Champ213's Last.fm Journal

Music of 2010 Part I (Jrock)

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:33:57 +0000

Alright, time to take a look back on this year in music. I decided to make it into 2 parts, first for jrock, then for... well, everything else.

Admittedly, I haven't listened to a lot of jrock this year, so maybe my view is a bit narrow here, but as I stated before, I was rather disappointed with jrock this year, especially the lack of interesting new bands. Thankfully, my trusted old bands somewhat saved the year for me.

The good stuff:

- LUNA SEA coming back

- BUCK-TICK: Razzle Dazzle was solid work as usual. I probably didn't like it as much as Memento Mori or 十三階は月光, but 羽虫のように alone is such a delightful song I forgive them for that.

- D'ERLANGER: great re-recordings!

- rice: With soon 10 years of activity you can almost count them as "Oldies" as well. Loved their singles, and the album was very pleasant as well.

- Tate Takako: Lovely, as was to be expected.

- L'eprica - Missa: the perfect example why it pays off to wait almost 2 years for a new release. Probably the best jrock release of the year.

- 9 Goats Black Out - Tanatos: decent release with some really nice songs.

- Versailles - Jubilee: same as above. But I must admit, I'm starting to tire of them. (Sound in Gate is probably the best SE I ever hear though.)

- cocklobin: Liked 'Black'. Was somewhat lukewarm on 死と再生 though.

- König: the only newcomer band I can think of I actually enjoyed. I didn't try a lot of new jrock stuff though. Maybe I missed something?

The disappointments:

- Versailles - DESTINY-The Lovers-: didn't touch me at all.

- heidi. - 閃光メロウ: It wasn't bad, but I hoped for more.

- Jully disbanding

- still no lifesign whatsoever by Kαin (or something tangible by Yukiya at all, for that matter)

- VII-Sense: with their lineup, they could have been something great. But they turned out to be dead-awful. D: Why they need 3 guitarists remains a mystery to me as well. It barely sounds like they had even two! And Juka: stop the falsettos, please.

Personal discoveries of 2010:

This refers to stuff that's older than 2010, but I only discovered it this year.

中山ラビ (Nakayama Rabi)

倉橋ヨエコ (Kurahashi Yoeko)

Me listening to female singer-songwriter stuff? Who would have thunk that! XD

Looking forward to...

- 90s vk cover album

- LUNA SEA self-cover album

- hopefully a better year than 2010

Top 10

These were my most-linstened japanese artist of the year, according to my last.fm 12-months charts (number in brackets indicated overall position on ym 12-months charts)

1. BUCK-TICK (5)

2. L'eprica (6)

3. Versailles (9)

4. rice (14)

5. 中山ラビ (Nakayama Rabi) (18)

6. Raphael (22)

7. ショピン (Chopiiin) (22)

8. 櫻井敦司 (Atsushi Sakurai) (33)

9. THE.GOLDEN SPIDER (33)

10. amber gris (33)

Selling some J-Rock stuff...

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:02:40 +0000

Selling:

D'espairsRay - Murder Day DVD (rare, out of print) *SOLD*

Blood (ＢＬＯＯＤ) - First Period (sealed, out of print) *SOLD*

Celestia Le ciel/Merveille Magique - Fairy Tales of Celestial World (Special package, includes pins, stickers and bonus CD) *SOLD*

UNDERCODE Omnibus: High Style Paradox III ~Maiden Voyage~ (12 tracks; ヴィドール (VIDOLL), Mar'derayla, シュガーフォークフル (Sugar Folkfull), HISKAREA, カレン (Karen), 12012 and 妃＆関西貴族 (KISAKI & Kansai Kizoku).

Full details and pictures on Garagesale Japan LJ com:
http://community.livejournal.com/garagesalejapan/12683372.html

I have a eBay account with 100% positive feedback, which has been confirmed by GarageSale Japan, otherwise I wouldn't have been admitted there.

You can comment at that LJ post, or contact me here via comment or PM.

