enyx

yasssssss @ ha going full grimes at 1:18
 
sléy that asphyxiated falsetto, ckween

I think I'm going slightly off-topic here, so I apologize for that, but this seems like a good time to mention this anyway.
 
I've always found it a little perplexing that people often tend to consider electronic software, turntables, and other things associated with electronic music to somehow not be instruments. I mean the literal definition of an instrument is "a tool or implement, especially one for precision work". In a musical context that essentially just means a tool that you feed inputs to to generate music. A voice, a flute, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and musical software are all instruments; they're just tools you feed inputs to generate a desired sound. The only thing that changes between them is how 'artificial' they are in the sense that some are entirely driven by natural means (the voice), some are a fusion of natural and artificial elements (an electric guitar), and some are primarily artificial (musicial software), but all of them still need a good talented musician feeding them inputs to create truly good music.
 
I think by arguing that, due to the increasing prevalence of electronic software and the like, musicians are
is a bit of a dangerous train of thought. Mainstream pop music has been doing this for quite a while now, long before electronic software became as extensive as it is today. The fact that mainstream pop is incorporating more and more electronic elements shouldn't be conflated with the mistaken belief that all music made with electronic instruments follows this approach of making music. The truth is that great musicians will produce great music no matter what tools they use, and if anything the only thing determining their choice of instruments should be the aural qualities of the music they're trying to make. There are plenty of really talented musicians making really brilliant, primarily electronic music. At the same time there are plenty of musicians making music with more traditional instruments that, as @Zeus said, is utter garbage.
 
Basically I think we should pull away from assuming that the development of electronic music is one of the main contributors to the decline of VKs popularity; at least not in the sense that music created with these sorts of tools is inherently more simple, catchy, and poppy than music created with more traditional instruments - that just feels snobby to me. It could have contributed in the sense that musical fads have transitioned from the emo/scene music of the mid 2000s to the DJ/Club music of today, but implying that this transition is the result of some sort of inherent flaw in electronic instruments versus traditional instruments feels wrong to me.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Let's hope they put as much effort into the actual music as they do trying to look as pretentious as possible.

Oh yeah, I love this band. That weird style of prog/psychedelic or whatever you want to call it rules. It's a shame that the stuff before the 2012 album is all out of print; I still need to get my hands on those albums. Of the 4 I have, I think 0088 is probably my favorite by a slight hair, but ○△□ and 攻撃的国民的音楽 are both really close. 日本 is definitely a slight step down, but it's nowhere near a bad album. Here's to hoping the next album comes out soon.

Sometimes when I see thread titles on here I really want to say them out loud to someone who doesn't know anything about Japanese music without any context just to see what their reaction would be.

New teaser:
 
 

Yeah, I went to Japan for four months. I didn't want to leave. My only compulsion to graduate now, is so that I can get my ass back to Japan.

I don't have time to write fully detailed reviews, so I'm just going to share with you my favorite releases and songs from 2016 with short blurbs. Also, these aren't best to least best, they're all equal to me and it'd be pretty hard to choose one over the others so they're not in any specific order except maybe alphabetically. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
・FAVORITE RELEASES・
 
甘い暴力 - 嘘キス

Honestly, fucking phenomenal. 10/10.
This is the new unit that was formed after the disbandment of 黒姫の夢遊病 and 白日ノ夢.
I can't wait for them to release more music in 2017 because this song is lit.
-----
 
AmyDolly - creation

Literally disgusted at myself for liking this.
There's something super addictive about it even though it sounds atrocious. I just can't get enough.
Both songs are cringeworthy yet bangers at the same time???
-----
 
アンフィル - アクア

This is probably my favorite Anfiel song EVER.
Shogo's voice is so smooth and sexy like milk and it just flows nicely throughout the entire song.
-----
 
Axkey - アイシア/DAHLIA

Both songs are super catchy and the vocals suit the music perfectly.
Pretty perfect release to me <3
-----
 
BLESSCODE - Imperial City

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A SONG LIKE THIS.
FROM THE CHORUS TO THE SOLO, EVERYTHING IS PERFECT. 
I THINK THIS WAS THE SINGLE OF THE YEAR THAT I WAS MOST HYPED FOR EVER SINCE I HEARD THE PREVIEWS
EVEN NOW WHEN I LISTEN TO IT, I'M STILL LIKE "OH FUCK"
The 2 other tracks on this release compliment the single exceptionally. 
This release is just so well-rounded and hot like fuck omg
-----
 
DECAYS - Baby who wanders

More like "Baby who fucks me up"
This was a nice surprise this year.
I normally wouldn't have given this a listen, but a lot of people were saying such good things about it and I can see why.
I can get down with any song that has a violin in it tbh.
-----
 
dexcore - The Dead Sea

This was probably right under Imperial City for single I was most hyped for.
I'm really not into harsh and brutal vocals, but when they're paired with hot, angelic clean vocals, then I'm into them.
The chorus in The Dead Sea is fucking phenomenal. It's also my ringtone.
Mistake and Hunger are fucking lit as well. 
I can't wait to hear more from these guys!
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FoLLoW - FoLLoW

If you haven't listened to FoLLoW yet, do yourself a favor and listen to this album.
I know the album art is atrocious but their music is SO GOOD.
Ever since hiroki showed me プラネタリウム, I've been hooked. 
It's a shame they decided to disband.
-----
 
白日ノ夢 - 白き記憶

I don't even know what to say other than THIS MINI ALBUM IS FUCKING AWESOME.
Kou is for sure one of my favorite vocalists and every release is phenomenal.
I can't think of one release that I didn't like between Shounenki, Hakujitsu, and Kurohime.
事例03 -策略- from this release is a fucking B A N G E R
-----
 
Kra - 宇宙トラベラー [CELL+CORE]

Another band that has yet to release something that I didn't like. 
While these are 2 separate mini albums, I'm counting them as a whole because they're equally brilliant.
Songs like Eclipse are highly reminiscent of Kra's earlier songs and I'm glad they revisit earlier sounds.
-----
 
黒姫の夢遊病 - リィザ

SLEEPING BEAUTY, NIGHTMARE KISS
PAINFUL PRINCESS RIZA
SLEEPLESS BEAUTY, FEAR, EVIL KISS
DARKNESS BEAUTY RIZA
RIZA
SAVE ME
RIZAAAAA
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凛 - 「the end of corruption world」

Kisaki pls come back
All my jams packed into one release
-----
 
MAN WITH A MISSION - The World's On Fire

Whoa... something that's not vk.
This is probably my favorite album by MWAM.
The first 3 tracks are so explosive that I couldn't help myself but to venture further into the album.
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ピノキオ - Melancholy box

Someone made a status about this album, so I decided to check it out and I was extremely pleased.
Pleasant album from start to finish with some really stand-out tracks!
-----
 
RAINDIA - トラッシュジュウス

Another release that surprised me this year.
I listened to this single on repeat for 4 hours while I was on a plane.
I can easily listen to 碧落ノ彼岸花 on repeat all day.
-----
 
RAZOR - RED INVISIBLE

After losing interest in BORN in 2012, my initial thought was: "I'm going to hate this."
Did I? Not at all. Surprise surprise. I literally found all 6 tracks enjoyable.
PRIMARY and RED ZONE are my favorites.
-----
 
SHIVA - 救世主-メシア－

UH........ RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. LIKE DAMN.
-----
 
少年記 - TIMELESS

 BANG ME one last time.
-----
 
vistlip - Snowman

I haven't enjoyed a vistlip single in its entirety since CHIMERA.
Either the singles weren't that great, or there was a B side I didn't care for.
With Snowman, I could get behind all 3 tracks which is the first since 2013 LOL
-----
 
パノラマ虚構ゼノン - XENON BEST SELECTION

YAAAAAAASSSSS SO MANY BANGERS
-----
 
-真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ - オキラ

Dude this release was crazy good especially 本当はね、私わるい子。
-----

Greetings, monochromians and netizens at large! I'm a bit late, but here are my top 20 Favorite Albums (and mini-albums) of 2016. In this list, I've made no distinction between Japanese and International releases, since I enjoyed much fewer non-Japanese albums in 2016 than usual. I usually never bother ranking my AOTY lists, but I wanted to give it a shot this year for fun. I do think the rankings reflect my general sentiments in a way, but...don't read too much into them lol. XD
 
Lastly, Please note that this list isn't meant to be some kind of objective statement on the music released last year - this is simply a recollection of the albums I enjoyed most in 2016. So have a look around, and if you have any thoughts to share, please feel free! (I also made some short audio samples for each track, for those who might be curious!)
 
