Aural Candy

This Thing Ate My Soul Last Night

Deceived Mad Pain

According to the creators, this is a: "Japanese rock riddle site where fans can test not only their problem solving skills, but their knowledge of many different bands."

Out of curiosity to see how much I know about J-Rock and maybe I'm a masochist, I ended up spending way too much time last night trying to solve the current 25 levels of puzzles with 3 other readers of Go's blog at jrocknyc. We totally flooded his shoutbox discussing the clues! Sorry, Go! I swear Elec was laughing at us. :D

The four of us finally conquered the riddles! In shuu's words: "That was highly enjoyable/made me want to die."

The problem-solving aspect of of the riddles was less difficult. The true challenges, for me at least, laid in how knowledgeable you are about the band featured at the particular levels. I was able to breeze through certain levels because I'm a big fan of that band, but for bands I don't pay as much attention to, my god, what torture!

I really like how the riddles mostly did a good job of taking away the perhaps unfair advantage of people who know Japanese. Knowing Japanese can both help and hinder your progress. So in the end, we're all even. At the risk of spoiling the riddles, I won't go anymore into this.

If any of you guys want to take a crack at this and need help, feel free to ask me. By now, the answers have been carved into my memory.

Oh, and let me show this badge off because I think the hours of suffering I had at the hands of this riddle site entitles me to it! This site is so aptly named. Was I deceived? Yes. Did I get mad? Yes. Was I in pain? YES!

Deceived Mad Pain - Level 25 Badge

 

New York City Fun

Well, according to the manager's blog, Gazette is now in New York for making the upcoming album! From the photo posted in the entry, it looks like they're in the Downtown West vicinity, probably the TriBeCa or Chelsea neighborhoods. Anyone would like to go Gazette stalking? (I'm kidding!)

I'm flying in to NYC this weekend. It feels like coming home; it's been a long time. I'll be hitting the Met, Battery Park, and of course, Chinatown among other old favorite haunts when I was a teenager roaming the streets. Mmmm... green tea ice cream. I miss the Ice Cream Factory in Chinatown. And let me see if I can still find my old New York City Public Library library card. *is a nerd*

Of course, there's also window shopping. I have a feeling that I'll be doing this a lot since I'll be staying right on Fifth Avenue this summer. :D or is it D:?

J-Rock Revolution Festival Live Reports

As promised, I have compiled the live reports covering the J-Rock Revolution Festival (I prefer writing it as "J-Rock" instead of "JRock"). As of 11pm Tuesday May 29, I have read reports written by more than 30 people. The overwhelming number forced me to pick out the ones I liked instead. So now, I'm only posting links to around 10.  My preferences for live reports were explained here, in what I think makes a good live report.

amouraiguise - Yes, I love details.

• Part 1
• Part 2
  

claim_solaris - Another quite detailed report.

• Day 1
• Day 2

coiled_iris - Is it possible to fangirl about a live report? The author is a girl after my own heart. The blow-by-blow accounts leave me a puddle of fangirl mess on the floor.

• Day 1
• Day 2
  

danimation - Written by a male fan.

• Report
  

direngreyfan413 - Encounter with YOSHIKI after the live.

• Report

fourscrewsloose - Great details, with photos of concert-goers.

• Report
  

fy_sanctuary - A report with lots of photos.

• Report
  

jrock_junkie00 - This one's got a photo of miyavi arriving in his convertible. WTF, he wears that hat even when driving?!

• Report
  

radicalfxcker - This was written by an Akiya (of Kagrra,) fan! *hugs her*

• Day 1
• Day 2
  

remix_sakura - Great coverage of Kagrra,.

• Day 1

Two eL's - Nice details on MUCC's performance.

• Day 2

It seems that both Kagrra, and alice nine. gained a lot of new fans on Friday night. Whooo! Despite being an alice nine. fan myself, I'm still surprised by how popular they are. They seriously brought the house down, my god. Aside from the YOSHIKI band announcement, it seemed that alice nine. stole the night. I'm incredibly delighted and proud of them!

On a related note, more videos of the 2-day concert have surfaced. Keep on checking YouTube!

Edit:

Oh, and a rant. I'm shocked so many people are indifferent about SUGIZO. "Oh, I have no idea who that other guitar guy in Yoshiki's new band is." This reallly bothers me. If you don't know who LUNA SEA is and consequently, who SUGIZO is, please go check out the band's entry on Wikipedia.

Who do you think was the biggest influence and inspiration for Gazette? (I'm using them as an example because they're getting so big now.) Where do you think Reita and Uruha's performing style come from? Who the heck do you think Uruha's hero is?

It's one thing to not have heard of LUNA SEA's works, but I think a J-Rock fan should at the very least know of the band since they're so legendary.

LUNA SEA

Picture from Japanese Channel

Label Networks TV J-Rock Revolution Coverage

Err...

Label Networks TV: Jrock Revolution Comes to America

But the bit of Kagrra, live in the beginning and backstage footage at the end are worth it.

Watch This Space for J-Rock Revolution Festival Report Compilation

SKIN (miyavi, YOSHIKI, SUGIZO)

Yep, like the title says, I'll be compiling the J-Rock Festival live reports I come across in the upcoming days. I'm subscribed to a lot of J-Rock fandom communities/journals and I've already seen 2 reports pop up. I'll also be combing through the usual forums as well.

Stay tuned.

And by the way, Kagrra, was back in traditional kimono outfits on Friday night!!! And I'm so holding Isshi to his promise of returning to the US.

Oh, and Shin wrote a lovely message in his blog:

LA Live is over.
I am very thankful for a passionate welcome. It was such a short time but I never forget this first Live in LA.
We flight back to JAPAN tomorrow　morning. I can't believe it's over . and hope for the next time. So we can came back.

Then again thank you very much for coming tonight.

Kagrra, (circa 2002)

News: miyavi's Participation in YOSHIKI Project Confirmed

"Ah, I knew it!" says me.

JaME USA:

During his performance for the first night of JRock Revolution, miyavi confirmed the members of Yoshiki's "super band" that so many have speculated about. The members are Yoshiki, Gackt, miyavi, and Sugizo!

My original post last year speculating about miyavi's plan to join YOSHIKI's project was seriously the most linked entry ever. I kept on seeing this blog being referenced or linked to in various J-Rock communities, blogs, and even Wikipedia. So now, it's been confirmed. miyavi is indeed the 4th member of YOSHIKI's band.

And according to Wikipedia, the band's name is SKIN. SKIN will be performing at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, CA on June 29 (already? what about a bassist?!). Gosh, why do the Californians get all the cool J-Rock events? *headdesk*

I'm seriously tempted to move to the West Coast.

News: Updates on the Gazemen

1.

Here's the larger version of Gazette's new look from the band's staff blog.

the GazettE

*scrubs eyes with bleach*

Rooooooooki, what the hell man, what the hell?! And am I the only who thinks he also looks sorta whore-ish insanely provocative?

2.

Speaking of provocative, the cover and the setlist for the upcoming live DVD have been determined.

DECOMPOSITION BEAUTY

Yes! Filth in the beauty, Worthless War, Rich Excrement, Taion, Chizuru, SILLY GOD DISCO, LINDA, and THE $OCIAL RIOT MACHINE$ are all on there!!! I'm so looking forward to this.

3.

And uhh, the new album, STACKED RUBBISH special edition will contain 2 (TWO!) PVs. One of them will be Chizuru, the other one will probably be one of the new songs. The album will feature 14 songs in total, 10 of them will be new works.

4.

I just noticed this. There's now a picture gallery of all of the Gazette tour goods ever released on the official home page. It's kinda fun looking over the designs.

Gazette Throws a Curve Ball

the GazettE - BRAND-X preview

the GazettE - TV appearance

Thanks to kokii and bottleofsoymilk of LJ community gazette_media

Here I thought that ever since Gazette signed with King Records, they've been leaning away from the old school visual kei image. But, apparently, I'm wrong. I'm dead dead wrong.

Aoi, Reita, and Kai still look about the same as before, but Uruha and Ruki.... Oh, man! Ruki's hair in the second picture makes me want to hit my head on the keyboard. Why-oh-why did you decide to replace your hair with a bird nest?

I shall mourn the loss of a dewy-looking, wispy-haired Ruki from the Hyena and Chizuru eras.

Ruki of the GazettE (left: Hyena era; right: Chizuru era)

 

Does Aoi Know How to Play the Violin?

Aoi posing with a violin

To put fellow fans' minds at rest, the answer is: nope, he doesn't actually play.

Evidence:

1. The bow should be aligned parallel to the bridge.
2. All of the fingers on the right hand should be curved. Extended index and pinky is a big no-no. Yep, it's sometimes hard to maintain that shape especially if you're double-jointed and tensely grip the bow (I wouldn't be surprised if Aoi really is double-jointed. Have you seen the man bend his back? Jesus Christ!), but the bow in the photo is actually at the upbow position, which is the easiest position to maintain the optimum right hand shape.

Though, Aoi does get points for cradling the violin at the right angle. The scroll is held at the same height as his mouth.

/End of a random post

News: AN CAFE - The Next Generation

The new AN CAFE

...

No comment.

Edit:

Okay, I lied. I do have some comments. Visually speaking, I have to say that the new keyboardist's appearance (second left) clashes badly with the rest of the band. What's up with the wig and huge sunglasses? And the animal print shirt and boa! Urghh. The new guitarist's image (second right), on the other hand, works very well. He sort of looks like a cross between Miku and Teruki. Rather cute, isn't he?

Musically, though, the addition of a keyboardist is rather intriguing. I'm not an AN CAFE fan, but I do like one or two of their songs. This new keyboardist stirs enough interest in me to check out the "new" band's releases once they come out. Hmm....