take a look at this translation of the reasons for Ryouhei leaving Ayabie and the feelings of his fellow bandmembers about that. I think it's pretty sad (T_T)

Ohhh NOOO Ryouhei is leaving Ayabie. That means I saw them with that line up for the last time!!! And Ryouhei was the leader of the band, too, what going on???
Reasons for this decision will be given at their last live at Shibuya AX....to bad I can't be there.

Oh well, you know, when I am hooked on something I go nuts, so since my newest want-to-have-everything-of-them-band is AFI I did as I always do. I ordered CD's and most of them came today. Stuffed carelessly into my letterbox by the postman whom I have to kill for doing so!!! What if somebody stole them???? GRARRRR
Well anyhow, here we go:

AFI - Answer that and stay fashionable (1993/1995)

AFI - Very Proud Of Ya (1996)

AFI - Black Sails in the Sunset (1999)

AFI - The Art Of Drowning (2000)

AFI - Sing the Sorrow (2003)

AFI - a nitro perspective (2004)

AFI - Decemberounderground (2006)

This reminds me of something a good friend of mine once said: Aki just collects differently (^_^)

Some good news just reached me (Thank you Tai for telling me). Penicillin Nano will torture our wallets in August. They are releasing 7 singles, each in two versions, with or without DVD (guess which ones I'm getting *GGG*) and an yet untitled album in two versions, one is coming with a DVD for about 3360 Yen and one with a book for 3150 Yen.
The release dates are the following:

August 1: Garakuta no Maria
August 2: Sakura Moyou
August 3: Shine
August 4: daring
August 5: I believe
August 6: Cinderella
August 7: War Dance

August 18: Album

seems as if August is going to be very expensive (-_-#)) but who knows if their stuff is good? is the live in the US before that? That would be awesome, because people would know if it's worth spending 200-300 Euro on that stuff

Uhh here some more news for J-Rock lovers (^_^)
Here we go.

Ayabie are releasing a DVD of their live tour Tsuki no kakera furisosogu on 24.5. and it will cost about 5775 ¥. Now that is cool, another Ayabie DVD and they spit it out before the live (^_^)

And now some news about Penicillin. Hakuei and Chisato will start a new project. They will remix some old songs of Penicillin and are planning on composing some new ones as well. The new Projects name will be Penicillin nano. They are probably taking part in the Stylish Wave Circuit '06 in Shibuya's O-West on May 30th. That is darn cool. I wish I could be there. Would be fun to watch that new project launch. But hey. can't have everything, right (^_^) I wish them luck, as always.

Well even though my real mood doesn't fit with the title, please just ignore it! The J-Music machinery is starting to get rolling in Europe. Not only is the German label Gan-shin releasing Phantasmagoria, 12012 and Vidoll stuff, but also the band Ayabie will give a live in Germany this summer.

I don't care about the Phantasmagoria and 12012 releases, cuz I got the Japanese Orginals of mostly everything that has ever been released by them already, but I'm happy about Vidoll, cuz Vidoll's stuff is sold out mostly everywhere, hence hard to get a hand on, so yay for German Vidoll releases (^_^)

Regarding the Ayabie live, I hope I'm still in Germany when it takes place, cuz I would love to see if their live concept works in Germany, too. Ayabie is one of those bands who's live performance make you move a lot. They have like a zillion hand daces and I just can't imagine an Ayabie live without spinning around every god darn second of it \(^_^)/ They are the masters of crowd control (^_^)
It might also be interesting to hear people's reviews on that live who've never been to an Ayabie live before, cuz they don't know what they are like in Japan and might have a complete new outlook on the whole thing. I might be very sad if they would leave out the hand dances, and might not like the lives in Germany as much as I LOVE them in Japan. But we will see (^_^)

Well it is a new month, so I decided to do some CD shopping (^_^)
Here we go, todays order includes:

Bullet For My Valentines new album The Poison. A good friend got me into them and I have to admit that I like them a lot (^_^)

The current order all under the sign of Alice Nine, cuz I love them (^_^) Of course I needed their Alice In Wonder Film DVD

and their Kowloon -Nine Heads Rodeo Show- Type-A single

and their Fantasy Type-A single

and their Akatsuki Ikuoku no Chandelier DVD version single

I also was in the need for some heavier stuff, so I ordered 12012's play dolls [Type A / CD+DVD]

and Mucc's Houyoku even though it is supposed to be a little more chilled (^_^)

just for the sake of it I ordered Gazette's new Album Nil, too

last but not least, since I had a lot of fun with this band, I simply needed their last live
Shulla's last live DVD: The Grand Finale

Since some of these item's are futur releases I will have to wait till I come back from Barcelona, but that is okay I guess (^_^)

I have to warn you! All of you out there who love FF AC, cuz this soundtrack will make you cry the second you listen to it. I loved the music already, when I was watching the movie, but now listening to the music only and having my own thoughts running through my brains those songs are just to die for beautifully arranged and skillfully played. Very nice and powerful compositions, that make shivers running down your spine. The perfect CD for dreaming and creating mind movies of a special depressing kind. Now you might wonder why one would like to do that, but I am one of those who create their own world in mind and that world is not at all a happy one, cuz I'm way to realistic for that. All the tragedy that makes people like me cry when watching FF AC makes me cry when I listen to those songs.
"The Promised Land" just kills you with it's tragedy. It made me spontaneously cry. "Tifa no Teemu" (Tifa's Theme) is a very nice and light Piano piece...not very difficult, but just nice. The composer obviously wasn't Chopin, but he was good enough to put some emotions into his work. But there are more skilled piano pieces on there (^_^) Some that actually use really good techniques.
"Black Water" is a bit dull in (at?) the beginning. But it's quite powerful and I like it. That's all that matters (^_^) Of course I like "Battle in the forgotten City" and "Violator" because those are just a cool songs.
I love the nerve wracking piano tunes that are used to make you slightly uneasy and alert as if something will happen any moment. Really good and it works on me (^_^) I also like the choir voices, not only cuz I used to sing in a choir for a couple of years! Which makes me love "Devinity I" and "Devinity II".
The soundtrack itself is a nice mixture of nicely composed half opera stuff, piano works and experimental guitar compositions. Don't forget that this a soundtrack, therefore there are a lot of songs on there that just ain't complete compositions but seem more to be fragments. If you don't mind that you will love this soundtrack.

Besides that...for those Kadaj and Cloud lovers out there...the cover is gonna make you drool and cry at the same time.

Track list:
1. Star Baby
2. rip roll soil
3. raison d'etre
4. when the saints go marching in
5. asthenia bullet stain
6. additional cause for sorrow
7. follow the night light
8. fragile sandy
9. dim quiet
10. grand ground
11. this day.this rain

extra:
follow the night light (DVD)

I have to say this album is great. It's a very melodic piece of art that just doesn't let me go anymore. I love the rhythm a lot and just really get into Mako's really nice voice. It is a lovely deep voice that at some times has a nice scratchy tone. Just love it (^_^)
If you are looking for a album to head bang a long this one isn't for you, but if you are looking for a solid piece of music, go for it (^_^)
The first three songs just caught my attention right away and I can't stop listening to them.
In "fragile sandy" uses a slightly whiny voice but still nice to listen, to.
The album might be a bit dull cuz it really is a very easy going one, but if you are just going for some easy listening that doesn't make you jump off the couch at some sequences you will love this album. I for sure do. I know I'm not a music critic and am for sure not qualified to give a professional review, but this site is about my likes and dislikes and not about analyzing everything to death (^_^)
It's a bit lalalala at some times, but hey, I never listened to a perfect album before in my life. It still is worth it's money!
It for sure makes me look forward to the live even more (^^)

So finally Germany is having their own releases for J-Rock CD's by Gan-Shin. This actually means that you get a version that doesn't cost as much as the Japanese ones.
But they do indeed get released a lot later than in Japan, which is a minus, but if you can wait and don't want all the extra stuff you sometimes get when buying that stuff directly in Japan, you should buy your CD's in Germany.

D’espairsRay – Coll:set will be released on 13.1.2006 and Mucc's new album will be released on 27.1.2006

If you order them till 31.12.2005 at Neo Tokyo they will deliver it on the release date.