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J Pop Music Reviews

Wish By Yuna Ito – Of Moon Rabbit, Urban Mermaid, And A Titanic Theme Song

Yuna Ito

Strange to say, I thought Yuna Ito’s 2nd album “Wish” is much better than her debut “Heart” in so many different ways but yet, the sales figure so far doesn’t agree with me.  Perhaps the movies “Nana” and “Nana 2” that she has acted in and her accompanying soundtracks did help to push the sales of her previous album.  Usually, Cynthia cringed at almost all my Japanese collection screaming, “She doesn’t hit it, she doesn’t hit it” (i.e. pitchy problem especially at high notes).  This time, as I yet again tortured her with yet another Japanese album and surprisingly, she screamed – in excitement I suppose – “Yes!  She hits it!  Is she the same girl who sang …?”

Of course, having showcased the last track of the album the other evening with Yuna Ito’s own interpretation of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” certainly helps.  It is a difficult song to pull it off.  It is big (Celine Dion!) and it has a wide vocal range.  Yuna Ito can easily be one of the better J-pop singers (I do have lots of respect to the Japanese jazz singers by the way) and being born in America, her English pronunciation is a notch above her peers.  It seems to me that her vocal skill has improved since her last album.  Her middle voice in “Wish” is richer, more pleasant to the ears.

Her duet track with Celine Dion “あなたがいる限り ~A World to Believe In~” is perhaps the biggest track of the album although my personal preference would be the more memorable tracks towards the second half of the album: “A Long Walk”, “Moon Rabbit”, “I’m Here”, and “Wish”.  From what I have read, Celine Dion was impressed with Yuna Ito’s interpretation of her Titanic theme song and Dion proposed the idea of a duet with a song taken from her latest album.  I am not a fan of “A World to Believe In” though I appreciate the novelty.  “Wish” falls under the category of some tracks work for some but not others.  Some songs tend to have unusual key switch and also between minor and major.  You will have to sample the album to see if it is your cup of tea.

Below is the duet track “あなたがいる限り ~A World to Believe In~”.  Probably a rare moment to hear Celine Dion singing Japanese.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣) – Sora (そら) – Girlie Voice, Good Song Choice, But Doubtful Vocal Skill

Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣) - Sora (そら)

My potential borderline fetish to girls with girlie voice aside, if you intend to watch or have already watched “Sky of Love” and have 20 bucks to spare, there is no harm in getting the main actress’s debut album.  You may get to like the show a little bit better and who knows?  Perhaps you may even like this album a little bit better.

To be fair, there are quite a number of accomplished artists who have a pure and feather-like girlie (or child-like) voice.  Top of my mind, the Swedish jazz singer Lisa Ekdahl is one of my favorites.  Her interpretation of “Cry Me a River” bleeds hearts.  French singer Vanessa Paradis is another good example.  Her voice doesn’t change much since the “Joe le Taxi” days back when she was 14.  I am a huge fan of the Japanese singer songwriter YUI and she too has this characteristic voice of purity and innocence.

So, how does Yui Aragaki’s ‘cute and lively voice’ match up?  The song choice for her debut “Sora” I must say is pretty good.  The songs are melodically memorable.  Yui Aragaki has contributed in the writing of the lyrics for two songs.  One of which – “Heavenly Days” – is featured in her movie “Sky of Love”.  If you like that song (see below), there is a high chance that you will like the entire album as the songs are pretty consistent.  And there is a high chance that you will repeatedly listen to the album like I do.

Song choice aside, the first comment from Cynthia was that Yui Aragaki is “pitchy”.  Perhaps my ears are pretty damaged by the years of exposure to the high pitch Japanese female voice or the sound of the heavy metal or both, it is hardly noticeable to me.  But I trust Cynthia’s ears more than mine.  On the brighter side, she did not complain that Yui Aragaki is too high pitch (like she always does whenever I put the J-pop music on).

“Sora” opened at number 3 in Oricon’s weekly ranking with moderate (or perhaps disappointing) sales of just over 100,000 within three weeks of debut.  I suspect the movie “Sky of Love” may help the album sales in some ways.  After all, there is no rationale when it comes to fan-based affection.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Ayumi Hamasaki’s Guilty – It’s Near Perfect In My Book

Ayumi Hamasaki’s Guilty CD DVD

Year 2000 was when Ayu released “Duty” – my favorite album before “Guilty”. Year 2000 was also the year when she started to realize that she has problem with her hearing that ultimately leads to her losing all hearing in her left ear by the time “Guilty” is released. At times I can’t help but wonder: is it because she knows she has an “end date” and therefore she works really hard to achieve as much as she physically can? As she wrote to her fans when she found that her left ear is inoperable: “I won’t stop. I won’t make excuses. As a professional, I would like to deliver the best performance for everyone”. In less than 10 years, she has released 10 studio albums and 4 compilation albums. 12 of which were debuted at number 1 in the Japanese weekly chart while the other two at number 2.

