My Surprise from Nippon..

So this came today... from Mr. Postman..
My first Alice Nine poster!! And a Saga one at that!!!!!  \(*^0^*)/
For once a handsome guy lands on my doorstep at my university.... literally but not a real guy (_ _;)

Actually this came from my friend in Japan *giggles* so I must thank her m(_ _)m for thinking of me and sending such a sweet gift through the post which must have confused the hell out of my department and who ever deals with post hahaha...

Alice Nine: Shadow Play Official Preview

I really like the atmosphere and general theme of this...

another good song, as expected from Alice Nine (*^^*)

Published on 1 Apr 2013

Alice Nine 9th Anniversary & ユニバーサル ミュージック移籍 第2弾シングル! 作詞作曲は2011年12月のシングル「虹の雪」以来、作詞作曲共に手がける作品2作­目となるボーカルの「将」が担当。そしてプロデューサーには岡野ハジメ氏を迎え、耽美­な世界観が拡がるメタルロックな作品に仕上がりました。
3ヶ月連続シングルリリース第2弾！

SHADOWPLAY
2013/4/17 Release!!

Alice Nine Album Review 9 ~ "Afterword: Gemini vs. 9 ~ The Twin Albums"

As soon as I put the disc in and the start of Heavenly Tale began, a smirk played across my face. A very 'Saga-like' expression in fact, if only I had a mirror or camera to prove it. 

After all, even though I had no particular expectations of what sound world the boys will pull me into this time round, the instant the intro played, I thought :

"As expected of you, this is just so 'you', I knew it". 

It amused me, surprised me yet satisfied me with familiarity. This was a journey I've been waiting for, expecting, and one that would be both familiar yet completely new. 

I instantly saw, heard, felt - however you'd like to put it - the connection of this album with GEMINI. Saw, because I saw it as cascading morphing images in my head; heard, because of the sound world, the magical sounds arranged in unique combinations that were infiltrating my ears; and felt, because of the emotional subconscious message it sent out to me.

Random Top Tens: Albums & EPs/Singles

Konnichiwa Everyone!

So I've finally posted my Alice Nine "9" Review *^^* I hope you've enjoyed reading it. I'm trying not to re-read it in case I make updates or edits: especially now I've listened to it much more since I wrote those notes (and it took a while for me to type them up to this blog for posting... I've been so busy!). I know it's a bit belated since the album has been out for quite some time now, but my PhD schedule has really been packed, together with some orchestral concert rehearsals I had back then.

I'm currently on Easter Break/Holiday, so luckily I get some time to catch up with some blogging *^^* I've been getting some really nice comments lately, so please continue posting and sending in your requests, complaints and comments!

I'll be starting a new set of posts called "Random Top Tens" - it's like a set of Memes which I give myself a topic so that I get inspiration to write blog posts hehehe. Please do comment and let me know what the next Top Ten topic should be!! It'd be great to see some random subjects and ideas o(*^^*)o

So, (in no particular order, and I'm pretty strict so if I don't like a certain song in the album then obviously the album in it's entirety isn't deemed good enough to be ranked. Also I'll try to include full albums rather than EPs where possible)...

My current Random Top Ten Albums:

Alice Nine Album Review 「９」

This review was conducted through listening to the album over 40 hours on professional headphones 
Audio Technica Sovereign ATH-W1000

Cherry wood enclosures and gold-plated hardware

Please note that this review is a personal record of the opinions of a semi-professional Musician who has been professionally trained. It does not represent, on any account, any other persons' opinion. Please note that this review did not take 40hrs to complete but rather I didn't have time to write it up until I've listened to it for over 40hrs (*^.~*)

Beautifully produced, just as Gemini was. Perhaps less complex and experimental than Gemini, and explicitly rock. Controlled, displaying mastered technical musicianship. Confident and showy but not flashy or wild like Gemini. Not as compositionally ambitious – perhaps ambitious is the wrong word, less complex. It’s not as explicitly ambitious, but the layers of musical material are equally as demanding and well expressed. An album exuding confidence, competence and mastered musicianship – another landmark album in their discography.

Alice Nine Saga's Ring in 「９」Photo Limited Edition [Puerta Del Sol, Japan]

I've always had a keen eye for spotting these things *giggles*. I'm a passionate fashionista *^^* Plus he's one of my idols. So here it is. I'm not 100% certain it is this but I'm pretty positive since it's from his favourite jewellery/accessories brand, although you can't see from the photo shown here (you'll have to pretty much smell the booklet up close to see this ring xD).

Other items from Saga's jewellery collection can be found at this post Saga's Jewellery

Click on any image to enlarge

NB: For those with the Saga CD version the ring he's wearing on the CD photo is different. I suspect it was taken on another occasion and he had decided to wear a different ring. If you notice, this happens quite often with photoshoots throughout an 'era' or concept. His necklace however is the same on both the sleeve notes and the CD photo as far as I'm aware. *^^*

My Alice Nine 「９」Album Arrived!

遂に、the album arrived today (*^^*)　本当に良かったですよね〜　 I was so happy and yet indescribably nervous opening it. Although deep down I was confident in that good things will happen if you kept believing and trusting; so I in a way, I trusted whoever was on the CD cover was going to be good looking and someone I liked. *giggles* Anyways, the music mattered to me most. After all, Hiroto on the CD label never stopped me from loving GEMINI over and over.

I squealed like a true Oriental girl *giggles*, my parents were like "What's the excitement?!" since I really don't squeal over things usually o(*^0^*)o Haha.

Alice Nine 「すべてへ」Subete e（ショート.ver） Short Version 2/22発売AL「"9"」より

Alice Nine "NEMESIS" Preview [DJ Yuki Weekly Recommendation 2011.12.08]

NEMESIS [Preview] by FantasyAIX

DJ Yuki Weekly [2011.10.17]: 残響ホワイトアウト Zankyou Whiteout by Alice Nine

(Please note that PV in the video is the Blue Flame PV. Zankyou Whiteout does not have a PV)

Alice Nine Heart of Gold (Full PV)

Alice Nine Silver Accessories Vol. 11

More photos below. For more photos of Saga's Jewellery CLICK HERE

Alice Nine Zankyou Whiteout & Saga's Birthday!

Alice Nine 'Zankyou Whiteout'

It's Saga's birthday today, and to celebrate it, I'm posting Zankyou White Out from their new mini album Blue Flame. The musicianship, the arrangement, the solos, the licks, the vocals, the melodies... everything is just so balanced and well put together. 

Enjoy this amazing number - it's a must hear, can't miss, 'concentrate on every detail' song. 

Alice Nine Gokusai Gokushoku Gokudouka New Version from Blue Flame

Gokusai Gokushoku Gokudouka New Version from Blue Flame

Saga Accessories - Jewellery

Here's a special post about some of the items Saga owns (*^^*) So you can see close ups of the jewellery he wears by his favourite Japanese designer! Enjoy!


NB: This page will be updated when I find new items. Where there are colour selections, Saga buys the Black coloured one.

DJ YUKI'S YOUTUBE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK [2011.05.08]

DJ Yuki's Recommendation for this week...

[DJ Yuki is one of my many aliases]


Alice Nine Drum/Bass Solo from Tokyo Galaxy DVD

You can definitely hear the jazzy funk influences behind the rock and melodic riffs.

The Tokyo Galaxy Live version of the High Collar Naru Rondo bass solo (the famous one where he licks his bass) is also different to his usual solo - much more Jazz and melodic... do check it out! (available to download from my blog)