THE REMAINS-Straightener ~ View topic - Art-School

Well I haven't heard any songs from Flora. When I get the album I guess I'll laugh at Kinoshita's voice change....lol

It's very notable from the first track. He wanes back to the younger voice every other track, but only for brief moments. Pretty surreal.

i can upload their new album...does anyone want it?

oooooooo!! i do~~
please and thank you~ Very Happy

btw, i found one of thier mini-albums...
Ato Jyuu Byou De [Mini Album] from a torrent file...
i uploaded it on my homepage, check it out~ Wink

so if thats their new one, i guess i already have it meh

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

what's up guys

I can say I'm a big fan of Art-School, maybe more than Straightener..
Actually I found out both bands at the same time and was very surprised when I found out that it was the same bassist at that time.. xD

And I've got their full discography as well, you can request me anything you'd like to.

I have an online share folder with some songs, you can download them here:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/2511003/c79ab576/ART-SCHOOL.html

It has some live songs too =]

"Flora" is the latest album, as said before, Kinoshita's voice is a little different, more mature voice.

I totally recommend Art-School for every Straightener fan! Have you noticed that they appear on Rocksteady PV??

My favorite songs:
- Diva
- Black Sunshine
- Scarlet
- Miss World
- Missing
- Chloe

haha the Rocksteady PV, it's really fun to watch (Horie looks so young O.O)

How is relationship of Straightener and Art-School? i mean after Hinata left...it's looks like they were once really good friends

i also really like art-school but their live performances aren't comparable to Straightener. That's why i could never like them more than straightnr! what would you say ak?

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

Well, I have no idea about the current relationships between Art and straightener, I think they were very close during the "indie" days but when they started to grow, it seems that each one followed a different path, you know?

Art-School concerts, to me, it's more like this: you go to really enjoy and listen to the music, not to just jump and scream as crazy... (Of course there's this part as well xD). Kinoshita sings mixing a lot of different emotions like anger, sadness, happiness... it's cool. If you check Sleep Flowers live DVD, you'll also see that he speaks to the crowd always in good mood. =]
And another thing I like: They explore more the guitar distortions and effects than Straightener.

About straightener, I have to say that they ROCK live!! All the guys play like there's no tomorrow, in such a "fury" that makes you crazy just to watch!! I still cannot understand how do they keep up all that energy during the whole concert!!!

i haven't seen the sleep flowers dvd...maybe i should
but i've seen many other lives (RIJ...) and not one could impress me!

btw: which band is more popular in japan? art-school or straightener?

you go to really enjoy and listen to the music...well that's the same for me but jumping is also very important!

but i don't want to critizice art-school as they are one of my favourite bands

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

I watched Countdown Japan 05-06 when they played at Galaxy Stage.. it's one of the best live performances.. you should check that out!!

On Sleep Flowers dvd, they play 33 SONGS!!! It's pretty amazing!!
And they did 2 acoustic ver of the songs: Kanon and Skirt!!
So different.. The lightening was like they were playing on the sunset.

By the way, I reading some translations of their songs, and it's all very poetic, maybe I can post some here... at least I can understand what the lyric is about! (I can't say that about some starightener songs...)

About your question, I think straightener is more popular..
AKG supports the band, and they were invited to the Nano Mugen Fes..
but I can't be sure... Maybe straightener is more popular in one place, maybe art is more popular in another one....
I think both bands are still growing but A LOT of people don't know them yet...

The Killer Tune lyrics are the BEST!!!!
(but i'm listening japanese music not for the lyrics...art-school poetic? hehe, that's definitely not my cup of tea) and i stopped listening to englisch bands because of their lyrics (Papa Roach is the only band i could identify with) So yeah I don't care for the lyrics!
but i will check out countdown
and thanks for the popularity thing
seems like your pretty knowledgeable about j-music...how come?

Who could not like the angst-driven lyricism of Art-School? D:

And the bit about Art-School versus ã‚¹ãƒˆãƒ¬ã‚¤ãƒ†ãƒŠãƒ¼ live, I think the difference also lies in the framework of the band. I haven't seen all that many ã‚¹ãƒˆãƒ¬ã‚¤ãƒ†ãƒŠãƒ¼ performances but for Art-School at least, Riki is pretty much the pilot so there isn't the "togetherness" you'd get from watching ã‚¹ãƒˆãƒ¬ã‚¤ãƒ†ãƒŠãƒ¼.

I've read of complaints about how Riki is supposedly like a control freak and how that might have caused the resignation of Hinata and Jun. But maybe they're taking a new direction now that Todaka seems to be stepping up.

Error Joined: 07 Apr 2007 Posts: 16

*too lazy to read last three pages*

Yeah, agree on the Todaka part. Riki is kept in his little box due to him XD.

