...the reverse side of beauty..//..Mantified

The more I play SUGIZO's compositions as chill out music, the more mesmerized I become to his audio charm. I'm really glad that I've been able to get his COSMOSCAPE album, not only is it full of (good quality) electronica, there are also bits and pieces of wonderfully composed alternative sounds, ranging from jazz moods to romantic classical based pieces.

I was really disappointed when CDJAPAN emailed me back to say that SUGIZO's copies of C:LEAR are now sold out (even from the source). But hey, there will always be more of him in X JAPAN and Luna Sea! (I'm more for the latter, but ah well...)

Yes, I know I've totally been raving Mr. SGZ in previous entries. I just cannot get enough of his musical talents. I truly would love to spread his wonderful works of art. Would definitely go to see a solo live of his if I've got the chance (despite the fact that I'll be seeing him with Luna Sea in December, but it's more of a rock than a dance thing).

Here's to hoping that we'll be seeing some solo album releases some time in between Luna Sea and X Japan projects!

You've been hearing it from me for the last few days already, RED is officially out! I'm starting to like the single a little more now that I've listened to it a few more times. Still not sure whether it'll end up being one of the most played on the GazettE playlist, but we'll see!

The B-sides though, are definitely worth a mention. VERMIN is the lesser of my favourite, but it's a fun song in its own respect. Very much similar to No.[666], and very beautifully made. The contrast in the musical interlude adds a mysterious touch to the piece before jumping back into the fast paced craziness. And of course, I cannot neglect to mention AN UNBEARABLE FACT. It's a gentler form of rock, geared more towards a ballad, it's slightly abrasive, but yet it's very beautifully done as a form of hard ballad.Lacing the piano within the hard rock is worth an arrangement of its own. I like the fact that there isn't any weird screaming that you sometimes hear from the likes of Dir En Grey (not that I hate them, they're just not my type of rock). Just for that song, I'm really glad that I bought the Auditory Impression CD. Am hoping it will make it into the next album!

With all this hype going on with VAMPS' world tour starting on October at Los Angeles, I might as well jump on the band wagon!

Although I'm not as big a fan on VAMPS, I do enjoy their music style time and again with the fun rock: more of the jump up and down type. It's a really good time to catch Hyde (the vocalist) in VAMPS at this time before he goes back to L'Arc En Ciel activities. I guess VAMPS is about appealing to the Western audience since the lyrics are in English? I'll leave that for you to decide.

I love Revolution. The video sequence reminds me of Michael Jackson's Leave Me Alone. It's almost like a parody of something important.

BANG! ON! STOMP EVERYBODY!

Most Vidoll fans should know this by now, but for those of you who do not know, Vidoll is under hiatus as of September 18th due to vocalist Jui's deteriorating voice. It's devastating to hear this news as the voice is the life and soul for a singer.

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like. Even though they are not my favourite band (a.k.a love them to the point where I would feel obliged to buy the majority of their music and other random goodies every time something comes out), I really do admire Jui's voice. He has a beautiful sense of gentleness, similar to Gackt's, with a little something to captivate your senses.

Please give them your support! I give you one of their last songs. Their last pieces are available from HearJapan as a farewell gift to their fans.

Jrockrevolution.com is doing a free ticket give away! So if you have no money to go watch VAMPS, or just want some freebie tickets, sign up! Of course, provided you're in the North Americas...hahaha.

Free tickets here!

It's here, it's here! The GazettE's official release for RED is due out tomorrow! Can't wait to hear the B-sides (as always...just a small reminder that I haven't been neglecting J-Rock).

In other news, even though I'm more focused on J-Rock, I still keep up with the likes of Koda Kumi (倖田來未). Her latest UNIVERSE Tour DVD is now available for pre-order from CD Japan - though priced at around HK$500 is a little pricey for my liking. We'll see though!

There are way too many reasons why I keep buying Koda Kumi's music and concert DVDs: main one is simply she has no problem making her work as fabulous as possible. For one thing, I love her dance music. Her electronica, hip-hop and RnB styling is meshed so well you can't help but want to dance to it (or at least pump it up in the car when going for a drive). Her costumes are always marvelous to look at - sometimes outrageously sexy, but never overdoing it to the point of tartiness...and sometimes really cute, even though I'm not a fan of super kawaii. And the stage settings are always something really fantastic to look at. They are always so beautifully adorned you can't help but say, "WOW!" And that happens every time I see a new concert DVD.

UNIVERSE is one of the songs from the UNIVERSE album. Even though I would have loved to see a PV to promote this song, I can't wait to see the stage version of it!

Wow! Didn't expect the PV to be available this soon! The single has the Regret feeling, which isn't my total cup of tea. I am awed by Aoi's new look though...he's got Uruha's old hair style! And Reita does have a near different look this time with his tribal head band thing going on. Overall, it's a dark glamour video. Maybe it'll grow on me a bit more? Can't wait until I can hear the B sides later this month!

It's very likely the Sony will remove this up, so enjoy it while you can!

Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! Just when you think you've heard the end of Miyavi after a month long of Tokyo live streams, we have the next single!

I've been listening to TORTURE throughout the live and thought it was a pretty good song. While I preferred most of the live versions of his songs (Survive being one of them), this is most definitely one which sounds way better recorded than the live. Not to say that I don't like the live version of this song, but the basicness (is that even a word?) of raw Miyavi style rock without the bells and jingles in the song is outstanding in its own right. It's one of the more serious songs I've seen, i.e. no silly facial gimmicks or random spazz, and still very true to the Miyavi essence.

I'm loving this single!

Now to wait for the album release!

It's official! We can now see the artwork for the single covers for Red. I must say that they turned from concept art to more fashion photos, particularly starting from the last release with SHIVER.

You can see it in their OHP.

And only 21 days left before their release! Soon soon! *SPAZZES*