CAT5

I haven't been very pleased with their output, but I'll definitely check these out as always.

emo band bacho will release their first full album "最高新記憶" on February 25th, 2015. 結成13年目。全ての想いを込めた11曲。 1st Full Album「最高新記憶」2015年2月25日（水）発売。 bacho / 最高新記憶 フォーマット : デジパックCD 税抜き価格 : 2000円 発売日 : 2015.2.25 品番 : EZCT-55 【曲順】 1.さよなら 2.最高新記憶 3.ビコーズ 4.ショートホープ 5.いつかの約束 6.落葉(flashback) 7.高砂 8.これでいいのだ 9.自分抄 10.ドリームドランカー 11.孤独な戦い

シャムキャッツ will release their second mini album on March 4th, 2015. シャムキャッツ 『TAKE CARE』 発売日：2015/3/4 品番：PCD-18785 値段：¥1,790＋税 全5曲収録予定

FULL SONG SAMPLE: https://soundcloud.com/stiffslack/django-card http://www.cardofband.com/ ---- CARD is the band formed by both ex-LOSTAGE guitarists Masaya Shimizu and Hiromichi Nakano. Can't wait for this...Already sounds like it'll be much better than the first album.

Kotoringo and 森は生きている both had really strong albums last year too, so I can see why those would have made some lists. But I don't tend to look at these lists from a judgmental perspective (although I do appreciate when they're in line with my own tastes). I'm moreso just curious.

I'm glad you can appreciate it, man. And yeah, I need to look into some of these as well. From Aoki's list, Hundred Waters was a really good album, and D'Angelo's Black Messiah made my own personal list, so Robin's music taste is definitely noteworthy.

You're a cool dude, so I'm glad to see you signed up here. If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask. Enjoy the forum!

I'm not sure how many people here are familiar with the indie label 術ノ穴 (subenoana), but they're pretty awesome and deal mostly in electronic music and hip-hop. Every year they get a few artists who are on the label or associated with the label to list some of their favorite music of the past year (whether it's albums or songs). This year's list include entries from robin aoki (青木ロビン - downy's vocalist), Fragment (they produced charisma.com's イイナヅケブルー and maybe some other stuff for them?), izumi makura (泉まくら - basically daoko's lesser known equivalent), producers Ogiyy and SUNNOVA, and members from indie bands 禁断の多数決 and 三回転とひとひねり. http://subenoana.net/best2014 Pretty cool is you're into some of these artists and like to see what music they've been enjoying.

Cool, cool. If you need some quick music recommendations, I suggest checking out year-end lists linked at the top of the forum!

^ classic RES tune! 01. 프롬 - [Arrival CD1 #04] 좋아해 02. Betty Davis - [betty Davis #06] Steppin In Her I. Miller Shoes 03. Little Dragon - [Nabuma Rubberband #04] Underbart 04. SADS - [Porno Star #03] FOR YOU 05. Arctic Monkeys - [AM #03] One For The Road 06. SuiseiNoboAz - [ubik CD1 #10] I.O.U. 07. 撃鉄 - [NO UNDERGROUND #10] ハイウェイ 08. KINGDOM☆AFROCKS - [Fanfare #01] Fanfare 09. Nyolfen - [As the Earth Dances CD1 #09] All Night Alone 10. me-al art - [生まれてきたけれど CD1 #02] 告白 Interesting shuffle. I forgot I even had anything from that Korean artist, heh. I guess i'm in a 70's funk/rock mood?

Woah! Great to see another old friend of mine register here! How've you been dude? Also, looking forward to seeing what you share!

FINALLY got through all of the eoty lists! Piisu, bruh...your writing is fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading these! kiryu, THE GALLO, and DEZERT are all things i need to check out. I also admit that "Ultraviolence" sounds mighty fine. Admittedly, I've been avoiding Lana because I know she's huge and if i get too close to anything that mainstream, i'll combust. lol jk, but not really. That's a shitty reason not to check out an artist...I just still have too many hipster tendencies plaguing me. Thanks for going through the trouble to share this! The OR are an amazing group indeed. ; )

Honestly, I heard that ling were boring live and kinda sounded too similar to they do on record...I also heard that TK and miyoko are kinda withdrawn, while Pierre usually handles the MC'ing. This was many years ago, though (like 2008/2009), so they could have changed since then. I'm kinda thinking TK's solo would be more interesting to see as opposed to ling, just due to the mere scope of his sound...

