Something new!

Ok tonight, I am really drunk and waiting for my friend to drive 8+ hours up to NJ from VA. This may or may not detract from my post. Either way.. this evening my good friend who also lives down south(and may write for this blog in the future), sent me the new Cali=Gari single which he recieved in the mail today! So I will do my best to review, at least the A-sides on these singles!

As you guys know by now, I pretty much think of Cali=Gari as my favoite, or one of my quite favorites( in top 5 at least)!

I have come to the conclusion that, these two singles are for this day and age, with my musical taste, for the most part, perfect. (also, picture unrelated)

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Cali=Gari '9-to-hen' and '9-school zone-hen' are an amazing release for 2009 I havent heard music like this released since Cali=Gari broke up, which was in 2003, and since then, I haven't been exceptionally impressed with a whole lot of Japanese rock. (there are a few exceptions of course!)

Anyhow, the A-sides are both very unique songs. The song 'to', written by Ishii Shuuji, has a definite sound of his project, GOATBED, but also has that something extra that can only be found in Cali=Gari, I would go so far as to describe it as unique, a little bit of insanity, added to the fantastic musical composition, and fantastic musicianship. I am truly glad they decided to put this out.

The video isn't a PV, but is one of my favorite examples of Cali=Gari's music ;D

The other A-side, 'School Zone' is composed by AO, the guitarrist and usual composer of most of Cali=Gari's previous music. This single definitely has a sound of his side project, LAB the Basement. However, as he composed much of Cali=Gari's old music, this song sounds much more like traditional Cali=Gari, but definitely has some aspects of his solo music in it. The simple melodies are carried through out the song are definitely recognizable as Ao's style, but again, can't be classified, especially with Shuuji's voice, as anything but Cali=Gari.

The B-sides are really strange, which isn't unexpected, sounding like they were recorded in someone's bedroom (as my friend put it). In any case, they are very entertaining.

Overall I give Cali=Gari's two new '9' singles a 92% on the awesome meter.

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Beautiful.

Today doesn't have a band of the day, but as you've already heard To, on the PV I posted earlier, please enjoy the other A-side: School Zone.

Also, I would like to note that both of these singles are offically released today in Japan :]

Another Tool.

One thing, that I feel I haven't talked much about, is Guniw Tools.

Guniw Tools are among my top 5 bands. *Along with MUCC, Cali=Gari, Coaltar of the Deepers and UnsraW (in no particular order)*

Guniw Tools formed, I believe in 1992, and were signed to Buck-Tick's *major* label 'Victor Records' in 1996. Ultimately I think Guniw Tools is fairly unknown as far as really famous or popular Japanese rock, but by the fans who know them, are VERY well respected.

The style of Guniw Tools ranges widely, from very atmospheric ambient music, jazz, full on acoustic rock, to industrial and has hints of inspiration from Nepal, India and other countries around the world. It's really impossible to catagorize Guniw Tools at all. Somehow when I was a freshman or sophomore in highschool (2001?) I started listening to them, and gained a huge respect for their very strange music.

Now thinking about it, any music fan with an open mind would really appreciate their sounds, if I showed Guniw Tools to somebody who was super into a style of music, they wouldn't be able to understand it, somewhat like how many people reacted to Cali=Gari at about that time.

Guniw Tools was composed of FULL, Jake and Asaki, with other notable support members Dinah (who is an extremely unusual character) and Okazaki (who plays with Asaki now in Age of Punk). FULL is an artist.. he does pretty much every kind of visual and performing art you could think of, and makes some of the most unusual and unique art pieces I have ever seen.

Originally about 1989 Guniw was FULL's creative project, where he would do performing and visual art on stage, with home-made props and music, but after Jake approached him about starting a band, Guniw turned into Guniw Tools, and became a musical experience to be reckoned with.

Honestly the best way to learn about Guniw Tools is to experience it.

So todays BAND OF THE DAY is Guniw Tools, with Hush and Cool, which was actually my very first Guniw Tools song. It's definitely a song to relax and enjoy..

Gaze.

Today I would like to bring up a band that has been impressing the hell out of me for a while. Deathgaze. Having been around for a respectable 2003, Deathgaze is one of the heaviest, visual bands that is still active. And no joke, they are heavy, catchy and badass.

