fitear1590

Tracklist:
1. White Breath
2. Divers
3. Through The Deep
4. Heat
5. Anchorless Ship
6. Night Time (Petite Noir Remix)   
 | 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:
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I swear i'm the only one that didn't dislike this release even tho i know this doesn't compare to their first album...
also agreed with you i don't like remixes either so the last track was meh, i don't think i even listened to it till the end
but the rest of the album was alrighty....i like my chill musicz
 
they were guests for one of the last shadow puppets' shows in japan #RELEVANCY!!11
 

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

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

Same! Looking forward to buying it tomorrow!

June is coming to a close soon, so be sure to send us your guest contributions if you want the opportunity to feature a song on next month's list!

PM @doombox for details!

Wanted to start this topic up mainly because of discovering this on Netflix:
 
The basis and rules are simple, unlike other similar reality shows like Big Brother where they have to do challenges and is encouraged to be outlandish, with celebrities, and other shows like Georgie Shore, where the supposed "no script" is an obvious lie. They're all strangers, and quite close in age, and sometimes interests. The only guideline is: “Three men and three women live under the same roof, recorded with no script, and only thing provided are fancy house and two cars.” In Terrence House, there's something sincere and genuine about the whole thing. Studio commentators, from the show presenters (such as Ehara Yukiko and Reina Triendl) to comedians and actors give out comments from the same clips we see at the same time, usually giving snarky or funny remarks, and predication/discussion on the individuals' traits and suggestions from what we have also only seen. I personally like how interesting it is to see how they socialize in an environment unlike what I've seen from Britain and America. Similar, but the whole culture is different, and it's surprisingly heartfelt. All we know of them when we first see them come in one by one, from male to female, are their name, age, and occupation:
From left to right-
 
Makoto Hasegawa - University student, baseball player
Yuriko Hayata - University medical student
Tatsuya Uchihara - Hair stylist
Mizuki Shida - Office (sports) worker
Yuki Adachi - Tap dancer
Minori Nakada - Model and student
 

 
 
This is such a worthwhile watch. I had to put down what I was already doing and just wanted background noise but ended up watching quite a few episodes (not nearly done with 18 to get through!).
 
Any thoughts? Anyone else seen this or something similar? Or does anyone else like the bigger ones? Use this thread to share and discuss anything reality TV!

@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,
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 

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

 

Pup selfie

Pup selfie

Pup selfie

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Pup selfie

pulse wriggling to dim scene + ugly + groan of venemous cell all in one clusterfuck of a quasi-ruki cosplay for the toronto live
 

Pup selfie

U N UR DOG R ADORBZ OOOOOK
love the hair beb!! the cut suits u \m/
MY SON Is looking good.
 
(removed the pics to keep the thread smooth, but ur all hot dw)

Pup selfie

i havent posted here in months
 

Pup selfie

Pup selfie

Pup selfie

Pup selfie

Also, if anyone wants to join in recommending new tracks next month feel free to contact me about how to do it! We're always accepting guest writers. 
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Yay! There were a lot of rad songs this month. I couldn't even keep up.
I'm cry, how did I not know about SWANKY DANK's acoustic project? Also whoever recorded Koji's voice for this should have worked on Magna Carta because he sounds so much better here. I need to look up if they've got proper releases with this. 
I can't wait for that a crowd of rebellion album to come out after listening to this song. sdkfhsdjlfhdls They keep getting better!
I was hesitent to jump on the DEZERT hype train but I really like this pick. The vk may be small in the list this month but it is MIGHTY. 
Always happy to see cinima staff getting some more love. I haven't listened to the new album yet but this has me really excited!!!
jizue's album is also on my gonna-listen-to-soon list. "atom" sounds fantastic. 
 

There must be a duplicate thread, because I know these have been posted before. Anyway, my "fave" worst CD covers:

Dear L'Novel - 罪と罰(Tsumi to Batsu) 

 
ViViD - Message
 

Dear L'Novel's is one of the few albums that I truly enjoy but refuse to buy, because the album art would haunt me. And yet, the ViViD one is somehow worse, because they were actually a major band. Can you imagine who designed these covers and thought "Yup, these are good to go!"