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

I hope I'm not the only one surprised that Koda Kumi's finally gone off the deep end; she's released her "week 0" single.



Well, Get It On is actually just a song that you can download onto your cell phone via mu-mo. The song itself is the full version of Introduction to the second session from BEST~second session~. I really like it. It's a heckuva lot better than KAMEN feat.Tatsuya Ishii.

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Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Also, is this hitomi as in Hitomi Shimatani? I checked her only because I liked "Falco", the opening theme for the Law of Ueki.

Nope. hitomi's someone else entirely. Funny you should mention Hitomi Shimatani, though; my first song of hers was also Falco and I've been something of a semi-fan ever since.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Rydia

Also, I was surprised with the 12 singles that Koda Kumi released within a short period of time. Some were memorable, while others were a bit dull.

I thought the songs were, at first, pretty good. They kinda petered out at the end, though. Imasugu Hoshii wasn't to my liking and KAMEN feat.Tatsuya Ishii put me to sleep.

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

Originally Posted by Rollins

What, Sweetbox did a version of Bold and Delicious? There's no way it'll compare. I'm not even that much of an Ayumi fan, but when the single came out, I couldn't help but listen over and over ^^;

Ayu actually covered Sweetbox. Bold & Delicious, Ladies Night, In The Corner, Pride, Beautiful Day, and rainy day are actually originally Sweetbox songs.

Quote:

One of the biggest stars in Japan, Ayumi Hamsaki, listend last year to Sweetbox' GREATEST HITS album and loved the music! When she also listend to the demos of the new Sweetbox album she loved them even more and chose 6 tracks for her own new album which was released on 1st Jan 2006: 1. Bold & Delicious 2. Ladies Night 3. In The Corner 4. Pride 5. Beautiful Day 6 Rainy Day AYU wrote her own lyrics to GEO's compositions and her producer Max Matsura gave them his own interpretation of songs. Hopefully you like the tracks a s well as we do!!

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

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Ah OK, I've just found the newly released Sweetbox album. I'll try to get my hands on it and give it a listen. Even so, does anyone have any actual proof Ayu borrowed their music?

The song credits for (miss)understood should tell a lot.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Ah yes, of course, silly me. That just says that GEO arranged the music, not that Ayu's songs are covers of Sweetbox tracks. It's possible, is it not, that Sweetbox then went on to use the music themselves and got Jade to sing new lyrics.

I got suspicious when Bold & Delicious and Pride both had GEO credited for the music.

Besides, Sweetbox's site still has the news about Ayu covering them up on their site. I'll re-quote...

Quote:

One of the biggest stars in Japan, Ayumi Hamsaki, listend last year to Sweetbox' GREATEST HITS album and loved the music! When she also listend to the demos of the new Sweetbox album she loved them even more and chose 6 tracks for her own new album which was released on 1st Jan 2006: 1. Bold & Delicious 2. Ladies Night 3. In The Corner 4. Pride 5. Beautiful Day 6 Rainy Day AYU wrote her own lyrics to GEO's compositions and her producer Max Matsura gave them his own interpretation of songs. Hopefully you like the tracks a s well as we do!!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Lee-chan

Has anyone heard a lot of Sakamoto Ryouhei? I like his newest single (featuring Verbal) a lot. Has he done any solo albums?

His Japanese discography is sitting in my MP3s folder gathering dust. He released a full-length album as Sakamoto Ryohei before disappearing and then reinventing himself as Ryohei.

FELIPE NO

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.

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

Originally Posted by Flara

hey has anyone seen Koda Kumi's sort-of recent PVs like You, Feel, Lies and Someday?

I just finally realized they're connected hahaha
what did everything think about how she made those 4 PVs into a story kinda thing?

My personal thought: It kinda felt like a Mariah Carey kidna thing but who cares, it was kinda cool how it told love stories of those 3 guys... Someday made everything happy lol and it goes by that order: You, Feel, Lies, Someday

yes, I lag a lil behind on jpop

I'm still a believer that Candy feat.Mr.Blistah is the prequel. It's the prequel, I tell you!

