paradoxal

Day 2 - カメレオ - ハイカラ (Kameleo - High Collar)

Release Date: 2014-10-15
Label: Danger Crue Records
Genre: Visual Kei
Impressions from Linh-san

Impressions from fitear1950

Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgU3saRpiRw
Buy the album:
CDJapan | yesasia

Day 3 - Girugamesh - Gravitation

Release Date: 2014-09-24
Label: Danger Crue
Genre: Rock/Metal
Impressions by @Ito

Impressions by

Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | YesAsia | iTunes

Resurrecting this thread to bring you something lovely that I found on edohsama a few weeks ago:



Not offended one bit lol.

Welcome to the 25 days of MH-mas! What is that you might ask? Well, the MH official reviewers and the staff have gotten together in an attempt to create a list of out favorite releases from 2014 (excluding December). Every day of the month we will be posting a new album until we reach the number one release on our list on Christmas day. Each album will come along with a little blurb from different staff members explaining why the release made it on the list (and an occasional dissenting opinion). Keep in mind that it is impossible to really create a list that captures all of the diverse tastes of the our individual staff members, so you will have to wait for the staff member's individual lists if you really want to know a certain member's favorites. Also, the list was limited to only Japanese album (cause, I mean, this is a Japanese music forum).
 
This post will serve as the "directory" with all of individual albums being featured in each reply post. The discussion for this will go in THIS THREAD.
 
And without further ado, the list!
 
​和楽器バンド - ボカロ三昧 (Wagakki Band - Vocalo Zanmai) カメレオ - ハイカラ (Kameleo - High Collar) Girugamesh - Gravitation  アルカラ - CAO (Arukara - CAO) 八十八ヶ所巡礼 - 攻撃的国民的音楽 (88kasyo junrei - kougeki teki kokumin teki ongaku) TK from 凛として時雨 - Fantastic Magic (TK from Ling Tosite Sigure - Fantastic Magic) テスラは泣かない。- TESLA doesn't know how to cry  ねごと - "Z"OOM (NEGOTO - "Z"OOM) chouchou merged syrups. - clepsydra asobius - pray & grow Royz - Core 陰陽座 - 風神界逅 / 雷神創世 (Onmyo-za - Fuujinkaikou / Raijinsouse) MY FIRST STORY - 虚言NEUROSE 夜の本気ダンス  - DANCE STEP (honki dance - DANCE STEP) FACT - Witness 撃鉄 - NO UNDERGROUND (Gekitetsu - NO UNDERGROUND) ミソッカス - 統一された混沌(カオス) (misokkasu - touitsu sareta chaos) jizue - Shiori THE NOVEMBERS - Rhapsody in beauty Mono - The Last Dawn / Rays of Darkness HOLLOWGRAM - Qualia sukekiyo - IMMORTALIS KAMIJO - Heart Boris - Noise Charisma.com - DIStopping

[x] Others
 
host kei 5ever

[x] Others
 
host kei 5ever

[x] Others
 
host kei 5ever

those waveya chicks are anorexic compared to those robot vagina boob monsters gaz posted

>posts a video with girl(s) displaying the same-ish physique/build (if we learn to ignore over-the-top knockers in your link)
 
>Dude.

Most recent snap. A bit more femme/cute than usual, but it was fun.
 

Don't worry guys, he's probably just passed out drunk on some girl's couch or somethin

Reading a couple of posts here and connected it to what I see around the net, and with individuals in day-to-day life. Just wrote it out real fast and don`t have time to edit so see bold and color for CLIFFS.
 
-----
 
What I don`t agree with most is that there is anything inherently wrong with sticking to one thing, keeping things simple, or just being satisfied with what you have.
 
I see more and more, especially on the internet, of how every argument or view is attached to some sort of righteousness or made-up moral value. I see how one person attempts to attach their character or view to justice, or some sort of superiority, and either directly or indirectly writing anyone with a different view or lifestyle off as:
 
Small-Minded
Prejudice
Uninformed
A Senseless Fan
Immature
Or Downright Stupid
 
One can openly declare that they are open-minded, or dismiss others as small-minded, not noticing the hypocrisy of the statement, and the blatant abandon of any further attempts at understanding others or their point of view. The self-induced illusion of intellectual superiority makes no point of ever addressing how one can possibly know whether they are open-minded, or just of a liberal point of view that is as close-minded as a conservative person who lives within boundaries like all the rest of us.
 
