ajikan's new single, after over a year.
(the title literally means "new century love song".)

tracklist:
01. 新世紀のラブソング
02. 白に染めろ


... it's weird.
it's like nothing ajikan's ever done before.

in shinseiki no love song, ajikan grows out of the surf bungaku happy energetic feel to emerge with a mellower sound, a bit like in aru machi no gunjou.
what puts me off is the melody. firstly, the pseudo-rapping. it worked in night diving (world world world), but not this time. it's awkward and twisted and weird, not rhythmic enough to be proper rapping yet not holding enough of a tune to be singing.
and then all the singing parts don't help much, because they're mostly made up of notes alternating between a semitone, with sudden twists. i was waiting for the chorus that would save the rapping, but it didn't happen. it's another of ajikan's weird compositions that don't really work out.

in the end, what saves the day is the drumming (ichiji! :D) and the sheer intensity of the lyrics.
the lyrics are amazing.
they're deep in a blunt and forthright way and the intensity only comes out through the melody, which i can't comprehend how. but it does. they're especially powerful in the chorus.

i must explain.
(the translations are not mine.)
this is from the second verse:
夕方のニュースで何処かの誰かが亡くなって (on the evening news, someone died somewhere)
涙ぐむキャスター それでまた明日 (the caster was moved to tears, and so tomorrow)
then in the fourth:
朝方のニュースでビルに飛行機が突っ込んで (on the morning news, a plane hit a building)
目を伏せるキャスター　そんな日もあった (the caster covered his eyes, there were days like that too)

i love these two lines and the way they match, and how they mean what they mean, and the way they sound in the song despite the bad rapping.

and this line:
さようなら旧石器 (goodbye old century is the translation, but i don't think it means that and i don't know what it means. but it sounds good.)
and this line:
息を吸って 生命を食べて / 排泄するだけの猿じゃないと言えるかい? (breathe air, eat life / can you say you're not just a monkey that excretes (them out)?)

they're really interesting.

and the most incredulous thing about this song is that it gets stuck in your head in no time at all. objectively bad but subjectively addictive.
i keep singing it even though it sounds awful without the guitars!
well, that's the thing about ajikan's stuff.

the other thing that saved the song from getting skipped by me is the pv. despite all the bad cgi.
(it reminded me of kuuchuu buranko, what with the psychiatrist and all.)
it's a refreshing change from all their funny spastic pvs lately.
it's got strong intensity and a storyline and with the lyrics there's a thought-provoking message that comes through the song. it's actually moving.


(the first 10 seconds are <3! ken-saaaaaaaaaan~)


on to shiro ni somero.
... which is a tad too happy for my liking.
it starts off well, with super bright-and-cheerful guitars, which was a relief at first after shinseiki no love song. and it's not a bad song.
it's just not very impactful. the chorus is awkward and tiring to listen to.
don't really like.


what happened to genius composing! T.T
it seems like ajikan's moving on to a new, more mature sound and they haven't grasped and perfected it yet. and also that they're trying to get more meaningful messages across but they haven't found the right notes that connect immediately.
the music comes first so even with the lyrics, it's not enough to fill the one-year-plus gap.
well, the single sort of works out after a while. it is very ajikan-like in the end.
but i'm still waiting for that really good song that i will like instinctively, like the singles from the world world world era.
for now, listen to it with the lyrics and don't listen to it if you aren't prepared to be super forgiving and tolerating towards the music.

(and i tried very hard not to be biased throughout this review. P:)

(watch the pv if you're in the mood for unconventional stuff~)

i! will! wait! for the next single/ album! and i hope i get used to the new style then!

tracklist:

1. Ame(B)
2. ライトダンス
3. セントレイ
4. ネイティブダンサー

5. minnanouta
6. 雑踏

7. 黄色い車
8. enough
9. 涙ディライト

10. アドベンチャー
11. human


well i'm sure nobody will be interested in this. it's too ulu le lah!
but still, you should be! if you're looking for new stuff, you can stay on.

because this album is good.

sakanaction with their latest album, shinshiro.
sakanaction, first and foremost, plays a blend of rock, electronica, and i am told, club and house music. it's nothing i have ever listened to before. the more important thing is that their music is SUPER ADDICTIVE. the tunes stick in your head for hours.
impressions from PVs: the lead singer is really really cool. in that he seems to own every piece of music he sings, and drawls his parts in the most delicious way :D, how he's expressionless all the time (ah, aim of all decent bands), and it's just cooooool. additional bonus: he can really sing! i was converted immediately. must go find out what's his name.

down to it!

