31/12/2017

Year in Review 2017: My one post of the year is again stupidly long

So, 2017. What a ride that was... wait, what am I even talking about? I can barely remember anything of note that happened this year. Here's some of the stuff I do remember.

Twat of the Year

Probably a tie between Daichi, for sacrificing Guso Drop on the altar of doubt, leaving Saki and Fumimi to their own devices simply because he wanted to stop writing exclusively for only a few groups, only to curtail his freelance career to write exclusively for only two groups; or Watanabe Junnosuke for his continued attempts to make an idol under his auspices commit suicide just for publicity. Tossers, the both of them.


Music Video of 2017



Very rare that I give this award to something Japanese, let alone idol-related, but this year Rie put out something artsy as hell and that makes me happy. Solstafir released two music videos this year, both wonderfully shot but unfortunately not by Bowen Staines and thus lacking the deeper meaning that his videos usually contain, and metal let me down considerably. Thus it was basically between this and another video which will come up later, which this just won out. The music and video actually heavily remind me of the Banvox/Yamabe Miyu collab Umbrella, which was fantasically weird. Either way, with trolleattroll or Hajimetal, Rie's career doesn't look like something as basic as Ladybaby disintegrating will stand in its way.


Best Photobook of 2017

Nagahama Neru's Kokokara. Neru makes me laugh. She's a bit of a spanner and in Keyaki is one of the members that keeps you guessing as to how broken she actually is (I think most of them are pretty broken or emo as it is). Whether being cheerful as hell or emo as hell she's almost wondefully split-personalitied. So the photobook is basically neither, just completely dirty.












Best Picture of Dani Filth Looking Like a Spanner in 2017


THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! (to keep dressing like a spanner for the foreseeable future)

Most Brutal Chromatic Riff of 2017



That riff at 2:15 is evil. I love it. Actually I love this whole song. The random genre crash and stupidity and ooh colour explosions.

Best Song To Play When You Ragequit Your Job of 2017



Alestorm doing wonders for the "parental advisory" crowd here. But it's so fucking catchy, eh.

Best Deafheaven Ripoff of 2017

Compare and contrast:




Inspired by... lol.
Don't get me wrong, I do love Dots. They break audiences so well. The first time I saw them they did Noise Music and one Dot sat on the stage whilst the others brought her a bunch of panties and she ate them. It's fun. Shame the fans are boring and are basically all kameko (camera-wielding motherfuckers who block everyone else's view). 

Biggest Disappointment of 2017

So many. So, so many. From the deaths of the remainder of all the groups I first started liking when I stumbled across underground idols all those years ago (so long to Next Shoujo Jiken, Tsuki to Taiyou, Guso Drop and Hauptharmonie from my A-list this year) to my return to Japan 4 months ago only to find myself too remote to be able to go to Tokyo frequently to catch the lives I wanted, resulting in me seeing Guso Drop only twice before their demise, and still not having seen Zekkyou due to their ridiculously far-reaching live schedule. In more ridiculous disappointments, still kind of need Haga Akane to evolve into Hagane and release her metal potential.

Strangest Mashup of Holidays of 2017




So, Suzu's back. And she's turning Christmas into Halloween, because that's Suzu. Also the bassist has green strings. That's rad.

Most Randomly Stupid Yet Stupidly Catchy Song of 2017



Honestly that line with 何様だ pisses me off. It basically glorifies Japan's serious problem with unpaid overtime and the resultant deaths by overwork (過労死) that occur due to it. And even despite all that overtime Japan's productivity is stupidly low. It's got to the point where the Japanese government has even designated the last Friday of every month as "Premium Friday" where there's no overtime. As of yet, only public bodies have actually started to do it. That aside, this song is basically Nakajima Terui's tribute to both Stevie Wonder and Love Machine. Henkka's wonderfully polished remix shows the former, whereas the use of Dance☆Man and lyrics related to Japan's place in the world and doing something to improve it hearken heavily back to Love Machine. Also it's damn funky and sexy as all hell with that bass. Can't really look past it as my idol song of 2017. Lyrical stupidity aside, anyway.

Best Use of Magic in a PV of 2017



Angerme left it late in the year to release something I really liked, but when they did, I got this hilarity. Ostensibly the previous Angerme members, having already established themselves as the fucknut group of H!P, have somehow awoken magic and use it to trap their new members in with them until they too become fucknuts. Also harpsichord solo.

