Summer Is (Almost) Over

Dramas are drawing to an end. Concerts have begun. Rock bands are touring.

It isn't like I followed a lot of summer dramas this year anyway. 'Tobo Bengoshi' worked fine for me to eclipse the disappointment of 'Tsuki no Koibito' and the frustration I underwent no thanks to Celcom Broadband not letting me download 'Unubore Deka'. I'm looking forward to next season's 'Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso' and maaaybe will try out 'Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo'.

Domoto Koichi's BPM concert tour will move to Hokkaido this weekend so I predict audio rips for Saturday and Sunday are going to be available on Monday. Workaholic Kochan has a really tight schedule this year with back-to-back stages: Shock > BPM > Kansai Super Show (Seven Samurai) > KinKi con > next year's Shock!

Eek! >_< Who designed Kochan's costume??

Besides KinKi-san, I'm also anticipating NEWS and T&T cons because they've been absent for too long :)

Chemical Pictures is at this very moment at their first one-man live (Congratulations!), NoGoD are moving about at an extremely crazy pace and D'espairsRay are having their US tour. MUCC, on the other hand, is gearing up for their new album release (6 October wheeee). Oh and we can also expect a new album by abingdon boys school if I understood Nishikawa's tweets correctly!

2010 had a slow start with a few hiccups here and there for me. But I like how it picked up rather momentously since August :D

And October onwards (especially November) is surely going to be even moar awesome. *winks*

Chirp and Swim?

I just realised MUCC's Ameba blog (aka Ameblo) is constantly updated by Yukke, and sometimes the other three, with pictures and random posts. Together with their Tweets, I'm calculating they post at least around 30 times per day. What are they nuts? Correction, are Yukke and Tatsuro THAT free?

Hahah. I'm still a bit shocked over the extremely carefree information sharing they show on the Internet. Which is a good thing considering they aren't stuck up. And their frequent posts are about them in the studio preparing new stuff for us so yay!

Plus, if they're on a Euro or US tour I don't think they'll update at all? So yay for the luck I get at this moment when I first join Twitter and initiation to 'know' MUCC a lot better.

Sorry bout the header. I have no idea how an amoeba moves or if it makes any sound. They split up into several parts, don't they? ^^;; I'm such a Science student failure.

Chirp?

No, Tweet.

Succumbed. Sigh.

In just one day, my updates were filled up with Yukke's and Tats's constant tweets. Seriously loh, Yukke updates like every 30 mins. *slaps forehead*

Sugizo-sama, you had better start an account!!

Goodbye to a Decade. Gokurasama, 2009!

Here's a not-so brief recap of my life from 2000 to 2009. No big accomplishments. But I take life as it is (with a grain of salt) and although resolutions aren't my thing, this is definitely the right time for a milestone post :)

My head's merely going with what I can dig up from my weak memory.

1. [2000] Final year of school life. Aah~ the bittersweet times of being a teenager.


2. Death of my love for L'Arc~en~Ciel. It was a joy knowing them but I have moved on. Thank you for introducing me to Jrock, Hyde-san ;)


3. Malay-dominated Matriculation course in Pulau Pinang killed my English. Seriously. So few English-speakers to befriend. Malay songs rotted my brain :[


4. Death of a loved one [2002]: My mother. Al-Fatihah.


5. Shortly after that, I enrolled at UKM studying Computer Science. Another major reason why my English proficiency died. XP


6. But if it wasn't for UKM, I wouldn't have berjinak (sorry, can't find a better word for it) with Korean entertainment. And I wouldn't have met my beloved separate-end-of-the-Pole twinnie Farah. ♥


7. Koreans overtook my heart. I flitted around a lot at first before stopping at Shinhwa and Park Hyo Shin. Hmm actually I've now cut down to only Shinhwa. Even just the six of them hurts my money.


