7 posts tagged “dir en grey”

Haha, I stumbled on a bunch of super cute, hilarious vids on youtube the other day while I was bored and trying to keep cool in this absolutely awful heat.  The first is a little song about going to the convenience store featuring a host of jrockers including Miyavi, Kyo, Toshiya, Ruki, Reita, Aoi, Uruha, Kai, Kaya, etc. so you can try to spot them all while you watch.  It's so adorable and everyone's roles were chosen really well (my personal fave has to be the moment with Aoi though...they call him おやじ!!!　lulz).
What makes it even funnier is the fact that I can totally relate to like, half the stuff in this video cause my friends and I would go to the Family Mart near school almost every day...the やんちゃ kids bumming around in front of the conbini, the sketchy guys standing there reading the mags, the various kinds of steamed buns, the way they hand you the change, and yes, even paying for things worth less than 1,000 yen (=$10) with a 10,000 yen ($100) bill. (I've actually done that multiple times...I'm a horrible person, I know...^^;)  *sigh* I honestly really miss Japanese convenience stores...they rock!  And it's so true, when you've got nothing to do or time to kill, going to the conbini's always the way to go.

I also found this set of really well-made videos with little manga-esque versions of the GazettE members talking with the audio from some of the best moments of Reita's Radio Jack program.  One is tongue twisters w/ Ruki and the other Aoi's epic "Angelina".  I think the other uploads of those airings got taken down by the rabid PSC deleting team or whatever, so it's nice that these are still up, plus it's even better with cute chibi expressions. (・ω・)

And lastly this clip from an arm wrestling match between the members of vistlip where defying all logic, the winner Tohya is forced to perform a "sexy dance" with just clapping for background music.  I have never witnessed so much utter FAIL in a dance before...it is the most horribly un-sexy dance you could ever imagine...it's just plain freaky and weird! ^_^lll  All the other member's screams of こわいな！　怖っ！！ are seriously funny though...I think he just wanted to get back at them.  The members of vistlip are such amusing people. :D

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).

UROBOROS

I've been too busy to sit down and really write a proper post about this huge release, but I can't take putting it off anymore, so finally I'm getting around to discussing Dir en grey's UROBOROS (which came out last week by the way).  UROBOROS has definitely lived up to my expectations after their last two singles, and I love the direction their heading in with their sound.  I definitely feel my waning hope in Dir en grey has been restored to the full.  Admittedly I'm not a big fan of pure metal, and I wasn't too fond of 'The Marrow of a Bone', but I think Diru are doing something really interesting with it here, and I find this album a lot more aesthetically pleasing than 'Marrow'.  The religious themes and mystic overtones really add something unique and special to their new heavy metal sound.  I think it matches Dir en grey's ethos very well and is a great progression of their continuing efforts to express the strife, pain, confusion, and anger of human experience.  The title of the album, UROBOROS, is extremely interesting in itself.  As always, you can tell Dir en grey, and particularly Kyo with regard to the lyrics, put a lot of thought into the meaning of the words and sound they were creating.

Dir en grey

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Of all the bands I've listened to that can be called metal, I have to say Dir en grey is definitely a step above the majority of them when it comes to how enjoyable it is to just sit and listen to their music.  I find a lot of other metal bands' sound too formulaic and uninteresting, just filled with repetitive harshness and gloom but not much creative spark.  UROBOROS on the other hand, has some really intriguing, beautiful passages and a stark, deeply anguished atmosphere that I really think only Dir en grey is capable of creating.  UROBOROS is moving in so many ways...there's complex, delicate guitar work that perfectly conjures in my mind the image of the intricate, fine designs used in so many culture's religious art, as well as coarse, rasping screams and growls that have a gritty, dark, dirty feel to them and create a twisted, demented mood.  If Dir en grey's goal for this album was to express religious themes, I think they've done a spectacular job, capturing the dichotomy of beauty and corrupted filth that exists in all religions. 

