j1m0ne's blog

21 February 2007
Aaaaaahhhhh why are there so many releases this week? Tough competition in the charts…. My 300GB Maxtor external HD keeps running out of space ;_;

Singles
Haru no Kaze. Kumaki Anri

Has Kumaki ever made anything remotely bad? I’m struggling to think of any – she’s just a top-drawer singer-songwriter who sells less records than she deserves to. You’d have to be a cold-hearted fish to not be taken in by her gentle, soothing voice.
Rating: ★★★★☆

CHU-LIP. Otsuka Ai

In theory I should hate Ai-chan. She makes the sort of bubblegum pop I normally detest, but she’s just so bubbly and charming it’s hard not to like her. After two yawn-inducing singles (Yumekui & Renai Shashin), Ai is back with another one of those annoyingly catchy pop singles that just worms its way into your brain and refuses to leave. CHU-LIP may not be as catchy (or annoying) as SMILY or HAPPY DAYS but it’s still pretty damn good. The fantastically weird PV helps too. She’s got a hits compilation coming up though I’ll probably pass on it as I already own all her albums.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Kaze to RAINBOW/Kono te o nobaseba. GARNET CROW

Once upon a time I was a GARNET CROW fan. When I first heard songs like flying, Natsu no Maboroshi and Last Love Song I was excited; “Ooh, they make really catchy pop!” Over the course of the next 10 singles, I thought “Hang on, their songs all sound really similar!”. And now it’s “Oh, they have a new single? Whatever, I’ll just go and listen to Natsu no Maboroshi”. Zzzzz.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Mamorasete…..Miyazaki Ui

They should get Ui to sponsor the Wii I didn’t think too much of her initially and am still unsure about her abilities as a seiyuu – doesn’t help that I’ve never really watched any of the anime she’s in (except D.C.S.S as Aishia). I am warming up to her singing though (though not her seiyuu group Clover), and this single (Master of Epic ED theme) is a typically catchy anime song.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Mienai Hoshi. Nakashima Mika

Everything she’s released since her last studio album MUSIC has been DIRE (sorry Nana fans). Thankfully, Mienai Hoshi isn’t – a pretty (slow) ballad that shows off her voice nicely. Her cover of Ozaki Yutaka’s I LOVE YOU had me reaching for the sick bucket though; I’m not sure whether Mika’s or Utada Hikaru’s version of the song is worse; but they’re both just….bad. Where’s the emotion? I’m a horribly biased Ozaki fan ^^;
Rating: ★★★☆☆

coming road. marhy

This is the third ED for Otogizushi Akazukin, and the second one by marhy (pronounced mari) after Clover (which was also the ED for the OVA). Primarily a songwriter and arranger (did some stuff for Gokujo Seitokai, arranged the Kamisama Kazoku OP/ED, wrote/arranged the Yes! Precure5 ED), CROSS ROAD is nice and inoffensive, like most of the music from the series.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Mebae Drive. marble

I said a few weeks ago that I didn’t really like the Hidamari Switch OP Sketch Switch, but I’ve changed my mind now – the chorus is lodged in my brain and I keep whistling it without noticing ~_~ Er anyway…. Mebae Drive is the ED theme and it’s done by some ppl I’ve never heard of; it’s pleasant enough without ever really getting exciting.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Beautiful Story. Inoue Marina

Hopefully this sells more than her last single energy (Ginban Kaleidoscope ED) did – a grand total of 727 copies in its first week. Beautiful Story (Getsumen to Heiki Mina ED) is written by Nakata Yasutaka (capsule, produces girl-group Perfume) and is his typical electropop style. Marina’s a good singer, but what I’m more impressed by are her drawing skills! Oh, and I failed to notice it when I was writing this up, but Marina will be in 4 spring anime (El Cazad, StrikerS, Gurren-Lagann & Terra e).
Rating: ★★★★☆

HEART☆BEAT. MARIA

I miss ZONE *sniff* I don’t see MARIA being parodied in anime anytime soon (AIRAM doesn’t sound as cool as ENOZ). HEART☆BEAT (Deltora Quest OP) is a fine song but the other two are just meh. That cover is freaky. And I fail to see why they need two bassists.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

at home. Shibasaki Kou

Her hair!!!! Someone get her a pair of clippers, or Britney Spears’ hairdresser. The single itself isn’t too bad, though the c/w song sonoinochi is dull. Even Shibasaki sounds bored singing it.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

