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蟻 (Ari) will join "ANTHIVE records" (sublabel of "Sunkrad") at 2020/08 and new maxi-single "虫唾が走る" (Mushizu ga Hashiru) will be released at 2020/09/15 (3 types) TYPE A (1800yen) will include CD (2 sogs) and DVD including "虫唾が走る" (Mushizu ga Hashiru) PV and making TYPE B & C (1500yen each) will include CD (3 songs) with different track 3 [tracklist] 1. 虫唾が走る(Mushizu ga Hashiru) 2. 手を叩いて祈りましょう (Te wo Hataite Inorimashou) 3. 我が儘 (Wagamama) [TYPE B only] 3.たばこぞんび (Tabaco Zombie) [TYPE C only]

I'm not good into making topics. Nozomi ex-guitarist announced a simple picture with the ClearVeil logo and with the year 2021. So maybe a revival?

Anthive records is a sub-label created by Sun-krad only for them. Their website has been renewed. The new look, bigger: Individual photos: Kazuha: Ran: Lyoka: Maya: Daiki:

peak hipster

Returning to the idol kei topic. Nowadays, when I watch/listen back to ViViD —one of the first VK bands I came across and one that I enjoyed the most— I think I can acknowledge the hints that actually indicate how heavily they were produced to appeal to the crowds in an idol way. So, they surely weren't that pure and artistical about VK and stuff, and of course could have had more than one A-side produced by one or more ghost-writters... But, let's be honest: can we ignore the fact that the arranges of their songs were fucking brilliant, and so were their skills as interpreters? Many, many kudos to Reno's polished approach to shredded guitar, IV's hyper-melodic bass lines, and Shin's VERY well managing of the VK vocal traits —whose exaggeration in some cases ruined great capacities forever, like what happened with Nightmare's Yomi— while at the same time enduring a full show delivering a constant and massive vocal flow. This band was a fucking thrill, although the commercial intention of their project became so blatantly notorious in their last releases that many fans (myself included) lost interest almost inmmediatly. That said, I really wish that nowadays' idol kei bands, even if they put their efforts to make that kind of career into the scene, at least make something commercial in the level of the quality bands like ViViD did back in their time.

Though I don't know that I ever really left intentionally. But after handling a lot of really life changing events in my life, I'll probably be around more consistently! I don't know much going on in the visual kei world as of late, but I'm still following the Japanese metal scene as much as I can. Excited to hear 12012 is coming back? or did i dream that news up? But hey if you like Japanese metal, or older visual kei groups like KuRt, SKULL, 12012, GALEYD, and stuff around those time frames, what's good let's chat it up! I also like BTS, A.C.E and Dreamcatcher And I listen to a lot of lo-fi, indie pop, and 80's music in general. Yes Hi, hello.

Ishii Shuuji out there writing lyrics like

That makes sense, because most people find it easier to tune to a relative pitch, like a guitar or piano playing in a similar octave, rather than pull a note out of thin air. Basically it requires a good ear. That's something I think I'd generally expect of a professional musician. (A violinist shouldn't need an accompaniment to stay in tune and the same goes for a vocalist, whose voice is their instrument). However, considering the technical ability of popular musicians is often much lower than the classical counterparts, it is actually likely that many have not developed a very good ear. I think Kaya hits a few notes flat in this performance, but he also notices and corrects some of them, so I'd say I generally agree with your friend's assessment.

OMI (ex. TRA TRA TRA) has released his third digital single, "Nu World Order" It is available for streaming and download here: https://big-up.style/Qhw28oM1ny He has also posted the lyrics (Japanese and English) on YouTube:

Huh they must be a lot bigger than I would have ever guessed

Definitely a Matrix reference! Yeah I’m glad he’s still making music too!

I'm not musically articulate enough to actually discuss this stuff outside of surface level observations so I'll just respond to this in particular, this board started as a visual-kei board a long, long time ago but, like me, a lot of older name stays have grown dissatisfied with current visual-kei outputs or needed more and branched out, so you'll get some general Japanese music discussion but still with a major focus on the visual-kei genre in particular.

It's a live-limited release. So that's why people are griping about it.

But aren't they looking to the West just by making pop/rock music and playing pianos, electric guitars, etc.? I sort of get it though. It would be sad it everything became super Americanized. I don't think my impression was that Japan was "less developed," rather that Japanese vocalists choose to focus less on technique, because so many of the vocalists I heard seemed to be trying to make their voice "interesting" or achieve a certain style (such as cutesy girl group vocals). Basically, I had that sense that there was a preponderance of "stylistic" rather than "technical" vocalists in Japan. I'm starting to think my first impression may have been a result of the selection of what I had listened to.

