Sunday, March 31, 2002

A NOTE TO NETSCAPE USERS Apologies for not fixing this sooner. Apparently I missed a table tag rendering the page unviewable to Netscape users since the JDA layout. I think it's fixed now though. We'll try to go back and fix the archived pages later. Let me know at tsukinouta@yahoo.com if you're still having problems. Thanks. - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 01:10 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Saturday, March 30, 2002

BOOWY FANS! Here's a special treat for you. The Boowy Complete Boxed Set - 21st Century 20th Anniversary was released yesterday, March 29. It's a 10-CD set including ALL of their songs, both album and single, and also some unreleased tracks. All together, there are 114 songs in the collection. It also comes with a band history booklet. For more information, go here. Incidentally, the Boowy Complete Set is #7 on Oricon while Hyde's Roentgen is #4. (#1 is still Morning Musume -_-) - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 01:13 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Saturday, March 30, 2002

THE WOMEN OF JROCK: PART 1 This is the first of a series of posts highlighting women in the jrock scene. These two singers each have a very different music style, but both have had a definite influence on the mostly male-dominated rock industry. Neither of them are very popular in the West, though by all rights they should be, since they're both talented musicians. Aikawa Nanase was born in 1975 in Osaka. When she was fifteen, she quit high school to pursue a singing career. Her first producer, Tetsuo Oda, trained her for five years before she produced her first single Yume Miru Shoujo ja Irarenai in 1995. Later, she changed producers and is now produced by Tomoyasu Hotei, the former Boowy guitarist. This caused a subtle shift in her style, as all her songs after she moved to Hotei are very speedy and upbeat, as Hotei is known to be. Nanase (known as Nana-chan to her fans) has a curious blend of rock and pop to her music. She straddles the line between pop and rock, moving neither totally into one category nor the other, but (just as with Glay) her catchy, upbeat songs intensify the debate as to whether Nanase is a "true" jrocker or just a pop star dabbling into the rock side of the industry. Whatever the case, her image has definitely been rock the entire way through her career. No bubbles and happy pink polka dots for Nanase: her album covers are very dark, and she's managed to stay with the "rebellious rocker chick" look even through her change in music style. Recently, the images on her album covers have been toned down a bit, and it remains to be seen whether she will stay with the rock category or move entirely into pop. Of course, to most music lovers, the pop/rock debate is pretty pointless. They point out that good music is good music, and classifications and styles don't mean anything at all. All that really matters is if the artist is dedicated and talented, and Aikawa Nanase is certainly both. On the other hand, no one could ever mistake Shiina Ringo for a pop diva. Unlike with Nanase, most Western fans have heard of Shiina, if not tried out her music. Shiina has taken the "rebellious rocker chick" image to a new extreme, not limiting herself to one particular style of music, not even bothered with creating a catchy tune. Born Shiina Yumiko in 1978, she changed her name to Shiina Ringo when she decided to go into music. As a teenager, she was the songwriter for several of her bands, winning an award in one of them, an all-girl band called the "Marvelous Marbles." She went abroad to England to study music in 1997 and came back with a good grasp of the English language (which obviously gives her a head start in the jrock competition!) Most of Shiina's songs couldn't be called catchy in terms of first impression, and many take several listens to get used to. Her voice is a curious blend of melodic and piercing, perfect for her songs in which she may wail, gasp, croon, and scream all in the space of a few measures. Each and every one of her songs is different, a work of eclectic art, and she seems to delight in the weird and unexpected. However, each and every song is unique and a work of art in its own right. From songs such as the jazzy and trumpet-blaring Mayonaka wa Junketsu to the wildly dark, wailing, gothic ballad Gibbs, Shiina showcases her versatility as a composer and songwriter. She has also written songs for jpop stars such as Hirosue Ryoko. There are few enough women in the world of jrock that each of them stand out in a great way, and the contributions that Nanase and Shiina add to the jrock community are invaluable. If you've never heard either of these women sing, I high recommend you go do so. Yume Miru Shoujo ja Irarenai and Midnight Blue are good examples of Nanase's rock side, and Dandelion, her newest single, is more pop. Shiina's ballad Gibbs is a must-hear, as is the swinging Tsumi to Batsu and the rocking Identity (though be prepared for a couple seconds of weird screaming at the beginning if you do listen). For more information on Nanase, visit cu.Nanase and 7th Sense. For more of Shiina, go to Aozora or Bathroom. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 12:23 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Saturday, March 30, 2002

THE BRILLIANT GREEN NEWS From the Sony TBG site: Tommy is ending her solo activity, Tommy February 6, on March 31, and will be rejoining the band on April 1. There's a live planned for that day, the "Premium Acoustic Live." There is also a new TBG single coming out on April 24, entitled Forever to Me. See the Sony page for more details. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 01:26 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, March 26, 2002

ROENTGEN PREVIEW Go to Sony Music Online Music Archive to find preview clips of Hyde's Roentgen, which hits stores tomorrow, the 27th. You can pick Windows Media Player or Real Player format. The links are yellow on a white bg (-_-) so you might have to highlight the page in order to see them. After listening to all of them, I must confess that they're pretty much what I expected: namely, slow ballad-type songs. I think the loudest song on there is definitely Shallow Sleep. The first half of the CD seems to consist of entirely slow and soft ballads such as Evergreen, but the second half is a bit more varied, though the style is still similar. New Days Dawn and The Cape of Storms sound interesting, and Secret Letters has sort of a French sound to it. I think Hyde's been listening to too much Lareine. XD Thanks to Helayne for the heads up! - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 09:38 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Monday, March 25, 2002

HIDE ALBUM TRACK LISTING The track listing for the new hide tribute album is up at the Dope HEADz official website. Unfortunately, for those of you who were looking forward to new remixes of hide songs, there doesn't seem to be much of that here. Instead, the LEMONed Compilation seems to be a CD combining songs from bands that hide discovered/produced. There is one hide song on there, "miscast" which seems to be a rare/unreleased track, but other than that, all the other songs are original songs by the bands. More information is here: http://www.m-up.com/DOPEHEADZ/main.html. The CD itself is a Cafe le Psyence production, but for some reason, Takui doesn't seem to be in the track listing. For those of you who like Dope HEADz, there's going to be a special treat on this CD: a remix of Evening Rose with their new vocalist, Shame. The original version of that is one of my favorite songs, so I'm awaiting the remix eagerly. Also, reminder! Roentgen, Hyde's first album, comes out on Wednesday, 27 March! - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 04:19 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

ORICON RANKINGS Oricon Weekly Album Ranking Apparently a lot of jrock artists' albums are doing quite well in the top 50. Tomoyasu Hotei's Scorpio Rising is #4, Buck-Tick's Kyokutou I Love You is #12, and Bump of Chicken's Jupiter is #13. Siam Shade and Luna Sea's Best Collections are also on there, as is La'cryma Christi's &U in #36. Also, I didn't know this before but apparently Tak Matsumoto has put out another solo album entitled Dragon From the West. It's #19. As far as singles go, Glay's Way of Difference is still up there in #3 while Hyde's Shallow Sleep is #19. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 07:38 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

MANA UPDATE (Originally posted: 3/18/02) Okay Malice Mizer fans! Second member to check in is our leader-sama himself, MANA! ^_^ His official website, Monologue -|- Theater opened on his birthday (March 19). I love the url. *can't help laughing just a little* XD UPDATE: Okay. Apparently there is a bat game thing at the beginning of the site. If you get it, you can access the actual meat of the site. *mutters about non-translatable flash pages* There is some info regarding Mana's upcoming solo project, Moi Dix Mois. Not sure if this is the name of the "band" so to speak but that's what the project is called. More info as it becomes available. UPDATE AGAIN: Kurai has been kind enough to translate the page. Read Mana's ramblings XD here. ^_^ - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 09:40 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Monday, March 18, 2002

GACKT: FANCLUB TOUR & NEW ALBUM Pretty much what the title says. After the release of his new single, Wasurenai Kara (April 24), *koff* Gackt will do a "Special Fanclub Tour" from May 24 to June 30. From what I understand, those who preorder the new single between March 15 and April 9 through Lawson/Loppi will be able to enter a lottery to get tickets for the "special" live. Tickets for the rest of the tour can be purchased at Lawson as usual. For more information, take a look at this flyer and feel free to correct me if I've made any mistakes in the translation. Gackt is also planning to release a new album. No title or release date yet but you can reserve it starting April 1. *mutter* - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 01:45 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Sunday, March 17, 2002

CALI=GARI MAJOR DEBUT I don't know why we forgot to announce this, but indies band Cali=Gari has finally gone major after 9 years on the indies scene. Their first single will be called "Dai 7 Jikken-shitsu yokoku-ban" (I think it's actually a mini-album). What a title...but then again, this is Cali=Gari. Read more about the details here on CD Japan. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 01:21 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Saturday, March 16, 2002

NEW HIDE COMPILATION ALBUM http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TOCT-24809 It's scheduled for release in May. Looks like another "Hide Tribute Spirits" sort of project, with various artists doing covers. Apparently there are going to be some very rare songs on this album as well. I'm excited. Also, I don't know how many of you have read this, but go here to read a Fool's Mate interview with Yoshiki from 1999. He talks about his feelings on X Japan, hide's death, Toshi's leaving the band, and his future projects. Very brutally honest. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 02:19 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Friday, March 15, 2002

SHIROI HEYA BAND QUIZ! I made a quiz! *crickets chirp* What Unknown Jrock Band Should You Be In? Now, by "unknown" I mean that they're underrepresented online. There are some pretty big names that I had to include in my quiz, but the fact remains that many of the most popular bands in Japan are sadly almost nonexistant online. Anyway, go take the quiz before I start ranting. ^_^ - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 05:13 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O