Japan Is Doomed

It’s back! If you missed the first part, head here. Ok, here we go with number 6 to number 10!

Look at him go!
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Japan's Culture

As it’s currently dead cool to use English in brand names, school textbooks and just about everywhere else, it’s no surprise that a lot of bands in Japan have English names. Following on from this, it is of course no surprise that there are some pretty crazy ones out there. 

So I thought I would treat everyone to an exciting game of ‘Guess the Japanese Band Name’. Using my amazing art skills, I’ll illustrate the band name. If you can guess them, you’re a winner and everyone will love you and talk about you for ages. I’ll give you a hint: All five of the bands have pretty daft names, so don’t guess anything too logical or obvious.

So here’s a simple example. Apologies for the artwork in advance, but I was using my laptop trackpad, and coupled with my terrible art ability that made for some pretty terrible drawings. Again, I’m truly sorry.

Example

I wonder what it could be!
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Ok, so let’s get moving then. There are five bands, see if you can guess them all!

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Japan's Culture

Ok, Dir En Grey. Like them or hate them, Dir En Grey are probably the most successful Japanese Rock band since X Japan. Their last tour through Europe was hugely successful, and I went to see them when they played Sheffield. (Review Here) I came away from that concert amazed - their level of showmanship shocked me, and I started to look into their back catalogue.

Unfortunately, aside from one or two tracks, the two more recent Dir En Grey albums (’Marrow Of A Bone‘ & ‘Withering To Death‘) have way too much going on, and way way way too much ‘Argh Yargh I’m angry!’ shouting. However, the album prior to those, namely Vulgar, is a brilliant piece of work. I’d heartily recommend anyone interested in Japanese rock, or progressive rock in general, check Vulgar out.  

Anyway, onto Uroboros, then. 

The album cover

Sadly, I don’t consider myself a loopy “~SoOo Kawaii!!!~” nutcase, so I’m not going to bother talking about the band member’s comments on this album, or the history of making it, or their favourite breakfast cereals or whatever it is you people care about. 

Firstly, the two singles taken from the album, namely DOZING GREEN and GLASS SKIN, were released as singles in Japanese but appear on the album in English. I don’t really get why - vocalist Kyo clearly has yet to master English pronunciation. Respect to him for trying, but the English versions should have been bonus tracks, not the Japanese. That said, DOZING GREEN is a great song, and for someone just coming to Dir En Grey it might be a good place to start. GLASS SKIN is a sort of ballad I suppose - very laid back, and Kyo’s whispery childlike vocals work very nicely here.

The best song on the album is, without a doubt, 蜷局 (Toguro), which sort of sits between DOZING GREEN and GLASS SKIN - both melody and rock song at the same time. Whilst I’m not against heavier music, this album has all clean vocals (no shouting or growling), which I have to say I prefer as the clear vocals are far, far better.

They still have their angry American-style metal sound too, and if weird-beyond-belief heavy rock is your thing, you’ll enjoy 冷血なりせば (Reiketsu Nariseba) and the oddly named Bugaboo. If, like me, you like an interesting mix of the two, tracks like Red Soil and the 9 minute epic Vinushka will be right up your alley.

Ultimately then we have a great album on our hands. It’s so, so much better than their last two albums it’s not even funny, the production is brilliant and generally speaking the whole album is well written and entertaining. Well worth checking out if you can take the occasional vocal weirdness. There’s also a lot of use of mandolins and other traditional instruments here, all of which fit in nicely. Altogether a brilliant album.

Japan's Culture

He won!

Obama Wins! Image from CNN

If you’ve been following my Twitter you’ll know how interested I was in this election. More than our own vote here in the UK. The US president has the power to change the world and there is nobody more deserving of that power than Obama. So everyone just settle down and prepare to enjoy at least four great years, when America can repair it’s relations with Europe, Asia and the rest of the world, and we can really move forward.

In short, WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBAMA!!!!!

Here’s a bonus: His amazing acceptance speech in Chicago.

General