We attach this to some sort of ideal that music is, at it`s higher forms, some sort of objectively precious, important creation that we are to revere, and all value in the same way.
 
If a bunch of music fans from all walks of life were to sit down and map out what they found to be important for either good music, or what they like, they might have some of the following:
 
Technical Skill
Deep Philosophical Meaning
Deep Emotional Meaning
Something That Rocks
Something Relaxing
Something That Is Fun
Something Real
Something That Provides An Escape
Something You Can Dance To
Something You Can Groove To
Something Nice to Put On In The Background
 
Any of these can be dependant, independant, or inter-dependant, and there are droves of people that would declare their preference as `Real Music`, `Good Music`and so forth...
 
And obviously as we know that`s one major reason why trying to transpose your value of music onto others and have expectations, or criticize anything anyone else listens to is utterly pointless.
 
Each of these different things can provide the same amount of entertainment, enjoyment, or value to an individual, depending on what they prefer.
 
In the same way some people have found what they like, enjoy listening to it, and currently do not need to look much further than the area they are currently deriving pleasure from. For some people looking into new areas of music is `broadening their horizons`, for others, it`s simply getting away from the point and potentially wasting time. In a week or two many people who do choose to wander through different genres and what-not will invariably come running back to whatever it is they are in love with in their main musical arena. I for example, despite having so many albums, trying out so many different areas, and so forth, from listening, to studying and playing... Can not go very long before I come running back for the feeling that only a band can give me, a rock band to be specific, one from more modern times, that has the sound and feeling that I relate to, and (as far as) I know no other area of music can currently give me.
 
Wandering to other areas of music outside of VK is a distraction, sometimes a palette cleanse, sometimes just the equivalent of a different route home to see what`s there... And I would be perfectly fine without ever trying anything outside of Visual Kei at the moment.
 
If someone genuinely enjoys what they are doing, no matter how narrow it is, why try to impose upon them? Chances are, if they want to try something else, they can take the initiative themselves, either by looking, or asking others. I expect any semi-grown individual to be able to make their own decisions, and even if they make decisions that I don`t agree with, I`m not going to criticize, assume some pseudo-superiority, try to inflate my ego or anything like that.
 
Are they enjoying what they are listening to?
Yes?
 
Okay, choices:
- Carry on and let them be.
- Find some arbitrary reason to scold them, either directly or indirectly, tell them they are small-minded, let them know how much more worldly you are for sitting around downloading all sorts of other music while only being as, or less passionate about what you are listening to as they are, etc...
 
No?
 
Choices:
- Carry on and let them figure it out for themselves.
- Recommend them some music and see if they like it.
- Force your opinions, made-up solutions and tastes upon them for as long as you can until they stop coming around and you wonder why they seem to resent you.
 
-----
 
I am sure we all know of people that unknowingly choose those ridiculous options, and simply can`t except that someone is different than them, so they rationalize everything under a statement such as: They don`t like what I like, or do what I do despite my way being superior, therefore they are stupid and small-minded.
 
It`s hard to accept that someone can simply like something different, or be so specific, or not be open to all of the wonderful things that you are enjoying.
 
Try telling a tribesman in South America who lives in a mud-hut that he shoudl expand his horizons.
Or telling an old man that has done nothing other than catch fish in his hometown his whole life and raise a family that he `NEEDS to travel Europe`.
Maybe go tell a Monk that he should really go out there, meet some women and enjoy himself.
 
Chances are these `narrow` minds are more content than any of the stressed out, low-self-esteem, inescapably materialistic minds that roam the cities and surf the internet today. Many people don`t even need music to be content, guess they are too small-minded and would really be happier exploring Neo-Classical Jazz right now...
 
So not even taking time constraints or anything like that in mind, which can seem to come off as excuses tbh, I don`t see anything wrong with not being musically adventurous, or even down-right listening to the same stuff all day everyday if it satisfies you. Call me crazy.
 
