The Reverend

Oh hey @co2, I didn't recognize you not awash in a sea of flames. welcome/adios

I didn't listen to this until like five months after it came out but damn! There are like 5 or 6 awesome (exclusive to this V/A?) songs on there. It's weird to say but that omnibus would definitely be in my top 10 VK albums of the year.

^ Points off for being knock-off Louboutins. Those legs though!

So it's end of the year best-of list time, and I wanted to get involved... but I realized with more and more streaming of music rather than mp3s, and more and more me being lazy and not really listening to as much new stuff as I should: my best of 2016 list would be incomplete and hard to make because what I've been listening to isn't as easily organized by year in Spotify. But I'm a narcissist who still wanted to get in on the fun and write *something* so I decided to highlight some of my favorite, or at least notable for one reason or another, looks from the VK world in 2016. Visual is in the name after all! I know hipsters, such as myself, say that the looks don't matter and it's all about the music, man... but I'll freely admit even though I'm not looking at a picture of the band for 98% of my listening to them, the aesthetics matter and part of the reason I like VK is that I enjoy looking at pretty boys in elaborate costumes rather than bearded dudes in black tshirts. With that in mind here is my partially tongue-in-cheek but also I seriously thought about it 10 Notable VK Looks of 2016: Garak’s Vocalist ジュリ I call this the James Dean x Jesus. Insanity Injection Vocalist Kyouka Because of that YouTubers react video, this look may be the VK shot heard ‘round the world. “Looks like Kerrigan” is pretty accurate shorthand for Kyouka’s possessed crab/snake cannibal spirit costume that is almost elaborate enough to explain what the hell he’s been doing for the last ten years. ペンタゴン Bassist Minpha The kawaii-ness is undisputed around these parts… I’m embracing dark Minpha and his crown of demonic scallop shells. 乙女国家 Band I know it’s a VK trope, but I seriously like it when band members all pick a different color and just commit. I’m never going to learn their names, so it helps to just be able to reference “the yellow one who borrowed some gloves from Ensoku’s This is a Pen PV”. Also for anyone else who’s been there: was this photo taken at the ramen ‘museum’ (read: food court) in Yokohama?? It kinda reminds me of that spot. Doak Band As a rapidly balding dude, I appreciate when even fake-baldness gets some shine in VK. Shout-out to the dude from Codoma A! Avelcain Vocalist Karma I bow at the altar of Avelcain… and I’m on the record as loving black-suit-wearing VK looks. Add some fucking palpable *zetsubou* and a sword for no real reason!?? I’m sold. Elysion Band They get my vote for best golden age Matina cosplay of the year. I saw them in June and there was just tons of vinyl and straps and lace and bare thigh and a frilly white dress and… there’s no joke here they just had an awesome/classic look. I don’t even remember what they sounded like, but I remember thinking their outfits and makeup had to take hours to get right before the show. Lack-co. Vocalist Tenten What you thought I wasn’t going to include this transcendent “it’s coming in nice” puberty mustache dyed red?? You don’t know me very well. He’s got some sort of black sequin freckles happening too for some Annie vibes. Nihilizm Band Just a look that I think really kills. Those red lace blindfolds are just cool IDK. The member with the bob is a cutie. ギャロ Vocalist Jojo I always love Jojo’s extremely sparkly lipstick…. And in this video (and others this year) he wins the award for most dangerously low-rise pants in VK. Got them side abs! I also don’t really understand his fork hat, but fuck it if you can’t get weird in VK where can you? Close but no cigar: Hollowgram's grown up/understated black looks, vocalist from More's curls and one satyr horn, Plastic Tree vocalist pushing the bounds of how cool he can make cutting his own hair look Purposefully Omitted: The Black Swan blackface, any boring not-quite Kamijo look Let me know why I'm wrong and what should have been on this list!

I mean, I'd much rather buy another mini-album than three separate releases... but good news anyway! (as long as they're available in stores...) (Somehow Iggy became my pet band and I'm not quite sure how haha)

Awesome work @hiroki!! I think our tastes only overlap sporadically... but I'm definitely going to check out some of these releases based on your recommendation. Some thoughts about what made the cut: - Vistlip is coming up on a decade!? Wow. - Again, what a shame Blesscode is disbanding. In addition to Imperial City being great, I find myself spinning their cover of that Morrigan song a lot too... they were on a roll in 2016. - Agreed Pentagon's 絶叫！ was a nice comeback after the lackluster Ghost Hotel. - LOL. I like that the Garak's dude decided a crown of thorns was a good look.

