CAT5

Welcome! I'm sure you'll find many of your kind here, enjoy!

Welcome to the forum, enjoy!

This is going to be great!

Need to add these to my list. TK completely slipped my mind.

I like the new song Although I prefer it when Alex sings

This is all I got for now Japanese: 01.06 AYNIW TEPO - FLOWERS 01.20 DEZERT - 『最高の食卓』 01.20 王舟 - PICTURE 01.21 mayuluca - 幸福の花びら 01.30 ATATA - JOY 02.13 alt of the society - -追憶の風景- 発売企画 02.23 agraph - the shader 03.09 bed - via nowhere Western: Submotion Orchestra - Colour Theory Daughter - Not To Disappear Savages - Adore Life The Last Shadow Puppets - TBA

aww wow. R.I.P

Since dub has been doing well, and we've been establishing more of a community on there, we've decided to make an Official dub room run by the MH staff - just like on plug.dj. We will now be using this room to host the MH Sunday sessions, so be sure to update your bookmarks! https://www.dubtrack.fm/join/monochrome-heaven_145247137777434

I may drop in too.

OH GOD. My apologies. The header was correct, but I made a typo in the thread wrote 8pm instead of 10pm. Sorry!

It's the same Japanese-centric type of room as MH, and there aren't really any specific rules.

It's @doombox's site.

Just wanted to remind everyone that there will be a dub session this evening @10PM UTC/GMT in the ALTJPN room: https://www.dubtrack.fm/join/alternative-japan

Not cool, Kyo. You may not agree with thom35's opinion, but that doesn't make it irrelevant. There's absolutely no reason to be rude, so let's chill out a bit.