Other things:
 
In the name of righteousness again, we always seem to be putting down visuals and declaring for our own sake that The Music is What is Most Important.
 
Really?
Why?
 
Is the music so much deeper and meaningful, and of so much more value that we must dismiss the looks in Visual Kei or other genres, and proclaim to not care about them?
 
So there`s no value, message or feeling given by the look of the band? We can`t connect with the band through what they express visually, we can`t like them for their looks, we have to be devout to the music first of all, and put down others who seem to over-value the aesthetics?
 
Seems like a load of cow dung to me, and that people are free to like whatever they like about the experience, or band. While we are on the subject we could be dismissing all fans who aren`t `in it for the lyrics, because the lyrics are the heart of the song and convey the message best and blah blah blah` but many fans conveniently don`t have the luxury of enforcing that requirement to being an intelligent VK fan.
 
Dismissing Popular Bands In `Covert` Ways:
 
Flavour of the Month
Bishies for Fan-girls
Not VK anymore because of some made-up reason.
 
And so forth...
 
Nothing wrong with liking whatever is popular, as long as the person genuinely enjoys it. Even if for some reason they only enjoy it for its popularity and community. They could still be enjoying it just as much as someone listening to Mozart, Dir en grey, The Beatles or whatever music that ascended from the heavens to bless the peasants and elitists alike as they stroke themselves to whatever brilliance they are currently experiencing through their overpriced headphones.
 
 
All value for music, and whatever else you want to pile into the category of Art, is purely up to those experiencing it, and there is nothing wrong, and nothing inferior with being a Mejibray fangirl, someone who only listens to Visual Kei, someone who only listens to one band, or someone that puts high value on a bands looks.
 
Does any action on behalf of the criticized listener really hurt or affect anyone? Is there really an issue here that we need to stick our noses into, or will that just put people off and separate communities already under many other strains due to differing viewpoints.
 
If anyone feels the need to criticize anyone mentioned above, berate them, or act like their superior, chances are that the `small-minded` person you are fed up with is better off than you.

pURPLE STONE (2013-)
 

 
Vocals Keiya
Guitar & programming GAK
Bass 風麻
 
Purple Stone is one of the most promising new visual kei bands. Sharing the same label as hyped 少年記, I think they deserve a lot more hype too. Their first mini-album NEXUS was released almost exactly one year ago, and now they’re finally back with their first single (not counting their first one-coin single Scar).
 
 
 
 
甘酸っぱいマンゴー (amazuppai mango) 
 

 
 
 
As much as I love NEXUS and Scar, I must say that 甘酸っぱいマンゴー (Amazuppai mango) is an amazing single. One of the strengths of Purple stone is undoubtedly vocalist Keiya’s amazingly powerful voice, combined with catchy melodies and well composed songs. Being a part of the new era of visual kei, they also utilize a significant amount of synths composed by their guitarist GAK in their songs. Add a dash of SINCREAesque metal parts, and that’s pretty much what the single Amazuppai mango consists of.
 
The A-side Amazuppai mango is a song, whose PV and song title make you giggle, because who the hell would make a song about mangos? I’m still 100% convinced this single was created because of “I dare you to make a song about mangos”, but nevertheless it doesn’t take away the fact that this song is one of my favorite singles this year (and yes I know, I declare this fact like 10 times a year…). The A-side combines beautiful riffing and carefully placed synths, and Keiya’s powerful vocals just take your breath away. The B-side Hysterical Lady is a harder song, and the chorus somehow reminds me of girugamesh, even though I’m not that familiar with their discography. This is undoubtedly a song that is super fun live, with lots of jumping and head banging.
 
If you can overlook the title ‘sweet and sour mango’, I think this particular single deserves 5/5 and a golden star, even though it doesn’t add anything new to the world that is visual kei. Purple stone hasn’t done anything ground breaking, nor do they deserve a gold medallion for creating something totally new, because they by no means have done that. Not every band has to be always creating something new. As generic as this single is, it’s beautifully made and definitely deserves your attention.
 
TL;DR: If you don’t like new visual kei, don’t try this. If you like new visual kei, try this. It's awesome.
 
