Younha-Sukinada

I love Younha’s hair right now… but I think her new covers (she recently switched labels) don’t exactly match her musical style.

So there’s good news and bad news. The good news? This single is a huge step up from her previous single, Girl. Bad news is that we’re no where close to Younha’s old work.

Sukinada is reminiscent of her her older releases. We have some basic piano chords that enunciate the beat of the song. Overall we’ve got an upbeat vibe, but nothing too fast. The verses can be a bit dull at times, but fortunately things pick up during the chorus. When I listened to this song for the first time I thought it sounded a lot like Orenji no Hatsukoi. It’s a “nice” song, but nothing to brag about.  Moving on…

Sunday was disappointing for me. The song kind of blended into the walls after the A-side. That’s because the song kind of assumes a similar structure to Sukinada. What I did find interesting about this song is that it employed some island drums and plucked strings. After a minute of the song we finally get some electronic guitar. Again… not a bad song… but kinda boring.

Overall: I’m a big Younha fan… but her recent releases have been quite weak. Come on Younha!

Rating: 7/10

X’mas Special =D

Ok… so I’m addicted to Japanese Christmas songs. I’m the kind of person that will listen to them all year round ^_^. So from now until Christmas, Kowezhi and I are going to be release regular reviews of what we think are the best jpop/jrock Christmas songs out there. We’re also going to be scouting for new X’mas release and reviewing those too.

We’ll take any Asian Christmas songs (I know Korean music agency, SM, has lots of X’mas releases) to review, provided we don’t already have them.

So in the spirit of L’arc~en~Ciel,

Jaa =]

Stereopony- Tsukiakari no Michishirube

I love the Stereopony girls’ style. They have this alternative-edgy look to them. Nice =]

Tsukiakari no Michishirube, signpost of the moonlight, is my Stereopony debut. I had heard their name around before, but the first time I heard their music was when I was watching Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, for which Tsukiakari no Michishirube is the opening song. Aimi’s vocals, coupled with electric guitar, open up the song. The song has a progressive feel during the verses, but things get exciting in the chorus. The chorus creates this hopeful and determined atmosphere, which is perfect for an anime like the Darker than Black sequel.

Things slow down in the next song, Daidai Iro. The song reminds me of a toned down version of Smilife. It wasn’t my favorite song on the single, just because it pales in comparison to the A-side.

The opening of Fuzz is very similar to the opening of Smilife. However, being that the song is just a little over 2 minutes long, it opts for a very energetic feel. It’s a shame that this song is so short, because rather than making this an “experimental” interlude, this song would have been great in full version. We hear very little vocals, but the guitar technique makes up for it.

Overall: Tsukiakari no Michishirube shows Stereopony’s ability to tap different kinds of styles with their music, thus giving me a hopeful future for Stereopony’s future.

Rating: 8/10

Track List:

1.Tsukiakari no Michishirube
2.Daidai iro
3.Fuzz
4.Tsukiakari no Michishirube (Instrumental)
5.Tsukiakari no Michishirube (Opening Edition)

 

[Single] Plastic Tree – Sanatorium

Hello! Sorry I haven’t reviewed this earlier. I’ve been very busy with other things lately.

Anyway, Plastic Tree’s newest single, Sanatorium, is a great addition to their discography. It was released October 28, 2009.

The cover for this looks like something that you’d find in a church. Ryutaro looks like L from the anime/manga Death Note in the other versions of the cover. It’s actually pretty cool how he looks exactly like him!

Sanatorium starts out with a soft guitar intro before Ryutaro sings. He uses soft, breathy vocals throughout the song. His melodic line reminds me of their single, Replay/Dolly. But rather than having heavy guitar parts they stay calm and their harmonies produce a very soothing feeling. The bass lines are easy to hear and really add to the atmosphere that the rest of the band is making. This song was just awesome and is very pleasing to the ears.

The B side of this single was Pied Piper. It starts off with an electric guitar pumping out chords and quickly becomes more complex as the rest of the band enters. It’s strange but although Ryutaro uses a pretty soft style of singing, it fits perfectly with the rest of the music. Pied Piper is a straightforward song and is a nice song to start the day off with! Relaxed, but always moving. Great job, Plastic Tree!