Of course, the album is not without its flaws.  At times a few of the songs are taxing and drag on a bit, but overall I think the genius of other parts makes up for it.  One other thing I noticed was that its epicness makes it the sort of album you have to focus closely on and listen to as a whole to truly appreciate...as with most of Diru's work, it's certainly not light, easy listening.  Here's some tracks to listen to:  'Sa Bir'    'Red Soil'    'Ware, Yami Tote...'   'Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuro Koro'   'Inconvenient Ideal'

Dir en grey VINUSHKA PV

DIR EN GREY - Glass Skin PV

Dir en grey - DOZING GREEN [PV]

[By the way, something that sort of bothered me about UROBOROS was the fact that the release debuted in America, and the American version had english language versions of 'Glass Skin' and 'Dozing Green'.  I've never been one to get carried away with criticizing Diru's increasing Western/American influence, thought it undeniably exists, but I feel like this has taken things a bit too far.  Dir en grey musically incorporating Western metal style, the change in their look, etc., was personally not something I was all that happy about, but is something they decided for themselves, and I feel that their decisions about where they want to take their music and the band in general should be respected...but Diru themselves have always (at least up till now) stressed that they are a Japanese band and that they will continue to make their songs in Japanese, etc.  Thus releasing their new album in the U.S. before Japan seems a bit at odds with that sentiment...not to mention re-recoding two songs in english. 
I don't really understand the motivation behind releasing in America first, though it's obvious they want to become more popular there...it's dangerously close to showing some kind of preference, and I don't think it's a good idea to favor another country over their home country when it comes to these things.  I also don't see the point in re-doing those songs in english, because even if their goal was to have them be more understandable to english speakers, the truth is that the english singing is hardly intelligible and doesn't fit the music as well.  Kyo is among the greatest Japanese lyricists ever in my opinion...his use of the Japanese language is profound and amazing, and he does use it extensively and extremely well in UROBOROS, so for sure I think it's impossible that Diru will ever write their music entirely in english, but these new developments are a little odd and puzzling.  In that respect, I'm kind of disappointed in Dir en grey's choices.]

Glass Skin

Uwah~, the pv for Dir en grey's new single, 'Glass Skin', just came out online...and I'm actually pleased with it!  I definitely wasn't a big fan of Moab, but with 'Dozing Green' it seemed Diru were moving in a better direction, so I was optimistic about this release and I'm glad (and very relieved) they've continued along that path and are moving on from their screamo-heavy metal phase.  But I have to say, the cd cover is really...weird.  I can see how it fits Dir en grey's strange, dark, and disturbing ethos, but it's kinda odd since it's totally unlike anything they've ever used before...and the picture in itself is pretty freaky.

Anway, the title 'Glass Skin' fits the song extremely well...it's thin and fragile sounding, and Kyo's lyrics are deep and moving as usual...plus his voice is clear and strong in some sections but, particularly during the high pitch parts, it sounds like it might give out any second, creating some nice tension and paralleling the high pitch of the guitar melody well.  However, for sure Kyo's voice has noticeably changed...I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but it sounds more strained like he has a harder time reaching or drawing out certain notes.  Nevertheless, Kyo and the rest of the guys appear to have adapted effectively to make his voice work with and actually compliment the music they make.  'Glass Skin''s composition and the atmosphere of the pv are excellent, and refreshing after the gating sound of Moab.  I have high hopes for the upcoming album...hopefully it'll contain more of this sort of music. :D

DIR EN GREY - Glass Skin PV

P.S.1

Today's the first day of official "vacation" for my family, but instead of going somewhere far, we're staying close to home and exploring NYC!  First we'll be going to P.S.1, a famous contemporary art gallery in Queens.  It's now part of MoMA, but I've heard good things about it since it was an independently run place, so it's nice to finally check it out.  P.S.1 has a reputation for being a very cool, chic gallery with lots of events for young people like free open-air concerts and stuff.

