鏡花水月’s Neighborhood

First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!

The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.

A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.

Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.

On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.

And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!

~ daisy

 

As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.

The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.

When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.

It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.

Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.

As always, thanks for your patience.

~daisy

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.

We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.

I will keep you posted.

Thank you for being so patient.

~daisy

Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.

This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!

Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.

Can't wait to read your posts!

~ daisy

Release date: 7.10.2009.
Price: ￥ 1,785
NO: KICM-91290

Track list
1. BEFORE I DECAY [PV]
2. 瞞し (Mayakashi)

So... After a bit less than 3 months the GazettE present us with another single, which was shortly announced after the release of their 4th album DIM. DIM was a utter masterpiece and you don't simply go and release anything else after such a piece of an album right away, unless it was something that didn't fit into the album concept anyways but had enough potential to be released. I think this might be the case with Before I Decay, although the band itself expressed a simple wish to create a "simple, speed song" after DIM. And that is basically what BEFORE I DECAY is.

BEFORE I DECAY is a uptempo, furious, speed song with a lot of notes flying around and Ruki blasting his vocal folds out with raw growls. The beginning with the verses feels like a faster version of Zetsu's riff coupled with the distorted, noisy and ALMOST IDENTICAL riffs from CIRCLE OF SWINDLER. A few subtle metal licks add a bit to the variety but not as much as they did in LEECH. The chorus is the only thing in this song that feels a bit unpolished and done in a bigger haste than the rest, you could basically sing the MOTH UNDER SKIN chorus over it and it would fit. And when it comes to singles the GazettE haven't done a single original (excluding maybe Guren) chorus since Filth in the Beauty. Basically if you were to judge a song by it's first half it would seem rather generic as hell. The second half brings some pleasant surprises though, from the rhythm change in the pre chorus to the growly breakdown and the refreshing, calm and flickering moment after it followed by some amazing guitar tapping and alternate verse which sounds really intense, tight and cathartic before moving to the good, old chorus. It's incredible how this little part of the song adds so much potential and character to it! It's like when I first listened to SHADOW VI II I, I was fascinated by this one acoustic part to it and I could basically just listen to the song because of that part, (even though with time I grew to like the song overall) so I have a reminiscent same feel with BEFORE I DECAY.
So this song is cool enough to have it's own single and distinction, but it's on the other hand too generic to compete with some of the masterpieces off DIM (though I'd really change it for Headache man....). And this song is being used in the Japanese edition of the movie FAST AND FURIOUS, but not like I care about that.

Mayakashi leaves me with pretty split feelings about it. I really don't like the high main wah wah melody that repeats and sounds more like something I'd come across in a forgettable Alice nine. B-side or at some other "Light" indies band. The verses and pre-chorus are AND IF I FUCKING WILL HAVE TO WRITE THIS ALL OVER FOR THE THIRD TIME I WILL SHOOT SOMEONE, FUCK YOU VOX AND FIREFOX   really smooth and sound a bit like the song Kare Uta coupled with the transiting riffs of Gentle Lie, giving off a certain happy-reminiscent feel. The chorus sounds pretty undeveloped, like it would go into the right direction if it was given time and thought, which is not the case with this single. The main problem with this song is the same one that Shiroki Yuuutsu had on DIM: it's a song  the is good as a standalone, but placed next to a harder song it simply doesn't click. Eventually this song will grow on me, given the right time and context. But the certain pre-FILTH IN THE BEAUTY feel this song has will certainly make a lot of reminiscent listeners happy.

So overall BEFORE I DECAY brings a standard Gazetto sound with it enhanced with a few touches but not so polished and thoughtful as it was with DIM. But as the guys have stated before, it's a song that doesn't want to compete with it (or otherwise it would end up on the album). For me this release came way too sudden and my impressions for DIM haven't settled completely in order for me to get hyped about a new release. Before I Decay did exceed my expectations based on the preview, though the B-side came different from what I had imagined it to be based on the song title. The songs themselves are, in the end, really more than decent and I am sure that I'll give this release a lot of spins. So if you like the band this release is almost impossible to come by. And this band has already done so much this year so that this single is just the cherry-on-top.

