First, sorry if anything on the blog is broken. I just moved everything and frankly there's way too much to keep track of.
Second, hi! Yes, still alive.
Third, check out this super swank new video from Lillies and Remains! Nothing but smoldering, intense slow-mo looks from the guys in the band, but it's still pretty cool.
Here's the video for the new Polysics single "Everybody Say No." It's not super exciting, but you have to admit, the 303 traffic cone head thing is pretty awesome. The song is also not super exciting, but as always Fumi manages to bring the heat on bass and make it almost impossibly groovy.
The single is out on October 24th and their new album Weeeeeeeeee!!! is out in December. GET!
I tend to be a little overenthusiastic about things in the morning. It's not that I'm a morning person, far from it. Maybe it's the first blast of coffee slamming into my brain that gives me just enough lift to actually enjoying things for a while, before the rest of life slowly presses it all back down.
Whatever that case, when I see things like this new-ish video from MO'SOME TONEBENDER as my eyes remember how to focus and my mouth tastes like burning manna from heaven, I feel like things are sometimes OK.
It also reminds me that I need to listen to these guys more often. See below for reasons. (Hint: "Green & Gold" is one of my favorite songs of all time.)
[Get the album]
Not sure how long this video will last, so enjoy it now!
New Polysics! "Lucky Star" is the first single from what is presumably their next album. The song is a snappy, poppy one along the lines of "Black Out Fall Out" and "You You You." Fumi is no Kayo when it comes to pop vocals, but she has always been able to hold her own and does so here just fine. But I miss Kayo.
Anyway, it's Polysics in a nutshell. Chugging synths, retro blips, odd patterns and pure energetic fun. It's a bit repetitive, a bit shallow on a surface level, but there's plenty to dig into on repeat listens. The CD/DVD version includes what seems to be a full live show. Well worth it!
(via @Mistabeen)
[Update: According to the above mentioned Mistabeen, the DVD is actually a collection of short clips totaling 20 minutes. Bummer!]
When I first heard that Polysics was going to be on the new L'Arc~en~Ciel Tribute album, I was excited. Of course I'm always excited about Polysics. Then I saw the rest of the line-up and, well, I had to triple check.
Listed among a hand-full of other Japanese bands were rather more incongruous names. Names like Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks), Eric Martin (Mr. Big) and John 5 (Marilyn Manson) (itself a head-scratching paring), Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe), TLC and, get this, Boyz II Men.
Yep.
If that all sounds a little weird, well, so is the album. I'm not a huge L'Arc fan, but I do like some of their more rockin' songs. This album is not rockin'. In the slightest. It's mostly washed-up has-beens sucking the life out of songs that didn't have much life to spare. For crying out loud, Vince Neil sings the super-saccharine "Blurry Eyes" and not "Shout at the Devil." Sure, it's not the same iconic metal anthem that Crüe rode high on through the '80s, but still it was a giant missed opportunity. (I should also point out that much of this tribute is sung in English. Another jolt to the system.)
Ah well, at least Polysics managed to produce a really heavy, noisy take on "Seventh Heaven," a track otherwise totally out of place in this collection of zombies sluggishly devouring L'Arc's brains.
Listen to more of the carnage below.
I've been working on and off trying to unpack everything that's in the new solo album titled Flowering from TK, front-man for the band Ling Tosite Sigure. The short version: It's just like Ling Tosite Sigure. I can't really think of anything that's on Flowering that I would be at all surprised to hear on a regular LTS release. Not that that's a bad thing. If anything, TK solo is even more intense and dense, more chaotic and frantic. And what LTS fan wouldn't want that?
(Special thanks to @jakcadden for reminding me about this album.)
Polysics is back!
This performance from Rock in Japan in early August 2010 is the first time new-wave spazz band Polysics has performed live since keyboard player and founding member Kayo left. Since they've been together for around 12 years, this was a pretty big deal. Fans were not only sad to see her leave, but worried about what it might mean for the future of the band. Luckily for us they decided to stick together and soldier on as a three piece.
While the band did play a full set, including three or four brand new songs, those of us not in attendance have only been privy to three songs that have made it onto the web. The video up above is their new opener "Heavy Polysick," which leads into one of the band's very first songs "Buggie Techinica." After the jump is the more modern "Tei Tei Tei."
To be honest, none of these tracks really lets us in on what kind of new sound and energy Polysics might have as a trio. But maybe that means that the new Polysics might not be different at all without a dedicated keyboard player. The band is already recording new material, so it shouldn't be too long before we get to hear for ourselves.
In the meantime, if anyone knows were a video of the full Polysics set from Rock in Japan 2010 might be, I know some people who might be interested...
September 24 - October 4
Guitar Wolf
US Tour
Sep 24 - Santos Party House NYC - New York, NY
Sep 25 - Hi Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN
Sep 27 - The Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, GA
Sep 29 - Mohawk - Austin, TX
Oct 01 - The Pearl Palms Concert Theater - Las Vegas, NV
Oct 03 - El Rey - Los Angeles, CA
Oct 04 - BOTTOM OF THE HILL - San Francisco, CA
Source: MySpace
Time again for a new single from Buck-Tick and of course that means a new video featuring the guys in the band looking all dark and gothy and smokin' hot!
Both the steadily rockin' song and the video stick pretty close to the usual BT themes which mainly concern being all dark and gothy and smokin' hot (see above) and having all kinds of dark and gothy and smokin' hot sex. ("Kuchizuke" means "kiss," after all.) But at least the video offers the viewer something to look at aside from hot dudes being hot. But I gotta admit, Atsushi is really laying it on thick in this one, so I doubt anyone will really be all that into the interesting loops and layers going on. Sorry, video editor and special effects team, but ZOMG Atsushi is holding an apple!
I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is a song about shishi.
This is the super-cool looking new video from rock band Molice. I'm not sure there's really much going on in this plot-wise, but when it looks this good, that's probably not going to be a problem for most people.
We instead get a heaping helping of eye candy shot around what is presumably Tokyo. Each band member has a different sort of environment that they drift through while some pretty swanky type leads us through the songs lyrics in both English and Japanese. I've got to admit the I spent a lot of time looking at the type and had to watch the video a couple times to actually see what was going on. Then again graphic design and type is sort of what I do.
At any rate, this is easily the best looking video from Molice, so check it out and give your eyes something to be happy about.
Here's a new video from Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. The song "Zero Comma, Irotoridori No Sekai" is also the title track to their new, and first, full-length album. That's sort of hard to believe since the band seems to have been releasing amazing material for years now.
The song is very much in the spirit of their past releases, but it's maybe just a bit more "fun" sounding than usual. The video is certainly fun and carefree. That's not to say the the band hasn't been upbeat and fun in the past. It's just that their songs are usually a little louder, deeper and dark.
Their new album is out now. It's one of my most highly anticipated releases for the the year (second only to the new Ling Tosite Sigure album) so you can expect me to blab all about it soon!
Warning: Japanese schoolgirls in super short skirts ahead!
OK, now that the Google baiting is out of the way, here's Scandal. Looking all sad again. What's the deal with sad girls lately? I don't know. Anyway, here that are slowly rocking out in the library, you know, like you do when you're a rock band. Turns out that someone's boyfriend is now interested in some other girl because apparently he suffered major head trauma and no longer wants to hang out with a hot chick in a major-label rock band. What's the deal, dude? I mean their tiny skirts poof out and everything! Sheesh. Anyway, I'm sure the girls will be OK since they have about 18 million other guys waiting in line to carry their books and tell them jokes.
August 28 - September 18
Electric Eel Shock
European Tour Summer 2010 Part 2
August 28th - Akkerpop Festival - Belgium
August 29th - Dynamo Festival - Holland
(Other dates in mainland Europe will be announced shortly.)
UK & Ireland:
September 7th - Portsmouth - DITC
September 8th - Cheltenham - Night Owl
September 9th - Manchester - Sound Control
September 10th - Aberdeen - Drummonds
September 11th - Glasgow - King Tut's
September 12th - Leeds - The Well
September 14th - Galway - Roisin Dubh
September 16th - Dundalk - Spiritstore
September 17th - Dublin - Ballroom of Romance
September 18th - Clon Guitar Festival
Source: MySpace
Here's a new live video from Molice performing at the CAMA (Club for Art and Music Appreciation) Festival in 2010. It's a show put together to raise HIV awareness and prevention and took place in Hanoi, Vietnam. This is a new, unreleased song called "Active Imagination" that should be on their next album.
May 26 - June 12
Electric Eel Shock
European Tour Summer 2010
(Peelander Z will support on all dates except Den Haag)
Switzerland:
5/26/2010 - Winterthur @ Gaswerk
5/27/2010 - Luzern @ Bar59
5/28/2010 - Dudingen @ Bad Bonn Kilbi (Festival)
5/29/2010 - Laufen @ Biomill
Germany:
5/30/2010 - Trier @ Ex Haus
6/1/2010 - Hamburg @ Hafenklang
6/2/2010 - Dusseldorf @ FFT
Netherlands:
6/3/2010 - Haarlem @ Patronaat
6/4/2010 - Sevenum @ Rumoer Fest
6/5/2010 - Kaderock, Den Haag (afternoon show, EES only) & Groningen@ Gideon Music Festival
France
6/7/2010 - Montpellier@ SECRET PLACE
Spain:
6/8/2010 - Burgos @ Estudio 27
6/9/2010 - Madrid @ Gruta 77
6/10/2010 - Barcelona @ Zac Club (Venue Change)
6/11/2010 - Valencia @ Durango Club
6/12/2010 - Vitoria @ Helldorado
Source: MySpace
July 4th
Inugami Circus Dan
A-Kon - Dallas, TX
Source: A-Kon
Oct 1 - Nov 6
Vamos
World Tour
Sep 26 - TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Oct 01 - AVALON HOLLYWOOD - LOS ANGELES, California, US
Oct 03 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, California, US
Oct 09 - ROSELAND BALLROOM - NEW YORK CITY, New York, US
Oct 12 - Sala Apolo - Barcelona, ES
Oct 16 - ESPACE GRANDE ARCHE - PARIS, FR
Oct 23 - SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS CENTER - SHANGHAI, CN
Oct 24 - SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS CENTER - SHANGHAI, CN
Nov 06 - Teatro Caupolican - Santiago, CHILE
Source: MySpace
May 13-18
Ling Tosite Sigure
The Great Escape Festival
5/13 - Volks / Brighton, UK
5/15 - Komedia / Brighton, UK
5/17 - South of the Border / London, UK
5/18 - Barfly / London, UK
Source: Site
[Thanks to Luke for the tip!]
