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.

Automatic fail

Because the trailer for the newest Harry Potter movie has been released and I have yet to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Even worse, it's actually been sitting on my desk for the last month or so, patiently waiting for me to find the motivation time to watch it.

And also because for some odd reason I thought that Half-Blood Prince was split into two parts just like Deathly Hollows.

And finally, because I do not remember what happened in the books aside from overall plot line. :(

Thank heavens for Wikipedia. I have roughly half a year to reacquaint myself with the first half of the last book.

The trailer for Deathly Hallows: Part I looks pretty good though. And the two parts supposedly aren't going to be released that far apart which is nice.

Listening to right now: FLOPPY - everything

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.

Twitter mania

I just found out that the guitarist Aoi from the GazettE is now on Twitter. *insert mild fangirling moment* The novelty must not have worn off yet because he tweets like every 3 hours, lol. Perhaps I should try harder to brush up on my Japanese because Babel Fish just ain't cutting it, yo.

I'm tempted (yet again) to sign up for Twitter just so I can follow him, though really I could just check every once in a while for his updates (tweets, whatever). But if Reita joins Twitter I am SO THERE.