Ekkusu no Studio phase 4.1.
Happy 44th birthday, dearest Yoshiki ♥!!
The last time i updated my skin was on Yochan's 43rd birthday, and a year had passed. I'm glad that his surgery went fine and i hope he's recovering well. Don't neglect your therapy, Yochan, and hope to see you next year in China ^^
God bless your abundantly!!
(o^___^o)
TVfXQ - blog entries
love,
ekkusu
Always - chat and wishlist
Keep - blog links
The - profile
Faith - past skins
A fan of JRock music and bands. Most favourite band of all time: the legendary band, X Japan.
Loves its leader, drummer, pianist and main composer, Hayashi Yoshiki , usually called Yoshiki.
Loves one of X's guitarists, Matsumoto hideto, or usually called hide, and
one of the best vocalist I've ever heard, Deyama Toshimitsu, or usually called Toshi.
A list of favourite bands and artists/singers:
Versailles Philharmonic Quintet
(members: Kamijo (vo),
HIZAKI (gt) ,
Teru (gt) ,
Yuki (dr), ,
Jasmine-You (ba) ,
Tohoshinki or Dong Bang Shin Ki or TVXQ
(members: Xiah Junsu (mid-high), Micky Yoochun (mid-low), Youngwoong-Hero Jaejoong (lead), Choikang-Max Changmin (tenor), U-Know Yunho (bass))
SKIN
(members: Yoshiki (dr, pi) , Gackt (vo, pi), Sugizo (gt, vi), Miyavi (gt))
Lareine
(members: Kamijo (vo) , Mayu (gt), Emiru (ba), Machi (dr))
Kamijo (vo)
(bands: Lareine, Versailles
HIZAKI
(bands: HIZAKI grace project, Versailles )
Mana
(bands: Moi dix Mois, Malice Mizer)
Raphael
(members: Kazuki (gt), Yukito (ba), Yuki (vo), Hiro (dr))
DuelJewel
Dir en Grey
L~Arc en Ciel
Janne da Arc
Psycho le Cemu
GLAY
Luna Sea
Rentrer en Soi
Siam Shade
Was part of management committee of Endless Dream website and
ScreamingKIAI International forum, dedicated to Yoshiki and his music.
Alumni of the following schools:
Jakarta, Indonesia:
TK Genesis
SD Tarakanita III
Penang, Malaysia:
Chung Ling Private High School
Singapore:
Kent Ridge Secondary School
St Margaret's Secondary School
Pioneer Junior College
St Andrew's Junior College
Monday 24 September 2007
prologue: this manga goes by the title Blaue Rosen by Chuang Yi. i first saw it at popular bras basah while looking for Ouran vol 10. i picked it up because the artwork at the coverpage was awesome, like really cool (and in a rather dangerous pose too =p) then i read the introduction. blah blah akira the princess of one school blah blah mizuki the prince of another school blah blah akira likes mizuki bla blah tries to woo mizuki blah blah...... Labels: manga anime
until the last sentence which made me went *widened eyes* "HEH!?!?!" xD the reason is: SPOILER WARNING (highlight to read): akira is the guy and mizuki is the girl, so they're the princess of the boy's school and the prince of the girls school respectively. get it??? 'akira the princess' is actually a guy and 'mizuki the prince' is a girl!!
so i was looking for the fansub til now. i typed blaue rosen blaue rosen everywhere and i didn't get any lead coz it was actually ai ore (short form of the full title)! -_-;; baka chuang yi... thank goodness for wikipedia. anyway, i think i'm gonna buy the physical manga, coz i think it's cute xD and, after reading the first 5 chapters, i think this manga will be giving me as much laughter as ouran did v(^^
artwork-wise, i love it! maybe because it's drawn in this punk+gothic lolita feel that i like (and mizuki's fave brand is h.naoto!) and the drawings of the guys are as gorgeous as hisaya nakajo-sensei, so those who read hana kimi should know the high standard: definitely can make you drool (or not, coz they're rather silly sometimes) and the girls are even cuter than hisaya nakajo-sensei's girls. not cutesy-cute but more like cool~~cute, you know, so it's really cool =D
current rating: 8.5/10, and 18years old and above only, please =P
(actually i wanted to give 9/10, but i'm still trying to get used to the idea, and the sights of, those two mixed-identity people, so sometimes it still feel and look...awkward-ish and weird, so i'll give it 8.5 til i can buy the physical manga from Chuang Yi)
((ah!!!!! now i understand the title! i was trying to come up with a way to remember the full original title, but it was hard. hanazakari no kimitachi e is still easier coz though the words are long, there are only 4 parts to remember, while "ai wo utau yori ore ni oborero" consists of many small words! thank goodness for the scene at 5th chapter. ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you the english translation of Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero (according to my guess): Rather Than Singing Love Song, Present Yourself To Me, or something ^^))
meanwhile, update on my life, a few days ago i just accompanied sasa to interview at rasa sentosa so she could work there during weekends, i just placed a presale order of Catacombs the soundtrack from JRock Revolution official page (which left me broke for the next week!!), i just placed an order for Shockwave magazine vol 4 from visualshoxx.blogspot.com after having hunted down that magazine at Kino at Taka and Bugis as well as HMV at Heeren (which will force me to borrow some money from koko, not to mention some cash to pay lin for the swanlake tickets i still owe her), i just finished my 4-week long work with adtag recovery and now waiting for my pay, and i'm running away from my school workload, like absolutely running away.
i've not been this way since JC, purposely neglecting homework. usually i drag and procrastinate, but will do it at the last minute. but this time i'm really running away coz as of now, 4am in the morning, i've not done a single thing i could show jonathan tomorrow, not even the flat drawing of a single jacket he 'chose' out of my boring collection-proposal for the topshop project. and here i am, d0wnloading ai ore and reading it and blogging about it... *sigh*
i'm still in the process of 'finding what i like' coz according to him i gotta design something that i like and what the client would like and start everything from the common point of the two. if i don't even know what i like, how would i start? though it might be weird for some people not to know what you yourself like, but i'm rather confused. i know what i like, but usually what i like can;t be expressed clearly on my design, so my designs has this half-half feeling. i can't express what i like totally on my drawings.
susie's and anja's workload is catching up to strangle me soon too, whileas helene's workload i just...*sigh*...
i drew some encouragement from Hikaru no Go just now, and started on my mindmap, as in mindmap about me. but, it has absolutely nothing to do with school work. at least i did something though...
i think i should just pack my hideki stuff and go to sleep. i can't do anything anyway, may as well sleep.