Best Idol Group Meltdown of 2017

Kobushi Factory proving you don't need to be an underground idol group with no fans to lose 3 members in a matter of months all for varying degrees of scandal, whilst two other members are also tarred with the same brush.


Best Rock'n'Roll Throwback of 2017



The riffs. The stylings. Then DAT chorus. I love a moving rhythm guitar in a chorus (see Tokyo Girls' Style's Bad Flower for another sexy example), and this is the best example in years. Good stuff.

Manifesto for a New Age of 2017




So, Morning Musume's had a strange 2017. Quite a few new members to integrate, and a new album which ignored every song released in 2015 and 2016 for good measure. However, they did release Brand New Morning, which I found an interesting European club hit in comparison to their other songs this year, which were either Tsunku leftovers which were pretty crap, or upbeat songs which were pretty crap. It also provided a nice basis for Yokoyama and Kaga to take centre stage a bit, and Yokoyama has actually really impressed me this year. It'll be interesting seeing how well Morito beds in, and what the hell is gonna happen with Kudo gone. Still, Tsunku needs to refind his mojo or it's all for naught.

Most Hyper Colourific Weird PV of 2017



Ebichuu on a mission to blind people.

Most Ridiculously Overlong Album of 2017

Keyakizaka's Masshiro na Mono wa Yogoshitakunaru (I want to dirty things that're pure white) has 40 songs and clocks in at nearly 3 hours once you factor in all the different versions. I tried to listen to the whole thing to review it, but but by the time you're finished you can't remember 90% of what happened before. So, fuck it. I thought that would be unassailable, until HKT48 released their first album (after 5 years+ years of existence) which has 51 songs and clocks in at three and a half hours. Fuck you AkiP, can't you just release one album with 12 songs every year instead of 51 songs every 5?

Most Improved Vocals of 2017



Rei is going from strength to strength. She has nodules or something, which are normally pretty simple to remove and result in better vocals overall (see Saki, who had to have them removed in 2015 at some point), and despite ragequitting Ladybaby because of some fight she had with Rie, in Brats at least she has a musical project to maintain her rise to popularity. Shame her guitar playing has got so shit...

Best Use of a Dwarf in an Idol PV of 2017



Also possibly the only use of a dwarf in an idol PV of 2017. Koto's dancing is too fast for the backing dancers to keep up. Also zombie Koto is cute. Still, making a PV for a song that was released two years ago when you recently released a new single is a bit weird.

Best Sadako Tribute PV of 2017



Honestly I find Myrkur somewhat overrated, it's relatively good quality folk black metal but because it was done by a Danish female pop singer suddenly it's the most grim and frostbitten thing ever. Even so, the music video is relatively well done, and there's something trance-like about the choral sections. Plus the aforementioned Sadako shoutout.

Most Eccentric PV of 2017



See what I did there? (Outside Japan you'll probably have to find the Taiwanese version, sorry, that's region blocked for me so won't let me find it even). Eccentric is Keyakizaka's song about funtimes in the rain. Or something. The live version dance is hiliarious, with them taking off one shoe and waving it over their heads, throwing it away, then they all disappear off stage to find them again. Keyakizaka are certainly becoming the most out-there major group.

Best Facial of 2017



Yea, Guso's last giant fuck you to the industry involved them getting spattered in blood and semen. Because why not.

The Most Heavy Genres in One Song of 2017



Let's count. Punk, djent, death metal, pop rock, deathcore, prog metal, punk, pop rock, doom metal, pop, pop rock. Enough?

Most Ludicrous Amount of Injokes in A Double-Header PV of 2017



Saki going gung ho on the references to her own life, Daichi's life, the manager's life, the record label A&R guy's life and everything else in the double-header PV for Chippoke Hero and 3分.

Most Horrific 80s-Inpisred Song of 2017



So, you hire Hyadain to make you a song, then you choose to restrict him by making it a somewhat bastardised semi-cover. Not only do you choose to sample and steal the chorus from possibly the most outrageously sexual 80s song ever created, but also some other 80s stuff, just so you can work with Trevor Horn on the follow-up? Fucking pointless.

Best Liars of 2017

"We're not idols!" claimed Tokyo Girls' Style, who then spent this year doing everything to convince everyone otherwise, from appearing at Tokyo Idol Festival to doing release events for their singles and albums.



Still, their output hasn't been too bad this year.

