Balalaika – Kids dance troupe

This is too adorable not to share.

Utada – Exodus ‘04

I’ve had this album since it came out, somehow let it sit for a year or two, tried to listen to it several times, but never really got through it. While looking for CDs to put on my iPod I finally came across it again and decided to give it a proper chance.

Opening – I really like this song. Besides sounding really good it sets up the tone of the album and Utada’s goal for it. It’s very calm, but has a really nice beat. The organ is a nice melodic touch.

Devil Inside – This is an awesome anthem song. I love the lyrics, love the beat, love the darkness. It’s got a fantastic electronic sound and it’s a shame it wasn’t really pushed by her label (though it did reach #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay chart!) I love the photo of Hikki on the cover, probably my favorite picture of her ever. She looks so fierce!

Exodus ‘04 – I’ve found myself singing the chorus to this song repeatedly over the past several days. This is a very smooth sounding song. I’d equate it to a relaxing exotic liquor if I drank and knew anything about alcohol. I really identify with this song a lot, and it’s one of my favorites off the album. Over the past year or so I’ve been agonizing about embarking out on my own for the first time and fearing about making a huge mistake. It’s a fear you know you have to face but it’s daunting at the same time. For the first time in my life my heart is pulling me in a direction different than the rest of my family is moving, and it’s confusing. This song really captures that feeling of being frightened and melancholy, but facing forward at the same time.

The Workout – This song, I have no idea. I really like it, but I don’t. Parts of it are pretty good, and parts of it make me want to hit the skip button. It’s like there are several different songs mashed together and if they were pulled apart one would definitely be superior to the others.

Easy Breezy – The melody of this song is fantastic, really, really catchy and great. There is one infamous lyric though that is absolutely, absolutely terrible – to the point that people base their entire review of this album, negatively, on the lines “You’re easy breezy and I’m Japanesey.” People who’ve never even listened to a Hikki song know that line and point at it as proof (somehow) that she should be written off as a terrible artist – which is a shame, because the song sounds really good. If you can get past that one line you’re good to go. It’s so hard not to hear it though. (But this song is so good!)

Tippy Toe – So…. this song is about having an affair with a married man? O_o Not much to say really. Tippy toe is one of those phrases like “preggo” or “preggers” that makes me get violent when people use it for some reason. I really like the sound of the song, it’s pretty dark, but I can’t get behind the whole lusting after/having an affair with a married man angle. By no means do I actually think Hikki was having an affair, it’s just an idea I can’t relate to or get behind.

Hotel Lobby – Having never heard this song before, and after really, really liking Kiss & Cry is really, really odd. So kind of by default, I already really, really like this song as well. I had heard before something about how HL resembled K&C, but never realized how it’s almost the exact same song save bpm, lyrics and tone. It’s got a much darker feel to it than Kiss & Cry, but an optimistic feel as well, it’s hard to pin down.

Animato – Wow! I really like this song too! The more I listen to this album the more I am convinced it’s gotten a really bad rap for one line in one song, and the fact that it’s a crossover album from a foreign artist. The underlying electronic sound has some sort of nostalgic spark deep in the recesses of my brain that I swear I’ve heard before but can’t place, it’s a quiet sound and reminds me of deep, dark summer nights. The end chorus chants remind me a lot of the end chorus chants of Keep Tryin’.

Crossover Interlude – Basically a remix of Opening, still really like it.

Kremlin Dusk – I’ve heard a lot about this song before, out of all the songs on this album, this is the song I had heard the most about. General reaction seemed to think this was one of the best songs on the album. I guess I’ll have to buck popular opinion here and say I actually found it a bit boring at the start, but midway through the song it really picked up – got a bit desperate and frantic and better. Still not the greatest song on here, but a solid one anyhow.

You Make Me Want To Be A Man – My interest is starting to wane, and I’m starting to look at other Utada albums on my iPod and wanting to switch to songs I like better. Excersizing a few tracks might have done this album wonders. Did it really need to be 18 tracks long?

Wonder ‘Bout – You know, I’m not really big on R&B so the album is dragging a little bit too long for me, and the songs are starting to blur together.

Let Me Give You My Love – The whole this is eastern, this is western lyric theme is starting to get a little old. Considering this is an R&B album, and R&B was developed in the American inner city, we can’t really be shown how “they do it in the east” when they’re only mimicking the “western” sound. I’m also not quite sure lyrically how we got from kid next door died, to holy crap sex me now. Can you tell I’m getting a little tired of listening?

