fitear1590

@Heroin, I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for here. If I understood correctly, the OP mainly created this thread to highlight some really unknown/underrated visual kei bands, with the intent of showing that some of these bands are "aren't bad, [but] pretty listenable." So I guess, trying to dispell the idea that every indie VK band is "crappy" (there's a thread for that too, haha). If you want to discover more Japanese underground/indie bands in general (as in, not just limited to visual kei), then you should refer to the Japanese Indie Thread. Or you can ask for recommendations in the Music Recommendations Thread.

Just saw the dinosaur PV. Great song! I really like that track, but most of the other previews aren't really doing it for me, unfortunately... (particularly "indie pop" !)

Nice to see you here "officially" leafwork. I've seen you on TT a few times, but I also recognize your name from various last.fm shoutboxes! Enjoy MH!

Here are some recent favorites: テスラは泣かない (simple and classy) ユナイト/UNiTE (just cause it's so silly) Some classics: 地盤沈下/Zibanchinka Jeniva ねごと/negoto (technically a PV still, but I luv it) Eliphas Levi (I like the Madeth pic pinkmakona posted too, but this image has to be my favorite VK promo pic, because it embodies exactly what I think of when I hear "visual kei") ______________________________________ And since Champu snuck a non-Japanese band in here, I'm gonna do one, R O M A N C E's promo pic is one of my all-time favorites

(trying to comment on some of these just to get some more interaction going) @sai: ...I always thought what's-his-face's vocals were pretty good, but wtf is that warbly opera-ish singing he's doing. Ugh, "A" frustrates me sometimes. @bonsaijodelfisch: chiptune powermetal... oh god! Actually a fun listen! @cat: that 宮内優里 track is nice and relaxing. Kinda like a more digital-sounding ハイスイノナサ? Interesting video too! I can't even remember how I stumbled on this, but it's also relaxing, in a different way. Enjoy Hiiragi Fukuda! ySsy06g1ccY

Just thought I'd post here since... well, I actually like Sherlock. I've never been a fan of k-pop as a whole, since the general electronic/hip-hoppy/dance style that predominates doesn't appeal to me at all. I can practically count the number of k-pop songs that I like on one hand. I was flipping through my TV channels and came across "mnet" and they were playing random k-pop videos (wtf, such a channel exists?). Sherlock was on and the dance choreography caught my attention (I thought all the ripple effects they did were noice). Overall, Sherlock is a cool looking video and the song definitely isn't your average k-pop track. I like the cheesy horns and the synths are nice. Most of the guys have pretty good voices too. At times, it reminded me of a Michael Jackson track, which is not a bad thing. I checked out their earlier hits on youtube (Replay, Juliette, Lucifer, etc) and realized that I didn't really like any of them, haha. Oh well. PS: despite all my years of VK desensitization, I thought Taemin was a girl at first...

Yay, Everlasting Life! One of my favorite songs by them/Railtracer. They did well with their re-recording of Secret Eden, so I look forward to this too! PS: cover art for "Voyage in Chronos" and a new look can be seen for now on Kakeru's blog

I'm really enjoying the new tracks on the US edition of Kimbra's album. For instance, until "Come Into My Head," I didn't realize she could be so weird and funky! IFKCs25TYy0 (Great topic idea, btw!)

Well, it's a mini-album, but the number one underrated release that I can think of right now would definitely be: DIMMDIVISION. - A Day In The PanoraMagic. It has great vocals and a cool atmosphere, thanks to the mix of shoegazey, alternative, and ethereal influences, among others. Overall, a very strong and beautiful release. I truly don't understand how they don't have more listeners (only 101 on last.fm). It might simply be a lack of good marketing, because their CD is pretty hard to buy and they don't technically even have a band photo anywhere that I can find. Give my favorite song "NightFlight" a try!

Here's a cover of the song "7 Years of Love": Sounds great, like one of their own songs! I hope they'll release something soon... I want the 3rd Album Part 2!

LOL, I find this to be VERY similar to the "hipster" phenomenon. No matter how similar you dress to other hipsters, listen to the same music, buy the same specific brands (Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, American Spirit cigarettes, etc), it's always everyone else who's the "lame hipster," not you. All about exclusivity. As far as my take on Seremedy/YOHIO, I treat this the same as if any other random-ass Japanese VK band suddenly got a major label deal (like "NEOPHILIA", wtf): I don't get it. Good for these guys for knowing how to work the system and make money, but... they're not for me.

NEGOTO is providing the theme song (entitled "Re:myend!") for the new CG movie "放課後ミッドナイターズ" (After School Midnighters). You can hear a bit of it in the background of this trailer: MMqAGkwkUp4 It looks pretty bizarre... By the way, anyone hear the "sharp♯" single yet? I think my favorite track is one of the b-sides, "drop".

WOW, I can't believe how bad his vocals have gotten. And the production, particularly of the second track, is also quite terrible. The only positive is that they seem to have toned down all of the EROTIC SO SEXY crap. Lycaon continues to astound me with new fuckery, continually lowering the bar and solidifying themselves as one of the biggest VK trainwrecks at the moment.

