indigo

It ain't free anymore

Great! Looking forward to it

Holy shit that's great news!!

Finally found this gem on vinyl! Sounds great.

Since it's the month of the THE NOVEMBERS, I decided to make a little list dedicated to the music of THE NOVEMBERS (and also tried to revive this thread) This is my..... TOP 20 FAVORITE MOMENTS OF THE NOVEMBERS 20. 愛はなけなし (2016, Hallelujah) "Kobayashi's nagoya kei moment" For some reason, Kobayashi's singing style and melody during the verses remind me of nagoya kei. Maybe in some other dimension he could've been a vocalist in a nagoya kei band. 19. 出る傷を探す血 (2015, Elegance) "Reminder" I'm gonna go ahead and reveal that Elegance won't be getting much love on this list. Since it's not among my favorite releases even though there are some good tracks on it. But I felt a bit bad about that so I decided to include one "moment", even though it's an odd one. As the EP's title can already tell, it's filled with chill music. But: 出る傷を探す血 breaks the fantasy that is Elegance. It's a black sheep. Noisy and arrogant. Some people hate that it's included, some people may even like that it's included. As a song, I'm sure many fans like it but if we think in terms of a coherent album, it doesn't really fit. And that's the reason why I love it. As a last song, it's like a reminder: "don't worry, we haven't forgot our noisy, abrasive, rocking side." 18. BAD DREAM (2019, ANGELS) "The vibe" I'm not an industrial music fan by any means, but I really dig the industrial influences in this song. Especially the synths sound sick. 17. Figure 0 (2010, Misstopia) "Freakout" One of the standout tracks on Misstopia, Figure 0 is filled with great riffs and engrish. But the short breakdown in the middle, where everybody go just nuts, is moment #17. 16. 37.2° (2011, To (melt into)) "Intro & outro" My favorite moment in 37.2°, the intro and outro, showcase the more dreamy side of The Novembers. The vibe is just simply put... tranquil. The steady drumbeat, beautiful guitar and soft humming. Sounds like heaven to me. 15. Sturm und Drang (2014, Rhapsody in beauty) "Intro / Breakdown part" The first "proper" track on Rhapsody in beauty, after the drone intro, is Sturm und Drang. I couldn't simply pick one moment so I picked two. For starters, the intro. What a way to suck you in. The drums, the riffs, the high pitched scream. But the real surprise happens when the song slows down and breaks down into a noisy, near psychedelic guitar solo. Amazing! 14. dumb (2014, Rhapsody in beauty) "Spoken word" The Novembers truly are masters at evoking dark, distressing atmosphere. My favorite moment here is the (almost) spoken word parts that Kobayashi does (at 1:25 for example). Really add a nice flavor to the song.They actually remind me of some visual kei songs. And it doesn't hurt that Kobayashi uses such a deep and sexy voice. 13. Dnim (2009, Paraphilia) "Chorus screams" Dnim has the honor to be the oldest entry on this list. I have said it before but Dnim was most likely the first The Novembers song I liked. The aspect that peaked my interest back then was the screamed chorus. Part of the reason they ended up on this list is nostalgia but I can't deny those screams don't still sound damn good. 12. 鉄の夢 (2013, zeitgeist) "Rhythm section" I feel like when talking about The Novembers, Kobayashi Yusuke gets most of the praise, sure for a good reason since he's the main songwriter etc. but now it's time to thank the rhythm section. Hirofumi Takamatsu and Ryousuke Yoshiki, on bass and drums respectively, lay down a beat that just goes on and on like a road roller. 鉄の夢 is a flawless song, filled with great moments. To mention a few others, Kobayashi's insane screams and the part (3:43) where Kobayashi's vocals go hand in hand with the guitar. So this blurb ended up being about Kobayashi too, after all. 11. Observer effect (2013, Fourth wall) "Weird vocals" This is a kind of a wild pick, since I don't really listen to this track that much. I guess because I usually listen to the full-lenght albums. These "favorite" moments often revolve around either vocals or guitar and this song is no exception. The part starts around 1:46. The guitar tone is pretty sick here and then Kobayashi does some really cool vocals on top of it. The production/filter makes it sound like he's yelling in a well or a cave with a megaphone. 10. 