First post of the year. What.

How is it that I managed to not post anything until 31 days into the new year? Clearly, I should have made blogging more regularly my new year's resolution.

As it turns out, my brief obsession with the GazettE was, well... brief. I don't follow any news about them at all, aside from major things like the Tokyo Dome concert (and by that I mean that I know that it even happened, not actual details) and the Heresy fan club closing its doors to international (i.e. non-Japanese) members/applicants. I still like their music, I just don't fangirl over them anymore until I see Reita being all sexy as always.

I suppose the same could be said for SS501; I don't really follow them anymore, though I would say I'm a little more interested in their current endeavors than I am in the GazettE's. Speaking of which, the SS501 members are finally becoming more active, albeit individually. E.g., Park Jung Min recently released his first solo single album (he is looking FINE these days, btw) and Kim Hyung Jun is going to have a second season of that progamer show. I'll probably watch it, as long as it's as lulzy as the first season.

I also started listening to Park Hyo Shin recently; omg, that man's voice is just... I don't even have words for it. Unfortunately, he got drafted for the military last year December so we won't be seeing anything from him for a couple of years. To be honest, I'm not much of ballad lover but the few songs that I do love from him are awesome.

Man, I gotta started doing my obligatory monthly updates earlier so I don't have to rush. Or maybe just post more often than once a month.

Listening to right now: Edwin McCain - I'll Be

The sole October post... huh?

I can't believe an entire month (and more) has passed since I last posted anything here. For some reason I kept thinking that I had posted at least once in October but I guess my sense of time is worse than I thought.

Life's been so busy that I really haven't had much time (or spare energy) to follow up on... anything, really. I have some idea of what's been going on with different bands and such but no time to really fangirl over any of the news.

Oh, but there's roughly a month and a half left before the GazettE releases their new single, "PLEDGE". I wasn't too much impressed by their last two singles, "SHIVER" and "Red"; they weren't bad (in fact, they're quite catchy and I've looped them quite a bit) but they also weren't amazing. The B-sides were a bit more interesting but even those didn't hold my attention quite as much as some of their previous singles have.
I am also really, really, really hoping that Reita gets rid of that extra piece of cloth that he has wrapped around his forehead. Something about it just doesn't suit him, aside from it just looking plain silly.

Speaking of visuals though, I also hope that the "PLEDGE" PV is more interesting than the last two. Both "SHIVER" and "Red" must have had the same director or something because there was the same annoying jerky-I-don't-want-to-focus-on-any-one-thing-in-particular thing going on. "Red" was definitely not as boring a PV as "SHIVER", although the cameraman needs to learn that there are more members in the GazettE than Ruki, Aoi, and Uruha. Like seriously, Reita and Kai got practically no face time. Although, Reita looked so damn tired in the few shots he did have that maybe it's actually a good thing.

Guess I'm just gonna have to cross my fingers for an awesome single/PV this time around.

Listening to right now: ONE OK ROCK - Liar

Oh, the irony

I mentioned in a previous post that I was thinking about going to one of the US Dir en grey/Apocalyptica shows this year. Happy to say, I made plans and did indeed make it to the venue. Right after Dir en grey finished playing.

T_T

As it turns out, my master planning skills did not take into account a number of various scenarios that ended up happening, thus resulting in my absolute disappointment at not being able to see Dir en grey perform. To be fair, everything that happened was completely unavoidable so that actually does make it a little better.

And I did get to see Apocalyptica perform so it wasn't a total waste. Not to mention that they were totally badass and rocked out on those cellos so hard. I also was not expecting such hot eyecandy to be flaunted before me. I'm quite happy that I got the opportunity to see them that close up but it's a little sad that there weren't more people at that particular venue because they definitely deserve more love.

The one thing that's really kind of depressing, despite the fact that I'm really not that big a Diru fan, is that the venue was pretty small and there weren't that many people (at least not for Apocalyptica's set). So I could see the band ridiculously clearly and when I think that I was this close to seeing Diru that close up... yeah, I kind of die a little inside.