8. Rise and fall of a kingdom. Heart still pains over this. "Gaining Through Losing" is an apt metaphor.


9. SHINHWA IN SINGAPORE! Enough said. *eyes crinkle from awesome unforgettable memories*


10. The trials and tribulations brought us all closer. ILY, Orenji Famili.


11. My slow but sure return to Japanese rock with the help of several bands I call my saviours: Gazette [2006], MUCC [2006], RENTRER EN SOI [2008].


12. My very obvious rekindled love for LUNA SEA [2007]. They were my sole reason I could survive in Penang for 1 year without reliable Internet connection. Although I couldn't forgive them for disbanding, their comeback made me realise where my loyalty truly lies.


13. A 'steady' career working with Elderaan Technologies, if I may call it that, ensures that I have an almost steady supply of Kpop and VK. And no, I'm not thinking of continuing my studies.


14. Har har. So much for Kpop eh? Jaded-ness has ruined my respect for the Korean music industry. Goodbye, fake love.


15. Family rifts. I'm neither here nor there nor on the fence. I sway whenever it pleases me. However, I will NOT end this cold war with that asshole of a person I should be calling Brother.


16. Sarina Abdullah Thani and Siti Aishah Khairazan (+ her sporting hubby). My bestfriends and soulmates? ILY as well. ♥


17. My disgraceful yet verrry satisfactory downfall into Johnny's and Associates fandom. All thanks to KinKi Kids, my newest heroes who protected me from a period of depression during early 2009.


18. Japan. Oh my God, JAPAN. My utmost travel dream came true. ♥♥


19. Visual Kei and Orenji Famili. Highly impossible to be crossed over was my first thought. LOL. Look at us now. We're even holding concert nights :D


20. Two weddings in a year [2009]. My eldest brother and my younger brother.

A lot of good and bad things happened this year. I may have even changed a bit eventhough I'm still generally young at heart. *cough*

I dunno if I'll be able to think up of more because you're in danger of falling asleep from boredom. Guh.

Crazy Tats

Was looking for karasu. But found Bluck Tlick.

Was looking for Bluck Tlick. But found GeKiGaKutai.

MUCC makes me go round in circles :S

Happy circles, that is. Because now I have reasonable proof to remind myself why I don't like girugamesh's 'MUSIC'.

The album features a notably heavier sound than their previous album, with a more "aggressive, destructive, and power" sound. Drummer Ryo comments that during touring, the band felt as if "there was something missing in our [Girugamesh's] songs", and the band "wanted to make our songs a little bit harder with an "edge." The band collaborated on "Patchwork", "Stupid" and "Crazy-Flag" with label-mates Tatsurou and Miya of Mucc, and with Miya as the co-producer for the album.

Stumbled upon this forgotten fact at Wiki about girugamesh (the album) by girugamesh (the band, aka Gilgamesh) because Google led me to other random searches for "Jack in the Box 2009". Miya and Tats combi is the love. In fact I love this album the best out of all giru's work.

I shall go now and continue my relentless search. Pbhht! :P

Notes:

karasu = session band covering Kuroyume; consists of Tatsurou (MUCC), Hiroto (A9), and names I don't remember from Sadie and JealKB and um yeah one other guy sorry.

Bluck Tlick = Tatsurou's previous session band; covered... you guessed it: Buck Tick.

GeKiGaKutai = Miya (MUCC) has his own session band? Download!!

Burnt Beyond Recognition

I hate cyclic errors. I do. Especially when I lose something very very precious that I'm too lazy to go and download again. Sigh.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="So many Jrock... huhuhu"][/caption]

Clever of me, I should have immediately checked the dvd after burning. The two red dots are the albums I really must download again. Luckily the striked outs are still in my storage. But still...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="My MUCC discography, OMG!"][/caption]

Life's not so fun these days, no?

March VK Reviews

What's this rumour going around about a Luna Sea Asia concert in 2010?? USO! Hong Kong?! ARE YOU CRAZY? I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY SO SOON AFTER MY JAPAN TRIP! WHAT THE *tooooot*!!

