The Third Parade

A little bit late for Buck-Tick's 30th anniversary, but still exciting: Buck-Tick have announced the release of their third tribute album, Parade III, which will also come out on January 29th, 2020, the same day as Datenshi. The jacket art features an original drawing by nationally famous psychedelic artist Uno Aquirax, who is a personal friend of Imai's, and already well known in Buck-Tickistan as the creator of the jacket art and tour goods designs for Razzle Dazzle. While not quite as involved as the Razzle Dazzle album cover, this one's still plenty cute. Could that accordion-playing crocodile be a shoutout to the original Gustave the Nile Crocodile? What's that eye ball doing all by itself? How does that turtle feel about having a frog on its back? Is the androgynous creature in the pirate hat the shade of Pete Burns? And check out the way that camel is, hehe, humping Buck-Tick! There are so many questions here, it will tie up y'all art nerds for weeks! Go nuts!

This new tribute album is notable because it contains tracks by many artists who have closely collaborated with Buck-Tick over the years, including indie artists with followings too small to prop up a joint tour with Buck-Tick, like the joint tours that happened with the previous two Parade albums (Der Zibet, Cube Juice, and Kokushoku Sumire fall into this category). Parade III also contains the highest number of female vocalists of any of the Parade tribute albums to date - Shiina Ringo, Margaret Hiroi of 88 Kasho Junrei, two-bit former idol Fujikawa Chiai, and Sakamoto Miu (daughter of YMO keyboardist, anti-nuke crusader and bona-fide legend Sakamoto Ryuichi and strange folksy musical faerie Yano Akiko). (Oh wait, did you say that Yuka from Kokushoku Sumire is also a vocalist? We must have missed it! Sorry, fans!) The lineup for this new tribute album also contains many younger artists, in addition to relative contemporaries of Buck-Tick. It's unclear how all these artists were selected to participate in this album, but perhaps some of the younger artists represent a younger generation who were influenced by Buck-Tick - and if so, Buck-Tick should be proud, at least of their cultural power, if not the musical ability of their admirers... but I get ahead of myself.

The list of songs has already been announced, so let's take a look at the various artists, their song choices, and their connections to B-T.

.

First on the list are Der Zibet, with "Ai no Souretsu," and it's too bad they're at the top of the list, because this is almost certainly going to be the best track on the album (though we've got hopeful eyes on a few others, too.)

Der Zibet have been well known to most Buck-Tick fans since the beginning, mainly because of Der Zibet vocalist Issay's close (and most decidedly, definitely, by no means homo-erotic) "friendship" friendship with Mr. Sakurai. Der Zibet came on the scene in 1984, when Buck-Tick were still in their infancy as a band, and were an inspiration to Sakurai in his early days in Tokyo, before Buck-Tick made it big. Issay and Sakurai later became close friends, recorded songs together, and made guest appearances on each other's tours. Sakurai appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Masquerade," for Der Zibet's album 1991 Shishunki II -Downer Side-, and Imai appeared as a guest guitarist on "4D Vision no Rasen Kaidan," for the same album. Issay and Hikaru (Der Zibet's guitarist and main songwriter) stated that they composed "Masquerade" in Sakurai's image. The lyrics to "4D Vision" also contain a veiled reference to Imai's curlicue red guitar. Sakurai and Imai both appeared as guests on some of Der Zibet's tour stops to promote the album, with Sakurai and Issay giving an infamously decidedly not homo-erotic performance that was filmed but never released publicly, probably because the venue staff at the Kudan Kaikan (where the show took place) didn't want to repeat the experience of having to spend an entire week mopping sour fangirl bodily effluvia off the floor. 

Sakurai later appeared as a guest vocalist on the track "Koi no Hallelujah" for Issay's 1994 solo cover album Flowers. Issay stated that he had Sakurai sing the higher harmony line for this song deliberately, despite the fact that Sakurai's vocal range is lower, because he thought the role reversal "would be very interesting." This choice surely had absolutely zero homo-erotic meanings regarding the nature of the relationship between the two.

In 1995, Issay appeared as a guest vocalist on "Itoshi no Rock Star" for Buck-Tick's album Six/Nine, and appeared as a guest at several of the live performances as well, for another filmed-but-not-released reprise of the fabled on-stage makeout scene of 1991. The interesting thing about "Itsohi no Rock Star" is that despite the fact that while Sakurai and Issay have very different voices when singing separately, when singing together, and on this track in particular, they sound nearly indistinguishable from one another. If you never noticed there are two vocalists on "Itoshi no Rock Star," don't kick yourself - it's hard to tell.

In 2010, Sakurai rejoined Der Zibet to record a re-worked version of "Masquerade" for the band's self-cover album Nostalgic Future. Then, in 2012, Der Zibet performed at Yagami Toll's 50th birthday show, It's a Now! (live report here), at which they performed "Masquerade" again with a surprise guest appearance from Sakurai. Madeouts were made, and filmed. But not released. Because Buck-Tick's management made a good decision for once and decided the internet was already soggy enough with fangirl juices to last several aeons into the future. Sorry, fans.

Anyhow, given the close relationship between the two bands, it's a bit surprising that Der Zibet didn't appear on one of the previous tribute albums. We can only suspect it's because, following their initial 1996 break-up and subsequent 13 year hiatus, they lost touch with most of their fan following, and returned to the music scene in 2009 as a small-scale indie act, despite the fact that in their earlier career they regularly mounted national tours and sold out large venues. Indie they still are, and (scuttlebutt alert!) possessed of one of the most ill-mannered fan followings in all of Japan (after Buck-Tick's, that is), but their influence on Japanese rock should not be overlooked. Arguably the earliest precursor to visual kei, Der Zibet were the first Japanese band to fully unite dark, goth rock and post punk sounds with sparkling new wave and glam rock, releasing consistently original work in a unique fusion of genres, and challenging simplistic rock-n-roll musical structures with exceedingly complex variations, made possible by the high level of technical skill and musicianship possessed by each band member. 

As for their choice of song... though Der Zibet's music has taken a much darker, more gothic turn in recent years, "Ai no Souretsu" is very dark, even for them. However, it's easy to see why the enka-style melody appealed to Issay's retro-cabaret sensibilities. Also, given that Sakurai made no secret of the fact that "Ai no Souretsu" was his favorite song on Atom Miraiha No. 9, the choice may be a bit of a favor or tribute to the 100% certified platonic, heterosexual, manly, bro-dude, no-homo friendship between the two.

. 

Next, we have Dir en grey with "National Media Boys." This particular collaboration amuses us greatly on a personal level, because back in 2006 when we started NGS, we were avid fans of Dir en grey as well as Buck-Tick, but the two bands were not friends with each other at the time, and back then, we figured they never would be friends, because they'd probably never get along. And now look at them! The Dir en grey members (especially guitarist Die and drummer Shinya) can be spotted at Buck-Tick shows every year. In fact, once yours truly actually ended up seated directly behind Die at a Buck-Tick show. Early in Dir en grey's career, vocalist Kyo also stated that it was a picture of Mr. Sakurai on a middle school classmate's desk that inspired him to become a rock musician, though vocals-wise, he's made no secret that his greatest influence is Kiyoharu.

