Category: J Pop

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J Pop Music Reviews

Love Psychedelico’s New Live Recording is Truly Phenomenal – Live Tour 2022 “A revolution” at Showa Women’s University Hitomi Memorial Hall 2022/11/23

I am not a big live recording fan (classical music is an exception). I prefer studio recording whereby all the tracks are perfectly recorded and mastered. A great live recording requires every band member to do well and the song rendition should offer something different, something better than studio recording (otherwise, why bother?). Live Tour 2022 “A revolution” at Showa Women’s University Hitomi Memorial Hall 2022/11/23 ticks all the boxes for me. Before writing this blog entry, I was thinking hard about what other live albums I like. I can only come up with one. Pink Floyd’s Pulse (Live).

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J Pop Music Reviews

YUI – How Crazy Your Love

“How Crazy Your Love” is YUI’s fifth studio album.  I am a fan.  Hence you can imagine how painful it was for me to wait till the record hits the store here in Singapore when not too far away, in a place called Hong Kong, the album not only comes with a CD, but also a DVD recording of YUI’s live concert in Hong Kong.  Normally, it takes up to a month for a regional cut Japanese CD to arrive at our stores.  It takes even longer if the album contains video contents.  Having learned my lesson, I ordered online via HMV Hong Kong and have this special edition album (that comes with a YUI printed guitar pick!) delivered.

If you are a fan, the special edition is a must buy.  Her 2011 concert in Hong Kong has a listing of 17 songs plus 5 encores.  That is over 2 hours of entertainment.  Compare to her 2006 “Song of the Sun” concert, she now has more songs and has grown up to be a sweet 24.  Like the previous recording, she plays her guitars on stage.  Shy, she may seem, her live performance has exceeded my expectation.  I cannot wait to see the same concert recorded in Japan.  The DVD is lying somewhere inside my shelf.

It took me a bit of time to like “How Crazy Your Love”.  Perhaps my sensory system has been abused by over-produced music of recent time.  Or perhaps I wanted more rock music from the album or that missing killer slow song.  To be frank, YUI is not a great singer.  But she writes good songs.  So far, her albums are pretty consistent, in terms of style and delivery.  And I am still eagerly awaiting for her next production, which I hope to see later this year.

Back to the album, the more rock flavored “Rain” is my favorite.  The opening track “HELLO” is playful, and it seems to work really well in a live setting.  I also like “Separation”, which is more melody driven especially on the bridge.  I can’t say I love all 13 tracks.  But I can’t find one that I don’t like.  Fans out there.  What are you waiting for?

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J Pop Music Reviews

Anna Tsuchiya – Rule – Coming Out From The Nana Personality

I was so excited about Anna Tsuchiya (土屋アンナ) so much so that when Amazon.co.jp alerted me of her 3rd album, I quickly dived in and made a purchase, when I was holidaying in Hong Kong.  Much cheaper than to buy the imported version in a local music store.  Much faster too.  It takes ages for Japanese albums to appear on the shelf here in Singapore.  I inquired.  And learned that HMV Singapore is of a retail outlet status.  Versus HMV Hong Kong, which is a distributer.  Apparently, if the disc comes with a DVD – which is very common for Japanese music – HMV Singapore has to wait until the distributor distributes.  I was used to blame the censorship board for the delay.  Now I know better.

In her first two albums – Strip Me? and Nudy Show! – Anna Tsuchiya was behind the persona of the famous Japanese anime character Nana.  A punk rocker.  Playing catchy upbeat rock songs.  “Rule” is her first album ventured outside ‘the voice of Nana’.  And it probably comes with no surprise that “Rule” is slightly different from her first two.  Her collaboration with the Japanese jazz instrumental band PE’Z has added one jazz track (“暴食系男子!!”) into her new album.  Then there is a theatrical themed song.  And one song (“Shout In The Rain”) with a sound texture that resembles the American rock bank Evanescence.  That song also reminds me of the style of other Japanese singer Oliver Lufkin (from the same anime).

It took me a little while to get used to her new personality and her expanded music direction.  I am delighted that her music has grown.  The album comes with a DVD that contains 5 music clips.  To be frank, I was hoping that my favorite tracks “Human Clay”, “Guilty”, and the slow song “Voice of Butterfly” would be featured as singles.  They are really catchy.