Title: 球体 (Kyuutai) *AWEFUCKINGSOME* Band: MUCC Verdict: 5 stars. If I once said their previous album, 'Shion', was missing some fine tuning then they’ve got it perfected here. SAIKO! After creating a definitive new sound through 'Ageha', there's an awesome improvement to their composition. This album is loaded with their lovely trademarks: soaring vocals, vivid choruses and deep lyrics. The songs are less showy and experimental but the ballads... Wow. 'sanbika' is one of the most classy I've ever heard from MUCC. I've always loved how they can easily express their music into a somewhat feast of visually pleasing stimulation: rise and fall of waves, birds flying over mountaintops, raindrops pattering down a window, freefalling from a cliff. You could almost imagine a PV for every song. Although I had a bad impression of 'Sora to Ito', I'm completely digging Tatsurou's synthesized voice. At least, it doesn't grate on my nerves anymore. Obviously because they chose not to overdo the techno-jangle in the whole album (that's some wise advise for girugamesh). Go for: 'Ageha', 'Oz', 'Hide and Seek', 'sanbika', 'Sora to Ito', 'hanabi'. Oh well. All the songs, then.

Title: REDEEMER Band: D'espairsRay Verdict: 3.5 stars. It's great that they've finally made their way back to home ground, been missing their edgier and oppressive side. But sorry to say, after the first 3 songs I find myself spacing throughout the rest of the album. I don't listen to them for their preppy and dandy slow numbers so this one's a bit hard to fathom although you do get some nice boost from 'REDEEMER' (which has a cool PV, btw). I hope they won't burn out too soon. Go for: 'REDEEMER', 'Lizard'.

Title: 極彩色 (Gokusaishiki) Band: Shinkou Shuukyou Gakudan NoGoD Verdict: 2 stars. Oh-kay. I can't stand the high-pitched wailing but let's give credit to the unmistakable talents of these guys, right? I tried to like this album. But fail. So they make great singles that are throwbacks to the 90's, we all know that. Yet 'Gokusaishiki' just doesn't blend in well because the songs sound so repetitive and bland. Frankly, there's not any standout new songs except for 'Kanaria'. I hope they learn from this mistake. Go for: 'dou', 'Kanaria'.

Title: MAR MAROON Band: 12012 Verdict: 3 stars. I keep reminding myself that 12012 is no longer the old heavy-ish 12012. And how do you even pronounce their name? Forget the expectations, people. What you have now is the kind of sappy music Alice Nine does. Entirely listenable, but… Sigh. Go for: 'As', 'Psycho Virus', 'Aitai Kara'.

Title: MASTER OF ROMANCE Band: Sadie Verdict: 4 stars. Never paid them any attention before, maybe because I've listened to them but I don't remember or I didn't wanna remember. Either way, 'Master of Romance' is good stuff. It has a balanced pace between the slow and fast tracks which never goes too heavy or too boring at any part. What I love most about this album is that it doesn't scream of mainstream pop, definitely deserves more stars for their effort. Go for: 'Ice Romancer', 'Ageha no Nakigara', 'Kagerou', 'Swallow Rain'.

+ Bonus review:

Title: silk tree. *HOT* Band: kei. Verdict: 4.5 stars. I like the simplicity - bare of all unneeded complexities. The soft singsongy melodies are a somewhat fantasy laden getaway. It's an album you can listen to to de-stress after a day at work. The Jpop-ish appeal will sadly differ for everyone, so judge it yourself. Go for: 'vesperbell.', 'pitiful emotional picture.', 'end of Sunday/black hircine.'.

