hiroki

Yeah I suppose everything's a "marketing method" - from conditional disbandments, to someone stealing band funds, to looking for a member who had lost contact. Maybe even the accident that happened to vistlip a few years back was also for "exposure". Although I guess nothing can be the best advertisement than someone actually dying. Right? I think that's nothing short of offensive to fans who are genuinely concerned about wtf happened.

I dunno about others, but I really love them They only have 1 full album released though (which they gave out for free).

Thanks for the Kanji I fully agree that it's a reflection on coming to terms with the past and, accordingly, the band's own history. Here's my take on the lyrics (some extrapolations based on the context in parentheses): To look ahead without being depressed Being able to say, "Well that's alright" Cuz i'm thinking I'm not going to destroy them: The fragrance of lilies and that nostalgic place. But the midday bell tolls and I must go It wasn't much, but I stashed my desire to (stay) How many people can (my thoughts) reach? Having etched all our different lives into my mind, It's ok just like this; isn't it fine?

Hmm, seems like I'm the only one here who prefers their newer songs over their older ones (their older stuff are still amazing though..) My top 5: crossover classic yours only Dream Catcher Lovers Best release would have to be their "Any verse" album - it's def in the top 3 releases of 2013 for me.

Re-reading Doris Lessing's essays and other non-fiction - she only passed away 2 months ago and I miss her already ;_; Also, reading some of Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings..

They found him. From Vuit's twitter: Ray℃ Vuit 2月20日生誕祭 ‏@rayoc_vuit3 時間 25日のライブ後の打ち上げで飲み過ぎてしまったため知り合いの家に泊めてもらい、充電することも忘れた状態で寝ていました。 起床したのは本日の0時頃で状況が把握できませんでした、朝方帰宅しメンバーに状況を話した次第です。 ご心配をおかけした皆様に心からお詫び申し上げます。 Vuit Rough translation: "After the live on 25th I drank too much and stayed over at an acquaintance's place, and I fell asleep without remembering to charge my phone. I woke up today at midnight without realizing what had happened. In the morning I returned home and immediately contacted the members. Sorry for causing everyone to worry." - Vuit

Finally decided to break my bank for a pair of ATH-M50 Sooo looking forward to it

I usually only share stuff that I really like myself. I guess the most satisfying aspect is to find more potential fans for the bands that I like by sharing, even though I know perfectly well it can be counterproductive. Honestly I've never really given much thought when uploading, nor am I too calculative about the whole thing, since I believe reciprocity is key when it comes to a community like this. Although I must admit that it still pisses me off when people silently sneak into the forums and take everything without bothering to even take a few seconds to show their appreciation.

I have a bad habit of hoarding CDs of certain artists I used to be obsessed over but no longer like (or like as much). Which explains how I ended up with ~1000 CDs even though I don't listen to most of those bands anymore. It's probably one of the most silly things anyone can do >< I'm usually annoyed to find out that in reality artists get peanuts out of CD sales, but it's just how the industry works and unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it. As for whether they want to use the money to smoke or do drugs, it's none of my business. I buy CDs because I enjoy their music, and am paying for their time/effort/talent in that respect. Whether they spend this money in a "moral" way is their own choice, and not something I'll be bothered by. It would suck to have someone supervising how you spend your money

Yes, if I like them enough. Do you like (or used to like) soft toys?

Haha, I sing along to Royz too (mostly their older songs like "hoshi ni negai wo" - it's simply too catchy not to sing along XD). Since I always learn lyrics by ear, I dunno the lyrics for their newer songs as I haven't listened to them enough. And I know almost every vistlip song by heart Like paradoxal, I can't do harsh vocals at all XD Not that I can even figure out what they were trying to sing in the first place...

I suppose you could say it's the style of vocals one tends to find in metal. I've never really been a fan of harsh vocals (the more "extreme" it gets, the more uncomfortable I feel XD), and am used to vocals carrying the melody line. I had a discussion with a friend about this, and was told something to the effect of vocals being augmented in metal to perform what an instrument typically does (e.g. through distortion or percussion). Even if I'm not particularly irritated, I still find harsh vocals distracting most of the time. There are exceptions, though. DELUHI is one of my favorite bands, and I can't really put my finger on the reason - I suspect it's how the amazing overlay of Juri's clean/harsh vocals more than offsets the roughness of his harsh vocals (and his voice is easier on my ear than most other metal vocalists). I like Para:noir too, and it's prob owing to Akane's harsh vocals being modulated by autotune to the point that they aren't "harsh" anymore. Sadly I can't stand D.I.D at all. But, yeah, I digress

I have a huge bias towards vocals. I guess I'm one of those that don't really see vocals as just another set of instruments (and maybe that's why I've never really been able to get into most metal bands). Lyrics have a semantic aspect to them that's in excess of what instrumentals can ever do. If I feel like just listening to instrumentals I'd happily switch to my classical playlist.