Dir en grey have very different attitudes and aesthetics to Buck-Tick. Once poster children for the visual kei movement, Dir en grey doffed that mantle after inadvertently spawning a huge crop of imitator bands with small blond vocalists and sexy-grotesque looks (most notably Nightmare and the Gazette. Sorry, fans.) Determined to make it big in America, Dir en grey drastically toned down their visual image and pushed their songwriting into solidly progressive metal territory, making friends with various American metal bands, and touring widely in America and Europe. After more than a decade of international struggle, Dir en grey achieved what they'd always wanted: relatively mainstream acceptance in the pantheon of Western metal, without being slapped as "anime" or other racist labels typically given to Japanese bands daring to try to make a break in the West. Though Dir en grey's early work displays a great range of tongue-in-cheek horror humor, their metal-era work has been decidedly serious. At times, their music reaches soaring heights of gentle melodic beauty, like sun breaking through storm clouds, but the predominant emotions are anger, sadness, and regret, and the dour attitude the band members display in interviews reflects these themes... which is why we never thought they'd become friends with the giggly, socially awkward peace-and-love living cat memes who are the B-T members. But if the B-T members are coaxing some laughs out of the Dir en grey dudes behind closed doors, so much the better.

As far as their song choice goes, "National Media Boys" may seem surprising at first glance - after all, it's major-key pop, far from Buck-Tick's most metal song, and you might think that Dir en grey would choose to cover a song that matches their hardcore sound. However, this is probably a song that holds sentimental value for the Dir en grey members, because it came out when they were still in school. Beyond that, the toxicity of mass media has been a very important theme in Dir en grey's work, explored in songs like "Gyakujou Tannou Keloid Milk" and "Mr. Newsman" (the latter containing one of Cayce's favorite Dir en grey lyrics of all time, "In my head a blue fish has just died/Good night"). As typical of Japanese bands, Dir en grey have not stooped to naming names in their political disgruntlement, but the disgruntlement is obvious all the same. Choosing to cover a song that amounts to a rejection of fascism at this moment in history is obviously a political choice, and one that fits in perfectly with Buck-Tick's mission.

.

Next, we have Brahman, with "Iconoclasm." Perhaps it's not surprising, given how this song holds such an, erm, iconic place in Buck-Tick's discography, but "Iconoclasm" is probably Buck-Tick's most-covered song of all time, appearing on all three Parade albums (J covered it on Parade I, while D'erlanger covered it on Parade II). We could lament the lack of originality in song choice, but for the fact that, as an Asian-flavored hardcore punk band, Brahman have more claim to the song on the basis of musical style. Brahman aren't a band we follow, but they have a solid following in Japan and have, like Dir en grey, succeeded in numerous international tours on their own merits, avoiding racist labels. For whatever reason, it seems that the international punk and metal scenes are more willing to embrace bands from a variety of different countries, and all we can say to that is, way to go guys, keep setting a good example for everyone else.

Another interesting thing about Brahman is that they openly state that their music is inspired by traditional Japanese and Indian music and mythology, as well as Western-derived punk influences. The connection between Brahman and B-T remains obscure for the moment, but one thing the two bands have in common is this overtly Asian influence, which can be heard in both lyrics and music across Buck-Tick's discography (see "Oriental Love Story," "Kalavinka," "Kagerou," "Yumeji," "Adult Children," etc.) - incidentally, something Dir en grey also share. For those of you interested, check out a digest of Brahman's live performances here. Note how lead singer Toshi-Low is wearing a t-shirt that reads "Hansen," the Japanese word for "No War," while the bassist is wearing a t-shirt that reads "Destroy Fascism." These are punk sentiments, through and through, but we know B-T share them. Already, this newest tribute album is looking a teeny weeny little bit political (and we don't think that's a bad thing).

.

Fourth on the list is Shiina Ringo, with "Uta." After the smashing success of Ringo's joint performance with Mr. Sakurai on the TV program Music Station, this collaboration is no surprise. Based on the reports we heard, Shiina Ringo fans and Music Station viewers across the internet were wowed by Sakurai's performance of "Elopers," filling up Twitter with comments like, "Who is this guy? He's too pretty to be real!" Shiina Ringo's career is burning hot - she's just released an all-time best album, Newton's Ringo, and her participation in Parade III is bound to bring in still more crossover fans... we hold Ringo entirely responsible for the fact that the tickets to this year's Day in Question were almost impossible to get, so fans, be ready to bid farewell to your chances of ever seeing Buck-Tick live again without resorting to blackmail, extortion, and prostitution. We already wrote about Shiina Ringo in this post, so read it if you're interested.

As far as her song choice goes, it will be interesting to see how she handles "Uta." This song is harder and more industrial than most of Ringo's work (with the notable exception of "Elopers"), and the melody doesn't necessarily seem the most obviously suited to Ringo's voice or typical style. However, the dark and existential theme of the song fits in very well with the themes she worked with on her most recent album, Sandokushi. The lyrics to "Uta" are also notable for their explicitly male viewpoint on sexuality, so it will be interesting to see if Ringo sings the song through with the original lyrics, or tweaks it to fit a woman's perspective - plenty of Ringo's songs are sexually explicit, but as a woman, she writes from a very different perspective than Sakurai. Ringo is nothing if not versatile, so it's possible she'll come out with something entirely different to the original song, and we hope she does. The whole point of a cover album is experimenting with new interpretations of old songs.

.

Fifth up are GARI, with "Aku no Hana." For those of you new to Buck-Tickistan, GARI frontman Yow-Row (pronounced "Yoichiro," not that you'd know it from that ridiculous affected spelling) is a longtime Buck-Tick collaborator. GARI's first credit in Buck-Tick's universe was for their industrial rock arrangement of the Japanese translation of Edith Piaf's classic anthem "Ai no Sanka" ("Hymne l'Amour") for Sakurai's first solo project in 2004. This track appeared on Sakurai's solo EP Wakusei -Rebirth-, and if y'all haven't heard it, by all means go check it out - it's dark and angry and sexy as hell, and about as far as you can get from the original version of the song, while still maintaining all the pathos.

Much later, in 2016, Yow-Row returned to Buck-Tickistan as the vocalist of the new Schaft, in lieu of Raymond Watts, who wasn't available at the time. Yow-Row can be heard singing lead vocals on Schaft 2016's album Ultra and EP Deeper and Down. Though he doubtless did his best trying to fill Ray's big shoes, Yow-Row didn't quite manage to carry the weight of Schaft, choosing instead to try and make himself inconspicuous so that Imai and Fujii Maki could shine. In our opinion, this was a grave error - he ought to have known that Fujii Maki never shines. Fujii Maki is the bottomless pit of Tartarus. He's a supermassive black hole. He never smiles and he certainly never stoops to acting like he's performing a rock show. He simply cannot be allowed the responsibility of fronting a band. Consequently, Schaft 2016 ended up being the Imai Hisashi show, and might have been more fun had Imai just grabbed the bull by the horns wholesale and done the vocals himself. But we know the very idea of singing while playing guitar made him too nervous to continue. For more on the Schaft 2016 tour, read our live report here.

Yow-Row has also worked directly with Buck-Tick on their albums Arui wa Anarchy and No. 0, providing keyboards and electronic sound manipulation for "Melancholia -Electria" (for the Keijijou Ryuusei single), "Uchuu Circus" and "Melancholia" (for Arui wa Anarchy), and "Gustave," "Salome -Femme Fatale-" and "Babel" (for No. 0). Here, he was more in his element, if a bit of a show-off at times. GARI's sound hovers somewhere between industrial, screamo, and dubstep, and Yow-Row made effective use of dubstep grooves to spice up both "Melancholia" and "Gustave" into club-ready dance tracks. Though his treatment of "Salome" came across as a bit of a desperate bid for attention, there's no denying that the keyboard solo at the end is cool, and the electro-scapes behind "Babel" and "Uchuu Circus" do a lot to make the songs pop.

