fitear1590

Lately, I've been enjoying the free shipping from YesAsia. They have just about everything I need! They're also really nice about adding items to their inventory for you to order. I occasionally use fromjapan too, but not recently, since I'm low on the monies.

An ode to body hair!

Nothing too special about the PV, but the song is lovely! Maybe it was the flutes, but the intro had a very distinct Lacroix Despheres flair to it Need to listen to the album!

Dat bassline

Damn, that's gonna be a mammoth of an album. We'll see how many SEs are on there... Then again, Souiumono had a 17 song album (18, but one was an intro), so it's not unfathomable.

nice, an album!

They added another event: Private Tea Party with Kaya, $50 per ticket http://animeusa.org/2014/09/05/join-kaya-for-private-tea-party-at-anime-usa-2014/

Judging you all for not viewing PV of the year... BOW!

Maybe something of marginal interest to some fans here. イツエ (itsue) vocalist Mizuki has participated in some anime song with "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]" (not familiar with him): http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/SawanoHiroyuki%255BnZk%255D%253Amizuki---AZ/0b768b7fccc66c93f3040db197fbffb5 Imo, it's kind of a basic power ballad... Cool that she's getting more exposure, but on this track, there's not really any traces of her amazing vocal work with イツエ.

Another quirky PV to add to NEGOTO's videography! アンモナイト!:http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Negoto---Ammonite%2521/125a3f9263b00e1bc37a2eb77a0eb02b

Cool topic, bruh. Some of my personal faves include: Versailles - God Palace If I had to pick, this would probably be my favorite Versailles track. It helps that it's so full of bombastic grandeur. Lamp - シンフォニー After a few years, Lamp came back with their newest album and showed a side of their sound, drenched in dreamy synths. The result is beautiful and this opening track is the perfect gateway into this new era. DIV - VANISH I thinks there's some other fellow fans of this opener here. It starts off mellow-cholic, before building up into a barrage of epicness. It's also special to me, because this album was what officially solidified me as a DIV fan. I was on and off the fence for them for the preceding singles, but this opening track made me just sit back and go "Well, damn. They're awesome." ねごと (NEGOTO) - サイダーの海 Dat piano pop. NEGOTO hits the ground running right from the get-go on their debut album. 椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo) -ギャンブル Extravagant, orchestral Ringo is my favorite Ringo. Plus, Gamble happens to be one of my favorite songs, so... After reflecting on this list, it seems I prefer an in-your-face opening track that cuts to the chase and immediately shows what the band/artist is all about.

I generally look forward to re-recordings, even if the majority of the time, it seems I end up preferring the original. It's always a chance for the artist to outdo themselves and, if they do, then great! If not, then, oh well, I'll just keep listening to the better version. I don't think an actual "time limit" needs to be set regarding re-recordings, but some bands overdo it. For instance, Scarlet Valse (f.k.a. RailTracer) will be releasing the third recording of their song "Secret Eden" (and the second PV!) in 4 years. Based on the previews for this newest version, there's nothing especially dazzling about it, so it seems like overkill. One trend I've noticed with a few bands is that re-recorded songs (re-recorded album versions of older singles, for instance) tend to have a lack of punch. For instance, take UNiTE's third album Ai. The three re-recorded singles featured on the album were missing some of the oomph that the original songs had. Somehow, vocalist Yui didn't sound as invested in his singing on these tracks the second time around. It came off as kinda "well, I already know these songs and we've had 'em for a while, so I'll just phone it in." I've noticed this vocal phenomenon with other bands too when it comes to album re-recordings. In this sense, I might find myself tending towards original versions of songs. I'm not sure if major/indie necessarily plays a role, but I guess it just depends on what kind of production quirks you prefer. One example that comes to mind is Czecho No Republic, who re-recorded quite a few of their songs after becoming major. Like on UNiTE's album, these re-recordings were lacking a certain something. Personally, I prefer my re-recordings to be as different as possible, to the point of reinterpretations. The closer the two versions are to one another, the more nitpicking I do and I find myself having to choose between them. Just the slightest differences in production can strongly affect how much I like a song. For instance, one of my absolute favorite songs EVER is Canzel's original version of "Yumekui Ballet" from their debut single. The re-recording emphasized the synths more and somehow, I just don't enjoy it nearly as much. If the two versions of a given song are quite different (like DIMMDIVISION.'s recent "remix" re-recordings, Shiina Ringo releasing bombastic big band remakes of her pop/rock oriented tracks, Jikkendai Marmot's themed "self-covers", or when bands do acoustic versions, etc), then there's a better chance of being able to enjoy and appreciate both.

Harpzaki is too much. I love it.

Never understood why Rubik didn't get more popular... As Makona said, they've been around for years now. I wonder if Kei's "inhumane acts" (I need to know the gossip!) are still in the minds of Japanese fans and it's wrecking TesЯoa's reputation. I already ordered their A-10 mini-album.

I guess there's no hope for re-recordings?

THE NOVEMBERS 5th album "Rhapsody in beauty" Release date: 2014.10.15 2,500 yen 01.救世なき巣 02.Sturm und Drang 03.Xeno 04.Blood Music.1985 05.tu m’（Parallel Ver,） 06.Rhapsody in beauty 07.236745981 08.dumb 09.Romancé 10.僕らはなんだったんだろう Raise your hand if your body is ready!

"Love? Or... priiiiiiiiiide?" Lawd, the saga of terrible narration continues (I actually did like that epic narrator from "Sound in Gate" on Jubilee though). Great previews though! Loved Symphony of the Vampire and it seems I'm on track to love this as well.

Let's utilize this topic to discuss re-recordings in Japanese music. No, I'm not talking about those "remastered" or ~album ver.~ tracks that aren't any different from the original, but legitimate re-recordings. I'll wait to post my thoughts, but for now, here's a few questions to get you going: -How do you generally view the concept of re-recording old music? -Should there be a certain amount of time that passes before a track is re-recorded? -Do you find yourself preferring originals or re-recorded tracks, or is it always on a case-by-case basis? Does major vs. indie play a role? -What do you look for in a re-recording? What makes for a good/bad rerecording? -Do you ever fear that an artist may "desecrate" the original track with a re-recording? -On youtube (or however), share some notable re-recordings (whether wonderful or god-awful) in Japanese music. It would help if you post the original song for comparison!

Can't stand Maroon 5, so naturally I'm loving this fantastic soul cover. Maps PS: The guest vocalist just released her own solo album and it's also quite good!

Easily better than Climax (the song), but here's there second video in a row that causes vertigo, haha. Definitely looking forward to the album!