j1m0ne's blog

7 February 2007
I’ve adopted a different method for samples (the little gray bars below the album titles). Hopefully looks cleaner/tidier now, was getting fed up of writing playlists. Might take longer to load though. And I hope the songs don’t skip too much (the Tokimeki Memorial song does), I was having trouble with the GRAPEVINE song in particular.

Singles
Aitai yo./Kimi to no ashita. Tainaka Sachi

Tainaka’s probably doing her best to distance herself from those two Fate/Stay OPs, they don’t reflect the material she writes at all. Hence her appearance on Music Station to perform Saikou no Kataomoi (Saiunkoku ED theme) was conspicious by the absence of any mention of her first two singles (黒歴史だ！）, or even the word ‘anime’. To the point where disillusion and Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni don’t even get on the album properly – they’ve been mashed into a single track (Symphony of Fate disillusion～きらめく涙は星に).Actually, I’m making some of this stuff up, but you can see how out of place those two tracks would sound on the album (Dear…, due for release on 7th March). She’s a talented singer and her songwriting’s pretty good for a newcomer; her ballads are rich with melody and emotion. Here’s to hoping Sachi gets another chance to get on M-Ste, and that she won’t quite be so nervous and nearly mess up the whole thing again.

A Happy Life. Hayashibara Megumi

Originally slated to play Manabi (in Manabi Straight!) but in the end opted for motherhood over doing the Shouri Pose. Megu still wound up doing the OP/ED tunes though, which are standard covers of a pair of lesser known Okazaki Ritsuko songs. I prefer her version of Happy & Lucky over the original, but Okazaki’s A Happy Life reigns supreme (kind of fun to play on Stepmania though).

Himitsu. Makishima Yuki, Yoshikawa Yukiko & Fujita Saki (lyrics)

It’s not as good as the first ED Kiseki no Kakera, but Himitsu’s chorus is rather persuasive and repeated listens are improving my opinion of the latin(?)-infused song. The c/w song Mafuyu no Himawari is somewhat marred by Yoshikawa’s inability to sing, but is a catchy if rather generic upbeat anime song.

Shijun na Zankoku. Yousei Teikoku

I was starting to like Yousei Teikoku more than Ali Project (who often give me a headache) but Baragoku Otome sort of tipped the scale in AliPro’s direction again. This single though, is good stuff – like riryka’s Bravin Bad Brew; fits the atmosphere of Venus Versus Virus’s dark world perfectly.

Mifaiyu. BEGIN

So-so ballad. I’ve heard better from the veteran folksters.

Yubisaki. GRAPEVINE ( lyrics)

Their last album D’eracine’ wasn’t their best work (by a long shot), but Yubisaki is a brilliant return to form. A gentler, more melodic song than their last 3 singles (Sono Mirai, FLY and Hourou Freak) and is more reminiscent of stuff from their Here album. The c/w song COME ON is a rockier affair; with typical snarling vocals from frontman Tanaka Kazumasa.This also comes with a DVD containing live studio performances of FLY, Little Girl Treatment (a real treat – didn’t expect to hear that), a rocking new(?) song called Sredni Vashtar and the ballad OUR SONG. Listening to this single reminded me of how much I used to love GRAPVINE, so I’m off now to listen to their albums.

LUCY. ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi’ NANA

And just when the NANA series’ music was winning me over with Kuroi Namida, they come up with this. Listening to LUCY is like being hit over the head with a steel griddle repeatedly.

Tengoku wa matte kureru. Kiyokiba Shunsuke

Ballads, ballads, ballads, zzzz. I loved SHUN in EXILE, but since going solo he’s done nothing but sloooooowwww songs. Grrr.

Sorairo no tsubasa/Kirakira. Shiraishi Ryoko, eufonius & Matsumoto Kana(lyrics, #2)

Sorairo no tsubasa is exactly the same as the one on Shiraishi’s own single 2 weeks ago; there’s 2 versions of the Himawari!! ED theme Kirakira, by eufonius and Matsumoto Kana (Himawari), whose singing is as raw as her voice acting. Kirakira is a pretty fun song by itself, with its video game-style beeps and nursery rhyme-like melody.