Slow clap for @Zeus. This man does an unspeakable amount of work for MH that most will never even realize.

Artist: Jupiter Album: THE HISTORY OF GENESIS Score: The Birth of Venus. The Death of Creativity. Visual Kei is a world of its own; a patchwork scene that mixes and matches various established genres and reinterprets them under its own musical and aesthetic niches. The peculiarities found within the scene - which can range from vocal style, visuals, songwriting, marketing ploys, to general band ethics - are usually recognizable, but also fleeting at best. When you add in the fact that any given Visual Kei band can have an entirely different set of musical influences, this renders comparison to the "source" of those influences a fruitless task outside of music historicism. Visual Kei is best appreciated from within, with some kind of inside narrative. Something that explains how Visual Kei operates or the rationale behind a band's artistic choices. However, sometimes you'll come across a band that defies a narrative - for better or worse. Jupiter is one such band. On their sophomore effort "THE HISTORY OF GENESIS", it's painfully apparent that they fall in between the cracks of being a successful metal band with Visual Kei aesthetics and a Visual Kei band that has effectively appropriated metal into their repertoire. Instead, they sound like a lukewarm imitation of both - neither delivering from a metal standpoint, nor fully embracing the artistic nooks of Visual Kei. Some of the most "thrashing" moments of the album, like opener "The Birth of Venus", single track "LAST MOMENT" and "ARCADIA", are marred by hackneyed power-metal songwriting and technical, yet emotionless instrumentation that fails to engage. It's as if guitarists HIZAKI and TERU are literally riffing in one ear and out the other. Even the harder hitting songs like "Darkness" and "絶望ラビリンス" lack punch and wouldn't warrant headbanging, much less a simple head nod. But beyond the lackluster songwriting and sterile musicianship, THE HISTORY OF GENESIS suffers from a host of other issues, one of which is ZIN - Jupiter's vocalist. As a metal vocalist --power-metal in particular-- ZIN doesn't cut it. He lacks the soaring, dynamic range and the theatrical bravado necessary to be compelling. His harsher vocal attempts, as heard in tracks "SACRED ALTAR" and "Darkness", are weak and struggle to be heard amidst all of the drab riffage. Even by Visual Kei standards, ZIN's vocals are thoroughly uncharacteristic. There are no tortured quirks or endearing imperfections to add charm to his performance. So while ZIN isn't a remarkably good vocalist or an offensively bad one, he still occupies an awkward musical territory - one that simultaneously falls short of the expectations of metal and the appeal of Visual Kei. The final nail in this album's coffin was hammered in by its wearisome length and seemingly asinine arrangement. Of course, metal albums are usually protracted affairs, but with 14 tracks and a duration 10 minutes shy of your average feature-film, there just isn't enough quality material here to justify sitting through it. Omitting a few tracks or trimming some of the fat would have done some good. Running at nearly 8 minutes, title track "The History of Genesis" is a progressive behemoth that feels like more of a chore than an immersive epic. Even with the track being placed near the end (it's the last track on the limited edition), it just feels like a tired recap of the entire album, as opposed to an actual climax. Instrumental guitar ballad "Church Candle", as dull as it is, would have served more effectively as an intro or an outro. Instead it's slapped right in the middle of the album and adds no sense of progression or logical flow. "Shining" is another unfortunate curveball in which Jupiter delves into an oshare kei-esque pop-punk number. Normally, a band's attempt to diversify their sound would be laudable, but in the the context of the album it comes off as half-baked filler. Though for all of its weaknesses, THE HISTORY OF GENESIS isn't without some merit. One of the band's strongest showings was, ironically, the only song composed by ZIN - "Red Carnation". This track revels in everything Jupiter tried but failed to accomplish with the rest of the album. All of the symphonic and neo-classical elements are kicked into high gear, and ZIN even duets with a female vocalist, giving their music a much needed spark. "THE MOON", however, is the album's most standout track. It's a groovy, mid-tempo ballad where HIZAKI and TERU put the power chords and the chugging on hold to embrace smoother guitar tones. There's even an unexpected, but extremely welcome jazz breakdown. Unlike "Shining", this is an instance in which Jupiter tried something new without deviating from the tone of album or abandoning their core sound. It's obvious that Jupiter has all of the tools to impress; they're just misusing them 80% of the time. If HIZAKI loosened his compositional stranglehold and allowed more new ideas to flow in and if ZIN were a bit more convincing, then Jupiter could become a force to be reckoned with. But as THE HISTORY OF GENESIS has shown, Jupiter is stuck in an uninspired artistic limbo devoid of a narrative. Whether your musical inclinations lie with metal or Visual Kei, this album is sure to leave you entirely apathetic.

