June 10-12
Blood Stain Child
A-Kon - Dallas - TX
Source: MySpace
Showing posts with label Blood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blood. Show all posts
Calendar 2011 - Blood Stain Child - A-Kon
GPKISM
GPKISM is a darkwave industrial duo formed in 2007 by an Australian musician going by the name of Gotheque Prince Ken and, later on, former BLOOD guitarist and mastermind Kiwamu. Recently the duo added the former Blam Honey member Ryonai to provide support at live shows.
Their style is decidedly dance oriented, through extremely dark and gothic. While Kiwamu does use his guitar skills to add to the mix, they are first and foremost a darkwave/electro/industrial outfit. Perhaps if the Pet Shop Boys collided headlong into a Lords of Acid tour bus, then skidded, ablaze, into an HR Giger exhibit, you might get something close to the GPKISM sound. On the one hand, they're campy and softly tongue-in-cheek while on the other, they portray a more dangerous and vampiric side. Most of their songs seem to be about lost loves or losing oneself to love, all with bloody overtones.
The music is mostly thumping kicks with a dense overlay of reverbed-out synths, arppegiating away in some ancient spaceship. There are also plenty of the requisite harpsichords, dripping with lace and dusty candlewax. That's not to say the music is harsh or abrasive. In fact it's all very pretty, with the corners rounded off. Even Kiwamu's hevily distorted guitar is downplayed in favor of more and more layers of plush synth upholstery.
Yet at the same time their tempos are generally high and pumping, with some songs turning up the distortion and letting the raw edges show. It feels as if the group is still trying to find their own special sound, which is to be expected with such a new group. Of course they've each been traveling the world playing in other bands for some time. It's only a matter of time before GPKISM solidifies in their mountain-top stronghold, allowing their dark influence to spread amongst the villagers.
Synthesis
Official Site
MySpace
Members:
Gothique Prince Ken
Kiwamu - Guitar
Ryonai - Live Keyboards
Albums:
Atheos - 2009
Infernum
Illuminatium
Album Review: BLOOD - Lost Sky
It's a sad thing to see a band that has worked so hard for so long, all on their own, without major label support, suddenly throw in the towel and call it quits. Such is the case for the electro/goth/industrial band BLOOD. After six years of touring around the world on their own dime, BLOOD will be making a pass through America one last time before disbanding. This came a something of a shock to their fans, and in an interview I did with the band not too long before their announcement, everything seemed just fine. They were a little upset at the current state of the visual-kei music scene that they had abandon in favor of their more purely industrial format, but otherwise there were no outward signs of their impending doom.
Before they exit the stage however, they've left a few treats for the hardcore fans. On their last tour they plan to do everything possible to meet and greet with fans, even hosting a dinner at one event. They also provided material for a remix competition open to everyone.
The results of the competition make up two-thirds of their final album Lost Sky. Seven different versions fill up the second half of the album, along with three other remixes. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The real album, the new stuff, kicks off with the title track. It's a rather subdued dance track (well, all of the songs on Lost Sky are very techno oriented) with soft synth pads and all of the guitars pushed far back in the mix. "Lost Sky" is all about the softer side of their electro goth sound, full of fog and gauze.
That's followed up with one of the best songs I've heard from the band, "Captured." Here the guitars are much heavier and upfront. The beats are still a little pillowy, but but the synths have a nice hard edge and the arrangement is closer to the elegant sort of orchestration we've come to expect from the visual scene. "Nothing" ramps things up even further with a fast tempo and a totally pummeling chorus much more like heavy metal than techno. Forget what I said about "Captured," this is the best BLOOD song I've heard. It's full of the sort of energy missing in the previous tracks. If they had to go out, this is a good note to go out on.
"Absolute" has a very similar feel to "Nothing," only more chaotic and a little too muffled. This time it's the vocals that are pushed far back, making the song feel a bit more like an unpolished rush job than a finished album track. "Oroboro" also has a slightly off-kilter feel, through the choruses have a very nice melody, pushing Fu-ki's vocals to the limit. The album proper ends, fittingly, with "The End," a short, instrumental track that really just stumbles to the finish. It's an odd choice considering the general power that the rest of the album contains.
Which brings us to the albums seven "Lost Sky" remixes. The Noir du`Soleil remix substitutes some early Aphex Twin beats for the more pulsing original, along with a lot of swooshy synths. It has an austere feel, slower and buried under layers of arpeggiated lines.