Title: DISTRESS AND COMA Band: the GazettE Verdict: 3.5 stars. I've wondered for a long time where their latest direction will be, hoping they'd get off their lazy asses and come up with something as riveting as 'Filth' or 'NIL'. My griping might come to an end but not in the form of the title track tho. No, no, not the flaccid 'Distress and Coma'. Say hello to 'Headache Man', the b-side that reminds us so much of the old Slipknot-esque Gazette. Now this is what we've all been waiting for! However, I reserve further judgement until the full single is out in a few more days. Until then~ Go for: 'Headache Man'.

March VK Heavyweights

New albums from good bands cropping up so suddenly after 2 months of nothingness from downloadable VK Land.

If only the speed can move above 35kbps. Like, NOW. Aaaargh! *kicks P1 W1MAX for not having limitless data transfer limit, making us Malaysians suffer under TMNet*

Reviews should be in order (if I manage to get the rest):

1. MUCC - Kyuutai [Album 2009.03.04] because thank God, MU was good to me 2 days ago.


2. D'espairsRay - REDEEMER [Album 2009.03.11] 45% more *crosses fingers*


3. NoGoD - Gokusaishiki [Album 2009.02.25]


4. 12012 - mar maroon [Album 2009.03.11]


5. Sadie - MASTER OF ROMANCE [Album 2009.02.25]

January VK Reviews (+ 1 Jpop)

Uiihh. I almost fell asleep while cleaning up my tags. =_= Old age. Maa~ maa~ Let's round up this month's music reviews:

Title: 空と糸 (Sora to Ito)
Band: MUCC
Verdict: 3 stars. So maybe I had expected too much of another 'Ageha' after a loong wait. This new single is solid especially with Miya's sexy chorus, but it doesn't deliver that same punch. Hey, PV is out! And to top it all off, I'm already heady anticipating their album in March. PFFFT SOMEBODY GIMME MONEYH.
Go for: -

Title: 約束 (Yakusoku) *HOT*
Band: KinKi Kids
Verdict: 4 stars. Such a beautifully sad song. I assume their vocals aren't strong here in order to portray the 'Guy-gives-up-on-love-when-girlfriend-strays'. Hearing it live is even better. Oh yeah, this is so fangirl-bias.
Go for: Truthfully, I could only stomach 'Yakusoku' and 'Loving'. The other two tracks are bleh.

Title: GHOST
Band: Gackt
Verdict: 4 stars. Not baaad. This guy finally ditched all those lame 10 minutes sappy shit and came back with stuff he really should be doing esp. his previous single 'Jesus' (which I haven't listened to yet).
Go for: Both tracks 'GHOST' and 'Blue Lagoon ~shinkai~'.

Title: vesperbell. *AWEFUCKINGSOME*
Band: kei
Verdict: 5 stars. Wha-WHO?? kannivalism member? Hmm can't say I listened to them before, but this kei guy is EXTREMELY talented in a certain Sugizo + Inoran + Jinkaku Radio way! To sum it all up, all three songs are completely sweet, completely dear and completely cool. You have to try it.
Go for: 'vesperbell.', 'pitiful emotional picture.' , '4letter word.' (yes, with the dots)

Title: As
Band: 12012
Verdict: 2 stars. Right. Ignore this song if you've never heard their songs and go try 'Aitai Kara' instead.
Go for: 'flower'.

Title: STRENGTH (anime Soul Eater ED)
Band: abingdon boys school
Verdict: 4.5 stars. The TV rip doesn't do justice. But damn if they can ever make a bad song. :DD
Go for: -

Love Love Miya

I know I should be rewatching abs concert for that long overdue review, but couldn't stop myself from watching Mucc's Ageha DVD special vid.

PUAAAHAHAHAHA. It is so friggin hilarious! Bravo to the 3 monkeys (headed by Yukke, as expected) for trapping the 'forever serious' leader-san into this gag.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQIAKMaaj6E&feature=related

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IXLcmTgIG8&feature=related

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4WQMoVUR-E&feature=related

Don't even need to understand what they're saying because Miya's facial expression is simply priceless (he can still be calm in that kinda situation??). *smacks the smexy smexy man* <33

Memoirs of a male geisha II

The WOWOW released vids of both summit days were harshly cut up. At least the ones I got off torrent. But so far:

1. Luna Sea; whom besides X managed to own Ajinomoto Stadium on Day 2. Damn, they were really in their game. Watching "In Silence" (my most favouritest song) live made me want to cry since they rarely play it during concerts.