To showcase one of my favorite videos, here is a slow song called “Believe In Love”.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Anna Tsuchiya – Nudy Show! – Catchy, Very Catchy

As the vocalist behind one of the two bands in the popular Japanese anime series “Nana”, at times I wonder if Anna Tsuchiya has made the anime famous or it is the other way round.  I think it is a bit of both.  Her second album “Nudy Show!” (2008) follows closely with the style of her first album “Strip Me?” (2006).  Catchy rock music, with majority of the songs and lyrics in English.  The direct imported version from Amazon.co.jp comes with translated lyrics in Japanese (?!) and a DVD that contains 7 music videos and other bonus clips.  I did not think that I am capable to order from a Japanese website but I did it.

Two beautiful songs from the Nana anime has made it to this album – “Lucy” and “黒い涙”.  The latter one written in entirely Japanese, which is unusual for Anna Tsuchiya.  What stands out in this entire album besides the catchy tunes is the quality of the band.  The tracks are creatively played.  It is enjoyable to listen to each instrument taking turn to do its solo.  The amount of production is just nice.  Not too highly produced until you cannot tell who is playing what.  Nor too under produced until you feel empty with the gaps and repetitions.  The track “Ginger” stands out to be the most contagious track, a collaboration with the Japanese band Monkey Majik.

Below is my favorite track “黒い涙”.  For those who have watched the Nana series, this song connects to our emotional core.

And if you prefer an upbeat song, check out “Ginger”.  I think “Nudy Show!” has enough materials for Nana had the manga author decided to continue with the series after her hospitalisation.  As for me, I have Anna Tsuchiya’s upcoming album to look forward to (end of September release).

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J Pop Music Reviews

YUI – Holidays In The Sun – A Pleasant Album, Still Same Style

Nowadays, I seldom write about the music I listen to.  Not as often anyway.  With legal and unlimited music download, it matters little if it is a good album, or a bad one.  Because worst case, I delete the album off my digital storage.  On average, I listen to an album once, or twice, and then move onto the next one.

Once in a while, there are still albums that cannot be downloaded.  The charm of opening the case of a new album, savoring the artwork, listening to each track with such an attention and anticipation, all because I have paid twenty bucks for the entire package.  One of my recent purchases is YUI’s fifth album.  YUI tends to release plenty of singles (5 from this album so far) without an album in sight.  Imagine how ecstatic I was when I found her new album in store.

Being a Japanese artist who writes and performs her own songs, it is expected that “Holidays In The Sun” would sound much like her previous albums.  And it does.  In addition to her playing guitar, in this album, she plays the piano too for the opening track “to Mother”.  It is refreshing.  And it is also the only song in the album that features her piano track with no guitar overlay.  I wish that “to Mother” has as much of an impact as her other slow songs from her previous albums such as “Tomorrow’s Way” or “LOVE & TRUTH”.  Hence, on first listen, there seems to be something missing.  Something like a “LOVE & TRUTH” would be nice.  Then again, the overall mood of this album is upbeat.  Memorable upbeat tracks like “es.car” and “I do it” can easily please a live audience.  “Holidays In The Sun”, as a whole, is pleasant to listen to.  Fans would be pleased, for sure.

Her songwriting is not perfect.  At times I think she may have squeezed in one too many syllables into a sentence.  Her singing is not perfect.  At times I think she has gone out of breath trying to deliver what she envisions to deliver.  But what transpires, to me, is her being genuine and sincere and trust that her fans would appreciate the purity within.  I wish I could share a video of hers to demonstrate my last point.  Perhaps the one with her siting near the edge of the stage singing to a concert audience with only her guitar, in candle lights.  Just like how she is used to sneak through the streets, find a quiet spot, and start singing with her guitar to initially nobody and soon a gathering crowd.  Even the music video of her latest single “to Mother” would have proved my point.  The good news is, if you purchase “Holidays In The Sun”, it comes with a DVD that contains 6 music videos, “to Mother” included.

And so, the waiting of her yet another new album continues.  I hope it would take less than 2 years this time.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Ayumi Hamasaki – Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus – Another Great Production

At the counter, the sales assistance hesitated for a brief moment and he asked, “Do you want the poster?”.  Do I want the poster?!  I am a fan.  Hit me with one!

Really.  Do I want the poster?  I asked Cynthia where I should paste it.  Dining area, I suggested.  She frowned and counter-suggested the piece of real estate right above my computer monitor.  And there, I pasted Ayumi’s poster onto the wall.  Whenever I need inspiration on what to write, like now, I simply look up.

“You like her because she is cute,” observed Cynthia.  That is not true.  Not entirely.  For those who have followed her career, you would agree with me that she is an inspiration.  On her determination to remain successful.  And success does not come without sustained effort.  11 music albums, over 11 years, and she constantly releases concert recordings too.  At times I wonder: Does she ever rest?  Some observe that her firm control over every detail of production and marketing contributes to her success.   Critics may cite what Ayumi is not.  But I am more interested to read what she is.  Her biography in the future may answer that, I hope.