About Me – This song again sounds like a mash up of ideas that didn’t quite come out right. Not really a strong song to end the album on, it just sounds like she ran out of steam.

I would have to name Opening, Devil Inside, Easy Breezy and Exodus ‘04 as the best tracks on the album, with Hotel Lobby and Animato following closely behind. The rest I could pretty much take or leave. It’s a shame there was no real push behind her first US crossover effort, because the album is pretty damn good, a little too long, and the first half is definitely more solid than the latter – but still a lot better than a lot of people give it credit for.

ENTIRE ELDER CLUB TO GRADUATE?!?!?!

I think my brain just exploded.

Holy Christ.

I guess I can’t put off waiting to see them in concert then.

I can’t even form a coherent thought right now, other than there must be something else going on behind the scenes. So I will wait for more news.

I can’t say that I didn’t foresee the day when my favorite idols would be leaving, but I never expected this.

I hope Aibon is patting herself on the back somewhere right now.

Kago-chan and the new releases?

I got an e-mail from CD Japan this morning about new releases from H!P. They’re going to be releasing MEGA BEST albums from several defunct H!P acts, as well as shuffle groups. Are they still going to pretend that Kago never existed? Will they go so far as to remix the tracks and remove her from them? If they do release the albums with her voice and image intact, is she still entitled to royalties?

I’ve been watching a lot of Kago’s post H!P stuff lately, and I really think she’s coming into her own. She seems so much more at ease, so much more herself. She went through hell, and came out all right. Granted 50% of the was her own doing, and I don’t want to make excuses for her behavior (which in fact was very human and the standards she was being held up to were ridiculous), I don’t know how I would react if I found out my step-father had squandered my entire savings without my knowledge, and my parents were going through a vicious divorce. I think I’m still kind of bitter for the deal she got from H!P. Seeing all the crap she was going through they should have given the poor girl counseling and not the door.

In the end she might be better off without H!P. She can become a mature idol now. She’s not tied down to H!P’s cutesy virginal image. Look at what they did to Maki, one of their other top idols, who also, probably not coincidentally, jumped ship for much more liberating waters with Avex.

I wonder what will happen, inevitably, when she and a fellow H!P member are scheduled to appear on the same variety show on the same day. Will they be instructed to be politely distant with each other? Does UFA keep track of that kind of thing to distance themselves from their former employee? (Am I being too paranoid?) Honestly I think they went a step too far with their punishment my erasing her name and existence from their website and online records in all but album and DVD covers.

Five years from now is she still going to be asked about the smoking scandal?

I guess we’ll see what H!P does very soon. It really won’t have much impact on her career now, but I think they should acknowledge all the hard work she did for their company.

Hangry & Angry New Unit!

This is really kind of shocking! But OH SO AWESOME!

H!P has paired up with the clothing brand Hangry & Angry and created a brand new unit! What’s even MORE awesome is that that unit is comprised of Yossie and Rika! *dies*

Even if this wasn’t H!P related, I can without a doubt say that I would be rocking out to it. It reminds me a lot of Nanase Aikawa attitude-wise. The heavy guitar sound is just… I love it! What an awesome song! I am *dying* for the PV!

The full debut single can be heard at Hello!Online There is a myspace page for the group here.

PLEASE don’t let this be a 1 single unit a la Gyaruru. H&A is now my favorite H!P unit. This is SO a single I am going to pre-order. (I’ve already listened to the song 5 times, LOL!)

Oh, and let me point out right away that this is NOT gothic-lolita style. Goth-loli is a style unto itself, a fashion that tries very hard to emulate the look of a victorian porcelain doll. It has become a blanket term by english speaking fans to mean everything under the sun, but it’s not. (This probably has something to do with the magazine, the Gothic-Lolita bible, which started out covering both the Goth style and the lolita style, but the two have pretty much merged at this point). The style they are employing here is Punk lolita, or even just punk.

Milky Way New Single!

It can’t be just me that thinks their costumes look remarkably like Rainbow Brite in this PV can it?

This is such a cute little song! Which kind of surprised me because I was expecting something really strangely awesome along the lines of Anataboshi. All through the song I kept waiting for the beat to finally kick in and go nuts, it wasn’t until the PV was over before I realized it wasn’t going to.

But that’s not to say I don’t like it. It’s very charming, very upbeat. I like the music box melody feel it has to it. I never had a ballerina music box as a little girl (I was much more into GI Joe), but this is a song I could easily imagine lifting the box top to hear. Speaking of little girls, the amount of toy product in the PV is amusing. I understand the head mike, star belt and tambourines fit the characters, but…. maybe it’s my cynical adult-side showing….. At least the tambourines are put to good use in the incredibly cute dance moves the three employ here.