The sawDUST in me remix sticks very closely to the original and is incredibly out of tune in the choruses. This track should not have seen the light of day. Let's move on.
Thankfully the marlee remix is there to save the day. While it doesn't add anything new structurally to the song, it has an absolutely huge break beat and added guitars that really stomp along, giving it a much needed edge. The Spectrum-X remix is just a mess, end of story. The Shiv-r remix, however, is excellent. It manages to find new avenues to explore with the melody, using only the original vocal track and rebuilding the entire track from the ground up. Sure, it lumbers along, but the stark and brooding atmosphere hits just the right spot.
The Mizuh remix speeds things up with the first, and only, tempo change fromt he remixes. Mizuh adds in a few trance elements, filtering the building synth lines that are a bit reminiscent of all those "1998" remixes. It certainly adds more underlying pulse and throb, through the swirly synth strings are a bit overpowering. Finally, the Broken Lullaby remix by Echostream is the only track that actually takes the song in a completely new direction, substituting toy pianos and fuzzed out organs for the cyber-goth constructs. It all works out extraordinarily well. That is, until the unfortunate guitar-on-a-mountain-top solo right at the end.
The final three tracks are also remixes, though of older BLOOD tracks. "Crimson," "BLOOD" and "d.T.M.H." all get the once over, but all fall a little flat. Perhaps the initial six tracks are to blame. They far outshine the remix material, making the end of the album a drag. If purchased in an mp3 format, I can't imagine many of the remixes lasting for very long on anyone's hard drive.
Yet it's not the legacy of these remixes that listeners will be getting into Lost Sky for in the first place. It's the quality of the actual original content, as well as the legacy that BLOOD leaves behind. Sure, they may not have taken over the world with their music, but their independent energy and determination in a sea of flashy mediocrity are something to admire, and something for them to be proud of.
[Special thanks to Roger at Tainted Reality
And in one final note, in the interest of full disclosure,, I also entered into the remix competition myself. You can download my mix here.]
January - February Calendar - BLOOD - Final Album & Final Tour
BLOOD
BLOOD is a vis-kei band formed in 2002. The have the typical over the top visual style and typically gothic subject matter, from vampires to faux-French affectations. Yet behind the pomp and showmanship lies a truly dedicated band who maintain a very loyal group of fans from around the world.
I had a chance to interview the band in January of 2008. You can read the entire interview here, but for the purposes of this profile, here are a few choice cuts:
Kiwamu: I formed BLOOD in 2002 when I met Kaede. After that, we changed vocalists twice. Fuki is the third vocalist. He joined in 2004. After we made this lineup, we are going well now. BLOOD has carried out its own activities as an independent group belonging to no company. We have achieved great success, having sold a total of 18,000 CDs and performed over 50 one-man live shows around the world, including in Europe and America. I also sponsor gothic events in Tokyo on a regular basis. From 2004 to 2006, BLOOD worked under the concept VENGEANCE for BLOOD, basing all band activities on the theme of vampires. From 2006 to 2007, they conducted all activities under the concept of the French poetry collection Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) by Charles Baudelaire. As of April 2007, they are currently working with a new concept "Symphony of Chaos". Before BLOOD, I was the only person had some activities in Japanese indies scene. My past work is in our website. If you have interest in this, please check them.
Their sound has evolved over the years from a simpler glam-rock based style to a more electronic and metal approach.
Kiwamu: Last year, we started to change our sound style to Gothic. Maybe our new style is electric gothic. When I talked with Fuki about our next vision, we noticed "we have not listen to visual kei music for 5~10years." Recently visual kei bands are very boring. Stereotype, copy-cats. So we changed the styles. Our melody is Japanese-style. And backtrack is European gothic-style.
They are also well aware that a worldwide fan-base also brings about much more piracy and illegal downloading of their works.
Kiwamu: I know this situation. Without internet, we can't make good activities. So I just dislike lazy fans. They want to get songs without any respect. We're always getting strange emails from lazy fans. "Can we meet at the guest room?" "Where can we get your songs by free?" "Send me autograph pictures." "Lets talk!" etc. We are very tired to read these strange emails. So I think illegal downloading is not a problem [for the] songs. It is a problem of fan's thinking. Lazy fans act in strange ways. So good fans buy our CDs and download from iTunes, because they know musicians work for songs very hard. Of course, we respect these fans too. MySpace is a very good tool. Owing to this, we can get many fans all over the world. Roger [from Tainted Reality] made this first for us. It was a good choice.
BLOOD is a rare example of band willing to push both themselves and their fans to the limit. By actually pounding the pavement themselves, doing everything without major label backing, they seem to have a much stronger appreciation toward their fans, while at the same time holding them to very high standards.
Make sure to keep an eye on the calendar for all upcoming BLOOD shows, as well as Kiwamu's solo DJ gigs.
Unforgiven: Live In Mexico
Official Site
MySpace
Members
Vocal: Fu-ki
Programming & guitar: Kiwamu
Bass: Kaede
Manipulator: Ryo
Releases
The Reaper Behind Me (2008)
DEAD-HEARTED (September 9, 2007)
best collection 2002-2007 (August 8, 2007)
LES FLEURS DU MAL (July 7, 2007)
Spleen ~Despair~
VENGEANCE for BLOOD
VENGEANCE for BLOOD2
2nd PERIOD DX
1st PERIOD DX
THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY
Otaku USA Magazine - September/October 08
I'm a bit late this time around, but nevertheless, here's a heads up.
Once again I am in the pages of Otaku USA Magazine. The September/October issue is out now. This issue sees me interviewing ex-Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo. We talk a bit about his new solo compilation album Cosmoscope, as well as his involvement with the X-Japan reunion tour and his time with S.K.I.N.
I also have a few album reviews, including Shokotan's Big Bang, BLOOD's The Reaper Behind Me, Love Psychedelico's new US compilation This is Love Psychedelico and Versailles' (who are now Versailles Philharmonic Quintet, btw) Noble album.
Of course there are also the 148 pages of other non-music coverage, like the huge number of manga reviews, the massive interview with Shokotan, all that new anime stuff, figures, film, video games, etc etc. Check this out for a better run-down of the contents.
I really hope you get the chance to track this one down. Every issue just keeps getting better, and I honestly believe that this is the best outlet for all things otaku. Get it!
June Calendar - Blood - Australia Tour
BLOOD: The Japanator interview
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[I just posted my interview with BLOOD over at Japanator. Here it is for those of you who may have missed it.]
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We recently reported on the upcoming BLOOD tour. They'll be hitting up four clubs in the States, one after another, from February 1st to the 4th. The tour is organized by radio show/production company Tainted Reality. Check them out for ticket info and more (or just go straight to the BLOOD ticket info here.)
I was recently given the opportunity to shoot a few questions over to the band, and let me tell you, they delivered. The band has been undergoing a long transition from vis-kei to goth, and guitarist/programmer Kiwamu isn't shy about his feelings toward the current state of the vis-kei scene ("Recently many bands are just boring bands. There is no originality,") and vis-kei fans ("Many fans join a visual kei band's fanclub without listening their music.") He also comments on music downloading ("They want to get songs without any respect,") and bad anime-con promoters that they would rather just forget. BLOOD is obviously a band that's independent and proud of it, not afraid to tell it like it is and step on a few well-deserving toes.
Check out the entire interview after the jump. Huge thanks to Roger from Tainted Reality for giving me the opportunity to talk to the band, and of course to the band itself for being very cool and honest, something any music scene can always use more of.
Jtor: How did the three of you meet and form the band? Have you been in any other bands before BLOOD?
Kiwamu: I formed BLOOD in 2002 when I met Kaede. After that, we changed vocalists twice. Fuki is the third vocalist. He joined in 2004. After we made this lineup, we are going well now. BLOOD has carried out its own activities as an independent group belonging to no company. We have achieved great success, having sold a total of 18,000 CDs and performed over 50 one-man live shows around the world, including in Europe and America. I also sponsor gothic events in Tokyo on a regular basis. From 2004 to 2006, BLOOD worked under the concept VENGEANCE for BLOOD, basing all band activities on the theme of vampires. From 2006 to 2007, they conducted all activities under the concept of the French poetry collection Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) by Charles Baudelaire. As of April 2007, they are currently working with a new concept "Symphony of Chaos". Before BLOOD, I was the only person had some activities in Japanese indies scene. My past work is in our website. If you have interest in this, please check them.
Jotr: You have recently added two female members to the line-up, Bloodmore Har and Ryo. Could you explain their role in the band?