Given this close history and familiarity with Buck-Tick, when we read that GARI's choice of cover song is "Aku no Hana," we can only ask, dear God, why??? This is the most basic bitch to ever bitch the BiTch of basic BiTch Buck-Tick covers. (Fun fact, Imai was a BiTch before he was a BesTia.) It has already been done to death, appearing, like Iconoclasm, on the previous two Parade albums, first in the hands of Rally (a Buck-Tick fanboy super-group led by GLAY's very own mini-Hisashi), and then in the hands of solidarifically politically disgruntled ero-guro retro visual kei band Merry, who, in our opinion, should have been allowed the last word on this song after their electrifying live performances of it on tour and festival in 2012. Dear Yow-Row, Buck-Tick have nearly 300 songs to their name. You are their friend, collaborator, and drinking buddy. It's clear your a closet tryhard and desperately want them to think you're cool. What made you think "Aku no Hana" was a good choice? We sincerely want to know the answer.

Actually, on second thought, no we don't. And the instant we hear a whiff of your heavy-handed use of Auto-Tune on the vocal tracks, we're skipping to the next track and never going back. Tryhards should try harder.

.

Next on the list are minus, featuring Fujikawa Chiai, with "Keijijou Ryuusei." For those of you who don't know, minus is the dark-electro unit founded some years ago by Fujii Maki and Morioka Ken, formerly of Japanese new wave sensation Soft Ballet. Soft Ballet were scouted by Sawaki Kazuo of Taiyou Records, the eccentric who scouted Buck-Tick and declared they would make it big based on their numerology charts. After Soft Ballet made it big, too, word was that Sawaki got himself an attitude, but unfortunately failed to scout any further big-hit bands. However, we'd say that scouting Buck-Tick and Soft Ballet alone is more than enough to brag about for the rest of your career.

Soft Ballet were close with Buck-Tick, and even toured together with Buck-Tick and Luna Sea in the suggestively-named 1994 LSB Tour. Morioka also played keyboards on Buck-Tick's album Seventh Heaven in 1988, and then again in 2014 on "Sekai wa Yami de Michiteiru," for Arui wa Anarchy. Fujii Maki, meanwhile, worked with Imai off and on as Schaft, starting in 1991 with a track, "Nicht-Titel," for the dark-alt omnibus album Dance2Noise 001. Schaft then released a full-length album in 1994, adding Raymond Watts of British industrial unit Pig as a vocalist, along with a large roster of guest musicians. As we discussed in the section on GARI, Schaft resumed activities in 2016 at the urging of Fujii, with a new lineup including GARI vocalist Yow-Row, L'arc en Ciel drummer Awaji Yukihiro, and AA= bassist Ueda Takeshi.

Basically, the Buck-Tick members have been friends with Fujii and Morioka for more than two decades. Buck-Tick even performed with minus at the 2015 Lunatic Festival (live report here). However, Morioka passed away suddenly in 2016, right as minus was gearing up for a national tour, so Fujii was left to carry on with the band alone... which is doubtless why he kept on adding more and more and more drummers to the mix. We confess that after Morioka's passing, we stopped following the band. Fujii may be an accomplished mixer of electronic music, but he's just about the least engaging live performer we've ever seen (sorry, fans). Morioka was the one who carried the stage shows, with his flamboyant personality, sexy costumes, and energetic dancing. For us, this was the point, and once the point had ascended back into the seventh dimension, there was no more point down here on earth. So we really have no idea what happened to minus after 2016, aside from the fact that they have kept up their activities and people still attend their shows.

When Morioka was still around, he usually performed most of the vocals himself (he may have been lip-synching part of it, but that's because it's very hard to sing and dance at the same time. You get out of breath). With Morioka gone... well, we have no idea. If anyone here does, please let us know. It's telling that all the videos on the minus YouTube channel date from a time when Morioka was still shuffling along the mortal coil with the rest of us poor suckers instead of cartwheeling through the Milky Way with other beautiful glitter aliens. Guest vocalists? Disembodied vocal backtracks? Fujii Maki actually singing?

It's true that minus have worked with a number of guest vocalists, including Kent from Lilies and Remains, and Kate from u crack irigaru. Who's Fujikawa Chiai then, you ask? Don't feel bad, we asked the same question. Answer: she is a former idol turned "singer" who was born approximately five minutes ago, so don't feel embarrassed if you've never heard of her. Why is she doing vocals for minus on Buck-Tick's tribute album? We have no idea about that one either. None of the other vocalists minus worked with (at least till Morioka's passing) came from the land of mainstream idol-pop, and they each had distinctive voices well suited to the band's eerie, dark, atmospheric sound. Fujikawa, while perfectly competent and unobjectionable as a singer, sounds (and looks) exactly like every other j-pop girl out there, which is pretty much the requirement if you want to be an idol. After all, who wants an idol who doesn't look the same as all the other ones? It defeats the purpose!

While the choice of "Keijijou Ryuusei" fits well with the dark and down-tempo aspect of the minus sound, we harbor deep doubts about Fujikawa's ability to pull off a song this intense and existential. The ultralite quality of her vocals would lend themselves far better to Buck-Tick's early work, such as "Sissy Boy" or "Telephone Murder." (No joke, we would actually love to hear minus plus Fujikawa cover "Telephone Murder"). But they probably didn't choose her for her voice, so much as her potential to get younger people (or idol-loving mouthbreathers?) to buy the album. And make the rest of us suffer.

.

If you've made it this far, you get a reward: Cube Juice, with "Love Me." Down-tempo electro artist Cube Juice is another long-time Buck-Tick collaborator. In addition to contributing the music for "Fantasy" and "Tensei" to Sakurai's Ai no Wakusei solo project in 2004, and performing live at the tour as Mr. Sakurai's own personal keyboard-playing "free hugs" bitch boy, he was also a member of Hoshino Hidehiko's electro-chill side project dropz, along with former Sneaker Pimps vocalist Kelli Ali. Since then, Cube Juice has done keyboards and manipulation for tracks on just about every Buck-Tick album, mainly for songs written by Hoshino, though he made a notable contribution to Imai's "Hikari no Teikoku" on No. 0. Pale-faced and petit, Cube Juice looks like he could easily be the pixy from "Pixy" (one of the Buck-Tick songs he worked on), and his sound matches his appearance - gentle, dreamy, sweet without being saccharine. His albums III and In the Eye of a Wili-Wili have been on our chill-out music rotation for more than a decade.

For that reason, it's no surprise he picked "Love Me." More recent live versions of the song have had an up-tempo, rock-n-roll vibe, but the original Aku no Hana mix was about as close to the calm, soft Cube Juice sound as anything Buck-Tick have released. In general, Cube Juice doesn't do much with vocals beyond breathy, heavily distorted samples, but a few of his earliest tracks featured him singing full lead vocal lines, so we know he can do it if he has a mind to. We're really looking forward to this one.

.