Ayumi Hamasaki has always been an inspiration to me. In year 2002, TIME did an interview with her (you can search the interview materials in YouTube when she conversed in English). I learned that Ayu’s success ingredient is to get involved in all aspects of her career and persona and she is so full of energy and determination to get to where she wants to be. She has raised the bar high as a total package – including music, concerts, and fashion – that I doubt any artist from Japan will come close to what she has achieved in the near future. She has certainly dominated my CD and DVD collection in terms of number of artwork per artist. You really should watch some of the recording of her concerts. Grandiose is the word to describe the quality of delivery.

I cannot find any song that I do not enjoy listening to in “Guilty”. The first track of a minute and a half makes a bold statement: “Guilty” is going to be one hell of a rock album. In fact, the next three songs are all rock oriented and I love them immensely. The fifth song titled “Guilty” brings down the pace and the next two songs are the most notable moderate to slow songs of the album. Then comes an instrumental, theatrical track that leads to “Marionette” – a slow song that contains a fair bit of electronic sound to it. The electronic sound intensified as the album progresses and she throws in another instrument song that leads to two more songs that are more traditional with a more J-pop feel.  Finally yet another instrument track that leads to the conclusion of a deeply emotional slow ballad “untitled ~for her~”. I cannot think of a better song to end the album.

Not sure if you will notice every single song from the “Guilty” album has a beginning, a middle, and an end – a proper song ending with no fading of music (in fact a major criteria for Cynthia to assess how good the songs are). Each song is sung with full emotion and with the right amount of accentuation (that contributes to the “middle” part). All the lyrics are written by Ayu herself. Her album comes with a DVD that contains 6 videos from “Guilty” and the making of all these 6 albums that make up to one hour of visual entertainment. I enjoy watching her music videos. More so for the making of clips as we fans get to gain an insight on what Ayu is like behind the camera.

At times I wonder why bad things happen to beautiful people like Ayu who has contributed so much. Only God knows. Now that she is determined to continue the tours, I hope and pray that her right ear can last her a lifetime.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Love Psychedelico’s Golden Grapefruit – Almost Another Good Old Delico Album

There are many reasons why Love Psychedelico (or better known as Delico in Japan) is different from some of the typical J-pop artists. Vocalist and guitarist Kumi may not have the level of sex appeal like most of the J-pop female artists, the good thing is, she doesn’t have the typical high pitch voice nor the strong Japanese accent in terms of English pronunciation either. In fact, the voice of Kumi reminds me of Avril Lavigne in some bizarre way. The duo of Kumi and Naoki (who plays guitars, bass guitars, and keyboard) keep the sound of Love Psychedelico simple and memorable and there is a certain sense of honestly as compare to the tend-to-be overly produced J-pop albums. Their songs are often in half-English-half-Japanese with a few exceptions that are totally written in English. Cynthia does not listen to any CD from my J-pop collection except Love Psychedelico. If there is one song that may convert you into a Love Psychedelico fan, Last Smile would be it. Go on, click onto it and let it plays as a background music (a video created by a fan).

Love Psychedelico’s album line-up confuses the living crap out of me. Probably part of the sales strategy so that people like me will keep buying the albums. Their first album is titled as “The Greatest Hits”. At first I thought this band has quite a few productions beforehand but it doesn’t seem so. Their 2nd album is “Love Psychedelic Orchestra” while their 3rd album is … “Love Psychedelico III”. Finally came the 4th one “Early Times – The Best of Love Psychedelico”. So how does the 4th one relates to the 1st one? Turns out that the 4th one is their greatest hits for real. Almost. After I bought the album have I realised that it does come with 3 tracks that I did not own (“Fantastic World”, “Everyone, Everyone”, and “Rosy”). It is this kind of confusion that keeps me buying their album I guess.

After their “real” greatest hits album, Love Psychedelico released a live album titled “Live Psychedelico”. Again, why did I buy it? Okay, I am a huge fan and surprise, surprise … it does come with 1 track that I do not have – “Wasting”.

At first listen, I actually enjoyed “Golden Grapefruit” (thank God, finally an album title that doesn’t come with the word “Psychedelico” in any form). Then came the second last song “Everyone, Everyone”. Wait, I have heard of that before! Hasn’t it already been featured in the “real” greatest hits? Also, “Golden Grapefruit” does not come with a translated lyrics in Chinese like the rest.

Besides these two minor complains, “Golden Grapefruit” is yet another goold old Delico album. I enjoy the mellow songs of “Carnation” and “Sad Story” a lot. What stand out in this album are the tracks “Help!” and “Good Day, Celebration”. Both are infused with strong dance beat. Kind of refreshing away from their normal style. So yes, “Golden Grapefruit” is almost another good old Delico album with some level of progression.