Ame (B) opens with the whole band going "A-ME" in harmony. oh that's another thing i like about them - ALL of them can sing and it's wonderful when they sing in 5 parts (i think). it's like having an acapella band! :DDD anyway though it's the intro it still managaed to lodge itself in my head, after only 2 or 3 times. the lyrics are simple, all sung in chorus, and the main star is all the electronica, which is weird and wonderful in its own way. haven't been listening to this much, though.

ライトダンス is a wacky song. i don't know how to place it. it sounds distinctively chinese, somehow, and the verses are ... jumpy. however, the chorus is pure gold: there's this line repeated 4 times and sung in octaves (でも明日が見えなくて) and the melody of the chorus is amazing, really. plus lead-san sings it like "oh, this is a piece of cake" which sounds amazing as well. the middle part after that is weird, but then the chorus comes and nullifies everything else. i could play that chorus on loop for a whole day.

セントレイ lives up to its name - i can see why it got #1 on oricon. everything about it is perfect. my favourite part is the 2nd verse, where there's this synthesised choir going papapapapapaapapaapapaa and it's niceeeeeeeeeeee! the other electronica stuff go well with the melody, too. and then the chorus is a big mass of all the motifs, and generally pleasing. altogether, you get a song which makes you want to put on repeat and don't mind hearing over and over again. absolute favourite.

ネイティブダンサー
 is another favourite. lead sounds really good here in the start. the pv is just him dancing with this pair of glow-in-the-dark nike shoes, but he pulls it off because he's cool enough. the chorus is so-so and the best thing about this song is the verses. i think this is the song that made me go crazy over the lead's voice.

minnanouta is an instrumental which is a little messy and which i don't really dig, so. there's the sound of an office in the background. its not in my mp3 because estate space is scarce. interestingly, it was composed by the whole band. which is why it's called minnanouta (everyone's song). =.=

雑踏 starts off with the same background noise as minnanouta, and turns into verses with monotone guitars and a not-bad melody. i like how the bass enters, very late into the song. then some guitar wails and the chorus starts, which is quite nice and bouncy. the verses are a bit too long but the chorus makes up for it. and then there's this wild rock part after the chorus that i like, though it's just "woah, woah, woah~".

黄色い車 - hmm this is the opposite. it starts out nicely with interesting accompaniment, and an interesting verse. then the chorus is kind of screwed, i don't like it. it's a very happy song then the chorus is just random twisting of notes. i listen to it for the intro and verses.

enough is enough. haha. enough is a 2-part song. the intro is quiet and ballad-like, i like the way the lead goes "uso desu ... ka, uso desu." it's wandering and sounds like someone pondering something. then comes the 2nd part which is this upbeat tune with 2 chords which makes you bob your head in time and where the voices go "uwaaaaaa" (really!) and which is also playable for hours. i remembered it for a week after i first heard it. after that there's this wild rock part again where the chords are weird (good weird), then back to the uwaaaaa part which is laced with new electronica motifs, then it dies off and returns to the ballady part. i like~

涙ディライト is a piece with a pop feel, what i really like about this are the 2 motifs in the intro which continue on throughout the song. the melody is groovy, there's no other word for it. i tire easily of the chorus, though. another song to make people dance.

アドベンチャー is really interesting. i think this is closest to club/techno music in the whole album. the beats are heavy and there's the syncopated rhythm. the verses are delightful, the composing, and the chorus is good as well, just that the bass is very heavy and not good when you are having a pounding headache. nice song to let off steam and scrub your brain blank.

last song, human. human is my second favourite. it's almost completely rock. (haven't forgotten my roots!) the intro has a piano and guitar playing in thirds respectively and together. the effect is an intriguing melody that has taken me weeks to catch. (still haven't completely figured it out yet.) then the verses are sung in octaves again (my favourite, what's more i think the other person in one of the girls!). the chorus is ... rending? maybe a bit emo, and the drums again a little too heavy for my liking, but sakanaction knows how far to go before the listener gets irritated (not like ajikan who can get carried away sometimes). so the effect is muted and catchy. plus nice harmonies after the last chorus. nice nice nice.


i'm not sure how others would take this album (my weird taste in the works), but i find it irresistable and super catchy. definitely will see (or hear) more of this band in the future! I LOVE THE LEAD SINGER'S VOICE I SWEAR.
i'm starting to draw a lot of fishbones around school. need to go and find more sakanaction fans!

well, i actually only wanted to get yoru no call. but there aren't any decent 320 kbps tracks out there, so i ended getting the whole album. anyway, the tracklist goes like this:

1. 夜のコール – ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
2. Zak And Sara – Ben Folds
3. Stereotypes - Farrah
4. Oats We Sow – Gregory and the Hawk
5. Suburan Knights – Hard-Fi
6. Silver Birch – the HIATUS
7. Morning Sun – 清 竜人
8. SURRENDER – lostage
9. Everything Must Go – Manic Street Preachers
0. Marm – mudy on the 昨晩
11. Weightless – Nada Surf
12. ピンホール – OGRE YOU ASSHOLE
13. ナイトフィッシングイズグッド – Sakanaction
14. 8823 – SPITZ
15. Magic Blue Van – Straightener
16. Rock Star -Understand- – The Young Punx
17. HELLO(蘇えるライブバージョン) – UNICORN

i used to resist the nano-mugen compilation because half of the tracks are in english, and the other half are jap bands i've never heard of before, other than spitz who has been mentioned on forums and the like.

but it's actually quite ok! some english bands like Farrah, the HIATUS and Nada Surf are not bad, they play the kind of alt rock i like. then there are the jap bands like SPITZ that caught my interest.
i just have to say this: the weirdest song is Rock Star -Understand- by The Young Punx, because it's a cover of ajikan's アンダースタンド, but in electropop style with a female singer, not really my kind of thing. and i can't make out what she is singing but it sounds like the original lyrics (the consonants match), yet i hear english at times. poor アンダースタンド, it used to be a high song.

i'm not putting this huge album in my mp3 (oh my pathetic mp3 storage space) but it's good when i want something new, and i might check out some of these bands, i need to widen my listening scope but i don't dare to and don't know where to start.

tracklist:
01. BIRTH
02. Velonica
03. 別れの詩～Still Connected～
04. 虹
05. STAY GOLD
06. 夏のかけら
07. ほんとはね
08. massigura
09. 月、昇る
10. この星に
11. きらきら ～original ver.～
12. One
13. うたい去りし花
14. Re：BIRTH
15. 虹 ~Album ver.~

i'll just do everything since this is their first album i'm listening to. yes i know that's damn noob, but better late than never! :D

this is a nice change from all the bits and pieces i've been listening to, it's a very full-bodied album and all the tracks here are good, though not all of them may be exceptional (i.e. you don't cringe and want to skip tracks). it also has all the things i like, from pure rock like Velonica and この星に to all the heartwarming tracks, which Aqua Timez pulls off superbly. plus they're also some of the most interesting songs i've heard from this band.

right.

BIRTH is a 30-second prelude, it's so short you wouldn't think it'd do much, but tadaaa there's brilliant composing and i love brilliant composing. there are sweet guitars and whatnot iｎ the back, but the melody is NICE and that's really where it shines. it's short, sweet, and NICE. also it has these noises at the end which end quite abruptly, making it a perfect opening to Velonica.

Velonica is same old, same old, still as fantastic as ever, though not as mind-blowing for me as i first heard it (go see the Velonica single review), but putting it after BIRTH makes you want to listen to it and when it starts i usually just listen to it. XD

別れの詩～Still Connected～ (i think 詩 is read as "uta") is one of my favourites, because it has a decent melody, super nice chords, beautiful guitar parts on the opening and this amazing amazing part where futoshi goes ”笑っておくれ” and it goes so well with the chords. it first starts out with piano accompaniment but later turns into a more rock song, so this is like a song that just happens to have a lot of things i like. and it's hard to get tired of too. :D

虹 - still sounds the same, i got sick of this a long time ago because it's so old already. but yeah, good song in its own right.

i love the intro parts of STAY GOLD, so emo rock-ish. and the chorus is interesting! it sounds very mature and it's also one of my favourite tracks. (oh there's this weird part in the middle where futoshi's "し" sounds damn weird and it still bothers me today. but that's beside the point.)

夏のかけら and ほんとはね sound the same as well, i skip these often. they sure put a lot of old tracks in.

massigura IS MY FAVOURITE. :D a LOT of people think it's weird but i think it's great. the song consists of repeating guitar riffs, a sexy cool bassline, really really fast rapping and the chorus is mainly one note. so at first i thought i would dislike it because i've always disliked Aqau Timez rapping, but i guess it has too much energy and the chorus is very very simple but powerful rock. makes you want to jump around the room and nod your head like crazy. i'd like to see them do this one live, if it's possible. other than being a wonderful rock piece it has many many weird but interesting bridges after the verses, and the rapping is quite nice (omg) for once! (anyway you can't hear what they're rapping nor singing, i only caught the word "masshigura".) WHAT'S MORE i went to see the lyrics and it's sort of a tribute to their music journey, and has tons of attitude. so, thumbs up (: it's one of those really-love-it-or-really-hate-it songs, and it ended up being the one i automatically switch to when i listen to the album, and i always look forward to listening to it. (it's the "screaming song" i was blasting the other day in class.) how come i always end up liking these weird songs with bad singing. XD o well.

月、昇る has latin influences which i don't really like, but the chorus is kinda tolerable and the verses are quite awkward, so it took me some time to get used to this. too latin for my liking.

この星に is another rock piece, i like it again for its energy. the verses are very rocker and the chorus is quite nice. the part after the chorus though, is nice when you first hear it but gets irritating after a while. and then if you listen too much it gets a bit tiring because the drums for the chorus are not exactly my favourite kind. (okay sorry i just don't like that rhythm.) but it's still one of my favourites.

きらきら ～original ver.～ - woohoo love this! they mixed electronica in the front (reminded me of -SORA涙色-) which i have come to like, more beautiful guitars, calm verses, and a fantastic chorus that's again, brill composing, especially the kira kira part. very good to sing along and very catchy. i have no complaints about this, it's almost perfect.

i don't like the opening of One because it's quite ... sian, but it evolved into bouncy verses and a catchy chorus, which are nice! it somehow feels like a song people will sing at farewells, almost like a graduation song, because it has a touch of nostalgia about it that i can't really place my finger on. the lyrics fit well and i understand what they're singing, quite shuang, haha! XD

うたい去りし花 is supposed to be the main point of this album, seeing as it's being named after it and all. this song has a lot of space and depth, and i heart the chords at the start - so nice! i don't like the verses but i like the chorus, which is more important. it's more of a ballad and sounds pretty much like their old stuff so it's not very memorable for me, so it just falls under "nice & good" but not "outstanding", IMO. i don't know, a lot of people seem to like it, maybe it's just my weird taste in music.

Re:BIRTH is brilliant because it automatically brings you back to the start of the album - it's something like a full-blown version of BIRTH. and by virtue of the melody, it's one of the best as well. it also has good guitar and piano parts, and this lovely idk what rhythm part in the verses, which makes it kinda majestic and have a sense of closure. (it's brilliant how it started with BIRTH and ended with Re:BIRTH because Re:BIRTH reminds you what a long way you've come through this hour-long album and is a really nice closing piece.) even when they packed 3 choruses together it's still fine due to the lyrics. it ends sounding like BIRTH (see what i mean?) and my only gripe is that it ends too fast. one of my favs as well.

虹 ~Album ver.~ is, again, latin-tinted and is just plain weird, not in a good way. it was meant to be something like an extra track, but i skip it all the time. it sounds like niji + frolicking drums + dancepop. /: the front part was nice, i give it the credit, but give me the old niji any day, thank you. (me hates remixes.)

うたい去りし花 is a very very very loooong album. i get sick of Aqua Timez's stuff quite easily especially if i keep listening, but i managed to listen to this on loop (haha) without getting tired of it. and futoshi's vocals, which i've always liked, are wonderful and spot on as usual. it's very interesting and easy for different kinds of people to like, because it's diverse. not bad not bad!

tracklist:
01. Gekidou (AwakEVE ver.)　[激動(AwakEVE ver.)]
02. 99/100 Damashi no Tetsu　[99/100騙しの哲]
03. Mikageishi [美影意志]
04. Corona [コロナ]
05. Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi [儚くも永久のカナシ]
06. earthy world
07. Hissei Satsuki Prologue [畢生皐月プロローグ]
08. I・Am Riri [アイ・アム　Riri]
09. Koishikute [恋しくて]
10. Forget
11. Just Break The Limit!
12. Waon　[和音]
13. Harujion (2nd-Mix)　[ハルジオン　(2nd-Mix)]
14. YURA YURA
ones in bold are sparkling NEWWWW! :D

I AM HOOKED ON THIS ALBUM!

it takes a while and many listens, but AwakEVE really grows on you. :D
it also sounds stronger and has a hint of angst, at least IMO, because it sounds like UVERworld's reflecting on a lot of stuff in their songs.
cheem, huh.
and it's less pop-y which is a good thing!
oh another thing i like is the lyrics, which make A LOT of sense, and which fit the melodies really well. takuya is amazing. :D

ok!

Gekidou didn't change at all, they just cut of the random noises in front that were in the original track. =.= i don't really listen to it anymore.

99/100 Damashi no Tetsu. oooh this is an interesting one. i first thought it was damn gay the way takuya rapped. then i saw the pv and they looked cool. and suddenly they didn't sound so gay anymore. and then after i got past the rapping the beat is fun and the chorus is fabulous - super catchy and got stuck in my head for a while. i like the last part where they sang in 2 octaves. ^^ honourable mention goes to the pv which suddenly caused the lyrics to make a lot of sense and my impression changed from "gay" to "glam". and it's amazing how they manage to suan the media in their pv AND lyrics! haha. now it's one of my favourite tracks.

Mikageishi is a nice ballad. i think it's nicer than koishikute and kimi no suki na uta anyday. it's simple and the melody is strong, and the syncopation parts at the start are <3! it's the kind of song you won't get sick of even though you think you will. oh and i like the ending chords.

Corona is rock that reminds me of their older style (like colors of the heart and dtecnolife), it's generally good, but it isn't outstanding and so it fades into the normal tracks group after a while because they didn't try much new stuff with this one. Shouldn't listen too much in a day, it's quite easy to get sick of this.

earthy world is very 阳光 and happy, which i didn't really like at first because it sounded a bit too normal - like it's just filling up the gap. it was okay after listening a few more times. but it's not one of my favourites.

Hissei Satsuki Prologue is a weird piece (not in a bad way) and it's more dancepopish. (i keep thinking of space and terra he when i see the title, for some weird reason.) i like the techno bits, though, and the chorus is great! :D (i like the line 「生きるって面倒くさいな」 how true. ;D) the verses sounded a bit like takuya didn't know what to put there so he just reverted to his normal woh-oh-oh-ing thing, so it's a bit empty. but once you start singing it you can't get it out of your head.

I Am Riri IS THE COOLEST TRACK EVER and it's also the first track to get stuck in my head for about a week. it's nothing i've ever heard before, and although it's rap which i shun as a general rule, the chorus owns all and i just totally got addicted because its so emo and angsty and powerful and sad and bliss and legendary at the same time. :D AND THE LYRICS ARE BEAUTIFUL i have never heard such powerful lyrics in my life! (i think they're about a singer who lost her voice and can't sing anymore or something ...) they totally fit the melody and i can feel the sorrow and everything. :D and the front guitar parts are nice too.

Forget goes back to normal UVER style as well, this is a bit more standard and listenable, the melody is quite good. however it's also a forgettable track (pun not intended).

Waon is another amazing piece of composing. usually i skip instumental interludes (it happened with lm.c's) because they don't really have a melody. but the melody for Waon is really powerful as well (it reminded me of potcXD albeit emo version) and THE GUITAR SOLO HAS A FREAKING NICE MELODY WHAT IS THIS MAN. and the slow part in the middle with the 3/4 timing is WONDERFUL the drums reverberate in this DELICIOUS way and the silence is AMAZING and the time signatures are so interesting ahhhh! okay i'm probably not supposed to go so crazy about this track. but don't skip it, give it a serious listen! :D

Harujion is the same, except that some silences and quietness here and there are filled up by dancepop beats. and they added whirring stuff so now it sounds like it's a 16 beat song. just sounds more dancy. i think i prefer the old version, which was good enough in its own way.

YURA YURA ends the whole thing nicely, the last note has a sense of finality and the curtain coming down sort of thing. and it's good in it's own right because the melody's decent. it's relatively normal but i like it better than earthy world or forget.

i've been listening to this on the bus every single morning before the holidays.
^^ there's a lot of new stuff in this album and all the details are worth listening to. and it sounds more mature and real. and shows how UVERworld has improved again (like how the vocals are more stable now). it's also diverse, as usual i suppose. i'm glad they had more singing and minimal rapping (or rather, tolerable rapping) and i hope this continues on for future albums! don't sink back into full rapping tracks again! very very very very nice go and listen!

tracklist:
01. Velonica
02. 奏であい (kanadeai)
03. 薫 (kaori)
04. Velonica -Instrumental-

yes! i've been waiting for aqua timez to go rock again after all their ballady stuff like natsu no kakera. this single has been bobbing up on the oricon charts quite often for the past few weeks. (:

velonica got stuck in my head very quickly. because it's super catchy. the chorus is the best. and the verses are very cool. there's a sprinkling of electronica throughout, which blends in quite nicely.
and it's got rock vibes spilling out everywhere. :D it manages to sound quite emo!
the intro is interesting and i like the drums. they're simple enough to be followable but very nice. the melody is aqua timez's signature ramble-off-a-long-string-of-monosyllables-of-the-same-note, and it works here with the drums, nicely. it also contrasts with the bridge which consists of long notes, which was quite interesting to hear at first.
the bass line for the first few verses are interesting too!
the chorus is genius composing! brilliant. (a bit like galileo.) i still can't follow the verses but the chorus is the best part that keeps replaying in my brain!
and the chord progression is totally <3.
i think it's one of the few minor key songs they did. and they should do it more.
this is the kind of song that i get hooked onto like crazy at once and keep listening to. but after a while, it fades off. should have spread it out a bit more. /:
minor gripe: the bridge is quite boring after you listen to it about 3 times a day.

奏であい sounds like one of the band's typical b-sides at first, but the rhythm is a bit bounce-y and swingy. it takes a while to grow onto, but after you can sing it it's a decent song. i went around the house singing this for a while, too. i like the guitar parts at the front and the back with the vibraphone!

薫 is a weird little song that mainly alternates between 2 chords (IVminor and I). the melody didn't catch on for me so it's not a very memorable track, imo. plus, it's short. and repetitive.

the bleach OP drawing style looks like sayonara zetsubou sensei's! :D
and it's cool that hitohira no hanabira is the ED!

all in all, not a bad single but don't rush it or you'll get bored faster. (for me, at least.)

tracklist:
01. 藤沢ルーザー [Fujisawa Loser]
02. 鵠沼サーフ [Kugenuma Surf]
03. 江ノ島エスカー [Enoshima Esker/Escar]
04. 腰越クライベイビー [Koshigoe Crybaby]
05. 七里ヶ浜スカイウォーク [Shichirigahama Skywalk]
06. 稲村ヶ崎ジェーン [Inamuragasaki Jane]
07. 極楽寺ハートブレイク [Gokurakuji Heartbreak]
08. 長谷サンズ [Hase Sans/Sanzu/Sons]
09. 由比ヶ浜カイト [Yuigahama Kite]
10. 鎌倉グッドバイ [Kamakura Good-bye]
previously released tracks in bold

ooooh. i've wanted to do this for a long long long long time. <3

presenting ajikan's newest album, which is not so new anymore, which means i've listened to it like a million times already! this was released on chinese o level day. and same day as the LM.C albums. this album is more pop-y as compared to ajikan's previous albums. it sounds a bit like ajikan decided to take a break from serious rock and go to the beach. i have continuous images of ajikan playing their stuff on a beach when i'm listening to this. XD it's one of ajikan's most relaxed albums so far. at first it sounded very very very confusing, but then the songs grew on me, like how most ajikan songs do.

let's go track by track!

first released as a single, "Fujisawa Loser" is a song with tight guitar chords and harmonies. it has a strong pulse, very nice. it's a bit short, but nevertheless enjoyable. they tried new things like sliding down from the ending note. the melody is simple but brilliant, and very very catchy. it's just a bit short ... it would be nicer if they added one more verse and chorus.

"Kugenuma Surf" was first released as a b-side to "Aru Machi no Gunjou" (their most awesome song EVER), but in the album version they cut the guitars-drums-and-gotou-warming-up parts which i kinda liked, to jump straight into the verses. this is the song that keeps making me think of beaches and surfing. really. also, it's short. (as a matter of fact, most songs here are ...)

"Enoshima Esker" or whatever its english name is supposed to be, was released as a b-side to "Korogaru Iwa, Kimi ni Asa ga Furu". as usual, the melody is catchy and i like kita's guitar accompaniments and the harmonies! but the vocal and guitars sound a bit faded as compared to the other tracks, maybe it's the guitars they used? (i'm pretty sure it's not my file problem)

"Koshigoe Baby" is where things start to get confusing. when i first listened to this i didn't like it because the first verse is plain weird, and the chords are hard to catch. also, the chorus is a bit awkward because gotou did his octave jumping thing again in the chorus. but after listening to it more carefully, the bridge is VERY nice (the chords O:) and the chorus grew on me. they fit very nicely with the 3/4 timing and the guitars are the kind i like.

"Shichirigahama Kite" became one of my favourite tracks in this album (from the new tracks), and i don't know why. the melody just stuck with me. some people would call it a boring song because there's not much dynamics and everything is c-a-l-m. the chords are great, and the rhythm is interesting. i've never heard this kind of thing from ajikan before, i don't know why i like it so much.

"Inamuragasaki Jane" is one of the most intense and exciting (haha) songs in the album. i didn't like the rhythm at first because it was confusing, but after that it was okay. it's ... cute! and bouncy. gotou's voice is in the intense-till-bursting-and-threatening-to-go-out-of-tune mode, plus it's a fast song, so this made me a bit worried when i listened to it. but he pulled it off well.

i liked "Gokurakuji Heartbreak" when i first listened to the whole album because it was the first song i could figure out in the initial mess. and the guitars were nice! but after that the melody sounded weird, and i don;t really like it anymore. there are some weird melody twists that don't sound nice. seems like ajikan always has this problem - the melody sometimes twists into something very weird. i only like parts of it, like the bridge and the guitars.

the verses of "Hase Sanzu" are irritating because of the weird chords and staccato guitars (didn't manage to pull it off)... but! the chorus is F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C.! <3 which also earned it one of the top spots in the album. it's just the familiar comforting ajikan-style rock with a nice melody and amazing chords. very very nice!~ anyway i have no idea what the title means.