Next up, Kokushoku Sumire with "Lullaby III." Kokushoku Sumire, much as it pains us to say so, are also long-time Buck-Tick collaborators, a calamity for which Imai Hisashi is solely responsible (more on that here, if you care). Imai first picked up this goth-loli violin Tim Burton claymation "band" for Buck-Tick's second re-working of "Victims of Love," which appeared as the second b-side on the Keijijou Ryuusei single in 2014. The Kokushoku Sumire members then made deeply regrettable guest appearances on a few stops of the Arui wa Anarchy hall tour, performing the new version of "Victims of Love" with Buck-Tick, as well as "Doll" and "Diabolo." Imai then performed as a guest guitarist on Kokushoku Sumire's album Cosmopolitan, which we confess we never listened to (but we hear it includes 10 Great Tips on How to Use Squeaky Violins in the Bedroom that are Sure to Drive Him Wild!) Kokushoku Sumire also worked with Buck-Tick on their most recent single, providing violin and accordion on "Rondo," a far more successful collaboration than the disappointingly ill-fated "Victims of Love."

As for the song, we would have thought that "Doll" would have been the obvious choice, since it's Buck-Tick's most goth-loli song to date, and on the Anarchy tour it offered vocalist Yuka a chance to pretend to play a toy piano. Music-wise, "Lullaby III" fits better with the group's sound than many of the other song choices on Parade III fit their cover-ers, but do Kokushoku Sumire really have the balls to sing about razor blades, murderers, and, horror of horrors, kissing? (Ewwwww!!! Boys have cooties!!!) Also, how the fuck can you cover "Lullaby III" without a bass player? Then again, though Kokushoku Sumire may be talentless and unlistenable, at least they are bona-fide underground musicians, not idol hand-me-downs. Sheesh, we never thought we'd have to say such a thing on this blog. What is the world coming to?

.

Next up, GranRodeo, with "Tenshi wa Dare da." GranRodeo are one of those names we've seen floating around for years, without ever having a real sense of who it belongs to. Researching this article, we discovered that they are a duo founded by an anime voice actor, Kishow, and unsurprisingly given their lineage, have made a lot of anime soundtrack songs. Sound-wise... well, they sound like anime songs, the way anime songs sound these days - hyper pumped-up positive major key, and completely interchangeable. Their session bassist also plays bass for Nishikawa Takanori's band Abingdon Boys' School, so this may be the secret to how they ended up on Buck-Tick's tribute album, since we all know how much Takanori adores Acchan-chan! However, GranRodeo also doubtless wanted in on this album precisely so they could cover a song as hyper pumped-up positive minor key annoying and repetitive as "Tenshi wa Dare da," a song we never used to hate till Buck-Tick played it 5,235,280,981,321,321 times live (make it stoooooooop!). We can't say yea or nay to their music, but this video is worth watching, if for no other reason than that Imai is surely murderously jealous of Kishow's jacket.

.

Next come Sid, with "Jupiter." And all we have to say to this is, is there some kind of arcane rule of the Parade tribute albums that states that whiny former visual kei bands are required to cover "Jupiter"? Mucc's rendition of "Jupiter" for Parade II was probably the worst version of the song we've ever heard, including all those drunken out-of-tune karaoke performances we sat through back in our tear-up-the-town younger years. We're not even going to apologize to Mucc fans for that statement, because we also heard it live at the Parade Fest 2012, and it was so bad we almost drowned ourselves in our beer glass before Buck-Tick ever came on stage.

The good thing is, it's unlikely Sid could possibly do as bad a job on this song as Mucc did. But if, somehow, they manage to actually do worse, we will give them a prize. Because that's how we roll.

Oh yeah, who are Sid and why are they on a B-T tribute album? Sid are a former decora kei band (like visual kei but with gay catboys covered in conversation hearts). Now, we gather, they are a Daiso Halloween level "dark-ish" mostly-mainstream but still slightly visual kei band, who are capable of selling out the Budoukan. As to why they are on Buck-Tick's tribute album, we can only assume this is a bid for Kurumi's hand in marriage. Too bad Kurumi is already married to Acchan.

.

Now, we have one of the most interesting and surprising participants and song choices: Hachijuu-Hachi Kasho Junrei, with "Ao no Sekai." This band's very long and difficult name means "Pilgrimage to 88 Places," which fits with the band's use of traditional Japanese imagery and mythology, and lots and lots of difficult kanji and obscure religious references. Aside from the fact that they got their start in 2006, little is known about their history - not even the band's website offers much to go on. Still signed to an indie label, it appears that the band languished in obscurity for some years before getting popular enough to mount oneman tours more recently. One of the distinctive elements of this band is that they're fronted by a woman, Margaret Hiroi, who is also the bassist and main lyricist. If y'all are as sick of wimpy j-pop girls as we are, 88 Kasho Junrei are like a screaming freight train of angry fresh air, slamming down hard-rock, punk and metal riffs in spastic, humorous, acid-trip music videos, while criticizing the government. How they came to be on Buck-Tick's tribute album is anyone's guess, but more than many of the bands in the lineup this time, 88 Kasho Junrei have the right level of weirdness and iconoclastic spirit to feel like they've actually earned their spot, and they fit with the anti-fascist undercurrent.

And what a song choice! "Ao no Sekai" is one of our favorite Buck-Tick songs, but we'd hazard a guess that the likes of Yow-Row has never even listened to it once (because once you hear a song like "Ao no Sekai," how can you cover "Aku no Hana"?) It's one of Buck-Tick's more musically complex numbers, and it requires powerhouse vocals, but it appears that unlike many of the other vocalists on this album, Margaret Hiroi's vocals pack enough punch to do it justice. However, we think it's likely she selected the song because of that sexy slap bass line, and we can't blame her. If we were a bassist, we'd slap the fuck out of that line. We'd make love to that line. That line is kinky roleplay incarnate.

.

Next up, we have Fujimaki Ryota with "Just One More Kiss." Former frontman of chart-topping soft-rock band Remioromen, Fujimaki (not to be confused with Fujii Maki) launched a solo career in 2012, following Remioromen's announcement of indefinite hiatus. His solo music style is that folksy, drippy, anthem-pop meets singer-songwriter sound that the top of the Japanese pop charts can't get enough of these days, and while it's not a style that's ever held much appeal to us, what can be said for Fujimaki is that he has a lovely voice and he's an accomplished guitar player. "Just One More Kiss" is another obvious, "been done" song choice, but at the same time, it suits Fujimaki's style so well, we wouldn't be surprised if he pulled off a cover version that's better than the original. (Objective fact: "Just One More Kiss" is one of Buck-Tick's stupidest songs. Why else do you think it's the song that made them famous? We could do with a better version that gives it all the schlock pop cheese it deserves. Fight me, fangirls. Fight me.) We just hope he makes sure to include those lines in the middle, "I'm sinking a bow choo. You ah my won and only lavass."

.

Finally, last, and (maybe not, but probably) least, we have Sakamoto Miu, with "Miu." As we mentioned up top, Sakamoto Miu is the daughter of musical superhero Sakamoto Ryuichi and his former wife, Yano Akiko, a well-known musician in her own right. You'd think that with parents this talented, Miu would be a talented firecracker herself, but... well... she's not her dad. While she obviously chose to cover "Miu" because she and the song share the same name, we wonder if she actually listened to the song before signing on to sing it. "Miu" might superficially sound light and gentle, like Sakamoto Miu's music, but the story it tells, of suicidal longing for perfect union with a mysterious, unrequited dream-love, goes abyssal-zone deep into the dark interior psychology Sakurai loves so much. Even if it's full of flowers and butterflies, this isn't just a song about flowers and butterflies, and though Sakurai sings it in a light, gentle voice to suit the melody, he still makes sure to convey all the wistfulness, pain and longing in the lyrics.