Best Spanking of 2017



I guess Hina's been a bad girl. Anyway, I digress, this was my second choice for best music video of the year, losing out simply because this is less artsy. Still, very rare two Japanese artists even get close to my #1, let alone idols. So yes, Dawnslayer. From Himari, Sari and Risaki summoning demons to Hina being whipped by some weird person, it's all very occult and very Necroma, and shot gorgeously. Despite losing two of my favourite members in Karen and Hotaru, they've found two very capable replacements and seem to be going from strength to strength, and look set to expand even further next year. For those who haven't read it, I also reviewed the London gig.

Most Disturbing Vocalist of 2017



So, an 11 year old Norwegian girl is channelling the spirit of some chain-smoking New Orleans jazz singer. This isn't even the best one, last year she did a cover of "I Put A Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, inventor of the death growl. Because why not. It's worth noting she won Norway's version of Got Talent, singing Billie Holiday's Gloomy Sunday. When she was 7. Kids are scary.

Cold? I Don't Know Such a Thing... Hardcore Idol of 2017



This Artema Doll video was published in June. However it was recorded in February. It was -2C. Artema Doll's perpetual barefooter Nanaeru wasn't to be deterred however, and did it barefoot anyway. That's what I call devotion to her lifestyle.

Top Five EPs or Mini-Albums of 2017

It's a rare year when I actually find this many EPs or Mini-albums worth rating, let alone making a section about. As ever my definition of these things is a bit odd. I define an album as something which lasts more than 35 minutes. Or, has more than 10 tracks and lasts more than 30 minutes. Or has more than 20 tracks and lasts 25 minutes (just so grindcore actually has albums, not just EPs). Apparently EPs are only supposed to have 4 tracks and be less than 25 minutes but that's bullshit, the first EP I ever listened to (and loved the hell out of) was Cradle of Filth's V Empire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein, which was 36 minutes long and had 6 tracks. It's still my favourite thing Cradle have ever released. Anyway, this year, the top five EPs that have gained my attention...

5= Broken By The Scream - Screaming Rhapsody


Song picks: Hashire! Nadeshiko, Watashi wa Watashi no Mama da yo, Hikari

Maniac turned me onto this, and it is pretty much poppy deathcore. Not really a genre I spend too much time in, but the two screaming vocalists don't even sound slightly wrong. Whereas Saki and Rei in Guso Drop got gradually worse, and Yuna in Passcode had to have surgery due to their technique being wrong, this is technique done correctly. The music, despite it not being a genre I particularly enjoy normally, is well done and surprisingly professional for underground idols. As such it, despite being much lower in score than the 4 EPs above it, makes the list to make it into a top 5.

7.6/10



5= Necronomidol - Dawnslayer

 
Song picks: Dawnslayer, R'lyeh, Abhoth

So, it's not actually a top five but a top six, because 5 had two EPs at the same rating. Necroma's Dawnslayer has three amazing songs on it, and two which I'm not too keen on. As such the rating kind of slipped a bit behind where Necroma releases usually rate but at least they got on here. I'll not bother posting the Dawnslayer video again, but it is amazing. R'lyeh is amazing. Abhoth is amazing. Need more like R'lyeh honestly, that's some super good songwriting. Anyway, more to come on Necroma in a minute.

7.6/10



4. Zekkyousuru 60do x I Love You Orchestra - Hug


Song picks:  Yowamushi no Uta, Susume, Utakata no Ima, Mirai no Kako, Tension

I honestly didn't think I'd get hold of this in time for this post, being so hard to find even living in Japan. As it was, it arrived December 30th. Just in time for me to write this. Now, the collaboration between Zekkyou and I love you Orchestra goes back years, having done so many shows together at Otsuka Hearts+ over the intervening period. They collaborated on a few songs every gig, and that turned into this collaboration. It's a bit far from Zekkyou's normal two-pronged songwriting, that of either 6% is Mine's punk base or Nejishiki's funky pop rock sensibilities, with I love you Orchestra being almost full on technical pop prog with flashes of ska and other random stuff at points. Even so, it works well, with both Montero and Kai having been involved in the creative process it adds more of their character to the lyrics than the Nejishiki stuff. Overall a good little EP, though I'd have preferred it a little longer. Also points for some of the songtitles being fantastic. Especially 泡沫の今,未来の過去。which translates as "The Transient Present, the Past of the Future," and 天志音 which is so many puns I can't even but is pronounced Tension and represents "The sound of aiming for the stars".