Originally formed by Ai, Kanna, Naoki and Hazuki, but has had frequent member changes. Hazuki left after the first single to form Lynch., and Sou replaced him as the vocalist. Sou then vanished off the face of the earth for a few weeks and created somewhat of an uproar in Japanese rock music circles, finally Ai (who had been writing the music and also played bass) got fed up with replacing vocalists all the time and started singing for the band.

Hazuki, Sou and Ai, as vocals go are all very talented and really sound very similar to one another. If someone played any given Deathgaze song, I could pick out which vocalist it was due to the time period the song was released, but that's pretty much the only reason.

I've pretty much been listening to Deathgaze since they formed, maybe a few months after their first release. Honestly? They've done nothing but get better! Their sound has changed a little from more of a darker Nagoya sound to a more standard hardcore metal sound, but I feel their songs have gotten more catchy and distinguishable from one another.

Deathgaze is really a band that stands apart from the Japanese rock crowd, with their amazing vocalists, catchy, super-hard guitars and pretty much one of the best lineups I have seen in J-Music recently.. I hope they continue to put out really sick music ;D

I'm sure you can tell that today's BAND OF THE DAY! is Deathgaze, with their song Miscarriage off the Genocide and Mass Murder album from 2006 (Sou is the singer here).

Enjoy~

Get a brain!

So I've been thinking a lot about the direction that Japanese rock music is going in. I feel that there is, as always, a huge number of disposable rock bands, even ones that get fairly popular. I won't go into detail about it, because everyone has their own personal 'I-hate-that-band'. A few times I've really disliked a band, REALLY disliked.. and ultimately became a fan. A great example of this for me is Plastic Tree.. I don't know if I had never heard them, and still disliked them or I had previously been introduced to them by a scrub, or heard a song I thought was really lame. In any case, I was listening to shuffle on iTunes and I heard this vocal-less track that I really enjoyed, but had NO IDEA what band was playing it. Later I looked and it was Plastic Tree, so naturally I downloaded their discography to see if it was any good, and ended up liking the crap out of their music. (Actually thinking about it, I think I was more responsive to Plastic Tree after I began listening to Coaltar of the Deepers)

Anyway that was off topic. There are many bands putting out music that is thoroughly useless, and this is what turned me off from writing for a while, but as I always somehow do, I dug through the crap and found the shining gems of recent releases. Right now whats really catching my ear, is new bands that have evolved from, or have the band members from older bands. Namely 9GOATS BLACK OUT, Moran, Kain and somewhat less recently Angelo.

For those who aren't familiar with these bands, 9GOATS BLACK OUT is the singer from GULLET with an otherwise brand new lineup. Somewhat more laid back than GULLET and have less of the Nagoya region flavor, they have been active since 2007.

Moran was introduced to me recently by a good friend, he referred to the band as something like 'Fatima light' which I would say is pretty accurate. I find listening to Moran is a lot easier than Fatima, not saying either one is better, but Moran is decidedly less intense. Moran has 2 members who used to be in Fatima and have also been active since 2007.

Kain, *I believe (I can't find the source now..) announced a hiatus a few weeks ago, but basically there are 2 ex-members of JILS and one member of their pre-JILS band D=Sire (not 100% on this either). Kain and JILS sound very similar to me, I do enjoy both bands, but do not claim to be an expert on either of them. Maybe with JILS being slightly more atmospheric and free form, and Kain being a little more on the heavier rock side. Kain also formed in 2007. (trend?)

*I apologize for writing about what I heard as opposed to what is fact, but in this case I wasn't able to find sources to check my facts.

Finally Angelo, is made from 3/5 members of PIERROT, and a support guitarist. This band is in fact more of an evolution of PIERROT, while most of the other bands I have mentioned are not nearly as connected to their members' older projects. Angelo sounds, looks and feels very similar to PIERROT and as such is quite enjoyable, but not quite as filling. Angelo has been active since late 2006. (pretty much since PIERROT disbanded)

Today's BAND OF THE DAY is Moran with their song 'Tonight, at the seaside without the moon' I do believe if you haven't heard either Fatima or Moran, you will quite enjoy it. And if you know Fatima, you will definitely hear some similarities between the two bands :D

Please turn off your cellular phones and enjoy the show.

P.S. Kain is spelled wrong because I don't know how to type the 'alpha' character.

And I probably messed up all the capitalization's on all of the bands, but I really don't care atm.

See you in a day or two<3