Does Sakamoto Miu have any chance of even coming close to pulling this off? We don't know, but her strangely emotionless cover of "The Never Ending Story" doesn't do much to inspire hope. She seems to be having genuine difficulty singing the melody, which interferes with her ability to give the song any sort of personality or interpretation, and unlike YMO's vocals, Miu's deadpan vocals don't appear to be deliberate in service of some kind of artistic end. So why's she on Buck-Tick's tribute album? Well, maybe it's because Shiina Ringo went on her radio show and talked up how cool Acchan-chan is. Or maybe, it's because Imai wanted a hit of whatever the fuck she's doing in this music video. (We think it's the second one).

.

So that concludes our not-so-short summary of this Parade album's list of artists. All in all, we can probably expect about one third thumbs-up, one-third meh, and one-third unlistenable travesty from this album, which is maybe better than Parade II, though certainly not as good as Parade I. We sort of hate to sound like a hater, but if you're willing to appear on a Buck-Tick tribute album, that means you're willing to be judged against Buck-Tick, and that's a challenge not for the faint of heart.

The fact is, Buck-Tick songs are hard to cover. They may be fairly technically simple, but the Buck-Tick members have such strong musical personalities that it's a rare artist who can really make their songs come alive. We've seen it a few times, but not many. What do y'all think? What track are you most looking forward to on this album? What tracks were your favorites on the previous Parade albums? What artist who isn't on here do you think should be on here, and what song do you think they should cover? Have you found any quality Buck-Tick covers on YouTube or elsewhere that you think are worth sharing?  Please share in the comments section, and help Blog-Tick live again (we're undead, undead, undead!)

.

Farewell to Ken Morioka

.

It is with extremely sad hearts that we announce the passing of stupendous keyboardist and all-around glitter bomb, Ken Morioka. He died on June 3rd, of heart failure, and was laid to rest over the weekend at a private family funeral. He was only 49 years old. Though he had been having health problems recently, and was forced to postpone the birthday show he had scheduled in March due to poor health, I don't think anyone realized the situation was life threatening. Ken's newest project, minus (-), had been gearing up for the release of a new album and a national summer tour. These are not the plans of a dying man, my friends. We're all shocked.

All of Ken's upcoming shows, both solo and with minus (-), have been cancelled...all except for the minus (-) concert at Akasaka Blitz scheduled for August 13th, which I think we can assume will take the form of a tribute concert. Ken made his mark on the music scene many times over and the number of musicians hoping to pay tribute would fill Akasaka Blitz easily.

For those of you who don't know, Mr. Morioka's first band experience was as the keyboardist of Issay and Suicides, the band that Issay fronted before starting Der Zibet. From there, Ken went on to Soft Ballet, who were signed to Taiyo Records, the same indie label on which Buck-Tick got their start. Soon after Buck-Tick, Soft Ballet made their major debut with Victor. Soft Ballet were closely associated with Buck-Tick and even toured with them in the early 90's, as part of the tri-band LSB Tour - L for Luna Sea, S for Soft Ballet, and B for Buck-Tick.

Though Soft Ballet eventually broke up, Ken remained actively involved in music through a variety of solo projects and collaborations, experimenting with a wide array of genres, including tribal, world, ambient, and electro-pop. His most recent solo lineup for live shows consisted of his younger brother Kei Morioka on guitar, Kozi (of ZIZ and Dalle, formerly of Malice Mizer) on guitar, Morrie's sax player Yukarie on saxophone, Satoru Ikeda on computers, and Chargee (of ZIZ and Omega Dripp) on drums. With this band, he played a very enthusiastic, up-tempo kind of techno dancepop that perfectly reflected his personality - he had boyish enthusiasm for music he was passionate about, and while he remained modest about his musical accomplishments, he was always happy to tell people at parties about the time that he followed JAPAN's entire Japanese tour, or how sad he was when he heard the rumor that Depeche Mode had taken an irrational dislike to Soft Ballet, or how he painstakingly learned all the keyboard parts to Tsuchiya Masami's Rice Music by ear.

How lucky for him, then, that he had a chance to become a member of Tsuchiya Masami's new band Ka.F.Ka, along with his old buddy Issay. At Ka.F.Ka's first live show, which I had the privilege of attending (though I never wrote a live report), Mr. Tsuchiya detailed with some glee how cleverly Ken had figured out how to play all the keyboard parts for the Rice Music track "KA.F.KA," despite the fact that the original recording consisted not just of one keyboard part, but of many parts multi-tracked over each other. "I have nothing but awe for him! Only such a devoted fan could pull that off!" said Mr. Masami, and it looked like Ken was holding back tears.

Ken was fond of making guest appearances in unlikely places. In October of 2012, he and a number of his regular collaborators, including Kozi and Issay, gave a one-night only performance as a JAPAN cover band to celebrate the birthday of Auto-Mod's guitarist Yukino. After Kozi snarled out a wonderful version of "Don't Rain on My Parade," Issay took the stage to recreate with Ken for only the second time the cover of "Fall in Love With Me" that the two of them had recorded under the name Suicides for the JAPAN tribute album Life in Tokyo. Next up came the song "Life in Tokyo" itself, sung by Auto-Mod's vocalist Genet, who hadn't bothered to learn the lyrics and followed along gamely on his iphone while trying hard not to laugh. Ken grinned through the entire set. As a professional musician of his stature, one doesn't get very many chances to be a fanboy.

Another memorable guest appearance on the sly came later, in February of 2015, when Ken appeared as a guest of Buck-Tick's unofficial sixth member, Yokoyama "Yoko-chan" Kazutoshi. Once again, the occasion was a birthday - Mr. Yokoyama's, this time. After going on for some minutes about how excited he was to first meet Mr. Morioka through Buck-Tick, back when Soft Ballet had just made their major debut, and how much he continued to respect Mr. Morioka, Yoko-chan went ahead and invited Ken to take his place out on the stage, behind his beloved Virus TI synthesizer and red synth piano. Together, the two of them struck up a slow, contemplative, melancholy tune that sounded vaguely familiar...and then when they reached the chorus, we realized with a start that this was none other than a rearranged instrumental version of Buck-Tick's "Sekai wa Yami de Michiteiru," more commonly known in Buck-Tickistan as "The Moon is Made of Green Cheese." While it amused my and warmed my hearts that this pair of keyboard geeks had chosen to perform this particular stupid song together, amusement was not the predominant crowd response. By the time the song had ended, I turned and looked around at the crowd of fangirls who packed the tiny basement venue, and saw that their faces were all wet with tears. In fact, they were audibly squealing and sniffling.

Fondly, I recalled how Ken had confessed some months earlier to being extremely nervous about the prospect of recording a song with Imai. "It's nerve wracking!" he said. "I keep second-guessing my arrangement." Relax, Ken. Your keyboard arrangement was not what was wrong with that song. Blame it on Imai.

Ken's piano playing could be lyrically lovely when he wanted it to be. One of his most beloved releases among fans was a three-track album of nothing but solo piano, which he sold together with a small packet of his favorite incense. In a world of rough-hewn, grizzled rockers with snaggly teeth, Ken was always immaculate, both onstage and off. Slim and graceful as a young woman, he favored shades of black, white, and lavender, his blond hair always pulled back from his face and sculpted into a slick, elegant coiff - which naturally earned him a great many fans among the queer set.

