fitear1590

, the 0's got a bit out of control, haha. Not like 10000 yen is anything to sneeze at tho. Still "expensive as fuck" in my opinion, haha.

Lol, I've noticed it's a common theme on MH discussion threads. ANYWAY, I honestly think the multi-type releases in general are the worst crime in Japanese music. Thankfully, I haven't seen such a thing catch on in the West (or am I mistaken?) I don't care if it's 2 types, 4 Kiryu types, 6 types, or a dozen Kisaki types! They're all rip-offs and way too obviously milking the customer. If everything CAN be on one release, then just do it. Now the only exception to the 2 type rule, is if one is a regular edition (standard CD) and one is a limited edition (standard CD + some kind of extra like a DVD or deluxe booklet/case). That's okay, because at least people can make a reasonable decision. Some people want to pay a little extra for some bonus stuff and some people don't. Now, if it's one type with an extra PV and one type with a bonus track on the album, then that's stupid. There's no legitimate reason to make someone buy 3 versions of a single, just to get all the tracks, the PV, and a nice booklet. It's even worse when there's multi-type albums. Don't make someone spend over 6000 yen (or over 100000 yen if there's 3 types!), just to get the PV AND the bonus track. Sure, it's "smart" marketing I guess, but it's evil. Pure evil! Japanese CDs are expensive enough as it is. It just makes it that much more ridiculous when diehard fans try to collect every release from a band.

Thank gawd, their stuff is finally available to order!

Great finds, ficsci. I'd never seen that Megaromania video before. Here's another one to add to the Lockheart Castle list. 7 identified so far! Psycho le Cemu - Excalibur Psycho le Cemu - Michi no sora Dio - God Forsaken Dio - Last Dance Versailles - Aristorcrat's Symphony Megaromania - AURORA-destinies of world- Dear L'Novel - Masquerade

Starry Sky preview: Yes plz. Seira's whiny vocals can do no wrong.

More information The concept album 愛と死 (ai to shi) costs ￥2,625. And here's the cover art and tracklist: 01.漆黒のプレリュード 02.Nocturne～愛と死の夜想曲～ 03.Evil Adel～破滅の章～ 04.咲き誇る花のように 05.SAKURA(album ver.) 06.Liberte 07.古ぼけた五線譜 08.-赤い棘- 09.Princess magic The bad news is that we're not yet rid of the horrific cover art from their first album; it's being used for the live DVD. That really puts a damper on things, as I really want(ed) to purchase this, haha. Just shake it off... I'm still excited about all this new stuff, haha.

After their second mini-album 異次元からの来訪者 in October 2012, みそっかす (miso kasu / misokkasu) is releasing their 1st single, アメリカと中国と静岡, on May 1st. It's only 500 yen! Tracklist 1.アメリカと中国と静岡 2.CRユートピア計画 Seems like more good ol' synth-infused nerdy indie rock!

Really neat music video.

Lol, brilliant GIF usage. Haven't posted a picture here in forever. Here's a dog and a person. And here's one I really like:

Understandable, d00d/d00dette. Just know that if you DO get around to uploading it, it will be very appreciated, haha.

Oooh! Very nice, DeithX252. Any chance you can post that here?

Don't forget, before the deepness of Lyrical Sympathy ("stage 1"), he had his awkward high-pitched (Lareine-ish) vocals on the Revenant Choir debut ("stage zero" if you will, haha). Prince and "stage 2" are definitely my favorites for Kamijo vocals. I wonder if ZIN might also have some vocal experimenting in their first few releases. (Another reason for people not to make snap judgements, especially based on a sample that's like 3 seconds long, haha) If he is indeed the SLOD/ Tokami guy, I wonder if his voice has "matured" any.