Kiwamu: Har is a woman, but Ryo is not woman. Please don't mind. He looks very pretty in fact. Har is the dancer on the stage. She has her own band The Royal Dead. When I saw her at the event, she looked very cool. So I asked her about dancing live. Her support is not at every show, but when she can come to our show, she will support us. And Ryo, he is the talented manipulator [I think he means "producer." -ZB]. My agent Miwa introduced us. When we had the sound check at the studio, his sound was very cool. So now, we have re-recorded our new album to put his sound on these songs. In fact, I need to make almost parts on our songs. He can bring his many ideas to my songs to bring out the detail of songs, they are good magic.
Jtor: How has your sound changed from vis-kei to goth? Is it simply more electronic, or is it something else?
Kiwamu: Last year, we started to change our sound style to Gothic. Maybe our new style is electric gothic. When I talked with Fuki about our next vision, we noticed "we have not listen to visual kei music for 5~10years." Recently visual kei bands are very boring. Stereotype, copy-cats. So we changed the styles. Our melody is Japanese-style. And backtrack is European gothic-style.
Jtor: You've said before that "Visual Kei fans don't listen to music. They just enjoy the face of band members," and that "...goth is attitude." What exactly is "goth attitude" to you?
Kiwamu: Many fans join a visual kei band's fan-club without listening their music. I hate that situation. I can't understand that. Visual kei music is just fashion to many fans. For me, gothic is not fashion. In fact, I have worked with many foreign gothic artists, and I am working for my band by myself for six years. Recently I organized a gothic event in Japan. I produced a gothic compilation album. For me, everything about these activities are life-style. Gothic is my attitude to express my feeling. So I don't join in any record company in Japan. For the visual kei record company, artists are just money. Not music. They just want to get money from artists. So I have helped many independent artists in Japan.
Jtor: Even though your musical style is evolving, you are still a very visual band. Is there any difference between traditional vis-kei and simply being a very visual/dark band?
Kiwamu: I think the music style definition is difficult to explain in a word. Some maybe think "BLOOD is visual kei" another maybe thinks "BLOOD is industrial." Another maybe think "BLOOD is visual and gothic band" etc. But we had activities as an old school visual kei band from 2002 to 2005. Of course, we are proud of this period. We don't say "BLOOD is not visual kei!" It is a very strange thing. Some artists do this. A shame. They spit on their past works. It is not cool. In fact, music genres are just for the music companies and CD shops.
Jtor: What was wrong with the vis-kei scene that caused you to abandon it? How is the goth scene different from the vis-kei scene in Japan?
Kiwamu: Please look at the Japanese visual kei scene. There are no good bands, I think. When we started music, there were many good visual kei bands. X-Japan, Luna Sea, Kuroyume etc. Recently many bands are just boring bands. There is no originality. Right? Of course, in Japan, gothic scene is very small. So we are not thinking about "we will be big in gothic scene." I am thinking about our vision in the world wide. You know BLOOD had many live shows in foreign countries without any record company support and we went there as first visual kei band. Now my plan is secret. But I will make the new style in the Japanese scene.
Jtor: Are there any other goth/industrial bands you admire (past or present)? Are there other Japanese goth/industrial bands you admire?
Kiwamu: Recently I listen to many artists I didn't know [before.] Siva Six, The Birthday Massacre, Dope Star Inc, London After Midnight, Hocico. They are not major artists, but very cool. And recently I started to work with many independent artists. Some of them had no CD album, so I support them as the label. Virgins O.R Pigeons from Greece, GPKISM form Australia, Spectrum-X from Italy, they are the artists who release albums from my label. In the world, there are very very cool artists [no one] knows. So I want to help them for this scene. Oh, I don't work with rap and hip-hop artists. lol. Sometime I get the strange email from them. But I don't know that sound. Cool sound, cool looking, no deal with any label. They are important for me.
Jtor: You have said before that you are strongly against music file-sharing and people who illegally download music. You are now in a position where it is easier to find legal samples of your music and live performances, but for many bands, file-sharing is sometimes the only way for fans to learn more about Japanese bands because so few bands are marketed overseas. How do you feel about this today? Do you think you would have as many overseas fans without the internet and music sharing? What is the best way for non-Japanese residents to learn more about bands that have little to no promotional support?
Kiwamu: I know this situation. Without internet, we can't make good activities. So I just dislike lazy fans. They want to get songs without any respect. We're always getting strange emails from lazy fans. "Can we meet at the guest room?" "Where can we get your songs by free?" "Send me autograph pictures." "Lets talk!" etc. We are very tired to read these strange emails. So I think illegal downloading is not a problem [for the] songs. It is a problem of fan's thinking. Lazy fans act in strange ways. So good fans buy our CDs and download from iTunes, because they know musicians work for songs very hard. Of course, we respect these fans too. MySpace is a very good tool. Owing to this, we can get many fans all over the world. Roger [from Tainted Reality] made this first for us. It was a good choice.
Jtor: Many Japanese bands only make appearances at anime cons, or at least cons are the first place they play in America. On this most recent tour you are hitting up regular clubs and venues. Are you consciously trying to avoid the anime scene? Do you think American anime cons are a good place for Japanese bands to play? Is it easier for you to do shows outside of cons?
Kiwamu: At US conventions, we had four live shows from 2003 to 2004. There were some troubles we wanted to forget forever. So bands can't hope [to bring their best show] to the fan. If they don't mind about that, the convention is good. In some countries, we had the live shows at the conventions. There were good conventions and bad conventions. If the convention staff is very cool, the band becomes cool.
Jtor: You have always preferred to work on your own terms, without major record label support. Do you feel this has helped you out in any way? Is it difficult to tour without a major record label?
Kiwamu: BLOOD has good agents all over the world. Owing to them, we can go to other countries to tour. BLOOD had 50 live shows in ten countries. I appreciate [the agents] very much. In USA, Roger works for BLOOD very very much. There are many lazy promoters in USA, but he is a serious worker. And if the record company works for foreign markets, they always say "five members and three staff need eight airplane [tickets], and condition is etc." I hate [this tactic] very much. They should know their value. They are more valueless than they think. BLOOD is only three members. So quick working. We don't need to worry about airplane fees for eight members. Some bands want my advice. So I always say "please reduce your members."
Jtor: Much of your past work has revolved around a single concept, like vampires or Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs Du Mal." Your new concept is "Symphony of Chaos." Can you explain this a little? What can we expect on the new album?
Fu-ki: In the dark labyrinth,you can see nothing and only hear the sounds of chaos.Then they are harmonizing...
Kiwamu: The new concept is not concrete one. We can make the new style music on these dark fields.
Jtor: Much like people in the west have a hard time understanding anime and Japanese culture, some find it strange that there is a love of French and Victorian style and Romanian vampire stories in Japan. What about these dark themes do you find interesting?
Kiwamu: We are fans of these dark cultures very much, so it is natural. For example, these cultures are very fresh to us. For example, in two days, I sent BLOOD sample songs to many DJs. They liked our music, so many [more] of them replied to me than I hoped. From this weekend, in many countries, they will play our songs at their shows. It is very interesting. Japanese DJs search for foreign music very very much and foreign DJs search for another country's music and they come to the Japanese scene.
You can find more from BLOOD online at:
TAINTED REALITY
OFFICIAL SITE
MYSPACE
February Calendar
February 1-4
Blood
US Tour
2/1 - Friday - The Knitting Factory - Los Angeles, CA
2/2 - Saturday - Sam's Burger Joint - San Antonio, TX
2/3 - Sunday - The Middle East - Cambridge, MA
2/4 - Monday - Subterranean - Chicago, IL (also in-store at Mitsuwa marketplace)
Source: J-Rock Revolution - Japanator
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February 9-March 3
Polysics
European Tour
2-09 - London/UK Carling Academy Islington
2-10 - Brighton/UK Barfly
2-11 - Oxford/UK Oxford Academy
2-14 - Amsterdam/Netherlands Paradiso
2-16 - Brussels/Belgium VK Club
2-19 - Berlin/Germany White Trash Fast Food
2-21 - Rome/Italy Zoo Bar
2-22 - Milan/Italy London Loves@Plastic
2-23 - Modena/Italy Vibra
2-24 - Zurich/Switzerland Albert
2-26 - Paris/France Nouveau Casino
2-27 - Orleans/France Astrolabe
2-28 - Besancon/France GeneriQ Festival Le Cylindre
2-29 - Mulhouse/France GeneriQ Festival Noumatrouff
CONTINUES INTO MARCH
Source: Japanator
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February 10
YMCK
Japan! Culture & Hyper Culture
Kennedy Center - Washington DC
FREE SHOW
Source: Japanator
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February 29-April 15
MUCC - D'espairsRay - The Underneath
Rockstar Taste of Chaos US Tour
2/29/2008 - Friday - Fillmore Auditorium (Denver, CO)
CONTINUES INTO MARCH AND APRIL
Source: J-Rock Revolution
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