AQUA TIMEZ <つぼみ> (Tsubomi) review.

1. Tsubomi
2. Heikou Sekai
3. Isshun No Chiri (Kawasaki Electro Academy Mix)
4. Tsubomi Instrumental)

Aqua Timez are a band best known for their opening songs for Bleach, but they also make great music outside of the anime domain, which is why I am surprised that when Japanese music fans list their favourite bands, Aqua Timez is seldom one of them. Some people would say they are repetitive, given that their formula for songs are strong inspiring lyrics, pianos, funky guitar and a strong bass. However Aqua Timez is far from being repetitive, and each song by them has it's own character. Their two most recent singles, 'MASK' and 'Tsubomi' prove Aqua Timez are still very much in the game, and have set the standard high for their new album, out in September.

Whilst 'MASK' saw a heavier Aqua Timez enter 2012, 'Tsubomi' is a back to basics song, and is similar in sound to arguably their one of most famous song, 'Niji'. It's hard to describe what the 'Aqua Timez sound' is, but in a nutshell it involves a catchy, epic chorus, 'half-rapped' vocals,and short, snappy verse/pre choruses.
Easily the stand out feature of the title track are the lyrics. They are incredibly inspiring, both in meaning and the way Futoshi, the vocalist, can say what he wants without being all mysterious and using long Japanese words that I've never heard of or use in normal day-to-day life. But this song does not sound like a rehash of 'Niji'. It has the stronger guitars and drums that 'MASK' had, and the one of the only disappointing thing about this single as a whole is the lack of a strong bass, as their bassist, OKP-Star, is easily one of my top 5 bassists.

The song that really impressed me was the B-side 'Heikou Sekai'. The opening riff throws you off balance, and I thought the song would be a slow song by Aqua Timez which would develop into a strong, distorted chorus (like the song 'One'). I was wrong, and the song is a mid-paced rock song with a BEAUTIFUL pre chorus. The song changes key at the pre chorus, but the way Futoshi harmonizes his vocals created an image in my mind of the sun breaking through storm clouds. His voice is very smooth and calming and sent shivers down me. I would really like them to experiment with this sound more, as it works very well for them.

The third B-side stumped me. It's a remix of a one of their songs which has an immense opening, 'Isshun No Chiri'. This remix is so distant and gravelly in sound that at first I thought maybe the disc had scratched when I had tried to upload it into my computer. You can't hear the lyrics, the music or anything really. It's probably similar in sound to chalk scraped onto a blackboard, which is a shame, as this remix prevents the single being an easy 10/10.

9/10

Killer Evil Stigma Bass Review

So I recently got my third bass, a bass made by a Japanese-only company 'Killer'. I had to get it imported.

This bass is very nice, as I wanted a Les Paul style bass. It's a passive bass, a first for me, and it's very basic in terms of controls with a volume knob, a tone knob and a pickup selector. The body design is a sort of camouflage grey and its interesting to have a pattern for a bass design.

It sounds ace, and the neck is actually quite narrow in width. It's very easy to get around the neck, and it's perfectly rounded for my small hands. I tried playing it with a pick, fingerstyle and slap, and all three styles work great with the bass.

The only problem I have with this bass is that it's neck heavy. All this simply means to me is that I have to have the bass higher up, more so than my other two, so I'm not used to playing a bass this high.
I still need to play around with the bass some more to decide whether it'll replace my white Ibanez as my main bass.

I'm missing the Green Day gig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(((((((

GAWWD. I only found out today that Green Day are playing in London this week (23/08)! It's way too short notice for me...

I'm still kicking myself as to how I didn't realise that the first band I properly got into were playing! They really got me into the notion of bands: I own all their albums, play them daily on the guitar and bass..... GAWWD!

They were also my first ever gig, back in 2010 at Wembley. That was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. And now I'm missing this gig, where they'll be playing NEW SONGS!! I'm really hoping for there to be like a second leg of this tour and they come back!!

I'm off to cry now...