3:53 am
Thursday 20 September 2007
according to The Official Street Team of Violet UK, Yoshiki's gonna be in Tokyo today for the premiere of the movie Catacombs!!! Violet UK's song Blue Butterfly is being used as the movie's theme song. Labels: yoshiki
I'm SO gonna be watching this movie if it ever comes to Singapore, even if i have to watch it alone! and i hope the soundtrack CD will come out soon so that i can order it together with Lyrical Sympathy...
sending my love for you across the oceans, Yochan *hugs* \(^__^)/
2:37 am
Wednesday 19 September 2007
eh, i almost forgot to review about this. oh well, just go to obachan's blog at http://natael.blogspot.com/ for more information ^_~ Labels: performance
just kidding. haha.. but i really have little things to say leh. let me just quote myself from an email that the musical-or-performances-enthu-people mailing list which includes me, obachan, bebek and hardi who stays quiet most of the time while we flooded his mailbox with emails after emails about upcoming performances in singapore be it free or non-free...
what was i talking about again...?
oh yea, Swan Lake. let me tell you a short story between me and Swan Lake. while obachan had her first taste of Swan Lake from Mari-chan the manga, i believed when i was young Mari-chan was unavailable to me, so i had the vaguest idea of what mari-chan was about when i was in penang, when i browsed through CHINESE-subtitled mangas, which of course left me completely clueless to the storyline and plots save the beautiful drawings.
however, i knew Swan Lake before i watched last sat's performance. more precisely, i knew Tchaikovsky whose music accompanied the Swan Lake ballet in general and thus introduced me to Swan Lake. and even more precisely, i knew Yoshiki who introduced me to Tchaikovsky, who intro me to Swan Lake. so, the root all came from Yochan again <3
it was during Hamettsu ni Mukatte "On The Verge of Destruction" concert in 1992, the legendary concert for being the very first concert ever held in Tokyo Dome, that Yochan played Swan Lake excerpt during his piano solo. having captivated with his playing while at the same time noting that the melody sounded vaguely familiar (at that time S.H.E. had released a song which inspired from Swan Lake too, i believe) i searched it up and listened to the song, and was hooked to Tchaikovsky, and thus i know Swan Lake.
by the way, i can't quote myself from the email because i was speaking half in indonesian and half in english. not that i'd be expecting any reader here who can't speak indonesias, but let me just flatter myself by assuming there IS someONE out there who reads this and don't understand Indonesian, so on behalf of his/her convenience i'll do it in english =P i almost lost myself again. we're doing the review, right? right. here goes. WARNING: SPOILER!!!
Swan Lake on Ice was held at the Esplanade Theatre. we were sitting on the circle...dunno where but it was one level up from the ground floor, slightly to the right side of the stage. as the last time i watched a performance at Esplanade was The Phantom of the Opera and i was right at the very first row where i could see the conductor and the details on each of the actors/esses costume, i was quote disappointed with our seating arrangement. after all, i won't mind paying about 30-40bucks extra to get that prime seat again. moreover, there were, surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly for some people) there were so many little kids, especially little girls, mostly were caucasians, who came. i though, hell, if one of them starts crying or making a fuss in the middle of the performance... 84bucks down the drain.
but it turned out that the performance wasn't disturbed by any cries or fuss (only ONE girl went to the toilet accompanied by her mom in the middle of the performance) and i could see the stage very very clearly from where i sat, so it wasn't so bad. the music was a bit weird though, obachan said that it was because we were sitting quite to the right side that we're 'half-deaf', but i really thought that a part of the orchestra was playing live! o.O...
anyway, i still don't really know very well the storyline of Swan Lake, in fact i watched it more because i wanna listen to Tchaikovsky, but in general there was a prince who was being matchmadeby his mom to a number of girls. they all came and dance (the word 'dance' in this review meant that they dance and glide on ice) with their pretty little costumes and all, and the prince refused all of them. then a black witch came! or, more like black wizard. he wore black tuxedo with red lining, red waistcoat and black panths and shirt, and the moment he entered the stage, he immediately slipped a cigarrete between his lips, flipped up a lighter and started smoking! LOL! i was like, "oei, hello, this is air-conditioned room!" xD but he was super cool. eventhough his body was small and petite (he's barely taller than Odile, and definitely much much shorter than the prince), his acting was really good. or perhaps i'm just in love with his character that i thought his acting was good?
anyway, he presented his daughter Odile to the prince. prince wasn't interested though. then the queen came and gave him and his friend a crossbow and asked them to go hunting, i dunno why. then they went hunting. the scene was changed from the palace backdrop and setting to trees like in a lake.
THEN! the backdrop suddenly lifted, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Scene 1 music was played, and there were the swans against a beautiful, haunting, mysterious lake backdrop and setting, and the lighting was dim and IT WAS SO MAGICAL!!!! the whole of my body shivered and was covered in goosebumps, it was so so so so GRAND!!!!!!
Odette, the curse swan, then dance, and the prince came and tried to 'capture' her, and they danced together. the prince gave her a necklace, and odette gave him a feather. then the prince left, and the black wizard entered again. he threatened odette and snatched the necklace away from her, and WHOOSH~ he was surrounded in a ring of fire ON THE ICE!! super cool!!! =D then it was the end of act 1.
*capek..*
then scene 2 started with the black wizard again, i think he was performing some kind of magic because there were black creatures around him who looked weird... anyway the setting was back at the palace. the queen was trying to matchmake the prince again. this time each of the girls were dressed in different costumes and they all danced spectacularly separately. 5 beautiful costumes and i couldn't see them all because i was too far! boohooohooo ;__;
anyway, the prince, of course, still refused to be mathmade. then the black wizard came again, with his daughter odile again. this time, though, odile had changed her clothes to something more beautiful. while she danced and tried to enchant the prince, odette was there, but the black wizard's henchmen refused her entry into the dancing room. she finally managed to slip, but the prince was already enchanted by odile. then odette went to snatch the necklace away from odile or something, and the prince's eyes suddenly opened.
eh, i forgot how the story goes from there... xD all i could remember was... prince danced with both odette and odile, odile so kind-heartedly gave back the necklace to odette, and when we thought it's all well, her gorgeous dad came back and duelled with the prince. in the end the prince killed him and, THE END.
