j1m0ne’s blog

14 February 2007
Ratings? I always used to think they were kinda pointless. But I know it can get really annoying trying to read through all the waffling just to see if the reviewer thought it was good or bad (ie Mojo). tl;dr, yawn. So, ratings.

Singles
Kibou. 100s

It’s been 2 years since 100s (Hyakushiki) released anything so I was eagerly anticipating this. Kibou is perhaps not quite what I expected - it’s a lot more mainstream than both A and Honeycom.ware (their first two singles). That’s not necessarily a bad thing; large parts of their debut album OZ as well as most of frontman Nakamura Kazuyoshi’s work are heavily influenced by ’60s British rock (think the Beatles and The Kinks). The c/w song, a live version of Sing-a-long is more my cup of tea - a melodic rock tune with chunky riffs. It’s well worth checking 100s out, Honeycom.ware especially - a song with some of the most bizarre lyrics ever.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Michi. EXILE

The first EXILE single in ages that I actually like! Reminds me of some of their older ballads like We Will and Hane 1/2…. their release schedule seems to be somewhat packed - being milked by AVEX (like Koda Kumi) before their expiry date draws close I see. I had been contemplating buying EVOLUTION before I saw the covers. Somebody shoot me.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Love. Kawashima Ai

This is quite possibly her best single to date. Loved it the first time I saw the PV (which is unfortunately dull as hell). I was getting bored of Ai releasing piano ballad after piano ballad so My Love (Ainori theme song) is a welcome change of pace. Kawashima was the lead singer of the now defunct I WiSH and anime heads may also know her as the person who sang Kimi no Koe, the theme song for Shinkai Makoto’s Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place yada etc whatever it was again).

Speaking of Shinkai, I’m a little disappointed they chose to use Yamazaki Masayoshi’s One more time, One more chance as the ending song for his new feature Byousoku 5cm. I suppose the lyrics would fit in with the show’s theme of love and all, but couldn’t they have just written something new It’s not one of my favourite Yamazaki songs…..
Rating: ★★★★☆

Uruwashiki Hito/Seishun no Tobira. Ikimonogakari

They just keep churning out great single after great single - and their first major label album’s due out next month which will hopefully sell bucketloads. After Yuming, Ohta Hiromi, Princess Princess and Elephant Kashimashi; it’s Candies’ turn (Haru Ichiban) to get the Ikimonogakari cover treatment - definitely made me grin. Not a patch on the original but pretty fun nonetheless.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Kokorone. Nanamusica

I find it hard to resist stuff like this - really nice ballad. Ah.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Finding My Road. melody.

An artist which I’d gladly buy a B-sides collection over her greatest hits any day. I’ve never been too impressed with the Hawaiian-born singer’s upbeat songs; most of it’s just dross even BoA would find embarassing. Similarly, Finding My Road’s another one of those horrible attempts at getting people on the dancefloor; I pressed the next button within 30 seconds. The c/w song fragile is much better IMO.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Sekai no Hate Made. Takada Kozue

I can’t be the only one who thinks her vocals are crap. Takada writes her own stuff, which are mainly MOR ballads that start off promising but mostly end up going nowhere.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Ai to iu Kotoba. Saki

Nice happy pop single, ED theme for the Bones anime Ayakashi Ayashi (yawn). Much better than the OP by Captain Straydum.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

TRAIN. STRAIGHTENER

Another single after last month’s SIX DAY WONDER, building up to the release of their new album Linear (7th March). Back to the hard-rocking stuff, TRAIN sounds much like most of their louder stuff; think ROCKSTEADY and SILVER STAR. The c/w Silhouette is a gentler affair featuring just Horie Atsushi and his acoustic guitar. Like ELLEGARDEN, ART-SCHOOL and AKFG? You’ll love STRAIGHTENER.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Season of Love. Kuraki Mai

Two Kuraki singles in a row I actually like, wonders never cease. This reminds me a little of Love, Day After Tomorrow and Secret of My Heart which are my favourite songs by her.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Albums
14 message~every ballad songs 2~. Every Little Thing

ELT will always have a fond place in my heart, Time goes by was one of the first Jpop songs I heard and still is one of my all-time faves. Unfortunately, Mochida Kaori’s (occasional) excruciatingly painful live performances dampen my enthusiasm somewhat. Her voice has been deteriorating over the last coupla years - sounds like she’s straining it too much. Their recent output has left me cold; Swimmy and Hi-fi Message don’t hold a candle to stuff like Time goes by and For the moment. There was a point where day after tomorrow (former ELT member Igarashi Mitsuru’s new band) sounded more like Every Little Thing than ELT themselves did.

Timed to coincide with Singles Awareness Day, the second installment of their ballads collection collects songs from 2002 onwards - 14 tracks for singletons to drown their sorrows in. It’s not particularly bad, stuff like Nostalgia and Koibumi are trademark ELT ballads, but halfway through you start nodding off hoping for something to raise the tempo. Meanwhile, I’ll go and listen to Grip!.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Love Aice5. Aice5

Another one of those seiyuu units that sell records based on their individual popularity rather than the quality of the music (DROPS, Prits etc). Predictably mediocre stuff - I don’t think there’s actually any song I would say I really, absolutely liked; Smile and Love Power (both written by Hashimoto Yukari aka marianne Amplifier) are the only ones that actually sound like they have a proper chorus.

Amongst the songs the girls wrote the lyrics for, Furifuri is probably the pick of the lot. Helps that Masumin has been plugging the song on radio for a while now. The line we are hyper cute ladies makes me cringe though….. Chiaki’s probably the best singer among the 5 but sod it, the songs are just so horribly dull not even Pavarotti could save them. And if anyone is still wondering how to pronounce that name; it’s ICE. As in the stuff water becomes when you bung it in the freezer. Not Ace Five or Acey Five or anything like that.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The Great Bambi Pop Swindle. Shintani Ryoko

I used to loathe Shintani (high-pitched screeching doesn’t sit well with me) but I’ve warmed up to her lately with her roles in PaniPoni, Red Garden and Kasimasi. Same story goes with her music career, never been a huge fan of her self-styled ‘bambi pop’ but I thought CANDY☆POP☆SWEET☆HEART was one of the best anime songs of 2006.

The ‘brilliantly’ named THE GREAT BAMBI POP SWINDLE is a ragtag collection of live tunes, remixes and anime-related tracks that didn’t make it to previous albums. There’s Mayoi Hime Panic (the Himesama Goyoujin Prologue song), Life is Free (Damekko Doubutsu ED) and Butterfly (Neko da mon. radio theme). I love the live acoustic version of Wasurenai yo; Shintani’s vocal is fragile but powerful, and full of emotion. HAPPY END (previously a c/w song of Wonderstory) is also a nice happy tune that really should’ve been a single. Predictably, the remixes do my head in >_>
Rating: ★★★☆☆

shabon songs. Ando Yuko

Not to be confused with the newscaster of the same name, the multi-talented Ando (singer, model, actress) follows up last year’s fine Merry Andrew with shabon songs (which debuted at No.3 in the Oricon on its first day!). She’s a CHARA fan and it shows both in the music (Ando writes all her own songs) and the vocals. Great acoustic singer-songwriter stuff.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Posted on February 16th, 2007 under music, this week in japan • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback