37 posts tagged “music video”
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?
Methinks that SuG will be the next hit and is destined for success. Seriously, the band's got the package for visual kei stardom.
This PV features the band in both heavy duty visual kei getup and acceptable-for-Japanese-standards street clothes.
Of course, there's the final and VERY! important formula for success #4 = musical talent. Alterna. is upbeat, catchy, and dude, Takeru can sing! All big pluses.
And look, the PV isn't typical visual kei indie low-budget crap! PS Company actually bothered to invest in this fledging band's debut music videos. This makes a huge difference.
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....
PV? What PV? abingdon boys school's latest HOWLING, is in reality a promotional ad for bottled water.
The video itself isn't altogether that interesting. All the band does is jam in a garage and we get numerous shots of Takanori's bottled water shoved in our face. Though, the school boy theme still amuses me. I don't know why Takanori looks so appealing in nerd glasses and school uniform. The look isn't exactly glamorous rock star-ish, yet I have to admit he pulls it off very well. From pop icon T.M.Revolution to new band on the block a.b.s., one thing's for sure, Takanori's one kick-ass singer.
1. JEWELS [watch]
2. ROSARIO
3. "13"
2. ROSARIO / "ROSARIO" is a light-hearted, fun song with a dash of whimsical melody. The playful bounciness makes this a great song for those carefree, sunny days. I have a feeling that this will be a hit at lives. I'm already foreseeing lots of skipping around, jumping about, and other type of fanservice-y things the band can perform during this song.
3. "13" / This is the heaviest track on the disc and hey, it has an excellent, moving chorus! Shou sounds amazing and his singing is actually correctly utilized so that it fits the song perfectly. This song would have been the winner on this single, except, I really don't like the falsetto (backup?) vocals at 2:50. Man, it's such a shame that this track is ruined by that one single thing.
This release, in truth, could have been much better. Track 1's vocal line is too harsh, and the melody too repetitive. Track 3 is dragged down by that weird falsetto. Bah, not alice nine.'s best work. This is getting discouraging; I haven't liked any of the band's releases since Zekkeishoku.
This PV scores points with the lush red and gold color scheme that make up most of the video, simply because red and gold are my two favorite colors (this is also why I love D PVs). These scenes seem to be shot in some kind of underground passageway. With the chains hanging all over the place, it looks like the hallway of a dungeon in a mansion.
The secondary color scheme is icy blue. Again, the setting is interesting because it looks like the band's playing in front of a giant fish tank. You can see water bubbling and fish through the glass if you pay attention. What's even more interesting about the tank is the panel carving that decorates it. The six-petal flower design is the same as the one on the wall panels found in the red and gold hallway. Where in Japan do you find a house with a giant fish tank with intricate carvings and an underground passageway?
The house aside, the PV itself is boring after the first 30 seconds because it's pretty much the same thing over and over again. Show Riku making faces, show the other band members, switch to the tank room, show more of Riku making faces, then cut in with some cheap computer effects. Rinse, repeat. Once you see the first 30 seconds, you've seen the rest of the video because it's the exact same thing.
The song itself is too screamy and lacking in melody for my taste, but the shots in the music video are sufficiently intriguing to keep me interested. Though, I really could do without the last one minute of dizzying craziness.
"Oh woe is me! The world's ending!" cries HIZUMI as he collapses to the ground.
Seriously though, despite the gloominess and the general air of doom, I find the PV moving and gripping. I wasn't terribly into "Squall" when I first listened to it, but the visual enhancement brought by the PV definitely helped me enjoy the song better and made me realize that "Squall" is actually pretty damn good! The rain and puddle shots are beautifully timed and HIZUMI is wonderfully convincing as the anguished protagonist. Did you bring a tear to my eye, or is it the pouring rain?
The girl shown wandering in the video is pretty, in a pure, innocent way. Therefore, she wins my approval even though using white Caucasian girls in J-Rock PVs is beyond cliche.
It's the Nightmare "beauty pageant" hosted by Aural Candy. Which member is the best in hair, wardrobe, etc.? Let's find out! All points are awarded on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the highest. Descriptions are from left to right.
Best Mouth
Best Hair
Best Wardrobe
Best Headshot
Best Freakiness
Overall (Excluding "Freakiness")
Yomi: 22 / Ruka: 21 / Hitsugi: 27 / Ni~ya: 34 / Sakito: 32
Oh, right. And here's the music video itself.