Let's get into it!  
 
20

The Heart Speaks In Whispers by Corinne Bailey Rae
  While this album didn't entirely live up to the lofty expectations set by 2010's The Sea, there was still a lot here for me to enjoy! Corinne dabbled in her usual pop fare, but it was the strong, classic r&b and soul influences throughout the record that truly struck a chord. I adore her usually refined and elegant approach to songwriting, but it was great to hear her stretch those fantastic vocal chords and really go for it at times too.
19

SECRETS by Deep Sea Diver
  At the risk of sounding like a complete and utter weeb, I must admit that's it's been incredibly difficult for me to find American indie-rock bands that cater to my taste. There are, of course, some that I enjoy, but on the whole, few seem to possess the kind of rhythmic and melodic sensibilities that I go for. Seattle's Deep Sea Diver are an exception, though. They're certainly not innovators by any means, but they do have an understated quirkiness that I find extremely charming!
18

TAXIS by koh nakashima
  I'm a bit surprised that there's not much mention of this guy in the Western Jpop sphere. For me, he's been one of the most impressive and promising newcomers to hit the scene. He seemingly came out of nowhere, dropping two EPs - RAFT and TAXIS - just a few months apart. I found TAXIS especially appealing for its nostalgic, yet refreshing blend of house, city-pop, uk garage, and pop. This also gets extra points for being one of the few releases where me and @beni's taste actually converge! 
17

NIPPONNO ONNAWO UTAU BEST by NakamuraEmi
  Speaking of nostalgia - NakamuraEmi also won me over with an acoustic-pop style that hearkens back to early 00's jpop. Though, like Koh Nakashima, she brings a hip flair to her music and even skillfully incorporates a rap flow at times; which is something of a normal occurrence in Jpop these days thanks to acts like daoko and suiyoubi no campanella. Funnily enough, "NIPPONNO ONNAWO UTAU BEST" is simultaneously Nakamura's major debut while also serving as a best-of album for her indie material. This was my first experience with her (as it probably was for most people), and I'm nothing short of impressed. She already has a well established sound, honed from years of toiling away in obscurity, and I can't wait to hear what's next for her.
 
 
16
 

Word in the Petals by CHERRYBOY FUNCTION
  Unless you're some kind of Japanese club music aficionado, then chances are you probably haven't heard of CHERRYBOY FUNCTION. Hell, even if you're just a casual fan of electronica, coming across him or his music is unlikely given his sufficiently weak social network game and scanty remix work. Yet despite this, he's been quietly cranking out his bleeps & bloops via the small record label ExT Recordings for about a decade now, and also plays alongside more prominent electronic acts like DE DE MOUSE and TOFUBEATS. Word in the Petals is just another great dose of his colorful techno and house grooves.
15

THE NEWEST JOKE by VELTPUNCH
  Despite their prominence as one of the western fanbase's treasured indie bands of the 00's, I was never much of a VELTPUNCH fan. Even when I first listened to this album, I wrote it off as being decent, but nothing more. Yet for reasons unknown to me, I gave it another try and it actually began to click, growing on me with each repeat listen. With a whopping fourteen tracks, clocking in at over an hour, the album does drag on for a bit too long. I might have placed this higher in the list if the pleasant-but-forgettable tracks were omitted in favor of the stronger moments, but there's still more than enough raucous indie-rock fun here to keep me coming back! 
14

