CAT5

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.
 

THE NOVEMBERS will be releasing their 4th "zeitgeist" on November 30th!
 


THE NOVEMBERS 4th Album “zeitgeist”
MERZ-0002
2013/11/30 release
¥2,500（税込）

1. zeitgeist
2. We
3. Louder Than War (2019)
4. Wire (Fahrenheit 154)
5. D-503
6. 鉄の夢
7. Meursault
8. Sky Crawlers
9. Ceremony
10. Flower of life

Producer：Robin Aoki(downy)※T-1,7,9 (woot!)
Recording：JUNYA IWATA(Triple Time Studio)
Mastering：SOICHIRO NAKAMURA(PEACE MUSIC)
illustration：tobird
Art direction：Q-TA
 

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.
 

I should check this out...cause YOLO
::proceed to shoot self in face::

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

isnt this like the 3rd thing they release this eyar?

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）
 

MONOBRIGHT new album "MONOBRIGHT three" will be released at 2013/11/13 (2,500yen)
 
[track list]
01.風街ロマンスパイダー
02.OYOVIDENAI
03.youth
04.トライアングリー
05.色色
06.アイドル
07.妄想難破奇譚
08.空中YOU WAY
09.ブランニューウェーブ
 

Even though this is "kinda" breaking the rules, I thought I would post this here, since it may have bypassed many of the indie fan's radars.




Yeti, although formed from the members of 4 VK bands, sounds like no other VK band out there. They have a very strong indie/math rock influence.  Check em out!

MYPROOF officially announced that they disbanded today (2013.11.01)
http://www.myproof-jp.com/#news

They won't stop until literally EVERY single japanese musician has covered a hide song, will they?
Next tribute album: 'hide TRIBUTE VIII -high school garage band SPIRITS-'

7 songs? That's gotta be a mini-album, haha.

Anyway, here's a video for track 1.

5! ooh wait, I'm not yellow anymore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JYZJlsRQvg

from what I've read, well especially on here, I have concluded that this may be an unpopular opinion
 
I really liked The Gazettes Division, especially the second disc I think? Not 100% sure since I got the regular one so.... on that the first few tracks feat. GazeStep. Not a huge fan of the slower songs on the second half (or first disc??? so confusing man) II get halfway through the slower songs and then I just switch off. Some of them I really like but it begins to trail off towards the end
And a lot of people have regained a tiny bit of hope in them since Beautiful Deformity, but I listened through it once and...not since. It just didn't catch my attention at all and I can't even remember how any of the songs went. I'll probably listen to it again to *ahem* confirm this >< or not... you never know
 
actually that's a lie... I remember the guruguruguru bit in the notquitesurebutsomethngaboutaninsect song xD

fuck u_u

Man, I miss Tokyo Jihen so much. Fuck.

The flawless queen of my universe is back!

After disbanding Tokyo Jihen in the beginning of 2012 and promptly dropping off the face of the planet, Shiina Ringo is back! She's doing five concerts this upcoming November to celebrate fifteen years since her solo debut. These are the following dates.
 
2013-11-18 (Mon) Shiina Ringo @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo
2013-11-19 (Tue) Shiina Ringo @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo
2013-11-20 (Wed) Shiina Ringo @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo
2013-11-25 (Mon) Shiina Ringo @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo
2013-11-26 (Tue) Shiina Ringo @ Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo
 
Official price: Yen 8’000 (approx US$ 80)
Doors: 18:00
Start: 19:00
 
Sadly, they're all in Shibuya or I definitely would have gone all five times. For those lucky enough to be in the area, tickets are on sale already so grab them while they're hot. For the rest of us, this is just a sign that she's up to something like usual and that something may be announced soon.

Score: | Color me shocked, I actually am impressed.


Not that I started this experiment with the intention to bash releases or anything...

