fitear1590

 | Not quite divine, but a PREACH-worthy effort!

Tracklist:
1.Hallelujah

2.黒い虹 (Black Rainbow)

3.1000年 (1000 Years)

4.美しい火 (Beautiful Fire)

5.愛はなけなし (What Little Love)

6.風 (Wind)

7.時間さえも年老いて (Even Time Ages)

8.!!!!!!!!!!!

9.ただ遠くへ (Just Going Far)

10.あなたを愛したい (I Want To Love You)

11.いこうよ (IKOUYO)

THE NOVEMBERS hold a special place in the hearts of many Monochronmiums. I would go as far as saying, the majority of us who have at least a toe dipped in the waters of the ‘J-Rock’ and Japanese indie scenes, are fans of the band in some capacity. What makes THE NOVEMBERS a unique case is their wide appeal. Without going into strict alter egos, their sound can be divided into two major halves: namely, the light, jangly, and shoegaze-y sound and their darker, more aggressive, alternative sound. Or, as I term them, ~dream ver.~ and ~scream ver.~. While 2015’s Elegance leaned heavily toward the dreamy sound, this album, Hallelujah, seeks to restore balance.

The title track eases us into the album delivering (us from evil) with a euphoric sound, featuring simple, ‘tribal’ style drumming. It’s an epic theme, if a bit one-note. Immediately changing gears, the band hangs a hard U-turn with “Black Rainbow.” As the first single release of the album, we got to preview this angsty number back in July. Can anyone say, ‘shoegrunge’? The band maintains the forceful momentum on “1000 Years,” perhaps the best received heavy track on the album, according to comments here on MH. There’s something vaguely thrashy about the riffs on this one. Kobayashi’s harsh vocals are also noteworthy, invoking a paradoxically restrained rawness.

With a pretty strong start to the album, tracks 3 through 6 form a flawless stretch for me, as someone who predominantly gravitates toward THE NOVEMBERS’ lighter sound. “Beautiful Fire" is gorgeous and the polar opposite to the grittiness of the previous two tracks. It has more conviction than the wispy work on last year's Elegance and it also marks a glorious return to those warm horn arrangements, a nod to 2012's stunning GIFT EP (did you really think I could get through a NOVEMBERS review without namedropping it?), which adds a nostalgic touch. “What Little Love” is a track I slept on at first, but if I had to choose now, I’d probably nominate it as my album fave! I know @togz agrees with me! What’s fascinating about this track is its fusion of the band’s two sides. The dark, but tranquil verses are somewhat reminiscent of 2013's zeitgeist-era tracks like “Meursault.” The choruses, however, are where the band’s dreamier side shows through again. The piercing, ethereal synths are a NOVEMBERS signature, but during the chorus, they creep ever so gingerly towards dissonance, adding a striking tension to this song. Bringing up the rear of my album high is “Wind.” I’m not sure the band has ever produced a number quite like this, with bright riffs that would be at home in 90s/early 2000s ‘white kei.’ If you’re wondering what the hell I ever mean with ‘jangly’ guitar, look no further than “Wind.” Plus, Kobayashi hits an unusually high register in this track that is truly music to my earholes.

“Even Time Ages” is where Hallelujah starts to falter. Don’t get me wrong, I actually quite enjoy this gloomier track, but it feels like what we’ve heard before on zeitgeist or mid-album on 2014's Rhapsody in beauty. "!!!!!!!!!!!" is arguably the weakest showing on the album, lacking the distortion to back up how aggressive it wants to be. “Just Going Far” seems to directly cite zeitgeist’s “Flower of life” with its contrasting heavy bass and airy synth approach, though I suppose this one has more of a somber mood. “I Want To Love You” is where the band gets back on track, granting us a droning, unabashedly shoegaze ballad, if such a thing exists.  In fact, this track and the closer “IKOUYO” summon the distortion that their last album, Rhapsody in beauty, so selfishly hogged for the ~screamy~ tracks,  proving that the ~dreamy~ side can get down and dirty just as well.

Dazzling (and colorful) cover art aside, Hallelujah is unlikely to go down as many people’s favorite NOVEMBERS album. Despite unprecedented tracks like “Wind” and “I Want To Love You,” the album is just a little too derivative of work they’ve already released. Having said that, ‘more of the same’ is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, Hallelujah is still a kickass record and is commendable for balancing the band’s two primary sounds more effectively than on recent releases. THE NOVEMBERS have been around for eleven years and it's not that they are starting to show their age. Rather, it’s simply getting tougher and tougher for them to outdo themselves. Even so, they remain as solid as ever. Perhaps, we just need to reconceptualize Hallelujah as something to hold us over until their inevitable release in 2017. I, for one, am already looking forward to discovering where the band will take us next. And maybe, just maybe, the band will give us a decent promo photo next year so I don't have to resort to a still from a PV!

