マリア - 刺薬歌 / 神未知～カミミチ～

believe it or not, back by request is the ever confusing マリア (or maria cross). today i present to you another single, as well as an EP.


刺薬歌
luckily for us, this particular single has a stronger focus on マリア's terror/laughter inducing high-pitched warbling. on the A-side he squawks and and howls, and on the B-side he squawks and howls. the typical deep voiced visual kei voice is kept to a minimum.
my favorite of the two is the B-side, which opens with guitar feedback. delightful.

1. 刺薬歌
2. S・E・X


ENJOY



神未知～カミミチ～
this EP focuses quite a bit on synths and super fast percussion. very few actual guitars can be heard here (i'm under the impression that they're all synth based guitar emulators). strange.


1. 誓い
2. 貴方だけに歌いたい歌
3. 神
4. 超音波的死歌





ENJOY

マリア - FOR YOU

マリア (or Maria Cross) is a visual kei street performer. there are two things you have to know about マリア; 1rst thing: he has been to jail for molesting a second year high school student; 2nd thing: he had a career in the gay adult entertainment industry. he is . . . special, to put it lightly.

the music itself is typical visual kei sound; fast guitars and deep vocals . . . except, like i said, マリア is very special. every once in a while he breaks the baritone vocals to break out this high-pitched, off key screeching. i'm not sure if the "unique" vocals are intentionally off-putting or not, but it certainly gives this a very, very outsider feel to it. it's terrifying, and really must be heard to be understood.

you are not prepared for マリア. frankly, you can't be prepared for マリア.


1. For You
2. 性欲願望
3. 星の砂


ENJOY

有頂天 - GAN

this 19988 album by the beyond legendary 有頂天 has recently been my favorite album by this prolific band. on this album they finally became everything i'd wanted them to be; stream-lined pop with heavy post-punk influences (as well as influence). indeed, this album was even put out by a label that specialized in punk and post-punk (Captain Records, which was responsible for an LP by The Willard, an LP by Lipcream, and an LP by the legendary 遠藤道郎).

this album is certainly less awkward than their previous entries, but this does not take away from their appeal. this is still 有頂天, through and through.


1. 君はGANなのだ
2. B.C.
3. 壺
4. トーテムポール
5. キーマニア
6. GAN
7. 大失敗'85
8. Sの終わり
9. 大失敗'85(Most Failure Mix)


ENJOY

ルナパーク・アンサンブル - 虫喰いマンダラ

虫喰いマンダラ is an album by the brilliant ルナパーク・アンサンブル. ルナパーク・アンサンブル plays a mix of folk, pop, and post-punk. in some ways it reminds me of TOGAWA FICTION or some of Haco's early music.

the instruments used are flutes, saxophones, wa-daiko drums, accordions, mandolins, and acoustic guitar. the music is very natural sounding, completely unaltered by any machine sounds or computer synths. certainly not something i'd usually post, but it's absolutely beautiful.


1. スクランブル・スーツ
2. 虫喰いマンダラ
3. 今夜視る夢
4. たきびが消えた
5. 傘とお弁当
6. わたしの宝物
7. 森の抜け道
8. 恋の中毒
9. 葡萄の蔓
10. ワルツ(ああ,だめだ)
11. 可愛い私のドッペルゲンガー
12. 水晶宮殿
13. 抗うつ済
14. ネッカーズ・ワルツ
15. パノラマ島
16. 青空落下
17. 無題


ENJOY

cyanotype - SERIALISM

serialism is an album by 武井誠's (the drummer of cali≠gari) side project, cyanotype. cyanotype plays music that's similar to Plastic Tree or 相対性理論; borderline shoegaze pop. it's absolutely uplifting music.


my favorite track is easily 混沌ライフ. the drumming in this track is so catchy. it's like gentle rain on a roof made out of clay.


1. serialism
2. 混沌ライフ
3. クロノクルーズ
4. ナイトチップ
5. 鳴り止まない目覚まし時計


ENJOY

ＳＯＤＯＭ - TV MURDER

here's another album by the legendary ＳＯＤＯＭ. this seems to be where they began to move closer to their brief post-punk sound. their efforts here sound more like The Birthday Party, which is certainly interesting.


1. Euro
2. TV Murder
3. Hills Garden
4. Arts of Lab
5. In The Wall
6. Calimrec
7. Test Pattern N°2


ENJOY

ＬＩＢＩＤＯ - RYU-SA

ＬＩＢＩＤＯ were an excellent post-punk band from the mid-80s. they released four albums, including an album on the brilliant Wechselbalg Syndicate label (that released such greats as SADIE SADS' Box With Little Doll, G-Schmitt's alternative garnet, Auto-Mod's Bible, and ＳＯＤＯＭ's Breaking Glass). this album, however, was released on the much more obscure LLE Label.

the songs presented here are all very long and aggressive, with a distinct strangeness. the sound is like almost nothing else i've ever heard. the sound is both dry and luscious at the same time, which is rather difficult to explain. it's almost like a mix of psychedelic and goth-rock.

fans of ＡＳＹＬＵＭ and YBO² should really enjoy this.

1.		「こんなにも自由だ」とあなたは・・・
2.		ここで このまま
3.		あまりにも疾く
4.		三日月
5.		流砂〜（水晶のように冷たい・・・）

ENJOY

遠藤ミチロウ - I. MY. ME/AMAMI

I. MY. ME/AMAMI is a solo album by the legendary 遠藤ミチロウ. this album has very little to do with his work with The Stalin. all of the music here is on an acoustic guitar, and it sounds like something 友川かずき would do.

this album features the song (なれの果て) that 戸川純 covered for the tribute album to ミチロウ in 2010. 純's "cover" of it is better, honestly, but i'm biased.

download this now. it's beautiful.


1. 早すぎた父親
2. フェミニスト
3. なれの果て
4. オデッセイ2005 SEX
5. I. MY. ME/AMAMI
6. 海辺のバナナ
7. 蛹化の女
8. 我自由丸


ENJOY

ＡＳＹＬＵＭ - FAREWELL (TO LOVELY...)

ＡＳＹＬＵＭ was a hardcore and post-punk band from the late 1980s and early 1990s. although they did poof up their hair and put on makeup, they had very little to do with other bands from the proto-visual kei scene. they sound more like a mix between YBO², GASTUNK, and ＳＯＤＯＭ (and are similar to ＳＯＤＯＭ and GASTUNK in that all three wore makeup and played a form of hardcore).

unlike the other two, however, ＡＳＹＬＵＭ's sound was much more influenced by post-punk (ＳＯＤＯＭ did briefly experiment with post-punk before moving onto . . . something else). also, unless i'm mistaken, there's most certainly a prog influence.

i've been listening to them quite a bit lately, and you should, too.

1. Nothin' To Be A Friend
2. White Dreamer
3. Farewell
4. 幸福の終りに
5. Out In The Street
6. 哀願
7. Esa
8. Incest
9. 夢宴
10. Finale
11. Christmas N.G.
12. Tybe Vatamia Platami


ENJOY