8.9/10



3. Hauptharmonie und Tapferkeit Band - Brass! Brass!! Brass!!!


Song picks: Kuchibiru wo Ubai ni Iku, Tokyoite Grim Reaper, Gouyuu

Ah, dearly departed Haupt. They were so amazing and died too soon. For their final farewell they teamed with Tapferkeit Band and released this rock 'n' roll inspired jazzy EP, which is sexy as a sexy thing. Terada Juno's vocals in particular are phenomenal on this release, and the instrumentation, being provided by an actual band rather than hired session musicians is tight as hell and gives a more naturalistic feel to it. Even with the heavier numbers, it never sounds forced. Speaking of the heavier numbers, Gouyuu is the heaviest thing they ever released and it's insane. Grindcore idol jazz. So short but it made me so happy. This is a fitting tribute to their demise, and I love it. Haupt is dead, long live Haupt.

9.1/10



2. Hoshina Fumimi - Mimichic


Song picks: Tsumeaka Gero Happy, Hizaue 15cm,  Sore wa Sore wa Kawaisou na Onnanoko no Monogatari

So, Fumimi's first release is the last one produced by Daichi, but hell, what a tour de force their collaboration brings. Daichi seemed to struggle for a while deciding with Fumimi what direction to take once she joined Aminor, with Vampire Kiss (her first song, which Daichi wrote for her when she was still freelancing) being somewhat removed in style from her later stuff, but when he made up his mind a load of amazing songs came through. Pretty much everything on this mini-album is fantastically written and I love it. As a complete and finished product, I'd say in the all-time Daichi songwriting standard it comes in below 2&'s Live Idol Artist, about equal with Guso Drop's Meshi no Tane and above everything they released thereafter. As someone who was as die-hard into Guso Drop as I was, that's a high standard. But it's good stuff. More people should like Fumimi. She's awesome.

9.3/10



1. Asterism - The Session Vol. 1


Song picks: All of them

Should I, realistically, be putting an EP which has two original tracks and three covers at the top of this list? No. Nonetheless, I am. Why? Because Asterism deserve to be heard. Proving once again that Asia is full of ridiculous talent, Asterism started in 2014 and even now the members are still stupidly young, with the bassist Miyu and guitarist Haruka being 15, and the drummer Mio is 18. I released my first EP around the same age but was nowhere near this level of ability. Their original compositions are thrash metal in the Bathory vein (I know, I'm basically the only person who likes Bathory's thrash output), but the bass mixing is super high and I love a high bass level in thrash metal. Listen to Bathory's Requiem for why. Their covers, on this record of Metallica, Ozzy and Judas Priest, show off their metal roots, and they're on the verge of a major breakthrough despite only playing instrumentals. I saw them live on the 29th of December, and I've never seen a live band play so tight. Despite the tiny venue, and shitty stage management, they overcame the lack of space to play a load of songs from this EP and the next one due out in January, and slayed it. Miyu, the bassist, is particularly insane level, at one point he was playing a 7-string bass. Haruka's way better than any 15 year old has any right to be on guitar, and whilst Mio's drumming is the least flashy of the 3 members, he's rhythmically on point and tight as hell, and in pulling off Rush's YYZ without a hitch that's some compliment. Definitely a band to watch for the future.

9.4/10




Top Ten Albums of 2017

So, this year has been a mixed bag. Already we start off a hell of a lot lower than usual with #10 being a 7.6 as opposed to 8.2 last year. Also only 4 albums made it over 9 this year, in contrast to the six last year. On the other hand, the top three are incredibly closely matched.

10. Enslaved - E


Song picks: Sacred Horse, Hiindsiight, Djupet.

Enslaved have been a force to contend with in the realm of progressive viking black metal for a good 15 years now, and their latest album E (not M), shows no sign of them slowing. For me, I still think they hit their peak with Riitir, but this album is a good slice of everything they do so well. There's the proggy as hell bits, the black metal as hell bits, and a lot more Viking influence than has been apparent of late as well. Not a bad album.

