j1m0ne’s blog

20 June 2007
…..I guess I was wrong about there not likely being a new Nanoha StrikerS opening, since Mizuki Nana’s already announced it on her website. MASSIVE WONDERS it’s called, lyrics by Nana-chan as usual and composition & arrangement by Yabuki Toshiro, who actually co-wrote and produced quite a lot of her earlier material (POWER GATE etc) but seemed to have been dropped in favour of the Elements Garden team (Agematsu Noriyasu, Fujita Junpei & Fujima Hitoshi) for HYBRID UNIVERSE. The song title’s are getting more and more bombastic, I wonder what the next one will be called…. maybe LIGHT FANTASTIC or AWE-INSPIRING MAJESTY or something random like that…. 22nd August’s the release date so mark ye calendars….

Last week’s reviews chart placings:
Singles
01. My Generation/Understand. YUI (79,277)
04. Kimi ni shika kikoenai. DCT (31,389)
07. Phonoscope. Suga Shikao (17,519)
13. Uninstall. Ishikawa Chiaki (7,741)
33. TWISTER. GOING UNDER GROUND

Albums
85. Negima!? Princess Festival CD. Various (1,766)

Stephanie continues her ascent to no.36 this week…..

And I want to point out one of the fave performances I’ve seen recently:
A live cover of Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara (yes, the Kiki’s Delivery Service theme by Yuming) by Suga Shikao, Saito Kazuyoshi & Sowelu. Splendid stuff.

Singles
Kureba ii no ni. KREVA feat. Kusano Masamune from Spitz

Quite possibly one of the unlikeliest collaborations - the former KICK THE CAN CREW rapper teams up with the lead singer of one of Japan’s most successful rock bands; match made in hell? But y’know, it actually works. In case you’re wondering, it’s definitely more KREVA than Spitz in style; and no, Kusano doesn’t attempt any rapping. You’ll like it if you’re a KREVA fan but I don’t think you will if you’re a Spitz fan and absolutely hate rap…..
Watch: Kureba ii no ni PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.02
Rating: ★★★★☆

My Mirai. Uura Saeka

B’z frontman Inaba Koshi wrote this one as well (in addition to her debut single), and it’s easy to tell…. just think of a B’z song with female vocals and that’s what Uura sounds like.
Watch: My Mirai PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.17
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Love is…. Kato Miliyah

Miliyah’s normal r’n'b stuff doesn’t appeal to me but I’d heard this before (anime Terra e… ending theme) so was prepared to give it a shot. Erm…. what can I say? It sounds like a cheesy wedding song….. not for me then ^^;
Watch: Love is… PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.08
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Yume Oboro. Kitamura Eri with Ise Mariya & Hayami Saori

I get the feeling I should like Yume Oboro (Touka Gettan OP) more than I actually do….to me it just sounds like a poor man’s Hitomi no Naka no Meikyuu (Yamibou OP). Kikyou’s image song is good though - I have no idea who Yamagata Satomi is, but her singing’s nice and easy on the ears. But how horrible is that cover?
First day Oricon chart placing: No.45
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Kono Sekai ga Itsuka wa. Hayami Saori

…..I don’t like this one much either. In fact, both the image songs on these two singles are better than the actual A-sides. Except maybe Ise Mariya’s singing is much worse than Hayami’s. The chorus of Kono sekai… is actually quite nice, but the rest of the song just meanders along tunelessly. Makes me wish they’d used Gekka no Rasen, the Touka Gettan game’s theme song instead. I actually thought Kobayashi Yu had recorded a song for either one of the singles but I guess I was mistaken….
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Tobiuo no Butterfly/Sekai ga Owaru Yoru ni. Chatmonchy

Girl rock! Something that I need to be in the right mood to listen to, cos most of the time it comes with screechy, shouty vocals (GO!GO!7188, Tsushimamire). I really like Chatmonchy though, their songs are just so damn catchy… and the PV puts a smile on my face. And they’re so cute ^^; They look like they should be singing cheesy Jpop, not rock ^_^
Watch: Tobiuo no Butterfly PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.03
Rating: ★★★★☆

100 Miles ~Niji o Oikakete. Santara

This is their third song to be used as an anime theme, but given the relative obscurity of the shows that Santara are associated with (Gallery Fake, Kemonozume & Ohedo Rocket) I’m not surprised that they’ve not gotten any more popular…. I don’t like 100 Miles for its similarities to the title track off their last album Wait, Catch & Run; I can hardly tell the verses apart and WC&R had a much better chorus. The remix is rubbish too. Kushami is the single’s saving grace, another slice of their laid-black blues that they really should do more often.
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Kimi wa boku no nani o suki ni nattan darou. Saito Kazuyoshi

