FAQ
ladies and gents, immediately, um... below, you have a list of questions that might be helpful to your journey. any further issues may be addressed to the management, who will do their best to help you with your inquiries. to your left we have the glitter pits and right in front of you is the gift shop. no skinny diving in the sparkling glitter goo please.
j-rock 101:
› where can i download music and videos?
› where can i find lyrics?
› where can i find more info?
› how do i get in touch with other fans?
shopping, merchandise, etc.:
› where can i buy cd's and other merchandise?
› how can i buy tickets?
› how do i order from brand-x?
› how can i tell bootlegs from the original items?
miscellaneous:
› how can i get japanese sites to display correctly?
› what are PV's?
› [referring to band xyz] are those really guys?
› why do some of these bands break-up so fast?
› why is the maxi-single format so popular?
› how do i take apart those aliene ma'riage clocks?
› how do i save japanese files from winmx?
› what's with the swastikas and nazi uniforms?
› what does c/w mean?
› where can i download music and videos?
there are basically 4 ways to download j-rock from the net:
1. downloading directly from websites hosting the files.
2. through ftp sites [click here if you have no idea what ftp is].
3. via file hosting services like streamload.
4. using peer-to-peer files sharing applications, such as winmx, direct connect, kazaa and soulseek.
check also the resources list and the file sharing list for more places where you can find media.
› where can i find lyrics?
lyrics usually come in 3 varieties: japanese, romaji [see the glossary entry for romaji] and translated. please refer to the lyrics section of the resources list for sites carrying lyrics.
› where can i find more info?
check out the artist index for specific links or the resources list, which is sorted in different categories, so hopefully you'll find what you need.
› how do i get in touch with other fans?
there are a number of message boards around, as most sites will have a forum. please see the forums section of the resources list for a selection of forum links.
there are also several mailing lists you can join. loveless in eden has some links to jrock mailing lists. and then of course, if there are any jrock conventions being held near you... you might be able to find some j-rock fans in anime conventions too.
› where can i buy cd's and other merchandise?
if you can find a record store near you that sells j-rock cd's it's probably best to buy them there. but it's not always easy finding places that sell them in the western part of the globe, especially the lesser known artists. there are a couple of good online stores, they don't all carry the same items, accept the same payment methods, etc, so browse around and find the best for you. i recommend third stage. while the shipping can become somewhat expensive they have a great selection of merchandise, both from major and indies labels, lots of out-of-print and hard-to-find articles, and even magazine issues.
for online shopping links, please see the resources section of the site.
› how can i buy tickets?
see the resources section for companies that handle online booking of tickets (under the online shopping category). you should be able to reserve tickets at the respective venue too. some bands accept ticket reservations directly through them via phone or e-mail.
› how do i order from brand-x?
to place an online order with brand-x, you have two options:
1. e-mail them at webmaster@brand-x-net.com with your order. list the items you want and give them your address so they can send you the total with shipping charges. if you don't know japanese, they understand some english, but keep it as clear and simple as possible.
2. you can also use their online form. if you know japanese, you should be alright. if not, it isn't very difficult to fill in. go to their site and click on 'how to order' from the menu. then scroll down to the form and fill it in. click here if you need a little guidance.
when you receive the total cost, email them back confirming your order. if you're ordering from overseas, you have to send the payment through cash in yen [via registered mail] or through an international postal money order [check at the post office if this is possible, as some countries don't have this service to japan]. you have one week for the payment to get there.
two last quick notes: the stock list on the site might be out-of-date. for pre-orders see the new release section of their site [unlike the stock list, this pre-order section is updated very often]. if you're not very handy with writing japanese but know what you want, just copy-paste the titles from this page onto the form or when emailing your order.
› how can i tell bootlegs from the original items?
stolen souls has good information on how to avoid bootlegs. but generally, keep an eye out for releases that aren't part of the artist's official discography, such as compilation cd's with more than one album on them. keep a look out for different covers and spelling mistakes too. but please note that some japanese artists release official items outside japan [usually in asia]. these are alternative versions of the japanese releases and as such they are not bootlegs. watch out for bootlegged posters, some of which are simply printed out from magazine scans and such. t-shirts and other items are often bootlegged too.
› how can i get japanese sites to display correctly?
if you access japanese sites and all you see is a bunch of jumbled characters, you don't have japanese encoding installed, meaning that your computer doesn't have the fonts necessary to display japanese characters. if you aren't prompted to install the fonts when loading a japanese encoded page, then you should access the official site of your browser and look for the download page.
if you are using microsoft's internet explorer, you can go to the control panel, click the add/remove programs shortcut, scroll down the programs list to 'microsoft internet explorer' and run the install application. then select 'add/remove components' and find the option to install the japanese language support. and that should do the trick. there's also another way to view japanese characters. in fact, there are a couple of programs out there that emulate a japanese windows environment on your western system. one of them is njstar communicator and the other is mview pro [you can download it at the monash nihongo ftp]. if you are accessing sites with flash content and can't display the characters, then one of these applications should allow you to display them properly.
windows xp users can also activate unicode support. see the regional and language settings on the control panel. click the advanced tab and set japanese for non-unicode programs. you might have to install some files for this to work [if they aren't installed already].