Real life events bit me and caused me to neglect this blog for 3 weeks. I'm now completely behind this month's releases. So instead of doing my usual track-by-track reviews, I'm opting for a quick roundup. Otherwise, it'd be too painful to catch up with the album and single releases I missed. >_<;;
Dir en grey / THE MARROW OF A BONE
Phantasmagoria / Vain
Kagrra, / 雫-shizuku-
1. Hyena [watch]
2. 千鶴 (Chizuru) [listen]
3. Defective Tragedy
The title track is typical Gazette rap rock that hardly offers anything new to current fans. However, the second song, 千鶴, is a masterpiece of epic proportions. Its ominous, dramatic flare is perfect as a movie soundtrack (see Apartment, premieres in Japan on May 19). I'm astonished and utterly pleased by the level of sophistication demonstrated in this song. The final track, Defective Tragedy, keeps reminding me of Linkin Park. Ruki employs that similar style of rapping and screaming, and the song even uses turntable. Not bad, though this took a while to warm up to.
I really really love the direction Gazette has taken with 千鶴. If the band can continue to release works on par with this song, I truly believe that they'll conquer the world someday.
2. LIE BURIED WITH A VENGEANCE
3. THE FATAL BELIEVER
4. AGITATED SCREAM OF MAGGOTS [watch]
5. GRIEF
6. 凌辱の雨 (Ryoujoku no Ame) [watch]
7. DISABLED COMPLEXES
8. ROTTING ROOT
9. 艶かしき安息、躊躇いに微笑み (Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomadoi ni Hohoemi) [listen]
10. THE PLEDGE [listen]
11. REPETITION OF HATRED
12. THE DEEPER VILENESS
13. CLEVER SLEAZOID [watch]
-UNPLUGGED DISC- (Limited Edition)
1. 艶かしき安息、躊躇いに微笑み (Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomadoi ni Hohoemi)
2. CONCEIVED SORROW [listen]
3. THE PLEDGE
Okay, Kyo's screaming-squealing-growling overkill gets on my nerves. The majority of the songs gave me throbbing headaches and I wish that Kyo can just stop, STOP the incessant screaming. Damn, can we say auditory rape? Ugh.
However! This album does have redeeming qualities. I must say, the few tracks that don't abuse Kyo's screaming (about 1/3 of the album) are bloody fantastic. I'm head-over-heels in love with CONCEIVED SORROW, DISABLED COMPLEXES, 艶かしき安息、躊躇いに微笑み, and THE PLEDGE. When Kyo sings (as opposed to scream), his voice really packs a punch and bowls me over with awe. I adore the nuances in the tonality of his vocals. The bonus unplugged CD that comes with the limited edition is definitely worth spending a few extra bucks on. The acoustic re-mixes are truly gorgeous and have been enjoying repeated play on my computer because they really know how to pull on my heartstrings. These tracks convince me that Dir en grey still has their magic, they just don't like to use it. What an awful shame. *sighs*
2. at the ends of the rest period ~instrumental
This single is Phantasmagoria's last release before going on hiatus. I wish I can say I like the song because you know, it's the band's last single in the foreseenable future. But I'm sorry, despite its LUNA SEA wannabe-ness, Riku simply isn't pulling it off. It's all well and good to have singing guitars and soaring, melodious delivery, but when the vocalist sounds like he's holding back, I just can't feel the song. Where is the emotion, Riku?
On the other hand, why the hell is Phantasmagoria trying to sound like LUNA SEA anyway? It's so ill-fitting and awkward.
2. さようなら (Sayounara)
3. 風 (Kaze)
4. 維新 (Ishin)
5. 破戒 (Hakai)
6. 運命の系 (Sadame no Ito) [listen]
7. 「叫び」 (Sakebi) [watch]
8. 霞んだ冬の向こうに、、、(Kasunda Fuyu no Mukou Ni...) [listen]
9. 雫 (Shizuku) [watch]
You know what? These are all beautiful, beautiful songs. I'm sure any newbie to Kagrra, would love this album because it's so mainstream and easy to listen to.
Yet, the new songs fail to leave any lasting impressions on me. I'd think to myself, "Hmm... this is pretty catchy," while listening to a track, but the moment the song stopped playing, I forgot what it sounded like. The album had discarded too much of the traditional Japanese musical characteristics that had become Kagrra,'s trademark and overly focused on being easy to listen to. The result is like a transient wisp of mist that disperses with a wave of one's hand. Unmemorable. Uninnovative. And damn, I'm disappointed. This is worrisome. X___x Kagrra, is one of my absolute favorite bands. It really hurts having to give their latest album a