really, refer to obachan's blog for more detailed story xD
if the ballet comes, or any orchestra plays tchaikovsky, i'm gonna watch it again! ^_^
rating: 9/10
11:13 pm
DuelJewel had been officially added as one of my favourite bands list, currently being put one place above Diru since i've not heard anything from Diru that i liked recently... nothing much to say about DuelJewel's music, imho their music is okay, not too fantastic but definitly not bad either. they have some catchy songs and nice ballads, but it's Hayato's voice that made me wanna listen to more and more of their songs! his voice is...addictive!! so, they're up there more or less thanks to his voice =p Labels: list
slight changes up there at the music player and explanation of the song's name and artists arrangement. i actually had already changed the past DuelJewel - HanaUta to one of my favourite Gackt's song, called "todokanai ai to shitteita no ni osae kirezu ni aishitsuzuketa". yep, that's the full title. and because of its mighty length, i gotta change the arrangement a little bit.
but upon further thoughts, why would i put up a gackt's song on the same day i'm including DuelJewel in my fave bands list?
so, i decided to listen to Hayato for another week or so, then i'll get that beautiful song by Gackt ^^)v
i love esnips.com!
10:53 pm
that we like the artists so much, and yet they are so far away, on the other side of the world, that we can't reach out to them unless we engage the 'unlawful' activities. i mean, haloo, if i wasn't involved with the kazaa hype many years ago, i wouldn't know a thing about x japan, and look at how much money i've generated for the music industry now that i've bought many of their original CD and DVDs. music sharing is NOT totally, bad, okay... Labels: yoshiki
okay i'm just actually trying to lessen the guilt from my subconscious mind. i'd be listening to SKIN's songs continuously for the next couple of days, weeks, months, UNTIL they release an official album, or heck i'll do with a single too! meanwhile, i've gotta make do with whatever i could lay my hands on the net. thank God for youtube!
ah... i always laugh at the screams of the fans during Beneath Your Skin. i guess it should be the highlight of the show, huh? each members leaving their original instrument, grabbing something else and played real damn good on them..... gackt, i love your piano; yochan, there can never be anyone's piano playing that i love more than you; sugizo, i think YOU were the star during this piece! and miyavi, i like shamisen too =D
love these guys like hell... i hope someone got the common sense to nudge yoshiki's ribs hards and get him to release a single =P i MUST have the official piece of song that have these guys playing together!!!
10:13 pm
Monday 17 September 2007
it's week 6, and they just suddenly dumped the whole load of projects onto us which had to be finished within 2 weeks on top of other subjects, and they just suddenly picked a teacher for us, one who would surely give a whole load of unecessary work but would only check a little...
and on top of that i'm almost down. i dunno if it's because of the sweets that i ate yesterday that gave me sore throat which lead to this pre-fever, or was it because of the ant baits that i started putting in my room since 2 days ago?
what i know is that, listening to jonathan briefing us about the projects made me quite excited, but with this condition i can't perform to my max! and we gotta produce 8 designs by wednesday, complete with fabric swatches... and wednesday's... arghh nevermind...
i just hope with plenty of sleep and some vitamin C this won't develop into full-fledged fever that'd definitely confine me to bed the whole day tomorrow...
*goes to sleep*
7:45 pm
they're stocking up on From Far Away, also known as Kanata Kara, also known as Dunia Mimpi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i own the indonesian version up to volume 11 and suddenly elex media komputindo stop releasing it. dunno if they didn't press it or because of what, all that i know at this consumer end is that i could never find it anywhere in the Gramedias in Jakarta!!! and i've been searching for more than 2 years!! so don't blame me if i be the first to get this series from MD!! hmph!
i think i still need to write a small review of the Swan Lake yesterday. after i get my Kanata Kara, ne? ^^
12:06 am
Thursday 13 September 2007
prologue: Labels: manga anime
a 100% gamble manga. didn't know what was it about, had never even heard of it before. i was just in one of my 'let's d0wnload something light (as in not a long series) and easy and fast (as in per volume instead of per chapter) and just try it out" mood.
epilogue:
well, how should i say this... despite its serious theme of teenage pregnancy, somehow it feels not too heavy. i don't know if it was because they were still too young and foolish or just have waaay too much optimism, but they were certainly very very lucky in a way that both of them are good to each other. that is the most important thing in starting a family, and thank goodness they have it.
and eventhough it dealt with some serious thoughts like how would your parents react, or what would happen to your studies, or how would you support the child, or are you mentally stable enough to take such a big responsibility, this manga doesn't really dig in deep into these issues. it barely scratched the surface, and because of their young energy and foolishness and ultra-optimism, somehow they could tackle those issues. it blends these heavy issues light-heartedly and blended them with humour, you could barely feel depressed eventhough the situation they were in was really serious.
in other words, eventhough the theme is serious and heavy, this manga is actually pretty light and fun to be read.
but please don't think that all teenage-pregnancy would have such a happy ending like these...
rating: 6.5/10
11:07 pm
Wednesday 12 September 2007
you took a bus and dropped off after Little India MRT station, the school building was across the road. as you waited for the traffic lights to turn red, you saw a girl wearing a mini dress with a wide belt above the wait and black stockings carrying a big Art Friend yellow plastic bag. you crossed the road, cross the bridge above the rochor canal and crossed another road. you walked the small path towards the black school building and entered the school building by the right entrance. as you turn left to reach the elevator, you saw a bunch of students sitting on a short flight of staircase in front of the admin office area, each with an A2 drawing block in front of them, busy sketching. oops, you were blocking the way! Labels: musing
the lecturer for the class happen to be absent. Lionel asked you to do some stuff and he allowed you to go to the library to do some research. you went to the library. as you passed the Sky Bridge on the 4th floor, again you saw a great number of students sitting down with their drawing blocks in front of them, sketching and some were chatting. you walked pass while observing their drawings. it wasn't so easy, drawing the new school building with its glass walls, but perhaps it was also exciting. you saw some great drawings. your friend drew your attention to a girl with long hair, saying that she, too, was an indonesian.
you reached the library. your friends moved to the fashion section while you went to the back part of the library where they kept the music-related books and scores. you scanned the area, there were so many scorebooks and music sheets!! you picked Beethoven's Symphony book and went to the photocopy machine to photocopy a few pages for your Creative Process Journal task. there were some people at the photocopying machine, so you had to wait for awhile. afterwards, you joined your friends who were sitting down by the circular siting area, flipping magazine and the big yellow illustration book. they went to photocopy some pages and then you went back to class.
