Seimeisen

6 hours ago, chemicalpictures said:

so this never really went anywhere, eh?

It's looking that way, unfortunately. Their twitter hasn't been updated since the last show they played, which was sometime in 2018. Their linked OHP has 404'd as well. For the 夜紫 solo vids, he's regarded as "ex-CATFIST." And as for the solo project...... I didn't dislike it, but it's nothing I'll hype. The vocals were kinda strange, they kinda gave me a karma from AvelCain meets Anders from In Flames sort of vibe.

Compared to the 己龍 and Royz compilations, this is very disappointing. Only a few re-recordings, nothing pre-BPR, nothing other than singles. I was kinda hoping they'd re-record something from CANDYMAN. Not feeling very enthusiastic about this 🤷‍♂️

No votes for lullaby or 僻目? The utter lack of taste...

Re-recordings are a mixed bag. Some of them are great, some of them are dog shit!

I think the only band who has hit it out of the park with re-recordings is and cali≠gari (not counting the TURN minis, those are... a different realm). The complete re-recordings of 10 and Bluefilm are far superior to the originals, as is マグロ 2017. lynch. and girugamesh have also done very well with their re-recordings (although for lynch., their album version re-recordings were not very good, like JUDGEMENT and ADORE).

Everyone else (I can think of) has been mixed...

MUCC did fantastic with 新痛絶 and 新葬ラ謳; some of the songs were better than the originals, though there were a few others that were sub-par. On the other hand, their other re-recording album, the one that shamelessly appropriated BUCK-TICK's 殺シノ調ベ, was dog shit.

My problem with a lot of re-recordings isn't so much the vocals, it's that the guitars are severely lacking and just sound weaker IMO, like on DIAURA's INCOMPLETE, グリーヴァ's re-recording mini (they should have just released the full demo of Bondage, I will never forgive them for not doing that), and a lot of SUICIDE ALI's re-recs. I'm not a recording engineer and I do not play guitar, so I'm not really sure how I can explain this better. Although there are definitely some re-recordings where everyone does a piss poor job all around.

Rant time: the GazettE's TRACES VOL. 2 is an exhibit to present in these arguments: talent ≠ intelligence; the GazettE are some of the stupidest fucking people in music; bands should stop self-producing their albums unless they're Converge. Production-wise alone, it could have sounded better, but it didn't, because they wasted production money on special instruments and completely forgot that garbage-in is garbage-out, and because they were monitoring it with fucking EarPods and probably laptop speakers as well.

I guess if your band name is all lowercase, you're more likely to make great re-recordings :thonk:

It's not, which is a shame, 'cause it's way better than the original

Just a bunch of cali≠gari shit, praise be

All in all, a very good batch. I was thinking of getting more while I had time, but I decided to stick with what I have for multiple reasons. Might take a pic of my cali collection on the shelf when I'm done ripping everything. I'll also be taking some more pics/scans later on, there's a lot of great artwork here.

I copped 回想、睡蓮と向日葵 for ¥2,600. I was expecting something to be missing/broken, but turns out, the worst thing about it is a small tattering on the obi band. I think everything I got here was for a reasonable price, although マグロ was ¥5,000, 残響、睡蓮と向日葵 was ¥2,500 (sealed though), and the 職業病 mini was full price since it was from Ao's shop. Everything else was a good deal at worst.

I've been playing the Spyro Reignited Trilogy lately. I have no intention of reaching 100% in any of them (lol). I am absolutely horrible at those speedway/raceway levels, and I am not here for some of the bullshit that comes my way later on in later games.

I beat the final boss in Spyro 1 after enough tries, have attempted the final boss in Ripto's Rage a few times and don't really give a fuck (I still have PTSD from Gulp), and have unlocked the final boss in Year Of The Dragon, but I'm not sure if I'm even gonna try. With the first two games, I managed to get every dragon/orb and jewel in the main (non-raceway) levels, but not as determined to do so with YOTD because some of these levels and challenges are absolute bullshit.

50% of time spent playing any Spyro game is just sitting through loading screens

Until a few months ago, I was playing Donkey Kong 64 with Openemu, but have kinda given up on that. I finished Crystal Caves, totally stopped trying to get every golden banana (even regular ones). I just got tired of all the bullshit bonus levels, and the fact that they are an absolute waste of time, especially if you don't beat them the first try. The game just started to feel like a chore. I might give Creepy Castle a try eventually, but I know I won't even get close to the final boss, because you need two coins that are dependent on beating two old arcade games no thank you.

I got bored and decided to count mine. I mostly stopped collecting CDs a few years ago and moved on to vinyl, but kinda got back into collecting cali≠gari a few months ago.

A grand total of 406 Japanese releases:

* 389 CDs, 15 vinyl (14 BORIS, 1 MUCC), 2 DVDs
* 16 are without cases and are just sitting in a CD wallet 😕
* 7 are comment CDs/DVDs
* No polaroids, but a lot of stickers and photo cards that I am not going to count (lol), I've also got one magazine that I only bought for a CD, and I think I've still got some freebie zines that came with various orders.

