Welcome to my Review music journal. My name is sadOasis. I work for the online promotional sites J-Music Ignited and Skeleton Carnivale to help bands from Japan and other countries get known. This is my personal reviewing site that may include but not limited to my reviews of CD (albums, EP's, singles, loose mp3's, etc), DVDs (PVs), and concerts/live events. 

Reviews will also be posted with information about the aritst, links to official sites and even where you can acquire products by the aritst.

Music reviewing links:

Skeleton Carnivale
J-Music Ignited
Last.fm
Rate Your Music 

Band: Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet-
Venue: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA (Anime USA)
Date: 10.11.2008


My Rating
Sound Quality 7 - 10
Length 6 - 10
Overall Score - 7

Review

Versailles Philharmonic Quintet Returned to the states to perform in the East Coast for their "Sentiment of Genesis Tour 2008 Part II". Their first show was in the anime convention Anime USA in Arlington, Virginia. Due to sound check issues the concert was delayed for nearly 3 hours. DJ SiSen and his dance crew came out to perform for a short while to entertain the crowd while the band finish their make up.

Finally, the band was ready, and Roger (Tainted Reality) introduced Versailles Philharmonic Quintet to the anxious fans. Roaring with excitement, the crowd was beyond ready for the wonderful performance about to happen. As the song Prelude began to play, the band members came out and turned their back to the fans. Aristocrat's Symphony began and the members played their instruments with delight. Kamijo gave the front of the stage to Hizaki to display his amazing guitar skills. Teru soon followed. A camera man filmed the performance to be displayed in two giant screens on each side of the stage for the fans way in the back.

Once Zombie began playing, the fans went wild, singing along to Kamijo's voice during the chorus. History of the Other side was quite the long song, but he band mixed it up a bit, giving the spotlight for each member to be contemplated by fans. The fury and head banging really went while once Beast of Desire began. Hair shaking everywhere, and mesmerizing melody filled the giant room.

The band finished their set and walked off the stage. The fans screamed for an encore, and with much delight, the band returned. When After Cloudia began playing with Yuki's drum, someone was off beat, and Kamijo made a little joke saying "No, Yuki, no..." Everyone laughed, including the band. The Revenant song was chosen has their ending song, which was a great choice. Their first ever released song was performance beautifully by all the members and left the fans yearning for more and more. Once done, Kamijo wanted to introduce the members to the crowd before stepping off stage. Unfortunately, a few issues occurred with the mic sound, but Kamijo simply decided to laugh it off, which made the crowd love him even more. Yuki threw his drum sticks at the crowd, and Hizaki and the other boys bit farewell to their fans.

A quick signing session was held outside in the hallways. The few fortunate fans who bought their newly released photo book got to take a photo with the band as a gift of appreciated of support.

This being the first time I have seen the one of the favorite bands performed, and while the timing could have been better, I was left with a fantastic impression of the band, as one of the yearning fans who hope their return to the states soon to share with us their beautiful melody.

-Set List-

Prelude
Aristocrat's Symphony
Shout & Bite
Zombie
History of the Other side
Beast of Desire
The red carpet day

-Encore-
Cloudia
Sympathia
The Revenant Choir

Links

Versailles Official Site

Author: sadOasis (Joseph L)
Bands: BLOOD, GPKISM, SiSen, echostream.
Venue: Santos Party House, New York City
Date: Feb. 02, 2009

Review

Blood returned to New York City for a final show, bringing along acts by GPKISM and DJ SiSen, and echostream as opening act.

The show began very punctual, in a odd venue new to Jrock named Santos Party House. The place was quite big and so was the stage. The platform was hidden behind a huge blind that opened to each individual act.

First up was echostream. The looked very different from previous shows. Their outfits and make up different and darker from what I remember. Ryoko wore black make up around her eye and Tomo had a tight Gothic shit on. The played a few songs from their last album, "the duality of Courage", and held a very dark presence. Ryoko thanked everyone and wished a friend of the band Happy Birthday. People really seem to enjoy the show, and for their closing song they became very rough. In fact, Tony, their keyboardist, grab his tiny keyboard and smashed it against the floor and threw it to the crowd. It was definitely different.

After a few minutes of intervention and the venue putting reggae music between performances, GPKISM was introduced. Their performance began with the song Ultimatum, and it sounded a tad different from the single. Kiwamu's guitar overpowered the background melody, but still held well. GPK's vocals were nice and a tad silly. He kept improvising as the song went on. Next they played Sublimis, the album version. The flow of GPK's vocals goes much better, and K's guitars seemed to compliment it well. After the song GPK introduced himself and Kiwamu. Kiwamu then made a short comment. "glad to be back in New york" and "the Knitting factory is a shitty factory" was mainly it. Everyone laughed. Once Metempsykhosis began playing, GPK stated the song was dedicated to a friend of his that had passed away two years prior. Everyone looked at him quietly while he performed. They they turned to something a bit different, as he said, a bit "darker". Infernum began playing, and the crowd went wild. People rushed to the front as they shake their heads and dance to the beat of the "fallen angel".