@NICKT I think my original post might come off as rather pejorative. This was not my intention. I’m just the sort of person who tends to say many critical or negative-sounding things even when I really like something. It’s a personal flaw that I’m aware of, but clearly still need to work on. In any case. If I thought Japanese music was terrible I wouldn’t have bothered to join a forum to learn about it. I should also clarify that I don’t think superior vocal technique necessarily equals a better singer. Vocal technique is just one of a number of elements that go into singing and how important it is depends on what the singer is trying to do. There are certainly a lot of singers who fail to get the sound they are looking for (or damage their voice trying) because they don’t have the technical ability. On the other hand, there are also singers who may not need much technique for the sound they are going for. Personally, I have to say I tend to be biased towards singers that have some technical proficiency, probably because I come from a more classical background and it can be a little hard to go from Philippe Jaroussky to Bon Iver wannabe #5, but considering how unpopular opera is I’d say most people probably feel the opposite. I agree that the Ameri-centrism of not only the cultural sphere, but pretty much everything, is pretty ridiculous. I think you also raise a good point regarding whether Japanese singers should be held to American (or Western) standards. But I think you should also consider to what extent they are participating in a Western art form. I would never think to look for Western techniques in a traditional Japanese art form. Coming out from a Noh play and saying, “Hmm, the lead wasn’t as really as good as Edward Norton,” is completely ridiculous. But all the things you mention (TV, film, popular music) are the result of American (or Western) forms being adopted (imposed? adopted under duress?) due to Westernization. Thus, some mastery of Western techniques (filmography, Western instruments, etc.) is necessary. Of course, countries will come up with their own versions of these art forms different from Hollywood and judging them based on the expectations you have of a Hollywood production is not always appropriate. For example, something like Hana kimi is clearly a highly stylized manga adaptation (I’ve never picked up a manga in my life, but even I can tell they’re not going for realism and I can recognize elements of that style in other shoujo manga adaptations). I don’t think it could be judged from the same perspective as a serious American show, or even an American comedy, since the acting styles and comedic sense is quite different. Similarly, Korean dramas tend to use a lot of slow-mo. I think this seems quite cheesy from a Western perspective, but after watching quite a few Korean shows you realize that it’s a rather standard element of the style and get used to it. On the music side of things, the visual kei singing is definitely not something you would hear from an American band, even though they are making rock music. In this sense, I would find it hard to compare one of these singers directly to an American singer, since they seem to be trying to do something different. Do I think you can still consider Western vocal technique as one element when evaluating them? Yes, because 1) there are clearly Western influences to their singing style as well 2) some of the singers in the genre (if visual kei is a genre?) do use these techniques and it clearly affects their sound (based on some of the responses here I went and looked up an old performance by Ruki and the difference is very obvious). I’d say something similar about the handful of enka singers that I’ve heard. There’s clearly a combination of Western and Japanese influences. On the other hand, when it comes to someone like Taka, is there anything non-Western about his singing style? I feel that he would pretty much sound like an American pop punk vocalist if he was singing completely in English, hence my comparison to Gerard Way (though the “less interesting” comment is a judgement on artistry, which admittedly does not belong in a discussion of technique). One thing I don’t think I stated clearly is that I don’t think Taka is actually technically subpar to his American counterparts, since pop punk is generally not where you go to look for stellar vocal technique. Rather, it is the fact that so many people seem to think he’s a great vocalist that led me to include him. Basically, I just think his skills are overrated. The last thing I would say is that the “standard” does not necessarily have to be American. For example, when listening to Japanese ballads some of the comparisons that came to mind most were people like Lara Fabian (Belgian) or Park Hyoshin (Korean). Unlike singers in some genres, I tend to expect people singing ballads to have more technical skill, since belting/soaring vocals are some of the hallmark features of ballads (especially modern pop ballads). Though the way I wrote it (almost as an after thought) didn’t make this evident, hearing a number of lackluster ballad performances was actually one of the main things that led me to write this post. (My opinion of Japanese ballads has improved somewhat after I finding a Quora post with some good recommendations.)

I feel you, haven't been this excited for a vk release in years, hopefully it will be worth the wait!

Ah I gotcha! Well I guess we’ll have to see how the digital release goes. Nothing from Japan seems to be shipping to the states as of now so I can likely only do a digital purchase of... as much as I can here. im just so excited about this release 🥺

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Kanon Wakeshima circa 2009, great style for her music. It's a shame she changed directions so abruptly. I think the goth lolita scene still has potential (music wise). Mix the sound with some brand partnerships and you can make some decent dough from the die hard fanbase.

woww so cool to see him back in a solo project! went to check his other songs and he re-recorded 霞むヒカリ from nil delete heads, can't get much better than this! really exciting!

It's not even so much the West but more so just the US, and it's a pervasive mentality that manifests in every corner of entertainment(and probably everything else as well). Can't help but compare yourself to the big dogs, especially when it's your competition. I mean, Japan is the only place on the planet with a majority speaking Japanese so most of the entertainment they consume is produced by themselves for themselves. However an absolute metric fuck-tonne of US content is produced and then almost forced upon the rest of the world. As an Australian, aside from the cornerstones of Australian dramas(Neighbours and Home&Away) I couldn't tell you a single other Australian drama series, but I sure as damn hell could tell you US ones. Even our stars when they get big fuck off to Hollywood because it's viewed as the end goal. (Margot Robbie, of Wolves of Wall Street and Harley Quinn fame, left Neighbours to go to the US.) You'd think that Japan, by nature of it not speaking English as a major language would be exempt from this mentality but they are still susceptible to it. From the Western acts that tour and sell out the Tokyo Dome repeatedly all the way down to just the immense budgets thrown at CG in movies, you can't compete with Hollywood and it becomes the yardstick we're all measured by. I've shown people Japanese dramas and also read comments online that consistently call it out for either being bad or over the top, the music for being simple and generic, especially when it comes to following Western trends they seem to get it way after the fad's gone and apparently only tap into it's surface level.(Or at least that was the impression I got from being eviscerated online sharing a SiM song to an acquaintance.) When you go and watch the Japanese Godzilla movies and see the man in the rubber suit but then go watch the American ones and it's this gargantuan CGI beast then you can clearly see the different playing fields. Japan's just gotta deal with Japan, and in all honesty it's amazing just for that, but Hollywood and the States has the world's entertainment market by the balls, no doubt. (Anime's probably the one category where Japan dominates everywhere else and I imagine that's why they're pumping it with so much garbage material because the fans will always lap it up. Western animated materials are mainly kids shows and that comes with a lot of condescending design mentalities so it's never worth the comparison. I was also considering video games as another one that Japan dominates but I'm changing my mind on that. There was an interview with the translator for the GBA FFIV where he said that he gave presentation(s) to the studio on Western video game design. FFXIV also has been wanting Western blood in it's development for a while now, especially in it's raid series where they say they're having immense trouble finding raid designers from the West that can also speak Japanese.)

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Very good! Also "Choose the red pill" Matrix much? haha. Good to see him back!

I have no idea about technique whatsoever, but a vocalist/pianist friend of mine who studied music for 10+ years really praised Kaya for his vocal abilities. He emphasized how hard it probably is (at least from his own experience) for Kaya to keep his voice controlled and stay in tune, because for example most of the verse parts in his songs have very little "background" for the vocals to "fall back upon", i.e. it's usually just a drumbeat and random bass synth and he still pretty much nails all the right notes. Plus his voice is pretty powerful and cool, but that's just my personal preference/observation. Here's a random cool live clip:

People are seriously oblivious, man. They act like they ain't never seen androgynous Nihon shock rockers bein spicy.

SET-LIST at 2020/02/23: -SE- hole 01. insane 02. (仮)adieu -MC- 03. in tears... 04. schiller 05. chaotic abyss

they sound like 2003/2004 Rentrer en Soi wtf

1st free live-limited single "in tears..." will be released at 2019/11/10. (100 copies) TrackList: 01.augury 02.in tears...

I've finally listened to the album, and the only tracks I really like are SANDMAN, DEAD or ALIVE, and Superhero (kind of). This album has the same problem as Plastic Tree's 十色定理: the album features mostly good compositions with mostly atrocious vocals. IMO, Tatsurou is the weakest link and ruins most songs, except for SANDMAN. His voice has been progressively getting worse over the past few years, and I don't see it improving. I don't know how I could describe it, if it'd be accurate to say his higher notes are more nasally/grating. He should either change his style or retire. In the meantime, MUCC is another band I am ready to stop paying attention to. 壊れたピアノとリビングデッド was a fluke