Category: Music Reviews

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J Pop Music Reviews

Mai Kuraki (倉木麻衣) – One Life – Quite Possibly Her Spiciest Piece of Work

I made a promise to myself that I will contribute my thought on Mai Kuraki’s 7th album to the online community back in March this year.  Her albums don’t come cheap.  The RRP are S$72 (USD 52) and S$52 (USD 38) after discount.  And you can’t pick a random Japanese album to sample in HMV.  So what I usually do in situations like this is to take out my wireless phone and Google the albums, at HMV.  Reviews written in English are not common.  In desperate times, I would perform an online translation of the Japanese pages and learn more about the album.  After all, it is a rather heavy investment.

I do agree with the online community that Mai Kuraki’s voice is sensual, and that works well with her R&B / Pop genre.  I do however find it difficult to tell if she plays her limitation to her advantage.  Mai Kuraki has a feather light voice, which is good to communicate emotion.  But her voice does at times sound out of breath.  It has become rather obvious when I viewed one of her live performances on one DVD of mine.

Her first four albums are commercial success.  Unfortunately I don’t own them.  What I do own is her compilation album “Wish You the Best” (2004), which is just as good I reckon, and her subsequent albums – “Fuse of Love” (2005), “Diamond Wave” (2006), and “One Life” (2008).  I think Mai Kuraki sings better in her recent work.  But her earlier work has better melodic hooks, and hence the success.

So, what about “One Life”?  I certainly put it above the rather forgettable “Diamond Wave” and for those who already love “Fuse of Love”, “One Life” is certainly not a disappointment.  In fact, “One Life” is quite possibly her spiciest piece of work.  The opening track “One Life” is an upbeat memorable R&B song, accompanied by interesting musical tracks.  “I Like It Like That” is a good follow-up.  More groovy, less edgy.  For those who like ballads, “Silence Love ~open my heart~” is a decent effort.

I am an oddball and my personal favorites could be quite different from what fans prefer.  I like “Everything” because of the hook, the variation of the bridges, and the music arrangement.  “Season of Love” has a similar feel and it is well harmonized by male vocals.  An emotional piece of work.  “Wonderland” comes with a simple beat and some pretty unusual melody and timing.  There is one part that I constantly ask myself: How did she sing that?!  Very soulful.  And I like the upbeat pop song “Be with U”.  A fun piece and I think the hook lies in the percussion arrangement.

You may like her interpretation of the English song “Over the Rainbow”.  But I think no one can sing that better than Katharine McPhee.

In terms of technique and being soulful in the genre of R&B, I would still vote for Utada Hikaru.  Having said that, it is always good to have varieties in life and Mai Kuraki does have a decent number of well crafted songs to offer. 

Below is her single “One Life”.  The video kind of sucks.  Probably working on low budget.  You may also wish to check out the ballad “Season of Love”.

Categories
Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

A Def Leppard Marathon – From Hysteria to Songs from the Sparkle Lounge

I have yet to figure out if each tragedy the band Def Leppard encountered leads to a success or each success curses them with a tragedy.

In year 1983, the UK rock band Def Leppard became famous after their third album “Pyromania” reached 10 times platinum in US alone.  In the following year, the drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash.  I remember reading an article from a magazine while I was in UK.  A dramatic article on the return of the one arm drummer a few years after the accident.

After the car crash due to speeding, Rick Allen lost an arm.  You can imagine how disappointed the rest of the band felt.  First, the breakthrough, then the uncertainty.  But what about the young drummer?  Legend has it that he did not wish to give up but instead, he was determined to return to his career with three limbs and the help of electronic drum paddles.  In one dramatic evening, while the rest of the band members were having a drink at a lounge – their usual drinking place – without him, Rick Allen walked into the room.  I suppose some band members might notice his entrance but I would imagine that they were still mad at Rick and his recklessness.  So, no one was paying attention to Rick Allen.

Rick continued to walk to a drum-set set at the center of the room, and he started to play the drums.  At that very moment, vocalist and I suppose leader of the band Joe Elliott closed his eyes.  The sound of the drums filled his head, squeezed out all the resentment he has, and took him back in time.  A time when Rick still had his two good arms.  According to what I read, Joe Elliot couldn’t tell the difference.

So, there was life after “Pyromania” after all.  And a happy ending.  “Hysteria” hit twelve times platinum in US and perhaps, that fourth album is the peak of their career.