Individual bands:

* 65 are MERRY, 2 of those are DVDs, 3 are doubles... oh, and there's the demo MD, I keep forgetting I have that

* 33 are cali≠gari, 8 of which are currently in shopping service purgatory

* 13 are the GazettE, 15 are ザアザア (but I stopped at のろいうた in '18) 15 are R-shithead, 16 are Plastic Tree, all very small numbers but I felt like counting these bands too

Even though it's not part of the discussion, I also counted my western releases and have 75 in my shelves. The rest are in a storage box in an unknown realm of existence.

On 8/14/2020 at 1:46 AM, sads123 said:

Their download card releases has been consistently 160kbps or 192kbps

Wonderful 🙃

On 8/14/2020 at 1:46 AM, sads123 said:

Get the 狂信盤 version of the  回想、睡蓮と向日葵 DVD if you can; the 4th documentary disc is worth it. Though it comes with a useless 2nd disc of the same 11 songs out of the 24 songs seen on the 1st disc WTF why why why

That's the plan! Plus the artwork! I mostly only buy 狂信盤 anyway. Although I do have the 良心盤 for 13 (at TOWER, 'cause I bought another CD with it that I shouldn't have; should have just bought the blu-ray version and not that other CD), TURN 3 (another time at TOWER, regret it now 'cause I found the 渡邉盤 at Little Hearts a week later), and みんなの発狂.

I guess that second disc was supposed to be a condensed version of the disc 1 show for airing on TV? Still doesn't seem like a necessary thing to include, they could have at least used a different set to (kinda) change things up.

I'm just kicking myself for not getting it when I placed my last suruga-ya order 'cause it's hella cheap over there.

20 minutes ago, sads123 said:

You are referring to the CD of mp3s that came as a present for pre-ordering the 回想、睡蓮と向日葵 DVD? I wonder why CDs like these are still being released when one can easily rip mp3s from the DVDs as well...

Nah, I was talking about the 回想、睡蓮と向日葵 DVD set itself. I don't care about that bonus MP3 disc. Although that disc can be handy for some, I'm sure not everyone has the software/time/energy to make an audio rip from a DVD. But yeah, cali≠gari doing MP3 discs is weird. Just throw in a download card (and make it FLAC please) and save money on production costs!

And I like キセキニイル, but good to know the version on 残響 isn't different 😕. Still hoping I don't feel like I've wasted money when I listen to the CD.

19 hours ago, sads123 said:

If you are referring to "キセキニイル(ライヴアレンジver.)", nah, its not worth it.

Awww... why do you think so? Is it not that different, or not as good as the first version? I'm bordering on 睡蓮と向日葵 stan, so I don't think I'll regret buying 残響. I do kinda kick myself for not getting 回想 when I put in my suruga-ya order. Maybe next time if there is a next time at all soon.

@anakuro you gotta get a new shelf and get those CDs unstacked, it's a very nice collection! Start building that shrine~

Still waiting for suruga-ya as well, and it's been three fucking weeks. To make matters worse, they're selling some other shit I kinda want. 🙃

My next cali≠gari haul will include 残響、睡蓮と向日葵, so we'll know if it was worth it soon...-ish. I've ordered, like, 8 things this time, but I feel like I could do more lmao

And yeah, suruga-ya is selling トゥナイトゥナイ ヤヤヤ demo, but it's, like, ¥6,000, which is fucking stupid. It's probably identical to the one-track version, which is far inferior to the version on 12.

31 minutes ago, LIDL said:

Perhaps the 5K Yen price tag is deterrent to some people?

For me, it kinda is. (along with the fact that the ¥700 shipping takes two weeks, I’m not interested in the merch, and I’ve already got stuff waiting to ship at my shopping service, but still waiting on a suruga-ya package I ordered three fucking weeks ago). If it was ¥3,000, shipping took less than a week (or was free), I would have snagged it immediately

I’m tempted to skip this one, but I’m sure I’ll regret it

54 minutes ago, sads123 said:

Someone has got to teach me how to post images here someday... 😞

Just copy/paste an image url ending in .jpg/png/gif and hit the spacebar, and the image should embed automatically.

And ffs if that $50 4-track gets sold on yahoo it’ll be, like, ¥15,000

Love the budget t-shirt. To match the theme, the Bluefilm booklet (or maybe for 15 whenever that happens) should just be a 10-K report for 密室ノイローゼ with all financial statements and “auditor” notes.

I think I'm on the verge of another shopping spree 💸💸💸

I have decided to get the limited edition of ある職業病. I was apprehensive for a while, but then I came across this picture, and, well... damn look at all this shit!

I'm even tempted now to get the one-track hernia CD (even though from what I'm told, the track is just "Hernia I" so nothing new), only because the mini album box has a sleeve for it. Buying something I don't need, just to store it in a box. I'm officially crazy, aren't I?