 
 

 
 
 

There's a special place in hell for people who upvote old artist pictures in last.fm.

pURPLE STONE (2013-)
 

 
Vocals Keiya
Guitar & programming GAK
Bass 風麻
 
Purple Stone is one of the most promising new visual kei bands. Sharing the same label as hyped 少年記, I think they deserve a lot more hype too. Their first mini-album NEXUS was released almost exactly one year ago, and now they’re finally back with their first single (not counting their first one-coin single Scar).
 
 
 
 
甘酸っぱいマンゴー (amazuppai mango) 
 

 
 
 
As much as I love NEXUS and Scar, I must say that 甘酸っぱいマンゴー (Amazuppai mango) is an amazing single. One of the strengths of Purple stone is undoubtedly vocalist Keiya’s amazingly powerful voice, combined with catchy melodies and well composed songs. Being a part of the new era of visual kei, they also utilize a significant amount of synths composed by their guitarist GAK in their songs. Add a dash of SINCREAesque metal parts, and that’s pretty much what the single Amazuppai mango consists of.
 
The A-side Amazuppai mango is a song, whose PV and song title make you giggle, because who the hell would make a song about mangos? I’m still 100% convinced this single was created because of “I dare you to make a song about mangos”, but nevertheless it doesn’t take away the fact that this song is one of my favorite singles this year (and yes I know, I declare this fact like 10 times a year…). The A-side combines beautiful riffing and carefully placed synths, and Keiya’s powerful vocals just take your breath away. The B-side Hysterical Lady is a harder song, and the chorus somehow reminds me of girugamesh, even though I’m not that familiar with their discography. This is undoubtedly a song that is super fun live, with lots of jumping and head banging.
 
If you can overlook the title ‘sweet and sour mango’, I think this particular single deserves 5/5 and a golden star, even though it doesn’t add anything new to the world that is visual kei. Purple stone hasn’t done anything ground breaking, nor do they deserve a gold medallion for creating something totally new, because they by no means have done that. Not every band has to be always creating something new. As generic as this single is, it’s beautifully made and definitely deserves your attention.
 
TL;DR: If you don’t like new visual kei, don’t try this. If you like new visual kei, try this. It's awesome.
 
 
 

 
 
 

All I'm saying is that for people who cannot sit down and peruse music at their own leisure, there is definitely some tradeoff to be made between (i) (re)listening to stuff one likes, (ii) finding more bands that one is likely to like, (iii) taking a "leap of faith" - as you'd say - to try and expand one's musical horizons. Spending all your time on (iii) will mean sacrificing time that you'd otherwise use for (i) and (ii). That's a very real tradeoff anyone who loves music has to contend with. In an ideal world you would be right. If I weren't clearing almost 40 credits per semester and instead had unlimited time, I swear that I won't only be checking out every single release that people post here, I'd even go down to the local CD rental shop and go through everything there shelf by shelf.
Yes, there are definitely those people who keep away from non-vk stuff due to phobia(?) and their own resistance towards non-vk stuff, but I think for most people it's more practical than that. Chances are they have tried something, didn't like it, and returned to their favorite music, be it vk or something else. That's something I find perfectly rational.
I understand where you're coming from. There's always the excitement that comes with finding something outside of my comfort zone that I would never imagined I'd like had I not tried. (As a concrete example, there was once I casually downloaded
which Keiyuu generously shared. I absolutely loved the song and it's now in my rotation, although anyone who knows my taste will know it doesn't even come close to the part of vk I usually dabble in). But unfortunately there's always gonna be that proverbial elephant in the room because no one can listen to all the music that exists, and I think people should decide for themselves how they want to apportion their time between (i), (ii) and (iii).

