11 posts tagged “artist sample”

As requested by hana in the shoutbox:

i was wondering if you can recommend some good songs by D? coz i've heard them being mentioned a few times by Versailles fans. thank you ^_^

D

Sleeper [listen]
- Track 10 from "The name of the ROSE" [2006.02.08]

Leukocyte [listen]
- Track 4 from "Tafel Anatomie" [2006.10.18]

Ultimate Lover [listen]
- Track 1 from "Ultimate Lover" [2006.12.06]

桜花咲きそめにけり [listen]
Ouka Saki Some ni Keri
- Track 1 from "桜花咲きそめにけり" [2007.07.18]
- Track 3 from "Neo culture~Beyond the world~" [2007.11.07]

Follow [listen]
- Track 1 from "Neo culture~Beyond the world~" [2007.11.07]

Normally, I'd write a long-ass post talking in depth about each song. But these past few months, I've been in an odd mood and have been staying away from reviewing anything. Hopefully, the sample songs I uploaded can make up for it a little.

I should really have titled this post "Despair and Longing" (Hey, sounds like a D'espairsRay song title). I'm in one of those dark moods these days. Feel free to skip this post if you don't wanna read my angsty rants about Kagrra, (ironically, they're actually under Sony's Columbia label and I just wrote about Sony's partnership with Vox a few posts ago).

Don't say I haven't warned you. :D

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So, the J-Rock festival, organized by the God of J-Rock himself, will be taking place in Los Angeles in 2 weeks. This is the first-ever event in history that so many top bands of visual kei origins are gathered to perform in one location outside of Japan. The fact that I can't make it to the West Coast for this still guts me.

Kagrra, / 誓ノ月 (Chiaki no Tsuki) era

I just feel bloody raw that Kagrra, will finally, finally set foot on American soil, yet they're still so unreachable because the lives are at the other side of the country. Kagrra, is one of my two favorite bands of all-time. I've worshipped this captivating band since the very beginning of my foray into J-Rock. Their music has the most bewitching effect over me, sometimes even causing me to burst into inexplicable tears. And yes, bloody hell, I've watched every single one of Kagrra, no Su webcasts faithfully since falling in love with them, simply because I feel the need to use the regular webcasts to check up on them, to make sure they're doing well and are safe and healthy. I've become so emotionally invested in the band and its members that sometimes I wonder if my love for them has turned into an incurable sickness.

Akiya of Kagrra,

My god, why else do I feel such devastation when I realized that there's no way that I'll be able to see them when they finally come overseas? This can't possibly be healthy. This is exactly why it's so dangerous to be emotionally attached to a band. The band becomes so important to you that normally trivial things somehow affect you unexpectedly. I mean, yes, I can't attend a Kagrra, live in the US. So what? This really isn't any different from not being able to go to Japan to see them. Yet, yet, I can't help feeling this deep deep regret and pained longing. These days, even looking at images of Akiya makes my heart ache because he's my favorite Kagrra member. (When I saw him on Kagrra, no Su 2 episodes ago [the -shizuku- tour one], I seriously forgot to breathe.)

I worry about the day Kagrra, announces its breakup. I don't know what I'd do if it ever happens. If I'm still as attached to the band as I am now, the news will cripple me badly, I'm already certain. I wish to goodness that I don't love them so much because this love hurts.

176BIZ

176BIZ is a young band formed in early 2006, consisting of Yuu on vocals (ex. Never Crazy), Setsuki on guitar (ex. Karen), Toki on guitar (used to be known as Tsubasa, ex. PANIC☆ch), Tara on bass (ex. PANIC☆ch), and Kasumi on drums (ex. Gimmick). Both Karen and PANIC☆ch were bands popular enough that I've come across their names regularly in the J-Rock community, even though I've never heard of their music and know next to nothing about them. Given my unfamiliarity with the former bands of 176BIZ members, I normally would unlikely have given them a try if it hadn't been for the DANGER V all stars live sponsored by Danger Crue, 176BIZ's record label.