Best of Tornado leaked...Although personally, I would have preferred to hear re-recordings, it was still nice to hear some of the older songs with a better mix. A re-recording of "Nakano Kill You" with more pronounced guitar work would have been amazing.

yamp kolt will release his new album on 2015.03.18! 1.ナヒミ(feat.vo.トンチ) 2.ひだまり(feat.vo.HA~HA) 3.パラソルアンブレラ(feat.vo.UA) 4.雨の日は(feat.vo.hanchan) 5.Kiss & Gold(feat.vo.一十三十一) 6.トリック・コリアンダー(feat.vo.さや) 7.phantom ship(縁日ヴァージョン)(feat.vo.UA) 8.おひさまは太陽(火山島ヴァージョン)(feat.vo.やくしまるえつこ) 9.She's My Baby(バンドヴァージョン)(feat.vo.一十三十一) 10.月の木かげで鳴くでしょう(feat.vo.こやまよしこ) 11.sleep too tight(feat.vo.さや) 12.言葉ならいらない(feat.vo.UA) So in addition to all of the featured female vocalists (i'm personally interested in UA, hitomitoi, yakushimari etsuko, tonchi and saya from tenniscoats) apparently, there are also a ton of cool musicians involved with this including u-zhaan, suga dairo, and members from bands like WUJA BIN BIN, ROVO, DCPRG, zainichifunk and more. http://www.cemetery-records.com/

alternative, indie hip-hopper daoko will release her 3rd album "Dimension" on 2015.02.04! 01. ニルバーナ (feat. Jinmenusagi Pro. DJ6月) 02. 8階 (Pro. DubbyMaple) 03. サイケデリック / OKOK (Pro. Paranel / EeMu) 04. ミルクティ (feat. Paranel Pro. EeMu) 05. オートリロード (Pro. Paranel) 06. fly (Pro. Terumasa Seto) 07. 7日間創造 (Pro. DJ6月) 08. エンドレス (Pro. EeMu) 09. そつぎょう (Pro. ESME) 10. Dimension (feat. 雨風食堂, GOMESS Pro. Paranel

I DON'T SEE TK ANYWHERE ON THIS LIST lol, I jest. You guys make me feel bad only including one sample, though, haha ;P I still haven't gotten to 和楽器バンド yet, but everything I've heard from this has been great. Soon. >__> Ayu has gone full EDM, huh? I wouldn't have known those samples were exist†trace if I wasn't told. The vocalist sounds better than I remember...or maybe this style fits her better? DADAROMA is definitely promising. I just wish VK musicians were a bit less stringent in the way they release and promote their music. Forget all of that live-limited nonsense. Make a bandcamp, release some tracks for free...or even a few yen, ppl would in Japan and abroad would gladly throw money at these guys! I downloaded the In This Moment album but haven't listened yet (common theme with me) - "sick like me" just gives me another reason to check it out. ;3 Many thanks for sharing, Fiction! Your list was a joy to read and I love how easy to read and relatable your writing style is. ;3

Facebook - I don't post much, but I use the messenger pretty often tumblr - mostly just for nice pics, art, and music. Although my use of it has declined severely last.fm - used to be in love with this site, although the social aspect of it has been thwarted by rampant idiocy. I use it more these days to keep track of and actually remember all of the songs I like, and could give a fuck about my profile being an "accurate representation of my music taste". Can also be handy for finding new music every blue moon