there wasn't time to eat outside, susie's class would begin within 45 minutes. you and your friends went to buy Burger King at Burlington Square and brought back the food. you sat down at the flight of steps going down to the SIA gallery at the basement and ate there. as you ate, there was a bunch of students sitting at the opposite side of the steps. one of them had a guitar and was playing the guitar while singing. you didn't recognise the song, but you stepped your foot along with the rythm anyway.
you finished your food and packed every rubbish up and throw them at the rubbish bin. at the grass patch, students were still sitting down in groups with their drawing blocks, sketching. these must be the foundation students, for there were a GREAT number of them around!
you waited to get to the lift. in front of you stood a group of students, mostly caucasians, merrily chatting. suddenly, about 3 girls broke into a song, yo didn't recognise the song. one of the girl continued to talk while singing, just like in a musical. man, she has such a beautiful voice, like Rebecca Pitcher! you were mesmerised. she continued singing, until the lift arrived and took the whole group upstairs. you couldn't get into the lift because it was packed with that group. you watched as the lift moved up while wishing you could know who the girl was and could hear her sing some more.
class had finished. when you stepped outside the big classroom, you heard some traditional javanese music with gamelan, gong and all, reverberating throughout the whole school building. you sought for the source of the sound and saw that downstairs in a music classroom, there were a class inside the room with all the traditional javanese musical instruments. you wished you could take picture, but your handphone weren't there with you *sigh*
you went down by the lift, walked pass the big theatre-like room downstairs, at the moment it was being used as dance studio. a number of dancers were inside, practising. a pair of student were outside, talking. your friend remembered the girl as the girl with the beautiful voice earlier on. you couldn't remember her face! but she wasn't singing, and you wouldn't dare to suddenly talk to her anyway -_-;;
after school you went to the nearby Art Friend to buy cardboard for the next Jonathan's class. there were many people inside, no doubt NAFA students were there too to buy their supplies. you wish you still have Art Friend at your own school building like last time *sigh*.
5:00 pm
look at what they could do with glasses of water...
this is, i think, mozart's rondo alla turca.
12:40 am
Saturday 8 September 2007
2 years ago, on 8th september 2005, i did my FIRST MOBLOGGING! \(^^)\ Labels: history
at that time i was amazed because apparently moblogging was very new (to me) and i remembered that i was still using my beloved, stolen N7610. moblogging was quite hard from that phone, i find it easier to do it from my current K800, which is still at the hospital, i mean the Sony Ericsson's service centre, at the moment.
and i also learnt that the drums solo by Yoshiki during The Last Live was accompanied by Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Racmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 .
*remembers chiaki-senpai..mmmmm* =D
that reminds me... my Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Limited Edition Box is still sitting on my shelf unwatched.... ugh when will i have time to watch it?? >.< right about now i should be starting to do Jonathan's work so that i can get decent sleep on sunday -_-;;;
and about 3 years ago, on 6th September 2004, i watched the movie that remains one of my favourite musicals at all time and one of the movies that held the most memory of my JC days: Les Choristes!! \(^^)\
it was one movie that SA choir people watched together in the cinema: me, Shamane, Joyce, Shumin, Yang Hong, Jee Cheng, Zhen, Chen Xin (meow-boy) and Alex, and funny things happened, sweet memories of choir-days in SAJC. here's an excerpt:
"since we couldn't all sit together, we were sitting by 2 in a row. today we practiced our old-but-neglected song, Kyrie by (Franz?) Schubert. great song, sopranos had a nice solo in the middle. but Alex, wasn't impressed by HIS part, the bass's part, so he went around singing OUR sop solo, which went like very high! lol, i'm impressed that he can reach the tune, but after that he went around singing that part, which was like very high and loud and attracted attention from people T__T so, in the end we asked him to sit alone! ha! XD"
*sigh* i miss choir-days so much...
7:46 pm
yesterday i worked at rasa again. *gah* the next time one of my bosses call me up in the morning before i was awake and requested that i go to work because they don't have enough people, and i felt sorry for them, and thought that i didn't have anything to do anyway and besides i could do with a couple more bucks, and agree to go to work, please slap me silly. Labels: manga anime
it's not like as though yesterday's work was so hard or what, it was okay, it was TAS (tourism academy at sentosa) graduation dinner and i only had to handle 2 tables buffet style, but working without many people that i know, i felt so lonely and work felt twice longer and twice harder -_-;; kok yong, willy, mira, all the familiar faces weren't there, though i did work with rick from stewarding and mani too... it just felt, well the point is i wouldn't want to do it again. throughout yesterday i couldn't stop from reprimanding myself, "the things that you do for a hizaki album, hana", but it wasn't all that true, i need to pay lin for the Swan Lake this coming saturday too. oh well, for sure there won't be a next time until after semester...right? >.<>.<
and now here we go, the comment for Ouran High Host vol 10. warning: spoiler!
and i thought i was getting tired of the manga. to tell the truth, the 9th volume wasn't my favourite volume, in fact i read it with a steadily declining enthusiasm. perhaps it's because it featured too much tamaki and too little everything else coughkyoyacough and there were too many outrageousness and lesser hilarity than i expected. so, yea, i thought "finally Ouran has reached its peak" and i thought i wouldn't be so much interested in the story again afterwards, so i read the 10th book slowly and with less enthusiasm than the previous 8 books.
but, hey hey, i think i'm gonna be anxiously waiting for the 11th volume. the 10th book, though still contains more-or-less tamaki at its centre, presents much more of hikaru and kaoru, and the story that confirms that i really do like kaoru more than hikaru *aww... pats kaoru* and after such a long time, kyoya's gonna be the centre of attention again!! and this time the black kyoya and the black hani is gonna be together! i doubt they'll lose... you won't, wouldn't you, kyoya? i missed black kyoya so much!! =D
6:52 pm
Thursday 6 September 2007
i don't know what's happening but this year, 2007, seems like a really really really exciting year for the JRock world, like so many things are happening!!
firstly, for X Japan fans, this year is a really memorable year because this coming 22nd September marks the 10th year anniversary of the disbandment of our most favourite band. i don't know what might happen, but since last year i was already expecting something to be released by Yoshiki. at least i was hoping that Violet UK might FINALLY be debuted...