For me, jazz is a musical style that I can only enjoy when I'm in the right mood. I don't yet consider myself to be sophisticated enough to throw on jazz whenever and immediately enjoy it. I also haven't been in the mood lately to listen to jazz, even struggling to put on the flawless Shiina Ringo for more than a few minutes. So when I say that I enjoyed this album, I enjoyed this album.

Stylistically, this album is a lot more downtempo and sparse than the usual fare I review. The main attraction for me is the vocal work, with the instruments taking more of a relaxed, backseat role. They're still there, but they don't steal the show. The vast amount of guest features and the styles they bring to each song do. For some people, so many different artists contributing to one release can be a positive aspect because of diversity. For others, it's a negative because there are too many cooks in the kitchen and ideas from one track clash with ideas from the next. I only notice when one track has Engrish lyrics and the following track has more pronounced enunciation - it's very distracting. It's not something that happens very often, so I'm willing to let it slide. I can say that no track is as left-field as some of the contributions on the SOIL&"PIMP" collaboration album from earlier this year, so if that turned you off this will work better.  
Lyrically - since for once I can understand a great deal of the message - this is a very positive album. Topics range from love to happiness and all of the other positive topics underneath that rainbow and sunny sky. I'm not used to hearing people sing about such positive topics (or even giving two shits about what they're singing about anyway because hey, I don't pretend like I understand Japanese). I like that this album focuses on positivity without sounding contrived, so it gets points for that.
 
If you're feeling down, this album should cheer you up. If you're feeling upbeat, this album may make you melt from happiness. If you're not into jazz, this can be a hard pill to swallow. Try it out - it's worth it.

diru sucks, grieva rocks.  fuck y'all haterz 

Everyone has those opinions on music that either garner condescendent and judgemental sideeyes, or incites flame wars and shitstorms. I'm interested in learning what music opinions you all might have like that. Since popularity and unpopularity are relative and depends on the setting, please also provide a bit of context with your opinions!
 
Also, feel free to discuss the opions that others post!
 
 
 
As for my opinions:
 
"VK isn't all bad". "There's some good VK". Now to give you all a bit of context. These opinions are hardly controversial here on MH, but all of the music-heads I consult with outside of MH are adamant about their distaste for VK. Simply put, most of them hate it. So I usually refrain from mentioning anything VK-related in their presence, but IF I DO, I always find myself having to defend this opinion and go the extra mile to show them how credible VK can be.
 
"Dir en grey is still VK": Ok, technically they may not be considered VK and the band may not consider themselves VK anymore. Sure, they've changed their image and have shunned a few traditional VK aesthetics. Sure, they've added harsh, guttural vocals, changed the tuning on their guitars, and have taken on more organic song structures. However, their overall sound is still so battered and deep fried in VK, that it's nearly impossible for me to mentally segregate them from VK as a whole.
 
The fact that VK still has so many Kyo worshipping vocalists doesn't help either. Their influence on VK has been undeniable, so for me to regard them as something completely different now is pretty difficult.
 
 
I will return later when I think of some more. But for now, that's enough to kick this thread off. What are yours!!??

As you know, with the change to the new forum software earlier this year, we also introduced the new tagging system. We started with a few basic rules, but otherweise we wanted to let the system grow organically and see how it works out.
 
Obviously A LOT of people don't read the rules though. So I have to do a very tedious clean-up on a regular basis. XD
 
 
Anyway, after having the system around for several months now, I would like to get some feedback.
 
Do you use the tagging system (either by adding tags yourself or by searching for releases via tags)? Do you find it useful? If not, what could be changed to make it more useful?
 
 
Here are some issues that I would like to raise myself:
 
1. At the moment, tags are voluntarily (except for the topic prefixes indicating the release type). Should we make it obligatory to add at least 1-2 tags to a release?
 