Thanks for looking!

Blargh

Tue, 12 May 2009 21:24:41 +0000

Haven't done any of these in a while. And since I'm terribly bored and my charts changed somewhat since last time, I'll do one now.

1. How did you get into 29? (Alamaailman Vasarat)
Someone recommended them to me.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (Eldorado)
Probably 砂の王国

3. How many albums by 13 do you own? (Depeche Mode)
8

4. What is your favorite song by 15? (Alice Cooper)
Life And Death Of The Party

5. What is your favorite song by 5? (Eluveitie)
Bloodstained Ground

6. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (New Model Army)
Poison Street

7. What is your favorite song by 10? (Elvenking)
Pagan Purity

8. What is a good memory you have involving 30? (Psycho le Cému)
This band is like one giant big good memory :)

9. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? (The Klezmatics)
Umm, I duuno. Simkhes-toyre maybe.

10. How many times have you seen 25 live? (夢中夢)
Never. :(

11. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? (Einherjer)
Odin Owns Ye All

12. What is your favorite album by 11? (XIV Dark Centuries)
Skithingi

13. Who is a favorite member of 1? (Kiuas)
Ilja <3333

14. Have you ever seen 14 live? (Enslaved)
Yes.

15. What is a good memory involving 27? (I'm From Barcelona)
They make me smile.

16. What is your favorite song by 16? (Ensiferum)
Into Battle

17. What is your favorite album by 18? (Die Ärzte)
Hmh, maybe Planet Punk.

18. What is your favorite song by 21? (Versailles)
Aristocrat's Symphony

19. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? (Ween)
Cold Blows the Wind

20. What is your favorite album by 2? (Týr)
Ragnarok

21. What is you favorite song by 3? (Suede)
My Dark Star

22. What is you favorite song by 8? (Deathstars)
The Last Ammunition

23. How many times have you seen 17 live? (Turisas)
Once.

24. What is the worst song by 12? (Hagalaz' Runedance)
Don't know.

25. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? (Borknagar)
The Wonder

26. What is you favorite album by 7? (Vàli)
Forlatt, duh.

27. What is your favorite song by 24? (Oomph!)
Das letzte Streichholz

28. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy? (Bromheads Jacket)
None I can think of.

29. What is your favorite album by 4? (Amon Amarth)
With Oden On Our Side

30. How many albums do you own by 20? (Ｒａｐｈａｅｌ)
2

Music for hiking

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:10:40 +0000

Good music for hiking through forests, hills and other impressive landscapes....

Everything by Vàli

Borknagar - The Wonder
Borknagar - Oceans Rise (specifially the accosutic version)

Einherjer - A New Earth

Elvenking - From Blood To Stone
Elvenking - Pagan Purity
Elvenking - The Wanderer (Accoustic Version) (not only does it have the right mood and lyrics, it also has a perfect beat to walk to)

Kiuas - The Wanderer's Lamentation

Eluveitie - most off of Evocation 1 - The Arcane Dominion

There's more of course. I'll add more once I'll think of/remember it..

And sometimes, you just have to turn it off alltogether and enjoy the silence, or the bird's singing ;)

Update:
More recommendations - Thanks! ;D

Nebelung
Tenhi
Стары Ольса
Big Country
Pentangle
Alcest

Boredome once again.

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 18:20:42 +0000

1. How did you get into 29? Rebellion
The Song Ulfberth popped up on my last.fm recommendations radio.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? JILS
Don't remember... probably the first song off "A verse" which would be 灰白.

3. What’s your favorite lyric by 33? GLAMOROUS HONEY
Dunno =/

4. What is your favorite album by 49? Klezmer Duo Bielefeld
Lol. I think they only have one, called "Nigeles mit Harz un mit Gefil"
They're a local duo from my hometown, friends of my father and one of them is the clarinet teacher of my sister. And I'm their only listener on last.fm ^^;

5. How many albums by 13 do you own? Enslaved
One. (Ruun)

6. What is your favorite song by 50? Borknagar[artist]
Oceans Rise

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad? Tico Moon
Not really... Maybe Raspberry, cause it's so beautiful. But overall it's more light-hearted.