A few days ago I finally checked out the band Anberlin, an alternative rock band from Florida that I've known about for ages, but had only heard a few songs by.  Once I listened to some more of their music, I found I liked them quite a lot.  Usually I'm not too into American rock bands, because I often don't like their style of singing or the themes in their songs, but with Anberlin I think the vocalist's voice is enjoyable and the music is good enough that I can put aside whatever issues I have with the content of the songs.  One thing that frequently bothers me when it comes to American bands are certain overused emotional and lyrical cliches and the pervasiveness of Christian references...this is just a result of my personal taste though, as a non-Christian person that can't relate to that sort of thinking.  It's why I tend to prefer British and Japanese groups on the whole, because they usually don't have such strong or direct religious messages or references, so I find I can identify more with the music.  Anyway, despite all that I took a liking to Anberlin because of their attitude and cause their music is interesting and catchy.

Anberlin-Godspeed

Dir en grey

Glass Skin

Dir en grey will be releasing their new single, 'Glass Skin' on September 10th, and a new album (title tba) is set to follow later this year.  They discussed some details about the new album in an interview for 'Metal Hammer' magazine:

“The album will be stuffed with themes of ‘guilt and reincarnation’, as well as ‘the past, present and future of Dir En Grey,” says guitarist Kaoru. ‘This will be heavier and darker than previous albums, with a sort of oriental and religious mood and connotations. We’re experimenting with different sounds - we’d like to introduce a multitude of different instruments on this album.” [original article]

Sounds interesting...but unfortunately, Diru also said that Yoshiki will NOT be producing the album, but rather they will be self-producing once again.  This news is a bit disappointing, because I love the Gauze album and the sound of the music they made working with Yoshiki, so I thought it would be very interesting to see them work together again with Diru's new harder style, but oh well...I'm pretty confident they'll turn out something good on their own, if the last single was any indication of where they're heading.  I hope they keep moving further in the stylistic direction of 'Dozing Green' and don't go along the same lines as MoaB, because I was not a big fan of the last album. (In fact, it's the only album of theirs that I don't own a hard copy of) ^_^lll

Dir en grey - DOZING GREEN [PV]

I watched the footage from the hide Memorial Summit, and it was really incredible.  For X Japan in particular, despite their physical struggles they put their all into it and were so enthusiastic (it's this aspect that most reminds one that it's really been 10 years since they last did this...it's just reality that Toshi's voice isn't what it used to be and Yoshiki doesn't have the endurance he had when he was younger...it's actually pretty amazing that he still looks so good and can play so well at 43 ^_^;).  It got pretty emotional during several parts of the concert, but it looked like everyone was having fun as well...one of the coolest parts of the main night was when X Japan and LUNA SEA performed part of 'Believe' together...I don't think they've shared a stage like that since their very early days.  Also, just before that Yoshiki surprisingly turned over the drums and played one of hide's signature guitars for a performance of 'Pink Spider'.  LUNA SEA's individual performance was very good as well:

LUNA SEA - tonight & wish (hide memorial summit pt5)

LUNA SEA - scanner & in silence (hide memorial summit pt3)

On the other hand however, I was severely disappointed in Dir en grey's performance, which was utterly embarrassing and verging on insulting seeing as the event was in remembrance of hide, since Yoshiki was the one who discovered them and produced their first album/singles so they have a direct connection to X Japan.  At times their act just gets ridiculous and really reflects badly on the band...I feel like they're sacrificing quality to fit certain persona or image.  It's not necessarily just that I personally don't like the style of music they make now less, it's that in many aspects their recent performance and musical creativity pales in comparison to their earlier work.  Dir en grey will always be one of my favorite bands, they were the first v-kei group I got into and I've followed them ever since 2004, but I have some serious issues with the path they've taken in the last few years.  They're still an excellent band and I believe they have the potential to come back from this (what I consider a slump), because I think the main issue is their attitude and approach lately.  I hope the fact that Yoshiki is producing their latest album will help them get into shape and remedy the downturn Dir en grey have taken musically, image-wise, and in attitude.

Dir en grey at Ajinomoto stadium part 4