And, Riki's not as depressed as say, a year ago. He's lightened up, and that affects the entire direction ART. If he's happier, the music's happier, the lyrics lighter, the website turns a royal purple with clouds. Which also means Riki still dominates.

Yeah, just listen to "Teenage Last" aka Kinoshita's solo work. Emo, emo, emo.

Hur. Didn't know that he had control issues, though; it'd be interesting to translate an interview....

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

yeah... I didn't know it either...

I think Art now is not just Kinoshita.
Since Paradise Lost, their sound has been changing.. well at least to me.. xD
And now even Todaka sings but this would not be "allowed" if Kinoshita was controlling everything about Art... Very Happy

Haha, and would Riki fess up to having been the supreme sovereign of ART in an interview?
The control issues were brought forth by Culen, if I recall correctly. He was drawing on how the newer band members have the exact same equipment as the older members they replaced.
Lol, Riki cloning band mates to recreate his empire.

And they did seem to reinvent themselves (or more like Riki reinvented ART, seeing as he still wrote all the material until Freesia, I think) with Paradise Lost but despite album production by the famed Tony Doogan, I could never get myself to like more than a few tracks.
Teenage Last was neko

.

And I'm surprised kora still hasn't mentioned COLD KITCHEN, Takeshi's other band.

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

Wow! COLD KITCHEN?
I never heard this band... (anyone has a song?)

Talking about side projects..
I read that Kinoshita and Masafumi have a band called KAREN if I remember correctly... But I never found any material of this band...
By the way, I found another band called KAREN but surely were not them. It was a VK band or something... o__O

Yeah.. now that you said..
The "new" members use almost the same equipment as the old ones..

Fender Precision bass + Ampeg bass amp
Fender Telecaster + Fender guitar amp

I noticed that Kinoshita used Marshall amp before, but with the new band, he started to use Fender amps too..

The discography page has more COLD KITCHEN samples than not.
Odd how the site url has .uk instead of .jp.

I think they really echo AciD FLavoR with the pained vocals and love-sick melodies but better keep an eye out on these guys if they release a full length in the future.

Haha yeah, I think I pounced on some KAREN album once only to discover it was the VK band. It's hard as hell to track down any of their stuff, especially with such a common name; I think kora could say a little more about them seeing as she knows someone who *gaspards* went to see KAREN live (some people have all the luck).

Maybe because Riki is in charge, he's allowed to experiment with different gear but doesn't let his fellow band mates do the same, lol.

On a side note, ART has become the driving soundtrack for my friends and me for a lot of trips. And today, we were heading home and the bittersweet hook of "Lucy" and Riki's repetition of "going nowhere" were coming out of the stereo as we were gliding through the urban business districts of downtown LA and none of us spoke a word as my friend turned up the volume...it's just one of those moments when I realize how much and why ART is my favorite band even until this day.

Error Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 25 Location: Brazil

Error Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 25 Location: SC

The new single "Illmatic Baby" is one of my favorite new songs EVER!

Straighten It Up Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 14

whoa i never knew this thread existed!!! I love art-school, probably more than straightener and i got into straightener first too lol. i have their whole discography including some actual cds and dvds! I don't think there are tension between the two bands, around the time COUNTDOWN JAPAN 08/09 was popping, on toddy's blog he posted a picture of ART-SCHOOL and STRAIGHTENER in a group shot and they all seem kool to me. And I think after Jun left he's kept in touch with the band, he even came to one of their shows during the Flora 07 tour (this i saw from the documentary portion of the two-disk live dvd).

Though ajikan did support straightener (imo more like just gotoh gassed them up) by inviting them to nano mugen and such, ART-SCHOOL was also invited to NANO-MUGEN in 2008 and to one of their first festivites held in 2003.

The post about how after ART-SCHOOL and STRAIGHTENER gained popularity they seems to "part ways" i guess it seems logical and inevitable, because back in their indie days they'd just play shows in the Tokyo area, am I correct? Now that they're "popular" they're doing shows around all of Japan and not just that one district anymore.

And I thought I was the only one that noticed how the newer members of ART-SCHOOL used equipment VERY SIMILAR to the older members :p. But personally I like ART-SCHOOL with the newer members, they just have a more diverse sound. In comparison to live performances, yes STRAIGHTENER is better at ROCKING OUT, but ART-SCHOOL is just one of those band where they sound so amazing live you don't even have to watch. They sound better live than they do on track.

And, has there been an interview about why Hinata and Jun resigned from ART-SCHOOL? Like I heard Hinata left to pursue other projects (ZAZEN BOYS and STRAIGHTENER) and Jun was just beat from fatigue, but was there an ACTUAL reason behind it all?

Funny how two ART-SCHOOL members that left are now members of STRAIGHTENER.