As I've already mentioned in my previous post, Danger Crue bands like SID and girugamesh figure prominently in my music collection. Gail of Himitsu and I are big SID fans; of course we both talked about the all star live event in our blogs. She specifically mentioned liking 176BIZ's music in her post. Since we have very similar taste in J-Rock, this is enough to have piqued my curiosity. So, off I went to find some 176BIZ music to try out.

Dekiai (溺哀) was the first song I came cross. MUCC fans would find that parts of this song to bear striking similarities with Zetsubou (絶望). But, Dekiai's vocal meody is vastly different and in my opinion, reasonate much better than Zetsubou.

176BIZ

But, I noticed more similarities between 176BIZ and other bands. While watching the Dekiai PV, I  found that vocalist Yuu's mannerism kept on reminding me of Shou, the vocalist of alice nine.. Both have that particular way of lifting their shoulders, turning their heads, and certain facial expressions are similar as well. Yuu's outfit and styling wouldn't make him look out of place in alice nine.'s Akatsuki PV, either.

枯れたブーケ

176BIZ

Okay, what about their music? Unfortunately, the "dang, this seems like another band I know" thing manifests again. 176BIZ's album, ATELIER, is light, melodious, and sparkly. This time, it's SID that the music reminds me of. That dulcet quality in Yuu and Mao's vocals make their singing sound very much alike. Their range is similar too. And once you add a dash of jazz to 176BIZ, like in their song Kareta Bouquet (枯れたブーケ), you could swear that it's SID you're hearing. Seriously, if one decreases the jazz elements in SID's music by 75%, and turns up the rock meter by 50%, one gets 176BIZ.

I don't quite know what to think of 176BIZ yet. If you diagram the bands I've mentioned in this post in terms of visual and musical style, 176BIZ would end up smack in the middle. It soaks in little bits of other bands and doesn't really have an unique, identifying style of its own. Yet, I must admit that I do find 176BIZ's music to be pleasant to listen to. I like their sound, but too bad this sound lacks innovation. 176BIZ needs to define itself clearly. Sounding like other bands and not having any differenciating factor just won't do in the long term.

abingdon boys school

Wikipedia:

abingdon boys school (a.b.s.) is a Japanese rock band that formed in 2005. Its members consist of Takanori Nishikawa (西川貴教, vocals), SUNAO (guitar), Hiroshi Shibasaki (柴崎浩, electric guitar), and Toshiyuki Kishi (岸利至, keyboards and programming) . Support members include Ikuo (bass) and Kozy Hasegawa (長谷川浩二, drums).

I love Takanori's solo works as T.M.Revolution. Therefore, it's almost impossible for me to not like abingdon boys school because TMR is such a big tipping factor. Though, a.b.s.'s formation didn't really catch my attention until I stumbled upon the news that Takanori, as part of a.b.s., had covered the song ドレス (Dress) by BUCK-TICK.

ドレス

abingdon boys school

The original Dress was a mysterious, ballad-like song. I was therefore pleasantly suprised by a.b.s.'s new interpretation. The a.b.s. version has a heavier, rockier arrangement, yet it sounds like TMR pop at the same time. It's almost paradoxical. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I honestly like this a.b.s. cover better than the original (*apologizes to BUCK-TICK*). The new arrangement gave the song more "omph" and made it even better.

abingdon boys school / INNOCENT SORROW

2 comments

Yesterday, a.b.s. released its first single, INNOCENT SORROW (debuting at #4 on the Oricon Charts). The title track was used as the opening theme to the anime D.Gray-man and the PV kicked ass. Actually, it totally reminded me of Harry Potter because Takanori wore glasses and the band was in school uniform. The supernatural elements (magic book, secret room, flying books, swirling white mists, ghosts) made me grin. Harry Potter decided to join a rock band and perform in Hogwarts! Takanori's geeky look is actually quite endearing. When he whipped his glasses off near the end and did that "oh, I'm so sexy" thing with his tongue, it made me laugh.

The B-side of the single, Fre@k $HoW, is actually my favorite of the two tracks. I believe this song is used in the DEATH NOTE movie, or at least in the movie's tribute album.

