With the release of ALI PROJECT's new Lantis best-album "Queendom" quickly approaching, both covers and many promotional images have been revealed. It's usual for this group to be visually awesome, but this time Arika is just divine. They traveled to Austria in order to shoot a medieval-like PV and used the concept to its fullest! *-* (Remember to full-size so as to see the original quality)
I'm feeling sooooo sleepy right now... This blog would be much better if I didn't have to go to school every single day at 6AM lol >.< Ok, I'll stop whining now xD
Music is what makes our lives better, right? And there is no one better than ALI PROJECT to show the real beauty of music and the many variations it may have. Previewing the release of "QUEENDOM", their third best-album under Lantis, the group revealed a trailer from the PV of the new track "Troubadour". Shot in Austria, this medieval-like video brings a dark atmosphere along with spectacular costumes. Like most AliPro songs, "Troubadour" grows more on you each time you listen to it~
Sorry for writing the link like this, but Lantis put the video as Unlisted. Due to that reason, Blogger can't find it in the search ^^"
After finishing promotions for "First Step", CNBLUE is back with a new music video as a way of thanking fans for their support. "Love Girl", which was already included in the first album (track 02), is a fun song with the usual style from the band. The MV features the members in cute situations while playing the song for a beautiful girl~
With the help of my new Photoshop skillz, I managed to create awesome red-cyan 3D images using photos of Japanese and Korean artists. I'm still learning how to make them more realistic, but I'm already in love with some of my creations! Just put your glasses on and have fun~ *-* (I recommend viewing them in full size)
f(x):
Jaejoong:
Ali Project:
Please credit me if you use them elsewhere ^^
PS: I've seen the news about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.. :( I really suck at sentimental writing, so I'll just say this (which is actually full of positive emotions ^^): Japan, Hwaiting!!!! #prayforjapan
I've always been a HUGE fan of Ali Project. One of the reasons for that is their incredibly unique and gothic costumes, reinventing themselves every single. Arika, the vocalist, is a Japanese symbol of the lolita style and models for many magazines. Therefore, I decided to dedicate this post to some of her most beautiful photos.
Modelling mainly for Gothic & Lolita Bible, the most important magazine of the style, Takarano Arika just knows how to make a perfect atmosphere for the concepts.
She can totally trick you about her age. Wanna guess?
I bet you guessed it wrong! The right answer is..... 47!
Although one post isn't even close to be enough, I hope this gave you an idea of how AWESOME and beautiful she is. And she is also a marvelous singer! Arika-sama I <3333 youuuuuu~~
For this week's recommendation, I chose an album that for me is a pure masterpiece. After years of great music from ALI PROJECT, this particular production of 2009 made a breakthrough.
"Poison"s jacket
With experimental styles like the jazzy "Gokushoku Ichidai Onna" (track 05) or the outer-space "Seikimatsu Genesis" (track 08), ALI PROJECT proved once more that their music is constantly changing while keeping the unique sounds that makes you realize it's theirs as soon as you hear the song.
Making use of the "Poison" theme, Mikiya gave the arrangements a dazzling feeling, with lots of the usual violin and different percussion instruments. Arika, with her brilliant vocals, put her own style in the songs with a bit of a mystical feel to it.
"Odokumi LADY" - track 03
It's really hard for me (for anyone, I think) to like all songs from an album of any artist, considering there are usually 10+ songs. However, in this case, I simply love all tracks. Composed of nine normal tracks and one instrumental song, Poison is sure to please the listener.
I thought it would be fair to start this blog with my favorite japanese group: ALI PROJECT.
Arika Takarano (vocals)
Well, ALI PROJECT has a big history in the japanese music scene as they started in 1988. You can read more about their career on their Wikipedia article.
If you are a jpop fan, you may know them. AND you may 'hate' them. I know a lot of people do. Why is that? I would say it's because they're different, unique. ALI PROJECT is one in a million, a band that makes it's own music in their own style. A hater usually says "all their songs sound the same!". That's kinda true if you hear only their anisongs (songs made for animes), which is what most people end up doing (not their fault, I know, as you need to search a little deeper to find their other works). Not that I don't like the anisongs, actually they are usually catchier ^^
Therefore, I would like to show you some of their songs from original albums, which are never used as anime themes (their anisongs are always from singles). But before that, just remember that their songs vary between MANY styles, and hearing a song or two isn't enough to know this incredible duo.
An example of their traditional classical songs found in most albums. From the strings-album 'Gothic Opera' (2010)
'Gokushoku Ichidai Onna' from their original album 'Poison' (2009) - An unexpected style of song, now a fan-favorite.
Besides the unique songs, what also impresses me is their visual style. Arika Takarano, the singer, dresses for each single, album or concerts in a whole different way, changing even the hairstyle, color and many other details. Each release has it's own 'theme' and the costumes are a way of making a better presentation of that 'theme'.
Cover of 'Ranse Eroica', a space/videogame-themed single released on July, 2010.
I was thinking about recommending the best albums, singles or songs, but I just can't choose them! ALI PROJECT is such an awesome band and everybody should give them a chance...even a second one~
So what do you think? ^^
PS: Since this is my first post, the image-text-video structure might change in the future until I find one that suits my idea for this blog. :]