Most notable of these was the drag queen singer Kaya (formerly of Schwartz Stein), with whom he collaborated on several songs, notably "Taboo" (and if there wasn't some Buck-Tick fanboyism in that choice of title, I'll eat my hat collection - I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Kaya's a huge Buck-Tick fanboy.) Through some strange happenstance of fate, we ourselves bore witness to Ken and Kaya's meeting. "Music should feel as good as an orgasm!" Ken declared that night, in a rush of drunken elation. "It should always feel that good!"

Kaya nodded, starry-eyed.

Something you probably don't know about Ken Morioka: he taught performance classes at an art school in central Tokyo. Onstage at one of his solo lives, he described with glee and laughter how he taught his students not only to stand up straight and project their voices, but also to gyrate and shake their little tushes like models on the catwalk.

Another thing you probably don't know about Ken Morioka: a few years ago, he whispered to us at a private party that he was trying to swing a reunion of the LSB tour. "I want to make it happen again," he said. "Please, make it happen," I told him. "I will if I can," he promised us. I'm disappointed, Ken, but I'm not disappointed in you. I'm disappointed in Fate.

Yet another thing you probably don't know about Ken Morioka: he laughed at the idea of slash fanfiction. "Are they writing about me and Endo?" he exclaimed, guffawing, when the topic came up among a bunch of drunk musicians at a party one night. "I wonder what Endo would say to that?" The partygoers exchanged dark looks. Endo is known for being dark and serious, so unlike the sparkly Ken.

That was the Ken people knew: full of life, full of energy, full of sexual innuendo that somehow managed to be demure at the same time that it was raunchy. Though he toned down his famously flamboyant stage costumes in his later years, with the formation of minus (-), he began to recover some of that high-camp style, and it suited him as well as it ever had. He never managed to resurrect Soft Ballet, and perhaps Endo was the reason for that, though surely there were other reasons as well. But having resurrected two-thirds of the band through minus (-), he seemed to recapture a youthful spirit he'd long packed away. He had indeed mellowed and calmed with age, but with minus, he pulled it all out of the box again, and it was a delight to behold.

The last time I ever saw him on the stage was at the minus (-) year-end oneman live, held at Shinjuku ReNY on December 28th, 2015, the night before The Day in Question. Strutting onto the stage in fishnet tights, tiny leather hotpants, a mock-tee and a black leather corset, he looked sexier and fiercer than I'd ever seen him. Flanked by two banks of keyboards, he played one then the other one-handed, while singing, dancing, gyrating, and making sure that the audience was dancing along, too. Particularly memorable was the live arrangement of "The Victim," which brought Ken's piano riff sharply into the foreground, where it reverberated eerily through the hall. The live version was so different from the studio recording, it might have been a different song - and it's so sad to think that now, the band sans Ken never be able to make another recording that does it justice.

That night, minus (-) played through their entire discography, including the mellow instrumental numbers, and Ken's piano playing lit up the hall like the sonic mirror of the laser lights that fractaled through the crystal chandeliers hanging from the rounded ceiling. The venue was packed straight up to the back wall, and none of the fans wanted to let the band get away without an encore.

But since they'd already played through all their songs, what could they play for an encore? Something by Soft Ballet would have been one answer, but apparently they hadn't rehearsed for that. Instead, they retook the stage with a cover of Depeche Mode's "Never Let Me Down." Whether or not it was true that Depeche Mode disliked Soft Ballet didn't matter. Ken's enjoyment was palpable - so palpable, in fact, that the audience still wanted more.

"But we don't have any more songs for you," said Maki.

The fans screamed anyway.

"Our only choice will be to play one of the songs we already played for a second time."

The fans kept screaming.

"If you want it, you have to beg for it," said Maki. "You have to beg for it, and tell me how good it feels!"

This is usually the sort of thing Ken would say, but a gentlemanly embarrassment seemed to have taken hold of him, and he let Maki take charge of the fan teasing. After the crowd had finally screamed themselves hoarse to a satisfactory degree, the band did as they promised - they played one of the songs they had already played over again, a second time.

The song was "Maze," my favorite track off the new album, G, and I was happy to hear it once more. But they weren't finished yet - after "Maze," they continued with "Dawn Words Falling," Ken raising one hand, then the other, slowly in time with the rising cadence of the synthesizer noise. Somewhere between disco dancing and a Nazi salute, but then - that's Ken Morioka's world for you.

I'm sure I've passed over a zillion things I should have said. He had many older, greater, closer, more famous friends than little old Cayce - though he was always friendly, encouraging, and even admiring toward me, and I'll always cherish his kind words. As the tributes begin to pour out, I will do my best to translate the ones that I find the most touching and sincere - death tends to inspire platitudes but at this moment I can't believe the man is gone, and my head is full of memories of his life, such that it intersected with mine, and I find that what comes out are amusing vignettes. I keep thinking I'll see him at the next party or live house, with that silly, artless smile on his face, nodding up and down at someone's funny stories, exclaiming "No, really?" in his glossy baritone voice - he had a radio voice, though aside from interviews, he was never on the radio.

Another thing you probably don't know about Ken Morioka: he moonlighted as a DJ. One night, Cayce and another Not Greatest Site associate went to enjoy his set at a small but historied bar tucked away in plain sight in the heart of Tokyo. He spun a massively fat, bass-heavy playlist of hardcore dubstep and EDM, but while a bevy of Shimokitazawa hipster girls dripping in crocheted lace had come to see him, they remained immobile in their chairs, looking up at the booth shyly, taking little sips of their beers, blushing as they watched us dance. 

Because, when Ken Morioka spins dubstep, you dance, my friends. Even if you're the only two people dancing in a room of awkward silences, you dance. EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music, which means you get up off your butt and DANCE! For a few seconds, I caught the eye of one of the girls, and I'm sure I saw her feet twitch. Come on, try it, I know you want to, I wanted to say, but she remained glued to her chair. And now she'll never get the chance again.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down, goes the old song. But until then, remember Ken Morioka, and dance, god dammit. Shake your little booty like a model on the catwalk. Laugh at stupid jokes. Be a shameless fanboy and copy your favorite songs. Never stop making music. Take care of your health. And say a prayer a day for all we wretched souls who still draw breath, because I just don't think my poor heart can stand to lose another great musician for another three decades, at least.

Ken Morioka, thanks so much.

Rest in peace.

[Photo: Higuchi Yutaka kisses Ken Morioka backstage at a minus (-) show late last year]

Schaft Report

Yes, it's been a long time in coming, but better take long and get off well than give up halfway and never get off at all (that's what she said!)

What am I talking about, friends?

What has finally come?

Why, Schaft, of course!

By which I mean, a LIVE REPORT of Schaft's Tour Ultra -The Loud Engine- is now up over at This is NOT Greatest Site. Those of you who thought we couldn't get it up in time thought wrong! The DVD doesn't come out till next week, so this is your sneak preview! And if reading the report doesn't convince you to buy the DVD that's coming out next week, it should. The concert was fantastic and the DVD is sure to be, too.