In year 1991, their legendary guitarist Steve Clark died due to alcoholism.  The following year, “Adrenalize” was released with a moderate success – three times platinum.   After “Adrenalize”, Def Leppard repackaged their b-side and unreleased tracks during the era of “Hysteria” and “Adrenalize” and named the album “Retro Active”.  Since I in particularly love that era, these three albums hold a dear place in my heart.

After that, their long time producer, Robert John “Mutt” Lange (once married to famous country singer Shania Twain) called it quit.  “Sling” is meant to be an album that expresses the true image of Def Leppard without Mutt Lange.  I personally like the uniqueness and freshness of that album but the mass media said otherwise.  “Euphoria” is forgettable and “X” is a joke.  I vowed not to buy any Def Leppard album, ever.

Then I bought “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge”.

Despite the lingering feeling of years of betrayal, I gave their 10th studio album a try.  The first song “Go” gripped me.  No way this is Def Leppard!  It sounds more like Korn.  I love the guitar solo too!  The next song “Nine Lives” is the album’s first single featuring country singer Tim McGraw.  OK, it is kind of old school rock and I didn’t love it at first listen.  Why choose “Nine Lives” as a single?  After a few listens, it does grow onto me.  And I agree, “Nine Lives” is probably one that has a better chance to stand the test of time.

It was the slow killer ballad “Love” that sealed the deal.  I do not have any of their albums prior to “Hysteria” and in the last week or so, I had a Def Leppard marathon listening to all their albums from “Hysteria” onwards.  I don’t think they have made anything like “Love” before.  That song is totally old school.  Cynthia thought that it sounds like a song from Queen.

Lyrically, some songs still remind me of the same old trivial stuffs such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Make Love Like a Man”. But check out the extract of the song “Cruise Control”.

I hear my god he calls my name
I must atone all men can change
and for my god I ring the bell
I will condemn the infidel

Mostly up tempo and mostly rock, I am happy that “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge” has revealed yet another side of the band.  It may not be as great as the “Hysteria” era but it is way better than any of their recent releases – if that means anything to you.

So tell me, how much do you love the old school rock music?

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

Utada Hikaru – Heart Station – Classic It May Not But What A Soulful Voice She Has!

If you have purchased Utada Hikaru’s latest album lately, you may wish to check if track 10 is truncated towards the end of the song.  The friendly assistant at HMV (Citilink) was ripping the plastic covers of more than 10 of her CDs open including a newer batch and an older batch and they all have the same problem.  In fact, I have not seen so many CDs ripped open right in front of my eyes in such a short time frame (obviously I don’t buy that many CDs at one go, ever).  The sight and smell of a whole stack of new CDs was enough to put me in a temporary state of euphoria.  Need not to say, since we could not find one that is not flawed, I returned my CD, paid S$1.05 (duh!), and got myself a S$20 HMV gift voucher instead.

Judging by the fact that “Heart Station” is still reigning over the HMV Japanese and Korean Chart, I suspect many may have bought this Malaysian pressed CD and thought that a truncated song #10 is as intended.  But it isn’t.  I headed over to the listening station at HMV Orchard and that one was OK.  Take it back for a refund or exchange (better check on the spot!) if yours is a defect like mine.  Strange to say, I was told that I was the first one returning the CD (I bought it quite some time ago) while all her “Heart Station” CDs in the shop seems defective.  What happens to all who bought the disc?  I have no clue. 

I have still yet to catch the Utada fever (perhaps it is heating up somehow) purely because a number years ago, in retaliation of my fanatic support for the – in Cynthia’s own words – ear-piercing Ayumi Hamasaki, she has joined the Utada camp.  Immature we are, I know.  Besides, they both have different styles.  Utada is more Pop / R&B while Ayumi is perhaps more Pop / Rock?  But Cynthia and I have been … rivals ever since.  She would join the Justin camp and I would pick Justin’s ex-girlfriend Britney (!) instead.

To put things in perspective, the first album released by the then-16 years old New York born singer songwriter still holds the record of the most copies ever sold in Japan (close to 8 millions).  And her “Single Collection Vol. 1” remains as one of my top picks within my Japanese CD collection.

Perhaps I am still very hung up with her classic hits like “Automatic”, “Addicted To You”, and “Wait & See”, her subsequent releases don’t quite hit my spot.  So how does “Heart Station” measure up?

I think “Heart Station” leaves a deeper impression on me than her previous one, “Ultra Blue”.  Her voice, I must say, sound a lot better than her earlier work.  I love the improvisation and the soulfulness.  I especially like her lower register that is uncommon amongst her Japanese peers.  There are some songs within the album that I absolutely love such as “Fight the Blues”, “Heart Station”, “Beautiful World”, “Celebrate”, and “Prisoner of Love”.  There are also some songs towards the end such as ” ぼくはくま” and “虹色バス” that I don’t think I really get it.  What a strange way to end an album.