LAST WALTZ by world's end girlfriend
  This was actually my first time listening to a WEG record, and to be honest, it just barely made my list. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it's simply a massive record and I felt I hadn't properly digested it yet. Though the fact that I still included it is a testament to the impression that's it's left on me. LAST WALTZ is an expansive amalgam of beautiful, cinematic landscapes, twisted distortion, and gritty electronics - right up my alley. I'll definitely enjoy continuing to digest this one in the year ahead.
13

freeform jazz by uyama hiroto
  Uyama Hiroto will probably be viewed as the spiritual successor to his peer and collaborator, the late Nujabes. However, with all due respect, I would say that this album has propelled him into a league of his own. While not technically "free-jazz", it certainly feels less bound than his previous works. It's a more musical effort overall, and the drumwork is especially more organic than before, as opposed to the straightforward boom-bap approach that similar artists take. In fact, you can hardly categorize this as just "jazzy hip-hop" anymore. Hell, the entire album only has one actual rap feature (and thankfully so, because I can't stomach cheesy backpacker rap!). It's an exquisite listen with fantastic vibes.
12

remix04 rem by Chouchou
  I've followed Chouchou casually for years now, but this album has completely cemented me as a fan. It's a self-remix album in the which duo have reworked their songs completely into ambient piano pieces, and it's astoundingly gorgeous! It's so well done that this albums feels like a new, cohesive work of its own, as opposed to an assortment of previously released tracks. I'd love for them to continue along this style.
11

DEEPER by HITORIE
  Wowaka's musical mind never ceases to amaze me. As a former vocaloid producer, he brings to HITORIE all of the colorful melodies and infectious riffs that I love, while thankfully leaving the actual vocaloid at home. If it weren't for the tail end of the album, DEEPER would have been much higher in rank, but the first half is so strong and has received SO MUCH playtime from me that it warrants a place on this list!
10

"inori de wa todokanai kyori" by JYOCHO
  The spirit of uchuu combini being resurrected in the form of JYOCHO was no doubt the biggest year-end surprise for me. For the most part, JYOCHO picks up exactly where the band left off, except this time adding a flutist into the arrangement. Even the new vocalist Rionos is barely distinguishable from uchuu's Emichoco. All in all, It's a lovely dose of math-pop, and just what I needed in my musical diet last year.
09

DISTORTION by THIS IS JAPAN
  These 4-piece alt. rockers appeared with yet another awesome debut EP last year. Citing influences such as Fugazi and Japanese indie legends NUMBER GIRL and Bloodthirsty Butchers, these guys play a style of rock that smashes together fun and catchy melodies with pure, spastic rawness! At a time where the smooth grooves of city-pop and the chilled sounds of western indie are trending in the J-indie world, THIS IS JAPAN is a breath of fresh air!
08

Floa by Mammal Hands
  With the emergence of acts like mouse on the keys and fox capture plan, bands fusing post-rock with piano-based jazz seem to be appearing more these days. Mammal Hands was my latest discovery in this style, and unlike their labelmates GoGo Penguin (who also released a solid album in 2016), this trio are a bit more loyal to their jazz influences. They have a pretty awesome saxophonist, which definitely supplements their jazzy predilections and gives them a more notable edge over similar bands. I like to imagine that Floa is what Uyama Hiroto would sound like if he went in a more jazzy and cinematic direction.
07

Flames & Figures by The Seshen
  The Seshen was another serendipitous new discovery for me last year. I stumbled across them while perusing one of my favorite UK music labels, Tru Thoughts, and I was enamored immediately. They make the kind of forward-thinking soul music that I love, with hints of electronica, synth-pop, and psychedelia all bundled into one, crisp, enthralling package. I've seen them described as "Little Dragon meets Erykah Badu", which is brilliant since I love those two. Apparently, they've also supported acts like Thundercat and Hiatus Kaiyote (who I also love!).
06

IKI by HITORIE
  No, you're not going crazy. This is, indeed, another HITORIE album on my list lol. They released two last year, and as you can see, I'm smitten with them both! IKI, however, is the second one to be released and also the better of the two. It doesn't have the powerhouse singles that DEEPER did, but it's the more cohesive and balanced work. Whereas DEEPER fizzles out towards the end, IKI is thoroughly engaging throughout. The amount of quality music that HITORIE released last year is just baffling!
05

A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
  I'm most likely a fan of any Japanese band that you can describe as sounding Radiohead-esque - sleepy.ab, downy, trico, wooderd chiarie, ar - so it only makes sense that I'd be a fan of the masters themselves. I can't even tell you why I like them so much, but I guess their sound just speaks to my heart on a visceral level. This album is like the soundtrack to a dream of infinitely unravelling splendor. The arrangements are gorgeous and the production is as pristine and masterful as it gets. Amazing!
 
