Help a newb get into J-rock / Visual Kei

[cesh]

Yeah I love Diru's versatility, they can have songs like mushi, undecided and stuff and have Pink Killer on the same albu m . . . . . .

I love Pink Killer. I used to hate it but I now love it . . . go figure. ^.^

[Matsudai Meiyo]

I got me a japanese name now. B-)

I'm on a Dir En grey and Jenne Da Arc kick right now. I think I'm obsessed with Kyo. <.<

Does anyone know where I can find some good pics of Visual Kei/Jrock bands?

Also, what is Angura kei?

[cesh]

Angura kei is like underground . . . stuff. That's the best I can describe it, I think. Anyone have anything to add to that definition? (I am not so up-to-date on my jrock terms) . . .

Janne Da Arc is awesomeness . . .

I reccommend Inugami Circus-dan, speaking of angura kei (they're angura kei, right? Or was it eroguro or something . . . gah, I don't remember.) Anway, I like them, they are pretty cool, even though I only have a couple of their songs.

You should also go for D, because Asagi has an amazing voice . . . *is obsessed with D* They're hard to search for, the album I have is The Name of the Rose, so you can look for that.

*thinks hard* That's all I can think of right now. Besides The Back Horn. They rock my socks.

Yeah.

I'm done now. *hides*

[Matsudai Meiyo]

Ok... what is euroguro?

[cesh]

I'm not exactly sure, hehehe, I'll look it up in a few minutes . . . (have to go to class and check in)

EDIT: Okay, here it is.

Angura kei
Angura is a shortened form of the english word "underground". Angura was a cultural movement in Japan which dated back to the 1960's and had a great expression in independent theater. The movement was born as a reaction to both classicism and western influence in japanese culture, as small but enterprising troupes attempted to redefine a unique national identity through their art. In more recent times an angura musical scene started to develop. The angura genre shares some similarities with visual kei. It also has some ties with the eroguro genre. Generally, angura kei has dark themes and the image of the bands usually has a distinctly traditional (japanese) feel to it.

Eroguro
Short for "erotic and grotesque". It's also a music (sub)genre, popularized by bands like MUCC or Merry and especially by cali?gari. Eroguro nonsense bands revive the spirit of this japanese 1920's-30's cultural movement. As the name indicates, eroguro nonsense themes are centered in shocking horror and bizarre sexual imagery with dark humorous overtones. For some obscure reason, some eroguro bands have started to be labelled as angura kei.

I got those definitions from this site.

[Matsudayo]

Also, there is another sub genre of angura kei known as "white-face". I'm not sure of the japanese name for it. bands that fit this description dress in kimono and traditional school uniforms. Two examples of such bands are: Inugami Circus Dan and Guruguru Eigakan.

[Mellie]

If you're into jazz and punk, you MUST check out the pillows. This is a band that release two jazz albums back in the early 90's, then they moved on to alternative rock and to a real punk influenced sound. Any of their albums from Kool Spice and Living Field (their Jazz albums) all the way up to Thank You My Twilight (2001) would definitely be worth checking into. Their newer albums aren't bad but the other stuff I mentioned is definitely your best bet.