7.6



9. Yanakoto Sotto Mute - Bubble


Song picks: am I, sputnik note, Done

YSM is a group I have never paid attention to. I don't know who the members are. I have never seen them live. But Maniac told me this was a good album so I tried it out. Holy shit it's good. It's an idol album in the nichest sense possible. If you imagine the good old collaboration between Melon Kinenbi and Midori (how the fuck that ever came about I can't even imagine) it's akin to that, but on an album-wide scale. Apparently they're linked to Bellring Shoujo Heart and their successor There There Theres somehow, so that might explain the musical quality. The production, like Bellheart, is basically wall of sound to the extreme, which might turn off some listeners not used to the Phil Spector technique running the hell away. Either way, a nicely produced and performed album, but definitely not for music novices. Looking forward to some improvement for their next one.

7.7/10



8.  Necronomidol - Deathless


Song picks: End of Days, Keres Thanatio, Ithaqua

Yes, this is an album, not an EP or mini-album, by dint of being 19 seconds longer than my arbitrary album length minimum standard. Necoma are back and badder than ever. Despite this getting a lower rating than Nemesis, it's higher in my year end chart because that's just the kind of year 2017 has been. Necroma's strength in depth has only increased here, with the gloriously modern metal meets shoegaze of End of Days to the frankly weird 4.7L (some kind of club hit with guitar chugging) and Chunking Redline (80s synthpop darkwave or something I don't even) added to their normal NWOBHM and Black Metal base, plus the now mandatory-seeming addition of Skulls in the Stars. All in all a good second album and looking forward to what 2018 brings for them, seeing as 2017, with an album and an EP in the top lists, was so successful for them.

7.8/10



7. Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku - Ebicracy


Song picks: Seifuku "Hourensou" Funk, Beni no Uta, Haru no Arashi,

So, Ebichuu have had a tough year. Rina died. Aiai's going to graduate. There was no 五五七二三二○  song. Even so they released Ebicracy, which is damn good. Ebichuu have consistently outdone Momoclo in the past 4 years, by releasing the interesting and crazy music that Momoclo, bound by the restrictions of mainstream success, haven't been able to. Ebicracy is funky, proggy and deranged in just the right amounts. They even touch shoegaze in Kanjou Densha. It is disturbing how quickly shoegaze has gone from something fringey as hell to mainstream in the span of a few years. Even so, a good album and I hope they carry on making crazy music even without Aiai.

8/10



6.  Marty Friedman - Wall of Sound


Song picks: Self Pollution, Whiteworm, Something to Fight

Speaking of wall of sound, here's Marty namechecking the hell out of it. Marty's been on fire since he fully embraced the Japanese side and came out of his mid-2000s funk, and on Wall of Sound he's just as heavy as he was on Inferno. Unfortunately the production this time around is a little less amazing, but there are still a number of fantastic songs and moments which are just glorious. With Sexy Saxman Saxogram Jørgen Munkeby back for some more saxy shredding, as well as Shiv Mehra from Deafheaven and someone from Black Veil Brides, it shows Marty still taking an interest in the new and unexplored reaches metal has gone to in recent years, and trying out some exploration along with his shred. The ambient passages are also really sweet, showing that people thinking Marty is incapable of playing with feeling are full of shit. Good stuff.

8.6/10



5. Akercocke - Renaissance in Extremis



Song picks: Unbound by Sin, First To Leave The Funeral, One Chapter Closing For Another To Begin

So, Akercocke are back. I predicted their album would be on this list last year, and I've proven myself right. It's no Words That Go Unspoken, but nonetheless it's a very good album. Paul Scanlan also made his return, and so a lot of the more grimy riffing that was present on Goat Of Mendes and Chronozon also came back. As someone who enjoyed both albums that's nice for me. It's been likened on some reviews to the Bryan Ferry of Death Metal. Could be. Jason Mendonca's obviously spent his time during Akercocke's demise being an IT professional, but it seems he hasn't stopped practicing with his voice, as his croons are amazing as ever and his death growls are still humanly indecipherable. The drumming is also top notch, but I don't think David Gray's ever appeared on an album where it wasn't. He is Blast Vader after all. Overall a good return for them, and good progressive black/death metal as well. Good times.

8.7/10



4. Septicflesh - Codex Omega


Song picks: Portrait of a Headless Man, Enemy of Truth, The Gospels of Fear

Henkka recommended that I check this out and damn am I glad he did. Septicflesh are a Greek symphonic death metal band, and like every Greek metal band I've ever heard, they do strange and interesting things to the genre that no one outside of Greece seems capable of replicating. In the case of Codex Omega it's basically a full on symphony with death growls. This is almost Wagneresque in its depiction of impending doom through sumptious aural violence. Probably the best death metal album in years, and that's saying quite something. More please.