Books... Stanislaw Lem - Solaris Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf Rudolf Rocker - Anarcho-syndicalism Kant - Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

I can't think of anyone whose voice is as flawless as SID's Mao in lives. Top notch every single time and I dunno how he does it. Guild's Ryuichi is amazing too. As for the more 'operatic' kind of delivery, both Kawamura Ryuichi and Yuki (Raphael/rice) are great.

Like almost everyone here, my musical tastes certainly expanded a great deal as I grew up. I gave a lot of things that I never think I'd try a go. I loved some of them, hated others, and was indifferent to the bulk of them. I guess I'm not sure if that counts as 'refinement'. Ever since I was young, there were a few genres/scenes that I've vacillated between - visual kei, classical, and r&b/poppish stuff. There are points in my life where I listened to nothing else but just one of them - or a subgenre within them - almost exclusively, and these periods can last anywhere from a few days to months. Still, I find that eventually - and that may be a long long time - I will return to my other music at some point. Of course there are also stuff that I absolutely loved which I am unlikely to listen to as much as I used to, but I've never felt ashamed of having liked what I liked. And I know that at some point I'll return to them and reminisce over how much I used to be so obsessed over a particular song/artist. The nostalgia that washes over you at the moment you accidentally stumble on something you haven't listened to in 10+ years is amazing. I guess these are little 'surprises' that will always keep me interested. So, no, I don't think I'll come to "hate" what I used to love - at least not as dramatically as some other people have.

Welcome to MH and enjoy yourself

Italo Calvino - Invisible Cities and some boring historiography book for class..

Welcome! I looked at your last.fm and we have quite a few artists in common (e.g. vistlip and SINCREA)

One of my favorite bands Why aren't they releasing anything???

Yay! Looking forward to it

Of course they can, but if the kind of music that's being produced by the majority of bands/artists in the scene is fairly consistent, I think it's justifiable to call it a genre as well. Hip-hop in the broadest sense is as much a genre in itself as a scene the artists inhabit. I must confess I have very limited knowledge of earlier visual kei (compared to most of you guys on MH anyway), so I wish I could say more and provide more evidence. This is obviously the period Wonrei is interested in, and I look forward to what others say as well. But for me, earlier visual kei seems to be more easily divided into certain periods/epochs (the definition of what a "period" comprises and how long each lasts is debatable), and in every such period there's some very rough way of describing the kind of music that's being produced. As we move into the 2000s, this has simply become impossible. If someone had asked me what visual kei "sounded" like in the period 2007-2009, I wouldn't know what to say to them. The incredible diversification suggests (at least to me) that visual kei has lost its "genre"-ness in the last decade or so, and is now probably better described as a scene (described by its aesthetics, concepts, and more tangible marketing/business critera like the associated labels and distributors, concert venues, etc.)

My sentiments exactly. I respect deg as a band but could never really get into them (and their kind of music), so I'm delighted that Kyo's doing something different and from what I hear it sounds promising. I really love how the peaceful folk-ish melodic lines in this song are rippled by darker, more unsettling instrumental overtones and imagery.

Yeah it has always been like that. I've always wished there could be more transparency but unfortunately there's precious little of that possibility. Heck, even major artists are forced to play by the label's terms, unless they're someone "big" enough to the extent that the label stands to lose a great deal by dropping them. (In particular I'm reminded of an episode in 2010 where Utada Hikaru implored her fans to NOT buy the "best-of album" her label insisted on releasing because it was against her own wishes)

Ulysses' Gaze (1995): The kind of film you either hate or love. A highly elliptic "narrative" (if it can even be considered one) that explores the meaning of time, space, history, people, etc. set in the Balkans, Ulysses' Gaze parallels Homer's Odyssey in its epic vision. Simply put, it's exemplary of the kind of films that scream "I am high culture" in your face. Apparently also in the TIME top 100 list, in which ideally films are somewhat well balanced between artistic credentials and mass-market appeal, I was quite surprised by how this film is way skewed to one side of the spectrum. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, and for most people the 3 hours could be better spent.