 The life of an overseas visual kei fan is incredibly tough when it comes to buying your favorite band’s CDs. Majority of the time, single and album releases are exclusive to Japan and we have to go through specialty stores like CDJapan or Yesasia or even Amazon Japan to make such a purchase. The game gets even harder when you look for bands that have broken up. Also, don’t get me started on pricing… I was excitedly overwhelmed by RarezHut’s selection of hard-to-find, older singles, albums, and DVDs from many indie bands that broke up years ago! Not to mention a good majority of their stock is less than $10! For my first purchase, I limited myself with to 2 CDs: Plastic Tree’s 2005 single, Sanbika and Cannonball vol.4, a visual kei band compilation album. When I saw Plastic Tree (literally my favorite band ever, don’t get me started) CDs on the website, my heart skipped a beat! I already had Sanbika on my ipod, but there’s that great sentimental feeling of owning the physical copy of a single or album. Not to mention I did not have the B-side song. I chose Cannonball vol.4 when I was searching up an old band I use to love, Canzel (they’re literally the predecessors of current band UNiTe). Canzel disbanded in 2010 and I still do not have their full discography, so I jumped at the CD when I saw they were featured on the compilation. I was also excited to see songs from other older bands like DaizyStripper, D=out, and CellT. Honestly, many of the bands featured have disbanded since then (this CD did come out back in 2008), so it’s a nice sampler of older bands that you may have never listened to.
•Shipping
I got a confirmation email later the same day updating me that my package was shipped. My order came within a week which I was quite happy about! Being able to get same-day shipping is always an awesome surprise for someone who does a huge amount of online shopping! •Delivery When my order came, it was safely packed in bubble wrap. The shipping was domestic, the journey for my CDs was not very long at all. For CDs that have been used previously, they were in good condition. Beside general scratch marks on the CD that occur over time with use, everything in the case was included like the lyric booklet and cover art. I’m happy to say that my CDs were playing perfectly as well! I can easily say that as a fan of Visual Kei who looks for CDs from older bands and older CDs from popular bands, I had a super positive experience with RarezHut! Remember when I said I was limiting myself to only 2 CDs for this purchase? I already have my eye on a few LM.C and SuG singles, so this will not be my final purchase from them! If you love old indie bands, I would totally recommend checking them out! I’m excited to see their next livestream to see what will be in stock soon! Also, A-To-J has a coupon special going on for 5% your first purchase when you use the code: A&J05 www.rarezhut.net -Paloma A.K.A Alpacqueen   They’re back! After just over a year since their last release (WORLD MAKER) exist†trace is back with their new 3/8 web release of DREAM RIDER! This awesome new song is going to be a part of their new 6 track mini album web release, along with THIS IS NOW, Shout Out, Neo-Japanese Heroine, TWIN WINGS, and BLAST, coming out on 3/16. Now for the song! DREAM RIDER provides an awesome high tempo beat alongside the never disappointing instrumental abilities of each of the girls that all melds together perfectly with the main singer Jyou’s vocals. Since DREAM RIDER is a bit more on the rock side of their recent repertoire of songs, I can easily see it being used as one of their go to hype-building, crowd-stirring songs that would be a very essential part in many live performances.  The music video is done in a very simple, easy to watch and follow manner. What I mean by this is that since the video is just the band performing in a circular room with a white ceiling and floor, as well as black walls all around. With all of the very intricate and complicated music videos nowadays, this refined video is almost relaxing to watch, even though it’s such a high tension song. It really allows you to appreciate the band themselves and their talents as well. Having such a straight forward video also allows all of the fans to completely enjoy watching their favorite members and the overall group to their utmost potential. Everyone should definitely run over to YouTube in order to check out this new song by the wonderful group that is exist†trace! The sooner the better! -Eric exist†trace are: Jyou (ジョウ) (Lead Vocal) Omi (乙魅) (Lead Guitar) miko (Guitar & Vocal) Naoto (猶人) (Bass) Mally (Drums) Official Website: http://www.exist-trace.com/ Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/existxtrace_19 exist trace - DREAM RIDER MV  BUCK-TICK is a famous, influential, and just really important rock band from the 80s. Credited as one of the founders of the Visual Kei movement, BUCK-TICK has been playing their unique brand of punk-infused New Wave pop nonstop since they got together in the early 80s. They have influenced so many bands that it's impossible to even list them all, but they're without a doubt a fairly big name in Japanese music. Today I'm here to talk about their classic 1990 album "Aku no Hana", by far their best-selling album to date.  "Aku no Hana" may not be BUCK-TICK's most unique album, but it's the one that has resonated with the most fans, being certified Double Platinum by the RIAJ (over 500,000 copies sold). "Aku no Hana" came at a high point for the band, coming off of both a handful of hits as well as the arguably perfect album, "Taboo", an album which had solidified the band's place in the darker side of pop music. "Taboo" is also notable as being their first album to chart at number one on the Oricon Charts. At the point of "Aku no Hana"'s release, BUCK-TICK was already a nationally famous band and they were ready to take it even further. "Aku no Hana" starts off with "National Media Boys", one of the best songs on the album. It has all the elements of classic BUCK-TICK, from their bouncy beats to their classically-influenced melodies. It's a little bit baroque, a little bit rock. Along with the band's new gothic imagery, this style probably helped to influence the 90s wave of Visual Kei, especially big names like Malice Mizer. BUCK-TICK had been playing with gothic imagery before, but it was after this album that they took it to the next level, and still use elements of it in their music today. Another song of note is the title track, which comes in right before the end. It's much darker than the rest of the album, and one of the band's closest links to Post-Punk. It also has one of the best guitar riffs in the band's discography, in my opinion.  There are a lot of really strong tracks on "Aku no Hana", and it's a great mix of more straightforward New Wave music and that classical influence, with a couple ballads thrown in for good measure. One of those ballads is the final song on the album, "Kiss Me Good-Bye". This song is considered by some to be a masterpiece, and it really is one of the band's best ballads of their career. "Kiss Me Good-Bye" is definitely a unique ballad, though. Within the six-minute run time, the song has jabs of gothic rock and just an overly dark and heavy overtone. Even as a love song, it sounds just a little bit sinister. Vocalist Atsushi Sakurai does some of his best vocal work, crooning out "kiss me good-bye" as he professes his endless love, to last even after death. Again, "Aku no Hana" may be a great album, but it really just paved the way for the band's much more intense experimentation to come later during the 90s. Still, it really is a powerful record. With classics like "Kiss Me Good-Bye", it's no wonder this album shot up to number 1. It's an essential album for any BUCK-TICK fan, or anybody trying to get into the roots of Japanese gothic rock, Visual Kei, or Post-Punk. -Justin BUCK-TICK Is: Sakurai Atsushi (櫻井敦司) (Vocals) Imai Hisashi (今井寿) (Guitar, Vocals, Noises) Hoshino Hidehiko (星野英彦) (Guitar, Keyboard) Higuchi Yutaka (桶口豊) (Bass) Yagami Toll (ヤガミ ト ル) (Drums) For More Information: Website: http://www.buck-tick.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BUCKTICK_INFO Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bt.18th.album BUCK-TICK - Kiss Me Goodbye (Live) |
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