j1m0ne's blog

10 January 2007
Not a whole lot out this week either. Which is good cos my exams are coming up :/

Singles
SIX DAY WONDER. STRAIGHTENER
A ballad, wow. Their last couple of singles and albums were pretty underwhelming for me, SIX DAY WONDER is a very welcome change of pace. The c/w songs are a bunch of live tracks I don’t care much for though.

HIROMI. Shibata Jun
Hmmm. I normally love Shibata’s singles but HIROMI, although being one of her more upbeat songs, has an incredibly repetitive chorus that doesn’t particularly stand out. The c/w song Ato sukoshi dake… is much better; her B-sides are always good. Jun has two albums coming out over the next few months; due in February is her first album for Victor called Tsukiyo no ame, which will feature HIROMI and the two excellent singles preceding it, Hanafubuki and Guren no tsuki. In March we’ll get a B-sides collection called Shiba-ura, which features stuff from her Dreamusic days… I’m guessing songs like Kan Beer and Shuuden will be on it.

Sarai no Kaze. MAY
Korean artists singing in Japanese doesn’t really sit well with me (TVXQ, K etc) but I heard her interview on JOQR the other day and took an instant liking to Sarai no Kaze. It’s a nice pop song written by Every Little Thing’s Mochida Kaori and Kameda Seiji from Tokyo Jihen; it reminds me of something but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Here & There; Man & Woman. Chage & Aska
Like Southern All Stars, Chage & Aska are something of a natural treasure even if their popularity is nowhere near the heights of their success in the ’80s. Regardless, this pair of singles, both ballads in their trademark style, should easily grab the top two spots on the Oricon come next Wednesday.

Aoi tori. Fujifabric
Eh. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this single given Fujifabric’s chameleon-like record, but a plodding mid-tempo ballad probably wasn’t it. The c/w song Tokyo Enjou is more my cup of tea.

Kuroi namida. Anna Tsuchiya inspi’ NANA (Black Stones)
I never liked Rose (the first NANA OP)… actually come to think of it, I don’t like most of the songs from either the movie or the anime; I much prefer the fan-selected NANA’s Song Is My Song compilation from 2003. Anyway, Kuroi Namida is a nice, mid-tempo ballad reminiscent of fra-foa in their pomp; and I quite like it.

Albums
Shiawase no hako o hiraku kagi. Uemura Kana (4th Jan release)
I’ve always thought Uemura had a lot of potential; she’s produced some brilliant pop songs – Milk Tea, Taisetsu na Hito and Koi no Mahou were all top drawer stuff and made her debut album Itsumo Waratte Irareru Youni one of the better pop albums of 2006. The singles leading up to this sophomore album weren’t of the same standard though; the pedestrian cover of Yuming’s Yasashisa ni Tsutsumarete, the tuneless Kami Hikouki and the OK-but-nothing-special Hikari to Kage. The album doesn’t fare much better, and only Honto no Kimochi and Watashi de Yokereba… rising above the mediocrity.

100man mai toppa!!. Thmlues (1st Jan release)
Thmlues make sunny and pleasant pop-rock which should have plenty of mass appeal, yet hardly anyone buys their records. Which is true for a lot of good bands really…. Anyway, this album contains more of the same style of songs they’ve been serving up; including the brilliant singles Moody Moon Dance and Lyric Trigger. Some other highlights include the collaboration with Tsuji Ayano Gekka Bijin and the folky Yon no Go no Tousan (Sono ato no Tousan). Maybe this album isn’t as good as 2004’s Junai Supplement, but it’s still a great way to kick off the year.

Mai & Ai’s Dengeki G’s Radio – Strawberry Panic Oneesama to Ichigo Soudou Vol.2. Nakahara Mai & Shimizu Ai
I only really got this for the last episode ED version of Shoujo Meiro de Tsukamaete by Misato Aki; it’s basically the same as you hear it in the show. The rest of the tracks are all snippets from the radio show and includes interviews with Nabatame Hitomi (Shizuma), Nakajima Saki (Chikaru), Goto Saori (Momomi), Matsuki Miyu (Hikari) and Kinoshita Sayaka (Kaname).

Happy Candy. Murata Ayumi
I wasn’t aware she had a new album out until her appearance on AniSpa on Saturday (13 Jan); (her first, Kiseki was released exactly a year ago). They played a song called Birthday on the show, which is written by comedian Yamasaki Housei and arranged by Takumi Masanori; I really liked it and hence was scouring the net for the album. And now I’m listening to it, I have to say I like Happy Candy a lot more than Kiseki. The album includes the Happiness! anime OP song, and various video game related songs from Memories Off, Konneko etc and most of the songs are written by Shikura Chiyomaru (the bloke behind tiaraway and most of the Memories Off songs). This is definitely worth a listen – a good mix of happy, catchy pop and ballads.

Otogi Juushi Akazukin Drama + Soundtrack Vol.2. Masuda Toshio
Guess they must have recorded the drama tracks fairly recently since it’s got Sanpei Yuko as Souta, she’s doing a fine job standing in for the ill Kumai Motoko. I guess I can only recommend this soundtrack if you watch the show itself; most of it is stuff you’ll have heard before and includes Natsukashi no Neiro which is Hameln’s pipe music. I only wish the silly Bremen trio of Alector (an almost unrecognisable Sugita Tomokazu), Cane (Saito Chiwa) and Asel (Yasumoto Hiroki) had their own song. Zukkyun!