After him, came some more reggae music, before DJ SiSen's set began. The curtain opened and his dancers began shaking their stuff. SiSen came out with his white extensions and tight outfit, making the crowd scream out loud. He came close to the floor kneeling down and shaking his butt to the public. He ran to the side to check his music while his dancers entertained the crowd. As always, before his set ended, he threw random candies and little toys to the crowd. A few times he held the wrapper in to teeth, taunting the crowd to reach out and grab it.

SiSen left the stage with his dancer, with more reggae music to please the crowd.

The last performers were finally presented by Tainted Reality's CEO, Roger Shackelford. It seems a bit sad, Blood being TR's first band in the states, but Roger kept everyone in an upbeat mood, finally introducing BLOOD. The whole band was not present, rather it was Kiwamu on guitar, GPK on keyboard and background vocals, and finally, Fu-ki came out last. Once they began, Fu-ki made great effort to get everyone move, jump and shout. He would constantly make the crowd wave their hands or tell them to shake their hips, which made him extremely silly, but was a win with the crowd. The began playing a few old songs, such as Funeral for Humanity, followed by a few newer ones, like chain. Kimuwa did his best entertain the crowd with is silly wave motions and guitar drifts. GPK sang along with Fu-ki, in Japanese, an interesting change. They finished their sets by playing the song Le Fin de Journey, also the title of the tour.

SiSen, Tomo and Roger came on stage. Blood began playing again, Kiwamu and GPK scream into the mic "die", Roger soon joined along with his death voice. Tomo played along with his guitar, SiSen and GPK were dancing, SiSen dance as if it was a techno song, while GPK just moved his hands. When Fu-ki came too close to the edge of the stage Roger pushed him into the crowd. The crowd loved it. GPK kept waving at the crowd, making heart shapes with his hands. Kiwamu couldn't help himself, and dove into the crowd. Everyone held hands and thanked the crowd. It seemed like endless screaming and praising, but the band promised to meet any and all fans in the back of the club to sign any merchandise they hand bought during the live.

This was quite the ending for BLOOD, definitely a fun concert that I everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. The crowd varied in age, from parents status to teens, all clapped for the bands. Great final show~


Darkest Labyrith (BLOOD, GPKISM label)

Thanks to Tainted Reality for making this tour possible.

Date: Jun. 15, 2008
Band: Ayabie
Location: Knitting Factory, New York

..My Rating..
Sound Quality - 7/10
Concert Length - 8/10
Performance - 8.5/10
Overall Score - 7.5/10


I was informed that one of my favorite Visual Kei bands would be performing in my area, so of course I would not miss that out. From what I've watched in several videos of Ayabie (lives and PVs) their energy is simple fantastic and overwhelming, I could not help to witness such fabulous performance with my own eyes. This was the band's 5th performance during their world Tour, and their first US tour ever, starting with New York City. Unlike most concerts I've attended in the knitting factory, I did not go in line early in the morning, but rather waited an hour or 2 before door opened. To my surprise, the line was immense! it nearly reached the far end of the block. I was happy that so many fans from the east coast had come to support the band. I ran into a friend that came from Long Island all by herself just to see the band.

About 5 o'clock on the dot doors opened, along with a someone I brought along, walked towards the top stage (suppose to be the bigger one in the venue >_>) A small merch table was set up in the room with the front bar. A few posters, photo sets, shirt, etc. Now, here was the only major thing I have to complain about this concert; the audience waited for over an hour before the band was finally ready. American VK fans are probably not the most patient crowd I've come across. I got over it, I think they did too. I was clueless who the opening band was. To my surprise there was none *lol* which was awesome! right to the main event~

The band began to come on stage, one by one with their usual entrance song, each member greeting the crowd and taking their instrument. The fans were ecstatic! Finally Aoi, the vocalist, came out and began the sensational show. So many smiles, so much yelling, though it would be safe to witness it all from the back (www) I will admit, I sang along a few times, Aoi was quite good at getting the crowd active, with his random dancing and hand movements. Everyone followed. It was so silly and funny. About half way through the show the members introduced themselves. Each one of them had their own silly attitude that made them unique and somewhat irresistible to the fans.

Even though I've been a fan of the band since their beginnings, I lost a bit of interest in them for a while. They did, however, played some of my favorite songs such as Hinata, Topaz, masquerade, and my latest and still favorite song CubicL/Rock. The band was received with a tremendous energy by the a room full of fans, probably one of the most crowded concerts in the venue I've attended yet.

After the show everyone ran towards the merch table. For fans that bought $30 or more in items received a ticket to later meet the band and get something signed. The band themselves were really nice and happy through the whole meet and greet. Overall I think this was a successful concert. Perhaps the waiting in the beginning could have been better, but the band performed fabulously and the fans got to go home with memories of fantastic concert. Hopefully Ayabie will return to us one day to give us another radiant show.



..Info Links..
Ayabie on J-Music Ignited

Artist: Kaya
Title: Carmilla
Format: CD single
Release Date: 10/31/2007
Price: 1575 yen



..My Rating..
Songs - 8.5/10
Length - 7.8/10
Song Quality- 7.5/10
Video Quality- 8/10
Overall Score - 7.7/10!


Carmilla is Kaya’s 4th single of his solo career. Usually it was Kalm (ex Velvet Eden) to provide the music for Kaya’s songs, but for certain reasons, he could not, so Kaya asked Hizaki (currently guitarist of Versailles) to help. While I am a huge fan of both artists, I feared the outcome of this collaboration, but after finally listening to it my mind was put at ease. The concept of the cover song was taken from the book by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla, written in the Victorian period about vampire and a certain love between 2 women. Here’s my review.
The song Carmilla certainly had an interesting blend of neo-classical/symphonic music, typical of Hizaki, combined with a dance mix which adds a nicely with Kaya’s strong manly voice. The start give the feeling of fog rolling in, slowly building up to this explosion of fantastic composition. The short violin strokes makes me like it even more. While the image of vampire held a strong sense in the book, love dealt little between the vampire character, something opposite to Kaya’s lyrics, but common in his work.

The B side of the single came with a remix and live version from one of the songs from Kaya’s first album. Silvery Dark (Queen’s ver.) is certainly an improvement from the original. I much prefer for a few reasons, mainly because the beginning starts slower and with a soft violin symphony. Because of this, the song is also much longer than the original. For a live track, it has really good quality, and while Kaya may forget a word or two while singing, it’s still great to hear his smooth voice take you in sadness.

First press of this release was sold out within 3 days in CDjapan, which shocked me. It contained a live video on Kugutsu, a song previously release on his mini album "Hyakki Yagyou". The program Quick Time Player is required to view the video. For Kaya’s first video, the viewing quality is not the best, but nicely arranged. The choreography is nothing short of amazing, and Kaya truly again shows what a powerful he has.

The CD booklet had a few really great pictures of Kaya in his Carmilla outfit, and while I believe this release could have done better with more content, it did fairly well. I have grown quite fond of it over time, and if you give it a good listen, and sure you will too.



Tracklisting
1. Carmilla
2. Silvery Dark (Queen’s Version)
(First Press extra) Live Music Video "Kugutsu"

..Info and shopping links...

Kaya's profile on Skeleton Carnivale
Play Asia
(CDjapan currently has this product sold out!)

Artist: Juka
Title: Luxurious
Release Date: 06/13/2007

..My Rating..
Sound Quality - 9/10
Length - 9/10
Songs - 8/10
Overall Score - 8/10!


Juka very first mini album can simply be said, it blew me away. This album has really made me a bigger Juka fan. His voice can really shine with the beautiful melodies provided by Hizaki and Kamijo, both extremely good composers. The booklet also contained many great pictures of him. We can certainly say he has greatly improved since his time in Moi dix Mois.
Baby Doll is a good starter song, Kamijo was in charge of the music for this one. When listening to this song theres a feeling of pure rock. The Choir before the chorus really adds to the mood.

Kakusei no Kikai has to be my favorite song of this album. Starts with a low symphony, steadily growing to a guitar... What really won me over was the Chorus. Juka sounds so wonderful, showing us truly how powerful and captivating his voice can be. When listening to this I really can’t help to sing along.

Brilliancy is a nice song, but not the best. I felt it needed a more clear sound, Hizaki’s guitar. Still, Juka’s voice is once again complimented by Hizaki’s melody.

Jewel`Todoku Kanai Omoi` is another of my favorite tracks. Very good beat, with a euphoric feel to it. From the beginning it really makes you want to dance. Kamijo did a really good job on this song, and Juka sings his heart out.

Avaresque is still a amazing song. A few second shorter than the single version, but Hizaki’s guitar solo still shines. The only minus is that the piano in the background can not be heard as clearly as the original.

This release was definitely a step up from his first single. Overall I consider this to be a great album, with great melodies. If you’re a fan of Juka, Kamijo or Hizaki, I highly recommend this.

..Tracklisting..
1. Baby Doll
2. Kakusei no Kikai
3. Brilliancy
4. Jewel ~Todoku Kanai Omoi~
5. Aravesque


..Links..
Juka's Profile on Skeleton Carnivale
(Product currently sold out!)