[Album] J-Pop: An Introduction (and discussion)

Oh come on now Rollins, Ayu hasn't put out any remix albums for a while now. Besides, what's wrong with remixes? They usually provide a different take on the song and add a different flavor to it.

Anyway Jade's..."special" to say the least. Her ayu covers are precious gems, and by precious gems, I mean craptacular. Seriously, her songs sound totally underproduced, and her lyrics are ridiculous.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by soulsteelgray

Just thought I'd pop in and post the news about Utada Hikaru's 4th studio album.

Ultra Blue
2006.06.14
TOCT-26067
¥3,059 (tax in)

13 tracks, including her singles COLORS, Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro, Be My Last, Passion, and Keep Tryin'



Her 2006 tour as Utada Hikaru and Utada, UTADA UNITED 2006, begins July 1st in Sendai and ends on September 10th in Tokyo.

OMG I cannot wait for this! The name ULTRA BLUE has kinda grown on me. Makes me think the song with the same name will have a cool and slick electronic feel to it.

Also, since COLORS, Darekoro, Be My Last, Keep Tryin' & Passion are included outta the 13 tracks, and we'll probebly get 1 interlude, that leaves us with 7 new songs. Not bad. Hopefully they won't reveal that Wings will be on the album too cause that takes up one more space that a new song could have used and I hate that song anyway.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Hikki's new album's cover and tracklist!


lol I love how the album's called ULTRA BLUE while she has this SUPER RED cape flowing around her.

01. This Is Love
02. Keep Tryin'
03. BLUE
04. 日曜の朝
05. Making Love
06. 誰かの願いが叶うころ
07. COLORS
08. One Night Magic feat. Yamada Masash
09. 海路
10. WINGS
11. Be My Last
12. Eclipse(Interlude)
13. Passion

source


I don't like the fact that WINGS is on there. Also some of the song titles are kinda scary but I'll just wait and see before I make any judgment.

And no CD+DVD version?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeah but her latest singles have all had CD only or CD+DVD versions! It seems like pretty much every jpop artist, with avex or otherwise, has adopted this with or without DVD format ever since Ayu first did it with Memorial Address. I want the CD to have some sort of extras...

Anyway, I can't wait till we get samples of the new songs.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah maybe. We'll see.

Anyway, This is Love, One Night Magic and Making Love are, in my opinion, awful titles. I cannot imagin how these songs would be good or taken seriously. However, I also thought that Be My Last and Passion were awful titles before I heared the songs but then ended loving them. Because of that, I'm really eager to see where she's going with these songs.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Lee-chan

It doesn't matter. They're in English. This is a Japanese CD.

Track six's "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro"; something along the lines of "Concerning Granting Someone's Wishes".

Has anyone heard of this Yamada Musash(i) before?

Yes, it does. Just because the song titles are in a different language than the song itself it doesn't mean the title can be anything. It still represents the song! If we followed your argument then the songs could be named ,for example, Bukkakke Diarrhea Froth and it'd still be ok cause, hey! the rest of the song's in Japanese so the English title doesn't matter!

Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro actually fits with the song. The song's all about the duality of things and how some people's happiness is built on others' misery and how when someone's wish comes true, another person's dreams fall apart.

Now I'm not dismissing the new songs cause I haven't heared them yet. I'm just eager to actually hear them to see how the songs will justify these titles. I'm personally having trouble picturing these titles actually work but I think Hikki can pull it off.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Rollins

Technophile, I believe your gripes should lie with the Japanese educational system on how they teach English. There have been plenty of songs with titles that "don't work" that were excellent. But yeah, as you said, you're not disliking them prematurely, just noting the questionable English (which, IMO, isn't as bad as some others).

I would love to listen to a song called Bukkakke Diarrhea Froth. It already sounds awesome.

See, becauase of this reason, I usually do completely overlook Jpop's English titles. (Don't get me started on some of Ayu's songs' names). But see, Hikki is Japanese-American. She's completely fluent in English. There's just no excuse for her to have engrishy song titles. Also, with her, it's not even a matter of questionable grammer or spelling. It's just that these new song titles are kinda cheesy. But whatever, we'll wait and see. (Sorry, didn't mean to use puns)

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Lee-chan

Regardless of her background and knowledge, the fact is that she's in the Japanese market right now. The general Japanese public isn't familiar enough with the English language to know what "cheesy" is. Also - as far as I'm concerned, there's absolutely no way Hikki can hit a new artistic low after hearing some of the lyrics of the Exodus songs.

Oh so just because a good number of Japanese folk aren't fluent in English that gives her the right to pull a fast one on her fans and just title the songs whatever? (I'm not saying that's what she did since I haven't heared the songs yet but that's the excuse you're using)


Also, Exodus is a damn good album. The music on it was so rich and ambient. It was full of awsome electronic yet poppy tracks. The lyrics were witty and different. The only track that had "cheesy" lyrics was Easy Breezy and that's only because it's a playful song. Too bad most people were too stuck up to see that.

-EDIT-

Thanks to Utada-online.net,


New tour pic

Larger pic of the cover...



What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Flara

I think Utada Hikaru's Passion is better than Sanctuary. For some reasons... the english version sound a bit.. weird to me (this includes Simple and Clean and Hikari). I don't exactly know how to explain it but it's like they try to make the lyrics work for the song, instead of the song working for the lyrics. I think it's that lil bit that makes Passion much better than Sanctuary.

Oh God yes, Sanctuary sucks. As if streching the lyrics to work around the songs wasn't bad enough, it's missing all those awsome and intrecate "Ooohs" & "Aaaah"s in the background that make Passion sound so much more full and ambient.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I must say I'm LOVIGN Ultra Blue. It's like every track clicks for me from start to finish. None of them threw me off or made me think "hmm. What's she trying to do here?!". I just wish it was longer.

Also, Angela Aki's definately one of the more pleasant surprises to come outta J-pop. She's just so talented. Can't wait to hear more material from her.

Sigh...and Otsuka really needs to bring out the next single.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Yeah, I'm sure Koda Kumi is really cursing the exposure Final Fantasy gave her.

Well it's not like Rikki, Faye Wong (or whoever it was that sang Melodies of Life) actually got all that huge...


As for Aki, I just wish her videos were more interesting.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by soulsteelgray

I always forget Kumi when I think of Final Fantasy theme songs.

Also, my usage of "curse" was mostly geared towards the fact that Faye Wong, Emiko Shiratori, and Rikki seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth in terms of presence in the Japanese music industry. I mean, I don't even know who Shiratori is.

Yea exactly. Even if they have their own specialized market, their presence still seems none-existant. Also, no offense, but since FFX-2 was a side game (and a very, very terrible one at that) I don't really consider it a real FF. So the entire Koda tie-in to FF seems kinda distant.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?