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J Pop Music Reviews

YUI’s 2nd Album – Can’t Buy Me Love

Readers of my website may remember how I discovered the Japanese singer YUI after watching the movie Midnight Sun and foretold that she is a new artist to look out for. I even went in great effort to import her first album “From Me To You” from HMV Hong Kong. Within one week of release, YUI’s 2nd album “Can’t Buy Me Love” totally shattered the sales record of her previous album. If fans like me can just buy the record off the shelf without sampling a single song, there must be some kind of craze going on.

YUI’s strengths lie in her talents in songwriting, guitar playing, and her simple yet pleasant appearance that melts the crowd – more than make up for her vocal ability for someone who is only 20 this year. Then again, what is wrong with girlie voice? Jazz singer Lisa Ekdahl seems to sound like a girl no matter how old she was when each of her album was recorded. While YUI’s first album “From Me To You” probably made famous by her movie “Midnight Sun” because she did showcase some of her songs in the said movie, “Can’t Buy Me Love” does not have the same advantage. I have to admit sometimes visual impact can be powerful and of course what I am trying to assess is if “Can’t Buy Me Love” lives up to expectation.

“Tomorrow’s Way” from her first album is probably my one of my top 10 all time favorite Japanese songs right now. “Good-bye Days”, the theme song of her movie did not appear in her first album (her 1st album was released before the movie) but happy to say, it is inside this new album. Same goes to “I Remember You” that was featured in her movie. Though these two songs sound a little bit dated, it is good that they are featured somewhere. The two major singles coming out from “Can’t Buy Me Love” are “Rolling Star” and “CHE.R.RY”. Both are featured below. My favorite song of this new album is perhaps “Umbrella” – a song that may come close to “Tomorrow’s Way”.

All in all, I enjoy “Can’t Buy Me Love” and am glad that YUI has kept up with the good work. Her next single “My Generation / Understand” is nowhere to be seen in this new album of hers. I sense a third album in the making knowing how productive Japanese artists can be. YUI writes all her songs – both music and lyric – and if she can keep up with that pace, it is indeed admirable.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Mika Nakashima’s Yes – Enough To Please The Fans

Some Japanese artists are so productive. Not long ago back in January I wrote a review for Nana Starring Mika Nakashima. Turns out that the new rock sound from her one-off-band assembled during the filming of Nana and Nana 2 is also … one off. How disappointing for me as I do enjoy her new sound. In her new album, she is back to her original light and mellow style. Fans who like her rather fragile (or weak depending how you view it) and soothing vocal will continue to support her career – even for mildly disappointed fans like me.

The album opens with the song “I Love You” (feel free to follow the YouTube link to sample) – a typical Mika Nakashima song that just can’t go wrong. Her latest single “Sunao na Mama (素直なまま)” – an upbeat song – turns out to be one of my favorite songs from the album. Unfortunately, this wonderful video is not featured in the DVD that comes with the CD. In this new album “Yes”, Mika Nakashima has also put in some heavy gospel influenced songs such as “Cry No More” and “All Hands Together”. As recorded in her DVD, she performed “What A Wonderful World” live inside a Chapel. I found the video pretty powerful. While I cannot find the same clip from YouTube, there is a live performance that is very closed to the DVD version – vocal-wise that is.

If you are already a fan of hers, why not “Yes”. If you happen to like her voice, perhaps it is time for you to check out her new album?

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J Pop Music Reviews

Yuna Ito’s Heart

Afterwords: I wrote this blog 2 to 3 weeks ago (have to space out blogs of similar category or to give way to blogs with higher priority). Had it not for Ayumi Hamasaki’s double “Black” and “White” best albums that took up the 1st and 2nd position in the Singapore HMV chart, Yuna Ito’s album would have topped the chart as predicted.

Okay, let’s see how well you know my blogs. If I say “Nana” … you say …

Japanese movie would be correct. Mika Nakashima would also be correct. Previously, Mika Nakashima released an album inspired by the Japanese movies “Nana” and “Nana 2”. Inside the Nana soundtrack, there is another singer who has contributed to one track. She has acted in the movie as well. And her name is …

Yuna Ito is correct. I knew you are smart. Still very young in the music scene, Yuna Ito is a half-Japanese and half-Korean American citizen. That explains why in her debut album “Heart”, the English pronunciation is unlike any of her Japanese peers. In fact that is one of the reasons that got me interested in her music. Singing-wise, her voice tends to be thin (I remember Cynthia screamed from the bedroom one day saying: Oh My God, her voice is so thin … how she “loves” J-Pop). Song-wise, all commercial stuffs that can easily keep you delighted with repeated listens. With the limited Japanese music exposure here in Singapore, I am almost certain that Yuna Ito’s Heart will stay in our local HMV chart for a while. Do note that this album does not come with a Chinese translated lyrics like many do.