All in all, it was a worthwhile experience and it was awesome watching Apocalyptica's performance. I'm sure Diru will come back, and when they do I hope that I'll have the opportunity and the funds to actually see them this time, preferably in a venue as small as this one.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - Without a Trace

Take the love train~

I don't usually listen to J-pop boy bands (e.g. those of the Johnny's Entertainment variety) but for some reason I am ridiculously and hopelessly addicted to KAT-TUN's song "Yorokobi no Uta". I had bookmarked the PV on Youtube a while back but I never went to back to it until this weekend. And it is literally almost the only song I have been listening to all weekend.

It's nothing spectacular, and imo they didn't need six guys to sing it since they all kinda sound the same anyway except for maybe the rapper cuz you know... he raps, but omg it's sooo catchy. And totally fun to sing along to as well.

I've never found the KAT-TUN guys to be that good-looking (except Kamenashi Kazuya because I've seen him in dramas) but the more I watch them, not only in this video but others as well, the more I find them to be quite charming and cute in their own somewhat dorky ways. In addition to their personalities, it probably has a lot to do with their clothes and hairstyles, too. (Remember my Superman analogy?)

It's really too bad that I don't like most of their other songs that I've heard so far. -_-;

Listening to right now: KAT-TUN - Yorokobi no Uta

Edit: Perhaps "take da luv train" is a more accurate title, lol.

This is the love of a fan

I'm really amazed at the love and dedication of fans. And no, this isn't sarcasm.

Recently, the GazettE announced that they would be having their tour final at Tokyo Dome. For those of you who don't know, to perform at Tokyo Dome is pretty big. Tokyo Dome is Japan's largest concert hall; if you play there, you know you've made it. And to play there when you're a VK band? Even better.

What truly blows me away is that I've read about so many overseas (I'm referring to mostly American) fans who have never been to Japan or even traveled, some who have never even left their side of the USA, who are sucking up their anxiety and saving up their moolah just to share in the Tokyo Dome experience.

I'm sure this sounds ridiculously trite because it's a concert, how hard could it be, right? Think about it. Japan is on the side of world, so first off it's expensive. It's also the day after Christmas but it takes about 14 hours to fly to Japan, not to mention that 26th in Japan can still be 25th in the US (this is really only applicable to those who celebrate Christmas, of course. Though it being the Christmas season also means that plane tickets are ridiculously pricey). Most of these fans don't speak a word of Japanese. Okay, maybe a few words. Like "konnichiwa", "sayonara", "kawaii", and "yaoi". The hotel pages might be in English (maybe), but the avenues through which you obtain the concert tickets are most definitely not.

It's hard being a non-Japanese-speaking fan of a band whose biggest (and most catered for) fanbase is Japanese-speaking. And as much as I make fun of fangirls even though I am quite obviously a huge fangirl myself, I have to admire their devotion to the bands they love. I can still call them crazy, but I can admire them too.

And man, I would TOTALLY be there at Tokyo Dome with them if I didn't have a good reason not to be.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - 奈落

Something a little different

I was on Youtube the other night checking out a song by Cécile Corbel that she did for the new Ghibli movie, The Borrower Arrietty. I was curious about her since she's obviously not Japanese but she was singing the song in Japanese. Turns out that she's a celtic harpist and singer from Brittany, France.

A little more random link-clicking and I came across this video. It's the music video for one of her songs called "La fille damnée" and the song that I am currently completely addicted to. The lyrics are interesting, and sound like something you would hear in an old folktale. I don't usually go for such high voices (and to be honest I didn't really like the first couple of songs I listened to) but she sings really beautifully and delicately, and I love her voice in this particular song.

Unfortunately, I keep listening to it over and over again so it'll probably lose its novelty by oh, say, Monday?

Listening to right now: Cécile Corbel - La fille damnée

I heart SS501

So it seems that I've been really out of touch with K-pop lately... so much stuff has happened in the last few weeks. Like SuJu's Shin Dong getting engaged. What? When was he dating? Gotta give the man props though for managing to keep his relationship under wraps.

