It's been forever yet again!

Fated Lyeno - Count

Genre: melodic punk
Song style: melancholic but strong guitars

Hey, it's been a while! Here's a random song I found on a Youtube hunt. I haven't even seen the video because I'm at a lab now and wouldn't want people to see a music video running around on my screen - but the song is beautiful. So I've traveled around the world (okay, around East Asia) and back. I had an amazing and strange time, and have gotten much more excited about other cultures, while learning a lot more about how people (including myself) work. Now I've settled into Tokyo and the laboratory that I'm working at. Gonna head home after updating this post.

Going to attend a concert in Shibuya with the "White White Sisters" I posted two posts ago, very excited! I e-mailed them directly for tickets and they e-mailed me back saying they'll be waiting for me ;-). Hope you've all been well and expect finally more constant posts as I waste away at the lab...

No Mistakes Today

Riddle - Mistake

Genre: punk, post-hardcore
Song style: upbeat, heavy guitars but melodic singing

I really dig the intro of this song. Guitars and then bam - "do you remember that bad day, do you remember the first time..." (hope I'm hearing the English correctly hehe). Unfortunately the chorus gets stereotypical for me, but overall a nice piece. This band has been around since 2003 but has laid under the radar. They're currently on tour, and this song "Mistake" is their latest music video, released January of this year. I am going to plow through this weekend of too many fun things + too many final papers just as these guys plow through this so unbelievably catchy intro. Help me, I need a band to return me to the rock world away from Fergie...

Remix: Boom boom fact

Fact - A Fact of Life (Boom Boom Satellites Remix)

Genre: electronic + punk
Song style: quirky, builds up slowly in waves to an eventually very heavy ending

I thought this would be a good follow-up post after introducing both Fact (the second video I posted) and then Boom Boom Satellites. I feel like it takes the good parts out of "Fact of Life" and adds a very different flavor to it. The video is also a cute homage to Fact's aesthetic - instead of being men in suits wearing Noh masks, we have modern dancers wearing these young female Noh masks which then turn to demons as the song gets heavier. As an aside, I'm really liking Boom Boom Satellite's album Exposed (2007). It seems like that was their most recent album, and "Back on My Feet" from yesterday is just a separate single that was released in 2009. This week so far, my life has been so mundane that it has become surreal to me, and these two bands have been adding a heavy, bizarre edge to things.

A Fact of Life

Fact - A Fact of Life

Genre: Alternative / melodic punk / post-hardcore
Song style: High energy

A friend sent me this band's album a couple of days ago. It took some time for me to warm up to it, but I realized a lot of these songs are really catchy and powerful. (For example, this song would be great for a run!) I would recommend their recent album FACT for those of you who enjoy more mainstreamy punk. I'm surprised at how almost all of their lyrics are in English (though admittedly I can only understand about 30% of what they're saying). This band has apparently been around since 1999, and I'm also very proud of them for making it into the US scene - with their release of FACT in the US last year. I'm always excited to root for bands touring in the US!