indigo

not a big syrup16g fan but this song....
 
 
so good.

@fitear1590 Great review! I enjoy your style of reviewing. I don't agree with all your opinions but I think I would give it the same score you did.
 
My expectations for this album were very high, like they always are with THE NOVEMBERS releases and I was a bit disappointed if I'm being honest. And it's still one of the best J-albums released this year so that's saying something about the quality of their music.
 
Some notes about the album / songs:
 
- 1000 Years is like a poor man's version of Blood Music.1985.
 
- Kobayashi's vocals on 愛はなけなし (What Little Love) make me think that he would be a great nagoya kei vocalist.
 
- I think @CAT5 put it well with there being no notable "UMMPPH!" moments that make you revisit the songs time after time. For me moments like these are the first chorus of Rhapsody in beauty with the siren guitar and Kobayashi's high notes interlocking, the killer riff starting at 1:30 in Wire (Fahrenheit 154), the chorus of 彼岸で散る青 (Jigan de chiru ao). There were no moments on "Hallelujah" where I thought "holy shit that's amazing!"
 
- My favorite songs after multiple listens: Black Rainbow, What Little Love, Just Going Far. That guitar riff in Just Going Far's "chorus" is fantastic!
 
And for lolz: 1. (To) melt into, 2. Zeitgeist, 3. Rhapsody in beauty, 4. Hallelujah
 

 

@fitear1590 Great review! I enjoy your style of reviewing. I don't agree with all your opinions but I think I would give it the same score you did.
 
My expectations for this album were very high, like they always are with THE NOVEMBERS releases and I was a bit disappointed if I'm being honest. And it's still one of the best J-albums released this year so that's saying something about the quality of their music.
 
Some notes about the album / songs:
 
- 1000 Years is like a poor man's version of Blood Music.1985.
 
- Kobayashi's vocals on 愛はなけなし (What Little Love) make me think that he would be a great nagoya kei vocalist.
 
- I think @CAT5 put it well with there being no notable "UMMPPH!" moments that make you revisit the songs time after time. For me moments like these are the first chorus of Rhapsody in beauty with the siren guitar and Kobayashi's high notes interlocking, the killer riff starting at 1:30 in Wire (Fahrenheit 154), the chorus of 彼岸で散る青 (Jigan de chiru ao). There were no moments on "Hallelujah" where I thought "holy shit that's amazing!"
 
- My favorite songs after multiple listens: Black Rainbow, What Little Love, Just Going Far. That guitar riff in Just Going Far's "chorus" is fantastic!
 
And for lolz: 1. (To) melt into, 2. Zeitgeist, 3. Rhapsody in beauty, 4. Hallelujah
 

 

| 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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All I want to say is... The title track is pretty good and all, they may not sound like they used to, BUT
 
 
WHO CARES ABOUT ANYTHING WHEN THEY'RE RE-RELEASING AZEMICHI DE!!!!
That's only... my favorite song of theirs.
 
 
How can you not love Satou singing "I hate you" with such a soft voice? In such a soft way? HOW CAN YOU NOT?!?
I just hope the new version will be good still. : 3

きのこ帝国 (kinoko teikoku) will release their new album 愛のゆくえ (ai no yukue) on 2016/11/02.
 
Further details will be announced later.
 
 
 
 
I know some people have lost their faith for them but I think their latest digital single "(夏の影" is pretty good and has nice dub vibes.
 

Tour15 The Unstoppable Tour
Tour15 Never Free From The Touring
Tour 16-17 FROM DEPRESSION TO TOURING
 
I wonder what's next...
 

Killing a bunch of Negan's men with a rocket launcher is pretty savage, though.
 
On another note, it may not be today, or tomorrow but I can't wait for Rick to bury that axe in Negan's head. : 3

I always associated (Japanese) city pop with these bands with young male members with trendy clothes, colorful caps or beanies and guitar straps adjusted a bit too tight. And chill chunez.
 
jk but not rly
 
...So bands that have already been mentioned like yogee new waves, the fin., never young beach (notice the marine theme, maybe it should be sea pop? beach pop?)
 
I have to agree with the blog post on city pop being more about the certain vibe and aesthetic rather than a similar sound.

