Volume Zero - The Dry Run

• News

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• 05.Jan || News
• The Year in Jrock || Go

• In January, Kagrra moved to King Records and put out “Core,” and who’s listened to that recently? Viored broke up and aren’t missed much, but a little. X Japan released a so-so song, foreshadowing a year of circus-like goings-on.

  Go looks back at the highlights of 2008 in his own inimitable manner, and anticipates 2009.

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  About Go: Go is the writer of Jrocknyc, one of the longest-lived and most respected English-language blogs about Japanese music.

• Fiction

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• 05.Jan || Fiction
• The Eye of the Living Is No Warmth (Part One) || Justin Isis

• It seemed as if the media were deliberately trying to ruin the idols’ careers. Or were the idols themselves trying to break out of the lifestyle somehow? Tatsuya couldn’t tell, but the news vaguely depressed him.

  Part one of a two-part story.

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  About Justin Isis: Justin Isis is a para para dancer and science fiction writer who divides his life between New York, Tokyo and Perth and spends most of his time reading issues of Men's Egg from the late nineties.

• Meta

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• 05.Jan || Meta
• This One Won’t Last Long || Ray Mescallado

• One of the reasons I start over so much is because I felt dissatisfied with the previous version - the theme bored me, the approach to writing didn’t work somehow, or I’d have a new idea which simply “demanded” starting over from scratch. I’m always convinced the latest formulation will be the one that lasts, that hits the sweet spot I’m looking for.

  Once again, Ray dives into the breach…

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  About Ray Mescallado: Ray started blogging with Cult of Pop, then moved on to American Wota before creating this site. He is also the founder and owner of Intl Wota and Wotatalk.