Ahem.

I downloaded the PVs as they came out weekly, and I found the mini-drama connection between those four PVs to be the main grab of the 12 singles. Every week I downloaded and hoped for a continuation, but eh, I had to wait awhile between PVs (except for the double whammy of Lies and feel, which were aired in that order).

I think Someday ended up being a slight cop-out with the "imagine that Kumi is with you again!" aspect, but hey, it's a good song.

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Originally Posted by Technophile

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?

For future reference, track 4 is "Nichiyou no Asa" (Sunday Morning) and track 9 is "Kairo" (Sea Route).

Hikki's never had a CD+DVD version, so I expect that we'll see a UH4 DVD announcement shortly after the release of ULTRA BLUE.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Technophile

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 think Hikki just likes to do her own thing. That's what makes her such a great artist and person. Maybe she just likes the idea of a UH4 over CD and CD+DVD versions of ULTRA BLUE.

I'm most interested in hearing This Is Love. For some reason, I'm reminded of Uso Mitai na I Love You when I see that title.

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

Originally Posted by Technophile

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.

One Night Magic sounds like something you'd find in a Bemani game, and Making Love sounds like something she'd write as Utada.

As for Be My Last and Passion, I thought they were brilliant titles. "Be My Last" obviously had clear connections to Haru no Yuki (a doomed love, perhaps?) and "Passion" just sounded epic. "Passion" has many different connotations anyways, so one's interpretation of the title depends on how they define "passion."

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

Originally Posted by Lee-chan

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?

I purposely didn't romanize/translate track 6, since I thought it obvious that it was Dareka. Eh heh heh...

As for Yamada Musashi, he's the vocalist of THE BACK HORN. I bet that Hikki met him through her husband, Kaz.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Flara

yeah younha? or yuuna? youna? i dunno... cuz her name is katakana is spelled YU-U-NA... dunnnnno...

She's Korean, so Yunna (ユンナ) is just a transliteration of how her name would be pronounced in Korean, which seems to be spelled "Younha."

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Flara

btw.. I'm not sure if I should put it here but... I just heard UVERworld's NEWEST song, Colors of the Heart and omg.. I LOVE IT!!! I also saw the PV and I think Takuya is getting hotter and hotter in each PV ooooh...

Pop-rock, perhaps?

UVERworld let me down a lot with just Melody and the subsequent offering found on Timeless; the album, as a whole, put me to sleep. Colors of the Heart partially restored my faith in the band.

FELIPE NO

I figured I should put in my two cents on Younha.

I loved her style of music right from the get-go with Houkiboshi, and the two follow-up singles (Motto Futari de and Touch; yeah yeah, I know Touch was a cover) had me hooked. However, I found Go! Younha to be mostly disappointing besides the excellent singles. There was just something lacking about the album that made me go, "Errrm..."

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

Originally Posted by vemp

I still listen to some bands, but not like before where my playlist plays Jpop 80-90% of the time. Probably due to lack of means of acquiring it, bands breaking up, or my dislike of the new songs and/or artists, I still do not know.

I used to listen to nothing but J-pop, but I've either expanded into other genre of music found in Japan (J-urban, J-rock) or I've actually started listening to more English-language music. I don't really see it as something to worry about; I just go with the flow. It's music, after all.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Whoa. That hairstyle on Mika is a bit... Whoa. I wasn't expecting dreadlocks.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Technophile

For those of you have heared This is Love, how do you like it? I feel like it's her best album opener so far.

I think This Is Love's rank at #13 on my Top 25 Most Played playlist in iTunes speaks for itself.

Originally Posted by vemp

Apparently she's into gospel music now. Try listening to her Cry No More single. I think that explains the dreadlocks.

I despise CRY NO MORE. Oh well. At least I have Yuki no Hana and GLAMOROUS SKY to keep me entertained.

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

Originally Posted by vemp

- Remiomoren

I've got a love-hate relationship with Remioromen. Some of their songs are just amazing (Haru Keshiki) and some songs aren't that bad (Stand By Me), but the lead singer's voice grates my nerves sometimes and some songs really aren't as great as one would think (Konayuki).