SS501's former agency, DSP, also released an MV for their song "Let Me Be The One" (which is actually a cover of an Andre Mieux song). The MV is really just a compilation of various clips from performances, backstage, etc but it's so touching. Coupled with the ballad, it almost feels like a foreshadowing of SS501 breaking up. There hasn't been much news about their current situation in terms of signing with new agencies (aside from Kim Hyun Joong) or about anything related to them, really.

I usually try to keep my fangirling thought processes on the down-low but I'll admit that I will actually be very sad if SS501 disbands. They may not be the most talented group out there, or the most popular, but they are the only K-pop group that I have consistently fangirled followed ever since getting into them (which admittedly was not that long ago). Watching them makes me smile, especially when they're together.

I mean it's not like if they break up I'm gonna sit in a corner and cry or anything, and it's supposedly highly unlikely that they'll break up. But the "Let Me Be The One" MV has such sad clips that it just puts you (or at least me) in that kind of mood/mindset. SS501, 화이팅!

Listening to right now: SS501 - Let Me Be The One

P.S. I figured it out... the D'espairsRay song "LOVE IS DEAD" reminds me of the 1984 song "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive. And consequently every cover or song that sampled it made thereafter.

Cellists and... rock?

Dir en grey just announced their North American tour for this year and I'm considering going to one of the shows. I haven't really listened to them in like 5 years so I'm a little skeptical about going through all the trouble of traveling to see them, not to mention that I'd also be doing it by myself. On the other hand, it would be a great experience to see them live, regardless of whether I'm familiar with (or even like) their newer music.

They're headlining with a Finnish band called Apocalyptica which consists of 3 classically trained cellists and a drummer (according to Wiki). I admit, I was intrigued and so I'm looking them up on Youtube right now. Their music is quite interesting; I like it. To be honest, before I Googled them, I was expecting some kind of stereotypical power metal or heavy rock band with tonnes of screaming and whatnot. I'm pleasantly surprised that they're totally not, and they kind of make me want to go to the concert even more now.

There are a few other upcoming concerts that I'm also considering: Yoshida Brothers, D'espairsRay, and VAMPS.

I first heard a Yoshida Brothers song back in April on Pandora but I never went out of my way to listen to more of them. So I listened to a bunch of their songs today at work, and I wouldn't mind going to see them live except that their dates/venues aren't quite as convenient for me.

I've heard a few D'espairsRay songs but I never really got into them. I recently heard one of their more recent songs, "LOVE IS DEAD", and it's rather catchy although it reminds me of some old song (maybe 80's era?) that I can't quite put my finger on. Again, however, the dates and venues are somewhat inconvenient for me.

And last but not least, VAMPS. I'm not a big fan of their music but Hyde is <3 so I would totally go see them just to be a little closer to fulfilling my dream of touching him indecently see him live. This one is still a bit far into the future so I haven't checked yet to see how practical it is for me to go.

So far the Dir en grey concert is looking to be the best bet here, so I better start looping their songs like crazy to force myself to love them brushing up on their latest songs.

Listening to right now: D'espairsRay - LOVE IS DEAD

Thank heavens for black and white

I've been looping the GazettE's new single "SHIVER" all day and... it still hasn't really grown on me yet. Both the PV and the song itself are not that impressive. The PV is not that interesting, and not as good visually, compared to some of their other PVs. Thankfully, it's in black and white though, so my eyes are spared from their cringe-worthy dye jobs.
There have been other songs by the GazettE that I didn't like at first but looped simply because the PV was visually appealing. Case in point: "REGRET". Unfortunately, that's not the case with "SHIVER".

The song itself isn't anything spectacular but it isn't all bad either. It's just... plain. On a related side note though, it also happens to be the opening song for the second season of the anime Kuroshitsuji. Ruki would like to remind everyone that "SHIVER" was NOT written specifically for the anime, it just happened to be chosen as the opening (apparently diehard Gazefans find the anime tie-up to be a justifiable reason for sending hate mail to the GazettE).