2. We are currently working with an open system - that means anyone can tag whatever they want. The system allows to change to a closed tag system, where only predefined tags are allowed (just like the topic prefixes). The advantage: tags would be more coherent, no wrong tags, no variants of similar tags etc. The disadvantage: less flexible. Since the predefined tags appear as a drop-down menu, we can't just expand them ad infinitum.
 
3. The fine tuning: are there any tags you think should be disallowed? Changed? Merged? (For example, we have the tags "kote kei" and "old school" - while that technically could describe different things, they are now being used for the same sort sort of music). Also, do you like to see release years added as tags? Bitrates?
 
5. Broadening: at the moment, most tags decribe a loose genre. Should we encourage to use other kind of tags? For example, decribing a mood. A release tagged just as "visual kei" is pretty non-descript. But imagine you had tag combinations like this:
visual kei | rock | happy
visual kei | metal | aggressive
rock | ambient | relaxing
Or whatever you can think of. I think these give a better idea of what a release sounds like.
 
 
Anyway, let me know your thoughts and suggestions!

Inspired from a similar thread on another board and when I say inspire I really mean just copying their idea.
 
The idea of the thread is to encourage sharing music and just sharing your enthusiasm for a certain artist you are really into. Try to avoid just spamming YouTube links with shitty little one liners about the VK boys being kawaii or dis song is so bruutal. This topic should not be like in this thread and should promote discussion. It doesn't have to be VK/Japanese either since I know a lot of us listen to tunes outside of Japan.
  Band Name:
You must write a description of the band and what you find enjoyable/interesting/terrible/whatever about them. Try to really show what they’re about, what their sound is like, what artists they are influenced by/have influenced or some other means of describing their music.

Cool, I enjoyed their album.

After well over a year's worth of work, I'd like to present to you all: RarezHut! This is one of the first international store for used visual kei music. Myself, along with my two associates, have been working hard to deliver a store to meet the needs of the international visual kei community, offering a wide selection of products at a reasonable cost. At the moment, RarezHut has over 600 items for sale, each of which includes a listenable/watchable sample! We've got a total inventory of well over 2000 items and will be working hard over the coming months to deliver updates(at least once a month) with as many items as we can stuff in there. Currently available are a multitude of CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes and VHS spanning over 200 bands.
 
Features of the store include:
"Fuzzy search" system: when you search for a band, it'll pull up any other items available by bands with members from the band you searched for in addition. Listenable/watchable samples for every item to give you a little idea of what to look forward to. Newsletter: If you create an account, you can opt-in for our newsletter which details all of the recent additions and will be sent out the moment they're added to the site, allowing you to get first dibs on any new goodies! Remember: once they're gone, they're gone for good~ Digital copies: along with any cassette/VHS purchases, we offer high-quality digital copies free-of-charge. We realize that not everyone has the means to play these aging formats, but we aim not to let that get in the way of you being able to enjoy them! In an effort to make sure that buying goes smoothly, all items added will have the digital copies ready before addition so that packages can be shipped out on the next business day.  
Thanks for taking the time to look at this and we sincerely hope you enjoy the store(and whatever goodies you buy from it )! Given the small nature of the visual kei community, we rely on word-of-mouth for most of our advertising, so any friends you can tell about the store will help us immensely <3
 
If you've got any questions/comments/feedback, feel free to post them here or send me a PM and I'll try to reply ASAP~
 
Update 3/13/2015
So we've finally joined the 21st century and started a facebook and tumblr! You can follow us on either(or both if you really love us <3) for product spotlights, updates, corgi pictures and more! To celebrate this, we're running a special 10% off sale from now(3/13) until next week Friday(3/20). To get in on this sale, just enter the code SOCIALSALE10 at checkout and you'll be on your way to (even) cheaper rarez in no time!
 
In addition, I'd like to welcome Rob(robkun) to the RarezHut team! He's been a huge supporter of our store since the very beginning and we're honored to have him as part of the staff! He'll be writing the product spotlights on both our facebook and tumblr pages, so definitely go check them out because they're really awesome