ONE NIGHT STAR. the ARROWS

Another band I discovered via random impulse purchasing (their debut album Higashi Fountain Tetsudou). Since then they’ve signed on to a major label (Pony Canyon) and this is their third single for them, and is also the new ED theme for Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Their musical style has always been rather hard to pin down; incorporating reggae and rock and with pop sensibilities. ONE NIGHT STAR is a sparkling pop single that is reminiscent of their first two major singles Night Call and Mast People, whilst c/w song Lady Grand Prix is a bit more like their indie stuff.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Albums
Tsukiyo no Ame. Shibata Jun

There’s too many melancholy songs on this!! I feel depressed after listening to the album; a few more songs like Watashi no Monogatari and Haikei Oujisama etc would’ve been welcome. Nothing has come close to matching her debut Ooruto no Kumo so far.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Heisei Fuzoku. Shiina Ringo & Saitou Neko

Shiina is one of those universally acclaimed artists that seems to be able to do no wrong – everyone raves about her and you’d seem a fool to think otherwise. I’m one of those fools though – I never truly liked Tokyo Jihen and am similarly underwhelmed by Heisei Fuzoku. The first few tracks were good; the new version of Gamble in particular but otherwise there’s really not a lot to write home about. The jazz version of Meisai makes me want to scream. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a good album but Shiina set the bar so high with Karuki Zamen… that anything less than a masterpiece is a disappoinment.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Manabi Straight! OST – Seioh Seitokai Ensemble I. Misawa Yasuhiro

Manabi Straight! is one of my favourite shows of the current anime season, but I can’t say I remember much of the music :/ Apart from Intermission (which plays every episode and in the next ep previews) only a handful of tracks sound vaguely familiar to me (Massugu Go!!, Yume no Ato). This is the first time Misawa Yasuhiro’s done music for an anime (mostly games) but he’s done a pretty GJ; happy music that captures Manabi’s world perfectly. The second disc remixes all the girls’ character image songs and I’m really impressed – they’re all very fun and some are even better than the originals. A nice surprise for me, normally remixes are an exercise in futility (just listen to those hideous Negima!? 1000%Box ones). My favourite character is Mutsuki by the way.
Rating: ★★★★☆

BUGRIGHT. UVERworld

I chose to download and listen to this ahead of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR; I figured UVERworld were the lesser of two evils. The album title was more interesting too (well, better than boring old San anyway). Glad I did though, it’s a very listenable album if not a whole lot different from their first album Timeless.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

INDEPENDIENTE. Dragon Ash

Latin/samba/reggae? It’s not horrible, but I’m still trying to get my head around the overall sound of the album. It’s a far cry from the rap-rock feel of their past releases; in fact there’s actually very little rapping on INDEPENDIENTE. Strangely intriguing.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Skirt. Suneohair

For someone so prolific, it’s impressive that Watanabe can consistently produce the goods. His fifth album in as many years, Skirt brings more of the mellow rock that fans of his two Hachikuro songs so love. I think it’s probably his best effort since a watercolor.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Stuff released this week that I’m still trying to dig out:
Skirt. Suneohair
Double Drive. Inoue Yosui/Okuda Tamio
Hibi to Pops. YO-KING
Allegro Cantabile. SUEMITSU & THE SUEMITH
Days. Keitaku
ONE NIGHT STAR. the ARROWS
Ashiato. Matsuzawa Yumi (prob won’t review this though)
sorachoco mini album. sorachoco (Hanamura Satomi & Inamura Yuuna seiyuu unit)
Ichigo Mashimaro Sweet CD 1 (due 23rd Feb)
escape. Itou Kanako
Madoromi no Rakuen. ceui

Stuff I didn’t bother with:
Janne da Arc Singles 2 – Heard it all before.
Ulfuls Best Yanen – another best of?
SOULHEAD best – not my cup of tea
Sugarless girl. capsule – ditto
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR – don’t really like them
Love so sweet. Arashi – Johnny’s aaaagghh
Mousou Break – Orihime Yozora with AiAi (Denpa! I quite like this but I’m too lazy to write bout it)
Changing. BON-BON BLANCO
Alterna. RIZE

I’ve got to go and research structural breaks, random walks and dummy variables for my dissertation but I can’t seem to find the motivation to do it :/