A melody filled song crafting effort with chunks of surprisingly interesting arrangement is probably one of the reasons why I enjoy listening to this album.  She may not have the stage presence like other mega J-pop stars (I also owned one of her live DVD) but she does have the voice and a list of enviable accomplishments in the past 9 years of her music career.

It has been quite a difficult task to find a video of hers that I can feature here.  The closest one I can get is one anime made by a fan.  Pretty good actually.

Categories
Hip Hop R&B Music Reviews

Kat DeLuna – 9 Lives – Mad Vocals But Flawed Album Execution

Once in a blue moon, I do come cross great vocalists whom even from one of my least favorite genres – in this case Hip Hop R&B – I just have to dig it and own the album.  A bilingual and an opera trained, this 20 years old singer songwriter of Dominican Republic does have a recorded voice that reminds me of Shakira (especially with that Spanish touch), Mariah Carey (Kat is said to have a 5-octave range), and for some of the songs when she belts out the ending notes – Celine Dion.

However, that is what we hear from the CD.  I have been doing some research on DeLuna’s live performance and much like my favorite Hip Hop star Rihanna, there is a certain gap between live acts and what is being recorded.  But wait a minute, you may ask.  What are you smoking and who are you comparing these artists with?

Think Beyoncé Knowles and I shall rest my case.

Some of you may be familiar with Kat Deluna’s first dance hit “Whine Up”.  The album “9 Lives” does have some really great tracks but it also has some tracks that I utterly hate.  So if you take away the 3 bonus tracks that are the Spanish version of the hit songs from the same album, take away the very first track that is more like an unnecessary intro, and the two songs that can do without – “Am I Dreaming” and “Animal” – the album is only left with 8 solid tracks.  The record company has decided to re-release “9 Lives” this time with Akon‘s involvement.  Supposedly, “Am I Dreaming” was slated to be the 2nd single.  They soon postponed this idea and released “Run the Show” instead.  Smart choice I must say.  “Run the Show” has the “Whine Up” touch and to be frank, not even artist like Akon is going to save the track that shouldn’t be there.

My grievances to the album execution aside, those 8 tracks are pretty rare finds and these energy charged tracks should be more than enough to give you the extra boost in the morning before you head to work.  Click here to view the video of “Run the Show”.  If you can purchase track-by-track, do so instead.

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

YUI – I Loved Yesterday – Kill Me Softly With “LOVE & TRUTH” …

YUI's I Love Yesterday

… and then kill me again.

I must have heard that one song “LOVE & TRUTH” no less than 400 times by now as I have frequently left my players (Hi-fi, mp3 phone, PC iTune) on single song repeat mode while traveling, working, reading, and blogging ever since YUI’s third album has landed in Singapore.  And if you think that I am obsessed with numbers, guess what I have noticed when I first read the song list of “I Loved Yesterday” at HMV?  All her three albums have 13 tracks.  No more, no less.  Strange eh?  And how did I even remember such a detail?  Freaky.

At times I wonder which is the most tedious to write: a book, a CD, or a movie review.  To write this review, I have listened to her two previous albums in conjunction with “I Love Yesterday” quite a few times in order to, perhaps, remind myself why I like YUI’s music in the first place.  Her trademark of a hauntingly innocent girlie voice with a taint of vulnerability and yet full of conviction in delivering her music is still written all over her third album.  The fact that she has written all the tracks on her own and plays the guitar track translates to yet another rock album that does not deviate from her style – except “LOVE & TRUTH” that seems to be the odd one out.  It must have something to do with the lethal combination of a rock ballad and a symphony.

A song written for the Japanese film “Closed Note”, what “LOVE & TRUTH” means to some of YUI’s fans is perhaps similar to what “Last Smile” does to the Love Psychedelico fans – we love that one song so much that we will probably spend eternity waiting for another “LOVE & TRUTH” or another “Last Smile” to appear from the same artist.

“I Loved Yesterday” comes with a DVD that contains 4 video clips of songs from her previous album and a short concert filming of “LIVE at BUDOKAN” (7 tracks).  I would be lying to say that the filming of her live performance is near perfect.  A bit far from it, unfortunately; a bit pitchy here and there, in fact.  On a more positive note, besides able to see her in action on stage with her guitar, the last clip “YOKYO” is probably one of the most moving music clips I have seen (the most moving scene still belongs to Ayumi Hamasaki when she screamed at the top of her lung thanking the crowd at the end of the show … at an open stadium, to a silence audience, without a mic).  Also, there is a clip called “Jam” and I swear I have not heard that song from any of YUI’s album before.  I like that one quite a fair bit.