Release date: 16.9.2009.
Price: ￥3,990
NO: LPO-014

Track list
1.LAST Shell
2.FILMY [PV]
3.BLAZE
4.VENOM
5.Needle
6.Reservation
7.ATHENA
8.IN RUBBISH
9.M.D.M.A
10.MIGRANT
11.DETOX [PV]
12.Breathe trees

After existing five years on the scene, the hard'n'heavy Visual kei band -OZ- released it's first full-blooded album. Along with the powerful singles VENOM and DETOX this is the third release that this band has given us this year. For those unfamiliar with -OZ- ; the quintet has formed in 2004. with the members including the vocalist Natsuki, guitarist Tama and Aki, bassist Nao and drummer Zukki, this band slowly but surely started gaining fans from the start with their furious, heavy rock music often on the boarder of metalcore with grinding guitars, pumped up rhythm and interesting vocal lines as well as one of the best growls delivered by their singer and lyricist Natsuki. The band has been delivering in a slow but still regular tempo various releases and their songs have been featured on a lot of omnibuses. The band is currently signed on the label LOOP ASH and is as such their most hardest band.

The album begins with the guitar flickering intro to LAST Shell before exploding in a sharp and hard mass of riffs. The verses are slow, mesmerizing and with a thick, ominous mood. Damn it's just the kind of verses I like and the kind of verses I'd make if I was making music, damn you -OZ-. The song builds up tension in the pre-chorus and stretches in a huge, powerful and wide chorus followed by an excellent, vibrating guitar solo. If anything these guys know how to deliver energy and how to soar with their songs sky high. And LAST Shell is not just an great example of it, it is a great song.

FILMY starts off with this really twisted riff and rages with grinding distorted guitars and hoarse, brutal growls. The verses go in a fast pace with high guitar tones over it, following a growling pre-chorus and again a soaring, shining chorus. Really FILMY seems like an intense follow up to the excellent song DETOX. Right before the bone-breaking breakdown is a groovy bass solo, following a wonderful guitar solo. This song is simply intense and doesn't calm down, not a second and such are more-less all the songs on this album.

BLAZE's main riff sounds like stone breaking, powerfuuullll. The pre-chorus is dangerously in the extreme metal territory, just as the short solo after the quite inappropriate bright chorus that somehow just pops-out and sounds almost "gospel" because of it's mass chore feel. VENOM comes as a small reminder on this years, same-titled single that has got really good intro riff before going into some really strange verses and very tight packed chorus, though I have to admit sometimes -OZ- does deliver songs which have parts that don't really seem to have a logical melody or logic at all and VENOM is one of them, though saved by really excellent and hard riffs.

Needle brings some heavy groove to the record just as Perfect Ruler did on the single VENOM, but Needle's groove is more worked out, cooler and moodier. Interesting the verses could pass as real metal thanks to their guitars while the chorus delivers this pretty cathartic, wide and intense feel like one of their songs Fade which I really love when it comes to some Visual kei songs. One of my favorites here. Reservation seems to continue onto Needle but it is more faster and more vicious. And again the heavy guitars come as irresistible for fans of distortion. Reservation gives a lot of growling and a pretty upbeat chorus that pulls out the best of Natsuki's pretty high pitched vocals.

Interesting enough was to see their almost pure-metal song ATHENA coming on the album, but the excitement was somehow watered down by the fact that this album version had way blander singing than the original and less dynamics, but still brings some diverse and dynamic guitars this band has to offer. Sadly the song had to experience some changes because the original really kicked ass. On the other hand I am glad S.I.N didn't make it to the album because it was quite average. IN RUBBISH opens up with some fast and razor sharp riffs and again I feel like a total sucker because I absolutely adore the brutal guitars this band has along with their raw, explosive energy. IN RUBBISH also emerges as a gem on this album with an excellent pre-chorus where Natsuki's voice comes out very raw and very clean, which is cool enough to make this song stand out. The rest of the song develops in this usual, catchy growl-distortion storm that is bound to torment you all the way.