Related blog entry: Wish By Yuna Ito – Of Moon Rabbit, Urban Mermaid, And A Titanic Theme Song

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J Pop Music Reviews

Made In Twenty (20) – Another Japanese Album By Korean Singer BoA

She released her first Korean album (rank #10) at the age of 14. She released her first Japanese album that hit the chart #1 position 2 years after. Subsequently, she released albums in both Korean and Japanese markets (all at #1 position). At the age of 20, she has her 10th full length album in Japanese. She is fluent in both Korean and Japanese, able to converse in English and now learning Chinese Mandarin. She dances well and is very beautiful. Her name is BoA.

Call me having a stereotype on Korean culture but I think they are best in producing tear-jerking dramas and not necessarily in the music industry. That explains why I have yet to own a Korean CD. BoA is a South Korean and that rules out all the possibilities of me owning any of her 5 Korean albums. As for her Japanese albums, my mindset is or rather was that … leave the music to the Japanese and she is not one. Last year, Cynthia got me BoA’s OUTGROW when she came back from her business trip at Japan. I did quite enjoy listening to that.

“Made In Twenty (20)” – an album of just over 60 minutes – is packed with typical Japanese Pop music (except the last track “Last Christmas”). The slow ballad “Winter Love” is definitely my favourite. I find myself listening to this album a lot as it does grow on me. I am still trying to get used to BoA’s voice but I definitely love the music.

The album comes with a DVD as well. Instead of all music video clips (like many do), she only includes 3 music videos and fills the rest of the disc up with 10 live clips from various albums of hers. I was expecting a live concert full of dances (that was how I noticed her in the first place) but it is not. The clip below is from her DVD and that showcased her vocal ability that is full of emotion. Even if you are not currently a BoA fan, be warned, you can easily be converted into one after viewing this DVD.

Related Entry: BoA – The Face – And The Conquest Continues

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J Pop Music Reviews

Ayaka’s First Message Still At No.1 In HMV Chart

I am truly amazed at Ayaka’s debut album’s staying power in Singapore’s HMV Japanese chart. Not even megastars such as Ayumi Hamasaki or Koda Kumi can challenge that. I am sure Ayumi’s Secret has reached #1 position some weeks ago but this couple of months old album still reigns.

I bought this album quite some time ago and what prompted me to do so was Ayaka’s voice. Japanese singers tend to have this higher than normal pitch (according to my buddy Tong Kiat – who worked in Japan before – Japanese girls tend to speak like that too in any normal day). Ayaka has this thick, powerful, and soulful voice that drew my attention when I first sampled her album. If I was to blur out the language, her vocal style is closer to the western music than her Japanese peers. Excellent control of her voice with beautifully executed accentuation and vibratos.

Now that is the good things about her. The album however has songs with uneven quality. Some songs are really good (like the one below called “I Believe”). Some songs are quite forgettable. When “First Message” was released in Japan, it was the highest selling album of the week as well as the highest selling debut album for a female artist in 7 years. Commercially it is quite an achievement.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Does Koda Kumi’s Black Cherry Rival Ayu’s Secret?

Koda Kumi’s new album’s cover may or may not resemble to Ayumi’s “Secret” – though I do see the similarity, the staying power (at number 1) of this album does rival Ayumi’s RAINBOW. To be honest, I do collect Koda Kumi’s albums and DVDs and enjoy listening to her as a talented young Japanese. But as a rivalry to Ayumi? I listen to this album with a pair of extremely critical ears.

Four years junior of Ayumi, Koda Kumi has already released 35 singles, 5 studio albums, and 3 compilation albums (compares to Ayumi’s 40 singles, 8 studio albums, 3 compilation albums, and countless remixes). Koda Kumi may not have a look that kills, she does have the sex appeal to compensate. Some of her videos are so hot that the CD/DVD comes with a “Mature 18” sticker.

“Black Cherry” is packed with 18 songs of close to 72 minutes and it comes with a sizzling hot DVD as well. Now, I wonder how it can get away with a “PG” sticker (I have linked one of the video at the end of this blog as it is too hot to be placed in my site). My initial reaction to “Black Cherry” was mixed. A good number of songs are the Hip-Hop type – a genre that I don’t in particularly fancy except when I am inside Ministry of Sound. The slow ballads and the rock songs though is a different story as I do enjoy listening to them immensely with a tint of guilt. Perhaps I have this “rivalry” mindset and being too critical. After a few listen to the CD, I do find that the songs are pretty good. Enjoyable with high chance that you will listen to the entire album again and again (like I do). The DVD is pretty good as well although I can say with full confidence that Ayumi’s Secret’s DVD is much better.