but for the general jrock world, the first wave came in the form of the announcement of SKIN. since Yoshiki officially announced in Otakon last year that he and Gackt were going to work together, it had raised a lot of attention, especially since Gackt and Yoshiki were giving out information painstakingly and slow~~ly. and it continued to attract attention due to the members itself, each a successful and established artist with a great name attached to himself in the music industry, which seems almost too good to come true.
then, among the fans of X Japan itself, came fantastic surprises: the shocking but really touching news about Toshi and Yoshiki talking again, and the inference from their interviews that Without You vocalised version might be in the making. that news itself made me cry in front of the computer ;_; and then came the rumour, supported by some vague media 'reports' that X Japan is coming back for a reunification. a whole load of X Japan fans might've fainted when they heard, but personally i have some doubts and misgivings about this...
but anyway, the surprises keep coming and flooding on. next came the super-huge news of JRock Revolution Concert, that Yoshiki is bringing down JRock bands for a concert in LA for a 2-day concert!! DuelJewel, alice nine, DespairsRay, kagrra,, MUCC, Miyavi, Vidoll, girugamesh and Merry came to perform at Wilthern Theatre, LA. fans in the States ought've been totally (or overly, perhaps) ecstatic over this event!
needless to say that the day of this concert itself was the day that SKIN was formally introduced to the whole world, with the newest member Miyavi performing with guest guitarist Sugizo. fans of each members of SKIN are the next one to be excited, because the band announced that they'd be performing (as in CONCERT, MAN!!!!) at the Anime Expo barely a month after the JRock Revolution Concert!
X Japan fans kept getting even more surprises. the concert Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Concert at Tokyo Dome in December 1994 were going to be released in 2 different DVDs, and they also come with a limited edition box which contained extra unreleased stuff. AND, more promises of even more concerts to be released in DVD format!!
meanwhile, away from the world revolving around Yoshiki (hey, the previous news ALL have something to do with Yoshiki!!) , Hizaki was making news on his own with his collaboration with Kamijo to produce Versailles. HIZAKI grace project fans and Lareine fans were no doubt delighted by this piece of wonderful news. coming soon, this Halloween is the release of their first album, Lyrical Sympathy, by a european label which hopefully contain some awesome songs like the standard of Lareine and Hizaki's own solo work or better.
then, (i'm really slow at this because i don't frequently go to JRR website) it's Luna Sea's turn to raise more waves: they're coming back for a tour in December 24 THIS YEAR!!!! like a REAL Luna Sea concert after 7 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!
like, what the... all these old legendary bands are coming back to live, what's going on??!??!
but, hey, i'm not complaining! bring them on!
and, Yochan... above all this waves, we're still waiting for Violet UK debut album patiently. just tell us when and we'll go crazy-er still =D
7:23 pm
quoting Versailles' Official Myspace: Labels: hizaki
announcement from HIZAKI
Current mood: energetic
HI !! It's HIZAKI! How are you doing?
We will release our album "Lyrical Sympathy" on 31st October.
We have signed to an European label and are happy to deliver our album to you in Europe
We are in the middle of recording in a studio. All the songs are ready and the album will describe The World Of Versailles.....we are doing our best to make a good album so still need time to finish....please wait !!!
I am looking forward to meeting you soon!!
HIZAKI
*excited* *counting to the day when she'll get paid* *resolving to start aving money to pay lin for the Swan Lake and to have spare money to buy some other album to save shipping cost* *considering what album she wants to buy first amongst the CD wishlist* *preparing self to start being stingy* *excited* =DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
versailles' official myspace is GREAT!! not only do they get in touch with us like yoshiki does, they also uploaded many photos in GREAT sizes! *grabs all pictures* they're too gorgeous to be left just like that =DD
Lyrical Sympathy!! wait til i get my hands on you!!
on a more poppish note, i just imported the songs from the CDs i bought last sunday to iTunes and right now it's playing V6's Very Best. to my surprise, i could still sing along to most of the songs and almost half the lyrics i sing correctly. my my, catchy tunes makes lyrics stick to your head =P
OH!!! critical development!!!!!!!!!!!!! i submitted the request to be a friend some time ago to versailles' official myspace, but haven't come back there since. just now i was just checking about the news that first versailles album is going to be released soon, so i went there to check for myself. and then i went to see that they've uploaded some pictures, and when i wanted to see them they asked me to log in. and then i did and i went to their profile page first and feast my eyes on the gorgeous pictures of the whole band.
and then i came into my 'home' and saw that COMMENT!!!! COMMENT FROM VERSAILLES OFFICIAL MYSPACE!!!!
*faints from happiness* *stares at Hizaki's picture at her myspace profile page* *faints from happiness again*
this is just like getting comment from Yoshiki.... THANK YOU VERSAILLES!!! though i don't think it might be one of the members, but i was still (too much) excited anyway, teehee v(^^;
freaking happy still!!!!
i've decided to use the whole of my pay for my current part-time job to get their first album, Lyrical Sympathy. and also i'm gonna get myself some Hizaki album and Raphael's, if i have extra money that is.
hana, ganbatte! you can do without some meals for several days, all for the sake of those CDs, ne! ^^)q ganbatte!
1:26 am
Wednesday 5 September 2007
some random musing, not everything is in order though. Labels: list
vocalits with really-recognisable voice:
- toshi (x japan)
- ryuichi (luna sea)
- kamijo (lareine)
vocalists with beautiful smooth voice:
- toshi (x japan)
- yuki (raphael)
new vocalist who caught my attention:
- hayato from duel jewel.
>> story: before JRock Revolution Concert was held at Wilthern California, they set up a website to promote the bands who would be playing there. they put up short clips of some songs and incredibly from so many bands and so many songs, i was only interested in this band, Duel Jewel, and it's all just because the vocalist has such smooth and beautiful falsetto when he sang high notes. and he did the transformation from normal singing to falsetto back and forth so smoothly too! now, i know many vocalists can sing high notes, be it naturally (like toshi) or not, and some could do it well (like gackt) and some couldn't do that well but still sound good anyway (like hyde). but rarely jrock vocalist could do it while sounding so smooth and pure. some that i've heard were Yuki from Raphael, and, tadaah~ Hayato from Duel Jewel. really nice voice, hayato! =)
incidentally when i looked at youtube, the first video that i found was THAT video that caught my eyes earlier on for JRock Revolution Concert website, at least i thought it is =D. here you go, enjoy!