Albums
Negima!? Sound Collection – Cantus I-. Haneoka Kei

Most of the music will sound familiar to viewers of the show, I’ve had the Pactio!! tune stuck in my head for the last 3 months now. This is a solid OST, though a lot of it sounds awfully similar to the PaniPoni music (which Haneoka wrote as well). Thousand Master no Omoi in particular, gives me serious Peach Moon no Aishuu vibes; tracks like Shichimi to Motsu and Heiwa no Toki also sound like they were taken straight out of the PPD soundtrack. The slower tracks are very well done though – Tenshi no Hane (the music from that Konoka-Setsuna scene), Wales no Sora no Shita and Tsuyoi Ketsui are particular faves.

THE MUSEUM. Mizuki Nana

It’s a singles collection, which means it was always going to miss out a lot of my personal favourites – if it were up to me, songs like PROTECTION, Hime Murasaki, Nocturne, Mirai Kono Hoshi de, Replay Machine, Independent Love Song, BRAVE PHOENIX would be on it…. oh she might as well’ve included a second disc of non-single cuts, such is the quality of her back catalogue.Despite Nana-chan’s relative success as an idol seiyuu singer, I can count the number of anime lead roles she’s had on one hand. Nana in Shichinin no Nana, Shinobu in 2×2=Shinobuden and Sunao in Tsuyokiss. Fate doesn’t count cos… well, it’s not Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fate is it? Though actually Kururu from Bottle Fairy might count as another lead role….

Futoshiki to sono kai. Hoover’s ooover

Had no idea they were releasing an album til I saw it floating around various music forums. Their last release was the excellent mini-album Tansansui in April last year; again I hadn’t a clue it was out til I saw (& bought) it in a Tower Records store while on vacation in Tokyo.Futoshiki to sono kai starts off on a rather surprising note – a ballad! You won’t hear too many of those from them. The rest of the album is more or less standard Hoover’s ooover; not that that’s a bad thing. It’s hard to dislike music that’s as charming as this. Clocking in at just over half an hour, it’s all over too soon – as the last note fades out you just think ‘Damn, that was good’; and start listening to the whole thing again. Dokuiri March, 45kaiten and Sannin no Koibito are just fantastic pop songs. I’ll have to find the spare pounds to buy this – it’s well worth it.

Haru no Kashuu. Teshima Aoi

Shot to fame as Theru in Ghibli’s Gedo Senki, Teshima’s crystal clear, soothing voice is perfect for relaxing to. Somewhat reminds me of listening to contemporary songs/gospel music. She’s also helped by the strength of the material; with the likes of established songwriters Taniyama Hiroko, Arai Akino and Yoshida Isao (formerly of JUNGLE SMILE) contributing songs. A little short at just 8 songs, but if you’re into dreamy, ethereal slow stuff (a lot like the aforementioned Arai Akino), you’ll love this.

ASCENSION. MISIA

There was a point where I couldn’t bear listening to MISIA at all, around the time she released her biggest hit to date, Everything. It nearly did my head in, that – it was a combination of her voice, the cheesy melody and the length of the song that made me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork everytime I heard it. Though listening to it some 6 1/2 years later doesn’t elicit the same feelings, in fact it actually sounds quite nice…. maybe I’m getting soft?In any case I found ASCENSION so-so; r’n'b/funk/blues really isn’t my cup of tea. She still has a penchant for long, drawn-out ballads but there’s some excellent tracks like Suna no Shiro and REMEMBER LADY.

Scratch. Kimura Kaela

Her newest single Snowdome piqued my interest in this slightly; I thought CIRCLE was unbearably dull. I’m glad to have given this a go – it’s a stonking pop album; chock-full of catchy, hummable tunes. dolphin, Wako to Kotori and of course Snowdome are the highlights for me. I guess you could compare her to er…Avril Lavigne (whose new songs are pure tripe).

green chord. ACIDMAN

Hmm. I’m not too sure how I feel about green chord based on 2-3 listens. I reckon it could be a grower but at the moment it’s a wee bit slow and quiet for me. Sekitou was the first ACIDMAN song I heard (when it was re-released in 2002), and instantly fell in love with Zouka ga Warau, Isotope and Furuaki. Of course, their sound has moved on since then (and so have I). Those who liked the quieter tones of and world will find green chord a pleasure to listen to.I’ll probably do a separate post on the Negima!? drama CD, once I actually get around to listening to it.