瓦礫の上で (2011, To (melt into)) "Guitar melody" This pick was one of the most obvious ones to me when I was planning this list. The part is just burned into my mind. And the part is the guitar melody at 1:23 that comes pretty much out of nowhere. It's like a anti-climax even though it isn't if you know what I mean. The way Kobayashi is singing, getting more intense, you are expecting him to go off into a wild scream or something but then the guitar intervenes. But when that similar part comes up again, at 2:23, this time Kobayashi does get his moment to shine vocal-wise and that's also a fantastic moment. 9. いこうよ (2016, Hallelujah) "Trumpet" The closing track of Hallelujah really makes me shout "Hallelujah" when I hear the trumpet. It's crazy how well it fits into the song. Among their more shoegaze-y songs, in which category "いこうよ" also belongs, it is not really top-tier but the trumpet more than makes up for that. 8. Flower of life (2013, zeitgeist) "Whole song" I can't really pick a certain moment in this song. It's a sum of its parts, it's a whole vibe. The synthline, the bass, the vocal melodies, the drums, the chorus, the production. 7. 永遠の複製 & 彼岸で散る青 (2011, To (melt into)) "Just being awesome" I decided to include the first two songs of To (melt into) as one entry. They're even the same duration! Together they make for one hell of an album opening. The reasons for that are quite similar. Both songs have intense choruses and the mood in general is very intense. When I hear the background sound during the chorus of "永遠の複製" I can't help but think of a whip. The chorus of "彼岸で散る青" is more explosive than the former. If I had to pick which one's better, I would go with "彼岸で散る青". 6. Moiré (2012, GIFT) "Great opening track" Talk about a jaw-dropping opening to an EP. Moiré is whopping 8 minutes and 18 seconds long track. And when the The Novembers do long songs, they're not really bangers but instead they're slow-burning epics. This is one of my favorites of their longer songs. The trumpet (back to the trumpet!) is a great addition and bit of a surprise too. 5. ただ遠くへ (2016, Hallelujah) "Guitar riff" My go-to driving song. Once again, such a perfect song without flaws but the part I picked is the... you guessed it, guitar part that you can hear in the intro and it also serves as the chorus kind of. But my favorite is specifically the extended version that starts around 2:38. Such a jam! 4. Meursault (2013, zeitgeist) "Kobayashi's high notes" "Meursault" features a prominent, rumbling bassline, repetitive guitar riff and haunting vocal melodies. The atmosphere is fantastic. Near the middle of the song happens one of my favorite moments.. First off, the guitar riff (1:48 mark) and then then the high notes Kobayashi does (2:12 mark) that are among the best he has ever put on tape. They're remisniscent of something that downy's Robin Aoki would do. 3. Rhapsody in beauty (2014, Rhapsody in beauty) "The high notes and guitar blending together" The titular track of Rhapsody in beauty is really the highligh of the album, placed strategically in the middle of the album. My favorite moment happens when the chorus kicks in (1:52) and Matsumoto's siren-like guitar wail and Kobayashi high notes blend together and as an result, eargasm is unavoidable. That must be one of the best sounds known to mankind. 2. Wire (Fahrenheit 154) (2013, zeitgeist) "The main guitar riff" Another track off the "zeitgeist" album, Wire has been among my favorites for ages. The driving force of the song and my favorite moment #2 is the massive guitar riff. They first tease it at 0:44 seconds but when it comes back around at 1:30 I find it hard to stay still. To give the song the justice it deserves, play it _very_ loudly. 1. 再生の朝 (2011, (Two) into holy) "The build-up" "再生の朝" has been my favorite Novs song for a while now. My favorite moment is interesting, since it's the whole build up of the song. The song starts off leisurely but almost inconspicously the song picks up pace. Sure I could pick a mark where the drums kick in but it wouldn't work so well. You need to listen to the song from the beginning so you get the whole experience and magnificence of the build up. One of the main reasons I love this song so much is the journey it takes me on to. So that's it! Do you agree / disagree on any of the picks? What are your favorite moments? I spent quite some time writing this so I hope someone reads it!

