Today's Event Cancelled

The United States can still escape ... Japanification.

NYTimes.com:

Mr. Kato led a government advisory committee that concluded that the economy, which was then finally starting to rebound from the collapse of its 1980s land and stock bubbles, was healthy enough to raise the national consumption tax to 5 percent from 3 percent.

Aimed at reducing deficits, the tax increase instead quickly snuffed out the fragile recovery, pushing Japan to the brink of a financial meltdown and thrusting the nation deeper into the economic morass from which it has yet to emerge even today.

But perhaps the most alarming part is what came next: a collapse in demand that pushed prices and ultimately wages into a self-reinforcing deflationary spiral, which made already stingy individuals and businesses even less willing to use money, because falling prices meant that cash itself gained in value.

Despite the strong parallels, there are still reasons to think the United States can escape what has been called Japanification.

The United States and Japan are very different, culturally and politically, and Japan faces a host of unique problems that have sapped its vitality, like a rapidly aging populace that has created generational tensions, and the closing of its doors to immigration and the youthful labor and fresh ideas that can bring.

review: miyavi & the hats | "like it's her birthday (remix)"

thx wandervogel!

Pretty vapid lyrically but it's not uncatchy. Is that Miyavi soloing? Could he hear the song while he was playing? I suspect not.

Pretty unremarkable, but maybe it'll win Mediocre Charlotte and the Meev a few new fans from each other's camps.

What '70s song does the intro remind me of?

rating: :/

Foreign rockers create SIAM SHADE tribute album

tokyohive:

「SIAM SHADE Tribute」track list:

01. Don’t Tell Lies / Sebastian Bach (ex. SKID ROW)
02. GET OUT / Nik Frost (THE BANGKOK FIVE)
03. 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou / Jani Lane（ex. WARRANT）
04. Setsunasa Yori mo Tokuhe（Alt Ver.） / Richie Kotzen (ex. MR.BIG, ex. POISON)
05. LOVE / Eric Martin (MR.BIG)
06. Life (Alt Ver.) / John Corabi (ex. MOTLEY CRUE)
07. GET A LIFE / Mike Vescera (ex. LOUDNESS, ex. YNGWIE MALMSTEEN)
08. Kumori Nochi Hare / Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER)
09. Dreams / Mike Ruocco (CINDER ROAD)
10. Triptych (Alt Ver.) / George Lynch (ex. DOKKEN)
11. 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou / Acid Black Cherry [Special Track]

thx ryan!

This is an interesting development... but I feel like all these artists were forced to do this or something! Like Sony whispered "sing this or we might not renew your Japanese distribution and touring contract"...

Shinya (Dir en grey), me (jrocknyc!) and Junji (Siam Shade)

Because why would Yngwie possibly want to pay tribute to a band he's prolly never heard of, unless he was threatened with the prospect of reduced support and access to the only fans who still buy his tickets and tour goods?

Or who knows, maybe Siam is HUGE among 2nd-tier western metal artists...

Kaggra collaborating with Children of Bodom!

thx ame!

It's going to be called FROSTY EVE. CoB sure have been busy lately. But apparently it's Nao (b) singing!

Return of the Aural Vampire (your interview questions answered, to the VERY FEW of you who BOTHERED!!)

purple SKY:

pSKY: RAVEMAN, tell us a bit about your studio setup and gear. What DAW, VSTS, software or hardware do you use to make your music?

RAVEMAN: At the moment I use Cubase 5. For software I use things like Massive as a standard. I was a relative latecomer to making electronic music with a computer, so I’m still learning the basics and inputting the information about new software into my head.

pSKY: Exo-chika, is it hard to sing with fangs?

Exo-chika: My fangs don’t get in the way at all! I can do all ~sorts~ of things, and I can eat all sorts of things too.

thx kytrax!

[boing~g~G~g~G~g~!]

Aural Vampire, once again shining a bright light on the cultural expectations of the roles of men and women...!

Jack the Emotional

ViSuaL Kei: The MoVie

Tokyograph:

Titled Maebashi Visual-kei, the film is a coming-of-age story about the young members of a visual-kei band in a small town.

Kazama plays the eldest child of a farm family in Maebashi, Gunma. While dealing with problems at home, he is also the aspiring vocalist of a four-member visual-kei band.

thx cliff!

I'd like to watch it, just to see how the mainstream Japanese media will treat the subgenre we all know and love.

Due February 2011...

Chinese Metalheads Burn Japanese Flag (Sponsored by Local Government!)

Frosty Eve? Demerit? NWOCHM!?!

Seriously, you need to be a tween to have any respect for this shit at all.

"Our live performance is so dull, we felt that cutting away to PV clips could improve it."

New D: It's fine til the vocals...

...and then Asagi sings the same thing he always sings and you're forced to yell OH C'MON!!! at the screen.

Fall 2010 Podcast Roundup

It's a lazy satahday afternoon, time for another podcast roundup! (With links!)

Briefly Awesome - tech news with occasional insights, but mostly it's the same thing you could get from reading Engadget headlines. "Samsung's Galaxy Tab is $600... that'll only increase iPad sales." :/

Kermode & Mayo - two BBC Brits chat smartly about new movies -- except when they're doing listless interviews with obscure talent or bitching about noisy people in movie theaters, which is most of the time. :/

The Kunstlercast - reasonable rants about the end of cars & driving (yeah!) and shitty (and sometimes inspiring) urban and suburban design, delivered by the wonderfully opinionated james howard kunstler, guided (crucially!) by host duncan creary. Can be repetitive, but because I share most of JHK's opinions, I enjoy the reinforcement, especially as I walk past all those sad, gridlocked drivers on my morning commute. (Wouldn't mind hearing more detailed debate with those who disagree with JHK, tho.) :)

Macbreak Weekly - I hate macs but my parents have an iMac and me with an iPod Touch, I like to keep a toe in and up to date. Plus Andy Ihnatko is great great great: knowledgeable, lucid, funny, and not obnoxious about it. :)

Slate's Culture Gabfest - East Coast Liberal Intellectuals discuss film, television, music, art, journalism, and books. Mostly valuable for the phd-thesis-level vocabulary & observations they spout: "Jackass 3D is... skaterpunk meets de Sade meets Bunuel... a high/low mishmash every critic... likes to employ to pat themselves on the back for their postmodern eclecticism..." (It reads like they're BS-ing, but spoken in the context of their discussions and debates it's usually spot-on.) :)

The Talk Show - Jon Gruber and some other guy (who also hosts Briefly Awesome) chat intelligently about tech, placing new developments in context and hypothesizing about new uses, like how the new MacBook Airs compare to past notebooks and fit into the current iPad-flavored scheme of things. A little slow at times ("Are you checking [site X]?" / "Huh? [pause] No. [pause]") but that's what the 2x button on my Touch is for.) :/

This Week in Tech - the grandaddy of tech roundtable podcasts. It went VERY downhill over the summer (too long, too much uninformative friendly chatter, too many in-jokes, too many trivial blogger guests who only ever stated the blindingly obvious, too many guests talking over each other, too much blathering about the advertising/sponsors...) and I unsubscribed. But the last couple have gotten tighter and somewhat more focused. Let's hope it stays that way. :/

Windows Weekly - Paul Thurrott knows the frustration of being a Microsoft lover. He also digs '80s metal and first-person shooters, he blogs, he's got kids... sound familiar!?! He also talks Apple -- when it relates to PC users. Many of the cool tips I share with you guys come from here. It's me favorite podcast. :)

new Star One due Monday (and leaked online already)

Post-apocolyptic movies + metal + some really good metal vocalists = win. :D Plus Larry David on bass!

embiggen [huh?]

RGZ & E were into the first Star One album as soon as it came out but I found it too geeky for the longest time, but I embrace its nerdy majesty now! [Jrocknyc's Best Albums of the Decade: 2002]

The new one, Victims of the Modern Age, is floating around the intertubes as we speak.

