8/3/11 Releases (Part 2): Kimura Kaela, LAMA, NoGod

Before I go on with the reviews, I want to pass along a tidbit of knowledge that I learned this week: S/milage makes terrible, horrible music. So horrible that I don't even want to review it. Seriously, this group has no excuses for itself.

Okay, well, now that that's out of the way, let's get onto what was good!

Kimura Kaela, "Kodoairaku Plus Ai"
Single, Pop

I cannot express how much I love "Kidoairaku Plus Ai." I've listened to it and it's instrumental nine times each since Thursday, watched the PV countless times, and have started singing it to my son. I've looked up the lyrics, I've translated an interview with Kaela, and I'm thinking of doing a lyrics translation as well, all because of this song. I'm trying to memorize it for karaoke, even though there isn't a Japanese karaoke place within 100 hundred miles. This song has single-handedly reversed my opinion of Kaela's music, much the way that "ENDLESS NIGHT" turned around my opinion of HALCALI. "Kidoairaku Plus Ai" is a pop-rock song with way more emphasis on the rock. It has a great synth presence that makes the song sound really unique, and the quick tempo and repetitive guitar and bass lines create a great feeling that's a mix between sprinting and long-distance running. (I think I finally understand what interviewers mean when they say that a song has a "scampering" feeling.) The distorted "Get Ready" line just makes me squee every time I hear it, and it's in the song three damn times. It's wonderful and beautiful and fun and I wish that I could have it on endless loop in my head. The instrumental is essentially identical to the original because of the synth version of Kaela's voice that's under her regular voice in the original version. Normally having a song repeat on a single would bother me, but remember how I want this song on endless loop? My only problem with the single is the B-side, "Hoshi no Tane." It's not bad - actually, it's really good: it has a much cuter, poppier sound than "Kidoairaku Plus Ai" but still has fun synth and adds some very endearing piano - but I dislike it on the single because it interrupts to the flow of all the "Kidoairaku Plus Ai" madness. I actually wish this song was on a completely different single so that I could listen to it and love it for what it is, without just seeing it as a break from "Kidoairaku Plus Ai" that I don't want. But if you aren't as fanatically in love with the first track as I am, you'll probably love the single as a whole - it's great, and the instrumentals are actually good instead of horrible filler like on most singles. This is one that's worth the money.

LAMA, "Spell"
Single, Alternative Rock

This is LAMA's first single, and I already want another one. The style is elctro-pop-rock that's airy and cool without being cerebral or atmospheric. It's very approachable, and has a lot of energy. This isn't music that you could sleep to; this is music for a party. "Spell" is a party-opener with a very light tone combined with a really fast tempo, and it's catchy without sticking in your head like yesterday's gum on a shoe. "one day" is a party-pre-closer, telling your friends that they should get another drink soon because it's crossed your mind that you should kick them out in...maybe another couple hours. The vocals are very high pitched, but the mixing has them leveled down lower than vocals usually are, which helps take the edge off and gives it more of a techno feel that I'm very okay with. The "Spell" remix takes the techno feeling to the next level by throwing every noise on the synthesizer at the song. Some of that's cool, and some isn't as cool. But being as how it's the only song on the single that's on the weaker side and it's only a remix, I don't think it counts heavily against the single as a whole. Definitely check this one out.

NoGod, "Genjitsu"
Album, Rock

Was was first introduced to NoGod during during a GK AA, and although I liked their song "Kamikaze," they didn't really catch my attention. Happily, they got it back this week! Sadly, it took them half their album to do it. The album opens with "Kamikaze," and I was surprised to find that I was happy to hear it again, as though it was a friend I hadn't seen in a few weeks. Unfortunately, after that the album hits a rough patch: "Kowaremono" isn't very memorable or interesting, "downer's high!" has a weird (but definitely memorable) choral aspect to their backup vocals, "Yasashisa no Imi" is the obligatory boring-ass ballad. "Raise a Flag" is next, and it gets my hopes up a little, but it still sounds pretty generic and just a little too happy. It's not until the next track, "Aishitekure," that the music gets really good. The album gets moving from there, and the quality is high enough that you can get lost in the music at that point. This is hard, no-frills rock with a very slight 80s vibe. There's some really strong work on the bass, and the shredding on the guitar is solid and frequently pushed to the forefront. I particularly like "Aishitekure" because of the desperate sound that it has (and because that's just a cool title) and "Tenba, Sore wo Iku ga Gotoku" for being a great song despite having no lyrics. I can't recommend buying it, I'm afraid, since half of it isn't really that good, but at least it helped NoGod recapture my attention.