Back to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus”, it is an impressive production.  The album artwork is beautiful.  The CD+DVD edition includes a booklet of her photographs taken during her trip to UK, where at least one of her songs was recorded.  A total of 15 songs, 2 of which are the introductory track and the interlude track in the usual Ayumi style.  Majority of the material is what you would expect from Ayumi.  And the quality is consistently high throughout the album.  A few tracks stand out in an unique way.  The Goth rock “Microphone”, the Oriental “BALLAD”, and the Arabic feel of “Don’t Look Back”.  “Sexy Little Thing” (recorded in UK) is one of my favorite tracks.  It ties well to the album’s title.  Unique in its own pop way, extremely memorable.  I happen to like “Last Link” too.  That track starts with strumming of acoustic guitars and transits into a pop-rock track.

As impressively so is the bonus DVD.  In the first two back-to-back tracks “~LOVE is ALL~” sunset and sunrise version (same song in different tempo), Ayumi called in her fans – Team Ayu – to help with the music video.  These two videos warm my heart.  One video was shot in daylight (the sunrise version) and for another one, Ayumi was dressed in an evening gown standing on top of a platform singing to her fans.  Both videos have the fantastic backdrop of the beach.

Another amazing back-to-back video is “Sexy Little Thing” (that reminds of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video) and “Microphone”.  There are some jaw dropping video transition between what appears as disjointed clips.  Besides these four video tracks that stand out, the other four are also a pleasure to watch.  If someone like me who does not know Japanese and still able to comprehend what the stories in the videos are about, I think the directors deserve a pat on their backs.

For someone who has passed the age of 30, Ayumi does not seem to show signs of slowing down.  Maybe because she knows her career will only last for as long as her remaining good ear.  For someone who has put the rest of her life on hold – love and family – to continue creating music, at times I wonder: Isn’t it a lonely journey?

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J Pop Music Reviews World Music

Love Psychedelico – Abbot Kinney – An Uplifting Album

Celebrating their 10 years of music career, the Japanese band Love Psychedelico has released a new album “Abbot Kinney”.  I still like their debut “The Greatest Hits” the most (how appropriately titled!).  But “Abbot Kinney” is growing on me.  I guess I was looking for that dark melodic track “Last Smile” in this new album – like I have been searching on their previous albums – and couldn’t find any.  Having said that, “Abbot Kinney” is a lot brighter, the tunes are a lot happier.  It is mood uplifting and the album has a coherent feel.  Even down to the very last song – their rendition of “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?”.  Love Psychedelico is one of my favorite bands of all time.  Their music style is unique.  Below is the official sampler of their new album.

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Dance J Pop Music Reviews

Korean / Japanese Singer BoA’s First English Album Is Now On Our Daily Playlist – Best&USA

BoA

I’ve said it before and I will say it again.  She is young, she is talented, she is ambitious, and at the age of 22, there are few artists who have released a dozen of commercially successful albums in three different languages.  As mentioned in my previous post (April 2008), I had my hopes and fears on her ambition to penetrate the English market.  To see a Korean breaking into the Japanese market and be successful is kind of rare.  To see such artist venturing into the USA market is almost unheard of.  But ambition aside, how does this new double album of BoA flair?

If you have been BoA-ized since the beginning of her music career 9 years ago (imagine how young she was) or recently got BoA-ized because someone bought you a BoA album as a gift (I can’t remember if it was Japan or Korea Cynthia visited back in 2006 and surprised me with BoA’s album “Outgrow”), “~USA Debut Album~” takes a whole new musical direction.  It took me some time to adjust.  Personally, I like BoA’s slow songs better because of the melody and more so, her voice that suits the melody.  Those of you who are familiar with her Japanese numbers “Love Letter” and “Winter Love” should know what I mean.  “~USA Debut Album~” is a dance album from beginning to end.  And because now that the lyrics are in English, I was initially shocked by the context that revolves around dancing and her raging hormone.  She know she has ‘a pretty face, sexy waist, pearls and lace, everyone wants to have a taste’, she wouldn’t hesitate to ‘eat you up’, and she knows you want her ‘with my dress off’.  Couple with the fact that the Ayumi’s heavily produced album was still fresh in my mind, I feared that BoA’s English debut was just another “I Believe” from the Thai singer Tata Young.  Where is Tata Young by the way?