Overall song quality-wise, “I Loved Yesterday” may be the weakest compares to her debut “From Me To You” that is packed with songs with memorable tunes and her commercially successful second album “Can’t Buy Me Love” that is lifted by her movie “Midnight Sun”.  Nevertheless, it is still a 21 years old YUI production that is worth keeping.  Below is the video clip of “LOVE & TRUTH”.

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Dance Music Reviews

Moby – Last Night – Not Quite Close To Play But Way Better Than 18 Hotel

I really love “Play”.  Oh yes, I do.  Perhaps it’s because of the disco clubs by the beach of Grand Bay, Mauritius, that my project team often frequented (oh sweet days of Banana Café), and at that time, Moby’s “Play” was hot.  It was the sunset, the sea breeze, the sand, the resort, and the laid-back-good-old-days-post-modernization of an island nation off the coast of the African continent that gave me the illusion that I was dancing in the year of not 1999, but one or two decades prior to that.

Moby’s ambient electronic music blends well in such a dreamy land of nowhere, a tourist paradise.  How I miss Mauritius.

My sentimental bias aside, I think Moby fans would agree with me that “Natural Blues” from the “Play” (1999) album is probably one of tracks that made Moby known to the International mainstream music scene.  The chorus of “Oooh, Lordy, troubles so hard and Don’t nobody know my troubles but God” just sticks to our heads.

The subsequent album releases “18” (which I owned) and “Hotel” (which I got wiser and decided not to own) were major disappointments to me.  In “Last Night”, Moby took a slightly different approach.  Most of the vocal tracks are sung by talented unknown artists, in which Moby mentioned that they are much easier to work with without the complication of legal issues and big record companies’ involvement.  It works.  Though it is not quite close to “Play”, “Last Night” is a pleasant album to listen to.  Less experimental in nature, Moby returns to his disco dance music root and enriches each track with his distinctive electronic ambience touch.

I personally don’t think Moby is particularly strong in his lyrics department.  But who cares about lyrics when you are half drunk on the dance floor or about to collapse onto the couch?  So I have no qualm that the CD does not come with a set of lyrics; and they should as some of the lines even the Internet community cannot make out.  Inside the killer track “Alice”, the word “Jodice” keeps repeating and Cynthia and I one time looked at each other in the car and said, “Who is Jodice?”  Or “What is joh this?”  OK.  From what I researched in the net, the phrase in question could be “do this”.  Then again, you will never know.

Why does the song titled “Alice” anyway when it doesn’t even get mentioned in the song?  Perhaps it is a reference to “Alice in Wonderland”?  Perhaps it has something to do with the lyrics “Can you become girl here in the fun world?”

Anyway, who cares?

If you have nothing against rap singing style, the first single “Alice” will please you much.  The majority tracks of “Last Night” are loaded with up tempo music while the last few tracks substantially darken the mood and the album is concluded with the title song “Last Night”, a ballad.  That last song does remind me of the closing hour of the dance floor when the DJ usually plays a slow song to wrap up the evening or early morning.  How appropriate.

Featured below is the video clip of “Alice”.  Don’t expect the image to reflect the current decade.  It is Moby baby.  Let’s head back to the disco days with us having bad hairstyles doing crazy things; things that you don’t even want to recall.  Admit it!

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

HAARP – Muse Live Tour – Full Of Light And Sound

HAARP by Muse

We have watched the Muse concert at Fort Canning Singapore back in January last year and that, has blown our minds.  Can HAARP – a CD and DVD collection recorded at Wembley UK on June 16 and 17 respectively – blow our minds too?  The answer is a definite yes.

I won’t go through much of the details here because my previous journal has (surprisingly to me!) captured more or less the essence of what you would expect in terms of sound and visual (ahem … a pat on my back).  What I will cover here is how I perceive the post-production work involved in creating HAARP.

Let’s start with the CD.  Muse is a 3-piece band with one to two additional musicians to help out on selected songs when on tour.  The live recording of the music tracks are surprisingly clear given how hard it is when sound tends to flood over from one track to another.  And the sound from the audience is crisp and nicely mixed into the recording too.  You can actually hear some girls screaming “I love you” in the background.