8/3/11 Releases (Part 1): DOMINO, STRAIGHENER, LOSTAGE

STRAIGHTENER, "STRAIGHTENER"
Album, Rock

Holy crap, you guys. I love STRAIGHTENER. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. (Why do I consistently forget them in lists of my favorite bands? Because my mind has been on a mission to sabotage me ever since I started trying to spread the J-music love.) This self-titled album is everything that I've been wanting out of a rock album lately. Although I'm always in the mood for a truckload of kick-ass in my rock songs, I'm not always in the mood for something upbeat or angry. Unfortunately, those two emotions make up about 99% of the rock scene, so I get to suck it up and deal. STRAIGHTENER heads in that direction with this album, but not before making several interesting pit stops; the emotional texture moves in a progression from uncertainty, brooding, and desperation to bright, but not sappy, confidence. All the songs are strong and hard, but many have an atmospheric quality not commonly found in rock pieces. Best of all, the track order moves the album logically from one point to another, as though STRAIGHTENER is telling a continuing story with each song. "A LONG WAY TO NOWHERE" opens the album with a brooding sound, and "Pleiades" moves the vibe forward, going more toward the depressed end of the spectrum, but without getting whiny or pathetic. "VANDALISM -prototype-" is more upbeat, but in a quirky, slightly crazy way. "KINGMAKER" takes the crazy vibe and runs with it. "YOU and I" is almost buoyant, but with sad undertones; "LEAP IN THE DARK" moves forward the buoyant feeling but adds a touch of determination in place of the sadness; "Koori no Kuni no Byakuya" moves both emotions forward, with determination taking a more prominent role; "SILLY PARADE" moves into determination and a little anger; "CRY" sounds freer with an emotional profile that's hard to pin down; "PROLOGUE" is heavier and more confident; "Hitsuji no Mure ha Oku wo Noboru" is confident and cool. The album ends with "VANISH -prototype-" which brings back the atmospheric quality from the beginning with interesting use of synth and combines it with the confident feeling of the songs just previous to it. Because of this sublet progression, this is a great album for taking you out of a funk and making you enjoy life even when life doesn't seem that great. I highly recommend this one; it'll likely make my Top 5 of the year.

DOMINO, "GO GiRL"
Single, Pop

Although this single isn't terribly strong as a whole, the A-side attracted my attention enough to get it an honorable mention. That A-side, "GO GiRL," has lean instrumentation (just vocals and a few layers of synth), a simple beat, and a simple melody which, rather than adding up to a boring piece of work, combine to make a fun, catchy song that will animate your limbs with its magical powers and force you to dance. Yeah, it's actually sort of creepy how good this song is. The second track, "Sunrise," is also surprisingly good - more of that lean instrumentation and back-to-basics approach to the melody and beat that are just the thing to listen to when you want to move. Although the approach doesn't work quite as well as it does in "Sunrise," it's still a fun song that's easy to listen to. Unfortunately, the other four tracks are just boring. It's like DOMINO ran out of steam but kept going anyway. "Ima" is a bland pop ballad, "BRAND NEW DAY" sounds like it was born to be a B-side (not a compliment), and "Chocolate Muffin" is actively annoying. Oh, and the final track is an instrumental. Yeah. So this definitely isn't a single to buy, but definitely listen to the A-side, even if it means having to watch the year's most heavily tutued PV.

LOSTAGE, "CONTEXT"
Mini-album, Rock

LOSTAGE plays gritty indies rock, and after some of the more laid-back and poppy content of the last few weeks, it's nice to hear something harder and louder and less polished. "HELL" starts the album out like a punch in the face, and the punches keep coming from there. Unfortunately, much like one punch in the face feels about the same as any other, their heavier rock tracks are similarly unmemorable. Thankfully, it's not all unmemorable rock. "Rakuen" has an almost reggae beat during the verses, then moves to a more cerebral and languid vibe - with xylophones! - during the last half of the song; "Iu," combines sections of heavier punk-esque guitar and vocals in the verses with long wailing vocals and some acoustic in the hook for a unique performance; "NEVERLAND" is lighter in the vocals and guitar during the verses, with contrasting harshly distorted guitar in the hook. So, since it's a mini-album, that means that half the songs are memorable, and half aren't. That sure as hell doesn't sound like something I'd recommend, and I guess it's not even that I want to recommend it. Instead, "CONEXT" shows LOSTAGE's potential, and especially after listening to "Rakuen" I'm excited to see how much further they can go.