8. What is your favorite album by 15? Ｒａｐｈａｅｌ
Raphael Singles

9. What is your favorite song by 5? Vàli
Sorg

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode? Happy? Lol.

11. What is your favorite album by 40? Bernard Butler
People Move On

12. What is your favorite song by 10? Die Ärzte
Damn, they have so many... Let's say... Rebell

13. What is a good memory you have involving 30? Alestorm
Umm... they make me think of piraty things?

14. What is your favorite song by 38? LOGiQ
指輪

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? Tenhi
No. They're sad, melancholic Finns XD

16. How many times have you seen 25 live? The Klezmatics
Never.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? Kamelot
Farewell

18. What is your favorite album by 11? Ensiferum
Iron

19. Who is a favorite member of 1? Týr
Umm... I'm really bad when it comes to band members. There's only a very few bands where I actually know all members by name.... But in general I have a fixation on vocalists. So I say, him. XD

20. Have you ever seen 14 live? Bromheads Jacket
Never.

21. What is a good memory involving 27? The Sisters of Mercy
Reminds me of my Teenage days, and my uncle, who used to listen to them^^

22. What is your favorite song by 16? Elvenking
Pagan Purity

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? Schandmaul
Walpurgisnacht

24. What is your favorite album by 18? Turisas
Tough one. But probably "The Varangian Way" by a margin over "Battle Metal".

25. What is your favorite song by 21? New Model Army
Green And Grey

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? Win a Sheep Free
惑星, I guess.

27. What is your favorite album by 3? Amon Amarth
With Oden On Our Side

28. What is you favorite song by 22? JILS
TRUE SONGS -DX EDITION-

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? 【denno:oblaat】
ロザリーヌ

30. What is your favorite song by 8? Hagalaz' Runedance
Hel: Goddess Of The Underworld

31. How many times have you seen 17 live? Deathstars
Never

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? Madieduor
Lol. No.

33. What is your favorite album by 12? Versailles
Noble

34. What is the worst song by 45? Lamb
I don't know... =/

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? Anthem
I seriously don't remember anymore...

36. What is your favorite album by 48? Grailknights
Alliance

37. How many times have you seen 42 live? 己龍
Never.

38. What is you favorite song by 36? 夢中夢
火焔鳥

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? The Sisters of Mercy
This was ages ago... This Corrosion maybe?

40. What is your favorite album by 7? [artist]Eluveitie[artist]
Slania

41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy? Alestorm
Captain Morgan's Revenge

42. What is your favorite album by 41? Yat-Kha
Tuva Rock

43. What is your favorite song by 24? Oomph!
Brennende Liebe

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46? Schandmaul
Umm, reminds me of my sister, it's one of her favourite bands.

45. What is your favorite song by 35? Recoil
Want

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy? Alice Cooper
Not really... I guess I don't listen to many happy music.

47. What is your favorite album by 4? Kiuas
The Spirit of Ukko

48. Who is a favorite member of 37? LOGiQ
The drummer, lol.

49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43? Paradise Lost
So Much Is Lost

50. How many albums do you own by 20? Eldorado
2 albums, 1 DVD.

PLUG

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:33:45 +0000

Do you like Soul Calibur III? AMVs? Kiuas? My Chemical Romance? None of it, but are extremely bored and don't know what to do with the next 10 minutes of your life? Well, then I got something for you. I made those videos for a friend and later decided to youtube them... they're basically AMVs with SC3 costum characters. So yeah.
Music by Kiuas and MCR respectively.

Kiuas - Warrior Soul

My Chemical Romance - It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish

Boredom, hence...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:32:59 +0000

Rules:
Put your music player on shuffle and put whatever plays as the answer no matter how stupid it sounds like.

Well, ok, I skipped japanese titles that I couldn't translate right away, cause I was too lazy to look up vocabulary...