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

Originally Posted by Flara

UVERworld is the stuff!!!

i still can't get over their newest single. COLORS OF THE HEART
the other 2 tracks in the cd are simply amazing too..

I'm not really feeling SORA or Hitori ja nai Kara. I guess my favorite B-side from them so far has to be Revolve.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Flara

Yamashita Tomohisa (aka Yamapi) "Daite Senorita" is Yamapi's FIRST solo single. The PV isn't that too impressive... it's more of a "Im a pretty boy and girls love me" kinda PV. And I don't really understand why there's fighting in this PV.... it's actually kinda strange...

w-inds.!!! Their newest single, TRIAL "is the band's theme song contribution to the Japanese version of the silver screen soccer adventure GOAL" (source: yesasia.com) This PV actually shows scene from the movie GOAL. And I think Tachibana Keita got hotter haha

Daite Señorita's the theme song for the drama Kurosagi, which Yamapi's currently in. The PV just emphasizes the song's connection to Kurosagi, that's all.

I didn't like TRIAL. I liked the B-side a lot better.

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Originally Posted by ruixiong89

Has anyone seen the covers of Ayumi Hamasaki's newest single BLUE BIRD yet? It's a really really pretty cover! Though the CD+DVD combos come in two sets and I think it's rather retarded.

And I can't wait for Koda Kumi's new 4 A-side single 4 hot wave! I'm sure it's going to be amazing! Though I was already rather disappointed by one of her songs GO WAY ... but nevertheless I think the rest of the songs, Ningyohime, JUICY and with your smile will be great!

The BLUE BIRD covers are pretty stupid. They all look way too similar to each other. Just about all that's different in each one is the amount of zoom on Ayu and where she's looking.

I don't like GO WAY!! very much, but I really liked With your smile. It's kinda weird, 'cause Koi no Tsubomi felt too cutesy for me.

Originally Posted by Rollins

I'm a little disappointed by the single, good song, but not great. Maybe because I felt that Emi Hinouchi and Ryohei could do a little more (maybe similar to "miss you" with Melody. and Ryohei). However, I'm just happy to see Emi Hinouchi get some more video exposure. I think she's one of the best "unknown" singers out there, her album "Dramatiques" is quite the treat.

I was very disappointed by the quality of Summer Time Love. It didn't stick like miss you and it wasn't fun like the Love Bug.

FELIPE NO

Utada Hikaru's latest album, ULTRA BLUE, and Angela Aki's debut album, Home, leaked onto the internet yesterday. I listened to ULTRA BLUE yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find that the preview clips for the previously unreleased songs were misleading; I found ULTRA BLUE to be a strong album overall and a great "comeback" album, if you will.

Home's quality was bolstered somewhat by the singles. I didn't think Oogesa ni "Aishiteru" was amazing and Love Is Over Now just sounded nice, but the real gem on the album (non-single wise) is MUSIC. I think it would've done well were it released as a single. Your Love Song seems a little iffy because half of the song is her just playing the piano, but I identify strongly with the lyrics.

Uchuu was an oddball in that it seemed to not really have a constant melody, but I like it a lot because it told a story, one that's fairly reminiscent of Train's Drops of Jupiter. The "climax" melody's very memorable and even "foreshadowed" earlier in the song.

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

Originally Posted by Flara

And I've been listening to a lot of w-inds. Their newest album, I believe it is their 5th Album if I think about it... (1st Message, System of Alive, Prime of Life, Ageha, THANKS)

ok yeah, their 5th Album, THANKS... I have to admit that it's not as good as Ageha, but Ageha wasn't as great as Prime of Life. I dunno but lots of fans are saying that w-inds. is maturing that's why their music is getting more different... bleh... THANKS is good, but not great.

who here likes w-inds.?

I've always been a piss-poor w-inds. fan. I've listened to songs here and there, and I've had ageha sitting on my hard drive for forever, but THANKS was the first album I sat down and listened to all the way through. It actually wasn't all that bad, really.

Jam it back in, in the dark.