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

An update in the world of J-hiphop:

SOUL'd OUT has annouced that they will be releasing a Single Collection Compilation album. You'll be able to buy this in either the CD/DVD combo or just the album. The DVD contains all of the music videos from the audio album.

Tracklist:

1. ウェカピポ [Wekapipo]
2. Flyte Time
3. Dream Drive
4. Shut Out
5. Love, Peace & Soul
6. 1,000,000 MONSTERS ATTACK
7. Magenta Magenta
8. BLUES
9. To All Tha Dreamers
10. イルカ [IRUKA]
11. ALIVE
12. TOKYO通信～Urbs Communication～ [TOKYO TSUCHIN ~Urbs Communication~]
13. Catwalk
14. Starlight Destiny

It's scheduled to release on December 27.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Ok, so I usually get most of my J-songs from anime. There's this one group, NIRGILIS, and they have a song called "Sakura" Sounds really good, listen for yourself.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=noXqhvEI800

Anyway, I've tried looking for translation but can't find any so I was hoping someone here knows a few words. I don't need the entire song, just some words. I can guess some but not all of it.

Togireru nai - ???
Kanashimi no hate wa doko? - Where does sadness end?(?)
(those first two lines might be connected but lyrics page might have divided it to make it easier to read)
Sayonara FALL IN LOVE - Farewell fall in love

Namida subete wasurete - Forget all the tears
Ima kara FALL IN LOVE - I'm falling in love now(?)
Todoki masu ka? - ???

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Translating Japanese really needs the original kanji/kana as just working off romanised text (or all kana) is almost pointless. Also, you don't want to be so literal in your translation. For example, "Sayonara FALL IN LOVE" is probably more "Goodbye to falling in love".

FELIPE NO

Sowelu!!!!

She's coming out with a single in January 24, 2007 called Shiawase no Chikara which translates to "Power of Happiness"

I roughly read the thing... but Shiawase no Chikara is the image song for a movie called Shiawase no Chikara? It has Will Smith in it??? WHAT??? ok.. ums.. It includes the coupling songs I Wonder and Billy Joel's Piano Man

also if you get the first press limited edition, it comes with a DVD which includes the PV for "Shiawase no Chikara"!!!!

Translation done roughly... sourse is from yesasia.com okie?

I was kinda getting worried about Sowelu too... she was really really quiet after 24... ^___^ she's back!!! weeeee

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

Originally Posted by Flara

I roughly read the thing... but Shiawase no Chikara is the image song for a movie called Shiawase no Chikara? It has Will Smith in it??? WHAT???

"Shiawase no Chikara" is the Japanese title for the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Some more random release info:

Namie Amuro also has a new single coming out in January it seems. Also, misono (sister of one Kumi), has her debut album on the way, as well as some sort of covers album I believe. MAY too, has her debut album arriving early next year (end of Jan), and Maria have just announced their third single.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by soulsteelgray

"Shiawase no Chikara" is the Japanese title for the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

oooooh that would explain Will Smith lol

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

Once you mentioned Will Smith I knew it was for that movie. I'm surprised though that they have his movie in Japan. I know LotR and Star Wars was showing there because they're big big movies but "The Pursuit of Happyness" doesn't seem like the kind of movie to go over seas. I guess it'll air in selected cities but I never thought they would've put an image song in it.

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

oh, they do that a lot. I remember w-inds. did an image song for some soccer movie... i think it's called GOAL. Anyways the song is called TRIAL which is pretty good.

I was just surprised cuz i roughly translated the description and I thought Will Smith is acting in Japanese!!! lolz

I was speaking idiomatically.

Koda Kumi's new album "Black Cherry" has leaked by the looks of it and it's totally hot. Every track is great. I thought it was going to be good but not this good.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Interesting. I've not been a fan of a lot of her recent stuff so I'm not convinced the new album will be that great. Might check out a downloaded copy though.

FELIPE NO

I'm pretty sure jpopsuki has it

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

Okay, I realize this is a pretty random request, but I've spent hours searching for this on both Google and YouTube with no success. What I'm looking for is a PV of Ken Hirai's "POP STAR," except sung and performed by a female J-pop artist. I don't recall her name, but I remember her being fairly well-known. I also remember somebody remark jokingly that her voice was almost deeper than Ken's. :P

Sorry for coming out of nowhere with this, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hello,

Where do you guys go to buy your J-Pop CDs? I'm trying to find a particular CD single from Utada (the "You Make Me Want To Be A Man" single, with the Junior Jack remix), but I haven't had any luck on Amazon or on Yes-Asia. Ebay has a couple of listings for the disc, but most of them are the one track promo... Worse comes to worst I can buy the track on vinyl from Perfect Beat, which isn't sounding like a bad idea if this single doesn't show up.