Just watched the Kuroshitsuji II opening and it looks kind of interesting... the animation looks pretty good too. I've never read the manga past maybe the first couple of volumes, and from what I've read those characters aren't even in the second season, so it's highly unlikely that I'll bother watching the anime (either season 1 or 2).

I've also seen some pictures of the GazettE's new look from other magazines and I'm happy to say that they do look better than the pictures from that first magazine I saw. But overall, I still don't really like the new look. Perhaps it'll grow on me the more I ogle them, hohohoho.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - SHIVER

It is cheesed with power~

A while back when I first started really getting into the GazettE, I said that Ruki's voice was so annoying that I almost didn't bother listening to any more. I'd just like to retract that statement and redeem Ruki.

Admittedly, his voice can be annoying, e.g. in the song "Cassis", but overall he's actually a really good vocalist. His voice really grew on me after a while, and even though I don't necessarily consider him to be one of my favourite vocalists, I can definitely appreciate his talent. One of his strong points is the intense emotion that he infuses into his singing. I've watched videos of their performances and Ruki just fascinates me. It's as though he's acting out every song, feeling every emotion in every word. Not to mention the charisma and energy that he exudes on stage.

I've also listened to almost all of their releases, from 2002 to 2010, and he has definitely improved as a vocalist, in my opinion. I don't too much care for his style of singing in their earlier stuff though so perhaps I'm just biased in that sense.

Ruki also pens the lyrics for all of the GazettE's songs and although I have not looked up the majority of their lyrics, the few that I have looked up have impressed me. Granted, a part of it probably has to do with how they're translated but even so, I'm still impressed by the subject matter as well as the imagery/metaphors that he uses in his lyrics.
(I'm aware that there are many lyricists who use similar subject matter and have great lyrics... but this post isn't about them, and neither am I trying to compare anyone.)

"Taion" is written about a Japanese girl, Furuta Junko, who was tortured and murdered in the late 1980's. "Without a Trace" is about one of their fans who committed suicide (if I'm not mistaken), and the song as a whole is so touching; it's probably one of my favourite ballads by them. "Guren" is full of imagery which some people speculate represents a miscarriage (or so I've read). And "Filth in the beauty" is about a father sexually abusing his daughter.
Of course, this doesn't mean that all of Ruki's lyrics make sense. See that title? "It is cheesed with power"? Those are the very first words in their song "SILLY GOD DISCO". Yeah. I like that Ruki tries with his English, and oftentimes (though not in this particular case, lol) he does manage to get the gist across but like with all good Engrish it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Not to mention that half the time you can't even tell when he's singing in Engrish, haha.

I believe that Ruki is also responsible for a lot of the band's visual stuff, like album designs, stage sets, PVs, etc etc (don't quote me on this). Regardless, the GazettE is always visually incredible to watch. Though a lot of it probably also has to do with the camera work and directing skills when it comes to PVs and live DVDs.

Also, the man owns a ridiculously cute chihuahua. And gold pants. I think this is reason enough for Ruki love.



Listening to right now: the GazettE - Before I Decay

P.S. And just for the record, I strongly dislike the GazettE's new look. I'm hoping it was just that particular magazine because they don't look too bad in black and white (as per the "Shiver" PV... more on their new single another time).

P.P.S. I take no credit for any of these images.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Ruki sounds pretty awesome live. :3

Daily WTF moment

Brought to you by none other than... Gackt.

Anyone who has ever watched Gackt on a variety show knows exactly where I'm coming from. Magnum? Crotch splitter? Cross-dressing? Naked curry-making? Uh huh.

Today I had the disturbing interesting pleasure of finally knowing what kind of underwear Gackt wears (or at least used to wear, seeing as this was from way back when). And what TMI moment about underwear would not be complete without mannequins to model examples? For those of you still wondering, he wears thongs. He also brought thongs to proudly hold up, despite the background shots already showing the back and front of the mannequins wearing them.
In all honesty, judging by the extreme tightness of his pants, it doesn't really come as a shock that he wears/wore thongs. I bet a lot of J-rockers who sport similar pants also wear thongs. Or go commando.