p.ex { height: auto; width: 530px; } Greetings everyone! I actually did not plan on making a list this year, as 2015 wasn't my favorite year in music, but I was moved to do so after viewing everyone else's wonderful shares! Please note that this isn't a "best" list by any means, as I believe that music is much too subjective and personal for that to apply. This list is simply the things I enjoyed most over the year. This time, I made no distinctions between Japanese and non-Japanese music. The order is also inconsequential, as I can never bring myself to create rankings. Inspired by @hiroki, I created some short audio snippets, so don't hesistate to sample some of my picks! If they don't start immediately, please give them a second or two to load. I also apologize if the loading time for my post is initially a bit slow, but it should work itself out after a few seconds. ^^; Finally, if you take a moment to go through my list, I'd love to know your thoughts about it! Did anything catch your eyes/ears? Were there picks that you could agree/disagree with? Feel free to comment! CAT's favorite music of 2015 宮内優里 - 宮内優里miyauchi yuri - miyauchi yuri I could literally sit and listen to miyauchi yuri's glitchy folktronica all day and not get tired of it. Overall, his work DOES tend to be quite interchangeable, but I'm so utterly enamored with his sound that it doesn't even matter. I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy whatever he makes, and his latest self-titled album is more of the delicious same. This one does seem to be a bit less overtly melodic and more focused in ambient and IDM, though. So a few minor differences, but it's all just as lovely as ever! Braids - Deep in the Iris I've always thought of Braids as the Canadian counterpart to haisuinonasa, as both bands share a dreamy mix of electronica and indie-pop with just the right amount of experimental tendencies. They're also both very similar in atmosphere. But on this new album, Braids have taken that sound and made it more accessible and poppy. The results are stunning! Deep in the Iris is one of the few albums that I was looking forward to in 2015 that actually exceeded my expectations - I fell in love with it instantly! ハイスイノナサ - 変身 haisuinonasa - henshin Like @Pho, I'm also a proud haisuinonasa fanboy and agree that they've never released anything less than excellent. Unfortunately, their high bar quality seems to come at the expense of a slow and infrequent release schedule, but that just makes everything they put out even more precious. 変身 is only a single, but it's also a complete experience. It's fraught with all of their imaginative and technical post/math-rock signatures, but it shows various new sides of the band as well. I love this single, but it's such tease with no album in sight! Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare When Aoki Robin of Downy mentioned that he enjoyed Doldrums in an interview, I didn't hesistate to seek out their music, and I'm more than glad I did! Doldrums shares a similar, warped, Radiohead-esque aesthetic to Downy that resonates with me easily. There's something very dystopian and 'cyberpunk' about it that just tingles my musical senses! 水曜日のカンパネラ - ジパングSuiyoubi no Campanella - Zipangu I managed to avoid the hype for this group, but was finally swayed this year. I'm still not completely sold on the vocalist, but the songwriting is so infectious and the production so masterful that I can't help but be charmed. "Wedcamp" is just a completely fun and vivacious mix of Jpop, hip-hop and club music. Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Urban Flora Smooth female vocals, sleek, coercive beats, and dreamy overtones? I'm always game for this type of music and Urban Flora delivers it in spades. The tone and the lyrics of this EP are incredibly sensual, but it's all very tasteful too. Great music to vibe-out or chill to...or netflix and chill to. XD 湯川潮音 - セロファンの空Yukawa Shione - Cellophane no Sora Despite being one of the more reknown modern folk-pop artists in Japan, ----I've avoided trying Yukawa Shione's music until this year, but this just happened to be the perect time for me to do so. Cellophane no Sora is probably her most adventurous album yet and features production and instrumentation from musicians of acts like NATSUMEN, EGO-WRAPPIN', PETROLZ, pupa, anonymass, and more. With a line-up like that, you can't go wrong and Yukawa certainly did not! Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon So-called "future soul" band Hiatus Kaiyote has been on my radar since 2012's "Tawk Tomahawk" and what they've delivered on this exquisite follow-up was well worth the wait. "Choose Your Weapon" is a magnificent album with strong soul influences from the past and forward-thinking execution. mothercoat - GOHUM My favorite quirky indie-rockers have returned with their first album after changes to their line-up, and while GOHUM doesn't have the instant accessibility that allergies had, its off-kilter charm will burrow into your ears and reveal itself on repeat listens. Pretend - Tapestry'd Life I had a mighty need for math-rock in 2015 (as I do every year), and other than haisuinonasa, no other band was able to appease my appetite like Pretend did. Tapestry'd Life is only nine tracks, but it's an absolutely massive album with most tracks easily pushing past seven minutes. It's an absolutely eargasmic listen with a non-stop barrage of lush, mathy guitars and incredible, spastic drumming that never misses a beat. Dråpe - Relax/Relapse The last timed I listened to Norse band Dråpe, they were a dreamy shoegaze band with female vocals, but most of that has changed on Relax/Relapse. The vocalist is now male (although you could easily mistake his voice for female like i did). Most of the shoegaze elements have vanished and been replaced with neo-psychedelia - a move that made this band a winner in my ears! シャムキャッツ - TAKE CAREsiamese cats - TAKE CARE siamese cats originally started off sounding like a poor man's OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, but they've refined their sound over the years and become a force of their own. TAKE CARE is a short, twenty minute EP, but it's easily my favorite release from the band so far. It's summery, laidback, and carefree indie-rock with impeccably smooth execution. Despite siamese cats having a substantial presence in Japan's indie world, I'm always surprised that they seem to go unnoticed by overseas fans - their music would fit perfectly in a playlist with bands like ミツメ (mitsume), CARD and younger acts like Tempalay and never young beach! the north end - balance The Japanese emo veterans have returned after seven years since their last nation-wide release with the "Balance" EP, and it's a uniquely powerful mix of emo sensibilities, sprawling post-rock, and dub grooves. Simply three tracks were not enough for me! Tierpark - The Moment Two Worlds Meet I don't know much about music from Korea, but much like many other Asian countries outside of Japan, their indie scene seems to be experiencing a boom of sorts lately. Thankfully, my musical confidant @Pho has a keen ear to the scene and recommended Tierpark to me - a band with strong, emotive female vocals, soaring post-rock instrumentation, and a few mathy rhythms for good measure. What more could I ask for? I've always had a natural predilection towards female vocals, and since this area of music often tends to be overwhelmingly male-oriented genres, this recommendation was extra fortuitous for me! muffin - 茂みとイバラmuffin - Bushes & Briars muffin is a little-known, singer/songwriter from the Japanese indie-folk realm and an absolute gem for me. 茂みとイバラ (Bushes & Briars) is her latest release - a CD-R that's not widely available for purchase, but definitely worth obtaining. It's enchantingly distilled psychedelic-folk, with sweet, somber vocals laid atop a variable mix of warm and cold acoustic melodies. muffin reminds me of her fellow indie-folksters ゑでぃまぁこん (eddie marcon), who incidentally pitched in and played on this record as well! THE NOVEMBERS - Elegance THE NOVEMBERS have gotten to the point where it's difficult for them to do any wrong in my ears. Elegance does lack their darker, more melancholic side that I prefer, but they've tackled their lighter, fluffier sound like never before here. It's often compared to its similarly sunny predecessor "GIFT", but whereas that was more expansive and rough around the edges, Elegance is more reigned in, polished, and catchy. It's probably THE NOVEMERS' most cohesive record yet, with each track maintaining the whimsical and dreamy atmosphere (except for the last song). Elegance may not be the most compelling release from THE NOVEMBERS as a whole, but it's an impressive mark of refinement for the band, and one that'll grace my speakers for a while to come. シベールの日曜日 - Gypsy HouseCybele no Nichiyobi - Gypsy House Psychedelic rock is perhaps one of Japan's least prominent music exports, at least in modern times. There are plenty of Japanese bands playing psyche-influenced material, but very few contemporary acts play it as faithfully as Sundays & Cybele. Gypsy House doesn't attempt to bring anything new to the genre, and it doesn't have to - If you're like me and enjoy this sound in general, then there's plenty of it here to wrap your ears around! Ropes - dialogue Dynamic indie vocalist Achiko and ART-SCHOOL guitarist Masafumi Todaka took me by surprise with their second album as Ropes. I found their debut album pleasant, but forgettable overall, so I wasn't expecting much, but on dialogues, their songwriting seems much more self-assured and purposeful. Achiko's wilting vocals now bring out the best in Todaka's sentimental guitar play. PLAY DEAD SEASON / This Time We Will Not Promise And Forgive Split Japanese emo/post-hardcore bands PLAY DEAD SEASON and This Time We Will Not Promise And Forgive have proven themselves to be a perfect pair on this new split. Each track is brimming with emo-rawness punk spirit and it makes me hopeful for future releases! the piqnic - ZyouK Major thanks to @Jigsaw9 for recommending this one, as ZyouK became a favorite for me almost instantly. The fact that they sound eerily similar to THE NOVEMBERS (one of my favorite bands) certainly had a part to play, but they've definitely got their own things going. Some have even compared their brooding atmosphere and expansive soundscapes to bands like Boris. Extremely impressive for a CD-R release and a band that seems to have cropped up out of nowhere. I'm very optimistic about this band's future! Thank you for viewing, and indulging in my awkward taste for a bit! ^^

