Category Archive for Visual Kei + Music
MUSIC & MOVIES: ROSE NOIRE JAPAN GOTHIC LOLITA BAND, MIYAZAKI'S PONYO, GOTH 80S DEATHWAVE PLAYLISTS.
What’s floating your boat right now, in terms of music and movies? I’m digging Rose Noire, an Electro Psychedelic / Goth Techno / Alternative band I saw at Tokyo Goth night Midnight Mess.
The duo is wonderful to watch: a dashing Goth Aristocrat on vocals; a doe-eyed Gothic Lolita on violin. Sebastien posted some videos of their performance here, and you can see more on the Rose Noire website.
I’m always on the lookout for Goth/80s/postpunk/Italo Disco playlists to stream while I’m working — and Kitty Lectro is knocking my socks off with her feral mixes. It’s as if they were tailor made for my ears: Dead Kennedys, Department S, Death in June, Die Form. You can download her streams here.
And then there’s Studio Ghibli animation film Ponyo, recently released in theaters with an English dub. Oh mein gott. Ronan and I can’t get over the WTF exposition…
RONAN: The whole plot seemed like it was written by a five year old. An awesome five year old.
CARMINA: A drug-taking five year old.
His favorite character: the freakshow mother who needlessly endangers her son’s life and has zero reaction to the goldfish turning into a girl. Mine is Fujimoto, the goldfish’s very hot father — especially when he’s spraying himself with a “weed-killer” device to prevent himself from drying out.
RONAN: The whole movie is an acid trip! No reviewers have really done justice to how off the wall it is. Even the psychedelic pastel artstyle! I could totally see it again. It’s amazing, I was never bored for a second.
(Ponyo is also available on DVD on Amazon. You’ve got to experience the insanity!)
What films and music have you been obsessing over? I always love to hear your recommendations. You can reach me by commenting in this post or Tweeting (add me! I try to add everyone back.)
Song of the Day #194: Kitty Lectro’s dark sleazy Eurotrash Italo Disco mix is pretty sweet.
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NEW YORK TIMES WEBSITE ABOUT.COM POSTS FEATURE GALLERY OF THEME RESTAURANTS TOKYO BOOK. JAPAN MAID CAFE PHOTOS ON WEIRD NEWS BLOG.
New York Times website About.com posted a gallery and review of my new book, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants! It features my photos of Japanese maid cafes, Goth and monster themed restaurants and more. Come take a look on About.com: Weird News.
Buck Wolf writes: “Looking for a strange place to eat and drink? Book a flight to Tokyo, because the city is full of odd and unusual restaurants and clubs. Schoolgirls? Check. Maids? Check. Monkeys? Check. You name it, chances are there’s a restaurant devoted to it in Tokyo. The book “Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants Tokyo” by Gothic Lolita fashion blogger La Carmina takes us inside dozens of the most unique restaurants, cafes and clubs in a city known for its unusual haunts. Check out these photos of some of the strangest.”
And of course, you can see the full array of pictures in my book (more info and ordering info here).
What are your weekend plans? I have a phone interview, CNNGo articles to write, and a secret project that needs watering… I’m also going to look in kitschy Asian stores and watch Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, the aquatic animation film from Studio Ghibli, now in theaters!
PS: Need a back-to-school outfit? I put up more items for sale in my Online Garage Sale… designer/vintage clothes from Asia, LA and NYC for mostly $10-20, including jewelry guarded by Basil Farrow. Come browse and let your friends know!
Song of the Day #186: I am enjoying the radio stream on the Club80s website. Yesterday, I heard the Bolly remix of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and ahhh it’s a brilliant pairing of sounds! What are your favorite remixes?
LA CARMINA