Just a reminder, for those who are interested in the DVD and/or mini album:

Entitled Deeper and Down, the mini-album will cost 2700 yen and come with a bonus DVD with a live PV of the title track, "Deeper and Down." The ten tracks are as follows:

01. Deeper and Down (lyrics - Yow-Row/music - Imai Hisashi)

02. H.N.A. (lyrics & music - Imai Hisashi)

03. Deeper and Down (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

04. H.N.A. (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

05. Arbor Vitae (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

06. Thirsty Fly (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

07. Broken English (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

08. The Hero InSide (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

09. Slice (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

10. Cold Light (live 1/28 at EX Theater Roppongi)

The live DVD/BluRay of the show held on January 28th at EX Theater Roppongi will be titled Archives 2016 Tour Ultra ~The Loud Engine~. The BluRay version will cost 7540 yen, while the DVD version will cost 6459 yen. The first press edition will come in special packaging and include a special booklet. The tracklist for the video is as follows:

SE

01. The Loud Engine

02. Vice

03. drift

04. Anti-Hedonist

05. ReVive

06. Der Zauberlehrling

07. SAKASHIMA

08. Leidenschaft

09. Arbor Vitae

10. Thirsty Fly

11. Swan Dive

12. Adam's Rib

13. Mi

....and more

If you'd like to purchase this DVD through us, we are still accepting orders! Just send us an email. As usual, we will be purchasing copies at Tower Records in Shibuya, so if you order through us, we'll send you the Tower Records limited edition sticker (for the DVD) and postcard (for the mini-album) as a bonus. Remember - Amazon may be cheaper in some cases, but they abuse their employees (read about it here, here and here!) not to mention pushing a whole lot of small business out of the market. Tower Records, on the other hand, as I wrote about in this article, has been doing an excellent job lately of supporting and promoting local artists and keeping alive the spirit of the community record store. If you care about ethical shopping, the choice should be clear.

Of course, it should go without saying that all profits from This is NOT Greatest Shopping Service go to support NGS/Blog-Tick...and we never abuse our employees except when we stay up all night reading articles for y'all, which we didn't with this article, we wrote it while sitting outside in the park smelling the flowers, so you can feel nice and ethical. (We definitely did stay up all night writing the articles about The Mortal but masochism is the name of Mr. Sakurai's favorite game so it doesn't count as abuse.)

Anyhoo, as always, leave your comments on the live report on this post, as NGS doesn't allow commenting. If you enjoyed reading, please leave a comment! We promise we wont make fun of you too much.

The Mortal Gets The Schaft

With the release of this quarter's Fish Tank newsletter, Mr. Sakurai's original reason for starting up The Mortal has become clear! Last time, Mr. Sakurai's stated reason for starting a solo project was "because Imai cheated on me with Lucy." But this time, trollops named Lucy appeared to be long out of the picture, so what could Mr. Sakurai's motivations be now? Was it eleven-year nostalgia, or simply the extra super-duper mortality feeling that comes with imminently turning fifty? Or perhaps, some fans speculated, at this late hour, Mr. Sakurai was finally living up to the self-centered diva vocalist stereotype, and had decided to start a whole new five-piece band as a way of showing the rest of Buck-Tick who's boss? After all, Maria Anastasia tells us that the Russian fangirl nickname for Mr. Sakurai is "Mr. President." Could it be that after fifty years of modesty, mild-mannered Acchan-chan has turned megalomaniacal?

Alas, the answer is no! In F.T. number 77, when asked why it was that he started The Mortal, Mr. Sakurai answered thus: "Around the end of last year, I heard some gossip in the wind that Imai was going to get Schaft started up again next year. So I thought to myself, 'okay, I'll just relax and rest for a year,' but that was back in March. And then Mr. Tanaka (our director), who is always being so helpful to us, told me 'since you have the time, why don't you try another solo project?' He'd gently suggested the same thing to me at the Budoukan last year, but this time, though I was in full-on vacation mode, he made my heart move a little bit. And from then till now it's just been a big to-do from top to bottom."

'A big to-do from top to bottom' is it, Acchan-chan? Well well WELL. Even if you haven't turned megalomaniacal, we'll take that from you any day!

In the rest of the interview, Mr. Sakurai gives further details about the Genesis of The Mortal (no relation to Genesis P-Orridge, sorry Anonymous.) 

"It was Tanaka's idea that this time, I should make an album with a five-piece band, and play a live tour with the same five members. I chose the band name 'The Mortal' myself," says Mr. Sakurai. "11 years ago, during my previous solo project, I worked with Jake Cloudchair, Miyo Ken and Mr. Murata from my way my love. I thought that since I only have a limited time for this project, familiar faces would be best. After we decided on these three members, we were wondering who should be the drummer, when Jake introduced us to Akiyama, and then we had all the members lined up.

"11 years ago, we had only worked together for a very short time, but we shared so much inspiration even so, so this time, the planning progressed very quickly. The other members told me 'we wrote songs in your image, Mr. Sakurai.' I was very touched.

"It was Mr. Tanaka's idea that the theme of the band should be 'Mr. Sakurai's gothic and decadent outlook, in band form.'

"When you translate the word 'mortal' into Japanese, it sounds unlucky, but my interpretation of the meaning is that it means 'the essence of being human,' or, 'the quality of being a living being.' It just seemed like an easy way of explaining the idea of goth or decadence to people who were learning about it for the first time, so what I'm hoping to accomplish is to make a work that sums up 'the essence of being human' in one album."

Fish Tank went on to ask Mr. Sakurai if the Spirit mini-album would sum up the essence of being human.

"No, that's a bit different," Mr. Sakurai said. "Out of five songs on the mini-album, three songs are covers. Regarding a possible cover of 'Spirit' with Japanese lyrics, we were requested by the song's authors not to change the lyrics, so at the last minute, I made the decision to sing the song in English. I had a British native teach me the pronunciation. I think it came out well.

"It was Mr. Tanaka's idea that I should do cover songs. 'Spirit' by Bauhaus has been a favorite song of mine for thirty years. Mr. Tanaka requested that I do The Damned's 'Shadow of Love,' and I chose 'Cities in Dust' by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

"The art director for Arui wa Anarchy, Akita Kazunori, is doing the artwork for The Mortal, and as soon as he heard the band name he understood the entire concept. He even said, 'Mr. Sakurai is the only person who can make this kind of aesthetic work!' Mr. Akita interpreted this as being an opportunity for me where I only have to do exactly what I really like and want to do, so I think he's making a design that I will love."

And here's the design, kids. Shakespeare nerds rejoice - looks like all doubt that Gothique Prince Acchan-chan remains unfamiliar with Sweet Prince Hamlet has been put to rest in one fell photoshoot, though with his surprisingly positive interpretation of the word "mortal," Mr. Sakurai seems to have come down firmly on the side of "To be." 

Beyond this, the title for The Mortal's full album has now been announced - I Am Mortal, a statement which puts Mr. Sakurai in the august and unfortunate footsteps of Socrates, so let's hope for his sake and our own that Mr. Sakurai can learn to be Catman to Issay's Batman and cheat mortality with nine mortal lives!

As for the gothic horror side of things, the title track from the I Am Mortal album, "Mortal," is being used in the Japanese trailer for the British gothic horror film Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death. The song will only be used in the trailer, not in the actual film. However, considering that as a part of his last solo project, Mr. Sakurai had his song "Wakusei" featured in a film called The Last Supper, which as far as we could tell from the trailer was a slasher film about the dismemberment and cannibalization of women's bodies, I'd say he's moving up in the world. A song like "Wakusei" being used for such a nasty picture seemed like some seriously cruel irony on the part of his management...so yeah, bye bye Victor, don't bother to call us, we don't miss you. Fanged ghost-nuns are definitely better.

.

But what about SCHAFT, you ask?  Imai has your bases covered!

"When we decided to start up Schaft again, I decided I was going to go back and listen to the old Schaft album, and I looked for it, but it wasn't in my collection," Imai told Fish Tank.

"It's not even on iTunes, even though I could have sworn it was there. But whatever. This Schaft is gonna be different...even if you call it a reunion, it's a totally different thing. Raymond Watts isn't a part of it, for one thing. It's still a unit made of up me and Fujimaki, but the other members are going to be cool, too.

"We want to play an exciting, up-tempo live show. I want something unusual. Something heavy, or dark, or scary. That kind of weird atmosphere. We haven't really figured out the practical details yet, but I'm already looking forward to it myself. I think you're definitely going to want to see this tour. After all, I think this might be the last tour ever for Schaft, so I want it to feel like a grand finale."

Fish Tank further asked Mr. Imai whether a solo project would give him the freedom to explore ideas he couldn't develop as a part of Buck-Tick.

"There's nothing I can't do as a part of Buck-Tick," he said.  "But sometimes I notice that working with different members is different from Buck-Tick, anyway. Whatever, it's natural, they are different people. Anyway, look forward to Schaft. This is gonna be great. And it's probably going to be the last time. You should see Schaft before it's too late! The members this time are going to be really interesting...I think. Anyway, look forward to this."

And here are the details as they stand now, folks!

Schaft's official website is now up at this address: http://schaft2016.com/

An article about Schaft will be featured in the same November issue of Ongaku to Hito magazine that will have a cover feature on The Mortal, so more bang for your Buck-Tick buck if you order the magazine (if you'd like to order through Cayce, email me.) Though no information about a new album is available as yet, the band's January tour dates have already been announced, as follows:

Tour Ultra -The Loud Engine-

January 22nd (Friday) Club Citta' Kawasaki (open 6PM/start 7PM)

January 27th (Wednesday) Akasaka Blitz (open 6PM/start 7PM)

January 28th (Thursday) EX Theater Roppongi (open 6PM/start 7PM)

A ticket presale lottery is currently being conducted through Ticket Pia. To enter the lottery, click here. If you would like Cayce's help in ordering tickets, send us an email. And fun fact: January 27th, 2016 will be the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of This is NOT Greatest Site. We can't think of a better way to celebrate our new decade-hood than with Imai Hisashi himself! Though he may not be able to articulate details of his "heavy, dark, and scary" vision, the newly-released band photo ought to give you some idea:

If Mr. Sakurai has gone all the way back to Shakespearean times with his Elizabethan ruff, Imai has done him one better, and gone back to the times of the Black Death. Bird masks such as these were worn by doctors during the plague years in Europe - the beaks were filled with rose petals, in hopes that the sweet smell of the flowers would keep the noxious plague humours at bay. Infectious diseases: that's not how they work, folks! But it's hard to escape the conclusion, based on these graphics, that Schaft has come along in plague masks to test the mortality of The Mortal. Will Schaft get The Mortal, or will The Mortal get the Schaft? Whose city will lie in dust at the end? We can't yet say...but one thing's certain. Even if Imai is cheating again, he's still in love with Acchan-chan.

"I looked at Acchan's website," said Imai. "It looks really cool. I think his project is gonna be amazing! I don't know which songs he's covering, and I don't want anyone to tell me. I want to listen to them for myself, and think 'oh my god, this song!!' But I wanna know. I can't wait."

 Neither can we, Imai. Neither can we.

.

Lunatic Festival ~Before the Lunacy~

At long last, the Lunatic Festival is now only a day away! And for those of you who were wondering if you would be able to view streaming footage from the festival on the Internet, the answer is yes! A 33-hour program devoted to the festival will be airing on NicoNico starting from 10:30AM on Saturday, June 27th (that's tomorrow, folks!) The program will include interviews with all the performers by NicoNico MC Yamada Hisashi, as well as candid camera fan interviews from Hamaoka Reira, a roving reporter who will wend her way through the crowd to see what the fan enthusiasm is like on the ground! Presumably, since this program is 33 fucking hours long, ample footage of the performances will also be shown.

Everyone who wants to experience the festival vicariously through the internet should access the following URL to watch:
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv224370854.

Anyone who records the footage of Buck-Tick, minus, or Kafka gets publicly celebrated on Blog-Tick!

In addition, a more detailed venue floor plan has been released. Though there are still some unclear elements, it certainly seems as if the Moon stage is separated from the Fate and Shine stages - but if that's not the case, you all have my permission to feel cheated, because what's the point of having three stages if none of the bands overlap?

Next door to the stages will be a separate hall called Eden containing a food court area, a bar, and booths from the festival sponsors. The food court will include booths from Unagiya (selling limited edition Luna Sea meat buns, jumbo sausages, and other sexually suggestive meaty foods), Matsuri yakitori and kara-age, Tenraiken (spicy cold noodles and shaved ice desserts), Egg Rainbow (hamburg, rice, and "wild turkey"), Tacodelia (organic taco rice, organic brown rice steak donburi, and churros - and Luna Sea is copying B-T here because Tacodelia was totally at the B-T 25th anniversary fest back in 2012), Tokyodu (garlic soy sauce soba noodles, pork donburi and kara-age), Kebab Istanbul (Doner kebab, kebab rice, and Turkish beef sausage), Hanna Okonomiyaki (pork balls, cheese takoyaki and yakisoba balls with mayonnaise), and Maguro no Uoni (seafood donburi, marinated tuna, marinated pork donburi, and cold tuna tea soup.) Between all those edible balls and sausages, who needs rock bands anyway?

Festival sponsors Tower Records, Slave (the Luna Sea fan club), Fender Guitars, Pearl Drums, G-Life Guitars, ESP Guitars, the Japanese goth fashion label h. naoto, Clair accessories (who will be selling a limited-edition pendant), Nerds hair and nail art (where you can get your hair and nails done on-site at the festival!), Hills Avenue (which sells additive-free cosmetics and supplements - this one has Sugizo written all over it!), Kiyorabi (which sells suspicious hippie "health" foods, including items they call "hydrogen water" and "hydrogen-containing jelly"), and a partnership between Brother technologies and Guitar magazine, where you can reserve your copy of an on-demand limited edition t-shirt and/or document book of the festival. Sheesh, at this rate, you'll be so busy shopping you won't have time to watch the show at all!

But really, if you have a free moment, feel free to join me while I drop by the Kiyorabi booth to remind them that anything that contains water contains hydrogen by definition. Hydrogen: putting the "H" in "H2O" since approximately the Big Bang! This has been a public service announcement. You're welcome.

In the hall next door to Eden, there will be goods booths selling festival goods, Luna Sea goods, goods from the other artists (including B-T!), and gacha-gacha prizes. Goods will go on sale at 8:30 AM, so get there early! The doors don't officially open till 9AM, but I'm sure the venue staff won't mind if you forcefully barge in half an hour too soon.

And finally, fans are reminded that staking out a spot in front of the stage and guarding turf there all day is strictly prohibited. Chasing the artists or waiting for the artists outside the venue is also strictly prohibited. Pitching tents outside the venue and camping out overnight is also prohibited, as is harming the plants and trees in the vicinity of the venue. Furthermore, if you look like a yakuza, the venue staff reserve the right to refuse to let you in, so if you're missing a finger or two, I suggest you wear gloves at the door. The venue staff also reserve the right to refuse to let you in if they deem your appearance to be "unsuitable" for the festival, whatever that is. 

Fans may leave and re-enter the festival at any time.

Happy fangirling!