SO! Let's review something that's not Dir en Grey. First things first; as much as I am a UNiTE fanboy (label mates of DIV), I've been struggling with liking DIV. I didn't particularly like their mini-album. Then, the Natsu no Yukue single was pretty good (I love Hotarubi and really like Milky Latte), despite the colossal fuck up of the title track and Hotarubi's choruses sounding VERY similar. Then came Sotsugyou... The title track came off as too "clean" and boring. Didn't like I HATE YOU and the third track seemed like a less-good version of the electronic sound in Milky Latte... THEN, came TASTE OF LIFE. TASTE OF LIFE An upbeat, catchy pop-rock track. Chisa's non-cutesy vocals keep this song grounded for the most part and it doesn't devolve into "nyappy" rainbow diarrhea. There are some cheesy parts (the slower parts), but overall, I was impressed with this track. Not my usual cup of tea, but really fun! The main "wtf" moment is at 2:50ish; there is a very abrupt, awkward transition which just wreaked of "hmm, not sure what to do here. Let's wing it and go back to the chorus!" I think they had a similar problem in Natsu no Yukue and ANSWER. But that was just one minor setback. On top of that, the PV is quite fun. RxR The song I was least excited for after hearing the iTunes previews. BUT, it actually turned out quite nicely. Nothing particularly WOWS me about this track, but then again, nothing really irks me about it either, so that's a plus! It's a solid "heavy" alternative song. I liked the random "dial tone" and "gunshot" sound effects thrown in towards the end, haha. Seems like this track will continue to grow on me with more listens. 青空にパラシュート From the previews, it was going to be my favorite song. It starts off heavier than you'd think, but once it gets to the core of the song, it's one of those slower, "heartfelt" sounding tracks. Chisa's voice is really good in this one. The chorus is beautiful. The only thing that I don't really like is that it just ends abruptly. It sounds like it's building up for one final chorus and it just ends. Oh well, still my favorite track! 新世界の黙示録 Over 7 minutes long! But yeah, as Shaneth mentioned, there's a very long intro. Hearing ABOUT the intro, it seems like a bad idea. But after listening to the song a few times, it's growing on me. The fact that the intro goes through a number of "phases" kind of mirrors the actual song portion, which goes through a few different sounds as well. Maybe not ideal for a track on a 4 song single, I think this wouldn't have been too much of an issue as an album track. Anyway, once the song proper begins, it's pretty damn awesome. Probably their best attempt at the "heavy" stuff. Overall, TASTE OF LIFE is without a doubt my favorite DIV release so far, which is something I didn't expect I'd be saying. Somehow, they delivered. A note about the single as a whole; Chisa sounds really good and I'm starting to appreciate their use of synth/ background electronic arrangements a lot more. The synth usage was one of the "meh" aspects on, say, their mini-album. Glad to see improvement. I hope they keep up the good work and remain consistent. So far, their track record for me is half pretty good, half meh, so if they can cut out the "meh" portion, I'll gladly start counting myself a DIV fan. TASTE OF LIFE, you are worth

Maybe playing with these bands will restore some of their "indie cred" among the major-label haterz? It's kinda interesting.

Just a heads up, long previews for each song are available on Japanese iTunes, in case anyone is dying to listen to this. Based on the previews, I'm particularly looking forward to 青空にパラシュート & 新世界の黙示録. Surprised that 新世界の黙示録 is over 7 minutes!

SLOD's vocalist was pretty good from what I remember, though I'm not sure if he's a good match for Versailles-style music. We'll see! (And if it's not even him, oh well!) Kind of excited how this and the new Kamijo solo project will turn out.

keine Currywurst... Das kann ich nicht fassen! Aber sie ist zwar mein Lieblings-Fastfood, haha. Als ich in Deutschland war, musste ich die Currywurst in jeder Stadt probieren, die ich besuchte. Fazit: in Deutschland gibt's prinzipiell keine schlechte Currywurst. Nur "gute" und "noch bessre", haha. Aber seit meiner Reise in August nach Portland, Oregon (um meinen Bruder zu besuchen), habe ich keine Currywurst mehr gegessen... Was die Essgewohnheiten angeht, lebt ein Freund von mir jetzt die sogenannte "paleo diet." Das heißt, man isst nur Obst, Gemüse, (mageres) Fleisch und Meeresfrüchte, und gesunde Fette. Man muss andererseits Milchprodukte, Getreideprodukte, und verarbeitetes Lebensmittel so gut wie möglich vermeiden. Scheint mir zu extrem, aber er behauptet, er fühlt sich jetzt "aktiver" denn je. Er hat sogar gesagt, dass so eine Diät besonders in der Schweiz bekannt ist? Keine Ahnung, ob das richtig ist...

