30 Days of New Music

Sometimes I go through periods of musical reclusion, venturing no further into the world of music than I have already traveled. But then I get a bit of cabin fever and need to get out there, probably every 3 or 4 months or so. Logically, that would give me three or four times a year that I make some hefty updates to my music collection. In this past month, I've added 375 songs (1 day in iTunes time, or at least one song for every day of the year) with a 2.06GB total. No wonder I have a hard time putting ratings on new music as it comes in!

Because I'm curious myself, I'm putting up a list here of the artists (or in some cases, compilation albums) that have been added to my library this past month. Here goes... most recently added is at the bottom.

• My Chemical Romance, "Mama" (sent by a friend who said I'd love the whole The Black Parade album, but this is still all I've heard)
  
• In Flames, various
• Marcy Playground, "Sex and Candy" (I didn't have it, I think it's a staple)
• The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army"
• Buck-Tick, a few songs from One Life, One Death
  
• Despairsray, various from Born, Maverick, and Terrors
  
• Dir en Grey, various from Gauze, Kai, Macabre, Six Ugly, Vulgar, and Withering to Death
  
• Electric Eel Shock, a few songs from Beat Me
• Gackt, various from Diabolos, Redemption, and Love Letter
  
• Shonen Knife, some songs from Happy Hour
• X-Japan, various from Ballad Collection, Blue Blood, and Dahlia
  
• Luna Sea, a few songs from Period
  
• Moi dix Mois, various from Beyond the Gate and Dix Infernal (Oh Mana, how your discordant melodies do haunt me...)
• Shwarz Stein, songs from New Vogue Children and Artificial Hallucination
  
• Poe, Hello (thanks to JeN for making me realize how much I needed this album!)
• the Casshern OST, featuring various artists
• Our Last Day|Casshern Official Soundtrack, by Shiro Washisu
  
• Shiina Ringo, the complete discography (yes, really, even singles albums)
• Tokyo Jihen, complete discography
• Anna Tsuchiya, complete discography (including the remix album and her side album for the anime Nana)
• T.A.T.u., "How Soon is Now?" (I might delete this, it sounds like chipmunks singing when compared to most any other version)
• soundtrack albums for the anime Samurai Champloo (playlist, masta, impression, and departure), including side albums by Minmi (Ai no Mi) and Kazami (the You ~Himawari~ single)
  

And there you have it. That's what I'm listening to right now. A very strong presence for Japanese genres, spanning lounge, score, rock, pop, and Visual Kei. What can I say, I like me some J-music--though I tend to avoid the idol music scene. My only conceit to that (so far), has been Miyavi, who I think rocks, and who I found on my own without viewing any form of advertising. ;) Of course, if any of the above music intrigues you and you'd like to hear more, hit me up and I can point you in the right direction to get some. :) No compact discs were harmed in the acquisition of this music.