M.D.M.A is another mosh-grind fest but with this oriental touch in guitars as well as dark, almost demonic verses and a sweeping, big, interesting chorus that blows anything in it's way. MIGRANT has got this one downbreaking, dark, fucking epic riff that would be an excellent bas for a fucking killer song, but in MIGRANT it doesn't seem to have this strong role unfortunately. MIGRANT has got this really odd vocal melody lines, just like VENOM for which you don't know whether to love them or hate them, while the rest of the song has got this usual, brilliant guitars.

Following MIGRANT comes the excellent, uprising song DETOX which came from the same-titled single. With it's anthem chorus and character, powerful guitars, bright as well as dark moments DETOX is sure to lift anyones spirits up as well as encourage. Really excellent song.

The beautiful, glimmering Breathe Trees serves as an excellent, yet reminiscent ending to this album as well as it's one of it's best songs. The pre chorus and chorus remind me on some Visual kei song I can't really recall, but I know I have heard this bright vocal line coupled with sustained chords. Overall the song lifts us once more sky high and loudly as well as strong ends this exceptionally strong album.

It's enough to be a fan of fierce, hard Visual kei songs with distorted guitars, blasting rhythm as well as with a lot of bestial growls and soaring choruses altogether packed with unbeatable energy because it's the basic formula all songs of the album Versus are based, almost without any exception. This is really awesome if you are a fan of the band and their effective, although not very original riffs. So if you're hooked on them, you'll have no complaints to this album. But to be somehow objective about it, this album most of the time sounds like an undifferentiated rage and loudness fest that blends in into almost one track. You will know how the whole album sounded overall, but you won't remember the individual tracks (not before spinning it a lot of times), so it's not very versatile in terms of song construction and innovation.

But what this album does deliver is the very best this band has to offer and every song is filled with such energy that it's almost impossible not to feel at lest a bit excited about it. Their live performances must really be an exhilarating experience because by just listening the songs on the stereo you feel almost overwhelmed by their raw energy, which isn't held back not even for a moment.

So overall -OZ- really gave the best of their brutal style and met with all of their fans expectations, not going beyond them but also not delivering anything below. -OZ- fans as well as the fans of the harder Visual kei bands such as UnsraW, Sadie and similar really have a reason to be excited with VERSUS. So if you're looking for an energy and rawness driven soundtrack you're no better off with anything other than -OZ-.  

Okay I admit this is not so auditory perfect (but it's not it's intention) just about how awesome it is.

I am impressed with Tsukasa! He has beaten all of my expectations for his vocal capabilities! Okay so he may have turned Brilliant on a couple of moments into a rock-enka hybrid, but I think it just additionally adds to the charms of his singing. He may not be the best singer you have heard, but he certainly isn't tone deaf and his timbre is very pleasant. If I could, I'd chose him over Hizumi on certain songs or even add him as a support singer on some. It would really freshen up their sound, though Tsukasa's voice might be a bit to gentle for D'espa, but on the other hand I can't claim that they have been hard nowadays as they used to.

Karyu was fantastic in the role of a drummer! So good that I even forgot it was him there on the drums, he really has got a good sense of rhythm and a lot of energy. Hizumi was ok, not perfect but he did concentrate. Where about Zero just cheated, we know bassists are/were in a point of their life guitarists also. So he did kinda got away with it didn't he?

Man I just love role changes, they can get pretty awesome. I wish more bands would do this. Overall I think D'espairsRay would be good even with changed roles like on this video, but I guess they've picked  the roles that suit them the best and that it what makes D'espairsRay's sound so powerful and amazing.

The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.

Have a great weekend,

daisy, Team Vox