Other facepalm- and headdesk-worthy Gackt-ness that I discovered today:
- Openly molesting the mannequin of a woman's naked torso on stage during "Blue Lagoon".
- YFC tour. Stands for Yellow Fried Chickens. 'Nuff said.

Oh, Gackt. Never change, you weird, weird man.

Listening to right now: THYME - Hello

P.S. Although I headdesk every time I see Gackt, regardless of whether he's being relatively normal or not, I acknowledge that the man has talent. Just not my kind of talent. Also, I haven't heard most of his newer stuff, but with regards to his older stuff I prefer his ballads to his faster songs.

Hyde, bleach, and the ultimate treasure known as adult magazines

Just when I thought that Hyde (hyde? HYDE?) had outgrown his cross-dressing tendencies, he proves me wrong with the new VAMPS PV for "ANGEL TRIP". Not that there's anything wrong with Hyde looking like a girl. But he's also blonde again. Apparently he didn't learn his lesson about bleach during his solo endeavours.

Many things ran through my mind as I watched the PV, besides the initial "omg Hyde is blonde (again)" and "omg Hyde looks like a girl (again)". These included, in some form or another: hippies, Jack Sparrow, rum (well, really, that's just redundant after having already mentioned Jack Sparrow), drug dealers, and "DRIVER'S HIGH".

All this being said, I really liked Hyde's eye makeup and the song itself is pretty catchy. It's the 6th single from VAMPS, and to be honest I haven't heard enough from them to compare it to their other stuff. But come on. It's Hyde. The man can do no wrong except when he sings in English.
And really, he doesn't look that bad as a blonde.

Listening to right now: VAMPS - ANGEL TRIP

P.S. If you don't understand my title for this post... then clearly you have not done yourself the great favour of watching the "ANGEL TRIP" PV. Do it. Now.

Keep your shirt on

I'm going to have to stop fangirling every time I watch a SS501 performance otherwise every other post is going to be about how sexy they are much better their performances are getting. I watched their Inkigayo performance for this week and they switched to grey/silver suits. I like these and the white suits more than the black ones, just because it sets them apart from their back-up dancers, visually. Their singing is much better than their comeback stages last week so I assume that that was just due to nerves and overall trying too hard. I think the special effects that the Inkigayo people added into the video were completely unnecessary but at least their cameraman isn't as spastic as Music Core's. -_-;

I also watched one of the debut performances of a new boy band called Infinite. Their song "Come Back Again" is pretty catchy and their dancing is really clean and sharp; I'm pretty impressed. Hopefully their subsequent stuff will be even better.

One of the other performances I watched was MBLAQ's "Y". I facepalm anytime I watch an MBLAQ performance though... I get that Lee Joon has rockin' abs but come on, choreographers, please let the man keep his shirt on for once. Now that I think about it, 2PM's performances were also facepalm-worthy whenever Taecyeon ripped his shirt off. It just seems so overdone now.

And finally, I meant to comment on CNBLUE's new mini-album a while ago but I lost motivation and never got around to it. I don't really have much to say about it except that it's really good. Upbeat and catchy, and a nice change from all the auto-tuned dance songs dominating K-pop these days. Definitely loop-worthy.

Okay, one more thing, lol. I never understood why Super Junior's new song "Minah (Bonamana)" was so popular. Up until 5 minutes ago I had only ever seen/heard it in music show performances and it didn't seem like a very interesting song at all. So I just watched the MV and it's actually pretty catchy. Damnit, I think it's even growing on me now.
Oh, and look, Leeteuk also has no shirt on. *facepalm*

Listening to right now: Super Junior - Minah (Bonamana)

I am a fangirl, hear me squeal

Warning: Major fangirling ahead!!


I just watched SS501's performance on Music Bank for this week and....

omgomgomgomgfaint!