What did you think of Hallelujah?

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That poor rhythm guitarist gets the worst hair each time...

Looking forward to this! They're a pretty promising new band.

It's pretty funny, because Tanaka's definition "City Pop is Japanese pop music with a pronounced Western indie influence that tends to have a dreamy, chill, carefree, neo-soul aesthetic" summarizes a big part of my music taste, to a tee! Too bad I don't actually like many of the bands he designated as City Pop!

The article was kind of an interesting read and I suppose it's nice to have a label for these types of bands, but if all the bands listed equal "City Pop," then the term is pretty much meaningless. In my opinion, there's very few Japanese bands that truly sound "Western" to me, such as: The fin., Ykiki Beat, Homecomings, (all of which were listed and sing in English, HMMM!), and I would argue Hotel Mexico and early Czecho no Republic. There's probably more, but I'd have to think about it for a minute.

The connection to our "club" band discussion was a cool coincidence, but overall, I fail to see how alleged City Pop bands like Awesome City Club (srsly, their arrangements are so j-poppy) or Yogee New Waves sound especially "Western" unless our definition just means any Japanese indie rock music that's not super frantic/quirky like Midori, ling tosite sigure, or 88kasyo junrei. To which I repeat: the term then becomes kind of useless. Of course not every Japanese rock band is going to sound like them. Simply playing indie pop does not equal "Western". I also think Tanaka downplays how much language and vocals (singing styles, but also melodies that Western artists don't really do) make a difference, even if the guitar riffs might sound like Modest Mouse or something.

And what is the Western band that beachy bands like Mitsume and Siamese Cats are supposedly copying? Cause I need to know. All I can think of is Mac Demarco and that's not quite right.

Also, the comment about "City Pop" music being "emasculating" was pretty silly.

Soan's Moran compositions were consistently my favorites, so I'm looking forward to this af.

Yay, glad you guys had a good time! Hopefully, the band enjoyed the experience and will do more overseas shows in the future!

UNiTE. opened a special website for their 6th anniversary:
http://www.unite-jp.com/6th/

Nothing too exciting there yet, but I do like seeing a band like Chanty in the "Friends" section.

~~Friendly reminder to everyone on MH: If you want to be a guest contributor like Ada Suillen and chemicalpictures were this month, check out this thread or PM @doombox for more details. We want to see even more people sharing the music they love!~~

Time for some comments!

@beni - I can see myself getting into Her Ghost Friend. There's a very uniquely J-POP vibe, but in a good way. Also, I recognize the pool in that band pic (The fin.'s PV). I actually love and miss the wacky version of Cö shu Nie. There was a moment in their discog where they seemed to go full pop (was not a fan), but this song seems to be showing a plausible synthesis of both styles. I'm hopefully back on board again
@Original Saku - ...CreepHyp's (acquired taste) vocalist reminds me very strongly of someone. UGH, this is going to bother me until I figure it out. I like the kinda husky voice in Casablanca!
@togz - downy seems really solid on this newest album, so I'll need to check that out. NICE song choice for the NOVEMBERS. You might see this song pop up in a future post of mine *wink wink*. I love the way the synth goes slightly off-kilter/dissonant in the chorus. Holy shit, PIGLOW was a surprise--they're pretty much nobodies, right? Randomly downloaded it because people were raving about them (and dat name, amirite?) and it's pretty awesome! I hear more Kiryu in the vocals tho!

@emmny - I need to get on that ggg train. It's got that guitar swag that only aie can do, but I won't have to suffer through Ryo's vocals
@Zeus - yesss, Versailles! I was so skeptical about a rerecording album as a 'return,' but I was pleasantly surprised. The only thing I'm not crazy about in this particular remake is the slight tweaking of the guitar notes around 3:00-3:01 (and the repeats later on). And like togz, further support that I need to downy it up.
@CAT5 - welcome back, d00d! I still need to spend some more time with the new TAMTAM, but this song is pretty good. I'm not sure they'll ever top the perfucktion that was "Polarize" (song and some extent, mini-album). Aoi Teshima is GORGEOUS. And I'm so glad to see how many people on the team, despite varying tastes, are getting into Chanty!
@Ada Suilen - mwahaha, more NOVEMBERS love. This is probably my favorite 'heavy' track from the album.
@chemicalpictures - I was a Dhalis fan back in the day and you can still hear moments of it in ZON, even though they've amped up heaviness and production value. I need to look into them!

off-topic, why is the only clear photo of THE NOVEMBERS so dweeby looking? lol
 

Wow, loving the interweaving of different scenes. Need to see more of this!

Thanks for posting, hirokx!

