Truly crappy Western "visual kei" inspired music

[freundin 58]

↑ there are so many japanese bands who sound like them nowadays. Now for keep the flame burning: A Russian abomination ruining a M10M song...
 

[lichtlune 915]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6HUJJ75OQ4

seems like their vocalist is an active member in monochrome heaven xD ...still... his voice depressed me quite a bit

oh the hurt :c lol 

 

Anyway I'm the vocalist and i agree we suck but gotta start somewhere! in my case from the very bottom but what can i do? its me! At least i have the courage to try and i will continue to do so.   

[JRD 5156]

I really want to be most of these guys hair stylist. They are forgetting that a straight iron is your BEST FRIEND, especially for VK hair. Layers are your best friend as well, along with a whole can of hair spray and teaser comb.

[ficsci 50]

I'm too le scared to click any of these... mommy!! (>.<)

 

I feel even more awkwerd when I see wtf western VK actually making their way to Japan's VK magazines

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

↑ there are so many japanese bands who sound like them nowadays. Now for keep the flame burning: A Russian abomination ruining a M10M song...

 

 

Loving the Death Note backgrounds

[freundin 58]

it's funny how so many things appear that bring pure fun to my memories. Now, it's time to piss off more remarkable bands.

 

[rebelstrik 111]

Actualy that Romantica - Lady Oscar PV is a close case to Vidoll - Occult Proposal PV. This one is even better cuz they got Klaha as vocals. At least now we know where the hell he is.

 

Ok next one. Tenshi no Yume. Is that Kiwamu there?

 

Visual Moon. Didnt knew Bill from Tokio Hotel has even more brothers.

 

Jet Set Gypsies is the case where Kiwamu chin mask could be rly helpful.

[orangetarts 249]

oh the hurt :c lol 

 

Anyway I'm the vocalist and i agree we suck but gotta start somewhere! in my case from the very bottom but what can i do? its me! At least i have the courage to try and i will continue to do so.   

I actually liked what Ive heard of your singing. but of course there is always room for improvement. 8D

[lichtlune 915]

I actually liked what Ive heard of your singing. but of course there is always room for improvement. 8D

Thank you! and yes of course

[Hoyahe 7]

hey I liked the "visual moon" guys XD well at least they didn't try to do the tipical old-school thing or sing in japanese (I think they're too influenced by korean music though)

the Romantica were the funniest hahah XD

[diva-rin 202]

I love Visual Moon, at least what's been on the internet so far.

Mongolian is not just a beautiful language, I think their culture is very interesting and I'd love to travel there someday.

Maybe the band should put more traditional stuff into their songs and MVs...

[madygrain 515]

This thread is pure gold.

 

Romantica is so amusing in every single way the group members wanted it to be. It's fantastic. I wish I could have seen them live if the ever got to that level. What a experience it would have been.

[kai_desu 340]

 

Dont really have much of anything to say about this.

[nekkichi 6043]

can't get enough of this faultless treasure box, D and gazette covers r like flawlfree twerkalicious gold

[lichtlune 915]

There will be a global compilation of visual/Japanese music influenced artist's on this omnibus release November 11th.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=322361244566295&set=a.229236700545417.57511.132155516920203&type=1&theater

 

I'll leave this here for you guys to critic as harshly as you like but i think some of the artist's here will start to change the notion of western + visual kei/japan = disaster/weeaboo. 

 

I'll have two different projects on this compilation and i'll look forward to all your feedback whether positive or not.

 

There are some unconfirmed Japanese artist's taking part as well apparently so it should be interesting nonetheless to see how it all turns out.

[Biopanda 2675]

Don't have much to say about that compilation other than I'm pretty sure nothing will ever change that notion XD As long as you have the bands doing things like this

 

 

He used makeup to give himself a chin-cameltoe. I'm not sure whether to applaud how much balls he has to actually do that or applaud the fact that he's so seemingly unaware of what a trainwreck he looks like(the other members aren't much better, though they do lack chinginas).

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Well, then again Seremedy (which I think could be counted as the most popular non japanese vk band) also thought they would start a real movement. Look how it went for them :U

[lichtlune 915]

well i think you guys are too quick to nitpick western artist's and a little biased towards japanese artist's that's fine i guess i am a bit too but most of these minor details you point out would be fine for a Japanese band. I don't see what's so wrong for western artist's taking influence from Japanese artist's even if they seem mostly bad to you. Anyway I'm not saying this compilation will be the epitome of musical talent or that it will be flawless I'm just saying it may turn out nice.

 

I've received a lot of shit for even attempting a visual inspired project and so much so that I've wanted to just quit and delete my identify on the internet forever (or attempt to). 

 

Anyway i'm aware of what is being said about all of us and i'm good friends with jet set gypsies but i value all your feedback negative or not like i said.

