Just a small update. The next rotation will most likely be summer-themed. So happy that school's almost out. <3
9mm Parabellum Bullet - Supernova/Wanderland
Japanese | Alt Rock
01. Supernova
02. Wanderland
03. Wildpitch
04. Supernova (piano)
05. Wanderland (piano)
Japan has so many awesome alt-rock bands. <3 9mm Parabellum Bullet is one of my favourites. I didn't upload the two piano versions, but I will on request. Supernova is probably my favourite track from this single, it has a really solid rhythm and nice guitar riffs. Wavering from Supernova's steady rhythm is Wanderland, which has more of an element of surprise. Love the vocals. Wildpitch is awesome; crazy drum accompaniment.
BACK-ON - Sands of time
Japanese | Alt Rock/Rapcore
01. Sands of time
02. message for kidz
03. fifty/50
Latest BACK-ON single, I think they're releasing their first full-length album soon too? Sands of time is a fun, light-hearted track. message for kidz starts out really sweetly, and leads into a rap verse. It's very summery with shouted vocals and alternating between acoustic guitar and a grungy electric sound. There's also these random sounds that I think were supposed to imitate a rooster crowing, which made me laugh. fifty/50 has a darker sound that contrasts nicely with the other two tracks. I like the chorus, though the lyrics (I wanna kill myself and my mind/I wanna break myself and my mind) are a little depressing.
Shinee - 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)
Korean | Pop
01. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)
02. In My Room
03. Real
04. 사.계.한 (Love Should Go On)
05. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay Boom Track)
SM Entertainment is behind DBSK, BoA, Super Junior and SNSD - obviously, there were high expectations for their newest boyband, Shinee. Compositionally, the songs in this mini-album are mediocre, though vocally, it's quite impressive. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay) has a laid-back sound and shows their strong voices well. In My Room is the standard acoustic-guitar ballad, opening a softer, sweeter aspect to their vocals. The faint harmonizing in the chorus is nice. Real jazzes things up a bit, it opens with a quick piano passage and then leads into a fun, upbeat, catchy song with a nice bass accompaniment. 사.계.한 (Love Should Go On) also has a bright, happy sound, featuring more rapping than the other tracks. Overall, each track showed their powerful voices and potential. I wasn't disappointed, and I think it's at least close to what it was hyped up to be. Shinee is definitely a group to look out for in the K-pop world.
Tae Yang - Hot
Korean | Pop/R&B
01. HOT - Intro
02. 기도/gi do/A Prayer (feat. Teddy)
03. 나만 바라봐/Na man bara bwa/Only Look At Me
04. 죄인/je in/Sinner
05. Baby I'm Sorry
06. Make Love (feat. Kush)
Tae Yang, the main vocalist of Big Bang, recently released his first solo mini-album. I didn't really like the Intro, at 1:30 it was a bit too long to me considering that most intros/interludes are like, 30 seconds. Coincidentially, it was written by G-Dragon. A Prayer is an R&B-type ballad, featuring digitalized vocals. It's not bad, but not outstanding, either. The principal track, Only Look At Me, didn't catch my attention at first listen. When I watched the MV for it after (which, by the way, has some pretty nice dance sequences) and then listened to the song again, it started to grow on me. It's very similar to Big Bang's style. Sinner has an interesting string accompaniment and a darker sound. Baby I'm Sorry's lyrics ere also written by Big Bang's G-Dragon. It's a pretty generic mid-tempo ballad, but it's not bad. Make Love reminds me of A Prayer except the voices aren't digitalized. Overall, not a bad single, but not as good as I thought it would be.
monobright - あの透明感と少年
Japanese | Alt Rock
01. あの透明感と少年
02. boy
03. 夏メロマンティック
04. 旅立ちと少年
05. 幽霊
06. 雲男
Eh, I might get around to uploading the rest of this later. monobright is a pretty awesome alt-rock band I recently discovered, I like the title track to this single the best so far. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to all the songs yet, though. Try them out, they've got a unique vocalist and refreshing, bright sound.
