| NEWS |
- Kuroki Meisa Interview Translation by Erin -
- GK #146 is Now Available for Download. Feat L'Arc~en~Ciel + Chatmonchy -
- GK Records LIVE on uStream Thursday Feb 23rd at 19:30PST -
My Mom will finally be proud of me...
Wordsmith and super-nice human, Colette Bennett, was gracious enough to ask me for some thoughts on Japanese Drama and why us cool people love it. She took my uneducated ramblings and her literary sexiness and crafted a great article about why we love Japanese Drama as well as some of the best couples to ever grace your TV screens.
Check it out!:
Source: Excite
I think that I have to continually change and evolve
--Congratulations on the completion of your album. How are you feeling?
Meisa: I’m happy that I’ve gotten two albums done; 2011 was really busy. (bitter laugh) “MAGAZINE” was released at the beginning of the year, and right after that I went to Spain for filming [of “Andalucia Megami no Houfuku”], but before filming was completed I did photos for a drama [“Shiawase ni Narou Yo”], and I also went into another drama [“Jiu: Keishichou Tokushuhan Soukakei”]. Because of all that activity, I put everything I had into my shoots during first half of the year. But in the second half of the year, starting with my solo live preparation in about September, I focused solely on music and didn’t do anything with movies or dramas; I really concentrated on creating music.
4.5yrs, L'Arc~en~Ciel. This better not be crap!
146 - Several Times, Your Honor
L'Arc~en~Ciel - Butterfly
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
With only 3-4 new songs, depending on how you look at it, how could they screw it up? Hopefully they can't. I don't want to even think about that. Why would you ask such a question? Hey, you don't have to be rude about it. No, YOUR MOM IS! That's it, we're in a fight...
Who am I kidding? I can't stay mad at you. To make it up to you, I promise you we not only talk about L'Arc, but we also review Chatmonchy's first set of releases since their drummer quit, and get into a bit of a GK Roundtable segment where we talk about the possibilty of the Japanese News Media being a corrupt bunch of gold-diggers.
We didn't do the uStream this episode because we had to do it very early in the week to get ready for LoKi having company come visit and Jaylee to interview Akanishi Jin. Don't worry, we'll be back on Thursday at 19:30PST to record live and discuss all the coolness happening around the GK office.
But enough about me...how are you? NOTES!
Source: Excite
--It's been four years and three months since L'Arc's last original album. What were you thinking as you finally got to work on it?
hyde: I didn't really think anything except that it was just natural that we'd do an album. When we started work on it we'd already done a lot of singles, and it felt like we needed to get an album done soon. I mean, the song "BLESS" has been around since the "KISS" album, and when we did "DRINK IT DOWN" and "NEXUS 4" we were like, "Hey, these didn't ever make it onto an album, did they?" So we were finally able to pull them all together. To put it another way, it really moved us to have completed it. (laugh) But no more than half of the music is from the "current" L'Arc-en-Ciel, so the listener has a sense of our 20 years together.
I didn't even realize when we titled this episode that the album cover is an umbrella. That crazy Ayaka and her subliminal messages...
145 - Rainy Day Music
AYAKA - The beginning
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
Oh! Did you know this week marks GK's 3rd Year Anniversary?! HURRAY FOR US!!!
Aforementioned Ayaka returns from hiatus with a much-anticipated album, but is it everyone's cup of tea? Also, Korean Rock Band CNBlue, who started in Japan and then came back after officially debuting in Korea, give us their first #1 Oricon single to review. Finally a rock band from Korea who's not FTisland. I fear they're just as sucky though...
Next week, because of my (LoKi) family coming to visit, we will not be doing a uStream. In fact, we won't even be doing News and Charts because we'll be recoding hella early. Hopefully you'll download and listen, because we may have a little surprise to announce ^_^
Until then, notes were taken!
Source: Tower
Ayaka has finally returned. Although she’s taken a break from public acitivty for these past two years, that hasn’t extinguished the “fire of creativity.” Her self-produced album “The beginning” is a testament to that. With a title that predicts the opening of the second act of her career, it makes one wonder what emotions surround the music. We went to meet her immediately.
The words “The beginning” are meant to convey that I’m coming back to my starting point
--As expected, you catapulted to top artist status with your debut song “I believe.” You continued to advance steadily after that, and it was big news when you announced that you would cease activity. It’s been two years since then. It seems like perhaps you’ve taken that time to gather your strength for a take-off.
"I'm a good singer! I have great producers! I write my own lyrics! LOOK AT MY BOOBS AND HOW PROMISCUOUS I AM!!!"
144 - Japon-Askew
Koda Kumi - Japonesque
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
That's what I think an interview with Koda Kumi would be like. That saddens me. But her music does tend to speak for itself. How much so? Well, you'll need to take a listen to us speak about it to find out how much it speaks for itself. Speaking of speaking about stuff, I said "speaking" a lot didn't I? Guess what? We also speak about Tamaki Nami. You won't see it in this podcast, but she has GORGEOUS eyes!
uStream was as fun as ever. People seem to enjoy it. You should try it sometime!
NOOOOOTES!
Not since my parents' divorce have I been so happy to see a union fall apart.
143 - Jaylee Bon-Bon
Tokyo Jihen - Color Bar
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
Divorced parents made me who I am today (for the better. stop your snickering), and no more Tokyo Jihen saves me from sh!tty music. Jaylee and Zer0 love their crap, so have a listen as to what they thought about their swan-song album, since my feelings are so transparent.
OH WAIT YOU CAN'T because Zer0 pussed out on the episode to further her education with homework or some sh!t. See how much you guys mean to her? She'd rather highlight and fall asleep drooling on recycled paperbound textbooks than give you the time of day. Send her hate mail. Tell her I sent you ^_^v
I, on the other hand, love you all and am willing to accept any and all of your gifts at my feet as an alter. I don't ask for much. I do, however, ask that you guys please enjoy Jaylee's and My "Bro-full" episode as we wax intellectual on said Jihens from Tokyo as well as that kooky, questionably-sexy phenomenon named Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
And now, time for the notes. :)
BA-DUM TISH
142 - Rimshot!
EXILE - EXILE Japan
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
Hurray! It's time to review an EXILE album! /sarcasm. After this episode, I now think of EXILE as AKB48 with penises. Charming, aren't I? Which one is KojiHaru, I wonder...?
This is our final catch-up episode after the whole editor debacle, so we should be back on track after this week. Thank goodness we continue to have a strong faithfull following during the uStream recording. We could always use more, you know :)
Hey guess what? SiD still blows and are a shadow of their former selves. Also, NOTES!
Apparently that's a problem for women, I wouldn't know. All boobs look alike to me...that is to say, "awesome"!
137 - Right Boob Bigger than the Left
The Hiatus - World of Pandemonium
Download: [iTunes/M4A] | [MP3]
I'm writing this intro in January because we've been using this episode as the test for our new editor. Well, after these many months, it turns out that Jaylee is now our editor, and this is his first crack at it! Thanks Jaylee!
Not much to say about this episode since it's self-explanitory as written below, but I would like to point out that this is my (LoKi) first time writing an intro paragraph, and I'm pretty awesome.
That is all. Carry on. NOTES!
LoKi