 

Anyway i put it in this thread because i thought it would be interesting and i want to hear what you all think in the end  

[Ikna 1225]

Weaboo kei is of course very laughable... but people pissing into their pants about foreigners playing in visual bands is as well. I've already said it dozen times in this thread, but japanese bands are 90% of the time as mediocre (if not worse) as most try hard western vk bands, yet people still favour them because "they're asian and own Vi keeey".
Visual kei started as an offshoot of the japanese underground scene, it was influenced by whatever genre was hip and trendy in japan the last 20 years, including Glam, Hair Metal, Punk, New Wave, Goth, Thrash Metal, Nu Metal, Metalcore, Techno, etc... and if you fail to see the pattern here (the genres being not restricted to the japanese island because of their mainly western origin) then I can't help you. Because almost nothing about visual kei is truly originally japanese and therefore owned solely by japanese people. Ignoring all those shitheads yelling "cultural appropriation!!!" visual kei can be adopted by non japanese people as well, as long as they don't act racist or just plain weabooish.

I also mentioned this in the "looking for an oldschool online project thing" thread that western visual kei could offer a big potential to expand the "scene" with adding other and new influences to the music and style, mainly those of the non japanese culture. I don't really see the problem when the western world is fond of a thing coming from Japan, yet originating in western music scenes. It's the same with Lolita- people crying about white (or african, latina, etc) girls wearing Lolita fashion because in their opinion it's "an asian thing reserved only for japanese people", which is complete bullshit as the clothes that inspired Lolita fashion weren't even asian to begin with.

 

About the Jet Set Gypsies: they aren't really that horrible and in fact I like their look. It's still heavily Japan inspired (they look like friggin Samurais from a japanese RPG) but their costumes look well put together and their make up, despite being very heavily but at the same tim reminding me a lot of early artists like X Japan when they tried to look like Kiss, is clean and not a shitty mess. Yeah, the chin part looks strange... yet still not as ridiculous as Kayas chin mask or kote kei guys totally exaggerating with their eye make up (shit tons of swirls, lines or drawing a whole japanese textbook on your face... you get what I mean?)... or Reita's noseband.

And hey, at least they don't look like those guys:

 

 

(pics from visual fucks, LJ. Miss this blog because it's an awesome source for things not to do with make up. Can't say I am better than the most, though *lol* but at least I try my best not looking as fucked up as the ones above... seriously, just don't be like them or it will hurt everyones eyes. And sadly there have been foreign vk bands with members looking exactly like those)

[StriderSubzero 53]

Weaboo kei is of course very laughable... but people pissing into their pants about foreigners playing in visual bands is as well. I've already said it dozen times in this thread, but japanese bands are 90% of the time as mediocre (if not worse) as most try hard western vk bands, yet people still favour them because "they're asian and own Vi keeey".

Visual kei started as an offshoot of the japanese underground scene, it was influenced by whatever genre was hip and trendy in japan the last 20 years, including Glam, Hair Metal, Punk, New Wave, Goth, Thrash Metal, Nu Metal, Metalcore, Techno, etc... and if you fail to see the pattern here (the genres being not restricted to the japanese island because of their mainly western origin) then I can't help you. Because almost nothing about visual kei is truly originally japanese and therefore owned solely by japanese people. Ignoring all those shitheads yelling "cultural appropriation!!!" visual kei can be adopted by non japanese people as well, as long as they don't act racist or just plain weabooish.

I also mentioned this in the "looking for an oldschool online project thing" thread that western visual kei could offer a big potential to expand the "scene" with adding other and new influences to the music and style, mainly those of the non japanese culture. I don't really see the problem when the western world is fond of a thing coming from Japan, yet originating in western music scenes. It's the same with Lolita- people crying about white (or african, latina, etc) girls wearing Lolita fashion because in their opinion it's "an asian thing reserved only for japanese people", which is complete bullshit as the clothes that inspired Lolita fashion weren't even asian to begin with.

 

I started that Old-school VK thread in the Musician's Forum and I agree with a lot of what you said here. It's natural for cultures to influence each other. A band made of non-Japanese people may be inspired by certain Japanese bands, but their own cultural peculiarities are bound to creep in as well. There's nothing wrong with this at all—it's actually very interesting, if you ask me. The majority of the artists/bands in this thread do not sound exceptionally poor to me; most of them simply sound like inexperienced musicians that are attempting to emulate their favorite bands. This is definitely not unique to visual kei.

 

My interest in the "kote kei" stuff is primarily because I like the music and not because I feel it's inherently superior, or because I am obsessed with everything that is Japanese. There is artistic merit to many visual kei bands, and I feel like that many bands, particularly 90s bands, have a unique sound that fuses many genres. The fact that many of these musicians were not particularly experienced makes much of the music quite interesting to listen to. A person that is new to an instrument has a fresh perspective, and their compositions will likely show many of these perceived inadequacies. Productions that are low-budget generally have an appeal to me, whether it is film, music, etc. Simply from a sociological standpoint, much of the material from bands like those that were on record labels like Matina and Soleil is fascinating. 

 

I do think it's worth noting that the idea that only "gifted" people should be allowed to perform is a Western concept. Many cultures recognize that every person has a unique perspective and voice and should be allowed to contribute. I think we all can learn a lot from this.

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

This may or may not be the topic to rant in, but in the absence of a general gaijin bijuaru topic. 