This might be a long shot, but has anyone here heard the studio version of ラストダンス? I'm sort of on the fence about getting a copy, because I heard the live version and was not impressed! The saxophone just kinda ruined it for me 😕

and yet I get that stuck in my head all the goddamn time

Artist sorting is A-Z, even numbers and Japanese (e.g, 9GOATS is found in 'N,' 蜉蝣 is found in 'K'); releases are sorted chronologically. Same goes for my record shelf (as well as sorting on iTunes). No separation by nation, language, or scene, though I probably could if I wanted to, since I have two different shelf cases on my wall.

1 hour ago, sads123 said:

I don't get why the price for this in the 2nd hand market is so high; its a pre-order bonus for the オヤスミナサイ DVD so there would have been quite a huge number of fans who have it, no? Even the DVD boxset itself isn't sold for such a high price. I remember observing the prices of the 3 live distributed CDs (that are now included in the オヤスミナサイ re-recording EP) in 2nd hand markets plummeting once the EP was announced LOL

Because people are fucking batshit! And not all of those singles plummeted, マグロ is still ¥5,000 if you can find it, and 舌先3分サイズ, which seems even rarer, goes for ¥10,000+ I think(?). I’m just lowkey kicking myself for not knowing about it when it was on Ao’s shop.

I would also like to credit @Tokage as an enabler of buying cali≠gari

A part of me feels like I could have done more. I was also eyeing a copy of the オヤスミナサイ re-recording EP for ¥8,200, which is a ridiculous price, but still tempting considering how it normally goes for ¥14,000, but someone else took it 🙄

憧憬、睡蓮と向日葵 I got for a bargain of ¥2,700 and I'm so glad I did. I've really grown to appreciate this mini album over the past few days, and the artwork and packaging are absolutely beautiful!

The BUCK-TICK CDs (except BT BEST TRACKS) are beat the fuck up; SSL has hairline cracks on its irreplaceable case, Six/Nine's disc was atrociously filthy, I actually had to spray/wipe it down, and 狂った太陽 was in absolutely nightmarish condition (which is fine because I only bought it to make scans).

If you're wondering why American filth is included in this picture, I got all this stuff in the mail same day. I'm just waiting for my Japanese version copy of boris' "soundtrack from film" マブタノウラ, I was hoping it would have arrived in time for this ~photoshoot~ but it's ~still~  in Portugal, thank you coronavirus!

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

I still haven't listened enough to have a fully formed opinion, but these comments have me expecting disappointment. I have heard that track with Hazuki in full, which was truly nothing more than a gimmick to put a feature in the tracklist, and deleted it immediately. I'll also be deleting My WORLD (it's just garbage), and 生と死と君 (doesn't fit without My WORLD). I was never expecting this to be as good as 壊れたピアノ, but I am expecting this album to make 脈拍 look like a dumpster fire. Of course, most of my complaints about MUCC these days aren't so much how their sound has gotten less interesting, but how Tatsurou's voice has been sounding like absolute shit for the past few years.

The album seems to be very top-heavy, starting out relatively strong only to water itself down towards the end. This album (and 脈拍 for that matter) did not need to be 70 minutes long. Unless you're prog, or your album has a thorough concept, your album shouldn't be longer than an hour. One of the things they got right with 壊れたピアノ was making it 40 minutes. In fact, 壊れたピアノ could have survived one filler track.

Released: 2020年06月10日

01. 惡 -JUSTICE-
02. CRACK
03. アメリア
04. 神風 Over Drive
05. 海月
06. Friday the 13th
07. COBALT
08. SANDMAN
09. 目眩 (feat. 葉月)
10. スーパーヒーロー
11. DEAD or ALIVE
12. 自己嫌惡
13. アルファ
14. My WORLD
15. 生と死と君
16. スピカ

Bonus Tracks:

Terrace (CD hidden track)

taboo (download card bonus track)

例えば僕が居なかったら (download card bonus track)

Sooooo.... what do we think?

Some LINGUA IGNOTA records

all hail the almighty throat-slitter of the world

I’m actually kind of disappointed, sound-wise. Both records are VERY noisy, and on CALIGULA, there’s a really bad skip on one of the songs. That aside, I’m still glad to have physical copies of these fantastic albums!

41 minutes ago, anakuro said:

every time they mentioned "people from all over the world can see this!"

Maybe they were being sarcastic bitches about it

(or they are unaware of e+'s restrictions)

38 minutes ago, Tokage said:

reeeeeee just fucking do it on youtube like everybody elseeeeeeeeee

I'd expect nothing more from this band. They go to great lengths to make their releases inaccessible beyond their fan club, and I just wouldn't expect them to be on board with western dominated platforms. I'm actually kind of surprised they're granting access to anyone with a Japanese credit card and phone number, and not restricting it to FC members.

22 hours ago, secret_no_03 said:

for some reason those pictures are blank for me, not sure why.

22 hours ago, Total Saikou said:

Links are from Google and Last.fm but I'm not sure if that always results in blank images. Usually they blank out to me too if there's a problem

This can be fixed by changing the .webp part of the image url to .jpg