Turns out that  “~USA Debut Album~” does grow on Cynthia and I.  The entire album is upbeat and energetic, the melody is hopelessly infectious, we end up listening to it first thing in the morning, and I end up listening to it whenever I take a long walk from A to B.  Not long after, both of us are singing to the tune.  Strange!  When we watched the DVD that comes with the album, Cynthia was very exciting over an Asian at the center of a dance music video (she loves dancing).  The document film does share a glimpse of how talented BoA is.  My only complain about the music album is the sound engineering work: Some tracks the volume boost is too high that the sound distortion is too obvious (my speakers and headphones are all cracking in some parts of a few tracks).

Besides the English debut, “Best&USA” comes with “~Japan Best~” as well.  I don’t have her entire Japanese collection so it is a nice to have.  I enjoy listening to “Believe in Love (Acoustic Version)” with her and a guitar.  And this Japanese collection comes with yet another DVD packed with 15 of her music videos.  If you have not yet been BoA-ized , there are a total of 27 music tracks and 17 video clips to get you on board in no time.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Next Level by Ayumi Hamasaki – I Love It

Ayu's Next Level

I met my friend for lunch one day at Shokudo and told her that Ayumi Hamasaki has released a new album.  “Who’s [What’s] that?” she asked.  Maybe I am too naïve to think that everyone know who she is.  Japanese artist Ayu has been my inspiration for years.  Since 2000, she has been releasing one studio album, one video recording of her concert tour, and one video recording of her New Year countdown tour per year, non-stop.  She is involved in all aspects of production including the branding of her own image.  That makes her one of the most hardworking and successful artists I have seen.  Even with the loss of hearing on her left ear since 2008 amongst other distractions such as her failed love relationship, the show must go on.  This sort of spirit inspires.

At 30, onto the 10th year of her commercially success career, I thought the title “Next Level” is timely.  The sound is mostly electronic, the fashion is colorfully fresh, “Next Step” is a premium production that fans will love.  I do.  As seen in her previous productions, “Next Step” has songs of similar nature packaged in segments divided by the instrumental tracks.  The opening tracks are energetic, discotheque-like, and almost sound like a series of remixes.  Midway through the album, it is transited to be more rock and “Next Step” is closed with an acoustic track that she shot the video barefoot walking around the movie street set in what seems like a freezing evening (see below).  My favorite track is the non-single track “Rollin’”.  That reminds of “Startin’”, not sure why.

Comes with the package is a CD recording of her Premium Countdown Live 2008-2009 and a DVD consists of 6 videos from “Next Step” as well as the making clips.  That covers the entire spectrum of studio production to live recording to video production with a glimpse of her personality.  Would I prefer the Countdown Live in DVD format instead?  In a way, yes, because her live concerts are always so out-of-the-world.  However, without the visual impact, I tend to pay more attention to her vocals.  I have got to say, for someone who has partial hearing loss, that is one heck of a performance.

Below is the last track of the album – “Curtain Call”.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Rimi Natsukawa 夏川りみ – ココロノウタ – A New Studio Production, A Live Recording, and A Concert DVD

Rimi Natsukawa

I wouldn’t imagine in a light year that I would enjoy listening to Japanese folk music.  Rimi Natsukawa’s previous album “Self Selection” has been like a comfort album to me.  So when I saw her 13th album “ココロノウタ” selling on the shelf, I quickly grabbed one without even test listening to it.

“ココロノウタ” comes with 3 discs.  A 8-track studio album, a 9-track live recording of her December 2008 concert held in Taiwan, and a DVD of that concert (12 tracks).  I’ve watched that DVD.  Even with zero knowledge in Japanese, she connects to me – with her expression, her tone, and her gesture.  Rimi can sing live really well and she plays the instrument too.  I don’t even know what that guitar-like instrument called.  It looks fretless and it looks difficult to play.  Most tracks are slow to moderately paced.  Towards the end of the concert, she picked up the pace with lots of colorful music arrangements.  It is a pleasant surprise and I can understand why some of these live tracks are not present in the CD recording.  They work better with the visual impact.

The songs from the new studio recording is just as pleasant as her previous productions.  Lyrically – judging from the Chinese translation – is poetically beautiful.  Beyond the visual images of the light and the blue sky, the wind and the hills, the moon and the darkness are a set of songs about yearning, about love and life and the embrace of a loving mother.

Click here if you wish to sample the album.  Below is one of the live recordings (not from this album collection) if you are curious about how Rimi’s music sounds like.  From the Chinese translation, the album title “ココロノウタ” means “Songs from the Heart and Soul”.