Duel Jewel - Aishu Melancholia
vocalists who are meant to sing tragic songs:
- kyo (dir en grey) >>just listen to Jealous Reverse
- satsuki (rentrer en soi) >> listen to Wither
>> story: when i first heard of them, Rentrer en Soi, i think they were still indie, but the first song that i heard left such a deep impression on me, the song Wither. it was a sad song, not so much weepy song, but more like filled with anguish and pain, and the way Satsuki sang it, i could really feel the withering feeling... he was good!
vocalists who are steadily deteriorating:
- gackt
- hyde (larc en ciel)
vocalist who is deteriorating but i like his voice even more:
- hyde xD
>> i don't know why, i prefer hyde's voice now than last time. for example, comparing Flower or Winterfall with New World or Hitomi no Jyuunin, i like the later 2 better, though it could be clearly heard that hyde had much easier time reaching those high notes back then than now... somehow he sounds raspier and sexier *oops*
L'Arc en Ciel - Flower
L'Arc en Ciel - New World
>> on the other hand, i'm very much saddened to say that gackt needs to control his cigarettes and alcohol if he doesn't wish to lose his one-in-a-million voice... i loved his voice during Malice Mizer era, gosh he sounded like so freakin good back then. but now *sigh* ... only those who could notice it could know, if you can't hear it, then you won't understand it.
if i can explain shortly, his voice used to be so full and round and collected right to the smallest edges even when he hit all those high notes, but now his voice is more spread out, flat, like a hard tyre that has a small hole in it that the air is not so round and smooth anymore. when he sings high, now, i could hear the small raw edges that breaks around his usually smooth voice. sounds difficult to understand, huh? T_T the changes were slight, but it was still pretty much heard-able, it was noticable, especially since his voice was so good...
BUT, i'm not saying that his voice is not good now, by goodness sake. at the very first place he was already that high up above mostly everyone else, and even with his slowly deteriorating voice, he still sounds incredible now. take care of yourself, gackt *pats gackt on the head*
vocalist who can't sing (in my standard anyway) but i still like them anyway:
- hide >> but when he sang with his real deeper voice, i love it!
- kyo >> but anyway he doesn't do much singing now, do you, kyo? please start singing again instead of screaming and choking around...
vocalists who share somewhat-similar voices (!):
- gackt x hayato >> if i hadn't been watching the video just now, i wouldn't realise that they DO sound somewhat similar in the low range, that is. their middle-high range notes sound pretty different.
- gackt x juka >> as in malice-mizer-era-gackt and early-moi-dix-mois-era-juka. i think many people who heard Moi dix Mois songs for the first time might've mistaken juka for gackt, coz eventhough his range doesn't match gackt's, juka really sounds a lot like gackt. later on, though, i think he started developing his own style and voice, now i don't confuse the 2 around anymore.
- klaha x seiji >> as in klaha from malice mizer and seiji from hizaki grace project. i thought they sound an awful lot like each other too! but, again, malice mizer members always win a few notches above, klaha sounded more steady and he doesn't lose his pitch at the end of the song too, haha =p
oh! by the way i made a terrible terrible mistake the other day for mistaking seth with seiji. my mistake, so sorry for anyone who were being misled into thinking that seiji is now singing for moi dix mois, coz the one with mana right now is seth, not seiji =P
vocalists who are too good singing gothic songs they might sound funny singing anything else =p:
- klaha >> incidentally i've heard juka singing other genre. personally i think his 'normal' singing voice, like in Stay in the Rain, is very very nice! i thought he sounded sweet ^_^ i don't know what's happening with klaha now, but hopefully he's still singing somewhere...
vocalists who can't sing but are blessed with THAT voice (unique, monkey, sexy, whatever you wanna call it) that they'll be successful in singing any song at all:
- hide >> love him or hate him, seems like there's no in-between choice? i like his deeper singing voice like in Tell Me or Misery, and as for his trademark chipmunk-voice, i don't like it when it's being combined with heavy industrial sound like for Doubt, Pose, or Breed, but i like it when he sings light-hearted poppish song like Rocketdive, Ever Free or Beauty and Stupid =)
- miyavi >> lol, i'm still educating myself about miyavi, and the more i listen to his songs, the more i realised that his voice is really unique. can't say that he can sing, but, hey people can fall in love with that voice, man... and now i can listen to his song, for his voice, not for his song =P
vocalists who also have unique voice that you can notice easily even when they're singing different songs (other than toshi, ryuichi, and kamijo):
- yasu (janne da arc) >> incidentally yasu's surname is also hayashi! ^^ no, he's not related to yoshiki, though they share similar surname and initials (!!) O.O
- yuki (raphael) >> i still don't know much about yuki, but yesterday i heard a Rice song for the first time and without even looking at my ipod, i knew it was yuki. he has that voice, nice and wide-ranged, steady, but also light. he sang high notes even without sounding strained... and i love his falsettos too =)
vocalists who have (a tad) too much vibration in their voices:
- gackt
- yuki
>> but i still like them a lot too =D
vocalists who have bright future at the opera world:
- klaha, and i believe most people who've heard him will agree with me ^^
vocalists who are too good-looking for their own good:
- gackt... alright gw mulai ngawur, let's end here for the moment. jyaa~~
9:25 pm
Sunday 2 September 2007
where, in singapore, can you buy original CDs at the price of 2bucks each?
Cash Converter. that is, second-hand original CD ^^
for the past 2 sundays i've been working for ADTag to promote Cash Converter, a second-hand appliances store that buys and sells second-hand stuff: musical instruments, electrical appliances, CDs, paintings, you name it. the one at Punggol that i went to last week has a great shelf filled with second-hand CDs. the one that i worked at today at ang mo kio has a small special room for racks and shelves of them!
i managed to fish out 8 CDs at the total price of $25, i thought it was a great bargain. eventhough the condition of these CDs are pretty much pathetic (their boxes cracked and the edges dangling, the CD surface filled with scratches, some booklets were yellowing), i'm prioritising on owning the original cd of songs that i like. and, hey, what can you expect from CDs that are 2bucks apiece? ^^
i got Zai-zai's "Make A Wish" CD for hany, Hamasaki Ayumi's "A Best" and "Duty", Every Little Thing's "Every Best Single+3", Aikawa Nanase's "ID (Best Album)", V6's "Very Best"(2CDs), Glay's "Glay Drive -Glay Complet Best-"(2CDs) and Trinity Boy's Choir's "A Christmas Collection", the last 3 CDs worth $5 each.
the best bargain, for me, would be the Glay Drive Complete Best. it contained many songs that i really like but i don't have on CD. i saw Luna Sea's Shine too, but many of the songs there i already have so i didn't buy. maybe next week we'll go to a different Cash Converter and i can do more fishing there v(^^
i'm a CD junkie... let's just hope that every single one of those CD still possesses the standard to produce decent sound on CD players and iTunes despite the numerous scratches on each CD surface...
ps: i'm doing my work and just realised that my printer is acting up. the quality of the print suddenly drop like when i used non-original ink for my previous Epson printer, yellowing dots appeared and destroy the whole picture, even after i cleaned the nozzle and all >.<>.< gotta go popular and buy some cartridges and check.... *grrr*...