Haha, just had to throw that in. But seriously, their dancing was so crisp and clean in this performance; I'm really impressed at how much better it is compared to last week. And the white suits... niiiiiice.
The only problem I had was that the stage was so small... I felt cramped just watching them dancing in that tiny space. I would say they should cut back on their back-up dancers but that would probably mess up the whole choreography, etc. I liked the contrast between SS501's white suits and the dancers' black outfits though... it helps in distinguishing SS501 from a distance, haha.

So basically throughout the whole video I was going "niiiiiice" like every 10 seconds and grinning like an idiot. Not totally unlike every other SS501 video I watch.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya (Music Bank performance - June 11, 2010)

Edit: I just re-watched their comeback performances from last week and their dancing was actually pretty good in the Music Bank performance. I think it's either the white suits or the stage backdrop this week that helps to emphasize their movements and make them look more crisp (or maybe they really are more crisp). The singing seems to have improved though. On the other hand, last week's Music Core performance was overall not that good. Also, the Music Core cameraman needs to calm the fuck down, holy shit.

All it takes is good hair

So SS501 made their comeback this weekend and I've been watching their performances for "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" on Youtube. They really nailed "Let me be the one" and even threw in a little choreography which I thought was a nice touch, even though it's a ballad. It's too bad that they sang a shorter version of the song and not the whole thing since it's a such a good song. The "Love ya" performance wasn't as impactful (is that even a word? lol) as I thought it would have been. The choreography works better in the video than on stage, imo, and I'm not sure I really like their outfits that much. At least their hair looks better this time around so I can overlook pretty much everything else. I also liked that they had live instruments on stage, and even though I complained about the rapping in my previous post, that was surprisingly the part that they pulled off the best.

One thing that I'm a little disappointed about is that SS501 is not that consistent with their live vocals. I can understand that some of their dance choreography is very demanding and that affects their overall stamina and hence their vocals, but there are other groups that also dance and sing at the same time and can still stay on key more consistently. I know that they have talent up the wazoo because they always pull off their ballads beautifully, and they can sing well in their faster songs, so I think it's just a matter of stamina or something when it comes to the dancing while singing. With regards to "Love ya", I'm hoping that as the weeks go by they'll be able to polish their performance a bit more since they'll be doing it so many times anyway.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Let me be the one

P.S. The title doesn't really have any relevance to the post itself but I've found myself lacking inspiration for witty titles lately. Though I was watching some of SS501's older performances (e.g. U R Man) and I was reminded of how much difference a good hairstyle can make.

Let me love ya

SS501 just released the MV for their new song "Love ya" off of their new mini-album "Destination". But before I get into what I think about either of those, let's backtrack a bit.

Pictures were released a few weeks ago of their new look and the concept was... wow. Personally, I liked the first set of pictures (the ones with the mask) because the look was incredibly sexy with a touch of BDSM. Park Jung Min pulled if off especially well. However, the set of pictures where they kept the BSDM theme but lost the mask wasn't quite as good, imo. I don't know if it was the hair or the make-up but I found that there was something excessively feminine about the whole look. Key word being excessively because we all know how much I enjoy watching effeminate-looking men.

I was a little bit disappointed that the new album ended up being another mini-album rather than a full album. I mean, anything at all is great but at the same time I was hoping to hear more from them. The songs themselves are really good (quality over quantity, I suppose); I honestly like the songs (and their new look) on "Destination" a lot more than those on "Rebirth". I'm especially addicted to "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" even though there isn't that much choice seeing as there are really only 4 different songs to choose from.

And now back to the "Love ya" MV. The song itself is a strong, catchy, and altogether addictive track. The rap (does every K-pop song these days have a rap?) sounds a little clumsy to me; something about it doesn't flow... I don't know if it's the lyrics themselves, or if it's the fact that none of the SS501 members are really rappers. I think the best part of the song is at the end of the chorus when Jung Min sings all gravelly and then Young Saeng follows up with this smooth voice. Great contrast. Kim Hyun Joong doesn't really sing that much which is a little disappointing simply because I like it when all 5 of them sing a significant portion of the song. While I was watching the MV I was actually thinking "huh, not that much Hyun Joong" and then BAM! solo dance.
Overall, the choreography is pretty decent, though I could do without the air humping; luckily, they don't do too much of it. Strangely enough, the gunshots (or whatever that sound is supposed to be) totally remind me of the yaoi game Zettai Fukuju Meirei [Absolute Obedience]. (Good game, btw.)

