ito in mouse on the keys new EP "Out of Body" release
Original Saku got a reaction from CAT5 in 雨のパレード (ame no parade)