Peter's Japan blog

Me and my friends who are going with me to the GazettE concert in Cologne, Germany, have decided that we will go in style ;p. Which means, we will be dressed in Visual Kei style ;p.
Since my favorite guy from Gazette is Reita, I will go as Reita. Which means blond hair in front of one eye, a nose bandana, and appropriate clothes. This way we won't stick out too much in the crowd ;p. It was a good thing I had been growing my hair since the end of last year or it would not have been long enough (always had very short hair). I wanted to have a more japanese haircut anyway :).

Now I need to find some clothes, and make a nose bandana :).

Just got my ticket today for the GazettE in Cologne, Germany! I'm so excited! It's on October 21st in the Live Music Hall.
the GazettE is a popular Visual Kei J-Rock group. Have a look on their MySpace: The GazettE Official MySpace

Got a package from Japan again with some cds :).

- the GazettE - STACKED RUBBISH ~Limited Edition CD+DVD~
The new album from the GazettE, a very popular visual kei band in Japan. This is the follow-up of the previous succesful album: NIL. This albums contains 3 previous single: Regret, Filth In The Beauty and Hyena.
This album seems to have a few (experimental to me) tracks in the same style as Defective Tragedy which was on the Hyena single. But it still a very gazette album, with some typical sometimes hard, sometimes experimental, sometimes party-like and of course some ballads. Although I personally like NIL more.

- Kosaka Riyu - Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~ [CD+DVD] (ED of Claymore, see other post)
This is Kosaka Riyu's first solo single. She was part of an all-female group BeForU which was formed for DDR songs. But this song just blew me away. It has a gothic feeling that reminds me a bit of Within Temptation, but not entirely. The single also contains the English-sung version of the song. The b-side "ignore" is also quite good, a good rock song with a beat. The DVD contains the PV for Danzai no Hana, which includes some nice slow-motion shots. There is also an edit of this video on the DVD, which intercuts with scenes from Claymore anime. A very nice addition.

- Hirano Aya & Katou Emiri & Fukuhara Kaori & Endou Aya - Motteke! Sailor Fuku (OP of Lucky☆Star)
This is another very addictive anime song, that also features a para para dance, just like Hare Hare Yukai from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. (which also featured Hirano Aya in a main role).





- Trance Paradise 5
Bought this one because it contained another remix of Dub-I-Dub, the Delaction Remix.

Buy on YesAsia:
the GazettE - STACKED RUBBISH ~Ltd Edition CD+DVD~ or Normal edition
Kosaka Riyu - Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~ [CD+DVD] or CD-Only
Hirano Aya & Katou Emiri & Fukuhara Kaori & Endou Aya - Motteke! Sailor Fuku
and Amazon.com:
Trance Paradise 5

After some searches through different kinds of music, I (re-)found a few interesting artists:

Scott Walker:
Found him through a documentary I saw on the plane back from Japan. He was a '70 idol, whose music transformed into a very experimental and avant-garde genre.

La Bionda:
I had a record of them from my father, and downloaded that album again (entitled La Bionda). It contains a well known Italo-disco hit "One For You, One For Me". But also some darker songs like "Hey Woman" and "Sandstorm".

Black Devil:
They only released one EP, but it's one hell of an EP. In 1978(!), they released the "Disco Club EP", which would become one of the earliest real synth albums. Quote from wikipedia: " It was made manually in a recording studio in the suburbs of Paris using synths and occasional tape loops and a drummer. No midi or computers.". It has a very futuristic sound, for that time, and has had many influence on future artists.