Kikkawa Yuu shines in this song. I hope she shows up in a proper unit soon, as she easily beats both Koharu and Sayaka in the vocal department. Well, on Koharu’s behalf, she’s forced to remain in character and keep the insanely cute high pitch thing going on, so it’s not as if she’s singing with her real voice. Sayaka is good as well, it’s just that I’m surprised at how well Yuu does with this song.

The more I listen to this song the more I fall in love with it. It’s so cheerful! On perhaps a related but odd note, I tend to associate music with seasons. Usually it’ll be what time of year it was then I obsessively listened to it. This song however, strikes me as an end of winter/start of spring song. Like a snow melt song rather than a leaf changing, misty morning type of song. Whatever the case, this is definitely one single I’ll be adding to my collection.

Back from the dead with Pepper Keibu!

 

This post almost didn’t see the light of day as wordpress decided to inexplicably eat over half of it while I was still writing it. Anyway, I spent my summer taking care of an abandoned baby kitten (seriously, he was at most a day old when we found him), and generally not having time to post about much H!P related, though I have kept up with the news.

With the upcoming release of Momusu’s latest single, Pepper Keibu, I decided to dust off the old blog and take a crack at it again. Unless you’re living under a rock, you know that this is a cover of Pink Lady’s debut single. I don’t have much exposure to them, other than brief clips from the failed Pink Lady and Jeff show that aired in the U.S. And just now I found out it was a Sid and Marty Krofft show…. the same folks that brought about H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost (Sleestaks!) and the Bugaloos. The show had a SLEW of guest stars for a five episode run – which is pretty impressive. Though I’m sure the “Those wacky girls don’t understand English!” schtick got old pretty quickly.

Before I heard the Momusu version, I decided to check out the original by Pink Lady. It’s interesting to note that the tradition of yelling out after lines is nothing new. LOL! And while I would now label PL’s original version as quaint, it is fun! But as other’s have pointed out, Momusu’s version is way more danceable.

The opening is so 70s movie make out scene it’s almost hysterical. The first vocals are pretty close to the original, even with the beat in the background. It’s about 40 seconds in that the girls in Momusu make it their own. I’m hoping this is a big hit for them, because I think it really could be. Either way, if this is what their rumored upcoming cover album is going to sound like, it’s going to get some heavy rotation by me at least.

If the guys behind the CD image wanted to be really awesome, they should have made the cover look unabashedly 70s in style and design. How freaking COOL would that have been? Instead we get…. well I guess it could be kind of disco-looking. Except for a few of the hairstyles.

I can’t wait to see the PV!

Berryz Koubou – Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance

WTF is this? Seriously?

When I saw the cover of the single, I thought – Oh Good! Maybe we’re going to be treated to a cool, upbeat pop song! Then I saw the title – and I thought – what the hell is this song about? And then I saw the PV and heard the song.

Now, I know in general the Japanese buying public is obsessed with all things cute. This is a cute, novelty song, but there is no way they are trying to market this song to the record buying adult public, the general non-wota public – it’s clear this song is marketed at kids. But that’s ok! They are young idols, so it would be smart to be marketing to the young ‘asking Mom to buy it for you’ public.

This might be fun for the younger set, but myself – I’ll have to pass.

Goto Maki signs with Avex!

Congratulations to ex-H!P member Goto Maki for garnering a deal that could only rocket her to even greater heights. Hello!Online has the full details here including a full translation of an article that appeared in newspapers on June 19.

Shame on H!P for letting a person of such talent as Maki go, I don’t want to take away from any of the girls who sing for H!P, but Maki was one of their real and true singers. The girl has a great voice. And considering she seems to be the one person from Momusu everyone in Japan names immediately once you say you are a fan or Morning Musume, double shame on them for letting one of their most recognizable talents go. What on earth prompted them to waste her so? She has some great singles, but they really seemed to be letting her go right before she decided to leave. Did they think she was old hat or something? That there was no where else they could take her? I’d really like to know the business decisions behind their move.

Whatever the case this is fantastic news for Maki, and I am so very excited to see what she has in store for us and where she can go from here. With Avex she’s at the starting line and she’s going to be with us for the long run yet. She might be one of the few “talents” who break away from their parent agency only to find even greater fame and fortune in the embrace of another.