See, this is where you lose me. At no point should someone have to make a tradeoff between depth and breadth of musical inclinations. As long as you continue to like music, they go hand in hand. The more music that you discover, the more you know where your tastes lie, what you like and what you don't. This is important.
I'll use @paradoxal as an example. para is the biggest visual kei indie head I'm familiar with on this forum. She follows all of the new bands and knows who is trending and who isn't, and is extremely comfortable with listening to a fraction of all the music visual kei has to offer. Yet she found something to love in Charisma.com, which is an artist she would have never exposed herself to on her own. She only realized she enjoyed their music when she took a leap of faith and decided to try something new, even if it came with the risk of not enjoying it. And in turn, I would have never discovered Charisma.com if CAT5 didn't put us all on one day. Sitting in the chat box for a day is one of the most mind blowing things you can do on MH. Everybody in the chat is always recommending music to everyone else and all of our tastes rub shoulders. As a matter of fact, most of the bands that I have in my library now are bands that have been recommended to me by other people from the chat. I don't actually seek out any new music, but my musical collection grows in new and unexpected ways due to people like @CAT5, @Champ213, @sai, @Jigsaw9, , @Bear, @leafwork, @Peace Heavy mk II, and @paradoxal, among other people. Right now I'm downloading something @sai recommended to me yesterday for no other reason than she thought I would like it. As long as someone is willing to try new things, their music collection will only grow.
I would even wager that most of us showed up here because someone else put us on to visual kei first - whether that be a mysterious YouTube uploader or a friend that really, really likes the GazettE - and we all decided to try something new. But a lot of fans don't even try new things within the confines of just visual kei. They're fine with being familiar only with the new band of the week - and I would know because I was there once too. From LIPHLICH to DISH, from Wagakki-Band to Kagrra, from Hollowgram to the god and death stars, there are plenty of different types of visual kei bands that all have different aesthetics and styles and approach music differently, yet there's as much of a schism between -core visual kei bands and other visual kei bands as there is between visual kei and not visual kei music. You can chalk it up to "musical differences" but I think there's more at play.
And at the end of the day, we all showed up here because we decided to try something new, so when does that change and why? It's the elephant in the room nobody wants to address because it requires taking a good, hard look at our own biases.

pURPLE STONE (2013-)
 

 
Vocals Keiya
Guitar & programming GAK
Bass 風麻
 
Purple Stone is one of the most promising new visual kei bands. Sharing the same label as hyped 少年記, I think they deserve a lot more hype too. Their first mini-album NEXUS was released almost exactly one year ago, and now they’re finally back with their first single (not counting their first one-coin single Scar).
 
 
 
 
甘酸っぱいマンゴー (amazuppai mango) 
 

 
 
 
As much as I love NEXUS and Scar, I must say that 甘酸っぱいマンゴー (Amazuppai mango) is an amazing single. One of the strengths of Purple stone is undoubtedly vocalist Keiya’s amazingly powerful voice, combined with catchy melodies and well composed songs. Being a part of the new era of visual kei, they also utilize a significant amount of synths composed by their guitarist GAK in their songs. Add a dash of SINCREAesque metal parts, and that’s pretty much what the single Amazuppai mango consists of.
 
The A-side Amazuppai mango is a song, whose PV and song title make you giggle, because who the hell would make a song about mangos? I’m still 100% convinced this single was created because of “I dare you to make a song about mangos”, but nevertheless it doesn’t take away the fact that this song is one of my favorite singles this year (and yes I know, I declare this fact like 10 times a year…). The A-side combines beautiful riffing and carefully placed synths, and Keiya’s powerful vocals just take your breath away. The B-side Hysterical Lady is a harder song, and the chorus somehow reminds me of girugamesh, even though I’m not that familiar with their discography. This is undoubtedly a song that is super fun live, with lots of jumping and head banging.
 
If you can overlook the title ‘sweet and sour mango’, I think this particular single deserves 5/5 and a golden star, even though it doesn’t add anything new to the world that is visual kei. Purple stone hasn’t done anything ground breaking, nor do they deserve a gold medallion for creating something totally new, because they by no means have done that. Not every band has to be always creating something new. As generic as this single is, it’s beautifully made and definitely deserves your attention.
 
TL;DR: If you don’t like new visual kei, don’t try this. If you like new visual kei, try this. It's awesome.
 
 
 

 
 
 

I've listened to Japanese trannies since the day I was born and will do it until the day I die :/

Hey, I'd still do Reita.

