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fitear1590

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Posts posted by fitear1590

  1. Posted

    The bottom line is, an outsider like WB doesn't need "defending," because the situation doesn't ultimately affect his livelihood. Of course, he's entitled to an opinion as we all are, but in the end, the opinions and voices that matter most in this situation are of those who are being most affected: black Americans. Let's defend them.

    I don't think he meant to distract from the conversation, intentionally, but these kinds of detours and sidesteps are all too common in a conversation that is already an uphill battle. Talking about race in the US has always been awkward due to the nation's dicey history, but also because we refuse to face it. It's become so abundantly clear in the mainstream consciousness that even if the horrors of slavery, lynching, and segregation of "the past" are officially over, the aftermath and residues are still very much part of our present. In some ways, it's likely harder to talk about race now, because the majority of white America is "colorblind" and refuses to believe that racism still exists. How can Americans expect to have an honest discussion, when the loudest voices of the most dominant group are so willfully dismissive and/or believe any expression of disdain for institutional racism is "reverse racism"?

    Talking to racists is already like talking to a brick wall, so the last thing we need is to distract from the real conversation any further. Someone will always have a criticism: use more precise words, be more respectful (which I don't think anyone in their right mind can ask of Philando Castile's girlfriend. She was addressing the policeman as "sir," even as her boyfriend was bleeding and dying next to her), don't be so "angry," etc... It's all just subterfuge and does not really help.

    And even if we were to accept the "nitpicking," let's nitpick this scenario even further. Maybe "murder" really is a valid term. Is "premeditation" any different from "motive"? Surely, racism, whether institutional (using black male's mugshots as target practice in police stations, etc.) or individual (policemen dropping the n-word on their personal social media accounts, etc.) is a common motive in these tragedies. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the culture of racism has indeed led to the murder of numerous black Americans at the hands of police officers.

    doombox, emmny, saishuu and 7 others reacted to this

  6. Posted

    On 7/1/2016 at 6:45 AM, doombox said:

    Note: Not all videos may be available for viewing in your country, we apologize.

     

    8 hours ago, CAT5 said:

    Can't see/hear the Peli track, but I am super curious after hearing samples of the mini.


    For Japanese YouTube videos only blocked in the US (from channels like UK PROJECT, etc.), I've found that Hotspot Shield Free VPN Proxy is a great extension for Chrome users. It has an easy on/off switch!

    Unfortunately, this does nothing for those "Japan-only" YouTube videos.

    CAT5 reacted to this

  8. Posted · Edited by fitear1590

    8 hours ago, saishuu said:

    new Kamisai!

    I'm so happy they're finally releasing "煌々と輝く". I'm definitely gonna try to pick this mini up!
    -----------------------------------

    PS: My latest ORZ review is published! This time, I covered The fin.'s Through The Deep EP:
    tumblr_o9asunict01rfey86o1_1280.png

  9. Posted

    tumblr_o9asunict01rfey86o1_1280.png

     

    Tracklist:
    1. White Breath
    2. Divers
    3. Through The Deep
    4. Heat
    5. Anchorless Ship
    6. Night Time (Petite Noir Remix) 

     

    :_5.5/10_: | Brief rain on our parade or a sinking ship?


    The fin. is one of the few Japanese indie bands that have managed to gain oh-so-coveted international attention. This is not only due to their accessible lyrics (god knows ‘the West’ has an aversion to music that isn’t in English), but also their more Western-oriented musical style (I’ve seen comparisons to Phoenix). They're completely unlike anything from J-indie favorites such as 凛として時雨 (Ling Tosite Sigure) or Cinema Staff. Check my 2015 EOTY list and you’ll find The fin.’s gorgeous first album Days With Uncertainty, proudly featured. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee their latest EP having that privilege on this year’s list. So what went wrong on Through The Deep? Let’s dive in.
     

    The EP opens up in strong form with “White Breath” picking up right where Days With Uncertainty left off. The song sports gorgeous bubbling synths and a dreamy, falsetto chorus. Sadly, the band doesn’t capitalize on this momentum and begins their descent on the following track. “Divers” has some funky flair, but overall, the song is repetitive and a bit of a snoozer. “Through The Deep,” ironically the EP’s title single, is where the band truly flounders. Despite a gorgeous video—though we already knew they had a great visual aesthetic with their "Night Time" PV—the song is disappointing. For some reason, Yuto curiously sings one note for 90% of the track. The delivery of this vocal monotony does nothing to highlight the beautiful music; instead, it just makes his Engrish sound clunky and robotic. “Heat” provides a soothing palate cleanser, but clocking in at just over a minute, it hardly leaves an impression, quickly evaporating into nothingness. “Anchorless Ship,” which first leaked last year on the band’s Soundcloud, is a commendable attempt to get the EP afloat again. Compared to the lush synthwork of “White Breath” and “Heat,” this track is distinguished by its sparse chirps. It has a slow buildup like “Divers,” but it is ultimately a welcome ‘new’ direction for the band and the most successful on this particular release, despite the cheap fade out.