04

Ugly Slave Children by No Party for Cao Dong
  These Taiwanese rockers completely swept me off my feet after seeing what I'd easily consider my favorite music video of 2016. Admittedly, the album took a while to grow on me, with its unexpectedly danceable nature, but I've really come to love its uniquely passionate blend of grooves, mathy passages, and emo outbursts. 
03

SONASILE by Shohei Amimori
  I was beginning to lose faith in PROGRESSIVE FOrM, my favorite Japanese electronic label, as the quality of their releases have been shoddy over past few years, but Shohei Amimori has completely dispelled my growing stigma with this album! SONASILE is an absolutely incredible sonic feast of colorful IDM and sunny glitch-pop. There are also hints of modern classical and jazz piano strewn throughout, and even some very strong Shibuya-Kei influences. I'm surprised that the western fandom seems to have overlooked this one!
02

dai roku sakuhin-shu "mudai" by downy
  As expected, downy's 6th untitled album is absolutely singular! It's much different from their previous album, yet just as good. Robin Aoki's vocals are more prominent than they've ever been, and the production seems a bit more earthy and natural, as if the album was produced specifically with live performances in mind. It's brought out a new kind of warmth to their otherwise stark and cold, dystopian sound. The general soundscape of the album isn't as varied as their previous releases, but it works in downy's favor here. Instead of going for an outwardly expansive sound, the album plays out like the band exploring their own inner workings, and it's a whole new world unto itself. I'm not sure how these guys do it, but they keep evolving while remaining a uniquely potent force.
01

siraph by siraph
  You know those "create your dream band" topics? Well, I've ruminated on those kinds of subjects quite a bit and never in a million years would I have thought to create a band as perfect as siraph. These guys are literally a dream come true - mostly due in part to the god-tier combination of haisuinonasa's Yoshimasa Terui and school food punishment's Masayuki Hasuo. Terui was the driving force behind haisinonasa and Hasuo was responsible for school food punishment's best material. With both bands in the throes of oblivion (the former appears to be on hiatus and the latter has been disbanded for years), their unique sounds seemed at danger of being lost to time. Thankfully, siraph has appeared with this godsend of a debut to save the day! The EP combines Terui's offbeat, math rock-sensibilities and Hasuo's eccentric synth grooves to brilliant effect. Both composers wrote three tracks each, and while their individual styles are obvious, they couldn't be any more complimentary as a unit. Singer Annabel completes the circle, bringing with her an anison charm that completely invigorates Hasuo and Terui's already imaginative compositions. With this EP, in addition to their demos and recent single, siraph has single-handedly made my 2016!

the fragile's god children new previews since 2013's full album "Espiazione" are available on his official youtube channel. No further details announced.
 
 
 

Earache is SO good

https://topshelfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-body

Teaser!
 
 

Disband lol ?
 
Initial'Last Live

Cool kids take photos in black and white these days, right?

 
Plus a bonus from when I straightened my hair

Good topic. 
 
This is definitely a contributing factor, I think. I know there's a thread floating somewhere around here talking about the way that a lot of fans of VK seemed to have transitioned over to K-Pop over the years. I think a lot of it has to do with the the whole 'pretty Asian boys' fetish (maybe 'fetish' is a slightly strong word, but you guys know what I mean). K-Pop in general takes the whole cute Asian boy thing and ramps the production values up to to 11, whilst also presenting itself as a more mainstream and socially acceptable thing to be into. It's no surprise that a lot of foreigners mostly looking for their cute Asian boy fix would slowly have migrated over to the K-Pop scene once that started getting popular in the early 2010's, which coincidentally just so happens to be when VK's decline took hold according to that Google trends result. 
 
Also a very good point. I'd say this combined with the previous point definitely contributed to some degree.
 
I find this graph particularly interesting. I have to second what @Zeus said previously; the so-called decline of VK does seem, in many ways, more to be a simple case of its western popularity declining after a short boom. In that respect it's really nothing too surprising, a lot of rapid booms in the popularity of a concept or thing tend to be associated with equally as rapid declines. The real thing to note is that its prevalence in Japan has remained relatively stable, so the scene itself probably hasn't changed all that much in domestic terms.
 
