HALLOWEEN JUNKY ORCHESTRA - HALLOWEEN PARTY

Today sees the release of "HALLOWEEN PARTY" by J-Rock superstar HYDE's special project HALLOWEEN JUNKY ORCHESTRA, a collective of quite a large number of artists from the world of Japanese music.

A friend of mine alerted me to this song today. I'd had an email a few months back announcing this forthcoming release too, but I kind of just dismissed it at the time, and forgot about it until now.

Here's the promo:


The musicians involved are:

• HYDE (VAMPS & L'Arc~en~Ciel)
• Acid Black Cherry
• DAIGO (BREAKERZ)
• K.A.Z (VAMPS & Oblivion Dust)
• Tommy february6 / Tommy heavenly6
• Anna Tsuchiya
• Tatsuro (MUCC)
• Hitsugi (Nightmare)
• Aki (SID)
• Ryuji Aoki
• RINA (SCANDAL)
• Kanon Wakeshima
• JIN
• BARAKI
• Ju-ken
• YUKI (DUSTAR-3)
• AKIHIDE (BREAKERZ)
• HIRO (La'cryma Christi)
• SHINPEI (BREAKERZ)
• Ali
• SHUSE (†яi￠к)
• JUN-JI
• ARIMATSU
• kyo (D'ERLANGER)

This release is the 2013 version of the same song released last year, recorded for HYDE's Halloween Party 2012. HYDE's official VAMPROSE website also states that there will be a special "HYDOLL" figure sold at each venue for this year's Halloween Party live events. Even more musicians appear at the live shows, for which information can be found at the official website.

Here is the 2012 version:


I had never heard the song until today, and had missed it last year, but after watching the video above, I immediately played it again... Twice! Then twice again!

The opening of the song effectively evokes the feeling of spookiness one might witness on Halloween, but soon the instruments kick in with a marching drum beat, followed by the ridiculously catchy sing-along chorus of "La la la la la la la la Halloween Party! La la la la la la la la, let's Trick or Treat!" The song is a whole lot of fun; it bounces along with great verve and you can't help but nod your head or stomp your feet along to the maniacal melodies.

The costumes and make-up are brilliantly creative, with each musician looking marvellously deranged! Of course with some of these artists coming from J-Rock bands; you'd think they are probably quite familiar with dressing up in this fashion (especially those in visual-kei bands).

Anna Tsuchiya looks especially demented with her pale face, and frenzied head of snakes! She kind of reminds me of Helena Bonham-Carter's Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter films, but twice as unhinged.

HYDE's Chelsea smile is simple, but looks pretty effective. Tommy february6 / heavenly6 (Tomoko Kawase) and cellist Kanon Wakeshima stick to costumes, rather than cover their faces in outlandish make-up. Both of Tommy's february and heavenly personae rely heavily on their differing appearance, so I can see why she might not have wanted to cover her face in make-up, otherwise it would have been difficult to differentiate between them.

Everyone else's costumes are equally as good, and it looks as though a lot of fun was had while filming the video, and kind of gives the impression that an actual party took place. Overall, I thought this to be a brilliantly theatrical and inventive video, and one that provokes repeat viewing. A brilliantly fun song and video.

What are your thoughts on them? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below! :)

Buy the CD at cdjapan: HALLOWEEN Party [CD+DVD]




Image credit: Header - Halloween Party Official Webiste