I haven't been following SS501's activities as closely as I did last year but I'm looking forward to their comeback performances and such. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I watch them nowadays because they've matured and improved so much. They also don't sound like almost every other K-pop group out there which is refreshing. Now if they would only release another full length album.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya

P.S. Rabbit rabbit, bring me good luck!

Random ranting

I really dislike it when people go on a show and all of the sudden they are the sole important member of their band or group. I know that it's great exposure for the band/group but it really pisses me off when fans blatantly disregard the fact that there are other members and act as if that person is the sole talent and driving force behind the group's popularity.

Admittedly, I can only think of two specific instances in which this has happened (Kim Hyun Joong of SS501, and Jung Yong Hwa of CNBLUE), though I'm sure there are many others. And I'm in no way saying that as leaders of their respective groups they weren't already the more visible members. I'm not even saying there's anything wrong with their garnering more love for their groups through their appearances. In fact, I'm not even blaming them for anything or begrudging them their success and popularity. What I AM doing is ranting against the people who decide to name their Youtube videos "Jung Yong Hwa aka CNBLUE". Ummm, what? Since when is the lead singer AKA the entire band? To add insult to injury, the song that was uploaded wasn't even sung by Jung Yong Hwa but by Lee Jong Hyun, the main guitarist and co-vocalist of the band. And of course some people will comment on the video with "Jung Yong Hwa has such a sexy voice omgomgomgfaint!" Thank you, uploader, for spreading the ignorance.

And then of course, there are the people who are looking for videos of Kim Hyun Joong, stumble across a video of Kim Hyung Jun (another SS501 member), and then proceed to comment that it isn't Kim Hyun Joong/Yoon Ji Hoo (the character he played in the drama Boys Over Flowers). Of course it's not, it even says KIM HYUNG JUN. I can forgive this more easily because it's easy to mix up names, especially if you're not familiar either with the language or the people. But at least entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, there exist other people with names similar to Kim Hyun Joong.

Don't get me wrong, it's fine to fangirl over individual people because of their solo achievements without liking the group that they are a part of. But don't assume or claim that that individual is the source of all the group's talent and popularity. Kim Hyun Joong isn't the lead singer of SS501 and last time I checked, Jung Yong Hwa was not a multi-appendaged being who played drums, bass, and guitar all at the same time.

Listening to right now: CNBLUE - Black Flower

Chasing your dreams

One of my latest hobbies has been wasting my life watching random videos on Youtube, and recently I've become interested in covers and whatnot. I know most of the people whose channels I follow are probably already well-known enough but I figured I'd mention some of them anyway.

wotakufighter2121 [Takayuki Kurata]
There's this one guy in Japan who only has about 11 videos uploaded but dude, the number of related videos I've seen listed of people who have used his guitar arrangements... it's quite interesting. I'm not a guitarist myself, neither am I familiar with it, but the guy seems pretty talented. He also recently joined an indie band called LUNCH VOXX who I've only listened to one song from so far (not bad, but not really my thing). He uses a scarf to cover the lower half of his face which I suppose is his distinguishing characteristic for his appearance.

aozorafantasii [Lisa]
So this girl graduated from UC Berkeley in 2009 and is now in Japan working and chasing her dream. She's a singer-songwriter and quite a few of her songs are in Japanese. I only stumbled across her channel tonight so I haven't gotten a chance to listen to a lot of her stuff but I did like the few original songs that I listened to. I think that with some polishing they'll sound really great. I'm also a bit envious of her passion to chase her dream all the way to Japan. Wish I had guts (and talent) like that.

I guess I'll occasionally put up some more channels, even though I know that there are tonnes of people showcasing their talents (or lack thereof) on Youtube and even more people who already know about them. But more so than simply talent, I really only follow channels of people who have something interesting or memorable about them. Like penchants for borderline asphyxiation with scarfs.

