In an attempt to bring out my post count, I've resorted to pushing my music tastes onto you kind readers, who already have to put up with the usual stuff I throw at you. Because everyone likes being told what they should be listening to, right? Right? No? Hah! Try stop me!

But don't try too hard. Please.

This week's/month's/year's/whenever's edition of Audio Visual is themed: Lovely Lives

Chatmonchy ft. Aoi Yuu -- Bus Romance


Aoi Yuu is definitely a much better actress than she is a pianist. I'm not sure why she's jamming with Chatmonchy -- I'm thinking they were guests on the same show and the producers thought it'd be fun or something. In any case, it's still a great performance overall, and very different from the original song. A wonderful, mellow love song, and the acoustic arrangement lets Eriko's childlike yet compelling voice shine.



Onitsuka Chihiro -- Ii Hi Tabidachi Nishi e


One of my favourite songs from Onitsuka-san; I fervently rejoiced when this performance appeared in her live DVD Nine Dirts and Snow White Flickers (no, I don't know what that means, either). This song is actually a cover of a Japanese classic. Onitsuka re-wrote most of the lyrics. I remember checking the original song and deciding that I preferred Onitsuka's version. It's a moving song about being on a journey, and the lyrics and the music capture that feeling nicely. Although with Onitsuka's influence it sounds less fun and whimsical and more melancholic...Not that I'm complaining. Nope. Personally, I think Onitsuka's songs work better when they're at least borderline depressing...

The arrangement here is gorgeous; a piano, a string quartet, and Onitsuka's voice. I don't think she sounds as powerful as she used to (throat surgery and a bout of depression probably took its toll). But she still sounds wonderful.


Malice Mizer -- Bel Air ~ Kohaku Toki no naka de


A bit of classic Visual Kei. This is one of the songs that got me hooked on the genre (I still prefer old school VK to the more contemporary stuff). Malice Mizer also ruined Gackt for me; I used to like him until the thought that he sounded a lot better with the band behind him kept plaguing me...

If you're determined to hate Visual Kei, I doubt it'd move you to change your mind; this is Visual Kei at its...Visual Kei-est. But if you're already into it...What's not to love about this song? Gackt's amazing (and amazingly dramatic), the band's wonderful -- Mana and Kozi's harmonizing guitarwork is particularly awesome. Even live, there's not a single note missed -- I've heard band leader Mana would never accept anything less.

And of course, the costumes...Beats jeans and T-shirts.



Kalafina -- Red Moon


What? I couldn't resist.

This is one of their best songs, in my opinion It's an album-only track, and might not have received as much attention as it deserved. This is how I like Kalafina best; dark and powerful. It's a heavy gothic-y rock number (thimk Kajiura doing symphonic metal). The ladies sound amazing here. I am absolutely enamoured of the chorus; when the lead vocals switch from Hikaru to Wakana it smoothly segues from forbidding to melodic and mournful, with Keiko maintaining the harmony the whole time. It's...just wonderful.

That's all I've got for now, folks. The next edition of Audio Visual will be available...not too far in the future, I hope. Sorry, no one's making me keep a deadline or anything...

Aaaa only a few hours to the Madoka broadcast. I may have to steer clear my usual Internet haunts until the subs are out due to a mortal fear of spoilers.

In the meantime...Another update on Random Things That Interest Me

The announcement regarding the new Rurouni Kenshin anime has me very excited. I'm now trying to remain merely cautiously optimistic, even if I did explode into a fit of unrestrained yelling upon first reading about the news...There hasn't been any solid details yet thus far -- it's still unclear whether it'll be a remake, a continuation of the previous anime series, or just an OVA. Whatever it is -- please, please, please let the Jinchuu arc be animated.


My OTP needs their animated happy ending.

In music news, Onisuka Chihiro's new single, Aoi Tori, and album, Ken to Kaede, were recently released. I want the album, but I think I'm going to have to wait a month before I can afford it. In the meantime, there's the PV for Aoi Tori to enjoy:



One good thing about Onitsuka switching labels is that the PVs For Life Music posts are of actually watchable quality...

I really like it. It's a lovely, stirring folk-rock song, and Onitsuka-san sounds beautiful as always. I love her power ballads, but I also think it's great that she's moving away from her usual sound.

I randomly checked out the indies Oricon chart, and was surprised to find Aldious at no. 1. Mostly because I didn't realize they had the single out -- why they're number one isn't so hard to figure out.



I've been trying to keep up with them, -- their debut single was pretty good -- but the stuff that came after didn't really impress me. Maybe I'll give them another shot -- this song is pretty okay.

On the pop charts, B'z has the number one single, which is about as surprising as the revelation that the sun rises in the east.

For anyone who's waiting for the next Madoka summary (are there any of you?) I apologize -- it's been a busy week. I'll include my thoughts for episode 7 when I do my write-up for episode 8.

For now, here's some sporadic coverage on J-music, which includes only stuff that I'm interested in because I am egocentric like that:



Pop duo angela, who've churned out some amazing songs for Soukyuu no Fafner, Stellvia of the Universe and Asura Cryin', will be in Singapore for Jplex, along with FLOW (who did OPs for Code Geass). I've gone and blown SGD98 (I am so broke now) for tickets to angela's live, and I really hope it'll be worth it, although the 70 minutes performance time sounds a bit short. But it includes a meet-and-greet session, so that'll sweeten the deal a bit. They were amazing when I saw them at Anime Festival Asia, and I'm counting on them to deliver once again.




Onitsuka Chihiro's announced a new single (Aoi Tori) and album (Ken to Kaede) for release on the 6th and 20th of April respectively. Something to look forward to, certainly -- she's an amazing singer and songwriter, and one of few solo J-pop singers I truly admire. She's also releasing an autobiography on the same day as the album release. I would be very interested in reading that, although I doubt it'd get translated. I can't help wondering about the woman behind those beautiful, painful songs, with their depressing outlook on love. And from what I've picked up she's seen some really rough days, especially during her hiatus. And just last year she was the victim of an assault, by a guy she was dating, no less. Ouch.

She also seems to have switched record labels again, from Universal to For Life Music Entertainment...well, as long as it won't impede her ability to put out great music, what label she's with shouldn't matter.



Versailles Philharmonic Quintet's (or just Versailles) new PV Philia came out a few days back. The single for the song itself will be out only on March 15.

It's...a decent song, I suppose. Listenable enough, but I'm not terribly impressed. Might grow on me. It actually sounds more like something I'd expect from Galneryus, more straight-up metal rather than romantic visual rock. But we get the usual guitar harmony between Hizaki and Teru, and I am always a sucker for dual harmonizing guitars.

Loving the black costumes, though. I don't usually pay much attention to costumes (pretty weird for a Visual Kei fan) other than to appreciate the fact that they're in something more interesting to look at than T-shirts and jeans. But those black outfits caught my eye -- they're pretty low-key, by Versailles's standards, but sleek and classy.


He's been around too long to be a young man. But he still looks pretty hot


I can only dream of looking as cute in that dress. Damn, Hizaki

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'll try to get that Madoka entry up within the next couple of days. Stay tuned!