9:59 pm
school started like 3 weeks ago (next monday is 4th week?) but i've already see a new sleeping and eating pattern for the rest of the semester. and they're pretty bad and need to be changed, like: Labels: school
wednesday - no lunch OR bring bento from home. between jonathan's class and susie's class, we only have half an hour break, so it's either jonathan must not exceed his time at all (which is really quite hard to say with teachers other than hideki) or we won't be having enough time to get some food (no canteen in this brand new building, sheesh...) so we all decided that bringing bento (or some kind of other food preferable to the individual) from home would be the wisest thing to do to protect our stomach...
saturday - no sleeping OR....well i guess i should just manage my time better -_- sunday i can't pull another stay-home-whole-day-and-try-to-do-work anymore because or work. though it's just 3 hours, i still need to prepare and travel, so my whole-day-of-trying-to-do-work weekend day now is only saturday. i've been pulling an all nighter for 2 saturdays in a row. last week was because of the aircond. this week is because of hana kimi (which i began rereading and couldn't stop, oops....)
anyway i'm in my mp3rotation-visiting mood. time to expand my jrock horizon to more than just x japan and the likes. i'm quite tired of flipping through fool's mate and shoxx just to see tonnes of bands whom i've neer heard before, and tired of discovering that the song that i like came from a band which no longer around -_- though chasing after these new bands are proving to be more like a gamble (coz most of the time i don't even like their songs) but who knows i'd discover another hizaki? =)
the more i visit these places, the more i realised that there are certain bands who are really popular and are regarded highly by fans, but i've never really listened to them before, like buck tick, or singer like kaya or atsushi sakurai who was revered as having some of the greatest voices in jrock world now (since gackt's was deteriorating steadily, as one owner had said, which i must regretfully agree to). and i also realised that Versailles must've been one of the most talked-about about now, everyone seemed to be really excited about this kamijo+hizaki pairing, and listening to their first song must be quite fulfilling coz they didn't disappoint the fans. ganbatte ne, versailles!
now i should get back to my drawings -_- and, oh, thanks to hisaya nakajo who've helped me in one of my pose (i stole one of umeda-sensei's sexy pose, teehee)
5:38 am
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CD Wishlist
JaeChunSu - The... (preordered)
JYJ - Thanksgiving Live in Dome DVD (preordered)
Tegomasu - Tegomasu no Ai minialbum
Versailles - Ascendead Master (mini movies in Limited Ed singles type I,II,III)
Yoshiki - Eternal Melody 1
Versailles Philharmonic Quintet - Jubilee (major debut album)
Jejung & Yuchun from Tohoshinki - COLOR~ Melody & Harmony/Shelter Double A single
Tohoshinki - Stand By U single
Dong Bang Shin Gi - Rising Sun album
Tohoshinki - Five in the Black album
Tohoshinki - Heart, Mind, Soul album
Dong Bang Shin Gi - Tri-Angle album
Tegomassu - Tegomassu no Uta album
Tegomassu - Tanabata Matsuri
NEWS - Touch
Tegomass - Miso Soup
Yamashita Tomohisa - Daite Senorita
Hizaki GRACE Project - Ruined Kingdom
Hizaki Grace Project - Dignity of Crest
Within Temptation - Mother Earth or Silent Force
Saint Preux - Concerto Pour Deux Voix
Lord of the Rings Complete Recordings
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Complete Recordings
Raphael (Kazuki) - Forever and Ever
Raphael - Raphael Singles
X - Vanishing Vision Album
X Japan - Dahlia Album
X Japan - Art of Life ~mini album
X Japan - Art of Life ~live
L'Arc en Ciel - Smile
Hyde - 666
DVD Wishlist
Tohoshinki - The Secret Code live in Tokyo Dome
TVXQ - All About TVXQ Season III DVD <--- !
Versailles Philharmonic Quintet - Chateau De Versailles DVD
Versailles Philharmonic Quintet - History Of The Other Side DVD
X Japan Returns Complete DVD 30th/31st December 1993
Versailles - Aesthetics HIZAKI version, with perfume Princess Stairs
Versailles - Aesthetics Kamijo version, with perfume Louise
Hizaki Grace Project - Monsho
Raphael - First
Raphael - Last
Raphael - Raphael Clips
Raphael - Pictorial Poem 2
X Japan - Art Of Life - 1993.12.31 Tokyo Dome
X Japan - Dahlia Tour / Dahlia Tour Final
X Japan - Complete Collection II (which, upon acquiring, will cancel the earlier 2 DVDs mentioned)
hide - Film The Psychommunity Reel.1
hide - Film The Psychommunity Reel.2
hide - Seventeen Clips - Perfect Clips Presented By Hide Museum
hide - Ugly Pink Machine File 2
hide - Alivest Perfect Stage 10000 Cuts Hide Hide Hide
CD In Possession
Versailles Philharmonic Quintet - Jubilee (major debut album)
Tohoshinki - Bolero/Kiss The Baby Sky/Wasurenaide Triple A single <--- !the perfect single!