Fre@k $HoW

abingdon boys school

Again, while this is most definitely a rock song with the heavy guitar riffs and whatnot, it sounds like it can still be a catchy TMR pop song. I've always thought that TMR's music is in the heavier range of the pop genre. Maybe because a.b.s.'s sound is in the lighter range of the rock genre (relative to a lot of J-Rock bands I listen to), in the end, both TMR and a.b.s. are close to the dividline between pop and rock. As a result, TMR is rock-ish-sounding pop and a.b.s. is pop-ish-sounding rock. Hah.

a.b.s. has a mainstream sound and is very easy to listen to. It's essentially TMR's trademark melody with a rock twist. I'll be keeping an eye on this band. I wish Takanori best of luck!

I stumbled upon Zwei's "Dragon" PV while browsing YouTube. I've been seeing this group name pop up from time to time in the J-Rock community, so I thought, "What the heck, I'll give them a try."

Ah, so they're a 2-person band/group

The song's introduction is expansive, upbeat, and catchy. I like it.

In front of a cathedral

Then, the singing began and made me take a step back in surprise. This does NOT sound like a man. Wait just a minute, are those breasts I see? The vocalist is a woman!

Cliff shot

B-But, look at the way she stands. That's one of the manliest stances I've ever seen on a woman. She could have been mistaken for Isshi of Kagrra,.

Walking into the cathedral

Well, at this point, I'm really digging the song even though this is more pop-rock. The dynamic vocals and music really pack a punch.

Vocalist and bassist hold hands

Just as I was wondering if the bassist were also a woman, this shot answered my question. Just look at the hand on top. Creamy and fleshy skin, curvy lines, yep, definitely a woman.

What the heck is the glass globe?

I think I've finally come to terms with the drastic musical style change Rentrer en Soi had undergone. Ever since hearing their latest album, RENTRER EN SOI, I had been so devastated by the 180 degree shift in their music that for a while, I pretended that album didn't exist.

I had greatly favored Rentrer en Soi because their music were primarily beautiful, melodic ballad-style songs with tender, sweet vocals. I had loved every single album releases up to 2006. Songs like セフィロト (Sephirot) had given me so much pleasure.

セフィロト

Rentrer en Soi

Then, Rentrer en Soi's second full-length album, titled simply RENTRER EN SOI, came along in 2006 and shattered any preconception I had of the band. Too many of the songs on the album are loud, harsh, and angry (ie:  DEAD believe ME). Satsuki screamed so much that it completely unsettled me. In fact, his singing had changed. It reminded me of Kyo of Dir en grey's style many times. What the heck happened to the gentle, angelic Satsuki I had known? I was so disappointed with this change that I gave up the band for a while.

DEAD believe ME

Rentrer en Soi

But, I couldn't abandon Rentrer en Soi for long. Recently, I decided to go back to the RENTRER EN SOI album and listen with an open mind this time. I promised myself that I wouldn't compare the album with the band's previous works and simply judge the songs by their own merits. Surprisingly, and maybe not too surprisingly, I found myself actually enjoying the tracks. I realized that, despite the drastic style shift, Rentrer en Soi's music remained top-notch. It wasn't the new music that I hated, but the change itself.

Now, I'm glad that I gave the band another chance and got over my prejudices. Rentrer en Soi's music has returned to my music player and is now happily spinning away.

(A post from the future! Daylight Saving Time ends in 2 minutes.)

ヴィドール

UNDER CODE announced last month that VIDOLL (ヴィドール) will be releasing their very first full-length album called "V.I.D~Very Important Doll" on November 22. This will be their last release under UNDER CODE, for they'll be "graduating" from the label in February, 2007.

In typical UNDER CODE fashion though, this release comes with 2 (TWO!) editions. Type A consists of a 11-track CD with a PV DVD and costs 3,990 yen. Type B is a CD with the same 11 tracks from Type A, plus a bonus track that features a never before released song. This costs 3,260 yen.

I wanna kick UNDER CODE (or maybe just KISAKI)'s ass for doing this again. How the hell am I supposed to choose between the two editions? Yes, Type B is cheaper and has an extra song, but Type A has a PV DVD! I like PV DVDs. Jeez, I'm so tired of ranting about these greedy indie labels.

I'm debating whether I should bug YesAsia about making this available. I'll feel obliged to order it when YesAsia stocks it (and I'm sure they will).

