Wait a minute…….

Let me set this up for you. I’m sitting at work, playing some Melon Kinenbi, which my Mom and I are both nodding along to. A familiar beat kicks in, at first I get a sense of deja vu…. doesn’t this sound familiar? A few bars in it hits me Morning Musume’s Onna ni sachi are sounds an awful lot like Melon Kinenbi’s Kawaii kare. They’re just a bit different but really, really damn similar. I can’t be the only one who noticed this am I? I mean, it’s blaringly obvious! Was H!P copying itself? Check the PVs. What say you?

Melon Kinenbi - Kawaii kare

Morning Musume - Onna ni sachi are

Best of H!P 2007

So, we’ve reached the end of 2007 and are now barrelling  headlong into 2008. It’s was  quite a year wasn’t it? Last time I focused on the scandals and bad times that rocked H!P during the twelve months prior. This time around I decided to focus on something upbeat and present what are, in my opinion, the best single releases of H!P this year.

First off let’s start with the flagship group!

 Morning Musume.
They had several really awesome singles this year, and I can honestly say there wasn’t one among them that I didn’t like! They were all really, really good, and all really, really different! It’s hard to pick one as a favorite. On terms of personal playback Egao Yes Nude still gets the most airplay from me. It’s such a really fun song! Easy to dance to, easy to sing along to, I still love it! It was the first single for Aika and I think it really showed everyone she had a lot to bring to the table.

Honestly, this was a re-confidence builder in me for Momusu. I had been a little disappointed with the singles released in 2006 (time has since endeared me). I had been pretty disappointed with My Asia…. especially after 2005 brought about some of my favorite Momusu singles to date. So when Egao was released it was like the second coming. Here was the pop fun I was looking for, and the song had it in spades. So for those reasons, I will vote Egao Yes Nude as my personal favorite Momusu single release of 2007.

Kusumi Koharu (as Tsukishima Kirari)
I really don’t understand all the Koharu-chan hate. Personally I love with girl. She’s been an explosion of energy since the get go and has never slowed down. She released 2 singles last year, Happy! and Chance. (Not including KiraPika of course). Both songs are infectiously cute. And I mean virally so. I hate to choose between them, but Happy gets my vote as it’s the more rocking of the two.

Ongaku Gatas
Oh no! I refuse to choose between the 2 singles released by current favorite group in H!P. Ongaku Gatas are AWESOME. They are a powerhouse of AWESOME. Nari Hajimeta Koi no Bell and Yattaroze! are almost too good to be true. Love, love, love from me. I refuse to choose….. though I will admit that Narihajimeta is the one I find myself singing absent-mindedly more often than not.

C-ute
I will admit, right here and now, that I am a way bigger fan of C-ute than I am of Berryz. Stone me if you wish, but I just prefer them. C-ute had 3 stellar releases in 2007; Sakura Chirari, Meguru Koi no Kisetsu and Tokaikko Junjou. While I really loved each of these songs, the winner, hands down, is Tokaikko Junjou. Maybe the best release H!P put out this year. This is just one AWESOME song. From the beat, to the awesome moves in the PV, C-ute is on fire.

Berryz Koubou
Man. I hesitate to even write this. I don’t want to judge all Berryz singles on the awesomeness that is Munasawagi Scarlet, but they really had a bland year as far as singles go. Two of their singles were ballads, which are pretty and all, but I’m not much of a ballad person. And honestly, I had completely forgotten about one of them until I looked it up. If you ignore the PV I would have to say that Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi was one of their more fun releases. It really is a good song, again, if you absolutely totally ignore the PV. So that would get my vote.

Biyuden
Poor Biyuden. I hope they’re not going the way of Melon Kinenbi. They only had 2 singles released in 2007. Koisuru Angel Heart, which gets my vote, and Jaja Uma Paradise, which I abhore. (The cute thing with Rika’s voice makes me want to punch a wall). Anyway, Koisuru, is a really fun poppy-rocky song. Along with Melon, I’m just not sure Biyuden is marketing right. They’re both carrying some really amazing talent, but not performing the way they could be saleswise.

Melon Kinenbi
Man, Melon are so fantastic! I have no idea why they are the lowest group on the H!P radar! These girls have some serious talent, and they’re always overlooked. They only had one real single release in 2007, the awesome Unforgettable. (Onegai I don’t think really counts as it was a rerelease of an indie single. Melon needs more love. They rock!

Athena & Robikerottsu
Special mention has to go to Shouri no BIG WAVE!!! for being one of the cutest and most infectious releases by H!P this year. Just adorable!

Well there you have it! My personal favorite single releases by H!P this year. I realize other artists put out stuff, but these were the ones that registered on my radar. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

The power of music

Work for me has been one hellacious migraine inducing day after the other for the past month. I have been so stressed out it’s making me physically ill, however I am of the mindset that I don’t want to quit just because things have suddenly gotten extremely overwhelmingly hard. At times like these it is a blessing when you suddenly discover a new song that suddenly makes things seem all right, that song for me once before was Morning Musume’s I Wish. At this moment in my life, it is Melon Kinenbi’s Saa! Koibito ni Narou.

I can’t tell you how much of a godsend this song has been to me as of late. I listen to it constantly, it’s a breath of fresh air when I’m ready to throw in the towel and run screaming into the night. The beat, the lyrics, and especially the PV are extremely motivational for me at the moment, and that in itself is like therapy. The bright yellow color scheme and the blue sky motif… I want to be there too!