CAT5

Liking what I hear!

English downy interview!!!! http://www.brownnoiseunit.com/interviews/downy/

^ The new Suiyobi isn't perfect, but it's been such a lackluster year for me, that it's easily in my top favorites so far. I didn't think the new clammbon was bad, but it didn't quite grab me like '2010' did.

I've never been one to really pay attention to lyrics, so everything I mention below is based purely on feelings and sound. THE NOVEMBERS have a good amount of songs like this for me. This one in particular tends to tug at the heart strings: But other than a good chunk of their songs, I usually consult a playlist I made for whenever i'm feeling down or depressed. Some of the Japanese stuff on that playlist include: My favorite song by wooderd chiarie, which is unapologetically 'radiohead-kei', and a sound that I've always been fond of: Some early sleepy.ab (more 'radiohead-kei', haha) number0, downy, and eksperimentoj also have a few that I tend to spin Also 'am:3:45' by ling tosite sigure is hands down one of my fav. songs by the band, and I've always found it highly therapeutic for these kinds of moods: Unfortunately, I have too many songs too talk about for this topic ^^;

*double post* Finally hopping on the Suiyoubi no Campanella train. That new album is just nasty!!! (thanks again @Amoz)

"UNPOPULAR" opinion: Frequent disbandment is not unique to Visual Kei From what I've observed over the years, there seems to be a common notion that the VK scene is highly unstable and unhealthy, and thatVK bands disband at the speed of light. I completely understand why some people might feel this way, but I think perspective is very important here. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of passionate Visual Kei fans abroad - people like @Trombe who tirelessly deliver news from every nook and cranny of the scene, and people like our good MH users here (@Champ213, @Biopanda, @Mi'ihen, @Yuki No Sai, @robkun, @kyoselflove, too many to name) who have gone out of their way to purchase and share all kinds of indie and rare VK goodies with overseas fans, we tend to have a rather enlarged and distorted view of VK as a whole. The overwhelming fervor found in the overseas Visual Kei fanbase simply doesn't exist for most other areas of Japanese music, like Japanese Jazz or folk/ssw for instance (although I wish it did). Bands outside of VK disband all the time - we're just much less aware of them. Most of us are viewing visual kei under a microscope and ignoring the peripheries. Common sense dictates that not every 4 to 5 guys with instruments and a makeup kit will find success.

If you guys listen to MY WAY MY LOVE, then the songs that Yukio writes are REALLY apparent, haha. This is great. Excited for the album!

I'm pretty sure I've opened all of my CDs, as I usually end up making my own rips in either v0 or flac. Most of the stuff I buy I either already have downloaded in low quality or isn't stuff that readily appears on the net. I do carefully open them and keep the plastic to slide the CD case back into. and I also keep the obis.

Poll suggested by: @kyoselflove! How many unopened CDs/DVDs do you have? To submit a poll for the MH POLL OF THE WEEK, P.M. either @CAT5 or @beni with your poll question, choices, and state whether it's multiple choice or not.

These are really great! Nice job!

Personally, I agree that if you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say it at all. Most of the time, negative comments are nothing more than users stroking their e-peen or attempting to build their ego - which usually stems from some sort of insecurity. So as deplorable as some comments may be, it's really something that should be pitied. Some people tend to come on here and think that they can say whatever they want because "it's the internet", but they forget that this a forum run by people - people who have established rules. Even though rules number 1 and 2 are clear as day, we don't go as far as to police every negative sentiment as long as it's presented in a civil and inoffensive way. Now we do our best to enforce these rules and weed out the troublemakers, but unfortunately, we don't always catch everything. This is when members, like yourself, can be of assistance. There is a 'report' button that you should see at the bottom of every post. It's a much more effective measure than using the rant thread. And even beyond that, the staff is always around to hear any complaints that you may have and you're always welcome to message us. We'd like to keep this a pleasant place for everyone. And regarding @Lestat's comment. We're actually quite lenient and save banning as a last resort. We take bans seriously and they are something that the entire staff has input on. So suffice to say that out of the few bans that we've actually given out, each and every one of them has always been warranted.

http://monochrome-heaven.com/index.php/topic/35180-2015-japanese-music-ratings/ Now as to how many people here actually have a RYM account, I wouldn't know...

My apologies for the error! I've fixed it now, thank you!