Anyone know why this single off of Utada's "Exodus" is so hard to find? I've been able to pick up the other two singles ("Devil Inside" and "Exodus 04") with no problem.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Dojomaster

Anyone know why this single off of Utada's "Exodus" is so hard to find? I've been able to pick up the other two singles ("Devil Inside" and "Exodus 04") with no problem.

It was released pretty quietly in the UK without that much fanfare. Devil Inside and Exodus '04 had some nice club promotion, so maybe that's why there're more units of Devil Inside and Exodus '04 in comparison to You Make Me Want To Be A Man.

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

I recieved Koda Kumi's Black Cherry album not too long ago

I must say this album is pretty good. I haven't had the chance to check out the Cherry Girl Movie though... seems realllly interesting considering that a special booklet also came with my order.

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

Koda Kumi eh? Never really liked her stuff.

Anyway, I downloaded the new Mika Nakashima album "The End". Well, I loved all of Nakashima's previous albums, but there's something about this one that I don't really like. I mean, not that they're bad songs, but all the songs in this album are in alt-rock, and I dunno, I kinda prefer her type of voice for ballads (the nasal/soft kind of voice).

Maybe it's just me, but I kinda prefer her "Sakurairo Maukoro" type of songs.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Hudson Hawk

Koda Kumi eh? Never really liked her stuff.

Anyway, I downloaded the new Mika Nakashima album "The End". Well, I loved all of Nakashima's previous albums, but there's something about this one that I don't really like. I mean, not that they're bad songs, but all the songs in this album are in alt-rock, and I dunno, I kinda prefer her type of voice for ballads (the nasal/soft kind of voice).

Is that the album where she plays the role of Nana from the movie?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Rydia

Is that the album where she plays the role of Nana from the movie?

Yes, it is.

Originally Posted by Flara

I haven't had the chance to check out the Cherry Girl Movie though... seems realllly interesting considering that a special booklet also came with my order.

Cheesy Girl felt like a complete waste of my time. It was just so... blech. Don't get me started on the ending. It's good for a laugh, but seriously, that shouldn't be how it ends.

FELIPE NO

I've downloaded a copy of "Cherry Girl", though not listened to it. I don't know, I've not been a big fan of her recent stuff to be honest, and so I'm not all that tempted to listen to it. Might give it a try though just to see what I think.

Morning Musume finally got their 8th-gen member just before Christmas. 13 year old Mitsui Aika was the winner of the recent auditions. It has also been announced that during this year's summer concerts, current leader and last remaining 4th-gen member Yossi will be graduating from the group.

Also, Sayumi has a new PB out this month (at last), so woot.

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

Snap. I forgot that I downloaded "Black Cherry" last week too before my main computer went haywire. Haha, thanks for the somewhat-of-a reminder. I tried to watch that "Cherry Girl" drama too, but the one I got had no subs. ;_;

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I went ahead and bought the track on vinyl. It's backordered right now on PerfectBeat (I can't wait to get my hands on it!) Has anyone else bought some J-Pop on vinyl? A few months ago I also bought Misia's "everything" on vinyl, with the Junior Vasquez and Gomi Mix (one of my favorite dance tracks EVER. I should upload this for ya'll to hear)

There's another Utada release that I'm looking at. Is this a legit release? I know it hasn't been released in Japan (it's a Chinese release), and I'd really like to see the MTV Unplugged performances...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Dojomaster

There's another Utada release that I'm looking at. Is this a legit release? I know it hasn't been released in Japan (it's a Chinese release), and I'd really like to see the MTV Unplugged performances...

I can't say with 100% certainty, but I don't like the looks of this, legality wise. I've been burned too many times before with buying CDs off ebay and getting bootlegs almost every time. A quick look-through of yesasia didn't come up with anything looking like this release and they're usually pretty good on listing all the possible releases for something both in and out of Japan.

I'm sure you'll get what you expect (you'll get the videos they promise), but from my perspective it doesn't look 100% authentic.

Then again, if someone has anything else to say, I could be wrong =/

How ya doing, buddy?

New YUI song out right now: "CHE.R.RY". It is <3 as usual (there's a radio rip out). The single is coming out March 7th, so that's good. But even better news is this:

YUI's second album coming April 4 (hopefully)... I see it listed as Can't But My Love, but I don't think that name is official yet.

How ya doing, buddy?

J-Pop, eh...?

Just picked up some of the Ayu-mi-x Acoustic Orchestra CDs recently (Yeah, I know they're super old, but can't say no at $3 each.) All some pretty good stuff.

As for Morning Musume, I wasn't so impressed with Egao YES Nude but I do enjoy it more than some of the other stuff that H!P has been releasing these days... Though the SharanQ version of Aruiteru was pretty cool. Hopefully this year will let Niigaki get some more screentime? The Takahashi-Fujimoto-Tanaka triad isn't really doing it for me...

I was speaking idiomatically.