969

I Thought You All Might Like a Chirimen Update

/ Homicidol Maniac

I love the mood that Best Of season puts me in — everything has just a little bit more shine to it because it’s all a contender months and months from now, when if it really holds up it’ll be seriously special, and if it doesn’t, well, it’s probably because either it never really deserved it, or it’s still special to me and damn you all for not liking it as much as me.

So here we are then a little while post the re-emergence of ex-969er Chirimen and the revelation that her solo career is imminent, with flair. In fact, there are a couple of examples and I was just sleeping on the first one because, you see, things are kind of busy around the Homicidols Dot Com offices these days. But! She dropped this one this morning, and with it I found more:

And this one is actually from last week, oops:

I like the first one more

Her first “self-destruction” is still a few weeks off, but Chirimen’s shaping things nicely to formally launch her solo career with nice momentum and a solid body of work. Really well and truly good for her — and maybe we’ll be adding her debut as a 2020 Best Of next year!

When That Solo Life Is Looking Promising

/ Homicidol Maniac

Once upon a time, I made an editorial decision that this site wouldn’t cover solo idols. The reasoning behind it, while not necessarily sound, did actually have a sensible motivation: I actually used to think that I needed to put definite rails around what was and wasn’t idol in addition to the poorly defined musical boundaries, and I considered solo artists as being too much in a grey area. But then Hanako-san and PSYBOU KANOJO broke that down, and past my own pretenses I could see plenty of unsung solo artists (mikicco, Ophelia 20mg, fucking Lein) doing cool and interesting work and idoling at the same time.

That’s a very long way of saying that I still sometimes get surprised by how much I like certain solo idols even though all logic says that I shouldn’t. And with plenty of solo idols coming out of fairly well-known groups as their relative point of origin, it only stands to reason that good would beget good, etc.

Which is a slightly less long way of saying that Chirimen, formerly of long-term Homicidols Dot Com not-secret crush 969, has in fact made good on that solid background and her own talents to strike out as a solo performer, and this is her first piece and I’m very excited about this: Continue reading →

This 969 Song Is Dangerous and Good

/ Homicidol Maniac

How long have I been kvetching about not hearing anything from the 969 album that’s due out, like, imminently? About just plain not having it? Long enough, at least a month, which is an eternity in idol because, as we know, entire groups’ rosters can turn over in that much time.

Anyway, here it is!

Continue reading →

969 Has Graced Us with a New Live Video Cut; You’d Better Appreciate

/ Homicidol Maniac / 3 Comments

If you’d be so kind, you folks who mostly graze around the idol edges and don’t venture very far from your personal favorites, give this video a quick spin:

If you weren’t familiar with 969 before, that can be forgiven, as the group only reconstituted about five months ago after a decent period of hiatus, with new members and even a little update to their sound. They’re a touch heavier now, I think, and a little less idol, and … well, I think they’re great and the whole reason that I want you to really pay attention to this isn’t just just because I think they’re great, but because they suffer from perpetual underappreciation when the more casual fan, the people who are already tied to oshis and whatnot, and that’s extremely unfortunate because, as I’ve said before, if I were to put together an idol project, it would be just like this. Continue reading →

Oh Hell Yes! 969 Is Well and Truly Back

/ Homicidol Maniac / 3 Comments

Well, my weekend just became exceptional. 969, arguably my favorite indie idol project ever because they’re so much of what I would do if I were an idol manager, and who delivered on their promise to come back from the dead, just popped out the proof of just how alive they really are:


Now featuring harsh vocals!

Continue reading →

969 Is Back, and a Big Bright Rainbow Is Shining on 2017 Already

/ Homicidol Maniac / 6 Comments

Oh man, you guys who weren’t around during the spring and summer, also known as Maniac’s Period of Being Obsessed with 969, are in for a treat. Cuz 969 is back:

Thanks, Lee!

OH HELL YES. They’re so new! Only that last one even has other idols I know following her. Does anybody recognize any of these members from other projects? I CAN’T WAIT TO MEET THEM!

“But Maniac,” you ask, a little confused and possibly exasperated because why am I yelling anyway, “I don’t understand what’s the big deal. It’s not like they’re–”

Lemme stop you right there, Convenient Strawman. Do you want to know why 969 coming back to life excites me? Continue reading →

Covering ‘Creep’ Is Just One More Reason to Be Mad That 969 Won’t Continue

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

I’ve been extremely pro-969 from the very first time I heard them, and it was pretty damn heartbreaking to find out that the group (as a group, at least) is basically done soon.

And why is that? I don’t know — maybe it’s the really creative songwriting, the general level of talent, another fusion of live band and idol. But they’re good, and they blended together material as well as anybody. Continue reading →

Never Have Promise: 969 Going on Hiatus

/ Homicidol Maniac

I must have pissed off some god or something, because all of my favorite idolcore upstarts are having major issues all of a sudden. In just a few months, 969 went from being one of the most exciting new things on the block to … well, 969 management will speak for itself:

Their statement is available here. Might be back in a few months, might not.

Guess I should just shelf plans for that interview request, huh?

Continue reading →

Idols Got Talent: 969 Gets in on ‘Senbonzakura’ and It Rocks

/ Homicidol Maniac / 3 Comments

You don’t need to spend too much time around Japanese music to hear this song. And hear it. And hear it. “Senbonzakura” (“Thousands of Cherry Trees”) is a modern classic that sounds a lot older than it is*, a contemporary twist on neo-traditional sounds to create something beautiful. Wagakki Band’s version, for instance, is particularly cool.

In this case, 969’s band (aptly named the 969 Band) and idol member Hinata Haruka teamed up — with Haruka on recorder — to create this nicely punked-up version of the song:

Never forget: 969 is cool as hell.

*I didn’t even realize it was a contemporary piece until trying to track down its origin while writing this and found that it’s from an anime; this blog post has a lot of details on its romantic nationalist lyrics, which suddenly puts the song into a much bigger context than “oh neat it sounds like Japan.”

I Think 969 Just Put out the Sweetest Idolcore Song Ever Recorded

/ Homicidol Maniac / 4 Comments

And I do believe that’s more than enough intro for this one:

I don’t even know how to react properly to this song. Sakura Gakuin or GEM could run with an unheavied version of this. It’s got some very metal moments, is idol proper in the chorus … then that bridge sounds like it’s right out of fun.’s studio sessions. Whoever wrote this didn’t get enough money for it.

I really like the hell out of this song. 969 are basically on fire.