十神 – Envy
It may not be immediately obvious on this blog, but the truth is I listen to a lot of music. Currently that's mostly Japanese, but I don't feel I've exhausted the scene yet either. I have noticed the disturbing trend however, of fans to only listen to what's easily available or previewable via sites like Youtube. Because of this, there's even a such thing as "mainstream indies bands". That is, indie bands that are popular with nearly everyone in the fandom.
So, in an effort to correct this, I picked some stuff out of each of my folders and have decided to upload them. Each one is far from popular among the regulars, but of course, all are good. There's some good stuff out there, under rocks.
First, from the folder, Visual Indie, we have 十神, or Tokami. I've uploaded their album, the Brand-New Darkness, because they've recently changed vocalists. They have a surprising amount of material out for a band that's only been around for 2 years. A lot of that, however, was demos. They're just now getting in the groove of releasing more. They're kind of a dark rock band, sounding surprisingly like new gen Nagoya. I'd compare them a bit to the recently broken-up Gemmik
And, from the folder, Nagoya, one of my biggest folders, and thus was hard to choose, but I chose an old band, La'Mule. I've recently been into the old stuff, and it's interesting to hear the influences on 2nd and current gen sound. Also, vocalists were quite a bit better in those days, and La'Mule is no exception. The vocalist, Kon, had a pleasant, lower voice, with just the right amount of raspyness for their sound, which was dark rock. He's currently in the non-visual band, Red Carpet. I've uploaded their last single, Berlin. They disbanded in 2003.
From my biggest folder, Eroguro/Angura, comes a sample of the band, 駄菓子菓子, or Dagashi Kashi. They are essentially the lesser-known version of Inugami Circus-dan, which is saying something, because I don't think a lot of people know ICD either. However, their sound is a bit different. Their vocalist is female, and the way she sings CAN be an acquired taste, just because she will often singing in a purposely annoying little girl voice, but when she actually sings seriously, her voice is pleasant and on the lower side. Their music is less surf-happy than ICD also. More closely resembling older MUCC, darker and deeper overall. What I've uploaded is four songs from their album Botai nai sekai.
Next from the folder, Jrock, I have a maxi-single from the band
Nil. They are a non-visual band, and I've included them because
they're one of Aie's favorite bands, and recently have become one of
mine. Perhaps not many people know this, but the vocalist and
guitarist of this band is actually Tetsu, formerly of the rather famous
(and incredibly overrated) Malice Mizer. Their sound encompasses a lot
of different things, from folk, to jazz, to surf, to grunge, and a lot
in between. Tetsu's voice is a little bit of an acquired taste, but
the music is superb. The songs are often quite long and include a lot
of vocal-less jamming, which I love like nothing else. If you've ever
heard Blankey Jet City, they are similar, but a little harder rock. Down to Dawn.
Finally, I have something from my Jpop folder. Yes, I do enjoy Jpop, infrequently, but in large doses. Anyway, this is a new band called Pistol Valve. They're an all-girl pop, rock, ska band. Though, they're very jazzy, with less of that chintzyness I tend to associate with ska. Their new album, RATATATTAT! was simply awesome, and I recommend it highly. It has some truly awesome songs on it. If you like jazz, especially, it will be right up your alley. I've uploaded again, four songs from that album to sample.