For me, Zankyo Records is a personal favorite and just a lovely, lovely label for J-indie fans in general. They operate in the realms of "indie-rock", post-rock, math-rock, and even the mildly experimental. 9mm parabellum bullet got their start here before they went major, same as cinema staff. Other fantastic acts on the roster include ハイスイノナサ, te', mudy on the 昨晩, 3nd, COgeNdshE, and more. Even their overseas artist roster is impressive with bands like Maps & Atlases, Tubelord, Rolo Tomassi, 65daysofstatic, and Memory Map! I also love PROGRESSIVE FOrM - absolutely brilliant Electronic label with an amazing roster! AOKI takamasa, Ametsub, Gesikia!, mergrim, m-koda, LLLL, and the list goes on. Basically, your wet dream of Japanese IDM artists. On a similar note, flau is somewhat close in sound, but with more of a focus on ambient, dream-pop, and modern classical. They're not necessarily a favorite, but they have some great acts like cokiyu, aus, and cuushe. Interestingly, geskia seems to have a residency here too. stiffslack is just a fantastic label for Japanese emo and math-rock - akutagawa, LITE, low-pass, MIRROR, PLAY DEAD SEASON, bed, climd the mind. And for non-Japanese bands, they've got This town needs guns, enemies, Football, Etc. kiti is a great, small label for J-indie-folk artists. mmm(ミーマイモー), Kenichi Fumoto, Kyoko Mimura, Sachie Hiraga, and Nohtenkigengo. And along the same lines, cgcg (鳥獣虫魚) publishes a lot of CD and CD-Rs for the same, and similar folk artists. Also, does anyone know if SPACE SHOWER MUSIC is an actual label or just a record company with many sub-labels? Or is it some kind of distribution type deal? Lot of good artists/bands connected there.

Greetings, fellow monochromians. Do you all have any favorite Japanese record labels? Labels that boast a sound or aesthetic that you consistently agree with? Are there any labels with impressive rosters or labels that house most of your favorite bands? If so, what are they and what kind of bands/artists do they sign? What kind of sounds can others expect from them? As long as I've been in this community, Visual Kei record labels have always been something that I've been fairly ignorant about, so I'd be interested to find out more. Although please feel free to discuss any other kind of Japanese record labels as well! I will certainly add in my 2 cents a bit later.

THE NOVEMBERS? With fitz and me on the team, you already know bruh. And yeah, I was super pleased with the piqnic, it might even be one of my favorites from this year. I'm glad that @Zeus wrote about it, because I surely would have if he hadn't! Major thanks to @Jigsaw9 for recommending that one! And yeah, you did cross my mind with the title of that NETWORKS song, haha. I wouldn't say that you're alone in your sentiments, as both of Enon's acts have been featured several times in BNT this year, by different contributors. For me personally, Enon seems to be hit or miss, and while I think he's had an overwhelming amount of hits this year, the latest single just didn't grab me as much as the others before it. Still looking forward to his work, though since I agree, he has only gotten better! No, thank you for contributing! THE NOVEMBERS were on the light-ish side this year, but I'd certainly recommend you give the piqnic a go too. And no worries, you can always contribute something new this month! Really glad you enjoyed this! I don't think it's a release I could listen to that often, but certainly good background/study music! ahaha, feel free to vote for as many as you'd like! Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad we were able to recommend some nice tunes for ya. and yeah, it was tough for me to find a standout on 'Elegance' because it works so well as a whole! @@fitear1590 - That Chanty track is really nice. Those faux-emo screams REALLY remind me of something you'd hear in 9mm parabellum bullet or cinema staff. Such crossover appeal indeed! Also really glad you wrote about DIV, that was a good one. Would I be wrong to say that it kinda reminds me of girugamesh at times? I meant that in a good way, of course! @ @doombox - hearing your picks just really make me miss the good ol plug.dj days, before the drama and the site itself kinda ruined things. 'endercore' lives on, though! Crystal Lake is nice, despite not being my usual taste. @ @beni - really happy to see you wrote about VELTPUNCH. The track you chose is especially good. It's great that they're still around and still rocking!

New Jimanica is out and it sounds promising! Yakushimaru Etsuko, Misato Kinoshita, and Shuta Hasunuma are featured on the tracklist. I also think I hear Anna Yamada on a few other tracks, but she doesn't seem to be credited as a feature.

ahahaha! I feel ya, but for me, that's part of their charm. I feel like they have a kind of natural cuteness to them, which is refreshing in a land where's it's usually so forced.

Nice!