I love this topic! THE GOOD Hotel Mexico - Her Decorated Post Love I didn't particularly like their first album, mostly due to absolutely goofy vocals on many of the songs. The following single and this second album, however, have been vast improvements. Extremely relaxing, "chill" release. Moran - jen:ga While I hope Moran can again someday reach the amazing shoegazey loveliness of their early single 君のいた五線譜, this album does have lots of great new songs to offer. ねごと (NEGOTO) - 5 Good ol' all-girl indie/ pop rock. Not as instantly gratifying as their first album, (probably because of the more subdued keyboard sound) but still a great effort nonetheless. DIMMDIVISION. - 揺れる/梟 I don't care if their production values are low; the songwriting and ambition in these songs is amazing. Shoegazm! Tam Tam - Polarize With a subtle reggae/dub influence throughout, Tam Tam are an extremely refreshing indie pop band. The title track "Polarize" has the "coolness" of a Tokyo Jihen song and honestly, Satomi Kuroda kinda does sound like Shiina Ringo! ventla - hell days to remember Album #22. I swear any of these songs would fit perfectly in the Animal Crossing soundtrack, haha. Special kudos to this album for having lots of vocal tracks; he seemed to have a lot of instrumental stuff for a while. Scarlet Valse - Eternal White 1 live-sold single. Perhaps their most epic track yet! [Non-Japanese] Margot & The Nuclear So & So's - Payphone Single A return to their more "baroque pop" sound of their first album. Plus, I love Richard Edwards' vocals! [Non-Japanese] 네미시스 (Nemesis) - Dream Another solid release from the Korean symphonic ballad rockers. Tons of beautiful orchestrations and great piano playing by the guitarist. Kudos to the band for breaking from their core sound a bit more and "experimenting" with other sounds. THE A'IGHT Yeti - 家庭の事情 Most people were looking forward to this because of ex-Aicle vocalist Emiru. I genuinely enjoyed 3 of the songs on this mini (door door, ie, & picasso). 2 of them were really good, inventive pop rock tracks, while "ie" was a slight return to Aicle craziness (maybe a bit out of place on this release, but still welcome imo!) The other 3 songs were kinda forgettable. グリーヴァ (GRIEVA) - 鬼ト影 A nice return to oldschool VK sounds, but many have noted some obvious instances of being "overly influenced" by classic bands. Hopefully, their next release is a little more creative. [Non-Japanese] Papa Topo - Tienes Sangre en Los Zapatos (Mi Amor) Part disco, part punk, part bossa nova! Fun and cheekily macabre. I only wish their next release is longer! 1 instrumental and 1 insanely short song don't cut it on a 4 song EP! An awesome music video though (my current avatar!) THE MEH The cabs & 0.8秒と衝撃 Enough other people have already said it: not memorable / lost their spark. DIV - 卒業 I really want to like DIV more, but this single didn't do much for me. Though the PV track "SEASONS" got me excited from the preview, the full version was a bit bland. I don't care about their "heavy" songs and then the third track sounded like a move towards a more generic version of the electronic sound they explored in their earlier track "milky latte." Hopefully, the new single will be better. (Probably some other "meh" or bad stuff, but I tend to delete that stuff, so I don't have any real record of it, haha.) THE WTF?! The Acid House. - The Acid House. Solo album by enigmatic vocalist/guitarist of 踊ってばかりの国 (odotte bakari no kuni). The entire album is sung in English (okay, kinda Engrish, but I was surprised by how much I DID understand) and you can never quite tell if he's drunk or something. Such a strange guy with a strange voice, but god I love it. Folky, psychedelic indie pop lo-fi goodness! [Non-Japanese] Heavy Hawaii - Goosebumps Wtf? How have I never heard of this band until now? Amazing second album. Think hazy, surf music interpreted through the lens of a nightmare carnival. From vocal pitch shifts and a generally creepy, yet engrossing atmosphere, this album exhibits all kinds of fuckery. Pretty damn certain this will be appearing on my 2013 "best of."

Oh, I have no problem with re-recordings and I agree, they turned those songs from their first release (which I didn't enjoy) into something good! I was mainly referring to the fact that they left "solitude" and "scene of sadness" untouched... They really stuck out among they other songs which had slicker, better production.

The recycling of old (some VERY old) songs was my main complaint about their first album. And that live DVD seems to be a fairly good price, considering many other Japanese live DVDs run for 5000 yen and up.

Excited for this! It's gonna be an expensive summer, though... I'm hoping for more information on the "book" aspect, because I'm not sure which edition I should be buying at this point. Also, looks like UNiTE. completely redid their website. A new look for the band as well.

Excellent!

Wow, not a genre I usually listen to, but that's a really nice song! Anyway, here's my song/music video of the day! From the lyrics about meteorites raining down and demolishing Hawaii, to the awesome "retro" video game visuals and anime cameos, and of course the 8-bit Debussy outro, this is just a fun music video. Papa Topo continues to surprise with their unpredictability.

One of my favorite releases of 2012 was free on bandcamp! Likes Lions - First The Head, Then The Tale Really nice mellow math rock. They say they are influenced by bands like Tubelord, American Football, This Town Needs Guns, Minus the Bear, etc. Fantastic stuff imo, especially for such a young band. Here's a sample: