Hey its Miki.
I’ve been rather remiss about posting in this blog for the last few months. Maru and I have been working on a new project, which will be ready shortly, but for now since it is the New Year (!!); I thought I’d post about what’s gone on this year in visual kei.
Well sort of…
There’s been a lot of change in the visual scene this year. Although, you could argue that a great deal of change = no change since there is always so much change. I can’t say its positive, can’t say its negative, but we’ve seen things this year that I’d like to not see again.
This year saw upheaval in the scene: Yoshiki’s back problems, Miyavi getting married and having a baby (good for him!), and the most obvious hardship: Jasmine You’s passing.
We’ve also seen quite a few breakups and lot of member changes, which is more normal (especially as it involves a lot of the youngsters). The attention paid to the more indie bands has gone up again I’d say. This is an interesting development! I never thought I’d be listening to a young band like ALSDEAD so quickly; or even see such a young, promising band come overseas so quickly! Developments like this in the visual kei scene are always exciting, especially for old hands like me. I remember when it was difficult to find information on indie bands, much less music to listen to, or websites to buy from.
We haven’t talked about it yet, but this year saw a great deal of international activity from Cure! And while the U.S. version of Cure magazine seems to be stalled, the media site and the internet radio site both seem to be doing pretty well so far.
The happy news: more than a few bands have gone major label. Ayabie is one of them — apparently SuG is another.
I can’t say I’ve heard anything amazing this year come out of the major label bands, though. For example, I wasn’t overly impressed with SID’s singles this year, and Ayabie’s singles weren’t my favorite either . I liked D’espairsRay’s Final Call the best (if I have to name one).
Speaking of D’espairsRay — Their new live DVD’s price is pretty close to rape of the wallet variety. D:
Some of what I’ve seen that’s really bad:
-The economy still sucks in the U.S. (and every where else from what I’ve been hearing).
-Said bad economy is causing a problem with tours. *sad face*
- Said bad economy is contributing to downloading. *sad face* x2
- H1N1… D:
We’re in kind of a vicious cycle right now I think, although the con list for next year already looks promising!!
Hopes for 2010:
1) A * real * U.S. tour (that includes more than L.A. and New York). Preferably not in July and not when its fucking cold.
2) That Anime Central (Acen)’s ban on Japanese bands with all male members ends.
3) Awesome release from someone that rocks everyone’s socks (seriously).
4) A fanbase with a better sense of humor.
5) For the fuckery to stop. Now.
Miki