Fuyusuruneko is a good pick. I feel like that band is really starting to come into their own. Also, I was right about the H△G album? Does that mean I'm getting better at recognizing your taste?

Lovely list, kerii-san! I'm happy to see another mention for SCAPEGOAT! Their album was one of my favorite things from the VK world in 2015, and I agree about that nostalgic quality they have. I hope they stick around. BugLug's album was also quite neat, but I haven't spent much time with it. Can you believe that '35xxxv' was the first ONE OK ROCK album that I've tried? I can see why they appeal to such a broad audience, they're good at what they do. 'Mighty Long Fall' is nice and the chorus to "Cry out" was actually stuck in my head for a good while, Just ask @beni. XD Death Parade and a certain someone spamming the OP to "death" (wow, such pun) made me warm up to BRADIO a bit. I've never heard of LOCAL CONNECT before, but the vocalist has a great voice! I'm also a bit saddened by itsue's disbandment. Mizuki's vocals are too awesome not to grace our ears! D:

Really glad to see that someone else enjoyed Alina Baraz & Galimatias. That album is super easy to listen to and just hits all of the right spots. Of course you know I can vouch for THE NOVEMBERS and chanty. I'm still open to retrying PELICAN FANCLUB too. Kyuubi and Lianne are also great picks. What did you think of her album as a whole? That song by the internet is good too, did you like their album as well? And yep, Enon was a huge surprise for me too this year. He's been on fire, and I'm hopping he keeps it up! Good list, Fitz!

PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Brilliant list! The Aureole, mouse on the keys, and toe albums didn't make my list, but I feel like these three will be a staple in my playlist for a while to come. Definitely great picks. Naturally, haisuinonasa, the piqnic, and THE NOVEMBERS are all on my list too. I loved Tierpark as well, and I'm grateful to you for recommending it! HEALTH, SILICA GEL, and SARAM12SARAM are all intriguing prospects, so I plan on checking them out eventually. Can you believe that I still haven't tried that Geskia album? And aww, 'foster mother' was my favorite track from VITIUM, ahaha.

Just read through your list and... bye.

THERE WAS A NEW HARUKA NAKAMURA ALBUM!?!?!? I didn't know! Both those Chouchou and Anoice albums were good and yielded some favorites for me! I just recently tried that Gecko album which was nice too. Did you ever get around to listening to that Radicalfashion album? Also have you tried Hior Chronik? I think that might be up your alley, and it also features some Japanese musicians Yasushi Yoshida and Yoshinori Takezawa. I'd recommend that if you haven't heard it yet. Great list!

Very cool list! I still haven't tried that Burgh album, but from the samples I heard, they seem worthwhile! I was super pleased with THE MORTAL btw, age cannot stop Atsushi! That Marco bands also seems interested, especially with the MERRY comparison. I'm assuming you mean early MERRY, yes? I should also really look into your non-Jp list too. There's just too much music out there @.@