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This is kinda random, but I came across this post a second ago and found it hilarious!  There's a lot of stupid crap in humour comms that's not at all funny, but every once in a while you find an observation that rings true, like this one about Kyo of Diru's new hairstyle.

ROFL!!! XD the last picture is so wrong!  Haah, but I've always found it amusing that as Dir en grey's music has grown harder and more metal influenced, Kyo's look has become increasingly less and less hardcore.  Though the band ditched the visual-kei aesthetics, the members have been adopting a typical metal band look (band t-shirts, leather jackets, constant dark sunglasses, long unruly/shaved hair, goatees, etc.).  But I mean, from the darkest, heaviest metal artists donned in studs and leather to those who don't bother with appearances and go around in disheveled t-shirts and jeans...tracksuits and fluffy soft hair just DO NOT WORK. 
Sure, a lot of metal artists have long hair, but it tends to be all wild and unkempt, not super smooth like something out of a shampoo commercial! >.<  That hairstyle works for pop idols and maybe some oshare-kei bands, but seriously...despite the hair's headbanging potential, it doesn't quite match Diru's mission to make screaming, thrashing, soul-crushingly despairing, hardcore music. -_-lll  It seems Kyo has yet again been defeated by the fluffy cuteness factor...maybe he's just given up? ^_^;

Here's another tidbit of fun...an good impersonation of Hirai Ken's 'POP STAR' (though the original itself is funny enough, really...check it out if you don't already know it...it makes me smile, heehee).

A ton of awesome releases are coming up in the next few weeks as well as later in the summer, so many exciting previews of what's to come are continuing to be released.  THE KIDDIE have put out a pv preview for their upcoming single 'elite STAR+'!  It looks really good and the song sounds interesting as well.  Their look for this release vaguely reminds me of the one for 'Sayonara Setsuna', probably because they seem to be using similar greys, darks, and whites paired with blue hues and animal print accents.  The single comes out July 8th...I can't wait to hear the full song! : )

In addition, girugamesh have posted new looks and the cd cover for their upcoming single 'BORDER', which is due for release August 5th.  They're going at a pretty fast pace with their releases, and once again have chosen to do a single (though they hadn't done so in ages before 'ALIVE', tending to release albums instead).  I suspect this is partially because of the long Crazy Crazy Crazy tour they finished earlier this year, since they probably wrote good amount of material while on the road (they even started recording parts of 'ALIVE' during it).  The cover for 'BORDER' is unexpected but somehow just what one would expect from girugamesh...乾杯！ ^_^;　さすがだね（笑） But I have no idea what's up with all the random Americana in the background...I guess we'll have to wait for an interview with the guys to enlighten us on that one.
  
Anyway, the boys seem to be sticking to hoodies+jeans for now, but this time have opted for black zip-up style ones with white designs on either side of the chest and down one arm.  Nii and Shuu look almost the same as before except for some minor changes, but Satoshi's gotten rid of the perm and cut his hair short again...it really suits him and goes well with his face shape.  However, when I saw the new photos I was immediately wowed by how adorable Ryo looks!  His hair is also short but more conventionally styled (no braids or half up, half down styling), and it makes him look even younger and *gasp* slightly feminine when he poses like that in his solo photo, but it's cute and an interesting change. ^_^

girugamesh have been gradually shifting to a softer, more handsome, clean look for a while now.  If you look at their style over time they went from dark and scary, heavy make-up, contacts, and spiky dyed hair to limited eyeliner and natural all black hair, as well as transitioning from the formal black suits to casual wear.  Though they've shown it before, with this I believe they can definitely break the unfortunate (and untrue!) idea among some fans that girugamesh is an ugly band for good.

