Welcome to another edition of Reader’s Best. This time, we’re turning over the blog to Karli who will tell us what good music sounds like in ten short tunes. The best part of this whole exercise of collecting reader’s favorite songs has been that, with each list we publish, I am discovering at least one great new track to add to my playlist. Karli’s picks are a perfect case in point: the majority of these songs weren’t released as singles or featured in MVs. They are mostly b-sides or deep cuts off of full albums, a couple of which I had never even heard before. Good stuff. Let’s go!! Continue reading
EMPiRE
Eulogy for a Fallen EMPiRE
If you haven’t caught the buzz lately, EMPiRE are no more. Just as nations become lost and empires fall, so do idol groups.
What, too hamfisted? It was a sentimental break-up, so we wanted to use some powerful language! Still no? Well… they broke up and released their final four songs as a group, out to stream right now.
CHOO-CHOO! All Abord The Wack Train!
When Kerrie spread word of the WACK train, I had to say, I was intrigued.
Did WACK make their own version of Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari?
KASHiWACK Cataclysm
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news lately, this might come as a major shock: AKB48’s Kashiwagi Yuki (also known as Yukirin) joined every single WACK group at once! How do some people find the time, honestly.
EMPiRE’s HON-NO Will Have You Saying HON-YES
We’ll let our top tier headlines speak for themselves and jump right into EMPiRE‘s new music video, shall we?
EMPiRE’s Early EP Release is SUPER COOL
WACK and Avex’s collaborative group (no, the other one) have decided to get a little 70’s to switch things up and boy do these EMPiRE SOUNDS feel SUPER GOOD.
Perfect Vibes from the Latest EMPiRE
“Oh gee look at all of these draft posts to try to address this morning” I said to myself as I flipped over to Twitter about 15 seconds after this hit the top of the timeline:
2 Hours Later…
“This is EMPiRE SOUNDS”
プレミア公開https://t.co/KOnDTarSbB#超ひんやりEMPiRE pic.twitter.com/xtVJzPMgIn— EMPiRE OFFiCiAL (@EMPiREIDOL) July 11, 2020
Plans? Canceled. Other than a very quick crash course from Kerrie and Cal, I’d managed to avoid just about everything WACK in the past few weeks — by choice, mind you — but this aesthetic, coming from EMPiRE, clearly an MV, subtler reasons galore, you follow me yes of course I shunted my other plans aside and gleefully steepled my fingers in anticipation.
This is from EMPiRE’s upcoming new EP SUPER COOL EP (bless them), and it might not be my favorite song or video by any means, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t hit in exactly the right spot at the right time: Continue reading
A WACK Way to Deal With Cancelled Shows
If you’ve been keeping up with the news, both regular and idol, you’ll probably know that Abe Shinzo issued a countrywide order temporarily banning all large scale public entertainment events because of Novel Coronavirus fears. ZOC cancelled their entire FINAL INNOCENT ZOC tour, Aya Eightprince cancelled a smaller public appearance and Pour Lui cancelled the shooting for her upcoming idol group’s music video to name a few. Things have been cancelled harder than a celebrity who’s angered a kpop fanbase.
Currently, WACK are meant to be embarking on their nationwide WACK FUCKiN’ PARTY tour but alas even Watanabe Junnosuke who has objectively more clout than the prime minister can’t get around a ban on public events.
Just kidding, yes he FUCKiN can!
2/29 18時〜 WACK TOUR 2020 “WACK FUCKiN’PARTY” NO AUDiENCE LiVE 生中継ニコ生で行うことになりました。プレミアム放送はなくどなたでも見れます。
— 渡辺”ジュンジュン”淳之介 (@JxSxK) February 27, 2020
よければご自宅でお楽しみいただければと思います。3月1日も何かしら用意できたらと動いております。
よろ。https://t.co/G2t3FpWPcp
This Saturday at 6pm JST, the show will go on! NO AUDiENCE LiVE is exactly what it sounds like – nobody is going to be there. You can’t cancel a public event that isn’t a public event. The entire thing is going to be broadcast on Niconico so everyone will be able to be there in spirit. A premium subscription is only around $5USD too, so hey, if you’re spending your time indoors as a health precaution why not spend it with the idol fanbase’s favourite women’s prison colony?
It’s been a rough week for a lot of people on Earth because of the you-know-what, but in a dire time things like entertainment are what make it manageable! So, cast aside your worry, wash your damn hands regularly and enjoy your time at home.
And if you’re in need of a little something extra, BiSH and EMPiRE made a few previously limited broadcasts available on their YouTube channels as a sorry for cancelled shows too.
Remember, while this is a lot of fun content for us overseas, fundamentally it’s a sorry to people living in a country that’s tightening it’s grip attempting to deal with a pandemic, so remember to be respectful! Or if you’re living in a country that’s going through the same thing do what you want, we’re not the reaction police over here.
This Is My Favorite Kind of EMPiRE Song
Next up in the Brief Run of Posts So Maniac Can Feel Better about Himself: EMPiRE! Who released this latest MV from their new album and went the extremely easy-but-effective-because-this-is-how-idol-works route with it. Wherein, in fact, key schisms within Team are laid bare, as Kerrie was like “oh you can just put that in the Weekender, it’s just one of those member retrospective montage things” and I was like “what’s that? I was too busy crying into a pillow to hear.” Yes, I happen to love these kinds of videos, and with them exactly this kind of song, which I believe is now canonically known as The ODD FUTURE Method.
The new album is out! The tour is wrapping up! WACK has things cooking and we’re only hours away from something that’s probably going to make people mad! It’s only a week until Christmas!
[Insert Joker Reference Here]
Did anyone else forget that EMPiRE have an album out next month? What is probably WACK’s most polished unit have been so busy lately that it can be hard to keep track of them. They only just released a single two weeks ago and they’re already promoting “The GREAT JOURNEY ALBUM” through limo rides (yes, really) and a premature music video for album opener “Have it my way”.