    It has been stormy seas so far, so how does The fin. finish off the EP? With a goddamn remix. Rarely has a remix gotten me excited and “Night Time (Petite Noir Remix)” does absolutely nothing to change my mind. In fact, this is one of the most egregious remixes I’ve heard, simply due to the injustice it inflicts upon one of the band’s flagship tracks. The vocals are reprogrammed in some strange off-beat way and the buoyant guitar riffs are replaced and flattened into repetitive wubbly bass notes. It’s a total throwaway track – the rancid icing on an already underwhelming cake. Though I seem to be in the minority (the EP has been pretty well-received in various English-language press outlets), Through The Deep sadly does not showcase the talent I heard in The fin.'s previous work. With a strong first EP (Glowing Red On The Shore) and debut album, they have occupied the unique liminal space between indie scenes in Japan and abroad. As the make their way through the deep (a.k.a. touring greater Asia and the UK), I hope they’ll gain inspiration and eventually put out another release that is on par with their first two. The fin. are better than this, plain and simple!

     

     

    Support the band:
    Amazon
    HMV
    CDJapan

    Original Saku, The Reverend, doombox and 3 others reacted to this

  13. Posted

    @beni, your thread convinced me to give Terrace House a try! This past week, I binge-watched all 18 episodes on Netflix. A very intriguing watch to say the least.

    I totally get what you mean by the "sincerity" of the whole thing. It was refreshing to see the "strangers living together in a house" premise so prevalent in American reality TV re-imagined as something different. I was always engrossed in each episode, even if nothing really took place. My siblings, who were only half-watching in the background would always ask, "Well, did anything happen?" and after thinking about it, often nothing really happened, haha. What I really liked was the cinematography! It was beautifully shot and the long stationary takes added tension, so that you didn't need fabricated drama--still, it was almost a feat that no real drama took place. I think one time,

    Uchi said he would "kick [Makocchan's] butt"

    and that was about it. I also just enjoyed hearing conversational Japanese with subtitles. It makes me want to pick up on my Japanese studies again. One thing that set it apart from the American reality TV I've seen was the lack of intrusive interviews with cast members where they provide fake commentary on their own actions. The show presenters were an interesting alternative. Even if the two older men irritatingly dominated the conversation (that poor little boy didn't even speak every episode!) and some of the commentary was reaching for drama, I found the six commentators outside of Terrace House to be a preferable format. Plus, I've loved Reina Triendl ever since seeing her in Riaru Onigokko, so it was a nice surprise to see her here :D

    Now beyond praising production aspects of the series, I did find many of the characters to be annoying:


    I truly did not like any of the three original men. Traditional masculinity pisses me off anyway, so some of their "boys' club" talks irked me. Plus, I didn't like the way going out seemed to be used as a way to call dibs on the women. Like Makocchan even said he lost all attraction for Minori after she went out with Uchi. I kind of felt like his ultimate "losing" of Minori to Uchi was what caused him to leave the house and not the post-baseball season soul-searching. Bye.

    Yuki lost me early on with the way he treated Mizuki in his forced, overbearing "aspirations" talk. Way to ruin the light vibe of your own birthday party. After that, he was pretty low-key, but I secretly enjoyed how Yuriko rejected him. Super unexpected!  I thought Uchi was the least bad, but he's done some questionable things too and is just way too serious. Arman (Makocchan's replacement) seems the most likable of the bunch, but he seems unfortunately a bit bro-y, the more we see of him. It's interesting to see him represent the American perspective a bit (even his attire gives him away!) and it's cool to see more haafu in Japanese media!

    All of the women, I felt at least neutral about. Yuriko was at times annoyingly polite, but I was still rooting for her. Mizuki was probably my favorite, so I'm sad to see that she left without making any real progress, whatever that would be on this show. The new girl Arisa seems nice and she has a unique job. We'll see where it goes from here. I'm looking forward to seeing how the two new cast members will influence the show's dynamic! When the hell can I binge watch the second half of the season?!

     

    beni reacted to this

  16. Posted

    2 hours ago, Original Saku said:

     

    odol - YEARS

    possibly one of the most chill bands you can listen to, new album released called YEARS ... *chillaxing intesifies* but no srsly a really great album from a really great indie rock band. It Definitely topped their first album for me, I'm enjoying it quite a bit right now. check it out and you want be disappointed.

     

    Yay, glad to see some more odol support! I don't love their vocalist, but overall, a great release!

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