a tribute to the deceased j-rock rotation sites

If anyone were to look at me and guess what kind of music I listen to? The answer that they'll most likely give will be Chinese pop. Blame it on the I-AM-A-CHINESE  glued right on my face. That's beside the point. Today I'll be reminiscing about the existence of J-Music rotation sites or to be more precise, J-Rock rotation sites.

I remember how I stumbled upon these sites during Form 1 (2004). At that time I knew nothing about Visual Kei, X-Japan, or Luna Sea. All these were like aliens to me. If you do not know what the heck is rotation sites, it's a website whereby the webmaster/mistress will upload a couple of mp3 songs together with reviews, fangirling/fanboying comments, whole lot of unnecessary bitching and photos. These sites were sprouting like mushrooms until late 2007 if I'm not wrong, then most of the sites started to die. Why? And an hour ago while I was just googling J-rock rotation sites for fun, all results which came out are dead sites. Not on hiatus, they're literally dead, abandoned. People just do not have the motivation or enthusiasm to maintain such sites anymore. Why? I reckon it's because of how shitty the J-rock industry is getting, that might be wrong. I'd be jubilant if someone could name me some 2009 - 2010 J-rock tracks which really kick ass. And also, what's with most bands trying to sound like Dir en grey? It's so annoying to listen to Kyo wannabes. There's not much variety anymore these days.

Looking back, most J-rockers should really thank these sites for helping them to promote their music. It is because of these sites that their music is able to reach worldwide without any barriers. It is because of these sites that there are so many fugly VK cosplayers or J-rock wannabes hanging out in Sg. Wang. Okay, I didn't mean the last part but it is partly true.

If I were ever given the opportunity to meet the webmasters/mistresses of those J-rock rotation sites that I were faithful to, I'd thank apiece of them from the bottom of my heart because the music that they've shared have totally brought drastic changes to my life and shaped the person I am today.

Dir en grey - all the masochistic, sadistic, angry, melancholic tunes helped me to get through personal problems especially during form 3-4. Machiavellism kicked ass even though Kyo's engrish sounds so incredibly hilarious and stupid. China was where I listened to most of their music because back then MP3 players could only fit 128 mb. Songs like Filth, Mushi, and Zakuro bring back lots of memories. This band reminds me of Audrey, don't ask me why. HAHA.

 

L'Arc~en~Ciel - One of my all time loved bands.  Jojoushi, the first song I downloaded from the rotation sites helped me to stay awake during my revision for mid term. Not to mention how much this Ken's melodic solos have motivated me to pick up guitar. Was listening to their songs 24/7 during form 2. And I'm also proud to say that my first original CD is their album, SMILE. It's the one and only Japanese release album that I own. Others are all "for sale out of Japan", needless to say, all those suck ass. The booklets are so thin and the quality is prominently inferior to the Japanese release ones. Okay, besides that, why is that the current Hyde's voice sounds like an old man talking garbage? Too much smoking?

Gazette - I've always felt a strong bond or attachment between this band and I. This is most probably due to the fact that I started listening to their music before they reached their current status. They've grown so much and at the same time I've grown too. It feels like we're growing at the same rate, the feeling is inexplicable. They don't make spectacular music but there's just something that about their music which piques my interest, followed by addiction. Ruki's vocals are just normal, not even close to impressive. Aoi's and Uruha's guitar skills are no where to close to real guitar virtuosos. Reita's nose band annoys me and Kai, uh well, Kai's drums is good so no complaints. I can't remember whether Reila or Cockroach were the first songs that I listened to but who cares, both of these are on the same level of greatness. I sold my entire soul to them after listening to Cassis and the rest of the album, Nil.

There are of course other great songs that made me recall how much I enjoy stealing music from those MP3 rotation sites. It's quite a long list but now there's no more sites like these, it's kind of sad. Could someone explain to me why these sites have vanished? If J-rock is dying, perhaps people should start making RUSSIAN ROCK/METAL MP3 ROTATION SITEs. Frankly, I'd love that because I do not have an inkling where to get high quality russian rock songs.