Gene Simmons vs. Anonymous

ars technica:

Given this history of statements, Simmons was targeted by some Anonymous members over the weekend. When his site came back online, Simmons uploaded a provocative new statement (archived by Slyck; the main site is still down).

Some of you may have heard a few popcorn farts re: our sites being threatened by hackers.

Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case and we have found a few, shall we say "adventurous" young people, who feel they are above the law.

And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off.

First, they will be punished.

Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who's been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend.

We will soon be printing their names and pictures.

We will find you.

You cannot hide.

Stay tuned

In response to the message, Anonymous launched a new, collective assault on the site, taking it down again, and one can reasonably assume that more headaches lie in Gene Simmons' future.

They should try altering the records of his wealth... "We're sorry Mr Simmons, we have no record of your deposits."

In other news I predict no arrests that lead to successful prosecutions.

What the Fuck's a K-On?!

thx xio!

Watching the video reminded me of how much I dislike the characters and voices and look and feel of L4D2. God what a letdown it was!

Good Charlavi

The posting of this video does not represent an endorsement to actually watch it

thx reitsu!

"Well Good Charlotte, the initial sales numbers are in and we have some good news and some bad news... your thing with Miyavi moved 30K on the first day..."

"W00t!"

"But the other tracks sold zero."

"Like, none?"

"We think it's your hats."

Congratulations, Meever!

thx cliff!

I hope it wasn't TOO much earlier and that mama and akachan are well. :)

Marshall Headphones!

marshallheadphones.com

Never has a product seemed so unexpectedly out-of-the-blue and headslappingly obvious at the same time.

i have nothing to blog about so here's an ad i'm not being paid to post (but is of interest so what the hell)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

exist†trace to perform at Sakura-Con 2011; "TWIN GATE" USA CD release announced



October 20, 2010 – Japanese all-female visual kei rock band exist†trace will make their North American debut at Sakura-Con 2011. The band will perform a live concert and attend autograph and Q&A sessions for fans during Sakura-Con’s three-day event in Seattle, WA on April 22-24, 2011.

Sakura-Con information and pre-registration at:

http://www.sakuracon.org/

JapanFiles will release exist†trace's new album TWIN GATE on December 15, 2010, just 6 weeks after the CD's Japanese release. TWIN GATE features 10 tracks, including "VANGUARD" and "RESONANCE". The USA CD release contains the complete Japanese booklet and artwork.

TWIN GATE is available for pre-order now at the JapanFiles online store, and will also be available at Hot Topic stores nationwide, JHouseRock.com, RightStuf.com, and Amazon.com.

TWIN GATE pre-order:

http://www.japanfiles.com/store/exist-trace-twin-gate.html

Way Too Much BFBC2

GatorPham84, Pavel, and MentalReaper were the best squadmates ever. I wish every game was so killer! (We got the top four slots twice in a row!) But alas we'll probably never meet again. (I have no regular friends.)

In other news, i hit 400 hours in-game last night. (Ten times the minimum cockpit hours required for a private pilot's license! ) Eep.

Here's my setup:

embiggen?

Play on one screen, read the Times (or Engadget) ad-free (thanks adblock plus!) and watch the new season of SNL (the new black guy is awesome!) ad-free thru Netflix on the other.

And lastly, how the new MoH stacks up to BFBC2 & CoDMW2:

Obama on MythBusters

As part of an initiative to boost science and math education, President Obama will appear on the Dec. 8 episode of MythBusters. [CSM]

Cool. :)

review: vamps | "wild hate reaper drunk n' roll" (live) (dvd) (2010)

vamps
wild hate reaper drunk n' roll (live)
2010

After yesterday's Hyde/CoB revelation, this bootleg hits the internets! Hyde & Kaz rumble through acoustic medleys of Children of Bodom's best hits in a small club in Finland! W00T!

rating: :)

Two Important Announcements

1) Kate has now seen the "Hassan Chop!" Bugs & Daffy cartoon.



2) Paul Revere is NOT the dude on Sam Adams bottles. (Jon Hamm is!)

X Japan "Full-On 2011 Tour"

Blabbermouth:

"If you missed seeing the band this time, they will be back, as 2011 will see a full-on North American tour."

Place yer bets!

Hyde to work with CoB

BLABBERMOUTH:

In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho said that he was happy with the decision to work with Hyde.

'Our management was pushing the idea,' Laiho said, 'so eventually it was, 'All right, fuck it. Just to shut them up, let's do it.'

We liked the way [Hyde] talked about music and the way he was already so fucking committed. He wanted to do the best fucking CHILDREN OF BODOM album ever and was pretty serious and convincing about that. After five minutes of talking to the dude, we knew he was the guy.'

I used to LURV CoB but I could count the number of times I've spun their last two or three albums on one hand.

deluhi announces hiatus

deluhi:

The report will become a sudden, this time DELUHI the
Solo tour in autumn "BLITZKRIEG-Another Departure-" have a
I now go back to sleep temporarily.

Formed about two and a half years DELUHI,
Releases and numerous live events, I continue to work without stopping,
This summer I was able to experience first solo national tour.

Got a lot of power to cheering from everyone,
Things we could have come so far I'm proud.
Thank you.

And now, for now take a step further DELUHI, but
Ourselves to look back at this time is whether I need anything.
Akasaka on January 8 BLITZ about two and a half months after the show ...
Repeated at the end of a meeting with staff members, led to this conclusion.

This is a new stage in the future DELUHI,
This is a decision to proceed to a higher step.

During the hiatus, widen the power-up and musical expression of individual skills,
DELUHI put on the increased motivation to
During the upcoming resumption of activity is stronger with all members of the same journal,
So that the more I see great potential.

"Hiatus" but they let us all feel uneasy with the word,
This period is provided for future DELUHI also greatly expands the possibilities.

In other words, it's time to go go to the positive.

Stops and release, but live, and staff members than ever
DELUHI thinking about going to.

DELUHI keeps going.

So please wait for us to believe for a moment.
Leda / DELUHI
BRAVEMAN PRODUCTIONS

2010.10.15

thx renor!

They were getting a touch redundant on themselves...

I predict that they WILL NOT RETURN.

ask Aural Vampire!

PurpleSky's doing an email interview w/ Aural Vampire next week... and they invited ~the readers of jrocknyc~ to submit some questions!

Post them here now, you have til Sunday at midnight.

Here's what i'd like to know: Were you two ever lovers? Don't pretend you haven't thought about it!

also: Pocky or Pretz? :)

The Rosalind Epilogue (90 secs!)

The whole film is set in medieval japan, yanno'z! Brian Blessed as a belligerent samurai and everything!

A Left 4 Dead 2 Message Left 4 Japan

kotaku:

"'Taki... I love you. Good-bye.'"

Guy that works at Valve (which makes L4D2) has (had?!) a girlfriend named Taki. But who hasn't?

I played last half of the new lev (thru L4D2) and found it inadequate -- almost like "what did I ever see in that game!?!"

Also, this Venture Bros ref: [link]

Valve bringing game trade-ins to Steam?

GameSpot:

In an interview with British gaming site Now Gamer, Pachter indicated that Valve would soon allow gamers to trade in their purchases through Steam for new titles.

The lace is a nice touch.

"Steam is phenomenal; it's a great service," Pachter reportedly said. "Steam gives gamers enough other stuff so that they don't resent the fact they can't trade in their games. And you know, name all the Steam games that you've purchased that you've traded back in to somebody else for credit. Steam's about to let you do that supposedly, you know like trade and exchange, but they're going to take a fee from it."

He later recanted, but fuuuuck that'd be awesome; I have 30 titles but only a few that i'd keep (HL2/R6:V/BF2BC...).

$7700 Internet mirror now shipping!

Badass!

10 things you didn't know about sound

CNN.com:

3.) We see one octave; we hear ten.

An octave is a doubling in frequency. The visual spectrum in frequency terms is 400-790 THz, so it's just under one octave. Humans with great hearing can hear from 20 Hz to 20 KHz, which is ten octaves.

dood!

Watch Chile Miner Rescue [LIVE STREAM]

AOL:

...despite the good news, its worth pointing out that the miners' ordeal ... is far from over.

The escape capsule, for instance, is reportedly going to be loaded with dynamite in case it gets stuck on the way up and the unlucky passenger has to attempt to widen the narrow rock-chute by blasting it open.

Plus, several of the men are reportedly facing jilted spouses and the exposure of formerly secret lovers.

"I was BURIED ALIVE woman, cut me some slack!"

new Danko Jones pv stars The Karate Kid, features no karate

You know what this video needs? More WALKING.

They Don't Have Time for Math in Texas

FOX 34 News:

"First responders, all first responders, fire, EMS, law enforcement, all first responders, make up less than one percent of our total population. So that means chances are (that) during a disaster you have one first responder for every 99 people, and we can get overwhelmed," said Lubbock County Emergency Coordinator Clinton Thetford.

That IS NOT what it means, Overwhelmed Lubbock County Emergency Coordinator Clinton Thetford!

exist trace's new look now, new album ("Twin Gate") next month

"I realize the importance of looking the part guys, but I also have that law firm internship to maintain."

Drumsticks that play musical notes!

Stan Lee

Blabbermouth:

Combining the talents of these two great artists, Stan Lee's gothic-styled music super hero will be based on Yoshiki and his passion for music and his fascination with dragons. The music super hero will be a vigilante. Yoshiki's music will be inspired by Lee's story and will play an important role in the comic series. The super hero's powers are triggered when certain musical notes are played on drumsticks by Yoshiki's character. Additionally, Yoshiki will create music that will be heard in the motion comic.

Ten bucks says nothing ever happens.

And... that concludes this year's coverage of Yoshiki! One hopes...

X Japan NYC 10/10/10?

Who went? How'd it go?

Vamps NYC 10/09/10?

Vamps played Roseland last night; who went, how'd it go?

the jrocknyc gmail inbox

I feel like Obi-wan!

lol @ the transcribing and subsequent publishing of an argument between ford & fischer!

Vanity Fair:

There’s a transcript in the book from the set of the Carbon Freezing Chamber where Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer were having a huge, real-life argument. Could you (Boba Fett actor guy) tell there was tension between the two?

No. For us in masks, we were just dripping and waiting for one section of the piece to go—just pouring with sweat. There was something happening, but I could never know what it was because there was so much noise and I was standing at the back next to Darth Vader while the carbon freezer thing was going. I could hardly see through the mask because it used to mist up with all of the steam. So if someone said, “did you see anything, Jeremy?” I’d say, “No, I didn’t.”

The funniest part of that transcript is when David Prowse interrupts Kirshner during the fight to offer him a signed copy of his new book, Fitness is Fun. Did you get a copy of Fitness is Fun?

Um, no. Well, I have seen it, actually, but I haven’t read it. I prefer to read my book because, as I said to David, cause it’s in English

Abducted British aid worker killed during rescue

The Associated Press:

A female British aid worker kidnapped during an ambush last month died during a rescue attempt by NATO forces in northeastern Afghanistan, Britain's foreign secretary said Saturday.

In August, unidentified gunmen killed 10 members of a charity medical team, including Briton Dr. Karen Woo, six Americans, a German and two Afghans. The aid workers for the International Assistance Mission were shot and killed by militants in Badakhshan province, which neighbors Kunar to the north, as they returned from providing health care in remote villages.

"Thanks for healing and feeding our children who will in all likelihood grow up to kill your children!"

I realize there's an argument to be made for showing the Afghan locals that the West has good stuff to offer (medicine, food, etc), but... c'mon. GOING there nowadays? Yikes.

12012 Guitarist Finally Realizes What a Crappy Band He's In, Quits

Do you recognize the one that's leaving?

S-T:

An Important Announcement for Everyone Supporting 12012

At this time, we are announcing that after the final performance of our current tour, “THE FANGS OF KILLER 「SEVEN」 SADNESS” on December 12th at Le Foret Museum in Roppongi, gutiarist Yuusuke Suga will be leaving 12012.

We arrived at this decision after numerous discussions between the members and staff.

We sincerely apologize to everyone who has been supporting us for this unexpected announcement.

Furthermore, regarding the future of the band, we cannot currently make a decision whether or not the band will continue on with the remaining four members, Wataru Miyawaki, Hiroaki Sakai, Tomoyuki Enya and Tohru Kawauchi.

We apologize for making you worry, however, we hope that you can understand our situation.

The members and staff will all continue to put their full power into the performances up until December 12th, so we ask for your understanding and for your continued support.

Just once I'd like to see an honest announcement: "Yuusuke's leaving because he's wrapped up his master's degree coursework and secured a job at Boeing" or "We fired Yuusuke after he fondled Wataru's mom again."

And a clearly stated "so the band is kaput!" Or "the band WILL continue."

Not this "uhhhmm, we dunno what the future holds" crap with all the apologizing and "please understand and support us" mewling. Seriously, how un-fucking-rock-n-roll can you get!?

Yoshiki Diganosed with Yet Another Malady: Hyperthyroidism

Unggghhh

♣SЯ:

credits to doriee via tokyohive:

On October 5th... he was found passed out at his hotel room in Chicago. His doctor says that Yoshiki gets tired much easier than regular people because of his illness.

Although Yoshiki will need to keep taking treatment, he will not cancel the performances for his tour.

Instead, he will need to take ten-minute breaks every five minutes for the remainder of the concert tour. Bring something to read!

Other famous people with thyroid conditions include: Tipper Gore, Rod Stewart, Barbara Bush, and Joe Piscopo.

reviews: "Hitch-22", "Nurtureshock", and "A Patriot's History of the Unitesd States"

Really liked "Hitch-22." Fucking masterful wit and prose. And he gives you a better idea of what the 60s and 70s and 80s were like. Spent a little too much time than necessary on the Israel-Palestine thing near the end tho. :)




Got quickly bored by "A Patriot's History of the Unites States", which had some great tidbits here and there about why England ended up beating out Spain and France in the new world (for example, British peasants had it real shitty in England and wanted to go to the new world; French peasants were happy enough where they were. And Spain hoarded all its gold in vaults, while England used new world gold to build boats and start companies n' shiz)

...and how/why the Spanish beat the Aztecs (aztecs would stop fighting once they got a few slaves to take back to their homes; if you kill an aztec leader none of the others will step up to lead because they have rigid class rules, etc), and stuff like that.

But they were details better suited to bulletpointed lists or brief wikipedia articles, rather than CHAPTER UPON CHAPTER of namesdatesplacesnamesdatesplaces. (History is not about cold facts, it's about reasons and emotions.)

There's also a touch of TeaPartyism in the book (the Founding Fathers talked about God a lot, etc), but most of it was on die bookenflapp, in an effort to sell more books one assumes. :(




"Nurtureshock" is like a parenting "Freakonomics" -- using research to flip around misconceptions -- while also providing clear, specific recommendations (don't call your kids smart; arguments are good; kids should sleep late*).

However, it's also full of goody-two-shoes-ness and possessed by the need to BEAT ONE OVER THE HEAD with its cleverness and empirical awesomeness, so expect to do a lot of fast-forwarding. (When I say read, you can assume I mean "listen" from now on, because who has time to read ENTIRE BOOKS anymore!?) :\

*If you call your kids smart, when they hit something difficult they'll quit -- because if they fuck it up, then they're not "smart" anymore. And while parents felt arguing with their kids was frustrating and disrespectful, it helps kids develop reasoning, voice their opinions, assert independence, etc. And most attributes of teenagers -- sulky, unmotivated, etc -- are the exact same symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation... and pushing back school start times by an hour results in the same improvement in test scores as TWO FULL GRADES (i.e., sleepy 9th graders performed like 7th graders on tests.)