Music Corner - featuring ムック (MUCC)

I know that this blog is already a mix of a little bit of everything (I'm too ADD to blog about one thing all the time, I guess, XD), so I've decided to keep going along with that. At least once a month (most likely twice), I'll post a blog titled "Music Corner" in which I showcase music by some of my favorite bands. I've debated doing this for a while, and finally figured, "Why the hell not?" Since most of the music I listen to is less than mainstream (here in America, at least), I thought it would be interesting to open everyone's eyes to music they may not listen to otherwise.

Today's band is my favorite of all time, ムック or MUCC (pronounced as "mook-koo"). They are one of the most intense bands I have ever heard, and I will always be indebted to my best friend for introducing me to them back in 2007. While I'm less than pleased with the direction their music has taken as of late, I know that I will forever be in awe of their early music (and will patiently wait for them to come to their senses and start making their dark, cynical music again, lol).

MUCC was formed in 1997 and is comprised for four very talented men. Tatsurou is the lead singer (his voice makes me melt), Miya is on the guitar, Yuuke is on bass, and Satochi is on drums. To date they have released well over 300 songs -- 10 albums, 24 singles, 4 demos, and have been featured on many compilation albums. They've toured all across Japan and Europe, and traveled with the Taste of Chaos tour across American in 2008, along with The Underneath and D'espairsRay (another popular JRock band). Sadly, I didn't know about them touring with the Taste of Chaos until a few days after they performed in Dayton, Ohio, the closest they came to this area. I could have cried. :(

Now, onto the music! The song titles are listed first, followed by the month and year they were released, which is followed by a couple translated lines of the song. I haven't featured ALL of their singles, because...well...this blog would be even longer than I already know it'll be. Heheh.  And I love all of their music, but my absolute favorites have asterisks (*) before and after their titles.  At the very end are a few of my favorite live performances from them. : )

Unfortunately, Universal Japan has it set up so their videos can't be embedded (BOO!!!), so any singles that were released by MUCC under them are from DailyMotion instead of youtube.

Happy listening!!!

ONE OK ROCK - "Answer is Near"

ONE OK ROCK - Answer is Near

1. Answer is Near

2. Silent World

3. Answer is Clear

4. To Feel the Fire

Overall score: 10/10

I am a huge fan of OOR and have been waiting for this single to come out for months. The night I first heard them and proceeded to download their entire discography was one of the greatest nights ever. Their last album (Niche Syndrome) is just about amazing, and I find myself going to their discography on my iPod for a listen more often than not.

girugämesh - "Destiny"

"Destiny" isn't brand new, as it came out at the beginning of January, but it is the newest of giru's latest singles. I was a little hesitant when I first added the single into iTunes and started the title track up. Electronic elements aren't new to the band's style of music (the easiest band to compare some of their songs to would be Linkin Park), but the beginning of "Destiny" was almost just a little too poppy. Thankfully, the guitars kicked in and Satoshi started singing before I could twitch too hard and make myself skip to another song.

This definitely isn't their best song (nothing, after all, can compare with "Kowareteyuku Sekai" or "ISHTAR"), but it isn't their worst either. However, I am a bit disappointed in the more "pop" direction they've been taking recently, since they started off as such a wonderful, dark metal band. Seriously... The emotion in "Kowareteyuku Sekai" alone can bring me to my knees. Thankfully, though, I'm the sort of person who is open to music of all varieties, with (surprisingly) hard rock and pop being my favorites. The two elements were mixed nicely in "Destiny," even though it's still just a bit too pop when compared to what I would have liked to see from giru for this single.

uNF!!!!!!

Oh, Jay Kim, my love and future husband. Even though you guys are still on the pop side of things, I can't pretend to hate you anymore. This song is just too freaking catchy, and you and your voice are far too gorgeous. <3 <3