Great news!

Great way to start off your day. One of the best Japanese songs ever!

Not sure if you're looking for VK bands but unless not.. One of my favorites: Yellow Studs. They're like jazzy garage rock. If you don't mind the raspy vocals, personally I love them.

This first one is definitely one of my all time favorites. It's very cathartic moment for the song, the solo comes in at a perfect time, In a perfect way. It's loud, great tone and lots of emotion. The solo starts at 2.38 My second favourite consists of similar elements. Again very loud, no frills, no bullshit just a badass solo. Starts at around 1.50 The last one is interesting, because I don't listen to X Japan but this solo has Been among my favorites for ages. When I think of Best solos, this always comes To my mind first. It's different compared to the stuff I usually dig but I can't help but smile whenever I hear this solo. Starts at 3.44

New album sounds pretty good and fresh. I definitely enjoy the rawer songs more than the synth-heavy tracks. My favorites are Bad Dream, Down To Heaven and Ghost Rider. But the rest of the album Will grow on me, I'm sure of it.

Envy's Chain Wandering Deeply and Distress of Ignorance. The first two tracks on their A Dead Sinking Story album. The transition between these two is seamless. They're the best songs on "A Dead Sinking Story" and also among the best in general when it comes to Envy's music.

Cycle of Life Make a mixtape about the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter). Choose songs that represent or remind you of different seasons. For example, if you want to make a mix that consists of 12 songs, you could choose 3 songs for each season. Or just choose whatever number of songs you want. Be creative. The problem with this is that there's already been a spring theme, and also winter/christmas theme. In Dreams This is open for interpretation. It could be about a dream you had, you could come up with a story, or just make a mix of dream-like songs. Or nightmarish ones.

Based on Cradle and that solo version of O Alquimista and Kobayashi's comment about the EP, talking about tranquility etc. it seems that this EP is going for that chill, dreamy ballad vibe, similar to 今日も生きたね and (Two) into holy. If that's the case, ehh.. although (Two) into holy did have their best song to date, so let's see. I'm still hyped. Also, I love the concept of the artwork.

