#[[ It was probably one of my favourite things. ngl. They're funky

[umazane-muesli]

Well I ended up watching the concert movie in the middle of the night like some kind of lunatic (I haven't had a real sleep schedule since i was like 14) and wrote down a few of my favourite moments. They're not that interesting or original so i'll put them under a cut, but I wanted to keep a few of my thoughts on this blog <3 And you can also read this if you're debating whether you want to rent the video or not, maybe it'll help you make your choice. (it does contain "spoilers" though, if you can even call it that)

- JURE MAČEK!!!!!!!!! Holy shit I hadn't realised how starved I was for Jure content, having so many shots on him was the highlight of the show for me I love this funky little drummer!! Back shot and side shot and seeing his little face!!!! 🩵🩵🩵🩵

- I love the trumpet player! The trombone and saxophone players as well of course but trumpet man you are the star to me. The 3 guest musicians were such a cool addition to the show, it was a good way to make this concert special, and it was so cool to incorporate them not only in SSOL but also in ASTP and Ona. (Also, tangent sorry, but I keep saying "brass ona" because it's fun to say and I'll probably keep saying it but. I have a confession to make. Saxophone is not a brass instrument lol it's a woodwind. Anyway)

- Kris' transition from Bele sanje to Plastika. I know we've already talked about this but it's so good. And Jan vibing to it!!! Love it

- The melodrama of Bojan's performance of Plastika. This man needs to do The Most at all times or he'll explode. 10/10 please keep doing this mr Cvjetićanin

- One of my favourite things is when Kris stretches his arms out and he looks 4 meters tall. I love you giraffe man

- Sweatyyyy (look, i didn't say my thoughts were going to be profound)

- Every time Jan MARCHES down that catwalk I swoon a little bit, ngl

- The bts sections are interesting and pretty well incorporated, I enjoyed them a lot. If I had to say one negative thing about the movie it's that the subtitles are pretty inconsistent, the same way they were sometimes in the carpe diem and wwttb vlogs. Sometimes there are lines missing and the quality of the translation seems a bit uneven. (and apparently they were not added immediately when the video became available, but I rented it only later, so I didn't see that). Still, I was glad they added these bts sections, we got to see the prep, the crew and their roles (I'm always very interested in that), fan interviews and even a tiny bit about Jan's green guitar.

- Bojan melodrama part 2: floor edition

- the Padam montage was pretty cool, but I found it a little bit funny that they mixed footage of actual difficult moments (like them getting sick, etc.) with "joke" difficult moments? (Like "fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, I'm leaving this band"). But anyway, the way they used the screen during the show was pretty smart throughout, I thought.

- Mark Pirc' passion for black and white video needs to be studied

- Omamljeno telo made me want to be there SO BAD, it looked like so much fun. When they all (well, except for Jure) come on the catwalk together!!! <3

- Bojan's little bow to let Nace, Kris and Jan pass on the catwalk. silly and cute

- Martin hug. Need I say more

- So many moments where Jan and Kris' guitars compliment each other so well. I love when you can really hear their two melodies intertwine together. And actually properly seeing that is so cool.

- Nace's energy in Tokio. I mean his energy is great the whole time but during Tokio he gets Silly and it's very fun to watch

- Novi Val was so emotional <3

- it was a lovely idea to include a bit of footage from their vacation during the credits. Very cute. And saying that they missed Bojan and Bojan missed them 😭

I'm sure I would have had more to say but this is already unnecessarily long and I sort of forgot to write things down towards the end, so I'll stop there. But I really enjoyed the concert movie, I'm very glad to have watched it (would love to rewatch it at a normal human hour). I'm still holding out a tiny sliver of hope that it will be available to buy and permanently own someday, but in the meantime it was a very well-spent 8€ (well, 7.45 chf).

[shippin2electricbindu]

I was thinking about this. Seemed in character for both of them lmaoo

[waraupiero]

I love your metas

aww thank you!! i’m glad you like them!! and sure thing, i’d be happy to! here are a list of my Big Time Faves, but if there’s are specific genres that you like better, please let me know and i can give you even more suggestions!! i used to volunteer as a translator/journalist for a j-music webzine :) so i know quite a few bands haha

out of all the bands that i listen to, the most popular are probably the gazette and dir en grey. they both lean more on the heavier side, i’d say their music is mainly metal/punk. the gazette’s new song ‘falling’ is pretty emblematic of their style, very heavy stuff but also with a transcendent/emotional vibe. one of my favourite dir en grey songs is ‘lotus’, and it’s slightly more artsy and compositionally unusual, like the rest of their stuff. both bands also have softer/less intense songs, like ‘gentle lie’ for the gazette, and ‘glass skin’ for dir en grey.

if you’re into something even more artsy than dir en grey, the lead singer for dir en grey, kyo, has another band called sukekiyo. it’s also metal, but more of the melodic and experimental vibe. i really love their songs ‘anima’ and ‘aoguroi hysteria’.

on the more ‘rock’ and less ‘metal’ side of things, this is kind of basic but i really love one ok rock. their music is very accessible but still packs a very iconic punch. they draw a lot of influence from western emo and pop punk bands, but their music is usually more upbeat. their lyrics feel very ‘shōnen’, but i like that. my favourite songs by them are ‘jibun rock’, ‘onion!’, and ‘re:make’.

in a similar vein are a band i recently discovered, the oral cigarettes. they’re more funky and similarly upbeat, but with less of an emo/pop punk influence. their vibe is really cute and all their songs are bops lmao. ‘kishikaisei story’ and ‘kizukeyo baby’ are great songs!

for something that’s rock but has a little more edge, i’d really recommend miyavi, who is also quite famous. he’s known for his unique slap-guitar playing technique, and his music blends influences of rock, funk, r&b, latin, and hip hop. he’s called it ‘kabuki rock’ and ‘samurai rock’, haha. he’s one of the most prolific and innovative artists in the industry, and his music is very much Relevant to the times. i love ‘what a wonderful world (subarashikikana, kono sekai)’, his guitar vs. rap battle with kreva ‘strong’, and this wonderful funky bop about social media called ‘real?’.

something similarly playful is mucc, which kind of skips between the line of experimental metal and dance rock. it’s hard to describe their style, but i’d say that it’s goth with a sort of sardonic, cynical humour? and it’s hella danceable, for the most part. i love their old classic, ‘moumoku de arugayue no sogaikan’, and their nihilistic anthem ‘kokoro no nai machi’ is my go-to shower song ngl

if you like emo music!! i definitely recommend girugamesh!! the raw emotion and fiery beats in their music really fires me up!!! i’ve sort of fallen out of the loop with them but i still love them very much. some of my favourites by them are ‘crying rain’ and ‘arrow’.

if you like more softer stuff, plastic tree is definitely one of my top bands, ever. i’m not exactly sure how to categorise their style, i guess it’s more shoegaze-y, very dreamy. it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but their songs really carry you off to some faraway place. there’s an element of soft fantasy in their imagery, and it’s sweet and aching at the same time. the lead singer arimura ryutaro’s lyrics are also absolutely singular. sadly some of their newer stuff is not available on american youtube, but some good old songs they have are ‘makka na ito’, ‘sanatorium’, and ‘moonlight’. arimura ryutaro has also released a solo ep which is excellent, and some good tracks off of that are ‘manegoto’ and ‘mata, otsukisama’.

in a slightly more elaborate style is 9goats black out. same sort of dreamy vibe, but way more gothic and slightly sharper. they draw a lot inspiration from things like fairy tales, biblical stories, and gothic literature. their music is pretty amorphous; the melody always takes you somewhere you’re not expecting. so some of their stuff is a little inaccessible. but out of the more standard stuff, i really love ‘lilith’, ‘sink’, and ‘den lille havfrue’.

and lastly, for something that’s really, really japanese, i very much recommend kagrra,. kagrra, uses a lot of traditional japanese composition in their music, and their band name is a reference to kagura (神楽), a genre of traditional japanese music. they’re also a softer band, but their music is absolutely haunting and lovely. my favourites have got to be ‘utakata’ and ‘shiki’.

sorry this was so long!! i hope there is at least something here that is to your taste, haha. i’m not sure what your taste is so i tried to cover most of my bases when it came to japanese rock. of course if there are specific genres that you do like that aren’t mentioned here, please let me know! i also listen to a fair bit of pop/pop-rock, electronic, more experimental weird metal shit, and even classic japanese rock from the 80s and 90s – whether it’s dad rock, or underground rock. i also know some meme bands/air bands, so if you’re into stuff like that too i can also suggest some. if there’s something here that you like especially and want some other bands/some more songs that sound similar, let me know and i can do that too!!