Archelirion
Arche
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Last Active 10-08-21 11:02 pm
Joined 05-22-12

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05.22.22 10 years of fading in and out like a kn ♦10.08.21 Remember when Sput had last.fm integrat
11.11.20 pls rec me cosy jangly lady indie rock 09.06.20 10 more songs not to listen to while ri ♦
10.06.19 Arche's great 2019 bm catch up ♦09.12.19 2019 ambient for comfy sleeps and peace
12.23.18 Arche's 2018 ♦12.23.17 Arche's 50 from '17 ♦
10.29.17 Diddle Arche 6: math10.21.17 Diddle Arche 5: rec anything 2 (electri
10.14.17 Diddle Arche 4: Asia10.11.17 Diddle Arche 3: Musicals/OSTs/films
10.09.17 Diddle Arche Round 2: Finland10.08.17 (a comp) Diddle your boi Arche's earpie
10.07.17 NYP grabs / transferring ratings to RYM09.12.17 So I met CalculatingInfinity, and he me ♦
07.03.17 Arche's best bits - Jan to Jun05.01.17 Arche's April
More »

Diddle Arche 4: Asia

As some of you might be aware, I am fond of the Asiatic arts (read: possible filthy weeb). However, music from the continent does seem to be particularly splendid, and that's what I'm interested in here.
1Red Velvet
Ice Cream Cake

So yeah, any SONG either from the Asian continent (for the purposes of this, Russia does NOT count) or is referential to Asia in some way (similar to how the Finland round operated).
2Tierpark
The Moment Two Worlds Meet

Please please please make sure, especially if it's from Japan as they're notorious for making things difficult, that I can access it from legal streaming sites plox :3

Sniff won the last round so he has immunity this time around. Have fun guys, am interested to see what you come up with!

(also check this album cos it's super good)
3Gotsu Totsu Kotsu
Retributive Justice

Immortal Assassin

cryptologous

I expected it to (they don’t have a quieter level) but this fucken GOES my dude. The bass clank these guys make is always sweet, but in general this has got to be one of the best groove/thrash style jobbies out there. The ‘machine gun’ solo was a nice touch. 4.0/5.0.
4Zyanose
Isolation

Red Dyed Sky

Astral Abortis

57 noisy, crusty, shouty, raspy seconds. Fantastic. The production of the drums on this thing is lovely, really prevents them from getting lost in the mire of feedback, grimy riffs and general vocal cacophony. Got me to go ‘1 2 3 4’ in the middle, so I’d say it succeeded. 4.1/5.0.
5Coaltar of the Deepers
Yukari Telepath

Hedorian Forever

Flugmorph

Okay, the mid-section of this was nuts, like being stuck in the musical equivalent of a free, jazzy, gazey spaceship battle. The drum performance on this is excellent, but the highlight is definitely, definitely that synth. Imagine this with Ling Tosite Sigure vox? It would be incredible. 4.1/5.0.
6Karmacipher
Necroracle

Necroracle

Sniff

Okay, I don’t want to make the link but parts of this genuinely do sound so Ulcerate it’s uncanny. This is, however, REALLY well done and I LOVE the drum production on this so much – like, that snare sound is FILTH. Get Dead Oceans vibes from parts of this, and that’s, like, my favourite Ulcerate song. Does this beat the Kiwis? …Actually, very possibly. 4.3/5.0.
7Sigh
Imaginary Sonicscape

Scarlet Dream

Ovrot

This was intriguing. I didn’t go all that much on the 30 seconds or so – the introductory stage kinda threw me off a little bit (felt like a kinda weird industrial/gothic metal take). The rock-solid rhythm section remained throughout, but thankfully, the vox were really great (that bass section), we got a tidy guitar solo and the use of synths – well, that interlude before the final chorus had no business being a fun as it was. Really weird take on a kind of black metal thing? I dunno. 3.8/5.0.
8Galileo Galilei
Portal

Good Shoes

sinternet

This style of vocal – the sort of laid-back, Japanese male style – does have a tendency to be either really good or kinda grating (see Supercar), and with Galileo Galilei, it just about worked in the track’s favour. A chilled, indie rock/dream pop affair with only the hint of a crescendo towards its end, Good Shoes is one of those tracks that excels at being ‘pleasant’. Nothing extraordinary, but gets the job done. 3.6/5.0.

--ELIMINATED-- ;-;
9Guniw Tools
Other Goose

Stupid Person

50iL

Being Jake Cloudchair’s band before the guitarist, I expected plenty of guitar effect wizardry from this – the opening funky, wah’d-to-hell section certainly confirmed these suspicions. The saxophone on this track was so much fun, but really the general artsy post-punk angle of this proved to be a winner. Almost felt too short for its own good, but excellent nonetheless. 4.0/5.0.
10Aketagawa / Mikami / Ishizuka
Daikanjyo

Daikanjyo

adr

This was pretty fantastic. Far, far more emotionally riveting than I expected it would be, this is a kind of raw, bluesy, piano-driven improvisational piece that sounds, frankly, far from perfect on occasion – and to be disgustingly twee, that’s kinda what makes it what it is. Kan Mikami sounds like he’s clinging on to every gravelly word that comes flying out his mouth, and Shoji Aketagawa’s piano performance is astounding – typical ‘sad’ improv mixed with ugly, dissonant stabs that seem to coincide with Mikami’s charged histrionics almost too neatly. I definitely want to check the rest of this. 4.3/5.0.

