Wasted Green Festival

[LIVE] the band apart - I love you Wasted junks & Greens

Yeah, I know it's nothing new from the band apart. In fact, this'll be the first time I post a footage from a live performance rather than a PV on this blog. It's been a little difficult to find new things to post here lately. Also, it's about that time where video from the performances at ROCK IN JAPAN FES. 2009 start popping up. This includes Fujifabric and awesome footage from POLYSICS.

One of the reasons why it might be harder for me to post new things is that I just recently started writing for SparkPlugged. I will admit it is nice writing for a website again, especially in a way that is pretty similar to what I do here. Hopefully, if everything works out, I'll be able to write for them on a regular basis. You can find my first two articles for SparkPlugged here and here.

Not a whole lot has been going on besides that. Still working on my JET application and still considering my backup options in case that doesn't work out. Mostly likely will end up applying to a few law schools to satisfy the parents. School is definitely starting to become a pain in the ass though as midterms are starting to rack up. I have three of them coming up this week with more projects/papers on the way. I really can't wait until school and all its related stuff is over.

-REG

Rodeo Clown

[PV] Suneohair - Rodeo

The latest single from the solo artist Suneohair. I haven't really been a fan of his last few singles and his last album "Birthday" was mediocre. But, even though the video is very simple, the song has a solid main guitar riff and could indicate a more-than welcome return towards the better material in "Kanashimi" and "Skirt". Speaking of better material, Suneohair recently released a best-of album in celebration of his 10th anniversary as an artist. It is simply called "Best".

It is kind of funny how relationships can get complicated all of a sudden. Although, I will have to admit that I instigated a lot of that complication, it's been kind of a rough patch for me and Michelle lately. We have been able to talk it out thankfully and things are looking up. Really just got to keep your chin up when you're in long-term long-distance relationships.

Anyways, in other news, the band is still coming along nicely. We are currently working on three songs and still deciding things. But, I'm looking forward to the future. Also, as an aside, I might restart my career in music journalism as I've been exploring the possibility of writing for the website SparkPlugged. SparkPlugged's editor-in-chief Shay has been kind enough to let me join their squad over there and I'm looking forward to contributing what I can to their site.

Here's looking forward to the future. (Oh shoot, JET applications start next week.)

-REG

Buffalo Trance

[PV] a flood of circle - Buffalo Dance

The single off "BUFFALO SOUL", which was the first major album release by the alternative rock band a flood of circle. The band claims influences from blues and 70's hard rock, but, as you can hear, it's been really pop-ized, so to speak. "BUFFALO SOUL" does have some other decent songs on it, and, if you really like bands along the same lines as NICO Touches the Walls, it is a pretty good pick-up. My main problem with it is that I just can't stand it when bands decide to fill half of their album with utterly bland and practically interchangeable pop ballads that offer nothing memorable out of them. I understand that this might be due to their relatively recent signing to major label Victor Entertainment, but it ultimately takes away a lot of the enjoyment I could have had with the album.

For some reason, as I am contemplating over it now, it is difficult to place how the past week has been going. Lots of stuff has been going on, I suppose. Progress on the band is being made. We added another member and are currently working on hammering out the three songs that we've been practicing. Also thinking of band names, new songs to learn, and other logistical issues, but, again, progress is being made. Also made a little visit to the school Career Fair. Kind of turned out to be sort of a waste of time, but still got to talk to JET people, which was nice. Gonna be fun when I get to start the application process on that. Also gonna be fun when all my mid-terms start rolling around in the next few weeks. Enough fun to make my head explode just thinking about it.

-REG

Rainy Vision

[PV] the pillows - Ameagari ni Mita Maboroshi

Latest single from the pillows. Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I wasn't really planning on posting this video. In comparison to the other 20th anniversary song "1989" that was also released not too too long ago, it makes out for a pretty uninspiring single in my honest opinion. But, being the pillows fan that I am, what the hell, today is the 20th anniversary of the pillows and it's going up. I really can't wait to hear how their Budokan performance went.

This is gonna be a short one. I've been having a lot of free time on my hands. Been trying to make progress on a number of things like the band, JET, and study abroad credit. But, it's been pretty slow going. I have a feeling that these long drags where I don't have much to do are going to be frequent during my last semester. Most of my classes are made up of mid-terms and finals, and do not have much work outside of that. So, there's probably going to be a few days where mid-terms are coming up and I'm going "What did you get yourself into" in my head. But, until then, I'll just have to keep working on stuff. Or let boredom sit in. Hopefully, it won't be the latter.