9.2/10



3. For All We Know - Take Me Home


Song picks: Take Me Home, Let Me Fly, Colours, We Are The Light

The combination of Wudstik and Ruud Jolie is back, and after taking my 2011 Best Album by quite a margin, they're back with the just as amazing Take Me Home. Unfortunately this year the competition was a hell of a lot more fierce at the sharp end of this list, and so they missed out on the top spot by 0.2 points and 2 places. Wudstik has continued his march to becoming basically one of my favourite vocalists of all time by basically doing every vocal style in existence on this album. This album is a lot heavier than the first FAWK record, often channelling a bit of Haken for good measure. The pop sensibilities of Jolie's main band Within Temptation also creep in at parts, and whereas on the first album he was focused (almost too much) on making an album that was proggy as a really proggy thing, this time he's focused on making a damn good album and never mind the influences so much. Hence you get sexy pop hooks followed by 7-string chugging in weird and wonderful time signatures. Wonderful album.

9.5/10



2. Body Count - Bloodlust


Song picks: This Is Why We Ride, No Lives Matter, Black Hoodie

Ice-T and the gang are back and they are pissed. From Dave Mustaine's spoken word intro telling the listener that the US is now in a state of martial law, to the last notes of the album this doesn't let up. It's fast, and actually still sounds dangerous, which a lot of metal has lost these days. In addition, the social commentary on the album is top draw, and makes me think that Ice-T, like Al Jourgensen, writes his best stuff when Republicans are in power. So definitely worth checking out. This album's also one for those who think rap has no place in metal, as it's damn good.

9.6/10



1. Ayreon - The Source


Song picks: All of them

So, Arjen's back. As I predicted at the end of last year, he released something which, in going back to the old Ayreon storyline and being one of the heaviest things he's ever released under the Ayreon name (possibly about equal with Flight of the Migrator) has me jizzing everywhere. So much better than the last Ayreon album it's not even funny, and probably the best album he's done since The Human Equation, even counting the amazing 2nd Star One album. From the guests being on-form and amazing (he specifically called back a lot of the 01011001 cast as being immortal they're basically the same characters) to the music being even more amazing this is an event, not an album. It's even got one of the sexiest guitar solos ever recorded in Planet Y is Alive, played by Guthrie Govan of all people. Paul Gilbert's on here too. It's basically amazing. The whole thing's on Youtube, go check it out, it's worth it.

9.7/10



2018 Predictions:

1. ・・・・・・・・・ First Album 「         」 takes the world by storm. I've heard it and I love it. But despite being "officially" leaked, the "official" release date isn't until January and thus it couldn't make this year's list, so assuming I remember it's a 2018 release it should be on the list next year.

2. Burst Girls will suck. I know, I was a huge Guso Drop fan. When Daichi dropped the bomb that they were gonna end I thought "fuck". Now they announced that Rin, Yura, Rei and Miyako are continuing as Burst Girls. The music, from what I've heard, sounds pretty meh. I'll be honest, once Shion and Saki left Daichi and the fans were the only thing keeping me interested. Without him as the producer, I'm sceptical if any of the songs will be any good.  I would love to be proven wrong, but until I've heard good quality music I'm not going near it.

3. Necronomidol continue to dominate in Japan, and return once more to decimate Europe. This is less of a prediction and more what I've heard. They are touring internationally again, so you can bet your left testicle it's going to be phenomenal.

4. 2& new single is amazing. Again, something I know rather than am guessing. Despite losing Daichi, she's actually done some of the songwriting and production herself, instructing a live band how to play it and such. The two new songs sound amazing. Looking forward to 2& Day and her birthday.

5. Mabokare become my #1 group. Solely through force of their good nature and the fact that they're almost always in Tokyo when I am.

6. Chicken Blow The Idol Blows Chickens With Idols.

7. As it didn't quite come true this year, one from last year: Nogizaka46 overtake AKB's single sales.

8. Nuclear War and devastating nuclear fallout because two twats with penis envy can't shut up.

And if you're still here I'll just link to my band's newest album as it's probably bad form to review your own album even if my bandmate wrote all but one track of the music. Enjoy it if you're geared that way.

Anyway, I'll probably post again in December 2018.

Pozdrav fuckers,
Krv