In case you don't want to mess with proxies or anything, you can watch the PV for ストロベリヰ on their website: http://www.ziyoou-vachi.com/index.html

Huzzah, finally!

Wait, is it old news that Waka left ジミニークリケット? I didn't know...

Willkommen! (I love Germany!) So which Japanese bands do you enjoy? I hope you have a nice time here, viel Spaß!

Discovered a nice new band: neue nahel (read: ノイエネール) They're an electronic/ post rock-ish band with beauty-full female vox. There are apparently some members from the band "audio safari" if that means anything to you. They just released "acid film ep." last month. Highly recommended! last.fm website Check 'em out: IO9hbErrdt0 My favorite song so far is "hou":

Buy me some souvenirs! Just kidding, have a great time and take pictures!

I assume you mean by the fact that they included one old song (in Japanese) and what is probably a re-recorded song. Well... I look at those two tracks as bonus material. They could have just included ROSE and 妖-ayakashi-, thrown on an SE track and called it a single. Considering it's 4 tracks and still only 1200 yen, I'm thankful for the extra tracks. Other bands could get away with a 4 track release as a "mini album" and charge 2000-2500 yen for it. (Plus, I love Red Carpet Day, so I enjoy the idea of them rerecording it!)

Whoa, thanks for the tracklist info. The DVD version is a bit steep for me, but the CD version sounds like a great deal. I'll definitely add that to my next order. Really excited for the Japanese version of Love will be born again, since I already quite enjoy the music in that song. The Engrish was the only problem. And yeah, I hope THE RED CARPET DAY will be rerecorded. It's an old favorite, but man, if they mess it up, the "OLD VERSAILLES IS BETTER, NEW MAJOR VERSAILLES IS SHIT" thing will pretty much be solidified in the minds of pessimist fans. I hope they deliver!

Just throwing it out there that I'm really glad Zephyr is continuing to participate in shows and stuff. Maybe they'll surprise us with another new release in August.

I actually quite liked Illusion for its LAREINE-ness. RotD was a'ight. It had good parts, but felt a bit disjointed and should have had a more epic solo, imo. Kinda surprised they haven't had a song called ROSE already, considering how obsessed they are. Cautiously looking forward to it.

First of all, thank you for this little trick. Second of all, dat video. Avu-chan looks like Nicki Minaj + Jesus at the start, haha. Definitely one of their most creative PVs! The song is really cool too. A heavy layer of sound throughout the whole thing. But what the HELL was that little interlude in the middle, haha! Might have to attach this CD to my next order...

I'm not ready to write a full-blown review just yet, but does anyone have any impressions of the new album "朱花艶閃" so far? The response on last.fm is pretty positive! Some have even said that it might be their best album. I've only listened 3 times, so I can't judge just yet. I'll have to re-listen to the first two albums and compare. In any case, 朱花艶閃 is totally solid. I'm not disappointed, at all. Current favorite tracks: 5. 妖語 (love the synths, the beat, and "kooky" solo of this song. They've created something really distinct from the rest of their discog) 6. 朱花艶閃 (incredible song, maybe one of my absolute favorites of Kiryu. So frantic, with strange awesome riffs, a dramatic chorus, a GREAT post-chorus little bass/drum breakdown that I wish were only a little longer, and a blood curdling scream near the end) 7. 腐海 (the intro makes it start off sounding a bit familiar, but then gets some amazing atmosphere with creative bass parts, and the cool "scratchy" guitar after the chorus. Different time signatures make the song disjointed, in a good interesting way. Love the whistling!) 8. 化猫 (Meow! That intro just smacks you in the face with intensity. This is what track 2 [鬼祭] should have had. Although Mahiro sounds crazy ridiculous, those sweet guitar riffs make it really interesting. Then some Aicle-esque "ah uh ah uh!" growls, haha, spooky piano and screaming in the background. Another song with cool structural shifts) 11. 叫声 (loved it since it was a single. SPECTACULAR and creative guitar work, without resorting to shredding stuff. Take note, other bands. Mahiro calms down and sounds great!) 13. 天華 (beautiful ballad. Better than the one from the second album, which even though I enjoy, I'll admit had WAY too many instruments.) Other notable tracks: 9. 宵月 (has a chorus with a totally different feel than most Kiryu tracks) 10. 空蝉 (tbh, the intro reminded me of ZORO. Weird for Kiryu, but not bad. The sprinklings of autotune actually didn't bother me, probably because they were just sprinklings. Catchy song with funky bass.) 12. 涙唄 (can't put my finger on what I like about this song so much. Kinda has the feeling of some older Kiryu songs, but also has crazy piano parts that are reminiscent of their second album. Really good!) As you can see, I enjoyed/favorited most songs on the album, haha. Only with 鬼祭 do I still have some major issues. Although the song starts off pretty cool, the fact that the entire chorus is Mahiro's "unique" growling is kinda unsettling. The two songs following it are "decent," but so far don't really stick out to me. But after that, the album really picks up and you'll see that I quite enjoy just about every track!