THE TOKYO HIGH BLACK Releasing Digital Single on 8/11

From Tokyohive

PS Company’s super band, THE TOKYO HIGH BLACK, has announced a comeback!

The “mixed band” consists of Alice Nine’s rhythm guitarist Tora and bassist Saga, Kra’s vocalist Keiyuu, and former Kagrra bassist NAOKI. D=out’s bassist Reika and SCREW’s drummer Jin are being added to the group as support members, making the band even more irresistible for visual kei fans.

The group will be releasing a new digital single on August 11th titled “wanna see u“, breaking the year-long silence since the group announced their major label debut. The group also plans to hold a revival stage at Tokyo’s C.C. Lemon Hall on August 16th.

Stay tuned for more from THE TOKYO HIGH BLACK!

Although I've never heard of HIGH-BLA or listened to any of their music, I'm excited to see where this goes! I love the bands they come from, and all the mixed bands that I've heard before (THE PREDATORS, Acid Black Cherry) have been great, and I'm sure HIGH-BLA will be too!

While I was looking for info on them, I found this video of them that's been subbed in English. Thanks to whoever put the hard work into this!



Musasaby = Naoki (formerly Kagrra,)
Mon-Marshy = Tora (Alice Nine)
Tako-chan = Reika (D=out)
Tomorrow Joe = Saga (Alice Nine)
GEY = Keiyuu (Kra)
Madao = Jin (SCREW)
(and seriously, if I have any of those wrong, someone let me know)

7/20/11 Releases (Part 2): MAA, Kimaguren, Milky Bunny, Sakanaction, One Ok Rock

Time for more reviews! LET'S DO THIS.

MAA, "Okay"
Single, Dance

Although the releases from last week (and several weeks previous) don't really show it, I'm a sucker for dance music. Even so, this single is so weird for me, because "Okay" would normally fall into my "Meh, it's dance music" pile that I listen to but don't feel like promoting. But despite all my attempts to chuck this single into that pile, it seems to climb back out of it's own damn volition. Although the music itself is fine, the thing about this single that really catches my attention is MAA's voice. It's much lower than most female singers in Japan, and it has this lazy quality that makes it seem as though she's saying "Yeah, I'm a good singer. Whatever." Normally that would cause me to fly to Japan and chuck things at people's heads, but I find it infectious with "Okay." The title track is good, but I really prefer "F.B" out of the two. (Although it has this barfing sound at the end that always ruins the song for me. If I can skip past that, though, I'm solid.) The final track, "Tomorrow @ Your Kingdom," is very minimalistic and starts to approach techno, which is really great for me. Overall, the music is solid, but the most standout part of this single is MAA's voice and I'm interested to hear more.

Kimaguren, Hotarubi
Single, Pop/Reggae

I found this album very refreshing. Although I really love the laid back, easy style that I heard all last week, I was starting to get bored of "laid back." Okay, okay, okay. "Hotarubi" is laid back. But it also has plenty of energy, and there's such minimal instrumentation on each song that it brightens the laid back feel like a squeeze of lemon in your water. The light reggae feeling (and I emphasize the word "light") gives the music a Carribean feeling without making you want to smoke a joint and shoot your brains out because you're listening to island music. Both "Hotarubi" and "Bucket List" and very easy to listen to, and I just can't pick which I like better. The instrumental of "Hotarubi" is even more minimalistic, but good. It's hard to say what the world is coming to when I say something like that, but I can only assume that it's a generally positive direction. Worth a listen if you want a little lemon in your water after last week's picks.