Go Maki-chan! Go!

Sakurai Atsushi – Ai no Wakusei (It’s hypnotic!)

Sacrifice (Last Confused Mix) – This is just a fantastic song. I love it, and the perfect song to open the album with. It does a great job of showcasing Atsushi’s powerful vocals. His voice is almost like a drug. You have no idea how much I love this man.

Anyway this song was arranged by Wayne Hussey, formerly of Sisters of Mercy! (Oh yeah!) You can check out the video here.

Yellow Pig - A collaboration with Raymond Watts of KMFDM (and also of Schwein), this song shows it. It’s a very hard sounding song with heavy guitar work. Very industrial, the most hardcore song on the album.

I would love to have Atsushi and Raymond collaborate more, as the Schwein album has some really kick ass rock songs on it. (They’re not all gems, but the opening track in particular is ecstasy).

X-Lover – Holy damn is this song sexy. Incredibly sexy. Like dirty talk, using his deep and whispery voice, Atsushi is beyond hypnotic. Ah, I’m breathless. Video here but be warned, NSFW.

I Hate you all – This is really kind of an odd track on the album. With Big Band era percussion, strange build ups in music, strange video game-esque background music (it sounds like the music from Zombies ate my Neighbors), odd scatting and then Atsushi’s filtered vocals. This is the only track on the album I tend to skip.

Wonderful World (Injection to UK mix) – Another favorite track on the album. Very soothing, almost like a lullaby. Nice guitar work, switching back and forth between chords almost like you’re being rocked. (I fell asleep on the train last week listening to this album, at this song). This would definitely top my list of songs on this album to cruise to on a warm summer night, also a walking song. One of those songs you sing when you’re out walking by yourself.

Smell - One of the singles released off the album. The chorus is the best part of the song (as Atsushi is singing more than speaking the lyrics). The guitar work here is a little, I’m not quite sure how to describe it, plucky? Not strumming but plucking the strings. It doesn’t flow but each note is distinct by itself. Another song I find myself singing while working.

Märchen - A beautiful song and a collaboration with Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins! Gorgeous guitar work, very hypnotic and dreamlike, though if you’re familiar with the Cocteau Twins you wouldn’t expect anything less. Another cruise song and one that definitely gets play a lot.

Fantasy - I absolutely adore the music box sound of this song, it’s almost a visual sound. I love Atsushi’s bad ass songs, but damn, if his voice isn’t the most hypnotic thing ever when he’s singing softly. Definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album. Live version here.

Taiji - This song is incredibly sad despite the harder rock sound it has. Basically a goodbye song to his Mother who died when Atsushi was 25, the resounding cry of “Aishiteru!” really grabs at your heart. With lyrics about never hearing his Mother’s voice again, and watching the sky alone….. I’m actually a little disconcerted by how happy the guitar player is while rocking out to a song with lyrics like this.

Hallelujah - The song is a come down after the emotional intensity of Taiji, though it does take a harder turn right as the song ends.

Shingetsu – Atsushi and Masami Tsuchiya have worked together before on two incredible pieces from Tsuchiya’s “Mori no Hito” album. (My favorite of the two being Manatsu no Yoru no Mori). While this song doesn’t stand out as much as their previous works, it is an incredibly solid song, and just as atmospheric.

Yokan (2004 re-construct) – I would be entirely surprised if this song wasn’t inspired by The Cure because it sounds like a lost track off Disintegration. The charms start up in the beginning and you think you’re about to launch into Plainsong or Pictures of You…. except it’s not a Cure song. Really good nonetheless. This is a… not quite a remix, but as the title suggests, a re-construct of Atsushi’s first solo song release.

Wakusei – Title track! This is a solid rock song, great guitar and a great drum beat. I like the echoing effect as well on Atsushi’s voice, it gives the song a rehearsal at the concert hall feel to it.

Neko – This song reminds me a lot, emotionally, of one of my favorite Buck-Tick tracks of all time, Cosmos. A really great track to end the album with, as once again, Atsushi is at his hypnotic best here.

When I first bought this album, I’ll admit, I had some trepidation. Everyone knows a band they absolutely would die for, only to buy the lead singer’s solo works and be seriously underwhelmed by it. coughDaveGahancough. However upon first listen I was blown away by it. It’s remained on constant play for over a month now. Ai no Wakusei is so far the only complete solo album released by Atsushi. It stands up extremely well on it’s own against his Buck-Tick work, at times even surpassing it, and I would definitely recommend this album to anyone.