Category Archives: albums
Sugar-sweet rock with SCANDAL on "Honey"
“Honey” is a rock album with introspective and emotional lyrics, sometimes bordering to punk and sometimes to balads. Soundwise they have ditched most of their pop influences, but it’s still present in their choruses, with guitarist Mami Sasazaki giving the album a lot of hit quality with her […]
SCANDAL is unclear and great in "Kiss From the Darkness"
Six out of the eleven songs of “Kiss From the Darkness” have a music video (and one has a lyric video), which makes “Kiss From the Darkness” feel like a live show, or a movie, or a prolonged music video. We see Scandal rocking away in colored rooms, dancing in the street, and most notably we […]
"Brokencyde Will Never Die" – a misunderstood album?
Ten years later – is it really that bad? No, it’s very good. And weird. The metal screams aren’t what’s weird, what’s weird is to use them for screaming the words “it’s boppin’ for sure”. They distort and autotune the screams, and use them in all places possible (compared to before […]
Weird things Jun Togawa do on "Dial y wo Mawase"
Ten years later – is it really that bad? No, it’s very good. And weird. The metal screams aren’t what’s weird, what’s weird is to use them for screaming the words “it’s boppin’ for sure”. They distort and autotune the screams, and use them in all places possible (compared to before […]
Seiko Oomori is insane once again on "Kintsugi"
“Kintsugi” by Seiko Oomori starts as an “evening” instead of a “morning”, and Seiko talks about music being “a five-dimensional thing that can change the time axis”. Time has apparently inspired her writing for the album, and I guess it’s up to people like me and you to figure out […]
Mikl Shea & Phat J from Brokencyde are back!
A reunion of current Brokencyde and former Brokencyde! I wonder what the “I can’t believe Brokencyde is still making music?!” people will say when they see Phat J is back, and he’s back dancing in a crocodile outfit?! Probably: “Wow.” “Mirage” is a nostalgia EP which isn’t aiming t […]
Yoneko – I Have a Little Hangover
Who is Yoneko? An ex-member of alternative idol groups MIGMA SHELTER and Bellring Shoujo Heart, who went solo and thereafter completely independent by expressly leaving the “idol” life. But what does Yoneko say about Yoneko? Yoneko says this about Yoneko: – “An alternative singer-songwriter […]
Hyuna IS cool, no matter what her EP says (Hyuna – I’m Not Cool)
HyunA just released her new EP “I’m Not Cool”, and I must clarify that she IS cool, no matter what she says. She’s so cool I don’t feel the need to cover up my excitement for her with intellectuality (just look at 1:06 and tell me you don’t love her). She seems to have this effect on eve […]
Listening to Lee Jung Hyun’s nameless second album (“II”? “Peace”? “Nuh?”)
This album from 2000 by the K-pop legend Lee Jung Hyun is so conceptional and still it doesn’t have a clear concept. Because there’s too many of them. And what is the album called? “Peace”? “Lee Jung Hyun II?” “Nuh”? I don’t know. Listen to the whole album on Youtube! The song “? […]
A quick look at “I <3 Natural” by Lee Jung Hyun (2002)
“I ? Natural” is one of the more straightforward and clear albums from the legendary K-pop star Lee Jung Hyun. Even though the unclear “wildlife” theme confuses a bit. Everything’s either brown or toned-down, which doesn’t at all align with the music, that is her usual colorful and power […]
Toriena breaks expectations and changes style on “Pure Fire”
In 2020, Japanese artist Toriena released a hard electronic album called “Pure Fire”, full of mostly instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness. It’s a great album, but I don’t want to stop at that conclusion, because Pure Fire is more than just a great music album […]
“Mad Maria” by ELLene
ELLene’s debut EP “Mad Maria” from 2020 sounds way too good to be a debut EP. That’s because it kind of isn’t one. It may be the first work that “ELLe” and “Ené” have made together, but seperately they’ve made more stuff before. The singers ELLe and Ené are diverse and talented […]
Have you listened to the lyrics on “Far Beyond Driven” by Pantera?
After the heavy “Cowboys From Hell” and the heavier “Vulgar Display of Power”, Pantera decided to release the even heavier album “Far Beyond Driven” in 1994. It topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Chart, and Pantera got called an “overnight sensation” after being an active band for 13 year […]
HANABIE. – Independence, “Girl’s Reform Manifest” and colorful music videos
HANABIE。 (“花冷え。”) is the Japanese metal band on the rise with the crazy gimmick:y music videos: They mix heavy metal with classic J-pop cuteness, which they absolutely aren’t the first at, but what differs them from many others is that their gimmicks don’t have any super-obvious ca […]
Seiko Oomori releases self-cover album “PERSONA #1”
Seiko Oomori, a Japanese singer-songwriter that I have written about before, has had a really productive year. She’s usually recognized by her high-energy music and unpredictable voice, and you’ll get more of that on her recent album “PERSONA #1”, even though some aspects of it is different. […]
3 questions to TORIENA about her new album “TORIENA makes me smile”
In my last text about TORIENA, I talked about her 2020 album “PURE FIRE”, which I described as “a hard electronic album, full of instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness”. PURE FIRE was such a unique album and an intense experience from start to finish, so when I […]
Rebellious trap metal artist $ATSUKI is back with an album about Jesus
Six months ago, the Korean rapper $ATSUKI made music like this (read more about $ATSUKI’s old music here): Now she’s like this: Smiling, happy and practicing religion directly on her Instagram account! What happened? What happened to $ATSUKI’s extreme trap metal aesthetic and music? She found […]