Picked up a couple of the same things as @Shaolan974over the holidays:

I've had the chance to listen to RTJ3 a couple times now... And now that they've got three good albums under their belts, do we start talking about RTJ being one of the best hip hop duos of all time?? Off the top of my head I've got: Eric B & Rakim Mobb Deep Clipse Outkast ahead of them. Is that it? Are RTJ top-five already?

Damn, they had a good sound and the Imperial City PV had a quality and budget that indicated a band on the rise.

Looks like they got @Yukami's note to romanize their name right at least! (too late to change those twitter handles I guess)

Awesome thread! (I have no artists to add that you didn't mention already..... X Japan I guess)

Good news! Here's hoping for an album sometime next year after this single...

Alright! I love the reviews and lists this time of year... and we're starting off with an album I really liked. Agree with @emmnyI do think Silence made their full-length debut a bit more accessible than past works. Some of the songs on those minis were so weird/dense they could put you off. They still experiment, but also write some killer tunes.

Hehe, I would enjoy this.... and I think assuming you had a fridge full of beer you could probably get them to play in your basement for like $100.

Hi there! I was a lurker for a couple years before posting anything too... Ha, those things sound more interesting than what I do in my spare time! (I'm also a sucker for Jin's bands, we'll get along great)

Driving home from work and talking about the ambitious new mini-album from VK upstarts Insanity Injection. Let me know what you think! I don't think everyone will like this mini, but I do think everyone should give it a listen.

Don't really follow Elm but am intrigued they have a song title for my 'chainsaw' thread.... might have to seek this (or that song) out.

Nice thread! Geez, the 'scraps of Pierrot' bands have been around for a decade now!?! Shame Earl Grey didn't really do much, that look in the thumbnail is A+ Didn't know Sleep My Dear would've been 25... they should've done something for the reunion!

I think I'm the exact opposite here, I like witchouse because it incorporates hip hop (a genre I enjoy). I've said elsewhere on the forum... Salem's King Night is probably one of my top 25 favorite albums (and that's only slightly embarrassing to admit). The witchhouse projects I've liked have generally been a little more chill... the ones that are too noisy or aggressive turn me off. Never really thought of Clams Casino as being witchhouse related... but I can kind of see it. Has that atmospheric hip hop with stark drum machine sound. I've never checked out any band that uses a bunch of weird symbols in their name on principle. Haha. (except for the singer from Deftones side-project thing, but I didn't like that much)

Anyone else mentally creating a '95-'99 VK setlist?? This will probably be a lot of fun.

I'll play! (though my fave venues at home will be very specific to where I live... they're probably not iconic to a broad audience) Japan: Takadanobaba AREA (I can't put a link cause I'm at work and their website is 'xxx records' haha) - easy to find from the train station, seems like people come out for shows there even though I wouldn't call the area around it very happening, the three tiered audience platforms make for good views from everywhere and make for more 'front row' spots, bar is not in the main hall so you could grab a drink without being in the way/subjected to some band you're trying to not watch Virginia, USA: The National (Richmond) - nice, old-school theater touches (marquee, ornate balcony, etc), pretty good sound, gently sloping upward towards the back floor (I'm big on venues providing good views apparently) Jewish Mother (Virginia Beach) - I'm talking about the older one (both are shut down now), my favorite venue in my hometown when I was a teenager... capacity was probably only like 100 (nostalgia), delicious chicken salad, very close to the beach, D'espairs Ray played there on their US tour, good mix of 'popular' local bands and smaller regional/national touring bands The Southern (Charlottesville) - bigger than you think inside, good variety (I've seen everything from bluegrass to the dude from The Melvins to noisy metal here), couches on a platform near the rear if you want to sit down but still see, lots of stone touches in the basement make it feel like a cave, like AREA has a bar outside the main hall so you can grab a drink in peace if you want What are some of your favorites @MaikoMizu??

Herb/mustard coated pork loin with a roasted apple/cranberry sauce served on potato pancakes. Maybe the best dinner I've made!

"Beer + @Ito" (it was aight)