-REG

Hollow Days

[PV] UNDER THE COUNTER - Hollow Work

UNDER THE COUNTER's latest single off their recently released album "DON'T LOOK BACK" is a pretty good example of what can sometimes happen when a band gets signed onto a major label. The band signed to Universal Japan last year and it immediately had an effect on their sound. As you might notice if you compare this song with previous UTC singles like "Misora" or "No Therapy", you can immediately tell that the sound has drifted to a more touchy-feely pop ballad sound that depends way too much on keyboards and acoustic guitars for a band that used to be a straight-out alternative rock band. Now, the newest album isn't all that bad. They do have some solid songs like "Kimi, Shinkyuu Fur Coat Nakare" and "Leave me alone!!" But, I can't say I approve of the way Universal is handling the band.

Well, as for me, school has started. My schedule seems incredibly lax so far. I'm sure that'll change in a few weeks. But, for now, it's actually kind of boring. Of course, there are a couple other things I need to get done like moving forward on getting credit for my study abroad classes. Slacking on that like usual though. Hoping to get some progress on that today, but we'll have to see how that goes.

Another thing that I want to get progress on is starting a band back up. For those who didn't know, I was in a band called Super Going! during my junior year. It was pretty fun and we got to perform a bunch of times. I kind of miss that, so I'm kind of hoping to start that back up again. Again, we'll have to see how that goes.

-REG

R.O.C.K.ing it all OUT

[PV] iLL - R.O.C.K.

iLL is the solo project of ex-SUPERCAR vocalist/guitarist Koji Nakamura. He recently released a new album called "Force" and this is the single for that album. The video is quite provocative and definitely NSFW for those who haven't seen it. But, the music itself on the other hand is quite approachable considering Nakamura's work in the past. Very reminiscent of SUPERCAR except with a higher focus on straight-out guitar rock and not as much electronica elements as those found in later SUPERCAR releases.

I have to say I'm starting to find myself getting used to being back at school, even though classes haven't really kicked into gear yet. Even when I say that though, I can't help but have that thought in the back of my head telling me how weird this is. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that this is my last semester in college or whether it is because I spent the last semester in Japan. But, regardless, I have a feeling that this strange feeling won't ever go away. Sure, it already has started to regress, but it hasn't completely disappeared. Here I am, starting to ramble. But, onto more.

My class schedule should be pretty manageable this semester. I'm only taking 4 classes and only 2 classes per day. My earliest class is a 9:00 class on Tuesdays and Fridays and my latest class ends at 3:00. So, you may wonder, as I was earlier, what the hell am I going to during all that free time. I really don't feel like picking up shifts at the library again. For one, they booted me off the deskworker mailing list again. I have a feeling that Karla thinks that I graduated...again. Or perhaps its their little way of telling me they don't want me back. But, anyways, I'm probably going to look around and see what's available. Plus, I realized that there is something that is probably going to take up a lot of my time. (Once I start focusing on it that is.) That would be the taking of all those standardized tests (LSAT, GRE) and figuring out grad school/law school applications. There is also the concern of making sure I get all the credits I need in order to graduate on time. There is also applying for JET. (And other related programs on the off chance I don't get into JET.) There is finally also the whole finding a job in between when I graduate and when whatever I get myself into starts.

tl:dr, I'm just starting to realize how much "fun" I'm going to have this semester. Until then though, I'm just going to kick back, try to relax, maybe do some homework, and watch some "Inglorious Basterds" with my awesome suitemates.

-REG

A Return to Morals

[PV] Lillies and Remains - Moralist S.S.

The video itself is more than a year old, but the song was released not too long ago on Lillies and Remains' album "part of grace". "Moralist S.S." is a pretty good demonstration of the style that Lillies and Remains is able to develop by adding elements of post-punk twin-guitars in the base tone of gothic rock, thereby separating themselves a bit from other bands in that genre and creating quite an interesting sound for some people.

So, yeah, this might end up getting edited later, but I've moved back to school. Definitely weird as a lot of the people I'm used to seeing when I get back have already graduated and are practically unreachable. I'm going to miss the days when I could just take a short walk to visit those folks. Although I have to say I'm definitely looking forward to life in this suite. It's already decked out with a fairly sizable TV, XBox 360, Rock Band 2, Wii, DDR, a band room, and much more to come.

Overall, this should be a fun semester. At least I hope it will.

-REG