2. X Japan and Muteki Band; I skipped all the Drama King sessions, but performance-wise.. I think they (pft, Yoshiki) ought to seriously end the reunion before their hearts legacy burns out. It was awesome when nearing the end, where all the bands except Diru came on stage for a raucous show of "X".


3. D'espairs Ray; Only "Brilliant" was uploaded?! Mind you, they were brilliant so I hope someone will put up their whole session (if any).


4. MUCC; Again, only ONE song. But I looooooved "Fuzz" live cos Tatsurou is just so infectious.


5. Dir en grey; Still downloading. Not looking too forward to them (you know how I feel about the 'new' Diru) since they went absent during Muteki Band performance. Hmm.


6. Spread Beaver; Yes, now I'm looking forward to something good. Bring on the best of hide's music, baby.

A couple more bands available to download are Versailles, heidi and the Underneath. Dare I ask if
T.M.Revolution,
Phantasmagoria and
OBLIVION DUST gets uploaded? I wanna see Takenori-san!

On a more general issue, Hyung's now back from Tokyo (Okaeri!). And guess which ultra famous blonde Jrocker she saw jaywalking at Shibuya wearing-shades-at-night, talking-oh-so-loud and ignoring-all-the-pointings-and-mutterings-and-fan-worshippings?

Holy pffffft. Yep. Yoshiki-sama. *cries* How come I only realise she was there during the festival weekend?!

Memoirs of a male geisha

I CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH! xDD Thanks to twinnie for letting me know vids are already up. And thank God I just bought an external HDD Luna Sea @ hide Memorial Summit *rolls over and dies*

The X torrent will be next. Dunno why each group performances are being split apart. My guess would be the easier for fandoms?

X and LS and MUCC (Tats + Miya) and TMR all on one stage, together, will totally pwn my life right now. And then there are all the rest of the summit days with DesRay , Spread Beaver and Diru.. *throws work-stress out the window*

Band-sy weekend

Tomorrow's the FT concert day. Will be meeting Liza (gave her a mighty shocker when I mentioned this! - I forgot to tell her I already bought us tickets) at LRT KJ where Noviar&Ayu are gonna pick us up.

*sends milk, cookies and much-needed-hugs for the concert organiser. FIGHTING!!* Hope I'll be able to see the girls tomorrow. ;_;

Am currently listening to MUCC's "Shion" and I dare say that I'm pretty pleased with the outcome of their latest album. It took several repeats to really warm up to but the overall feel is still fundamentally post-"6" MUCC with more experimental flavours thrown in. The arrangements are much better this time, as Miya gets a lot more limelight than usual eventhough he sounded meek on most guitar solos. A little less grunge, still as angsty and a lot more poppish. Yeah, "Shion" is still in need of more of 'a little of this and that' but this album is not bad. Not bad at all.

I'm a bit disconcerted over why I keep listening to Tourbillon's "Break the Chain" (It's the opening song for Kamen Rider Kiva after all D:). I guess I still am in awe with Ryuichi's Luna Sea-esque voice. The little Monkichi. *pats Ryu's head*

Oh, after my daily rations over at jrockynyc I just realised that X Japan's concert was friggin yesterday! Oops.. my week was a little hectic that I hadn't the patience to read Jrock news of late. Anyway, can't wait to watch Sugizo! hihihihihihihihi xDD I love Hikkichan.

Apart from the concert, I'm also downing Juno Reactor's newest goa trance album "Gods & Monsters". Good stuff, this. Good stuff. MOAR Sugizo goodness, yum ♥