33 posts tagged “アリス九號.”
I figured that I should write something on the last day of the year 2007.
Despite the many going-on's in the J-Rock world that had taken place in the month of December, I've been preoccupied with rediscovering digital graphic art instead. I went through phases of icon-making, wallpaper-making, and now I'm working on learning vector drawing (aka. creating art using geometric shapes).
My first vector art, featuring the little girl on the cover of alice nine.'s TSUBASA single:
What I did here was using vector (geometric modeling) to create layers of different shapes and stacking them on top of one another to produce this rendering (done in Paint Shop Pro). Since this was my first time attempting anything of this sort, it took me more than 12 hours despite using very basic techniques. I swear I'm going to master Bézier curves someday and get better at vector drawing.
Yes, so this concludes the last post of the year. Happy New Year, everyone!
What in nine levels of Hell is this?!
Bunny ears, boobage, thighs, and the PINK! My eyes!
*twitches*
Oh my god! That's it, I've had enough! *leaps through the screen and commits murder*
I normally have no problem with the random!girl phenomenon in J-Rock PV's. But this! THIS is an abomination. Why the hell is she so obnoxious?! Her every strut, every flirtatious glance, every sway of hips, not to mention her PINKness offends me. While watching this, I feel a vein throb and fear I'm going to break my jaw gritting my teeth so hard.
Who slipped vitriol in my breakfast this morning? I keep on entertaining thoughts of inflicting torture and pain and I itch to break that girl's neck.
I'm a horrible person, I know. What is it about this PV that triggers such violence in me?
This is still not confirmed by official sources yet. I'll update this when more information become available.
According to a concert-goer to the GazettE's live in Berlin today, in one of the flyers handed out after the concert, PS Company bands alice nine., Kagrra,, Kra, SuG, and SCREW will be performing at R:ID Mega Event in Cologne, Germany on December 29, 2007.
Ticket sales begin on November 1.
My favorite record label/artist management company! Ahh, how I want to live in Germany!
Update: Confirmed by Kagrra,'s official homepage. Merry Christmas, Germans.
Man, I've fallen off the face of J-Rock-dom for a while. Real life is seriously sucking my energy dry. I'm flying back to NYC one day next week for more schmoozing. Not to mention there are numerous business-y events in the month of September that I have to attend. At least I don't have to spend a penny for any of them.
But back to J-Rock, instead of writing ultra-belated reviews of recent releases, I'll simply talk about my impressions of the bands I have been keeping an eye on in the past months.
AN CAFE
Even though I normally don't pay attention to AN CAFE, out of morbid curiosity, I just had to see what the band is now like with the two new members.
After watching their latest Kakusei Heroism PV, I have to say the new guitarist is sadly lacking in screen presence. The camera is trained frequently on him, but he always appears rather bland, not a particularly interesting person to watch.
The poor keyboardist, on the other hand, barely gets any camera love. Whenever the camera is on him, however, he kicks up showiness five notches. His stunts are sometimes overkill, but I still much prefer him over the guitarist. At least the keyboardist appears to have a personality and personality, to me, is much more important than looking pretty.
I'm not going to comment on the music. I don't know the band well enough to do so.
alice nine.
Not too much is going on with them, other than the fact that a new single called TSUBASA is out on October 24. And a new as-of-yet untitled album will be released on November 28. I hesitate in pre-ordering the album, since alice nine. has been really inconsistent in terms of quality in the past year. I'll wait to hear the entire album first.
Oh, and Shou, wicked wicked person he is, posted this picture on his blog and caused thousands of fangirls' heads to explode in big, splattering messes. Ah, Saga, what flawless and jealousy-inducing skin you have. Seriously, somebody needs to find out his skin-caring secret. How does he do it?!
Dear Saga-sama,
Your fangirls are dying to know. Please tell us, what IS your secret?
Me
I don't think anything new is happening with them either. They're on tour and will be in Europe soon. I'll be on the watch for live reports when the time comes. I hope there will be many of them since the band'll be stopping by several countries.
Though, I really really wish the band can make make more PV's out of their new album. I wanna see what kind of PV they're going to make for AGONY.
LUNA SEA
Haven't you all heard already? LUNA SEA's reuniting for one night on December 24! Now THIS, is something worth celebrating. Go, along with many other bloggers I'm sure, has already covered this. But damn! *flails arms* LUNA SEA is my legend. This news actually caused me to seriously consider flying to Japan for the event.
I need a lot of self-restraint right now. I can't afford to blow money on this, no matter how much I want to go. But I'm sure, somebody, will be going and will be reporting on it, right? RIGHT?!
O-kay, and this is it for part 1 of catching up. To be continued....
As promised, I have compiled the live reports covering the J-Rock Revolution Festival (I prefer writing it as "J-Rock" instead of "JRock"). As of 11pm Tuesday May 29, I have read reports written by more than 30 people. The overwhelming number forced me to pick out the ones I liked instead. So now, I'm only posting links to around 10. My preferences for live reports were explained here, in what I think makes a good live report.
amouraiguise - Yes, I love details.
coiled_iris - Is it possible to fangirl about a live report? The author is a girl after my own heart. The blow-by-blow accounts leave me a puddle of fangirl mess on the floor.
danimation - Written by a male fan.
direngreyfan413 - Encounter with YOSHIKI after the live.
fourscrewsloose - Great details, with photos of concert-goers.
fy_sanctuary - A report with lots of photos.
jrock_junkie00 - This one's got a photo of miyavi arriving in his convertible. WTF, he wears that hat even when driving?!
radicalfxcker - This was written by an Akiya (of Kagrra,) fan! *hugs her*
remix_sakura - Great coverage of Kagrra,.
