JGoth.com – Japan Goth Music

Sometime early yesterday Gothers.com crossed the 2,500 member threshold. I would like to thank each and everyone for joining up with Gothers. THANK YOU!!

As a small token of my appreciation I have decided to put on 22 hours of power where I will stay online from Sunday 2 a.m. through to midnight Japan Standard time. You can work out what time it is in Japan here:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_JP.aspx
And see all time zones at:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/worldclock.aspx

I am not exactly sure what I am going to do as entertainment, but will be online and in the chatroom to talk things up. I also hope to do a CD review of Fashion Bomb!
http://www.myspace.com/xfashionxbombx

This will appear on my Japan (and others) Goth blog at:
http://www.jgoth.com/

So, if you have any time to give Gothers a little spin, the Web slob will be online around Saturday to Sunday depending on your time zone. Remember Igor will be online on Sunday from 2 am to midnight Japan time.

Cheers!

Igor
www.gothers.com

[Uber Goth-Industrial Live & DJ] Finally, the second half schedule for TDC. Tokyo Dark Castle (TDC) is the main event for the Gothic underground in Tokyo. Populated by the best-dressed Goths from all walks of life TDC delivers some of the best live acts and DJs in the scene. This makes TDC a must on any Goth agenda.

TDC have the second half’s event schedule for 2009 and rather than do a single post each time the event is set to roll.

Unless otherwise stated, TDC begins at 12 midnight Saturdays and goes through to the early morning (around 6 a.m.). Remember that as with all overnight events you need photo ID to enter. (more…)

[Goth Live, DJ & More!] Alamode nights have changed from a Gothic-Lolita affair to a more Goth fusion event. It has a nice mix of cyber, GL, industrial and more going on with live acts, DJ’d music, performances and more! The April show includes GPKISM!

Alamode Night 30
When: February 10
Where: Studio Cube 326
Address: 3-2-6, Tamachi, Minato-ku, Tokyo :: 108-0002　東京都港区海岸3-2-6 :: Map
Tel: 03-5439-9199
Live: The Royal Dead, Sawdust in Me,
DJ’s: Takuya Angel, Sisen and Lim
Macabre Theater: Rose de Reficul et Guiggles
Open: 16:30
Price: 3,000 yen Advance or with flyer :: 3,500 yen @ Door

Alamode Night 31
When: April 13
Where: Studio Cube 326
Address: 3-2-6, Tamachi, Minato-ku, Tokyo :: 108-0002　東京都港区海岸3-2-6 :: Map
Tel: 03-5439-9199
Special Live: GPKISM from Australia
Live: Blood, Candy Spooky Theatre, Marlee
DJ’s: Takuya Angel, Sisen and Lim
Macabre Theater: Rose de Reficul et Guiggles
Open: 16:30
Price: 3,000 yen Advance or with flyer :: 3,500 yen @ Door

February Flyer

April Flyer

I was about to get ready to write some more reviews from the Greek Goth label, Dead Scarlet Records, when I received three really interesting CDs.

The first two came from the main man at DeathWatch Asia, Jude. Despair and Sawdust in Me are Japanese bands who are making waves in the Gothic/underground world. Two pops to Jude for sending these across. Jude who, apart from running the DeathWatch Asia label, heads up Sins of the Flesh and does keytair for Despair. I will get onto the reviews soonish – latest in the new year.

If you cannot wait for a review, you can buy either CD internationally from Music Non Stop (click here for Despair’s Rewired Riot Technology CD, click here for Sawdust in Me’s Mortification Made Me single).

The other CD received was from Chris of The Stompcrash (MySpace), a Goth band in Italy. The CD is called Requiem Rosa and the lyrics have their origins from a site of the same name created by an unknown songwriter. Quite a dark, mysterious provenance, which has certainly caught my attention!

Anyway, more events will be added in the days ahead and reviews soon after that.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Igor.

Location: Canada Ontario – Genre: Gothic Rock/Ambient, New Age, Ambient Mood.

Amy’s Arms is a smooth dark music landscape perfect for those nights you want to alone or mixing with a few friends. Best described as Gothic lounge music it contains a mix of low frequency ballads to more upbeat tracks that could be layered into dance beats by the right DJ.

The band is made of Siren a strong, gorgeous vocalist capable of slow ballads in the title track Amy’s Arms, and more upbeat tracks like Blood on the Rocks. You can even catch an impish playfulness in Dark ‘n Cozy. Whether withered sorrow or dark celebration the vocals are crisp. Mr. Ratt does an excellent job with programming and bass keeping the beat inline with the emotion of each track.

The influences for the music range from the darker edge of Japanese Visual Kei to U.S. and European beats. Themes span from love, despair, vampires and a lot more in a dark Victorian Gothic style.

Overall this is a neat mix of very listenable music for those looking for some dark Gothic Victorian with a taste of humor and irony.

Unfamiliar Landscapes :: track list
1. Amy’s Arms: 4:10 * +
2. Blood on the Rocks: 5:28 *
3. Dark ‘n Cozy: 5:06 * +
4. Wicked Game: 4:14 +
5. No One Will Know: 2:50 +
6. Sanctus: 4:55
7. Unfamiliar Landscapes: 5:23
Total Playtime: 32:06
* Samples available on CD Baby
+ Samples available on Amy’s Arms in MySpace

You can also catch a few videos online like the ones here.

Available from:
Amazon
CD Baby
iTunes

Sites of interest
Amy’s Arms (Official), but she is a little tired so you might want to try Amy’s Arms in MySpace.

Good morning folks.

I am sorry for the JGoth.com site problems and general instabilities in recent months. However, things are getting worked out just in time for Halloween (okay, most parties have finished), but there is still TDC to look forward to:
http://forum.jgoth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8

First up, the board has been re-launched at the following URL:
http://forum.jgoth.com/ Being a stand-alone board it offers greater flexibility and more options, which is good for board members.

On top of that you will find that there is a stack of topics to cover more Japanese music scenes not to mention international sections to talk about various Gothic scenes overseas.

The board comes in five major sections. The lengthy list is:

1. The Welcome board with FAQs, Polls and Suggestion box
2. A smeg-load of boards covering J-Goth, industrial, other music styles and life in general in Japan. There are also special sections German, French, Spanish and Japanese.
3. A European section for listing the 10 countries that I get the most visitors from including the U.K., Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Italy, Greece, Spain and Belgium and a board for other countries.
4. Goth in the Americas with U.S.A. Canada, Brazil and Chile listed plus a board for other countries.
5. Finally Oceania and Asia where the bulk of visitors come from Australia & New Zealand and China/Hong Kong.

If you are interested in giving the JGoth.com forum another try I’d be most appreciative. Because the password encryption is different from the last board you will need to re-register. That takes about one minute to do. Once in feel free to post away!

Remember the new board is located at:
http://forum.jgoth.com/

The archived articles for JGoth.com are presently located at:
http://xfactor.jgoth.com/

So that’s three places to keep in mind:
Board: http://forum.jgoth.com/
Archive: http://xfactor.jgoth.com/
New site: http://www.jgoth.com/

Thanks again for your support.

Cheers

Igor/Admin
forum.jgoth.com
xfactor.jgoth.com
www.jgoth.com