It’s been a year since we last heard a new single from the HALCALI girls. I hate to say that the girls matured, but “Endless Night” is backed by a dark, brooding beat that puts me in a nice depressed mood. Of course that mood was somewhat offset watching Haruka and Yukari’s goofy dance moves in this video. It’s quite polarizing.
Archive for January, 2010
My very first music video!
January 25, 2010I figured I spent enough time ranting about music videos on this blog that it’s time to post my very own music video. This is my video interpretation of “an umbrella fallen into fiction” by envy. I made it as a project for my TV production class last year. Looking back on it, I’m a little disappointed. For starters, I had to cut the song in half just to finish in time. But I’m still somewhat happy with the final product.
Yeah, I’m on YouTube now. Rate, comment, subscribe 🙂
J-Rock Fridays Vol. 12
January 22, 2010What time is it? It’s Friday. Time for videos and junk. Let’s do this shit.
STRAIGHTENER- “Man-like Creatures”
I’ve listened to ent and I’ve listened to FULLARMOR, but for some reason I’ve managed to avoid Mr. Horie’s bread winner STRAIGHTENER. And that’s a shame because “Man-like Creatures” is indie-rock goodness. Full of epic soundscapes and dreamy verses. I guess all that’s left to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD.
LOST
January 18, 2010myspace band of the week
Hardcore band LOST originally formed in 2000 and has been plagued by several lineup changes since, with guitarist Yoshimi Morinaga being the only original member left. In 2008, their lead singer and two other members left the band. This would’ve been the final nail in the coffin for most bands, but the remaining members quickly filled in the lineup with Hiroki Nakamori from Ikusa Fire on vocals.
Although the band has released an album in 2004 and a mini-album in 2007, the current lineup has only released a handful of songs on compilations. Among these are a track on Take 5’s hitori*anchuu and two tracks on a three-way split album with Nature Living and Evylock. LOST are currently recording their new album.
J-Rock Explosion is now on Twitter
January 13, 2010
tweet tweet
In an effort to promote J-Rock Explosion, I have decided to create an official twitter page for this blog. I chose twitter because it was basically the only social network I’m not already on and you never know when “how do you tweet?” can come up in a conversation. I’ll be posting things that I don’t feel like talking about here, you know, things that can be said in a sentence or a link. The twitter link can be found below or under my Box.net widget on the right. In other news, you can now rate my blog posts. These may both be failed experiments but let’s see what happens.
Absolute Polysics now available in the US
January 12, 2010
Myspace Records have released Polysics’ latest album Absolute Polysics today, January 12, on CD with no prior warning. You can buy that at Amazon or Interpunk. They will also be on tour in America at the end of the month through February. This will be the band’s last tour with keyboardist Kayo. Now would probably be a nice time to see them, especially since they go “on break” after this tour. Tour dates can be found on this annoying splash image:
iTunes is gay
January 11, 2010
If by chance you are looking for the new ar album Love Lu Le Lo, you will find the album under the name A&R on iTunes. Out of all the work they put into licensing this from Japan, they couldn’t even spell two letters right.
But of course if you must pay for mp3s, you might as well buy them at Japan Files. It’s a couple pennies cheaper and isn’t gay.
J-Rock Fridays Vol. 11
January 8, 2010Here we are at volume 11, my favorite number. What does the new year have in store for J-Rock Fridays? We’ll see.
mmm- “Magical Omnibus Goh”
Out of all the dark, depressing songs on mmm’s new album, she picked the only song that personifies joy as her single. And what a joyous video this is. It’s hard not to smile at this nerdy-looking girl dancing with an amusement park bunny and an assortment of nerd friends on the beach. It made me smile for 5 minutes in this cold, bitter world.
New Years Resolutions 2010
January 6, 2010I guess it’s time to come back. Welcome to 2010, heading in to the third year of J-Rock Explosion. And although J-Rock Explosion still hasn’t made a dent in the J-Rock blogosphere, I still made some goals for myself. I wouldn’t set these in stone yet, but I’ll ponder them:
- This Month in J-Rock– I hope to bring this back next week in time for my “Best of 2009” coverage.
- Artist Spotlight/myspace band of the week– I kept up with myspace band of the week for a couple of months and quit Artist Spotlight after one, but I hope to put these back on track for the new year.
- Exclusive stuff– Exclusive interviews and downloads would be nice.
- Go to concerts– I hate crowds and driving to the city is always a hassle, but I’d like to be able to get out once in a while to see my favorite bands. I would especially like to see Polysics next month in Chicago. It will be Kayo’s last performance with the band so it might be my last chance. And of course if I go to Anime Central this year I’ll see however’s playing.
- Have a more professional website– It would be cool to have the phrase “web master” on my resume. I don’t have enough readers or the money to make this blog a legit website. I would also hate to go into it alone.
- Make money– I do have a degree in Communications. I would like to make money on my writing someday.
So there’s my list. In terms of my personal life, it’s the same as every year: lose weight, make money, find myself a nice girl. Maybe not in the same order. Have a nice day.
J-Rock Explosion 