Milky Bunny, "Bunny Days"
Single, Pop

I. Cannot. Believe. That. I. Am. Writing. About. This. Single. I saw it on the list and thought, "Well, there's a waste of bandwidth. At least I'll be able to skip it after one track." I mean, it has a girl on the front in a Playboy bunny outfit. The group name is Milky Bunny. It's the epitome of what I don't want to like in Japanese music: over-Westernized and grasping at a cuteness that it will never achieve because it has no idea what the hell it's doing. But the music was actually...pretty good. Unlike AKB48, there's no trace of "over-voice" (i.e., 6,000 tiny Japanese girls singing together), and the singer has a surprisingly good voice. Although the title track is a little strained in places, it's essentially a classic rock-feeling piece that's fun and upbeat. The better song is "Song For..." which is really pretty and simple, despite it's horribly cliched name. Even the instrumentals are good! Although this isn't my favorite single of the pack, and the songs aren't necessarily all that memorable or amazing, I feel that I needed to relate my surprise and shock at finding my preconceptions challenged. Try this single out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Sakanaction, "Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei Desu"
Single, Electronic Rock

Ah, Sakanaction. The makers of "Aruku Around." I love these guys. When I saw them on my list this week I was happy and relieved because I knew there would be at least one good CD. As always this is a disc full of electronic rock that just blows the mind. The title track, with it's title so long that I usually just reduce it to "Bach," is energetic and desperate sounding. There's a great use of chorals, and it's interesting to hear the piano against the strongly electronic sound that Sakanaction has. (I find it jarring, but it makes sense in the context of the PV, which you should watch if you have any interest in being my friend.) "Years" is slow and intense, with great use of a stuttering sound in the electronic elements. "Right Dance" (single remix isn't linked, but you'll get the idea) has awesome opening drums and an interesting vibe that plays back to the 80s but still sounds fresh and updated. My favorite part about Sakanaction is how they keep the synth interesting so that it contributes to the priece raher than simply adding it to the back of the music like so many other bands. I know, I know - they're electro rock and that's their M.O. Well some genres should get credit just for being smart about how they make music, okay?

ONE OK ROCK, "Re:Make/NO SCARED"
Single, Rock

This is a good single, but I was somehow expecting more from it. I was really taken back by how good "SELECTION" was, and this single just seems weak in comparison. Don't get me wrong: "Re:Make" is good (and I love the PV, which you need to check out via their Facebook page; just trust me) and it's sort of Panic At The Disco vocals is really interesting to hear out of a Japanese band. "NO SCARED" is far and away the harder of the two A-sides, and also a great song with more screamed vocals. But when you hold these songs up to "Kanzen Kanaku Dreamer" and "Answer Is Near," there's just no comparison. I wish that I could pin down the reason for you, but I'm not sure what it is myself. Maybe it's that "Re:Make" and "NO SCARED" feel less polished? I don't know that it's that, either. All I know is that I would listen to "Kanzen" and "Answer" until they evaporated from exhaustion, but "Re:Make" and "NO SCARED" just don't get that kind of commitment from me. Don't get me wrong: this is a really great single (except for "Rock,Scissors,Paper" - blugh amatuerish blugh), but it's just not where I was expecting ONE OK ROCK to be.

7/20/11 Releases (Part 1) and Update

What with the continual Robot War skirmishes at my house, I've been getting so behind on listening to music that I'm afraid there won't be a Part 2 for the 7/13 releases. There was a lot of good music that I did get to listen to (which I'll list below so you can check it out) and a lot that I suspected would be good but didn't have time to listen to (which I'll also list), but that's precisely why I can't post on them; there's too much, and I started too late on that week. So: my apologies.

As for the week of 7/20, so far I've listened to Buono ("Natsu Dakara!"), Ikimonogakari ("Warattetainda/NEW WORLD MUSIC"), and NMB48 ("Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo") and it's all boring and lame. I'll be getting more music from this release week today, and I'll (hopefully) have some good music for you on Saturday!


GOOD STUFF FROM 7/13
ViViD, "BLUE" -- VK, single
NIKIIE, "*(NOTES)" -- Pop rock, album
School Food Punishment, "Prog-Roid" -- Rock, album
Fear, And Lothing in Las Vegas, "NEXTREME" -- Rock, EP
Naomi & Goro & Naruyoshi, "Calendula" -- alternative, album

HEARD IT'S GOOD, BUT DIDN'T GET TO HEAR
Arukara, "Kocchi wo Miteiru" -- Rock, album
Straightener, "YOU & I/Hitsu no Muro ha Oku wo Noboru" -- Rock, single