Though he’s had a pretty prolific recording career, I’ve not actually listened to much of Saito’s music. Or rather, the only song of his I knew was Utautai no Ballad which was released… 10 years ago. Mostly know him for producing Hirakawachi 1-chome, but this single (a mellow ballad) has made me very interested and I’m gonna go hunt for his back catalogue now…
Watch: Kimi wa boku no nani o suki ni nattan darou live
First day Oricon chart placing: No.13
Rating: ★★★★☆

Generation-A Animelo Summer Live Theme Song. Various

Oh dear. I thought Surely it couldn’t be any worse than Outride (last year’s theme) but I was wrong. You’d think with all that talent around (Okui Masami, Kuribayashi Minami, JAM Project etc) that they could come up with a better song. Apparently not… I prefer listening to the ladies’ version cos it’s funny to hear Takarano Arika (from Ali Project) singing such a happy, upbeat song ^^;; Actually I can hardly make out who’s who apart from Mizuki Nana whose voice stands out easily.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.46
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Dare yori suki na no ni. Sowelu

Definitely prefer the version by Furuuchi Toko, but Sowelu’s isn’t bad - just not very different from the original which is surely what the point of a cover version is really.
Watch: Dare yori suki na no ni PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.14
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Goriyaku. Kome Kome Club

I haven’t listened to them much since they reformed, but they’ve produced so many classic Jpop tunes including of course, the 2.9m selling Kimi ga iru dake de. Goriyaku is…..bizarre. It’s the theme song for the upcoming Furuhata Yasuo movie Tsukigami (The Haunted Samurai), an off-beat period piece starring Tsumabuki Satoshi; and certainly sounds like something from the Edo era with the chanting and traditional instrumentation…. I think I’ll stick to their oldies.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.07
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Bravery ~Tadori tsukitai basho e~. Chata

This is the PS2 game Growlanser VI’s theme song CD. Chata seems to be breaking into the mainstream; after murmur, her major debut album with composer Shimomura Yoko comes this single and will be followed by the Potemayo ending theme Utatane in August. She’s certainly taken longer than frequent collaborators & close friends Katakiri Rekka & Shimotsuki Haruka to move on from doujin music… Only one song on this single has lyrics written by Chata (Yoake mae) and it’s my fave track - I don’t quite like the other two which are typically bland video game themes.
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Albums
Victorian Romance Emma Second Act OST. Ryo Kunihiko

I felt Ryo’s work on Saiunkoku Monogatari was somewhat below par so it’s a bit of a relief to revisit the world of Emma, the first soundtrack was fantastic after all. There are some familiar tunes including reworkings of Silhouette of a Breeze and Emma but also plenty of new songs with a good mix of flute, guitar and violin pieces. Nice easy listening music, or irritating muzak depending on what your tastes are ^^;
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★★☆

extremes. RADIO CAROLINE

I used to like thee michelle gun elephant (before they disbanded) but I’ve gone off garage rock completely now - most of it’s just mindless noise to be honest. Vocalist Chiba Yusuke’s current band ROSSO carry on in the same vein, and so are RADIO CAROLINE, bassist Ueno Kouji’s project. There are some half-decent tunes on this like Sticky Stink and Just Like Maria but also a few reminders of why I’ve grown to dislike the genre - Somebody’s Night and Memory are just dreadfully dull songs that are all noise and not a whole lot else.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.43
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Kirei na hana, kirei ni miemasuka?. Five Stones

Rap-rock a-la FLOW, except with worse production (they’re still on an indies label) and a little less cheese. Wonder if they’ll get signed to a major label someday, it seems all the indie bands I like are all getting signed up one by one (redballoon, the ARROWS, 9mm Parabellum Bullet)…
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I didn’t bother with Lena Park cos…. I am soooooo bored of hearing the kazillion ‘different’ versions of You Raise Me Up. Why doesn’t someone do a cover of say, Bohemian Rhapsody in Japanese? Now that’d be interesting. Still looking for Sato Chikuzen & MARIA’s albums… and I’ve got, but haven’t listened to the Hayate no Gotoku! OST yet.

Next week:
Mainstream: Singles from Koda Kumi, Ito Yuna, Asia Engineer, MONKEY MAJIK, Ketsumeishi, Nakamura Ataru & GO!GO!7188. Albums from LOVE PSYCHEDELICO, Quruli (which has already leaked….), Amuro Namie (ditto), Kawashima Ai & Takada Kozue.

Anime: It’s Lantis release week again~~~~
-Image singles from Tetsudo Musume & Seto no Hanayome
-the next installment of the Fate/stay ones; this time weedy Emiya Shiro (Sugiyama Noriaki)
-singles from Shintani Ryoko & Miyazaki Ui
-Ono Daisuke’s mini-album
-Hashimoto Miyuki’s second album
-soundtracks from Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA, sola & Polyphonica
-a Hidamari Sketch radio/song collection (someone tell me why Hiro/Goto Yuko gets 4 songs & the others only 1 each)
-yet another Negima!? ‘Variety’ Drama CD

Posted on June 21st, 2007 under music, this week in japan • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback