12 posts tagged “deluhi”

Haah, the last few weeks have been pretty crazy...I've been in the process of preparing applications, making sure recommendations are done on time, and writing a ton of papers.  So many deadlines to deal with...it's rather stressful. >_<  But now I'm almost entirely ready to hand in my application, which hopefully if I get in will mean I'll be heading back to Japan for another year, perhaps longer.  I'm really keepin' my fingers crossed on that, cause I know for sure that Japan is the place for me, at least at this point in my life, so I'm determined to find some kind of work there.  If all else fails, the only other place I'd want to be is NYC, or maybe the UK.  It's a tough world out there right now though, so naturally I'm a bit nervous about the prospects.

On another note, we watched the very interesting documentary 'Paris is Burning' in my gender class last week.  It's about drag, ball culture, and the gay community of 1980's New York.  It obviously deals with issues of gender and sexuality, but also poverty, racial discrimination, and inequality.  It's a really touching look at how these people dealt with the prejudice and hardship they faced in their lives by creating the balls and "voguing" as a way to express themselves and be who they wanted to be, imagine they could achieve all that they wanted, even if only for a little while.  I think the idea that fame lives within, that despite the limitations of the real world you can feel just as fabulous as any celebrity without the money or having people know who you are is something that can resonate with a lot of people.  It's also extremely interesting to see how certain aspects of gay subculture worked their way into the mainstream (e.g. Madonna's 'Vogue') and now influence the fashion industry that the voguers at the balls admired and emulated.

I know it's been said before, but I really do believe that the LGBT movement and women's rights are among the most vital issues of our time.  Fighting to improve women's rights would also do so much to help alleviate poverty all over the world, and finally surpassing the hurdle of equality for all genders and sexualities would help push many other equality movements as well.  It's so sad and hard to understand how people can be so close-minded, intolerant, and downright despicable to other human beings sometimes, especially when it's a dispute over something like who we love.

Moving to the music front, I can't stop listening to 'LORELEI' by DELUHI!  I love how they mix in that arabseque acoustic solo and the Middle Eastern influenced sounds...it's really beautiful and goes surprisingly well with their metal style.  Although incorporating that kind of aesthetic has been done to an extent by various groups before, I think DELUHI is the only one so far to continue drawing the theme through their music more consistently, rather than it being just a phase.

In other news, the Lady Gaga's video for 'Bad Romance' is out and causing quite a stir.  It certainly has some impressive visuals and outrageous fashion...it could take a while to deconstruct all of what's going on here.  I like how she injects intelligence, serious creative direction, attention to visual elements, and avant-garde style into the cesspool of mainstream pop.  She also has good sensibilities, is level-headed, and represents values and a female presence I find far more relatable and real than the sugary, vapid plasticness of most other normative women in pop.  Although she works in pop, she does have a sort of rockstar-ish, dirty and tough atmosphere that's very appealing.  People always give dance, electronic, and pop music a bad rap, but I don't think that comes from a problem with the medium itself, but rather is the result of misinterpretation, lack of knowledge, and the uninspired way it's used by some artists.

Across the pond, Patrick Wolf has put out a video for 'Damaris' off his album "The Bachelor" that was released just this summer.  It's quite surprising, although the concept and presentation is fairly simple, because most of his music videos thus far have been either solitary or with groups of dancers/characters, but never featured such an intimate two person relationship.  The parallel between Patrick alone at the grave and the scene with the two of them lying together in white was particularly beautiful and well done.  It's at once sweet but heartbreaking, and we get to see yet another vulnerable side of Patrick that's very different from the other two videos from this album.  In 'Vulture' there was vulnerability in a physical sense, while 'Hard Times' focused more on strength and overcoming difficulties.  Though his work has always been eclectic, I was quite happy to see him bring a bit of the traditional English aesthetic back into his videos visually, because I will always be enamored of his 'Wind in the Wires' period with all that great imagery from Cornwell.  The video for 'Damaris' also has a definite mythical quality to it that goes perfectly with lyrics.  I can't say it's my favourite video by him, but it's certainly another wonderful addition to his body of work.

Ugh, I have yet another paper to write this weekend, and I have no idea how to approach it because the topic is so vague...what a bummer. -_-;  I'm also hoping to translate DELUHI's new mini-album 'Yggdalive' in the near future...I don't have time to do a full post and rant on in detail about it, but it's pretty awesome so anyone who hasn't heard it yet should go give it a listen!  Leda's guitar work is love as always. <3  There are deliciously heavy metal-inspired riffs, some seriously high powered drumming, uplifting choruses, a sweet bass solo, a few funky/popish moments, and the shockingly soft and smooth "Hoshi no nai Yoru ni".  DELUHI has really expanded their horizons beyond my expectations with this release, proving they can rock a number of different styles skillfully and naturally.  For a first effort I was surprised how well they pulled off a lot of the new influences and styles.  Plus the sound quality of their work has taken a significant step up from previous releases as well, which is great.  I also can't wait till the full version of the "REVOLVER BLAST" PV comes out.  At first I wasn't too keen on it, and it's still not my favourite track, but the full song turned out to be a lot heavier than the chorus let on.  Here's some more samples:  "Wake Up!"    "Follow the Future"    "Flow Snow"

I'm pretty excited for next week because the new coat I ordered should be arriving.  It's a really cute black and white pleated Victoria houndstooth coat by BB Dakota.  It was so much cheaper than I expected (even less than the average for a similar coat at many other, more popular brand stores...but I think they tend to hike the price) and definitely miles away from the $3,650 or so price tag on the Alexander McQueen designs it takes inspiration from. >_<  I'd actually been endlessly debating over whether to go for a black or a white coat but this one totally solves that problem.  I can't wait to wear it with my tall, black suede high-heeled boots. :D  I've been refreshing my wardrobe lately not only for the fall/winter season, but looking for more sophisticated, classic pieces, because I've realized I need to expand beyond my existing functional/casual and not-so-work-appropriate rock-inspired looks.  I need more mature, career oriented items too but it's always so hard to find my size in those areas.

In other news, the GazettE's manager posted some more interesting anecdotes today.  Apparently the band hasn't been meeting up a lot lately since they're making songs and on break, but they had a photoshoot and such recently and when he and Kai were talking about posting photos on their blogs Kai showed the manager a certain photo on his phone and Sakai asked "Is this a pro wrestler?" to which Kai said "No, it's me!" and was like "See, look!" and proceeded to flash his newly buffed-up arms!  Then the manager was all like, "Wow, they've gotten really big!" 0_0.  I knew Kai had started working out to increase his muscles (he even got a personal trainer, I heard) but now I'm really curious to see how much of a difference there is!  Is it that drastic?! o_0  Also, apparently Aoi decided to invite everyone at PSC to dinner (they made a reservation for close to 20 people, he said) and Aoi paid for them all!  Sakai was super happy and said, "What a manly thing to do!  You're the best!  Thanks!" lol ^^;

I'm in the middle of my busiest weekend of the entire semester right now (two papers and a proposal due on Monday! >_< ugh) so I'm not going to be around for a while, but I just couldn't resist sharing this image!  Man, I love Yoshiki...he's such an adorably dorky and funny person.

Also, the pv preview for DELUHI'S 'REVOLVER BLAST' off their upcoming mini-album is out!  It's hard to comment on the song from such a short clip, but the members have interesting new looks...Juri and Aggy look very different with the change in hairstyle, but overall they seem to have gone a little simpler and less elaborate with mostly monochrome outfits this time around.  I look forward to hearing what styles they've put into the mini-album as well as if they'll stick with this toned down appearance or move back to their previous, more flamboyant fashion at some point. 

Various wonderful news in the v-kei scene lately...for one, Miyavi's baby (a girl) was born a few days ago!  It's still a bit strange to think he's a father now, since he has such a youthful spirit himself, but he loves kids and seems really ecstatic about it so you can't help feeling happy for him. ^_^
Also, DELUHI just announced they'll be releasing a new mini-album on November 4th!  It's just been single after single for quite a while now, but finally we have something fresh and substantial to look forward to from them!  Next, Merry's dvd of their under-world tour comes out mid-August, which I personally am excited to see because I attended the live at Namba Hatch in Osaka and apparently the dvd will feature documentary footage of the whole tour, so I'm curious to see if they included any part of the show I went to.  For the many fans who weren't able to experience the 'Under-world' album's songs performed live, I think this dvd might sway some toward a more positive opinion of the album when they see how much better it is live.  I seriously believe 'Under-world' is just one of those albums that's far better listened to live than on recording.

By the way, a friend linked to this hilarious Japanese commercial on facebook the other day so I thought I'd share the lulz.  My first thought when the girl spoke was うわ〜、おじさんの声みたい！（笑） >_<  I've actually heard people talk exactly like that!

Seileen, the gothic industrial duo formed by Selia and DJ SiSeN, finally released their debut work earlier this year, containing all the demos and tracks featured on their myspace page.  The mini-album, entitled 'Kinjirareta Asobi' [or "Forbidden Play"] is as one would expect, mysterious, dark, and hypnotically trance-like.  Comprised mostly of minimalist beats and melodies overlaid with a touch of classical influence from the piano, harpsicord, and Selia's elegant, haunting operatic vocals, Seileen's first release is a tantalizing venture into the shadowy, bewitching world of the gothic/industrial music and club scene.  The music is eccentric and no doubt won't fit some people's tastes, but if you're into trance, techno, or goth you might enjoy this album.  Here are two of the best songs off it:  'Baku'    'Kinjirareta Asobi'

Moving back to the rock scene, meth. is a group I discovered not too long ago and may appeal to fans of dark, brutally heavy music.  The singer Akito has a good voice, especially when it comes to screams and growls, and the instrumentals range from relentless headbang-inducing riffs to softer, melodious phrases with equal skill.  The band came out with a new single earlier this year called 'THE LAST SLEEP'.  I think meth. are a promising young band, and despite their compositions sometimes sounding similar to each other, with this latest single I think the quality and variety of their sound has certainly expanded.  Now for some tracks to sample:  'THE LAST SLEEP'    'NO ONE CAN STOP ME'
As for upcoming releases, DELUHI will be re-releasing 'Two Hurt' as a single with one b-side.  I was really hoping for some new material from them, but this is still great 'cause Two Hurt' is an excellent song and worthy of a make-over.  From the pv sample it sounds like they've really polished it up and added background vocals to certain parts.  The sound is deeper, smoother, and Juri's singing in particular is more emotional and powerful this time around.  Still, I wish DELUHI would put out something with a more substantial amount of material, like a mini-album or even a full album.  Who knows, perhaps one is in the works waiting to blow us away, but knowing they have such incredible talent, I can't help but feel they haven't truly displayed it to their full potential yet...especially Leda, I mean, I love the guitar work he's done so far, but I wish we could see more of this kind of amazingness from him. ^_^

By the way, I finally got around to watching the footage that came with DELUHI's 'RECLAIMATION OF DELUHISM' dvd, and was surprised by the ironic revelation that though you couldn't tell from the pv footage, DELUHI filmed 'HYBRID TRUTH' at that abandoned building that's been used so many times in visual-kei pvs (e.g. the GazettE's 'Taion', alice nine.'s 'NUMBER SIX', Kiyoharu's 'Horizon', Merry's 'Komorebi ga Boku wo Sagashiteru', etc., etc.).
It's really quite amusing how often bands use the same locations for pvs, and it happens with photoshoot backdrops as well (like the infamous set with round red & white chairs).  For example, Phantasmagoria's 'Lost in Thought' and Vidoll's 'Gothikaroid' were done in the same place, D's 'Mayutsuki no Hitsugi' and Sadie's 'grieving the dead soul' feature the same church, and Ayabie's 'Glitter Tropen' and Sugar's 'Yokusou' were filmed in the same warehouse.

Recently I've gotten into cooking Indian food from scratch!  ^_^  I love Indian food and miss eating it since coming back from Japan because sometimes I used to have it at least once a week for lunch, and although there's good Indian food where I live here, it's rather expensive so I can't go as often.  Really, the Japanese lunch set system is wonderful cause you can get a large, tasty, filling lunch for considerably little money...it's really affordable and convenient. 
Anyway, I've only tried making a few curries so far, with mixed results...but I think I've worked out what I need to watch out for and be careful with.  It's crazy how some cookbooks make it fairly simple, but others go full out and do the same recipe very traditionally so it takes a lot more effort to cook from them.  The challenging thing about Indian food is the long list of ingredients (mostly spices), many of which have to be bought specifically for making Indian food, like garam masala and mace, etc.  But it's lots of fun to experiment with because Indian food is rather flexible and there's so many varieties of dishes and curries.  The next thing I'm planning to make is a simple but delicious curry called Dhingri Matar that I've recently become a big fan of after eating it at a local dosas restaurant.  It has peas and mushrooms in a rich, slightly creamy tomato sauce with a slightly tangy, sweet flavour to it, and is excellent paired with roti bread. : )  If it turns out well I might post a photo.

Speaking of curry, I was recently catching up with DELUHI news, and watched the vid of their Shinjuku in-store event interview session in which they demonstrated the pre-live shout they always do before going on stage.  According to Leda's explaination, the members (who all love curry) will put their hands together and go round the circle saying what curry they want to eat most, sort of like "which curry will get them the most hyped to perform?".  Lols, I knew DELUHI loved curry, but to go as far as to use it as their live motivation...they're such dorks. XD

I think I've finally gotten over my jet-lag induced, screwed up sleeping pattern, though being waken up every morning by everyone else's noise kinda throws me off.  So far I haven't gotten a job yet, but I've written a resume and just have to finish the cover letter, which is the hardest part. -_-lll  I'm definitely not as active as I was every day in Japan, so it kinda makes me restless having no easy means of transport and nowhere to go besides the boring, almost empty mall and local shops. *sigh*  I wish I could just hop on a bus or walk somewhere interesting and new so easily again...I know I've been saying it over and over, but I really miss my life in Japan.  I'm also worried my Japanese will deteriorate since I can't speak it every day anymore...I've been working on lyrics translations for my blog as usual, as well as a book, and it disturbs me when I sometimes can't recall a fairly basic word.  I need to get cracking on my kanji study too.
 

But I have been making progress on this book I'm translating, though I've been going at a fairly slow, relaxed pace...I'm already a third of the way through.  Also, my translation blog is doing very well...I've had several requests to use my translations in subbed pvs, and I'm well over 10,000 views now, yay! \^o^/  One thing I need to get around to though, is organizing my Japan photos...I have literally thousands of them, so that's gonna take awhile.  I've put a few nice ones I took recently in this post for you to see. : )
Oh, and something pretty cool happened to me the other day...I actually had a dream in Japanese!  It's the first time that's happened, I think...maybe I just never remembered it when I woke up before, but it made me happy.  I also found something amusing last night...it's a comment by DELUHI's guitarist Leda where he does an interesting new "crab" pose at the end. XD  I love how he gets the (笑) and kinda cracks up at himself and runs away embarassed afterwards. lulz
 

But speaking of DELUHI, one thing that makes me extremely depressed is the fact that they'll finally be doing lives in the Kansai area (where I was living in Japan), in particular a show in August at Osaka BIGCAT featuring SCREW, Sel'm, DEATHGAZE, AND 9GOATS BLACK OUT as well!  マジかよ〜なんで?!!  I waited months while I was there hoping they'd play nearby, and now only after I've left they're finally going to!  Not to mention the GazettE will be having a summer tour for the new album 'DIM'... TToTT  What really gets me about this is that my visa was good until like, September, so it's totally plausible (if I had somewhere to live and something to do like a job or program) that I could've stayed there through the summer! *cries* [I am aware that this is an entirely selfish, pointless rant, so feel free to ignore it. ^_^;  I just can't help being frustrated about it though...]

Haaah, I'm finally back in America...after nine months of living in Japan, I really got used to life there and I already miss it. T_T  I'm happy to be back, see everyone, and do and eat all the things I've missed while away, but still, on the flipside there are so many things I enjoyed in Japan that I can't do anymore, which makes me rather depressed.  In particular, I feel like a part of my social life is just gone now...here at home I can't just go out and jump on a train or bus and go anywhere I want and hang out with my friends so easily cause public transportation sucks, it's not as safe to be out at night, I don't have a car, and everyone lives so far away.  One thing I'll especially miss is going to concerts...a large percentage of my favourite bands are Japanese, and it's so easy to go to concerts in Japan, but I don't like that many American artists, and all the British ones I do rarely tour here, so it just doesn't happen.

Anyway, it was so weird when the plane landed, I think it'll take some adjusting to get used to how things are here again...everything's in English, stuff is so big (food, houses, cars, people), the airport staff were rude, and JFK was confusing and dumpy as usual. -_-;  I have a bit of jetlag too, but it seems I'm dealing with it better than the rest of my family...they're like zombies right now.
Especially with the economic disaster that happend late last year, Obama becoming president, and all the other big changes that happened here while I was away, America is quite different from how it was when I left it, and it honestly feels very strange.  Though I knew about it before coming back, actually seeing how life here has changed is like experiencing a time skip or something, even though I did follow American news to a degree while in Japan.  For example, I don't know what's going on anymore, especially when it comes to pop culture...like all the tv shows and movies people are talking about, who these celebrities are, or what's popular in music or fashion or electronics or food, etc. (not that I followed any of that very closely before, but still, I'd usually heard about them).  And when I took out my cell I realized I didn't remember how to use it anymore cause I'd gotten used to Japanese phones. >_<

I have a lot of unpacking and organizing of stuff to do, but some tracks I've been listening to lately are Patrick Wolf's 'The Tinderbox' from his single 'Vulture', and DELUHI's 'Orion once again -09 remix-' from their latest release 'FLASH:B[L]ACK'.  One thing I really like about this new remix in contrast to the original is the slower pace and more melancholy feel, because it brings out another side of the song.  The original expresses the earnestness and anger in the words, but this one shows the sadness and loneliness that's in them too.

I'm busy showing my parents around Japan at the moment, but I just have to post about this quickly.  Today DELUHI's new dvd single release, FLASH:B[L]ACK comes out, and they've made a new pv for the song 's[k]ape:goat'!  The song is really good, though I still prefer some of their previous releases over it.  The pv is well-shot though a bit different from their first one for 'HYBRID TRUTH', since it alternates between the band playing and scenes that're like a mini-movie of sorts.  The break in the song towards the middle was unexpected but nice touch, and something DELUHI haven't done much before.

Another pv that came out recently is heidi.'s 'Tsubasa'.  It's pretty good, though when I first heard it I thought it sounded like something I'd heard before.  The melody isn't their most original, but it's a nice song overall.
Also, some interesting news just came out!  Since Sasabuchi left Plastic Tree, he's been doing things like session bands and support for other groups on his own, but now it seems he'll be doing support drums for the studs, since their drummer Hibiki left not too long ago.  From his farewell messages and reasons for leaving Plastic Tree, it sounded he said he didn't want to do drums as a career anymore, but maybe he's changed his mind or just didn't want to be an official member of a band or something.

DELUHI came out with their new single, 'JAGANNATH' today!  It's the third and final one in the series of singles they've been putting out since October, with one release each month.  This single not only has two new songs, but the pv for 'Hybrid Truth' on it as well, which you can watch here.  It's a nice pv...the quality of DELUHI's music, production, visuals, etc. has been surprisingly excellent from the start, and their first real pv (i.e. not just live footage with the song played over it) is yet another promising example.  It's very good for a band that just started earlier this year.  Oh, and apparently they got a tie-in for 'Hybrid Truth' as the closing song for some tv show, so hopefully it'll get them more exposure.

The first song on the single is 'LivingDead'.  It's a bit different from the songs they've made so far...it has a dark, eerie feeling in the beginning, some disc scratching and hollow-sounding druming in background, and a fairly slow tempo compared to most of their other work.  There's a nice solo from Leda at the end, and the song's pretty good, but I don't think it has the same impact or freshness as their previous songs.  I'm not too keen on the second song, 'Rebel: Sicks, Shadow: Six'.  It just doesn't keep my attention for some reason...I think the composition isn't as tight or memorable as DELUHI's songs usually are.  Also, I don't like Juri's vocals in it...he has such a nice voice and sounds so much better singing in a smoother way or doing growling, screaming vocals than shouting all over the place like he does on this track.  It's like he's struggling to keep up with and support the muddled and weak melody.

Overall, 'JAGANNATH' doesn't have the punch and energy I was expecting considering this is the final of the three single series.  'JAGANNATH' isn't so bad, it just doesn't quite reach the high standard DELUHI have set for themselves with their previous releases.  It does make sense that their earliest releases would be planned to be their better songs to give them a strong start, and they can't be perfect all the time, so I'm keeping my hopes up for next time. : )