CAT5

Ling tosite's album was already on of my contenders for AOTY. It's difficult to deny their level of excellence. I already listened to the Church of Misery album about twice not too long ago. I love stoner/doom stuff, but this one didn't really grab me as much as I'd hoped it to.

PV for the new album! They sound pretty good...reminds me of a flood of circle!

Probably my favorite song from the new album!

This album and THE NOVEMBERS album are gonna be KILLER.

Underground legends downy will be returning with a new album titled "第5作品集『無題』" on November the 20th! Samples of the new album can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00G92W3NK downy 第5作品集『無題』 2013.11.20 On Sale 1.『　　　』 2.赫灼セルロイド 3.曦ヲ見ヨ！ 4.下弦の月 5.時雨前 6.黒 7.春と修羅 8.雨の犬 9.燦 10.或る夜 11.椿 全11曲入り PECF-1081 felicity cap-184 定価￥2,625 (税抜価格￥2,500) http://downy-web.com/

You seem like an awesome person! Naturally, we're excited to have you join the community as well! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing you around the forum! If you have any questions/concerns, feel free to contact any of the staff members (the red and blue names)!

Cool. I dig these dudes.

You're preaching to the choir. I understand perfectly what a trend is. And having been into Japanese music for over a decade, I'm pretty well acquainted with a variety of scenes in the country and understand well what would be considered trendy and whatnot. But I disagree on one point. I think Japan's culture/society does have a lot to do with they way they view trends. You said and I quote: Why? Because following trends (popular or not) is generally more acceptable in a country where the whole is valued more than the individual. Of course Japan isn't uniform to the point where different genres don't exist. It would be absolutely inane to think that. In fact, I'd even argue that it's because Japanese society is so uniform that their music industry is so thriving and diverse. In a society like that, music becomes an even more precious form of self-expression.

That's a pretty broad generalization to make, though - as I'm sure there are plenty of Japanese musicians that feel disdain towards trendy/popular music. Although given how uniform Japanese society can be, I wouldn't say that your observation is entirely invalid either - since following trends is probably more agreeable for them.

You might have to rephrase this for me, as I believe I might be misinterpreting it. But are you saying that jpop groups and non-vk bands DON'T follow trends like bands in the west?

宇宙コンビニ Daijiro Nakagawa / だいじろー　(Guitar) Emi Ohki / えみちょこ　(Vocal , Bass) Yuto Sakai / なずお　(Drum) They seem to romanize their name as (uchuucombini). I bought this band's debut mini album a few days ago after a cursory listen of their samples, AND I'M SO GLAD THAT I DID! Having formed in January of last year (2012), they're still really new to the scene, but their sound is already wonderfully polished! They don't look like much (not that looks really matter outside of VK), but they're quite talented for their field of music. They describe themselves as a "progressive pop" band, and while that label is accurate, they could be more easily be described as a math-pop or math-rock band with female vocals. I'm an absolute sucker for math-rock, math-pop - math-anything basically! I adore the the playing style. My friend and Japanese-indie hero Steve Tanaka described them as so: "Amazing vocals and tricky instrumentation with buttery smooth, clean and sublime guitar tones and creative drumlines." There are already quite a few math-rock bands in the Japanese indie scene, but there aren't quite as many in this form (with female vocals). Sure, you have bands like ハイスイノナサ‎ (haisuinonasa), but their sound is much more than just straightforward math-rock. The closest band I could think to compare uchuucombini to is tricot. However, I think uchuu has tricot beat hands down. The only thing that tricot has over uchuu right now is their raw aggressiveness, but I think uchuu trumps tricot in every other aspect. After a year of letdowns and being severely underwhelmed by a number of Japapanese indie and former Japanaese indie bands, I was elated to come across a band like this! Some female fronted bands that were initially very promising (like akai ko-en and tricot) put out some highly dissatisfying releases this year, so I'm happy to see a new wave of promising female fronted bands like 宇宙コンビニ and chouchou merged syrups. storming the scene. I can only hope that 宇宙コンビニ will go on to release more quality material in the future. Their sound isn't perfect, though. I'd like to hear them write some slightly more upbeat or aggressive tunes, but I do enjoy their laidback, post-rock aesthetic since they can pull it off beautifully. They could also write some slightly stronger melodies, but that's not a major issue here since the melodies on their mini album are already quite nice! So yeah, they're not flawless, but their debut is splendid and they're one of the brightest new lights to appear on the J-indie scene imo!

another sunnyday will be releasing their 3rd full album titled "YOLO" on November 27th! 11月27日(水) 発売 3rd ALBUM「YOLO」 DQC-1167(STNR-010)　￥3,000-（税込） 1.MORNING STIR 2.Bucket Mash 3.マリネ 4.ユーグレナ 5.Shot in the arm 6.夏の再来 7.Prelude 8.ハログレア 9.Wrapping City 10.夜道のハイライト 11.O-halo 12.ライオネルベイビー http://www.anothersunnyday.net/ https://www.facebook.com/anothersunnyday https://twitter.com/a_sunnydayjp

new PV for "U & I" I'm not really digging the vocal melodies, but musically, there's some very kick-ass stuff going on!

Lol, yeah, THE NOVEMBERS have been super prolific lately...I'm not sure what's gotten into these guys, BUT THEY ARE FUCKING INSPIRED. Seriously, everything they've been releasing recently has been QUALITY! This album is gonna kick so much ass.

New-age jazz/post-rock band fox capture plan will be releasing their 2nd album "BRIDGE" on December 4th! Ryo Kishimoto, piano (JABBERLOOP) Hidehiro Kawai, double bass (Immigrant’s Bossa Band) Tsukasa Inoue, drums (direction of the chord, nhhmbase) 発売日 : 2013年12月4日 LABEL : PLAYWRIGHT \2,000- 01. Attack on fox 02. RISING 03. Bridge #1 04. Far out 05. 閉ざされた青い空間 06. Bridge #2 07. Pictures 08. 3rd Down（Alternate Take） 09. Bridge #3 10. Teardrop（Massive Attack）