Sunday, December 27, 2009

December VK Reviews

After yesterday's heavy spazzing over KinKi's lovelove performance on Music Station Live, today I shall handcuff myself to the keyboard and write an overdue VK review post. Who shall I eliminate today? Hmm...

Oh! I've finally listened to Plastic Tree! PuraTori's been around for a long time, ne? During my first few years of VK fandom, I found their music to be too soft (?). But being a judgemental fool, I cursed them for being as un-Jrock as Ryuichi's solo career without even understanding what the meaning of Rock is.

I was too absorbed in Diru, Laruku, Luna Sea and Pierrot that I kept comparing other groups with them. So I wasn't an exceptional Jrock VK fan back then boooo and was stuck in that mode until only recently (ehh the past 2 years, prolly). Maa maa, experimentation in a period where torrents and broadbands didn't exist was truly a barrier.  Augh! Why do I suddenly sound like an old woman?!

Obachan here would like to suggest all readers to put aside all reservations and listen to as many numbers of bands so in the future it'll be easier for you to go "I've heard this before" and "They write better songs now". Then you can show off to other people the total of bands you've heard or liked! 8D

[ reviewer!Arfah: "Is that the whole point of this story, obachan?!!" ]


DownloadTitle: NOW
Band: girugamesh
Verdict: 3 stars. First of all, what's with the cover art? Yeesh. giru's suffering the same Gazette-like symptoms of churning out the typical heavy-beats-and-heavy-riffs but lacks depth and skill. I can't name one that really captures my attention except 'Arrow' due to its milder course while everything else sounds the same after 2-3 plays. A pity 'crying rain' isn't included, it could've been their only salvage.
Go for: 'Arrow', 'I Think I Can Fly'.


Buy?Title: ドナドナ (Dona Dona) *AWEFUCKINGSOME*
Band: Plastic Tree
Verdict: 5 stars. Brilliant! Not what I thought I'd be expecting, a different path from the usual roads I tread but not bad. If you like kei (of Kannivalism) then this band's an excellent choice to like. Dona Dona is wrought with emotive calm and expressive riffs. Ryutaro's voice took me a while to get comfy with, but it suits them. But what I'm in love with is the instrumental: 'Anten'. A subliminal song, from its calming melody to the epic entrance at 3:20.
Go for: 'Anten', 'sunset bloody sunset', '1999', 'Fukuro', 'Gagaji'.


DownloadTitle: GHOST†HEART *HOT*
Band: Lovely Mocochang aka LM.C
Verdict: 4 stars. I'm surprised I've never once reviewed them. They're my guilty pleasure :3 Sort of I'm getting back at Kirito for breaking up Pierrot so I'm gonna like Aiji's band more than Angelo. Never had the chance to collect their discog but from what I do have, none are disagreeing with me. This single's pretty decent and 'A Blueberry Night' is cute. Mmm can't think of what to say. Need to find their albums.
Go for: 'GHOST†HEART'.

++ Bonus review


DownloadTitle: Murder Scope *HOT*
Band: Matenrou Opera
Verdict: 3.5 stars. Ohkaay, I was so wrong to have given them such a low rating for 'Anomie'. Their live tracks are really good! I may need to give that album another chance *sheepish smile*. In the meantime, the 2 new songs are majorly awesome especially the title track.
Go for: 'Murder Scope', 'Cocoon', 'Hiai to Melancholy (Live)', 'Eve (Live)'.

++ Super Bonus: Highlight of the month


DownloadTitle: Canticum
Band: forbidden days rhapsody
Comment: fdr is founded by Mika (ex-RENTRER EN SOI drummer). Look out for their 1st mini album! No uploads in sight yet, but the CM is up at his official site which also serves as theirs. Mika previewed their first trance/house song called 'Refill (Rough mix)' in August and it was awesssome so I've been waiting for something from them since then. Sounds promising!!

1 comment:

mish said...

woooo! i've heard giru's [thanks to you ;DDD] and I like 'nobody' and 'NO MUSIC NO REASON' hahahaha XD

shall come back from uni next week and look for the ones you recommended hee hee~