On completely different, more personal note, I made an amazing discovery today!  First off, I realized a little over a year ago that I'm mildly lactose intolerant which explained why I couldn't stand eating too much cream/dairy-based sauces and I hate drinking milk.  However, I've always been a big fan of cereal, and like to have it for breakfast, but as I ingested less and less milk I became less tolerant and more disgusted by it, so I tried to find a good alternative.  I used soy milk for a while, but found the beany aftertaste a bit unappetizing unless masked by chocolate flavour, but I didn't want to use that all the time since it has so much sugar and overpowers the cereal. 
So I was at a loss for some time while I searched for a good alternative, but milk substitutes are often hard to find and dominated by soy-based products.  There is rice milk, but that didn't sound much better than soy milk.  But, today for the first time I found almond milk at Whole Foods, and was overjoyed!  I'd always wanted to try it but could never get it anywhere before and thought it might be more expensive, but actually it was priced very similar to the cow's milk.  So, I bought a carton of the vanilla flavoured and tested it when I got home....it was incredibly delicious!  None of the heaviness of soy milk, and way smoother and more refreshing...plus, I actually like the faint taste of almonds.  The word あっさり perfectly describes it!  It was seriously like love at first taste...I'm totally hooked now. XD  I definitely recommend almond milk to anyone who's interested in a cow's milk substitute for whatever reason.
[Amusingly enough, even this does in a way relate to music...one of the first times I heard of almond milk was ages ago in some tv interview with Yoshiki where he said he doesn't drink cow's milk, he drinks almond milk! :D]

The three limited edition versions of Versailles' new major debut single 'Ascendead Master' each came with one part of a little movie the band made to go with the theme of the song.  Of course, it involves vampires, eternal life, roses, and the "descendants of the rose" story that they've created as their fictional historical background.  Happily, and somewhat against my expectations, the movie isn't too bad!  It's good quality and well shot, with actors who do a fairly decent job of their performances, and though all the members appear, they don't make any overly forced attempts to act much in the film themselves (since let's face it, acting is generally not a strong point for rockers >_<).  Only Kamijo has actual lines (in English) that he says himself, though Jasmine You has a creepy English voiceover to speak for him (by the way, I found the role he was cast in ironically funny XP).  Kamijo's English is...interesting, and rather heavily accented, but I suppose it works with his role as a vampire. ^_^;

So, overall I'm glad to see Versailles were smart with their choices in directing this little movie, though they had a hell of a team of people working on this, as you can see from the credits.  The short plot has some holes and isn't the most believable story ever, since the length is limited and was obviously created to fit around the concepts of the single, but is surprisingly well-thought out for what it is, and you have to give them credit for putting in this much effort and trying to make it somewhat deep.  Though the movie neared the borders of ridiculousness in the third section with all the drama at the press conference [the part from 3:00 is epic lulz], I didn't find it horribly silly or trite overall, so props to Versailles for keeping it relatively sensible.  I think of the many mini-movies made by visual-kei bands over the years (e.g. Malice Mizer, An Cafe, alice nine.), this is perhaps the best.  Here are parts one, two and three.

Aaah, I can't get this song out of my head!  It's 'Ai' by Otsuka Ai off her latest album 'LOVE LETTER'.  Normally I don't listen to much mainstream pop, but I have a lot of memories of this song from Japan, since it was in a commercial on tv all the time and my host parents had the cd and loved to play it during dinner parties or in the car.  That also means it does nothing to help curb my still frequent little bouts of depression at not being in Japan anymore...I really really really miss it so much, but I know I have to move on and be 前向き if I want to make it back there, which I am determined to do.

'Koakuma Heaven', the first of Gackt's ongoing four consecutive single releases celebrating his 10th anniversary as a solo artist, has understandably caused quite a stir among his fans and people who follow the Japanese music scene in general.  I'm not a huge fan of Gackt, but I just wanted to talk a bit about a few issues surrounding this release.  There were people who liked it and people who hated it, which is natural, but what makes me sad is that many in the international community criticized it without understanding what the song is about and what he was trying to do here.  Of course, there's often a lot of unavoidable misunderstanding simply because of the language barrier, and you can't pin that on people like it's something bad that's their fault...it's also many people's gut reaction (including me!) to recoil whenever they hear such heavy vocal distortion and effects if the artist doesn't normally use them.  It just unfortunately seemed that even some pretty serious reviewers and fans didn't really know what to make of this song.

The shame in this is that in my opinion, it's one of the most interesting and creative songs Gackt's made in a long time, even though he himself explains that he was just joking around here.  His plan was to purposefully be silly and have fun with two of his four releases, and make the other two serious songs.  The most unique thing about this song is that he wrote it from a gyaru's perspective, even writing in gyaru moji.  A gyaru is a girl who adheres to a particular form of fashion and lifestyle in Japan, and while their interests and the activities they partake in are stereotyped to a degree, it doesn't mean a prostitute or anything of that sort (which I've come across in some interpretations of this song), but it could be related to being a hostess.  Gackt explains his intentions with this song in various interviews, including this one on Music Station which also features an...entertaining live performance. XD

I think it takes quite a bit of guts for a guy like Gackt to do something like this, especially since he went all out and dressed like a gyaru, as well as singing from the perspective of one of these girls.  It's actually a pretty admirable effort on his part to represent musically and take an intriguing look at this cultural phenomenon in Japan...but obviously meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and definitely shows his ever amusing sense of humor.  What makes it even funnier is that it's an almost a certain fact that Gackt is personally not a fan of this kind of style or way of speaking, yet pulls it off so well.  I find it refreshing and nice to see him looking so happy, having fun, and being more flexible with his work.  All the synthesizer and effects go perfectly with the over-done, sparkly image gyaru represent, as well as their attitude, which is reflected in the lyrics too.  Despite this, there's probably still people who hate it and won't start liking it any time soon, but I don't know, I would just hope people could at least appreciate it in some sense.

Most have probably already heard the sad news that Michael Jackson passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 50 on June 25th.  Despite all the scandals and weirdness that surrounded him over the years, he is truly an inspirational legend whose contributions undoubtedly changed the face of music and impacted people all over the world.  Like many others I couldn't believe the news when I first heard it...it's always a great shame to see such an iconic cultural figure pass, and especially unfortunate in Jackson's case since he was just about to embark on a three year world tour this July.  I really think no matter what you thought of Michael Jackson or his music, you cannot deny the greatness of his work...he will surely be forever remembered as the King of Pop!

There's a handful of releases coming out June 24th, including Versailles' new single 'Ascendead Master', Kiyoharu's new single 'Darlene', and Matenrou Opera's first full album 'ANOMIE'.  The pvs for them just came out, and though I'll probably discuss Matenrou Opera's album in full later, for now I'll only discuss the title track 'ANOMIE' and its pv in keeping with the others.

So first off, 'ANOMIE' totally blew away my expectations for this release!  I wasn't that impressed by the band's previous two singles, but this has completely turned things around for me...I think it's a different but positive sound shift for Matenrou Opera, and still very much within their style.  And of course, this is the song that confirmed Matenrou Opera is Anomie, the mysterious group that caused quite a bit of speculation earlier in the year, but it remains to be seen what their plans for this "alter-ego" are. 

From the mysterious, bass-driven intro, to the fast-paced, hard beat of the chorus and lovely string and piano accents, this song is almost like a culmination of the talent Matenrou Opera is really capable of.  With their previous releases, it was clear they had skill, but I always got the feeling they could do even better, like they'd come close but just short of the mark, and I think they've really developed with 'ANOMIE' and hit right on with this one.  Their song arrangement has improved, Sono's delivery is more controlled and consistent, and at least for me, compared to their other releases 'ANOMIE' grabs your attention and doesn't let go.  With many of their other works, I find I lose interest and want to move on after giving it one listen-through.  I mean, that's just my opinion and not true for all their music, but something I've noticed tends to happen with me.  Also, the pv for this song is light-years better than their video for 'Alkaloid Showcase' in almost every way...the quality's better, the camera angles, choreography, and the band's performance are all more interesting to watch this time around. : )  By the way, if you pay close attention you'll see that Matenrou appear in their white outfits as Anomie in the pv!  It makes me really curious as to how they're going to connect these two identities.

Next up, Kiyoharu's new single 'Darlene' isn't anything especially new or innovative for him, but a solid, good song as is to be expected.  I really like the underlying rhythm from the bass in this song, as well as the switch from loud guitar riffs to melodious high notes.  Oh, and as you've probably already noticed, the song's title is a girl's name...he seems to have a fondness for doing that (e.g. Emily, Layra) or else using 君　(="you") or "love" somewhere in the title. ^_^  Ah, he's become such a sweet softie in his music as he's matured...rather different from the SADS days and songs like 'Porno Star', hahaha (though I happen to like both equally...Kiyoharu rocks no matter what he's doing :D).

Finally, the new single 'Ascendead Master' from Versailles....oh, where to start.  Versailles has plenty of skill and talent, that is obvious, but where they sometimes fail is in their tendency to repeat and overdo things.  Well, then again one can validly argue the whole point of their act and visual theme IS to be over-the-top, gorgeous, and レネッサンス！ all the time, but the roses, frills, vampires, and big hair get kinda tiresome after awhile.  If at least the members wouldn't look almost the same with every new costume rotation (except for the all-mighty "vampire lord" Kamijo who gets to change more than just the cut of his outfit design, lol) and maybe include some different concepts once in a while, it'd be so much more interesting!  I suppose this is one of the major pitfalls of being a concept band, but I sort of hoped they'd manage to do more with it, especially visually, as time went on.

I mean, though I do enjoy their music and you can't deny the awesomeness of their guitar work or the charm of Kamijo's voice, I really wonder if they can keep this up forever.  (Besides, the whole self-absorbed, dramatic "omg, look at us, we're so beautiful and aristocratic!" gets old rather fast.)  I certainly like 'Ascendead Master' better than 'Prince & Princess' (though I really liked those white costumes they had for that single), and I think 'Ascendead' is a very good song, but sometimes I wish they'd put a bit more variety in their work and not be so ridiculous sometimes.  And I don't mean that with respect to their costumes or dresses (though I get the urge to rip those awful fake lashes off Jasmine You every time I see him) but more toward their overall attitude, I guess...it gets to be too much when they go overboard with the act, and it probably hurts them more than helps them when it comes to potential/existing fans and exposure.  I mean, in other times like serious interviews and a few comments they act quite different, and I find them far more endearing in those instances.  I'm all for fantasy, vampires, aristocracy, etc., and they do it extremely well, but sometimes when the same fantasy goes on for too long, it loses its appeal and imagination.  (But I have to admit, Kamijo makes a very convincing, sexy vampire in this pv. ^_^)

As you may have noticed, I've put up a new banner once again!  This time it's from a photo of jellyfish I took at Osaka Aquarium...the jellyfish are always one of my favourites cause they're so ethereal and beautiful when lit up in the dark like this.  This display actually had rotating coloured lights so they would change from white to blue, pink, purple, etc.  It was really pretty! :D

Anyways, I found something pretty amusing yesterday.  I hadn't been paying much attention to xTripx's activities as of late, though I knew of the band.  I found them to be a pretty average group, not super spectacular imo, but I think they have more potential than some others out there, and their recent stuff has been getting better.  So, I just found out they released a pv a while back called 'Dream Catcher [-Re:evolution-] Mix'. 

Lol, the opening to this song completely threw me off!  I was like o_0 eh? at first but the hip hop/rap part is awesome in a WTF way!  Hearing it makes me break out in a grin every time, and I actually rather enjoy the song.  Some may find it horrendous, but I kinda like it a sick way because it's SO FUNNY!  I love seeing them looking visual and acting all gangsta in the beginning with the hand motions and stuff. XD  I think the hip-hop makes the song more interesting and unusual, but I don't think xTripx's done something like this before, and I get the feeling they're probably not gonna do it to this extent again.  Actually, they have a preview of their upcoming single on their OHP that sounds good and a bit heavier than 'Dream Catcher'...it's set for release on August 5th.

Also, a new group that's come to my attention recently is a band called Heartless, who just released their first single 'MASQUERADE' in April.  It's not bad for their first release, so I'll be keeping my eye on them to see what they come out with in the future.

Wooo, finally we get a peek at one of the new songs from the GazettE's highly anticipated album 'DIM'!  Not only did Kai play a clip of 'THE INVISIBLE WALL' during Radio Jack, the pv preview is out as well! 
At first the preview sorta threw me off...I don't know how to describe it really...but the chorus wasn't what I expected it was going to sound like, it was much smoother and sweeter, if that makes sense.  The song is an unusual mixture of sounds, and you can tell the GazettE set out to experiment a bit with this.  It has hard, guitar driven sections and even some screaming, but the chorus is unexpectedly soulful and Ruki is (not too surprisingly) accompanied by backing vocals.

Seeing the harmonized voices once again being put to use, I can't say I'm thrilled about it, but it doesn't entirely turn me off either.  In the beginning it was just a solo female voice that would appear every now and then, like in 'LEECH' and 'Filth in the Beauty', which then progressed into the chorus like backing of 'Distress and Coma' and 'Headache Man', etc.  However, though the band has often used harmonizing or chorus techniques in the songs they've chosen as singles since 'Stacked Rubbish', the b-sides are usually relatively free of any backing vocals, so it's rather hard to get a sense of how much they'll use it on the rest of 'DIM'.  I just kind of wish they'd for once pick a song that has only Ruki singing in a more pure, narrative way (which is the method that's perhaps his strongest and made him stand out as singer since the early days) to promote and make a pv out of.

Another intriguing point of 'THE INVISIBLE WALL' is the part right before the pv preview cuts off, where you can hear a curious, almost circus-like electronic melody faintly in the background.  I wonder if this is an indication of what's to come on the new album, because the members (particularly Ruki) have said in interviews that futuristic, cyber style had greatly influenced them while working on 'DIM'.  We've already seen quite a bit of that already in 'Distress and Coma' from the cd cover, the music, and their outfits.
 

Speaking of outfits and such, I noticed in this pv preview that Uruha's style this time around looks rather similar to Aoi's recent look.  His hair is longish and straight, left loose without too much hairspray to keep it in place (which makes for some gorgeous hair flips, btw XD), plus he's wearing fully in-tact pants and a dark, about mid-thigh length jacket.  It's a lot like what Aoi wore for 'Distress and Coma' and is currently wearing now.  It's a nice change and suits him though...especially the hair, I like it better than some of his previous haircuts.  As for the others, Ruki's sticking with suits, which according to him he's had a thing for lately, Reita's got the same sleeveless look as usual, and Kai's outfit looks a bit like something he's worn a couple times before, all black with an accent around his neck/chest and half-length sleeves.
 
You know, of all the members I think Aoi and Uruha have actually had the most drastic clothing style shifts over the past few years (though hair is a whole other matter, and Ruki certainly wins at that).  I mean, the garters and thigh-showing look that used to be Uruha's standard has slowly been faded out, and Aoi got more and more into wearing flowy, hangy things and wearing progressively longer drapery at his waist until he stopped suddenly not too long ago (though I wonder if that had anything to do with the comments that radio host made about him "wearing a skirt" during the 'Guren' era? >_> hmm..,the only time he's done it since was for 'LEECH').

I was doing some cleaning of my music library ('cause once again my computer's running out of space...>_>) and guess what song I discovered hidden in a dark and dusty, forgotten corner....

Ahaha, YES!!! XD  Oh, B'z...this was one of their earlier songs, and SO 90's, but classic!  And gets stuck in your head like nobody's business...good stuff.  I have a strange affection for this song even though it's sorta "before my time" (meaning, I didn't know a thing about the Japanese music scene in 1995 when it was released >_< lol).  But hearing it makes you wanna sing along!
"願いよかなえ いつの日か  そうなるように生きてゆけ
僕は僕に 君は君に  拝みたおして 泣けばいい!!!" :D
I don't know why but I tend to have an odd feeling of "nostalgia" for old stuff like this though...kinda like, "Aah, the 90's....." <3 with a teeny bit of sarcasm as well as fondness.  I think that tendency is also why I like 80's music so much. ^_^;