Another theory I'll put forward though, and I'll admit not everyone with agree with me as this is a pretty subjective viewpoint, is that the quality of Visual Kei music simply hasn't been good enough in recent years. It feels like there are still shittons of bands out there, but almost no truly great ones; ones that you just feel you HAVE to pay attention to. Once upon a time you had the likes of D'espairsRay, Kagrra, Miyavi (still around but not VK), the GazettE (still around but a shadow of their former selves IMO), Rentrer en Soi, 9GBO, etc. Nowadays there are very few bands, if any, that are on levels similar to those groups. I'm sure there will be quite a few people that disagree with me here, but I've seen similar sentiments expressed by other members too, so I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
 
Silly tl;dr - The popularity of Visual Kei internationally reached its peak when the GazettE reached their creative peak in mid 2009; since then the band's creative quality has fallen into oblivion. To cope with the disappointment, western VK fans began listening to K-Pop after hearing BIGBANG's FANTASTIC BABY around the same time Gazetto released that garbage DIVISION album, and decided that G-Dragon oppa was the new saviour of cute Asian boy music. Thus VK died an agonizing death. Also, MEJIBRAY.

Good topic. 
 
This is definitely a contributing factor, I think. I know there's a thread floating somewhere around here talking about the way that a lot of fans of VK seemed to have transitioned over to K-Pop over the years. I think a lot of it has to do with the the whole 'pretty Asian boys' fetish (maybe 'fetish' is a slightly strong word, but you guys know what I mean). K-Pop in general takes the whole cute Asian boy thing and ramps the production values up to to 11, whilst also presenting itself as a more mainstream and socially acceptable thing to be into. It's no surprise that a lot of foreigners mostly looking for their cute Asian boy fix would slowly have migrated over to the K-Pop scene once that started getting popular in the early 2010's, which coincidentally just so happens to be when VK's decline took hold according to that Google trends result. 
 
Also a very good point. I'd say this combined with the previous point definitely contributed to some degree.
 
I find this graph particularly interesting. I have to second what @Zeus said previously; the so-called decline of VK does seem, in many ways, more to be a simple case of its western popularity declining after a short boom. In that respect it's really nothing too surprising, a lot of rapid booms in the popularity of a concept or thing tend to be associated with equally as rapid declines. The real thing to note is that its prevalence in Japan has remained relatively stable, so the scene itself probably hasn't changed all that much in domestic terms.
 
Another theory I'll put forward though, and I'll admit not everyone with agree with me as this is a pretty subjective viewpoint, is that the quality of Visual Kei music simply hasn't been good enough in recent years. It feels like there are still shittons of bands out there, but almost no truly great ones; ones that you just feel you HAVE to pay attention to. Once upon a time you had the likes of D'espairsRay, Kagrra, Miyavi (still around but not VK), the GazettE (still around but a shadow of their former selves IMO), Rentrer en Soi, 9GBO, etc. Nowadays there are very few bands, if any, that are on levels similar to those groups. I'm sure there will be quite a few people that disagree with me here, but I've seen similar sentiments expressed by other members too, so I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
 
Silly tl;dr - The popularity of Visual Kei internationally reached its peak when the GazettE reached their creative peak in mid 2009; since then the band's creative quality has fallen into oblivion. To cope with the disappointment, western VK fans began listening to K-Pop after hearing BIGBANG's FANTASTIC BABY around the same time Gazetto released that garbage DIVISION album, and decided that G-Dragon oppa was the new saviour of cute Asian boy music. Thus VK died an agonizing death. Also, MEJIBRAY.

I think I'm going slightly off-topic here, so I apologize for that, but this seems like a good time to mention this anyway.
 
I've always found it a little perplexing that people often tend to consider electronic software, turntables, and other things associated with electronic music to somehow not be instruments. I mean the literal definition of an instrument is "a tool or implement, especially one for precision work". In a musical context that essentially just means a tool that you feed inputs to to generate music. A voice, a flute, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and musical software are all instruments; they're just tools you feed inputs to generate a desired sound. The only thing that changes between them is how 'artificial' they are in the sense that some are entirely driven by natural means (the voice), some are a fusion of natural and artificial elements (an electric guitar), and some are primarily artificial (musicial software), but all of them still need a good talented musician feeding them inputs to create truly good music.
 