Rating: 9/10

Track List

1.)    Sanatorium

2.)    Pied Piper

3.)    Sanatorium (Instrumental)

4.)    Pied Piper (Instrumental)

Lil’B- Tsunaida Te

Pretty cover… but I only see 1/2 of the hip-pop duo ;_;

Tsunaida Te is the 3rd ending song to the popular anime, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Lil’B does a great job at creating a sentimental, yet hopeful, song. I’ve already posted the PV for the song, here. Although Lil’B is classified as a hip-hop duo, Tsunaida Te has a much more pop feel because it uses a delicate melody, strings, and guitars. This song is addicting as hell and it’s my latest obsession.

The first B-side, Last Letter, is a bit more hip-hop than the previous track, but still very tasteful. The poignant melody meshes perfectly with AILA’s rapping, and MIE’s voice rings during the chorus.

Continuing with an sad R&B vibe, we have Kiss (One More Kiss Mix). I love how this song employs a subtle harmony with piano in the background. AILA’s rapping is much slower in this song.

As a side note, I recommend listening to the instrumental version of Tsunaida Te. This song completely blew my mind and it helps to listen to the instrumental to fully appreciate the orchestration of the song.

Overall: This is the best R&B single I have heard all year.  This single shows that despite their “hip-hop” genre, Lil’B is an incredibly versatile duo. They’re pop, hip-hop, R&B, and kick-ass. Excellent job Lil’B!

Rating: 9.5/10

Track List:

1. Tsunaida Te
2. Last Letter
3. KISS ( one more kiss mix )
4. Tsunaida Te ( TV version )
5. Tsunaida Te ( karaoke )

alan- My Life

I actually really like the album cover… but I do miss the pretty cursive writing that they used to spell her name. At least it’s still on her OHP =] I loooove her hair though ;_;

Alright… this album was a major WTF for me. I love alan to pieces, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like this isn’t her at all. You’ll see what I mean.

The album opens with a short intro track, ~Reflection~ Overture has a very ethereal feel to it. Unlike Tenyo (which opened up her previous album), there are no mountain vocals. In fact… all we get really is a bunch of synth. I do, however, like the feel of this opening.

See here for the review of Swear.

I did not like One when I first heard it, to tell you the truth. We have a little bit of piano, but One is primarily an R&B track. The song has grown on me a little though. It’s a little on the slower side with some progressive guitar chords during the chorus. It has a pretty melody… nothing special.

Now we have Mitsumete Itai. I actually love this track. It’s alan and piano. Nothing more. While this album might not be distinctly “alan,” at least it doesn’t lack ballads. If you liked ballads like Shiawase no Kane, you’ll like this track. It’s elegant and reminds me of snow falling. One of the highlights of the album.

Alright… now we have Namida (Smooth Jam Mix). We remember Namida from her sublime single, Megumi no Ame. Namida was beautiful, soft, and had a subtle Asian vibe. The smooth jam mix takes all of it away. All of a sudden we’ve got this heavy beat and it feels almost as if alan’s trying to be Utada Hikaru. Sorry… but the original was much better. I don’t “hate” it… but I really would have preferred if this weren’t included.

Okay… here’s where things get a little funky… literally. With a title like Lost Child I was expecting some sort of swift, melancholy ballad. Instead, it’s more like JYONGRI’s Lost Girl. I don’t know what alan’s trying to do here. Is she trying to be Utada? Milyah Kato? This is very much an R&B track with some weird strings (and as  a violinist… I know those aren’t real strings <_<).

Next we have Butterflies. Don’t worry… we don’t have another Swear on our hands. We open up with a harp… which I like. The harp gives it a little more of an authentic feel (esp. with the Eurasian instruments during the chorus). However, it sounds like this song is trying to imitate Koda Kumi. On an upside, the song reminds me a bit of a major-key Sora Uta.

Now we have an interlude track, Essence of Me. Let me tell you right now… this is NOT essence of alan. This is the essence of a shitty song (sorry for the language… but it’s true). The song reminds me of some sort of older Utada song. It is something between urban-dance-R&B. It does get better toward the end though… where we hear a bit of her mountain wails (albeit half-hearted mountain wails). Dislike.

Call My Name is a very WTF track for me. Since when is Perfume on this album? Oh wait… this is just alan under heavy synth, vocal distortion, and prominent dance beats. Not joking… this could literally be a Perfume song. I LOVE Perfume… but not alan pretending to be perfume. I like alan’s voice, I like the instrumental, I do not like them together. alan used to devote a lot of her songs to nature and songs of a “higher purpose” shall we say. This song just screams “oh hi… i’z a dance track. Look at me!”

Now we have Shiroi Tsubasa or “White Wings.” Given the poetic title, we can expect something slower here. We’ve got a ballad, and I actually kind of like it (haha see how reserved I am?) OMG surprise! Another R&B-ish track. Come on… this is getting quite anticlimactic. This one is done better than the other tracks on the album, as it employs strings beautifully and alan’s vocals are straight-on.

Nobody Knows But Me is a melancholy piano track. This song is easily my favorite song off of the album (aside from Kuon no Kawa). This is a stunning track… alan tackles some high vocals here. No mountain wails… but I don’t think they would have fit in here anyway. What can I say, I love simplicity.

BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ is our second A-side of the album. People have different opinions about this song, but I personally like it. We’ve got a ballad (duh) and mountain wailing. Well… I like it, haha.

YES!!! Kuon no Kawa is alan’s most traditional song on the album, and also it’s oldest A-side. I love this track… it shows so much prowess and beauty… one of alan’s best songs ever.

Last song (finally… wtf 14 tracks?!) My Life is a ballad, and was originally scheduled as an A-side. If you haven’t seen the PV yet I highly suggest it, it’s beautifully done. Now… this is the alan I know. This song reminds me of her ballads on the Hitotsu single. At least the album ends on a positive note.

Overall: Damn this is a long album… and unfortunately most of the songs just weren’t up to par. Sadly, despite some good songs, this album was distinctly “un-alan.”

Best Songs: Kuon no Kawa, Nobody Knows But Me, My Life, Mitsumete Itai

Rating: 6.5/10

Originally I was going to give this album a 5.5/10… but after my rage of this being so not alan… I grew on some of the songs.

Track list:

1. reflection ~overture~
2. Swear
3. One
4. Mitsumete Itai
   I Want to Look at You
5. Namida (Smooth Jam Mix)
6. Lost Child
7. Butterflies
8. Essence of me
   
9. Call my name
10. Shiroi Tsubasa
    White Wings
11. Nobody knows but me
12. BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~
13. Kuon no Kawa
14. my life

DIR EN GREY LIVE REPORT

So this is our first live report, and Kowezhi and Aoliwa are doing it together! From start to finish we’ll jam pack as many details as we can remember.

Aoliwa: On Monday, November 16, 2009, Kowezhi and I set off for Chicago. This was our second Dir en grey show and we had a lot of high expectations. It would be a three hour drive to the Metro, the venue of the show.

KWZ: Yup, I drove the whole three hours. We ended up arriving there with another three hours of waiting ahead of us. We pulled into a public parking lot (the very one next to that hotdog place) across from the Metro, and walked across the street to see that some crazy people had camped outside and there was already a decently long line. It wasn’t too cold at first, but with wind chill it was freezing! I eventually walked over to a nearby McDonald’s and bought some warm things to consume.

ALW: Ok! So we met up with our friend Kelly, and it was finally time to enter the Metro. It took a little bit to get through security, but eventually we made it in. Willis and I found our way to the concert hall and meandered our way through the mosh pit. Through various pushing and shoving (not by us though… by people in the waaay back), we ended up being in the second or third row of people in the mosh pit. Yay for us!

KWZ: Yeah!! It was great that we were that close. Anyway, the opening act was this weird band called “Digital Mindy”. I will give them this, they were better than last year’s opener, “The Human Abstract”. They had a sort of dark school uniform theme going on and they were all kind of on the fat side, but at least they did something…. Last year, all you could hear of the opening act was the bass drums. Absolutely NOTHING else. This time you could hear everything pretty decently balanced except for the bass guitar, which was inaudible. Oh right…. This being an all ages concert makes this funny: they had strippers come out and do some dancing for a couple of their songs. Aoliwa laughed about how when they came out, all the guys in the room would turn to watch them lol. They were really nothing special to look at… On with the music: I had no idea what the vocalist was saying in almost any of the songs, except i did manage to pick out some of their lyrics. I won’t bother mentioning what they were because they were just repetitive and bad. Overall, the opening act was… meh. All their songs sounded pretty much the same. Don’t bother checking them out. Please. We were at the Metro for DIR EN GREY!

ALW: Ok so now it’s time for Diru!!! As soon as they came on the entire mosh pit lurched forward (this was how we got so close to the front!) As to be expected they entered the stage with Sa Bir in the background. The first official song they played was Vinushka. Not the short version either… the full 9+ minutes of epicness. I couldn’t believe the intensity of the song… Vinushka was flawless.

Next up? Red Soil. We all know this is the third track from Uroboros. Kowezhi and I were right in between Kyo and Die, so we got to see a lot of Die’s technique here. He played with such great accuracy.

Now we have REPETITION OF HATRED, the first track from their previous album, Marrow of the Bone. This song is a personal favorite of mine. This track is one of their heavier tracks and it’s great for lives. I couldn’t help but scream “dead passion!” along with everyone else.

KWZ: Ahh yes, continuing on with the epicness…. Stuck Man was next on the set list. I have to say, I love the bass lines in this song. Being much more complicated, they also show Toshiya’s skill. And as Aoliwa mentioned we were close to Die. It was really cool to see his technique up close! He makes it all look so easy…

A favorite of both the crowd and Dir en grey, Agitated Screams of Maggots definitely had every one riled up. It got pretty crazy once this song started. I love hearing this song live because you can see that Diru really gets into it.

Obscure, another of their well known songs was played after. Nice heavy song. It’s amazing to watch Kyo putting so much effort into screaming and just pushing himself to the limit. Damn good performance! I really wish I could see them more..

ALW: What I loved about this concert was the variety in both the members’ behavior and the setlist. We had songs from Uroboros all the way back to Vulgar. The members also did some unique things as well. Kaoru and Die shifted between 5 different guitars each; it just shows how specific they are about their sound.

Along with water and towels, the stage crew also provided the band with beer. Toshiya opened his about two songs in xD.  The crowd got excited and he waved back in acknowledgment.

Alright, back to the show! The next few songs are all from Uroboros. Bugaboo has an interesting title… but it is one kickass song. You could tell Kyo was really in control of his vocals here.

Now we have Toguro, one of my favorite songs from Uroboros. I love the guitar harmonies especially. Before the song, Die and Kaoru switched guitars again. On the album this song opens with some of Kyo’s soft vocals layered over one another in a very spiritual way. Throughout the show Kyo had been doing these Buddhist-like chants (recall the live version of Agitated Screams of Maggots on the Dozing Green single). That’s how Kyo lead into this song; it created an almost ethereal atmosphere.

Yay now we have Glass Skin, the last single before Uroboros was released. Glass Skin is definitely on the softer side, as it opens up with a simple piano melody. This song moved the audience, and things slowed down for a bit.

Glass Skin was the perfect lead in to the best ballad on Uroboros, Inconvenient Ideal. I was sooooo excited when they performed this song. Almost instantly everyone had their eyes on Kyo.. he began with very soothing vocals before he completely opened up with his raw and passionate vocals. Listening to this song was simply amazing. I almost cried here ._.