Here's how I feel about the new album Ling Tosite Sigure #5 REVIEW. After finally listening to the album I can share some thoughts about #5. The album title is obviously a reference to their early EPs and first full album but 5 is also the number of years it has been since I'mperfect, Ling's previous full length album. (This is actually their 6th full length already).A lot has happened since 2013: TK has been focusing mostly on his solo material, gettin' some dough from the endless anime OPs he's done, and let's not forget Ling's 2015 EP "es or s". To be completely honest, I don't have very warm memories about said EP, I can't remember a single melody or riff off of it for the life of me. So as you can guess, it didn't spend a whole lot of time in m y headphones.I'mperfect on the ot her hand I enjoyed a lot although it's not my favorite. Regardless of some recent "missteps" I always get excited when these guys release new music, so here's my track by track review! Ultra Overcorrection One thing is for sure and that's the fact that Ling Tosite Sigure know how to start an album! They always have known. Some of the song titles on this album are a bit ridiculous but I really like "Ultra Overcorrection", sounds cool!The song kicks off with 40 second long burst of instrumental energy. TK is on F IRE on this track, delivering a solid riff after a solid riff. Miyoko's vocals really shine on the chorus and Nakano punishes the drumkit as always."Ultra Overcorrection" can easily compete with the best songs of LTS, fantastic opener. Chocolate Passion Quite typical to Ling, the next song starts out of nowhere before you have time to say "Chocolate Passion". Miyoko's vocals have a big role again, and it brings me pleasure to hear her say "chocolate".Alon g with DIE meets HARD this song is more like the run-of-the-mill Ling we've come to expect lately. But I just can't bring myself to dislike this song. Not on the level of previous track but this IS catchy. Tornado Minority The chorus on this song... So, so good! I know I'm talking a lot about Miyoko but she's really putting TK to shame with her vocal performances. I find myself waiting inpatiently for her parts. The dynamic dual vocals are just one of the many reasons why I prefer LTS over TK's solo material.After two very energetic tracks this serves as a cooldown and focuses more on the atmophere althought TK gets to stuff in one of his noisy guitar solos. Think of something like "this is is this?" off still a Sigure virgin? Who's WhoFO Who's WhoFO continues on the tranquil side of things. On LTS standards. The "who who(?)" or "ooh ooh" are so TK's thing. Some great use of falsetto by TK too, for example at 3:05 and 3:32. Those really stand out. The vocals in general are very emotional, more so than in the previous songs.I really like the atmosphere again. I'm not the kind of guy who demands to hear mental guitar wizardry all the time. This is the kind of song that makes me forget about stress and all that jazz for five minutes. EneMe This song starts off with a really cool, driving beat as I call it. Sadly that lasts just for about a minute, I really dig it. "EneMe" is one of the most interesting compositions on #5. Things keep switching up and it sou nds like a hot mess, but after all this is Ling we're talking about.I feel like I need some more time to digest this song. Screams on this album are really scarce, I think this song's outro might have the only screams on the album? Nonetheless they're a nice throwback to their older material. ten to ten Finally we get to what might be the most interesting song on the whole album, "ten to ten"! Based on some other people's reception, many seemed to really dig this song too. It feels different, it's uncharted territory for them for sure.At first it's very barebones on LTS standards, TK singing and playing the guitar, 345 and N akano providing a steady and simple rhythm section. At this point the focus is on TK's vocals. Ultimately this culminates to the chorus which is the real surprise of the so ng! I'm not sure if I have ever heard LTS do a chorus like this one.During it the instruments completely over-power Miyoko's vocals which are buried in the mix, it just sounds, well.. epic. And fresh after all those standard TK'd hooks we've come to expect from them. It keeps getting more epic as it progresses.It stands out from the rest of #5 with its build-up and satisfying payouts. And if you want some of that aforementioned guitar wizardry, listen to the outro of "ten to ten" What a way to end a song. So far one of my favorites along with Ultra Overcorrection. Serial Number Of Turbo Don't get me wrong, I'm completely fine with the acoustic guitar but to me this feels more like TK's solo material. If I remember correctly that was also the downside of "es or s".This feels a bit too safe? I love the bass on this track, though. Otherwise "Serial Number of Turbo" is forgettable. My least favorite on the album. DIE meets HARD Alright, next up is the first single they released from the album. When I heard it for the first time I thought it was alright but that was the first impression and I was just excited they released something new. Now t hat the dust has settled, I still think it's pretty alright song but I expect more from these guys.The main guitar riff annoys me a lot and the melodies are bland. It's nothing special on the instrumental front either. I do like the breakdown in the middle of the song, though. This should've been a TK solo song as well. High Energy Vacuum After two of my least favorites, we get to the good stuff again. TK is on point again with his riffage. I don't particularly like the mixing on this track, though. My biggest gripe is with the vocals that are mixed too loud in the chorus, otherwise it's fine. But mayb e that's the high energy vacuum?As the title suggests, the energy here is high for sure, and often that is when this trio excels. I love Nakano's machine gun snare hits and TK's shredding solo. I was also wrong about only EneMe having screams, there are some on this song too. In summary, a strong track. #5 It's already the last song? Oh man. Usually the last songs on their albums are epic, atmospheric numbers with explosive endings. #5 fits in that category. The song begins with some bright, beautiful guitar playing and fat basslines. The part between 1:12 - 1:20 is GROOVY! One of my favorite moments on the entire album. It's just way too short.Vocally TK does one of his best performances. Nakano gets to be in the limelight too with a sick drumsolo. Miyoko's vocal duties on this song are quite minimal, she just sings in the outro but she's a beast on the bass of course and she's been shining vocally for the whole album. Especially the first half. All in all, this album left a really good taste in my mouth. It's no match for the classics like still a Sigure virgin?, just A moment or Inspiration is DEAD but it's a strong album and between this and I'mperfect it's a tight fight. Ling Tosite Sigure continue the stream of great full-lenght albums, after the mess that was es or s.I'm sure I will be listening to this album a lot more in the future. Stand-out tracks: Ultra Overcorrection, ten to ten, #5 I was gonna write just a few words but this got out of hand, lol.