I don't think this album is a limited release though. At least, the official website says nothing about it being one. Maybe I should just sit on my ass and wait 3 months before getting this. Or, maybe I'll be lucky and get this in mint condition from Yahoo! Auctions Japan for $5 less. ~_~ (Hah, dream on!)

Since this is my first blog post about VIDOLL, let me just throw in a PV for anyone who's interested in giving them a try. A lot of their songs make me feel happy. They just do.

Deathmate is my favorite VIDOLL PV. It's a fantastic piece of work.

I just discovered a new favorite band called Phantasmagoria!

*is giddy from excitement*

As I was reading D's Wikpedia entry, I came upon the name of the vocalist Asagi and guitarist Ruiza's former band Syndrome and the mention of Syndrome's leader KISAKI's current project, Phantasmagoria. I've seen Phantasmagoria posts around various J-Rock communities before, but never paid too attention. Now that I realized the existence of a link between Phantasmagoria and D, I decided to check out Phantasmagoria's Wikipedia entry.

Phantasmagoria, 2004-2007

This is when I realized that, oh my freaking god, KISAKI is actually the head executive of UNDER CODE PRODUCTION. The indie visual kei production company/record label that also produces popular bands like VIDOLL and 12012 (and not quite popular, but still beloved Karma-Shenjing). And! He was the leader and bassist of La:Sadies, the band that was to become Dir en grey (now under Free-Will's FIREWALL Div.)!!! And what's more, he was the executive of Matina before its dissolution. This was the label Gazette was on before switching to PS Company (a sub-label of Free-Will)! Jesus Christ, KISAKI is linked to everyone!

This "degrees of separation" intrigued me so much that I simply had to investigate Phantasmagoria's music. I just couldn't resist finding out more about this fascinating KISAKI's current band. All I did was type in "Phantasmagoria" in YouTube and went through the PVs that turn up in the results. And to my pleasant surprise, I actually love every single song featured in the PVs produced by this band. This is an amazing feat in of itself. The only other band who's achieved the same in my book is SID, not even my darling Gazette has done it because I dislike their earlier works. This is so ass-kickingly awesome.

Without futher ado, a Phantasmagoria PV...

What's really great about becoming a Phantasmagoria fan is: the band's releases are distributed by Free-Will America in the United States. I can purchase their releases directly from the record label right here in the good old US of A. Oh my god, this is too good to be true! Their first (and only so far) full-length album is a compilation that's only released in the US.

银色灰尘 (Silver Ash)

Silver Ash was the first and only major visual kei band in Mainland China. A Beijing band formed in 2000, Silver Ash had been producing music actively under the Scream Records label until 2004. Supposedly, due to pressure from the Chinese government, the band members began leaving one after another. It was announced that the remaining members will be forming a new band called TOY with various musicians from other groups and would abandon the visual kei path.

However, Silver Ash still performed with the J-Rock band La'cryma Christi (just disbanded about a week ago) at the Star Live House in Beijing in August of 2006. There's a gap of information here between that announcement and the performance. I haven't figured out exactly what happened yet. I'm not sure why the 2005 album, "Wei Jin Ji" (未尽集) was still released under the name Silver Ash.

Edit: After finding the actual text of the official press release from 2004, now I know that Silver Ash was simply put on the backburner in favor of TOY. The press release specifically mentioned that TOY would be targeting the domestic mainstream market, while Silver Ash would be targeting the overseas market. Silver Ash hadn't really disbanded, just on a semi-hiatus. Their contract was also transferred to Scream Record's parent company, Jinwen Records. Of course, this was the "official" press release. In China, anything "official" means heavily sugarcoated. There are more details I need to uncover. Something still seems off. End of Edit

I'm still saddened by this whole problem with the Chinese government. Silver Ash could have become the X Japan of China. Alas, the band was getting strangled before it could have made a difference in the Chinese rock music scene. Almost everytime they get a chance to play overseas or join other major artists like Japan's T.M.Revolution, Pycho le Cemu, and Sons of All Pussys, the Chinese Homeland Security steps in and put a stop on the activities. Why did the Chinese government interfere? Why would it have such a problem with visual kei? Or is it actually due to the political content of Silver Ash's songs? I don't know and I'm terribly disappointed by the turn of events.  I wish Silver Ash can just migrate to Japan and miraculously be able to sing in good Japanese.