› what are PV's?
j-rock videos are commonly referred to as pv's. i believe it stands for 'promotional videos'.
› [referring to band xyz] are those really guys?
well, if they're not women, they probably are. if you still have doubts, i guess all there's left is to check for yourself, crocodile dundee style... O_o
› why do some of these bands break-up so fast?
god knows why! why do people take different paths in life? the answer: several different reasons. it's always bad for the fans, but from time to time, new acts are born from the fragments of broken bands, especially in the fast changing indies scene, so it's not always a negative thing. to quote that paradigm of supreme ancient wisdom, dr. ian malcom from jurassic park: 'life finds a way'.
› why is the maxi-single format so popular?
most bands, particularly at the indies level, tend to release maxi-single or 'mini-album' cd's instead of full albums. three or four songs, instrumental intros included, are enough to label a cd as a maxi. the maxi-single format is probably more profitable too, especially considering how sometimes they are outrageously overpriced. plus it allows bands to release new material more often. and since a lot of these bands split up so fast, they probably wouldn't have enough time to write enough songs for a full length album! [just kidding here, i think... O_o]
limited cd pressings are also the norm with indie labels. of course, this doesn't happen just in japan and it's related to the resources available to these smaller labels – also, this helps boost sales and increase the hype around the releases; because most fans will want to make sure they get a copy, popular band releases often sell out at pre-order.
› how do i take apart those aliene ma'riage clocks?
ok this is a joke question, but i've seen people complaining and labeling them as dangerous, so i'm writing this as a public service announcement: don't let that shifty contraption get between you and your aliene goodness!
first off, the diagram enclosed helps. not much, especially if your japanese isn't all THAT, but you can get the general idea about the assembling parts. you start by opening the plastic case, taking out the clock and pulling out the dials individually, by holding the clock firmly on one hand and PUUUUUUSH!-ing with the other. afterwards, the real challenge arrives. see the little metal piece on the top of a transparent ring? you want to get that out of the way. get a small screwdriver or similar apparatus and push the ring to the sides repeatedly, so the top piece eventually gets loose, but careful not to scratch the cd – i don't recommend using your nails to do this, you might break them, as i discovered rather painfully! ;]
once the nasty critter is out of the way, lift the transparent ring...
... and YATTA! the cd is yours to claim! next, take a deep bow to congratulate yourself on your achievement before considering getting the second press of 'les soiree', which comes with 2 extra tracks and a lot less hassle! ^^
› how do i save japanese files from winmx?
if you're on a western operating system, chances are you're getting errors when trying to download japanese files.
as far as i know, there are 2 possible work-arounds to this:
1. get your operating system to recognize japanese characters properly. if you're using windows xp, you will need to install unicode support. go to the control panel and click on the regional and languages settings icon. then click on the advanced tab. there should be a list of idioms there. choose japanese. you will probably be prompted to install some files [say yes, then reboot]. this will make windows accept japanese files, read japanese characters on programs, etc.
2. if you don't have windows xp, use another operating system that doesn't feature unicode support or simply don't want to change your system settings, there's still something you can do. with winmx, right-click the file you want to download, choose 'manually download'. then choose 'manually browse for the file to resume from'. click ok. enter a name file and the corresponding extension [example: somefile.mp3, manarocks.mpeg]. click ok and your download should work properly.
› what's with the swastikas and nazi uniforms?
in visual kei, the nazi look was much of a trend. currently, you don't see that many bands dressing up in nazi/military uniforms.
you can only speculate about why bands dress up like this. i'd say it's got more to do with those uniforms looking cool, passing forth an image of power and being considered 'shocking' rather than the bands following any sort of ideology associated with nazism.
in some cases though, the symbol used by bands isn't the nazi swastika at all, it's the 'manji' character, which, like the swastika originally had in many cultures before the nazis adopted it, has religious conotations. the 'arms' of the manji character, by the way, follow the opposite direction of those of the swastika. click here for more info.
› what does c/w mean?
this isn't exactly a jrock question, more like a general music question, but c/w means 'coupled with'. it's usually used on cd-singles, as in the single coupled with a second song. the c/w thing goes back to the good old vinyl days, when singles were released with a 'B side' song, mostly because a vinyl record has two sides [A and B] and they had a whole side to fill with something on single releases. so single tracks were 'coupled with' another song on the b-side. since cd's only have one recording surface the b-side thing doesn't make so much sense, at least literally. but the old lingo still applies and that's why even today you see cd's with 'c/w' tracks or with songs being referred to as 'b-sides'.
