Slsr

I agree with this topic, I've at lengths discussed the problems I've seen and experienced as a user of this site with several other regulars. From the POV of a user, it seems that a few members of the staff, namely Zess, CAT and sai, seems to carry up the large majority of the duties associated with being a moderator/admin, while the contributions of the rest can be seen as sporadic at best. 
 
It seems like some members of the staff stay purely on past merits, good graces, nepotism, etc. and I think this is an issue that must be taken into consideration; If you don't have the proper time to invest in working on the site, should you really hold a position of power? If someone is consistantly so busy with real life that they can't put down a couple of hours a week at least (in my opinion a couple of hours per day would be preferable), they should be asking themselves what they really bring to the site. The administration should make a regular review of the moderators performance and if they don't make the cut, they should be relieved of duty immidately. Inefficient members of the administration should also consider giving up their positions to people more suitable for the task.
 
This place needs a shake up, and I'm not convinced that the current staff line up is up to the task. If the whole team showed the same dedication that the previously mentioned people do most of the time, then this place would most likely be heading towards major improvement, not just in activity and administration, but also in terms of order.
 
Finally, perhaps a bit controversial as its just a theory, but, I've heard several good suggestions come from certain mods and admins I've talked to, but fact seems that the majority is too busy clinging to status quo out of sheer laziness that none or very few have been implemented successfully. 

Lately me and various other regulars ( whom I hope voice their support for immediate action and add to the discussion ) have been thinking that there's a problem, and that is the severe lack of participation in forum activities in part of some of the staff members. It's pretty much widely acknowledged all around that especially a bulk of the blue ( and the late green, whom were subsequently and justly culled ) mods are notoriously inactive when it comes to interacting with much of the community.
 
It's true that I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and what are the contributions of each one there, but I do believe that actual "moderating" is far from being the only job of a staff member. A member of the staff should have a proactive approach to the forums; interacting with the members, making topics and creating discussions as often as possible and not just once or twice a month when the mood is right. The benefits of this approach for example have been seen in the review and general sections. If Zess and CAT5 wouldn't have made all the topics and discussions there that they have I bet nobody would have and the general section would still be pretty much dead. 
 
I think the forum would benefit a lot from updating the staff roster with users who are in the loop of the current goings in the Japanese music scene, and imporantly the said users should be known by the people and the people should know them. I bet many newcomers who registered in the late 2012, early 2013 have no clue who these people are and I can't really blame them, seeing as some of the staff rarely post anything that classifies as a contribution. 
 
And I'm not trying to come off as hostile, but I really think this forum has seen a surge of activity as of late ( some people would very much disagree with me though ) and I think that we should capitalize on that with a new, active and participating staff. There should be as little inactivity as possible and most definately zero people that clearly stick around just because they're friends. A mod status should be for those who are absolutely dedicated and if the time comes when they cannot live up to their duties, they should resign without a second thought. 
 
edit: I urge everyone to say either yay or nay below. There needs to be some discussion about this because this is what people complain about all the time. 
 
Everyone, and I mean everyone has complained about the forum being dead at one point. I honestly think that a staff that is right there in the middle of everything is the best way to engage this problem. While I also realise that you might be hesitant to do a revamp after the failure of the green mods, culling the one or two that are certainly solely dead weight right now and replacing them with new ones wouldn't hurt.  
 
edit2: To address another concern that was voiced: The user and mod apathy. 
 
It may be a convenient excuse for staff members and users alike to free themselves of the burden of contributing just because "What does it matter when nobody else won't do anything either". That's reasonable, why would anyone post when nobody else does? 
 
I feel this concern can be directly addressed with a proactive, enthusiastic and most importantly of all, in the loop staff. What makes or breaks any content creator and site on the web is quality and consistency. The amount of good coming from a staff that brings life to where there isn't should be obvious for anyone. One or two mods can't do that alone, it needs to be the whole team. 
 
These changes need to be done swiftly and throughout with zero compromise or months long discussions between the administration.  I think it's necessary that the amount of new blood is large is enough to reinvigorate the staff and forum.

m'aidezDei & カルペディエム(Carpe diem) live-distributed split single (title not yet finalized), m'aidezDei live-limited one-coin single "一燭の眩惑(isshoku no genwaku)" (1 song, 500yen) and カルペディエム(Carpe diem) new maxi single "手招く影と君(temaneku kage to kimi)" (1,000yen) will be released at their presents live "月とリリスの奇妙なお話。第一想(tsuki to lilith no kimyou na ohanashi daiichisou)" at Shibuya CHELSEA HOTEL at 2013/09/27
 
live-distributed split single [track list]
01.m'aidezDei - M (カルペディエム(Carpe diem)-cover)
02.カルペディエム(Carpe diem) - 寂漠の空(sekibaku no sora) (m'aidezDei-cover)
 
 
"手招く影と君(temaneku kage to kimi)" [track list]
01.手招く影と君(temaneku kage to kimi)
02.手紙(tegami)

Well hmm, regarding discussion before, I can kinda get point of not liking to share much stuff because of blogs, not like band members likely really would like it at all anyway etc. so kinda fair enough. Though honestly I don't really see it completely same way myself. It would be about time to wake up to modern age anyway, sharing music happens all the time, deal with it. I think anyone should be smart enough able accept that fact but I guess it just might be complete opposite still judging how it would seem people feel about their stuff being shared etc. So maybe it is just me with some stupid thought pattern like this then : .
 
Besides I feel for small bands it might be more useful just to get as much visibility as possible, I find it quite hard to believe release being on the internet blogs would have that much affect to their sales anyway (not that I believe them to increase them either really) People will buy stuff from band they like and not buy stuff from band they don't, that's how it goes for the most part and it goes even more so in with small bands. Besides CD sells aren't exactly the most important thing for these bands either, it is all about gaining loyal fans who buy chekis and other crap, so I don't really feel it should make that much difference if stuff is shared or not.