The problem is that most discussions centered on visual kei (especially by non-vk fans, or anti-vk ppl) are often slathered with frightening helpings of overgeneralization, made worse by a common stereotype of vk fans that's, let's just say, not too charitable. People need to realize that not all visual kei fans are (or come anywhere near to) immature, rabid fangirls who creepily stalk twitter/ameblo and hyperventilate at their bandomen's zettai ryoiki 24/7. Oh yes, of course, there are those (and btw I don't believe there's anything wrong with that, but that's going off-topic). And there are also vk fans who refuse for whatever reason to listen to anything else but vk. So what? This "snobbishness" isn't even something peculiar to vk - just take a look at people who exclusively listen to classical music, or trance, or hip-hop, or whatever - and in my view, not necessarily something "bad".

The thing is, contrary to common presuppositions, some of these people who swear by vk have actually explored other genres, found that they didn't like them, and returned to the "sanctuary" of vk music where they feel most at ease. There's a very common tendency to feel that simply because I found a mind-blowingly good band, people are "missing out" on this gem because they don't know about it (and if they do know, then they're not being critical!). I used to feel the same way sometimes, but I've come to accept that isn't the case at all. For every 1 person who's interested I can easily find 100 others who quite honestly don't give a shit. In my case I've also occasionally checked out purported "albums of the century" (hurhur) and didn't know wtf I was listening to. But this is just as well; if there were any place for aggressive musical evangelism, all of us would be listening to AKB48 and Arashi and nothing else.

A final point. Let's face it: the music industry today is staggeringly huge and there are way too many bands/artists for anyone to listen to. For most people who are neither NEETs nor retirees, their "exploratory" phase must stop (or at least slow down) at some point. To put it crudely some sacrifice has to be made between breadth and depth of music: because no one has infinite time to sit down and listen to music leisurely, people who have less diverse tastes can channel their time to further exploring what they really like. It's not so much that vk music is irreconcilable with other genres of music; it's the practical constraint of time where spending a month to explore other genres means they will have 1 less month to explore vk bands they like. Not everyone is willing to make this sacrifice. As an anecdotal aside, I'm just a rather casual listener of classical music but I have a good friend who listens to almost nothing but Chopin since he was 14 and has developed an unbelievable familiarity with almost every single Chopin specialist from the 19th through the 21st century (he even knows who are the Nocturnes specialists, Mazurka specialists, etc. within the Chopin repertoire). I hardly think it would make any sense for me to inform him that he has wasted his time and suggest that he'd have been better off if he had traded 50% of this expertise to explore rap or J-indies instead. And if I wouldn't say that, why would it be easier to say the exact same thing to the obsessive vk fan, if not for the derogatory (and often incorrect) stereotypes usually associated with vk fans I've mentioned at the start of the post..?

Funny to hear that from a person, who likes NB.
I think further conversarion is impossible. Please post your valuable opinions in topics dedicated to bands you like, not hate (unless you're a schollkid of course). Kthxbye

Went to pre-order NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST's new album this afternoon and got bored on bus on the way, so here's a selfie.
 

^

 
You hate them, but still come to comment every time they release something. Come on, don't you have better things to do?

See, I don't think that's what's going on here.
70% of the issue here is that Arlequin have confined themselves to a very narrow box in which they can perform well. Their sound simply isn't diverse or engaging enough to sustain anyone's attention for longer than thirty minutes. They suffer from the same problem -OZ- did. Everybody thought -OZ- was a powerhouse that could not be stopped until they switched over from releasing mostly singles to releasing mostly albums. Once that happened, they lost their "spark" because it's boring to hear the same song reinterpreted thirteen slightly different ways. Same thing here. Arlequin have released nothing but singles and when it's just one song it's cool. But when it's nine or ten very similar songs, it's not as cool.
30% of the issue that the new songs they've composed for near equal are forgettable. It's been a week since I wrote the review and I can't remember any of them. I remember none of the tracks being bad, but they weren't all that great either - hence my rating of 3/5.
Watch the next single come out and everyone say "they're back!". They're not back. They didn't go anywhere. That's just their style. They either have to break out of this box or become defined by it and doomed to the same fate -OZ- and DEATHGAZE were. The ball is in their court.