KWZ: Dozing Green was next on the set list. This has been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it. Kyo’s vocals were perfect. And I watched Die’s guitar technique again. It was actually really nice to be on his side because you get to hear all of the harmonies their songs. Whenever I listen to this song I am always anxious for near the ending where Kyo does a series of piercing screams. Best part of the song! However… Rather than hearing Kyo, I heard a bunch of fan girls -_-

Another song from an earlier era, Merciless Cult came right after. I love this song and I guess part of that is because Diru pretty much has their own cult haha…. Anyway, it was perfect! They are so consistent and keep together so well, it’s amazing. This is a really catchy song too… I couldn’t help but sing the chorus with the crowd. If I remember correctly… it sounded a lot like the album recording tone wise. They must have used the same guitars/effects…

Their last song before the encores, Reiketsu Nariseba, was awesome. I really think that Kyo is a pro at chanting. During the middle of the song there is a section that he does so before bringing back the rest of the band. Pure sexiness. And it was a perfect choice because it left everyone asking for more Dir en grey! (Of course they would anyway… but really, it was great)

ALW: Yay encore time! We only got 3 encores, but I think that was due to the fact that we got some really long songs in the setlist (props to Kaoru). The crowd was ecstatic when they started playing The Final, one of their best known songs. This song made me cry… again. It’s a very emotional song for both Kyo and the fans.

Also… I thought I’d like to point this out. At one point during the show while most people were looking at Kyo I’m pretty sure Die and I made eye contact. Just saying xD

KWZ: Their second encore was Kodou. This song is overall a bit softer than the other songs. It was great to hear Kyo singing for a bit. Also, it was a sort of break for the audience too. No need to jump around and scream lots. Towards the end though, when Kyo started the screams, the crowd followed suit. Gah, I swear that the fan girls hurt my ears more than their sound system!

“Last song!!  LAST SONG!” shouted Kyo. Dir en grey ended this concert with Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro. This fast-paced song was a great way to bring the show to a close. After our break with Kodou, we got to use up more energy with this. Frickin’ awesome! All of the band was going wild with this one.

On a side note: At some point during the concert, Toshiya came over to our side and did his crowd provoking. We got to see him up pretty close too!

ALW: So here we have it, the glorious end to an amazing show. Afterward Kowezhi and I waited in line forever to get merchandise. We finally made it and got a shirt and DVD. Shinya and Die signed our DVD. They eventually came downstairs into the store to sign stuff and Kowezhi and I turned around and right there was Die *___* We said “arigatou” and bowed… they smile=]

Yaaay for Dir en grey!!

Setlist:

Sa Bir

Vinushka

Red Soil

Repetition of Hatred

Stuck Man

Agitated Screams of Maggots

Obscure

Syoukubeni

Bugaboo

Toguro

Glass Skin

Inconvenient Ideal

Dozing Green

Merciless Cult

Reiketsu Nariseba

 

Encore:

The Final

Kodou

Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro

Shinya’s blog post

hahaha so Shinya (drummer) made this great blog post before the concert in Chicago (the one KWZ and I attended)

my comments: I can’t believe he ate food from that sketchy place across from the Metro *_*

Oh… and P.S. shinya… my dad used to do those exercises and he had cancer… suck it up =p

source: DEG’s myspace.

November 16, 2009 – Monday

DEG / Blog 7 (Shinya) Category: Blogging We are in Chicago today and I ate hot dog for lunch.   I am always bored before Soundcheck. So, I decided to do some ab exercise today too. It is difficult and hard to do it without touching my knees to the floor. It is colder than New York outside. And the fans in line look cold too. I hope all the fans, band members and crew don’t catch a cold!!! There is no way I will catch a cold because I exercise everyday! Sayonara…hot dog… Shinya

Aftermath of Diru

So Kowezhi and I just got back from the Dir en grey concert today… simply amazing.

We’re working on a joint live review of the concert so get excited xD

We’d like to make it as comprehensive as possible, therefore it will take a couple days to complete. It will be worth it though!

P.S. I’d like to take this opportunity to fully endorse Diru’s most recent album, Uroboros. In my opinion it’s their best album to date, and many of the songs from the setlist were taken from it. Give it a listen =]

2 days!!

Dir en grey in two fucking days!!!! I can’t wait to see them live.

gahhh I want a set list T_T