Steven Tanaka just wrote a pretty interesting blog post on this "city pop revival" that's going on within Japanese indie. Now personally, I've always thought city pop was used to refer to a subset of Jpop...stuff like HITOMITOI, especia and others, but apparently the Japanese have also been using the term to refer to this new trend of Western sounding indie bands - stuff like the fin., awesome city club, never young beach, mitsume, and others. As such, I thought it might be a topic of interest for some of you and perhaps one worth discussing. @fitear1590, @seurong, @beni, @indigo, @Carmelzors- I'd definitely be interested in hearing what you guys think on the matter.
 
http://www.nextmusicfromtokyo.com/?p=6585
 
And another article on city pop, which Steve links to in his post: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/07/05/music/city-pop-revival-literally-trend-name/#.WA5l7i0rKM9
 
Overall, I would have to agree with Steve. At the risk of sounding like some elitist weeb, I've always been more attracted to Japan's indie scene over a good bit of the indie stuff coming out of Europe and North America. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy indie music from all over, but Japan has always had a particular flavor to their musicality, to their rhythms, that you don't always hear replicated elsewhere. So while I do enjoy some of these up-and-coming "city pop" bands, I also can't help but feel that this is a much less exciting direction for Japan's indie scene in general. :/
 
I do disagree on a few of the minor details, though. Like siamese cats - I think those guys have only become better since "crossing over". D.A.N., is fairly enjoyable, and so is mitsume and never young beach. My major issue with these bands, though is that their styles have all gotten tiresome rather quickly for me. For instance, mitsume had some dope stuff on their EPs, but both of their full-lengths have been easily forgettable, and never young beach's new album is already snooze-worthy compared to the last. It's like all of these bands got the idea "let's play this specific style of music", but didn't think about how to expand upon that idea or truly make it their own after they exhausted said idea.
 
Let's not forget the infamous "club club":

awesome city club
and summer club
helsinki lambda club
litchi hikari club
marquee beach club
Healthy Dynamite Club
Ancient Youth Club
 
 
...etc
 
From what I've heard, most of these bands have been pretty boring and haven't really done anything to stand out. I can perfectly understand why people would be into this "city pop" sound, though. In general, it's just easy-going, feel-good music. But with Japanese indie seeming to be in a relative slump in general (at least from my perspective), it's difficult for me not to take issue with this trend.
 

mmmmmmh!

another koblessing
 
 

That's a neat line-up of support members! Kinda interested.

@beni lovefilm sounds pretty cool, I like the mood of the song!
 
@emmny  that ggg song is good, I'm glad they have a full band now! I was a bit afraid to check the single since I didn't enjoy that MA&MA&MA thing, but I will check it now!
 
@togz nice pick from THE NOVEMBERS!
 
@CAT5 六月ノ雨ニ討タレテ is one of my favorites on alt of the society's album! and ZA FEEDO seems interesting~!

@beni lovefilm sounds pretty cool, I like the mood of the song!
 
@emmny  that ggg song is good, I'm glad they have a full band now! I was a bit afraid to check the single since I didn't enjoy that MA&MA&MA thing, but I will check it now!
 
@togz nice pick from THE NOVEMBERS!
 
@CAT5 六月ノ雨ニ討タレテ is one of my favorites on alt of the society's album! and ZA FEEDO seems interesting~!

@beni lovefilm sounds pretty cool, I like the mood of the song!
 
@emmny  that ggg song is good, I'm glad they have a full band now! I was a bit afraid to check the single since I didn't enjoy that MA&MA&MA thing, but I will check it now!
 
@togz nice pick from THE NOVEMBERS!
 
@CAT5 六月ノ雨ニ討タレテ is one of my favorites on alt of the society's album! and ZA FEEDO seems interesting~!

@beni lovefilm sounds pretty cool, I like the mood of the song!
 
@emmny  that ggg song is good, I'm glad they have a full band now! I was a bit afraid to check the single since I didn't enjoy that MA&MA&MA thing, but I will check it now!
 
@togz nice pick from THE NOVEMBERS!
 
@CAT5 六月ノ雨ニ討タレテ is one of my favorites on alt of the society's album! and ZA FEEDO seems interesting~!

That's a neat line-up of support members! Kinda interested.

TOKYO HEALTH CLUB
 
 

TOKYO HEALTH CLUB
 
 

TOKYO HEALTH CLUB
 
 

きのこ帝国 (kinoko teikoku) will release their new album 愛のゆくえ (ai no yukue) on 2016/11/02.
 
Further details will be announced later.
 
 
 
 
I know some people have lost their faith for them but I think their latest digital single "(夏の影" is pretty good and has nice dub vibes.
 

きのこ帝国 (kinoko teikoku) will release their new album 愛のゆくえ (ai no yukue) on 2016/11/02.
 
Further details will be announced later.
 
 
 
 
I know some people have lost their faith for them but I think their latest digital single "(夏の影" is pretty good and has nice dub vibes.
 

Yes, it's good! Just like Kobayashi said in that interview it's like a nice blend of everything they have done so far with a hint of something new.
 
Gonna be bumping !!!!!!!!!!! in my car a lot.
 
ただ遠くへ is definitely my early favorite. And dat trumpet in the last song <3

qujaku - KEIREN
alt of the society - 追憶の風景
コシュニエ (Cö shu Nie) - パズル (puzzle)