4 hours ago, doombox said:

Am I the only one super disappointed with the new NOVEMBERS? "1000 Years" was the only track I walked away excited about. :/ Idk, I'll try a few more spins and see if it grows on me, though.

Definitely a grower, but I particularly enjoy it because there is so much NOVEMBERS-lite. For me, "Beautiful Fire" -> "What Little Love" -> "Wind" is such a flawless stretch of the album. I also reaaally like "I Want You to Love Me" for its slow, droning shoegaze scrumptiousness. Of the dark/heavy tracks though, I like "Even Time Ages" a lot.
 

1 minute ago, beni said:

@fitear1590, I like how we were pumped for one of each others' picks! KAFUKA's "Ice Candy" also got my attention. I would've written a blurb for it myself if I hadn't had too many picks this month! Totally awesome song, I wasn't feeling them before when I checked out their album, but this is just amazing!

Yesss, beni! I just love "Cruisin' Cruisin'" and was gonna cover that one too, if you hadn't

4 hours ago, saishuu said:

Chanty - 不完全な音楽

Incredibly pleased as to how this came together. I'm relatively new to Chanty, but this mini sealed the deal for me. Heavy bass lines everywhere, great vocals, catchy tunes and lots to like. These guys are good.

I've loved Chanty since their first single and they especially came into their own as a band last year, but I'm gonna have to spend some more time with this mini. Maybe I was distracted the first time I listened to it, but I don't remember much. Glad to see they're gaining more and more fans though!

EDIT: re-listening and I am already way more onboard with this release this time around 
False alarm!

Omg, sorry for the late reply! Just wanted to get this in, before the new list comes out later today!!

@togz Not that I follow them, but did not know that COLDRAIN ever went in this direction. I can dig it!
@emmny Yesss, Mediena! They're my kind of band when it comes to 2000s tribute kei.
@Original Saku Uri Nakayama sounds less "quirky" than I remember her being, but in a good way. I'll have to look into her more.
@doomboxThat Purple Stone PV is hilarious. I'm always down for spooky dance choreography, haha.
@tetsu_sama69I can see myself getting into Starku--is it fair to say they just have one of those "solid" VK rock sounds like THE LOTUS? They just need to drop that synth at the start
@Ada Suilen Thanks for being a constant guest contributor  And of course, much love for showing HIZAKI some love!

2 hours ago, Mihi said:

OMG MY FAIRYTALE COMIN BACK WITH NEW LINEUP????????

I was literally just thinking about this last night. Please let it be true!

Whoa, a new mini! I hope someone on MH will be able to attend!

I'm sorry if this has already been posted (my phone is dying so I can't search for too long), but I was curious: what tracks are brand new on FoLLoW's full album? And are there any differences in the old tracks (remastered or rerecorded, etc)?

Why is the treble turned up to 11?!

Ito, thou leavest me no choice.


And to my fellow ORZians, comments  on your picks will be up later this week!

1 hour ago, RevenantVX7 said:

Versailles new Cd song samples: http://www.neowing.co.jp/product/WPCL-12434/track?from_cdj=1

Thanks for posting, Revenant.

It's a bit difficult to hear through the poor sound quality of the samples, but I think I'm most looking forward to the rerecordings of the Lyrical Sympathy tracks.

This fucking grating trebly synth that so many neo VK bands insist on using.

Even the VK electronic gods DIV succumbed to this filth in one of their later tracks.

...why? What was the point of rereleasing this track and PV? Nothing sounds different enough to justify another version.

17 hours ago, CAT5 said:

An interesting observation: 

Or maybe you've just become less of an "album person"? At least I feel myself gravitating towards that lately. Regardless of fewer releases to populate your AOTY list, you certainly didn't have any shortage of music on the monthly Recommended Tracks lists last year.

I truly love a good full-album when I come across one, but I also feel like doing the RT lists the past year and half has made me appreciate music in different format (singles, YouTube videos, sporadic B-sides, etc.) that can go unappreciated in the frenzy over full-albums.

38 minutes ago, seurong said:

Have they always been releasing stuff this fast? I haven't always followed Kiryu this closely so I have no idea.

They are surely working too hard.

Yes. I recall a few times when they would announce a brand-new single or DVD just DAYS after another new release. They've probably announced something new BEFORE the less new thing even came out, but I can't keep up anymore.

 

I am currently level 23 on WaniKani, which means I know / recognize / am familiar with / should be familiar with around 749 kanji and 2300+ vocab words (from this app alone. I know others from school and recognizing song titles).

Thanks for the tip, boo. WaniKani sounds like a good tool to boost my kanji knowledge. Like you, I haven't taken any formal Japanese course in 4-5 years, but I'm itching to get back into it lately.