That awkward moment when the original song was kinda silly but it was still better than this corecrap 

That awkward moment when the original song was kinda silly but it was still better than this corecrap 

5th Single "彼岸花(higanbana)" PV is available on youtube
 

And the horror is back : . . .

I don't care about credits, I think it's pretty laughable. If I upload something I'm not entitled to anything, it's just some other people's music that I happened to buy and share. I'm okay with whichever (reposting or reupping) since it makes no difference to me (I already own the stuff, so xD) - tho for longevity and bigger exposure to the release in question, it's better if people reuploaded the given file: more links means an increased possibility of actually being able to download something instead of seeing the same dead link over and over again everywhere.

Trombe is my morning news. Every morning I check the latest news when I get coffee before work.

Well fuk, they were still better than +90% of all crap in this scene ; . Wouldn't mind them being back if they find good vocal TBH.

ダリス(dhalis), SOMATIC GUARDIAN, M & hysteric will revive for one-day at SEVEN presents live at Doutonbori SHRIMP at 2013/09/23

That was pretty bad, man :/

Hmm... I don't think there's any particular "road", but I suppose there are a few different tiers. These only apply to VK bands in Tokyo, so I don't know how it'd be for others.
 
Tier 1:
This one is the lowest of the low and are where bands you've never heard of play at. This includes venues such as Urawa Narciss, Ikebukuro Cyber and Birth Shinjuku(formerly Holiday Shinjuku).
 
Tier 2:
Bands who play these venues generally(but not always) have a slightly bigger audience. Venues in this tier would be ones like the Ruido venues(K2, K3, K4), SHIBUYA-REX, Takadanobaba Area and Ikebukuro EDGE.
 
Tier 3:
Once bands have made it here, they are usually pulling in much larger audiences(these venues hold 500+ capacity). The big venues here would be Shibuya O-West, Shinjuku LOFT and Shinjuku BLAZE.
 
Tier 4:
There's probably a lot of mixing inbetween tier 3 and 4, but I'll consider tier 4 to be venues with 1000+ capacity. The livehouses here would be ones like Shibuya O-East(~1300), Akasaka Blitz(~1300), SHIBUYA-AX(~1500) and Zepp Tokyo(~2700).
 
Tier 5:
God-tier. If you've made it here, then you've pretty much made it as a band. This includes the biggest venues like Budokan(~14,000), Saitama Super Arena(~37,000) and Tokyo Dome(~56,000).
 
This is by no means a definitive guide, but should at least give you an idea on "how far" a band is along that road

Do we have to hear "IT'S JUST A SAMPLE STOP HATIN" ever single time again and again. We are fully aware. 
 
This sample which someone who works for their label or they themselves picked, sounds atrocious.

btw Vo.ryo(ex-9GOATS BLACK OUT), Ba.Yuki Amano(DIMMDIVISION.) & Dr.shinya(ex-人格ラヂオ(Jinkaku Radio)(support)) have mentioned that they will perform in Tokyo at 2013/08/29...I wonder whether this is their new band

would just like to know

their new mini album "すべてが造りモノに見えたんだ(subete ga tsukurimono ni mietanda)" will be released at 2013/10/02 (2,000yen)
 
[track list]
01.廻向(ekou)　
02.絶望ララバイ(zetsubou lullaby)
03.歪んだ精神、落者は嘆く(yuganda seishin otoshimono wa nageku)
04.消えない影(kienai kage)
05.コワレモノ(kowaremono)
06.マネキン世界(mannequin sekai)

Yeah, not like they say I must buy them, that wasn't my problem in the first place. I think that person was pretty clearly saying that if you actually want to support band you buy the merch (even if it is plain chekis.) and also dissing those who think chekis are ripoff yet cry for their dying indie bands. therefore I present my argument. Not much room for misunderstanding there anyway that apparently I should be buying those pics when I go to gigs if I actually want to support them. however I don't really plan buying them still as I feel I am then paying just for supporting band instead of actually getting something worthy at all in change (read: I personally see chekis as nearly useless things.) And surely I don't think I should be paying band extra just for them to continue existing, that is laughable thought, I don't think it is "my job" as a a fan, getting pretty much no value pics in exchange doesn't make it any better for me. I already paid for their concert ticket and CDs, even maybe bought other merch if they had something fun, if that is not enough then there is a problem in business they are doing, maybe it is best for them to disband then? I don't have money to scatter for some random pics, maybe I could buy one or two if they really don't have anything else to sell and it is small band I like. But as I am not really feeling the return, I don't feel I as customer am getting anything, even if idea of supporting them is cool in a way, it is just a bit much for me as as mentioned I don't see value in those pics. 
 
But yeah it is just simply my opinion about them and I really don't really think it should in general be fans role to use much money for such things, therefore I see them as ripoff but if people feel it's cool I guess it is kinda OK (as mentioned in my very first post.) I just don't personally like it but I guess it makes sense for them to do it anyway, it kinda fits to whole thing actually. Still, lets say someone buys 5 of those meji chekis, uses fucking 100€ for 5 pics, obviously not reasonable pricing at all, I don't think you can really even argue over that. But that is business for you of course ;P. 

Just reposting the LONGER and HIGHER QUALITY preview that came out in late May, cause it seems like quite a few people missed it.  As Sened mentioned, it seems the reaction to the lower quality preview is a LOT more negative, haha.




I still think ZIN sounds good, but the PV preview does seem quite bland.

accidentally burned down a rainforest

eagerly awaiting ruki's progressive dreamfunk phase

Get help
 
Before this gets locked

Yoshiki is his own wax figure to begin with.