--WINNER!!-- :D
11Ichiko Aoba
0%

Mars 2027

aberf

This woman’s voice never fails to astound me with how beautiful it is, especially considering all of the decidedly unusual guitar bollocks going on underneath and around it. Perhaps expectedly, my favourite bits of this were when Ichiko was singing – a couple of the bits beforehand and in the little interlude felt a little ‘random’ in their inclusion (the single round of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star particularly stood out) – but uwah. When she sings I forget all of that. 4.1/5.0.
12Rush
2112

A Passage to Bangkok

Ryus

Discounting the typical “Chinese” phrase featured at the start and the last chorus block, this was awesome. The opening riff was surprisingly gnarly and I was so happy to get another chance to hear it after the first chorus, and hearing dear Geddy’s vocals reminded me that I should really listen to Rush more often than I do. Proggy without resorting anywhere even close to masturbation. Great fun. 3.9/5.0.
13Superman Is Dead
Angels and the Outsiders

Jika Kami Bersama

bgillesp

Really good fun. I’ve got a little bit of a weakness for this kind of poppy punk stuff, and this certainly scratched an ‘I wanna bounce up and down with a dumb grin on my face’ itch. Nothing genre-pushing, but an excellently done example. 3.8/5.0.
14Envy
All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead

Mystery and Peace

CaimanJesus

Sorry to ruin your 3.7-3.9 trend, but this was right up my street. The first half is basically how I love skramz done – loud/quiet dynamics, raw desperate vocals, and bright, shimmering guitars to make me chuck myself around my room. The clean interlude was unexpected and maybe a weenie bit longer than I wanted, but sod it – and anyway, the chord progression that led to the track’s end was one of the best things I’ve heard so far in this comp. This was excellent. 4.2/5.0.
15Mass of the Fermenting Dregs
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

I F A Surfer

hansoloshotfirst

I was having a great old time with this lump of Japanese shoegaze, and then the 90 second point was reached and it seemed to find another gear above it. Noisy (THE FEEDBACK), passionate and boisterous, I wasn’t expecting this track to get as heavy as it did – a quick explosive workout that fizzles to a stop almost as quickly as it started. 4.0/5.0.
16Shakti
Natural Elements

Mind Ecology

tacos N stuff

An exercise in percussive, guitar, violin, mridangam and probably-every-other-instrument-going virtuosity, Mind Ecology has the added advantage of being really, ridiculously, unfairly good fun to listen to. The energy that comes out of this thing is absolutely boggling, and it takes you for a 6 minute joyride that doesn’t seem to hit pause once. Good lord. 4.2/5.0.
17Kashiwa Daisuke
Re:

april.#19

Jacquibim

Really rather splendid, particularly the second half. I’ve not heard too much of Kashiwa’s work but I expected glitch, so when the opening piano felt more like modern classical I was a little bit surprised – of course, the glitch eventually crept in and my desires were satiated. Great developmental/deconstructive piece. 3.9/5.0
18Artcell
Oniket Prantor

Oniket Prantor

BlackwaterPork

Admittedly, for the first 11 minutes of this I increasingly felt a bit frustrated, it feeling a little like a prog rock opera that didn’t really grab its length and style by the ridicubollocks and ride into town on it. It was pleasant, don’t get me wrong, but a couple of little phrases and ideas here and there, hardly anything to go ‘ooh’ at. Thankfully, the last 5 minutes were fantastic, overblown fun, making the wait feel kinda worth it; extended solo, pinch harmonics, drum solos, epic vocals… the works, really. Perhaps too much time spent not doing that (although obviously some variation is nice), but all good at the end. 3.7/5.0

--ELIMINATED-- ;-;
19Denki Groove
Dragon

Niji

Frippertronics

This is probably what euphoria sounds like, and not in a memey m’lady kinda way. Can’t say too much about it because I don’t think there’s a huge amount TO say, but this was basically 10 minutes of housey, trance-y bliss. 4.1/5.0.
20Women
Public Strain

China Steps

Chortles

That SNARE, good lawd – I love that brash, gunshot sound. Actually, in general this was a sweet way of ending this round, as this is really quite out there in every way (especially as I was anticipating twee emo from the name/album art); scratchy leads, a general uncomfortable vibe and that drawled vocal style which make me wanna stand in a dingy high street while it drizzles down on me. Yikes. That doesn’t sound fun at all. Either way this was sweet. 3.8/5.0.
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