 

Weeaboo-kei will always without exception be shit until the lyricists and vocalists start revamping the formula and broadening their influences. Singing in a "traditional" VK fashion simply does not work when done by gaijins. It is made impossible by the fact that singing really bad emulations of VK lyrics in English reveals the their true nature: They're emo tripe that even filthiest goth of yesteryear wouldn't want to be associated with.  It will be a cold day in hell when the western scene gets a vocalist that is charismatic, unique and either a superb English/other gaijinspeak lyricist or extremely fluent in Japanese. Gaijins will simply have to get "less" VK to pull off VK. This doesn't apply just to Royzcore, but to any possible kotekote emulations as well where Japanese is half the charm. 

 

Weeaboo-kei is not the only scene that has had this problem. Finnish post-punk for example is nearly impossible to digest with the lyrics being translated carbon-copies of those from the legendary British bands. Language is a big deal, and as translating The Cure in Finnish doesn't work just as translating The Gazette to English doesn't work. 

 

I have had an interest in playing VK myself for ages, and I have often wondered how to surpass this problem.

Basically unless one is an immensely talented vocalist from the get-go, there's no other option but to either only do songs where the lyrics amount to EINS ZWEI DREI VIERJAJAU, or take influence for genres in which the vocals are sung in a more foreigner-friendly manner. For gaijins, hardcore or post-punk esque talking and shrieking should be the way to go, with "singing" cut to an absolute minimum. Lyrics also influenced by western lyric writing tradition, not the cheesy as fuck engrish choruses that seem to be the bread and butter of all swedekei. I'd like to think that when someone does this successfully and a proper foundation is established, others will follow build it from thereon.  

 

I have not encountered a scene that is in such a dire state as Visual-kei outside of Japan. While the number of weeaboos once easily rivaled that of the scenekids, and I even personally know weeaboos that are very apt with their instruments, so far there's only one musician of profile and not a single band with any promise. 

[Wonrei 108]

http://www.last.fm/music/Personna/+images/134694

 

Essentially this

[sai 868]

I've always believed that if most western VK bands had been actually Japanese then they wouldn't get most of the hate they're getting now. VK fans who are talking bad about artists like Seremedy, YOHIO himself and other examples I can't think of but do themselves listen to artists like MEJIBRAY, D.I.D or any other metalcore inspired VK bands are just hypocrites. When I say I don't like Seremedy that is for the same reason that I don't like MEJIBRAY, regardless of nationality.

 

I doubt YOHIO would've gotten all that negative feedback on his album if he had been Japanese. There would've been plenty of VK fans who would've said it was one of the best albums of the year.

 

Further than that, I dislike western VK because the music just isn't good. If they play the same stuff as Japanese bands I don't like then that only makes sense. Like Dispo said, they need to get their inspiration from more artists or different artists, if not it will remain as static as always. If you've got 50 gaijin-bands ripping off GazettE or DEG or MEJIBRAY (as seems to be popular now) nothing's going to change.

[Seiji 156]

I've always believed that if most western VK bands had been actually Japanese then they wouldn't get most of the hate they're getting now. VK fans who are talking bad about artists like Seremedy, YOHIO himself and other examples I can't think of but do themselves listen to artists like MEJIBRAY, D.I.D or any other metalcore inspired VK bands are just hypocrites. When I say I don't like Seremedy that is for the same reason that I don't like MEJIBRAY, regardless of nationality.

 

I doubt YOHIO would've gotten all that negative feedback on his album if he had been Japanese. There would've been plenty of VK fans who would've said it was one of the best albums of the year.

 

Further than that, I dislike western VK because the music just isn't good. If they play the same stuff as Japanese bands I don't like then that only makes sense. Like Dispo said, they need to get their inspiration from more artists or different artists, if not it will remain as static as always. If you've got 50 gaijin-bands ripping off GazettE or DEG or MEJIBRAY (as seems to be popular now) nothing's going to change.

I agree. Doing that stuff while not being Japanese is really hard. As some others in here I know the amount of hate you can get when trying to do your own VK stuff, but still I try my best, as it is the thing I want to do.

I also think, that the music should not depend on what VK bands usually do. I think music is most interesting, when successfully creating something new and/or innovative regardless of the looks.

 

[sai 868]

Also what I forgot to add to the whole "50 bands ripping off the same artists thing", is that this is not specified to western VK either. VK nowadays is mostly either sparkly synthy pop-rock or metalcore bands all playing the exact same types of songs (I mean really, why listen to MEJIBRAY when I can listen to any other random VK metalcore band, they all sound the same anyway). My opinion on current VK is not going to change either, and neither will VK if all new bands keep doing the same thing.

 

Then again, VK has changed many times, so I don't doubt western VK will be able to make this change too. I agree with Seiji, the fun in music is also to use inspiration to create something of your OWN. Ripping off the same thing new VK bands do is not going to work because VK fans are rather close-minded for reasons I stated in my previous post. If western VK bands managed to actually get out of that pattern and make good songs, then I would have no objection listening to them.