Listening to right now: LUNCH VOXX - Fabric (Youtube channel here)

What goes together better than heartbreak and alcohol?

Currently looping Lee Seung Gi's "Love Taught Me To Drink". Okay, really I've only been looping the first 2 minutes because the rapping in the middle kind of broke the mood for me, though it does fit the song in its own way. After seeing the name of the song and then hearing the song I could totally imagine poor Lee Seung Gi sitting at a table by himself in a bar drowning his sorrows in soju (for all I know that's probably exactly what the video is about, haha... note to self: watch the PV!)

I forgot what a great voice Lee Seung Gi has. He has such a smooth, sexy voice and he's a great singer. I love his ballads but his voice also suits more upbeat songs really well. I didn't like his first album so much because his voice was very gravelly but his subsequent albums had a much smoother sound. I also wanted to watch his acting skills in the drama "Shining Inheritance" but I couldn't even make it past like half of the first episode... which is unfortunate because I don't think he was even in much of that first half. I just found the setting up of the whole story to be very slow and boring, though I'm sure the drama itself improved thereafter.

Anyway, I just thought I'd write a little post about it since this song inspired me to write a poem that flowed completely effortlessly with very little thinking involved, and on the very first listen no less! Of course, that doesn't mean that the poem's good but lately I've been thinking way too hard about my poems while I'm writing them.

Listening to right now: 이승기 - 사랑이 술을 가르쳐 [Lee Seung Gi - Love Taught Me To Drink]

The man without a nose

I present to you: Reita of the GazettE, also known as the man without a nose.



Just kidding, I'm sure he has a nose. Maybe.

Anyhoo, I was fangirling him a few weeks ago and was super excited about writing a blog entry about him. So excited in fact, that I wanted it to be perfect and awesome like the man himself and thus never got around to actually writing it.

Reita is the bassist of the GazettE, and his trademark is that band over his nose. Or a bandanna, but usually it's the nose band. Basically, the idea is to just never show his nose. There are, of course, pictures floating around of a nose band-less Reita from back in the day but let's face it, that nose band adds infinite sexiness and badass-ness to his look.

Ordinarily I'm vehemently against putting actual people as my computer wallpaper but I gave into the temptation and Reita is now proudly flaunting his hotness every time I boot up. Lately I also refrain from saving pictures of celebrities on my hard drive, mainly because I feel like an obsessed fangirl doing it, but again I gave into the temptation and now I have a folder full of Reita pictures.

Obsession is a dangerous, dangerous thing.

I also really like Reita's hair. It hasn't changed all that much over the years (from what I can tell) and overall his look is lot less feminine than a lot of other visual kei J-rockers, including his fellow band mates. Even his style hasn't changed much which, when you consider how often J-rockers take the wrong turn down the path of omg-who-the-hell-let-you-out-looking-like-that, is nice.

His headbanging in the Filth in the beauty PV is also really cute (since half the time he's really just kind of swinging his head from side to side) and his voice is just... omg. *melts*

I'm still in the process of really getting into the GazettE's music so I can't say much about his talent as a bassist... though I do like the bass line in Cassis a lot.
It's also somewhat amusing that he throws (or at least used to) his bass guitar up in the air during lives and then catches it. I guess impressive might be the better word to use, though he did drop it once. ><

I'm not really sure what's a good way to end the fangirling post, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?


Mmmm, don't mind if I do.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - Filth in the beauty

Note: I take no credit for these pictures. I found them all using Google.

Edit: I feel compelled to add something actually music-related to justify labeling this post as "Music". I listened to the GazettE's 'STACKED RUBBISH' album after my bandwagon post and I was kind of disappointed; totally not what I was expecting. I almost wrote another post saying that I was no longer on that bandwagon but luckily I listened to 'NIL' (which came before) and 'DIM' (which came after) first and I liked both those albums much more. I looped 'DIM' quite a bit... I believe it's their most recent studio album, released in 2009. So umm... yay for not falling off the bandwagon? :)