Early Stiff Little Fingers is one of my favorites ...and Void is a classic of course. Classic!

I'm the type of person who's always searching for new music. My music taste is all over the place but 95% of the time I spend scavenging for music I have a clear idea of what kinda sounds I'm looking for. Back when I was younger it took some time to get into bands that I consider some of my favorites as of now. Even then I was aware of this fact and I often kept revisiting bands/artists, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not and eventually it paid off. Not it every single case, of course, but many times. (One example of this: a band I used to dislike, or maybe not dislike but felt lukewarm about is The Novembers. It should be noted it was before their zeitgeist album. But now I pretty much love all their material, even the older stuff and I can admit I'm a stan.) I think that with age I have developed a pretty good sense / ear for finding music that I enjoy. It doesn't take as much time for me to get into artists as it used to. One reason for that is probably my ever-growing musical spectrum / knowledge of music. So these days I don't revisit as often as I used to, if I don't get it on the first listen, I probably won't come back to it later. Something I recently noticed though is that I have some bands/artists that I only listen to in youtube, like guilty pleasures but without the guilty part. Artists that I never got into so much that I had to get their album instantly, the kind of artists that I just keep coming back to every now and then and listen to their music on youtube and that is enough for me... until at some point I start thinking about buying their album. Haha. Usually these are the points I pay attention to in new music: - The sound is what gets me interested, - The execution makes me stay, - The emotion/feel decides if I love it.

So many references! Can't wait for the new album after listening to this track.

RIP. But he will live forever through music. Now, time to listen to downy in his honor...

I also watched Annihilation last night and must say I enjoyed Ex Machina much more than this one. I agree that the atmosphere was fantastic, quite similar to Arrival actually, at some scenes. The special effects were terrible (on purpose?) but it didn't bother me. In fact my favorite scene in the movie was the most special-effects heavy. On the contrary to you guys I would say that overally I didn't like it but there were some great scenes. Lady Bird was another movie I saw recently. I'm a sucker for slice of life drama films where nothing ever really happens. This was an interesting and entertaining movie. The chemistry between Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf's characters is by far the best thing about the movie. But since it's from a girl's point of view l I didn't identify with it as well as, let's say The Perks of Being A Wallflower or some other similar movies. Nice watch, though. A feel good movie. I was afraid the new Tomb Raider movie would suck because we all know how "well" movies based on video games usually turn out. This new Tomb Raider movie is a huge step up from the old ones and compared to other video game movies, it's better than 80-90% of them. But as a movie in general, I would put it in the "kinda okay" category. The story is based on the 2013's game. I'm very glad that they didn't go the supernatural route but instead kept things more realistic in the movie. I understand that some other changes had to be made to make it work as a movie, since it's a reboot and they had to introduce the main character of Lara Croft again and all that jazz. There's plenty of action, especially running and puzzle solving as well. A lot of nods to the game, like the "violence porn". Overally, entertaining but far from perfect. I think we will get a sequel.