To me, the CD is great.  But the DVD that contains a few piano tracks amongst others that are not found in the CD is the real gem of the package.  Cameras whirling around the light filled stage, special visual effects with subjects of interest blurring in and out of focus, seamless cut scenes in tandem with the beats of the music – all of which aim to bring the electrifying live experience right into your living room (depending on how loud your audio system is of course).  Their interpretation of the song “Feeling Good” is a pleasant surprise to me.  Below is a clip of the song “Hysteria”.  Enjoy, and don’t forget to turn down the volume a bit!  If you are already a fan, there is little reason why you should give this collection a miss.

Related Entry: Muse’s 2007 Tour at Fort Canning Singapore

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

BoA – The Face – And The Conquest Continues

BoA - The Face

To tell you the truth, I am more thrilled by BoA’s phenomenal success in the music industry at the age of 21 than her music itself.  Straddled between the Korean and Japanese markets, her 11th studio album is a Japanese release that attained the number 1 position in the Oricon chart the 6th consecutive time (only Ayumi Hamasaki has done it before with now a record of 8 consecutive number 1’s and stops there).  To enjoy such a strong fan base in Japan as a Korean is remarkable.  To enjoy such a commercial success as a 21 years old, I say it’s phenomenal.
 
I often admire BoA’s ambition and energy.  There are not many artists in the world who relentlessly release albums that target at two different local markets, in two different languages, simultaneously.  Her appetite, I believe, is not only in these two countries.  Rumor has it that she is currently putting the Korea market on hold and planning to venture into the US market.  I am concerned over her English pronunciation but we shall see.  And she has released a few songs in Chinese as well.
 
“The Face”, like her previous albums, is packed with the typical electronic sounded pop music that you can happily bop to.  I personally think that these bright and youthful songs are great to be seen live as BoA is a great entertainer on stage.  Just by listening to the album alone, something does seem missing.  Perhaps the music is not as memorable as I would like them to be.  Perhaps those complicated dance beat arrangements are meant to shine during live performances.  Hence, like her previous album “Made in Twenty (20)”, I actually appreciate the DVD better than the CD.
 
“The Face” comes with 2 DVD’s.  One with music videos from the single releases as well as an interview session that I don’t understand.  Another one is packed with live clips from two different concerts filmed in year 2007.  Those live clips are beautiful.  It has the classic BoA-and-the-piano-and-the-orchestra kind of performance.  It also has the BoA-and-her-hot-dance-moves kind of performance too.  One year ago, as written in the previous review, I was trying to get used to her voice.  Today, I still try.  At times her vibrato sounds a bit mechanical.  Perhaps, I will get myself BoA-ized one day.  Below is one of her singles “Lose Your Mind” with the making-of clip.  If you enjoy slow songs, try search for her another single “Love Letter”.

PS. Is it just me who feel that BoA looks more haggard judging from the live videos these days?  She has definitely lost some weight.

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

Categories
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.

Categories
Country Folk & Jazz Music Reviews

Taylor Swift – A Young Country Singer With Potential

Taylor Swift

Look, to be able to release an independent record (2006) at the age of 16 written and co-written all the 11 tracks in her debut and be nominated as the Best New Artist for Grammy in 2008 certainly demands attention, if not respect.  Taylor Swift does have a music talent and her voice does communicate a certain level of honesty and youthfulness.  My only reservation is on the genre itself.  To me, every country song tells an emotional story.  Be it as a wedding that took place against all adversities, a girl who waited for a traveling soldier who didn’t return from the war, a poor family but yet happy with contentment, the impact of a divorce to the children, and etc, I think a country singer needs a certain level of maturity to tell stories of multiple facets.  Being a teenage country singer and writer, the topic of her self titled debut pretty much circles around teenage love affair, which is good and bad.  Good if you can relate to it and not getting tired of it for the entire album duration.  Bad if you expect a country genre to be more, country, to have more impact.

For a 16 years old (when the album was released and she is now 18), Taylor Swift does have some mad vocal skills – although I must say, she doesn’t quite have the big voice as my favorite female country pop singers such as Carrie Underwood or Martina McBride, nor have that characteristic country voice of Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks or Gretchen Wilson.  I hope to see a smoother transition of her low, mid, and high registers in her subsequent albums.  And her voice may not sound unique – at least to me – and I find it hard to identify her voice amongst some other teenage pop singers.

From the song melody point of view, Taylor Swift’s debut does have a good number of catchy tunes.  Overall a well rounded album and since she is still very young, she does have a great potential in this music industry.  Below is one of her singles “Teardrops on my Guitars” inspired by a true story of hers.  I am sure you would love it like I do.  And you may understand why she has become so popular these days.