ESP RELEASE NEW DIR EN GREY SIGNATURE MODELS

Now forgive me if these instruments have already been out for some time. I just decided on a whim to check out ESP Japan's website and, BAM, there they were, DIR EN GREY's new instruments available for us mere mortals to buy.

For those that don't know (probably most of you), Toshiya is my all time favourite bassist, and a huge inspiration to me: my whole bass playing style is based off of his! I can't even begin to describe how I felt when I saw Toshiya's 5 string bass on the ESP website... I think I yelped...

This bass is just beautiful, but also slightly pricey. I'm hoping for either a cheaper version to come out, or I'll save up over a few years (4000£!!) to buy the proper ESP model.

The three new guitars, Kaoru's 7 string, Die's 6 string and 7 string are also gems. Kaoru is my favourite of the two guitarists, but I prefer the design of Die's guitars more, that kind of 'metal-telecaster' look. As much as I would like to get these guitars, all my attention is on the BASS.

This, and the announcement of a new DIR EN GREY single, has made my year.

I better start saving up...

The Shy Bassist

Alright so it turns out that my band is playing our first headline gig in Camden. This will be our 5th gig. The two guitarists and the drummer are brilliant on stage. When they don't move around, it's usually because they're playing complicated stuff.

However...

I am a 'stare-at-the-feet' bassist, and it's starting to bug me and my bandmates. They want me to move around more (I will if there's a big stage, I'm just not much of a headbanger). My bandmates understand that what I play is hard and not just root notes, but to the crowd, they just see me as a 'boring' member of the band :(

What will I do??????

RADWIMPS <シュピレヒコール> (sprechchor) Review.

1. Sprechchor
2. Dokuhaku
3. 22:20:12:5:14:2012

This is another band that I love. They are just a perfect band: great lyrics, singing, guitar, bass and drums.
I really like Radwimps 3 and 4 (the albums), but Altocolony or zetai zetsumei didn't cut it for me (don't get me wrong, they were still great, just not their greatest). Their single 'hakujitsu', which they released earlier this year was also a disappointment for me, and it sounded way too much like Flumpool. So when I heard the announcement of this single, I wasn't that excited.

The main track, the title track includes all the usual characteristics of a Radwimps song: a repetitive guitar riff, soothing and catchy vocals by Noda, and a strong rhythm section. It all explodes early on in the song, but it's nothing impressive. If this was on album, I probably wouldn't consider it a single. It's simply an average song (for Radwimps) and towards the end, it gets slightly boring. Hopefully, this song will grow on me as I listen to it more, it just didn't have that 'first-listen-blow-away' effect that songs like 'dada' and 'magic mirror' had.

The second track, 'Dokuhaku', just baffles me. It's an 8 minute long track, but it's Noda speaking over music. Now, knowing Radwimps, the 'lyrics' are probably very meaningful and resonating. However 8 minutes of listening to someone speak isn't really my cup of tea, and I've only listened to it the whole way through once.

Surprisingly the track I enjoyed most was the instrumental, '22:20:12:5:14:2012'. It's a refreshing listen, and it's back to rock for Radwimps. It's got some particularly nice guitar work in it.

Sorry this is such a short review, I've only listened to the single about 4 times.

Rating: 6/10

DIR EN GREY NEW SINGLE "RINKAKU" ANNOUNCEMENT

Right, so fans of this band will probably know that there's been a countdown on Dir En Grey's website. Well, today it hit 0 and it's the ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW SINGLE. As you can see (well, read), I am INCREDIBLY excited and this is the best piece of news this year so far. They are and will be my favourite band for ever and I can't wait to hear their new style.

As much as I love their deathcore-esque music, I really hope they don't just go heavier in this new single, which has been happening really since WTD. I'm really curious as to how Kyo's voice will sound after his problem, and whether the others will keep the same style and instruments from Dum Spiro Spero.

For those curious, 'Rinkaku' means 'outlines' in English, but knowing Dir En Grey, it's probably got a different meaning.