My name is... Lord Knows
So... I don't don't know my own name, but some ominous Lord does? Great...

I am... JEALOUS
Undoubtly a result of the fact that someone else knows my name, but I don't.

I feel like... The lady's gift
May I assume that the Lady is the wife of said Lord?

I want to be... Ard R Na Heireann
I don't speak gaelic(?). So how do I know if I want to be that?

I wish... サイコトランスエボリューション [Psycho Trance Evolution]
Sounds like fun.

Your Life

When I was born... infinity love
Awww.

My parents made me while... Belladonna & Aconite
...are obviously toxic plants, as wikipedia told me. Eerie...

My first words were... Hymenaios
Wikipedia had to help out again: "Hymenaios was a god of marriage ceremonies and later also the god of membranes, inspiring feasts and song." That's eerie too.

When I met my best friend I thought... Song To Say Goodbye
That friendship can't be very deep...

My first crush was... RAIN
I like rain.

My first date... The Perpetual Knot
Mysterious...

My first kiss... JESUS?
I don't think so.

Me and my best friends discuss about... Written
Written... what? come on, don't leave me hanging here!

My school is like... Australia
Kewl. :)

My first job was... Butterfly United
Sounds like an interesting job.

My first concert was... Risen From The Sea
That must have been a hell of a gig.

My wedding-song will be... REFERENCE GROUP
......no.

When I lose my job I think... Angela
Will she help me find a new job?

This will people say about me at my funeral... Wolftribes
So... after I died people found out I'm some kind of werewolf, maybe?

My funeral song will be... Screams of Thunder
Awesome song to go out on, no doubt.

In heaven I sing this to God... Science Fiction / Double Feature
This makes for some good comedy.

God kicks me out of heaven, that's what I'll tell him... Hatching Baby Raptor
Ponder this, Omniscious One!

With the devil I talk about... One-Winged Angel
What else...?

Thoughts

My parents think about me... Kampen mot bergtrolli
First: why do my parents think about me in Norwegian? Second, am i right to assume that "Bergtrolli" means "mountain troll" or something? Wtf?

My grandparents think about me... I'll Be Your Johnny on the Spot
Hmmm....

My siblings think about me... 黒い空 [Black sky]
My siblings are odd.

My teachers/boss think about me... COINLOCKER VEGETARIAN
Well, they're wrong.

My best friends think about me... Мне снились...
My parents think in Norwegian, my friends in Russian... What's going on here?

I think about my parents... to walk!
Where?

I think about my grandparents... A Question Of Time
This is kinda morbid...

I think about my siblings... This Charming Man
Nice!

I think about my teachers/boss... Hyper Chord
Ok.

I think about my best friends... AFTER IMAGE
Whatever you say, buddy.

Foreign people might think about me... Warrior and Man
Actually I'm neither...

And last but not least...

This night I'll dream of... obvious ballad
Obviously.

Last night I dreamt of... Rodeo Life
Must have been a fun dream.

I never want to dream of... $500
Well, add a few Zeros to it, then we'll talk.

I need... Mirror
Actually I need the $500 from the answer above more..

I don't need... your place
I have my own place. :)

This survey is... Snowborne
It's official now.

Sel'm - 影 (Kage) Romaji & Translation

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 22:47:43 +0000

Sel'm - 影 (Kage)

Lyrics: Tora
Music: MANJ"
Romaji&Tranlation: Me

---

Matataki wo suru tabi ni sabishisa ga yami ni
Samusora no naka de shizukana toki ha nagare...