I think by arguing that, due to the increasing prevalence of electronic software and the like, musicians are
is a bit of a dangerous train of thought. Mainstream pop music has been doing this for quite a while now, long before electronic software became as extensive as it is today. The fact that mainstream pop is incorporating more and more electronic elements shouldn't be conflated with the mistaken belief that all music made with electronic instruments follows this approach of making music. The truth is that great musicians will produce great music no matter what tools they use, and if anything the only thing determining their choice of instruments should be the aural qualities of the music they're trying to make. There are plenty of really talented musicians making really brilliant, primarily electronic music. At the same time there are plenty of musicians making music with more traditional instruments that, as @Zeus said, is utter garbage.
 
Basically I think we should pull away from assuming that the development of electronic music is one of the main contributors to the decline of VKs popularity; at least not in the sense that music created with these sorts of tools is inherently more simple, catchy, and poppy than music created with more traditional instruments - that just feels snobby to me. It could have contributed in the sense that musical fads have transitioned from the emo/scene music of the mid 2000s to the DJ/Club music of today, but implying that this transition is the result of some sort of inherent flaw in electronic instruments versus traditional instruments feels wrong to me.

I think I'm going slightly off-topic here, so I apologize for that, but this seems like a good time to mention this anyway.
 
I've always found it a little perplexing that people often tend to consider electronic software, turntables, and other things associated with electronic music to somehow not be instruments. I mean the literal definition of an instrument is "a tool or implement, especially one for precision work". In a musical context that essentially just means a tool that you feed inputs to to generate music. A voice, a flute, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and musical software are all instruments; they're just tools you feed inputs to generate a desired sound. The only thing that changes between them is how 'artificial' they are in the sense that some are entirely driven by natural means (the voice), some are a fusion of natural and artificial elements (an electric guitar), and some are primarily artificial (musicial software), but all of them still need a good talented musician feeding them inputs to create truly good music.
 
I think by arguing that, due to the increasing prevalence of electronic software and the like, musicians are
is a bit of a dangerous train of thought. Mainstream pop music has been doing this for quite a while now, long before electronic software became as extensive as it is today. The fact that mainstream pop is incorporating more and more electronic elements shouldn't be conflated with the mistaken belief that all music made with electronic instruments follows this approach of making music. The truth is that great musicians will produce great music no matter what tools they use, and if anything the only thing determining their choice of instruments should be the aural qualities of the music they're trying to make. There are plenty of really talented musicians making really brilliant, primarily electronic music. At the same time there are plenty of musicians making music with more traditional instruments that, as @Zeus said, is utter garbage.
 
Basically I think we should pull away from assuming that the development of electronic music is one of the main contributors to the decline of VKs popularity; at least not in the sense that music created with these sorts of tools is inherently more simple, catchy, and poppy than music created with more traditional instruments - that just feels snobby to me. It could have contributed in the sense that musical fads have transitioned from the emo/scene music of the mid 2000s to the DJ/Club music of today, but implying that this transition is the result of some sort of inherent flaw in electronic instruments versus traditional instruments feels wrong to me.

I don't have any concrete details on Kobayashi, but this isn't all too uncommon with side-projects. the HIATUS instantly came to mind when I read this. I guess their line-up is more solid now, but in their earlier days, they listed two drummers and two keyboardists as members and they would play certain dates (probably) depending on location and availability. 

So I was just browsing DECAYS' OHP when I noticed something interesting - namely that Kobayashi is still listed as a member rather than as an ex member:

 
This kinda makes me think about what Die said around the time the band formed, about them having a 'revolving' line up or something that effect. Does that mean that the line-up just changes based on what the members' schedules and other commitments are like at the time, or even just based on what Die wants for that particular release? I think that's a pretty cool concept if true. Does anyone know if they ever made a statement about Kobayashi officially leaving or did we all just assume he had because he wasn't featured on the latest release?
 
It's always been much better in terms of having relatable & well-written characters than it is with regards to its plot. The storyline is an absolute garbage mess of conveniences, deus ex machinas and outright plot-holes. The characters are what keep things interesting; I just think people are so in love with the aspects of Harry Potter that are good that they don't seem to acknowledge how weak it is in many respects.

I changed my hair color and i'm really happy with it.