Two eL's - Nice details on MUCC's performance.
It seems that both Kagrra, and alice nine. gained a lot of new fans on Friday night. Whooo! Despite being an alice nine. fan myself, I'm still surprised by how popular they are. They seriously brought the house down, my god. Aside from the YOSHIKI band announcement, it seemed that alice nine. stole the night. I'm incredibly delighted and proud of them!
On a related note, more videos of the 2-day concert have surfaced. Keep on checking YouTube!
Edit:
Oh, and a rant. I'm shocked so many people are indifferent about SUGIZO. "Oh, I have no idea who that other guitar guy in Yoshiki's new band is." This reallly bothers me. If you don't know who LUNA SEA is and consequently, who SUGIZO is, please go check out the band's entry on Wikipedia.
Who do you think was the biggest influence and inspiration for Gazette? (I'm using them as an example because they're getting so big now.) Where do you think Reita and Uruha's performing style come from? Who the heck do you think Uruha's hero is?
It's one thing to not have heard of LUNA SEA's works, but I think a J-Rock fan should at the very least know of the band since they're so legendary.
Err...
But the bit of Kagrra, live in the beginning and backstage footage at the end are worth it.
Gekkou Yoku, what a pretty title. As you might expect from a song whose title can be translated to "Bask in the Moonlight", this is a ballad (I was also thinking "Moonlight Bath", but it doesn't sound poetic). The rippling, glistening introduction immediately put me in a receptive mood. Shou didn't slaughter the song this time, thank god. His voice instead weaves into the tender, soothing melody to present an appealing whole. Though, I have a feeling that the major reason I'm going to give this song a higher rating is that I'm too relieved that it doesn't grate on my nerves.
But hey, another single's coming out in a month. Hope the band does an even better job.
You people in the Los Angeles area...
I HATE YOU ALL!!!!
YOSHIKI says on his blog:
More than a year ago, some of my friends asked me if I could organize a Japanese Rock event in America……… then I said……. OK! ..... Well that's it…… We're doing it.
When I used to live in Tokyo, I organized several rock concerts….. So this time I'm doing it in Los Angeles with several partners. ….. Some small details may change, but we have 9 bands coming from Japan and will be performing at the "Wiltern Theater" in L.A. on May 25, 26th.
(The band lineup will be: alice nine., Vidoll, Duel Jewel, Kagrra, Miyavi, DéspairsRay, Merry, Girugamesh, and MUCC.
Also, at the theater, the fourth member of the band will be announced.
I'm not performing….. but I'll be there to make sure everything rocks.
For more information (such as ticket sales), see the Jrock Revolution myspace.
Kagrra,, oh god, Kagrra,'s finally coming, but they're going to be on the other side of the country! And there's also alice nine., VIDOLL, D'espairsRay, and girugamesh... Why can't there be a similar event in New York?!
By the way, notice how miyavi's on the roster and YOSHIKI's also going to announce the fourth member of the super band? Looks like my speculation a while ago may even be true.
But, why-oh-why are we East Coast residents so unloved?! I feel so utterly bitter to know that some of my favorite bands are going to be so close, yet still unreachable. This is almost exasperating enough for me to just move to LA! Had Gazette also been on the roster, I'd die from regret. Come to New York in June/July (while I'm in the city), pleeeeeease?
J-Rock has picked up such momentum internationally that I wonder if there are sustainable growth opportunities in getting personally involved in this developing business. At this point, it's still too early in my career to make the transition. Yet, I can clearly see three different pathways that can lead me to this from my current position. One day, I can actually have a hand in directing the flow of this sub-industry if I so choose, Hmm... the future holds so many endless possibilities. Let's see what happens in the next 10 years.
My watchlist.
2007.05.02: MUCC / Fright (single)
2007.05.16: abingdon boys school / HOWLING (single)
2007.05.28: LM.C / 「BOYS & GIRLS」 (single)
- What direction will they take this time?
2007.05.30: bis / Believe in style (album)
2007.05.30: bis / 優しい風 (single)
2007.05.30: L'Arc~en~Ciel / SEVENTH HEAVEN (single)
- Well, it's finally here
2007.06.06: alice nine. / WHITE PRAYER (single)
- I give them the rest of the year to step it up, or I'll have to drop them from my favorites list, as painful as it is
2007.06.06: Nightmare / Raison d'être (single)
- Looking forward to this one
2007.06.06: BUCK-TICK / RENDEZVOUS (single)
- Wow, it's been a while
2007.06.13: the GazettE / "Decomposition Beauty" Final (DVD)
- You know, I rather they release a DVD for the STACKED RUBBISH tour
2007:06.20: KISAKI Project feat. Jui / 描写風 (single)
- Ahh, Jui's lovely voice is back
By the way, according to Rame's blog, VIDOLL is in the process of recording new materials. So, we should be expecting new releases from them soon. More Jui loveliness = good
Jhouse-Rock Entertainment has set up a poll on its front page asking visitors which J-Rock band they'd like for the company to bring to the U.S. to perform this year.
Here are the contenders:
- 12012
- alice nine.
- D'espairsRay
- Duel Jewel
- Gazette
- girugamesh
- Kagrra, (pardon them, the poll spelled the band's name as "Kagarra," -_-)
- Mix Speakers Inc
- MUCC
- VIDOLL
Go vote (you may need to register first).
It's rather hard for me to choose from the list, since both of my top 2 favorite bands are on the poll and I love many of the others as well. Hmm, decisions, decisions...