Tsumetaku shiroi heya de sasayaku koe
Todokazu ni
Mado no soto nigotta tsuki ga nagusamete kuretara

Aoi sora ni yume wo egaku
Kage ni jama sare nagara
Anata no mae de ha, kasa mo sasazu ni kakushiteta... namida no yukue

Tsumetaku shiroi heya de sasayaku koe
Todokazu ni
Mado no soto nigotta tsuki ga nagusamete kuretara

Yureru sabita buranko ga, ano hi wo omoide saseru
Hitomi no oku utsuru kimi ga sabishisou ni shite ite

Aoi sora ni yume wo egaku
Kage ni jama sare nagara
Hitomi no shita nakayubi ate nagara kakushiteta... namida no yukue

Aoi sora ni yume wo egaku
Tsuki no mane wo shite iru
Watashi ha kaze ni nagare
Kage fumi wo shite iru yo
Sora no shita de...

---

Whenever I blink there is this sadness in the darkness
In this cold sky the quiet time flows...

A whispering voice in this cold, white room
Unreachable...
When the muddy moon outside the windows comforts me.

I paint a dream into this blue sky
While being disturbed by a shadow
In front of you, without raising an umbrella, I hid... the whereabouts of my tears.

A whispering voice in this cold, white room
Unreachable...
When the muddy moon outside the windows comforts me.

This swaying rusty swing made me remember that day
You, reflecting the depths of my eyes, seemed to be so sad

I paint a dream into this blue sky
While being disturbed by a shadow
Holding my middelfinger below my eyes I hid... the whereabouts of my tears.

I paint a dream into this blue sky
I, who imitates the moon
Flows with the wind
Trampling down the shadows
Underneath this sky...

My musical journey... (Part 1)

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:39:45 +0000

Or how I got to listen to the music I listen to…

A good start...

It all starts more than 20 years ago… yes, that means we’re deep in the 80s. Good grief.

My first contacts with music (not counting children’s songs or whatever – but I don’t recall listening much to them anyway) happened with help of my youngest aunt. She is some 10 years older than me, so when I was in kindergarten, she was a teen living with her parents - my grandparents - where I used to spent a lot of time. (She also had a younger brother who was a major The Cure fan at that time... he will play a major role later on.) So my aunt introduced me to my first musical loves. The biggest one being – lo and behold - Paul Simon. I especially adored Slip Slidin' Away.
She also had this Peter Gabriel VCR with all his music videos. I liked Shock The Monkey the most, and when I watch this clip today I have to say in retrospect: I must have been a weird kid. That clip is ahellotta bizarre.
I also remember passionately loving U2’s song One. Still today, btw.

So, this isn’t quite a bad start for a 6-year old. But danger is afoot. The late 80s/early 90s will finally come to get me to their dark side...

The Dark Ages

The evil came in form of primary school. That means: peer pressure. No one there knew Paul Simon or Peter Gabriel or even U2. So, what did they listen to? Have a guess. It’s the late 80s. I’m from Germany. You know, it’s inevitable...

David Hasselhoff!

Yes, that’s right. Knight Rider was hugely popular back then and along with it came the music. So I listened to David Hasselhoff. For 3 or 4 years maybe. (Oh and btw, despite what many people seem to think... he is not successful in Germany anymore, lol. I don’t think he had a Top 10 hit here in 20 years...)
Other musical abominations include german "schlager" singer Matthias Reim. Better not talk about it...

When I was ten I went to grammar school. For the next 2 or 3 years I wasn’t really listening to anything in particular. My love for David Hasselhoff had faded and I hadn’t found a new one.
Later, with 12 or 13 I started to tape off songs from the radio. Mostly the stuff that was on the charts. And it was the beginning era of Eurodance. So this would be what I was listening for the next 3 years. I didn’t had any favourite bands. They all sounded the same anyway, so I just listened to random songs and bought random singles, never albums except compilations. But some of the songs I enjoyed were by 2 Unlimited, Fun Factory, Pharao and similar stuff. Ace of Base was quite popular too.

In addition to that I also liked Movie Soundtracks, especially John Williams.

Turnaround

So, I was rather indiscriminately listening to charts music. It didn’t really matter what genre. So there was the occasional rock song mixed into it. But in 1996 came the songs that would change my musical directions forever. This song was Zombie by The Cranberries. The songs, which can be considered "heavy" by my standards back then, was very successful, I think it even made Number One. It was an eye-opener for me. After years of generic dance and pop this song seemed so much deeper, more passionate, more stimulating. So I decided to dabble more into that direction.