But in the end, this post is a tribute to this pioneer Chinese band. As an initial introduction, I present to you Silver Ash's two music videos and my translation of the lyrics to these two songs. Please do not reproduce the translations (or any part of it) without getting explicit permission from me before hand (e-mail: auralcandy [at] gmail.com).

Lunar Eclipse

This is a very poetic song. As a result, the lyrics are more difficult to translate due to the form and the usage of metaphors (and the ambiguity of pronouns and tense). I tried to preserve as much of the original Chinese meaning and form as possible in the translation, so as to not mangle the beautiful lyrics too much while maintaining coherency.

Title: Lunar Eclipse

The frozen moonlight, entangled in a dark room
Is dissolving in blue and seeps into the gray wall
The frozen moonlight, entangled in a mirror
Is dissolving in paleness and seeps into the gray wall

In the sunken depth of my eyes, glitters a nightmare from childhood
Trembling, I open both eyes, peering from the window at the...*
Moonlight that uncaringly burns my icy blood and frozen gaze***
In the dark, the iron window of ice, the mysterious melody is the imagination of happiness

The mangled shadow, careless scattered, is carved into my body
Seeping into my blood, the blue iciness freezes in my heart
The mangled shadow, careless scattered, is carved into my face
Seeping into my flesh, the blue iciness freezes in my heart

A beam of moonlight falls on my eyes, and pierces the shadow in the depth
Trembling, I close both eyes, dodging from inside the window the...**
Moonlight that uncaringly burns my icy blood and frozen gaze***
In the dark, the iron window of ice, the mysterious melody is the imagination of happiness

Moonlight that recklessly burns my icy blood and frozen gaze***
In the dark, the iron window of ice, the mysterious melody is the imagination of happiness

* A more conventional translation would be: "peering at the moonlight / outside the window" instead of "peering from the window at the... / moonlight". The reordering is to preserve the form of the original lyrics.
** Like above, conventional translation would be: "dodging the moonlight / outside the window" instead of "dodging from inside the window the... / moonlight". The reordering is to preserve the original form.
*** The original Chinese is 蓝色的血液, which is literally "blue blood". In the translation, I used the metaphorical meaning, "icy blood".

This November, RURUTIA will entrance us once more with a new album, Chorion.

Artist: ルルティア (RURUTIA)
Release: Chorion (album)
Label: PHOERIX RECORDS
Date: 2006.11.08 (now available for pre-order)
Catalog Number: PHOX-100004
Price: 3,000 yen

ルルティア / Chorion

1. ABINTRA
2. 玲々テノヒラ
3. 星に花、灰色の雨 (Album ver)
4. 水景色　星模様
5. 願いの届く日
6. スピネル
7. Time Traveler
8. パレード
9. 微笑みのマリア
10. マグノリアの情景
11. ABINTRA (Inst)
12. 水景色　星模様 (Inst)
13. 願いの届く日 (Inst)
14. スピネル (Inst)
15. 微笑みのマリア (Inst)

Since RURUTIA is so under-appreciated among the overseas J-music fans, I'm going to attach a PV to this post. I hope to introduce this talented artist with siren-like voice and hypnotizing music to more people. This is the music video to the song called "Lost Butterfly" from her R° album.

Unrelated:

SID's album, play, is now available for pre-order on YesAsia.com (and no, that's not an affiliate link). I asked their customer service 2 days ago requesting for it. Today they've already e-mailed me back and told me it's now on their site. Awesomeness.

I pre-ordered the type A limited edition, with CD and photobook. I originally wanted type B (CD and DVD), but after thinking long and hard about it, I decided on type A instead. My logic is, a DVD's digital content can be easily replicated, but there's really no way to perfectly reproduce a photobook. Thus, type A with the photobook is more special. It enhances my nice feeling of exclusivity. =P

Oddly, type A is $1 cheaper than type B. I'm guessing it's because type A weighs less, so when YesAsia takes into account the "free" shipping, this weight difference is adjusted.