Labels: 9mm Parabellum Bullet, BACK-ON, monobright, Shinee, Tae Yang
9mm Parabellum Bullet - Psychopolis
Alt-rock. They have a very aggressive, in-your-face sound and you can't help but stop and listen - I absolutely love their style, especially their drummer. Definitely recommended. There's an absolutely crazy guitar solo in this song a bit over halfway (trust me, you'll know it when you hear it) that is just awesome. Overall rating: 4.5/5
ayabie - Day Dream
Very oshare kei, but without as much of a punk influence. I wish you could hear the bass more, though. The vocals are good but not outstanding, it's pretty typical ayabie. But I love ayabie, so that's not really a bad thing. XD For some reason this reminds me more of an anCafe song than an ayabie one although they have somewhat similar styles in the first place. Overall rating: 3/5
∀NTIFEMINISM Å~ Grid - Abura Sumashi
I'm not a huge fan of pure punk. It's just so busy yet not heavy and it mostly just seems like noise to me. Luckily, this song is only one and half minutes long so, even I can stand it. It's got growly vocals that sound like they're coming in through a radio. Personally, I don't find this song really offers much. It is very energetic though. Overall rating: 2.5/5
Chemistry (supported by Monkey Majik) - Kagayaku Yoru
Here's your not-rock song. XD Although Chemistry's last single (Saigo no Kawa) kind of disappointed me, I loved this song as soon as I heard it. I should have known I would as soon as I saw that Monkey Majik had something to do with this. It's catchy and blends Monkey Majik's unique style with Chemistry's. One of the best collabs I have heard. I love the chorus and the melodies in this song, it's awesome. Probably my favourite song from this rotation, and it's not even a rock one. XD Overall rating: 5/5
Girugamesh - jarring fly
Some heavier rock for you. I don't listen to Girugamesh that much but I've just recently realized how much I like them. XP Jarring fly has an awesome bass accompaniment and I love how some parts of the vocals are growling and incomprehensible yet others are very melodic. There's also some impressive changes in tempo where things suddenly speed up then return to their normal pace, yet the band always stays together. Overall rating: 4/5
jealkb - Chikai
This band is actually lead by former comedian Atsushi Tamura. When I first heard about this band I thought it would be sort of a parody of VK, yet ... they don't seem to be. I actually really like their vocalist. Chikai is growing into one of my favourite songs by them, it's not too heavy but not that soft either and has a strong melody while the accompaniment is very busy, setting a nice contrast. Overall rating: 4/5
Kazoku - Night
This song starts out with an interesting blend of sounds ... I don't even know how to describe it. XD But the way it transitions into the song itself is just awesome. I was like OMG how did they think of doing that. O_o Just because of that I love this song. It has this sort of waltz-ish sound because of how the beats are arranged and I love everything in this song - the vocals, the guitar, the drums, the bass. I love how in some parts it seems like the vocals are going too slow for the accompaniment yet it all fits, and then everything speeds up again. I don't think I'm making any sense. XD AND THEN THE DRUM SOLO!!!! you must listen to this song. Overall rating: 5/5
L'arc~en~Ciel - Hurry Xmas
Yay, Christmas rock. And Laruku, too! Awesome jazzy sound, definitely worth a listen. I love how it starts out and sounds familiar yet is a very unique Laruku-take on a Christmas song. Overall rating: 4/5
Luna Sea - Rain
Yeah, it's LUNA SEA! Starting out with a steady beat on the bass drum, this song has a lot of syncopated stuff and it sounds cool. XD This song is surprisingly calm at the chorus because of the vocals. Ryuichi's voice is such gold. Not my absolute favourite Luna Sea song but it's a good one. Overall rating: 4/5
MUCC - FUZZ
MUCC = awesome. When I first heard FUZZ I was disappointed. It's very ... not eroguro kei. But it's such an awesome song ... it's sooo catchy. I love this song but not because of MUCC. As in, the reason I like it is for the song not because it sounds anything like MUCC. So awesome song but MUCC fans probably won't be too impressed. Overall rating: 4/5
STRAIGHTENER - TODAY
I guess this is alt-rock? Nothing that special, but worth a listen. I like the vocals and the chorus. Overall rating: 3/5
v(NEU) - ROCAT PUNKS
Almost forgot to include this. v(NEU) is the new H e a R t and this song is the most hyperly annoyingly awesome thing you could imagine. It's catchy and very energetic, definitely recommended you check out this band if you're into oshare kei. Overall rating: 4/5
Labels: 9mm Parabellum Bullet, ANTIFEMINISM, ayabie, Chemistry, Girugamesh, jealkb, Kazoku, L'arc~en~Ciel, Luna Sea, Monkey Majik, MUCC, STRAIGHTENER, v(NEU)