I wasn’t too adventurous though. It was mid-90s and my next discovery would be britpop. My aunt played a role in that again, as she was living in Ireland at that time and brought back that kind of music. My first fandom belonged to Blur (I also liked Oasis, but I liked Blur a tad more, lol.)

But it was the end of 1996 when I was ready to discover the musical love of my life. And up to this day, my undying love belongs to this band: Suede.

The first song I heard was The Beautiful Ones along with the other singles from Coming Up. But oddly enough, the first album I bought was Sci-Fi Lullabies, the 2-CD B-Sides collection that came out a few months later. It started pretty well... but then came Disc 1, track 8: My Dark Star. I lost my heart instantly.

Even now, more than 10 years later, when some asks me for my favourite band, Suede will always be the first I mention.

It’s like your first boy/girlfriend. You’ll never forget it. ;-)

---

So, these are the first 10 years of my musical journey. The next 12 years will follow... once I write the next part.

Anemone/Raoya - Yume too ya (Lyrics + Translation)

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:20:21 +0000

Several months ago I wrote down these lyrics for ゆめ・とお・や/夢十夜 by アネモネ (or 羅宇屋 respectively) and finally I took the time to make a very rough translation.

I also made some slight revisions to the lyrics. They still may not be 100% correct as I wrote them down by hearing, but I think it's pretty close.

まるで静か過ぎる鼓動を咲くように
太陽と黒い髪に最後のくちづけを
まるで静か過ぎる鼓動を抱くように
太陽と夢つま先に最後のくちづけを

深く深く沈んでゆく
心が落ちてゆく

信じないの爪月の光
夜毎に降る星の欠片
空の馬車は韓紅
一つ二つ
指折り数えて
百年待っていてください

深く深く沈んでゆく
心が落ちてゆく

信じないの爪月の光
夜毎に降る星の欠片
空の馬車は韓紅
一つ二つ
指折り数えて
百年待っていてください

震えるように揺れる指を見た

---

Maru de shizuka sugiru kodou wo saku you ni
Taiyou to kuroi kami ni saigo no kuchizuke wo
Maru de shizuka sugiru kodou wo daku you ni
Taiyou to yumetsumasaki ni saigo no kuchizuke wo

Fukaku fukaku shizunde yuku
Kokoro ga ochite yuku

Shinjinai no tsugetsuki no hikari
Yogoto ni furu hoshi no kakera
Sora no basha ha karakurenai
Hitotsu futatsu
Yubi orikazoete
Hyakunen matte ite kudasai

Fukaku fukaku shizunde yuku
Kokoro ga ochite yuku

Shinjinai no tsugetsuki no hikari
Yogoto ni furu hoshi no kakera
Sora no basha ha karakurenai
Hitotsu futatsu
Yubi orikazoete
Hyakunen matte ite kudasai

Furueru you ni yureru yubi wo mita.

--

Just like a too silent heartbeat is blooming
The last kiss in the sun and the black hair (paper? god?)*
Just like embracing the too silent heartbeat
The last kiss in the sun and the dream-on-tip-toes

Deeper and deeper I sink
My heart is soaring

The light of the delusory, clawed** moon
The fragments of stars that fall down every night
The heavenly chariot is scarlet red
One, two
I count on my fingers
Please wait for me a hundred years.

Deeper and deeper I sink
My heart is soaring

The light of the delusory, clawed** moon
The fragments of stars that fall down every night
The heavenly chariot is scarlet red
One, two
I count on my fingers
Please wait for me a hundred years.

Trembling I saw the shaking finger.

* Since I have no kanji it's pretty impossible to determine which 'kami' is meant here. I thought that "black hair" is probably the most plausible.
**lit, it's "finger nail moon", most likely referring to the crescent moon which looks like a finger nail in shape