Tohoshinki - Stand By U single
Dong Bang Shin Gi - Mirotic album (Platinum edition)
Tohoshinki - T album
Tohoshinki - The Secret Code album
Versailles - Ascendead Master (Reg + Ltd Ed. DVD Type I, II, III)
NEWS - Koi no ABO single (Reg and Ltd Ed.) <-- i'm selling the regular edition, contact me if you're interested (only for beijing, singapore and jakarta buyers only)
Versailles - Prince & Princess single
NEWS - Color album
Versailles - Noble album
Tegomass - Ai Ai Gasa single
Tegomass - Kiss ~Kaerimichi no Love Song single
NEWS - Summer Time single
NEWS - pacific album
My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
HIM - And Love Said No, The Greatest Hits 1997 - 2004
HIZAKI Grace Project - Curse of Virgo single
Hyde - Faith
Yui - Can't Buy My Love
Versailles - Lyrical Sympathy mini album
Yoshiki - Catacombs Soundtrack
HIZAKI - Maiden Ritual ~experimental edition
HIZAKI - Dance with grace
Raphael - Fumetsuka
Within Temptation - Heart of Everything
X Japan - Blue Blood & Blue Blood Special Edition
X Japan - Jealousy & Jealousy Special Edition
X Japan - The Last Live
X Japan - X Japan on Piano
X Japan - B.O.X (Best of X)
X Japan - X Japan Perfect Best
X Japan - Best Fans Collection
Yoshiki - Eternal Melody II
hide - hide BEST Psychommunity
Malice Mizer - La Meilleur Selection de Malice Mizer "best selection"
Moi dix Mois - Dix Infernal
Gackt - Mars
Dir en grey - Macabre
L'Arc en Ciel - Awake
L'Arc en Ciel - The Best of L'Arc en Ciel 1998-2000
Luna Sea - Never Sold Out
Glay - Speed POP
Glay - Rare Collection vol.1
Glay - Rare Collection vol.2
Glay - Love is Beautiful
Glay - Drive, Complete Best
GLOBE - Level 4
Aikawa Nanase - ID, Best Album
Hamasaki Ayumi - Duty
Every Little Thing - Every Best Single + 3
V6 - seVen
V6 - Very Best I
V6 - Very Best II
My Chemical Romance - Threee Cheers For Sweet Revenge
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
DVD/VCD in possession
X Japan - X VISUAL SHOCK DVD BOX 1989-1992
TVXQ - All About TVXQ Season II DVD Set <--- ♥&hearts♥
NEWS - Pacific Concert 2007-2008 and First Tokyo Dome Concert
NEWS - Never Ending Wonderful Story
Happy Feet Japanese version - Tegoshi Yuya as Mumble
X Japan - Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Complete Box
Yoshiki - Yoshiki Symphonic 2002 featuring Violet UK
hide - Ugly Pink Machine File 1
X - Hamettsu ni Mukatte 'On The Verge of Destruction' Concert
X Japan - The Last Live
X - X Clip 1
Phase 3.2 (2008)
Phase 3.1 (2008)
Phase 2.0 and 2.1 (2007)
Phase 1.2 (2006)
Phase 1.1 (2006)
Phase 1.0 (2006)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/arsenalx/ekkusuphase32c.jpg
featuring: Yoshiki
about: Yochan underwent a surgery to correct his spine, a problem that had persisted since 1995, when he finally started to feel numbness in his fingers. the surgery went fine, thank goodness. hopefully he will recover completely and it doesn't affect his piano playing. as for drums...don't forget your neck braces everytime you drums, yochan!
etc: read below xD i've made too many layouts featuring Yoshiki i don't wish to repeat myself =P
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v457/arsenalx/?action=view¤t=ekkusu3.jpg
Featuring: Versailles
Background: formed in 2007 by founding member Kamijo (ex Lareine) and Hizaki (ex Sulfuric Acid), they released their debut single Revenant Choir which tells a story about a clan.
Just as like Kamijo's past works, Versailles tells a story through their symphonic metal music and extravagantly elaborate costumes inspired from antique European era.
Members: Kamijo (vocals), Hizaki (guitar), Teru (guitar), Jasmine-You (bass), Yuki (drums)
etc: Versailles beautiful music managed to win my heart totally. saddened by the loss of Jasmine-YOU in 2009, but i hope the 4 of them will still make great music from now onwards. rest in peace, Jasmine-YOU, and watch out for the guys from up there...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v449/arsenal_x/ekkusu2.1copy.jpg
featuring: S.K.I.N.
Background: Formed in 2007, performed first during Anime Expo at the States in May.
Members: Yoshiki (drums, piano, guitar), Gackt (vocal, piano), Sugizo (guitar, violin), Miyavi (guitar, shamisen)
etc: ekkusu phase 2.0 was lost because i didn't save it in photobucket (because it refused to upload it properly).
and so, from now i'll start my skin from phase .1 instead of .0
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/arsenalx/ekkusunostudio1-3.jpg
Featuring: Hiruma Youichi
Model's background: manga character (Eyeshield 21)
More about the model: quarterback of Deimon Devilbats, The Commander From Hell;
the backbone and the brain behind Deimon High School's American Football Club, The Deimon Devilbats.
Icons: various facial expressions of Hiruma, the maniacal, elven-faced leader of Devilbats ^^
Etc: Eyeshield 21 is a sports manga about American Football and it's one of my current favourite.
My rating for them is:
hilarity 10/10
excitement: 9/10
intellectual level: 9/10
drawing: 7/10
characterisation: 9/10
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v457/arsenalx/?action=view¤t=yoshiki56trialwithrollovercopy.jpg
Featuring: Hayashi Yoshiki
Model's background: leader, drummer, pianist, main composer of legendary band X Japan (1982-1997); leader, drummer, pianist,
guitarist, composer of band Violet UK, debut coming soon.
More about the model: Yoshiki in the early X Japan era in early 90's when he still has long curly locks.
Etc: YOSHIKI IS MY HERO AND IDOL!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v457/arsenalx/th_yoshiki46copy.png
Featuring: Hayashi Yoshiki
Model's background: leader, drummer, pianist, main composer of legendary band X Japan (1982-1997); leader, drummer, pianist,
guitarist, composer of band Violet UK, debut coming soon. Born in Tateyama, Chiba (Japan) in 20th November 1965 and currently living in Los Angeles, California (USA).
Head company of Extasy Records, Extasy Japan and Extasy Records International (now defunct). http://myspace.com/yoshiki
More about the model: the faint background picture of Yoshiki was taken in the recent years when he's already cut his hair short and
started the habit of wearing sunglasses.
Icons: pictures taken from Yoshiki's house in LA: his front door, piano in the middle room, dining room and swimming pool.
Etc: I can write essays on Yoshiki, but let's just keep it simple and straightforward: YOSHIKI IS MY HERO AND IDOL!