"Yuigahama Kite" is one of the most irritating songs ajikan ever composed, in my opinion. O.O there's this part in the middle where the speed increases and there's a nice guitar part, but the starting melody is plain irritating. the only thing i like about it is the back part and the guitars. by the way, this song was the b-side to "After Dark". they kinda go well together.

"Kamakura Good-bye" is total <3!~ it's i think one of the most ballad-y songs they ever wrote, and it came out really well. although the accompaniment and everything is simple, but it's not boring. it's the kind of song which washes over you and you go "aaaaaahhhhhhh omg that was nice". :D and gotou's voice is nice here. one of the nicest songs here!

つまり。
go listen!:D
though i would recommend "World World World" for beginners.
but "Surf Bungaku Kamakura" is something new and refreshing! haha.
by the way, this is the concept of the album: the titles of the songs are from the enoshima electric railway line in japan, and the order of the stations are Fujisawa, Kugenuma, Enoshima, Koshigoe, Shichirigahama, Inamuragasaki, Gokurakuji, Hase, Yuigahama, then Kamakura. so it's supposed to signify a journey from Fujisawa to Kamakura.
explains why the titles are so long.

cool right! and the train on the cover of "Fujisawa Loser" is modelled after the real trains on the enoshima railway! (same green and all)

i still like ajikan's more serious stuff, but this is interesting enough to last until their next album!~(:

tracklist:
01. Rainbow Magic Orchestra
02. CHEMICAL KING-TWOON
03. Bell the CAT
04. Galileo
05. JOKER -my name is-
06. cosmology
07. my girl
08. Sentimental PIGgy Romance
09. Room_C
10. JOHN
11. TABOO
12. Z-MAN
13. LIAR LIAR
14. Love me?
15. 88
previous singles are in bold

just discovered this a few days ago.
actually it came out together with surf bungaku kamakura.P:
忘れちゃってごめーん><

it's great!
though a bit messy and confusing the first time round (considering the fact that i first listened to it on the super noisy underground mrt), once you get used to the twisting melodies most of the songs fall into place. there were some i liked straightaway, like "CHEMICAL KING-TWOON" (no idea what it means) which has a pv! it's quite typical LM.C stuff.

surprisingly, i like "Galileo", although maya rapped through half of it. the last (and only) rap i heard from LM.C was "☆Rock The LM.C☆", which i didn't like (disaster, imo).
but maya's rapping has improved to my liking!the best part is the chorus, which makes me feel like i'm hurtling through the universe. :D pure genius!"cosmology" is pure electronica (i think...) electronica with a few guitar parts but the melody is quite nice and it has the starry and cosmo-y feel so that the name fits perfectly.
but the last part, where the same motif is repeated for 4x8x5 counts, is irritating.
o.o

"TABOO" has a catchy starting! also, "Love me?" and "my girl" are those nice happy christmassy sentimental-piggy-romance like tunes which serve as a break from the other rock stuff. "my girl"'s guitar parts are cute! but i don't like the chorus.

"Rainbow Magic Orchestra" and "Room_C" are interludes.

the rest of the new tracks are kind of confusing. probably will take some time to get used to.

it's awesome if you've heard LM.C before, and crazy if you've not.
and everyone should hear them first before watching their pvs. (unless you're a hardcore visual kei fan ... i thought they were crazy when i first saw 88's pv in japan)


also, it seems that LM.C released another full length album on the same day as "GIMMICAL☆IMPACT!!", called "SUPER GLITTER LOUD BOX".
故意的是不是！
quoting some comment somewhere, it's like "'GLITTER LOUD BOX' on steroids". (:
it mostly consists of past singles + "GLITTER LOUD BOX" tracks, albeit SUPER-GLITTER-LOUD-BOX version.
that means i have to go listen to "GLITTER LOUD BOX" first. takes time, and mp3 storage space!


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