Perfume September 7, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Music.Tags: Jpop, Music, Perfume
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Perfume are a three-member Japanese technopop group from Hiroshima. I’d never really heard of them until their name cropped up in a few Jpop blogs I follow about a month or so before my recent Japan trip.
As it happened, my trip coincided with the release of their new album, Triangle, and, in my usual easily-persuaded-by-advertising way, I picked it up on my last day. And as it turns out, I love it.
Well, technically I don’t love all of it. Like a lot of my recent Jpop CD’s about half the tracks I’m ambivalent too (and a couple are a bit meh), but the tracks I do like I absolutely *adore* (and, unsurprisingly, they happen to be the previously released singles from the album).
Take for example, the first proper track, Love the World, which is just about as perky as you can get. It’s been bringing a smile to my face all summer.
My second favourite is the penultimate track, One Room Disco, which has a fantastic video:
I love the way this starts off with a slightly menacing techno riff, but quickly gets into a more upbeat rhythm. This *always* cheers me up.
Having played Triangle pretty much non-stop for the last month, I sought out Perfume’s back catalogue too. I can’t say I’m as enamoured with the rest of it as Triangle. I was surprised that some of it is really pure bubblegum pop — clearly before their producer moved them to a more techno sound — and a lot of it isn’t quite as catchy as I’d hoped. But there are some absolute gems, like Perfect Star, Perfect Style from their Complete Best album (this live video really showing off their para para aspect):
It’s a funny thing technopop. I can honestly say I hate most techno music, but when infused with this level of bubblegum pop, not to mention the harmonic vocals of A-chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka, it’s irresistable. Not to mention, the beat is really good for totally losing yourself in. Sometimes, after a really long, stressful day, putting this on on the way home really unwinds me.
So Perfume, you have another fan and I chalk this to another of my happy, serendipitous fandom discoveries. ^^
Japan trip 2009: The otaku experience August 9, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Anime, Film, Friends, Gunpla, Japan, Personal, Travel.Tags: Anime, Books, figures, games, Gundam, Gunpla, Gurren Lagann, Honey and Clover, Japan, Jpop, K-ON, Manga, Music, otaku, plamo, shopping
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Gundam and I, Odaiba, July 2009
So, I’ve written all about my Japan trip. But given the nature of this blog, it’s the geeky things you want to hear about right? ^^
Otaku highlights include the 1/1 scale Gundam in Odaiba, seeing Evangelion 2.0 in a Shibuya cinema (review to come in a later post) and discovering the ‘Akihabara of Osaka’ Den Den Town. (more…)
K-ON! Gekichuka Shu Album: Ho-Kago Tea Time August 6, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Anime, Music, Video.Tags: Anime, K-ON, Music
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As previously noted on this blog, I liked, but wasn’t blown away by K-ON! as a series and was somewhat disappointed by the music scenes. That’s not to say I didn’t like some of the songs though.
A few weeks ago a K-ON! mini album was released. K-ON! Gekichuka Shu Album: Ho-Kago Tea Time is a really short compilation of the four insert songs from the series: Curry Nochi Rice, Watashi no Hochi Kisu, Fude Pen ~Ball Pen~ and Fuwa Fuwa Time (the latter having been released as a single already. And yes, the song titles are slightly embarrassing ^^;)
I have to say, since I got this I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. I still find Fuwa Fuwa Time catchy, but not incredible, and Curry Nochi Rice isn’t really that good a song. But Watashi no Hochi Kisu and Fude Pen are out of this world.
Hochi Kisu in particular gives me goosebumps every time I hear the opening riff, particularly on the live version. I guess it reminds me of that dreamy moment in the series when Azusa walks in to the hall and hears the band playing for the first time (see video below). It’s just got a wonderful high-school nostalgia feel about it and is incredibly mushy, particularly with Yui’s (Toyosaki Aki) moe vocals.
Fude Pen ~Ball Pen~
So while I am still taken aback at K-ON!’s popularity amongst the otaku community (the amount of merchandise I saw in Japan was eye-popping) I’m not completely immune to K-ON!’s charms ^^
Gundam 00 music March 15, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Anime, Music.Tags: Anime, Gundam, Gundam 00, Jpop, Music
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Gundam 00 has been exciting, if a little disappointing with its constant deux ex machina plot twists. What I’ve really enjoyed though is the music accompanying it. The OP and ED themes have been outstanding, so I thought I’d write a little to showcase another successful Gundam/JPop collaboration. Videos after the jump. (more…)
Tommy February6 / Tommy Heavenly6: Soda Pop Daydream vs. Gothic Nightmare March 8, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Music.Tags: Jpop, Music, Tommy February6, Tommy Heavenly6
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Last week I received a huge parcel from YesAsia: my Tommy boxsets!
Strawberry Cream Soda Pop and Gothic Melting Ice Cream. ドちらがいい？
I’ve been a huge fan of Tommy ever since Lonely in Gorgeous was used as the OP for the Paradise Kiss anime. Around the same time I fell for a song called Sayonara Summer is Over by a band called the Brilliant Green. Little did I know Tomoko Kawase was the voice behind both.
Here’s Lonely in Gorgeous.
So, Tommy just released two best of albums, one for the disco-pop Tommy February6 and one for the goth-rock-pop Tommy Heavenly6 (though surprisingly not on 6 February, Tomoko’s birthday). Both boast a hell of an album title: Strawberry Cream’s Soda Pop Daydream and Gothic Melting Ice Cream’s Darkness Nightmare.
Being a sucker for Japanese merchandise gimmicks, I ordered the deluxe boxset blu-spec CD and DVD versions of both.
The box sets are a mirror image of each other: one goth and one pop depending on your taste (I love both, but definitely swing more toward pop Tommy ^^). The goodies include: the best of album featuring a couple of new bonus tracks (like Unlimited Sky, the recent Gundam 00 insert song), the DVD with all the singles’ music videos, a set of clear plastic sleeves with the single covers printed on them, a school-themed photobook, a sheet of stickers and the standard booklet of lyrics and credits. Best of all is a lovely ring binder with a metal embossed plate, in keeping with the whole high-school student theme. And there’s a big box to put everything in.
God knows what I’m actually going to do with all this stuff (keep it in the box on a shelf NRFB no doubt ^^;) but it’s nice to have and a must for any Tomoko Kawase fan.
The albums themselves are great. As a best of, it’s obviously all been heard before but it’s great to hear all the singles in a big long playlist (even the full ten minute Hallowe’en weirdo version of Lollipop Candy Bad Girl).
Gallery after the jump.
Asobi Seksu live @ ICA, London February 22, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Music.Tags: Asobi Seksu, Music
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Asobi Seksu live at the ICA, London
Asobi Seksu came to town this week and I jumped at the chance to see them live, especially since it was a live review that introduced me to their music in the first place.
It was a great gig. The band clearly likes playing in London (Yuki Chikudate: “It’s like our home away from home. Just don’t tell New York!”) and the ICA is a nicely intimate venue for a mixed audience of electropop aficionados, Nihonjin and (most likely) otaku. Compliments to the lighting too, which was very appropriate, from the extreme red at the start (see photo above) to the slightly excessive use of strobe lighting for the head-banging tunes at the end.
Asobi’s songs are extremely atmospheric and translate well live, even if some of the songs do border on noise at times ^^; (as Yuki Chikudate herself said during the encore “We couldn’t leave here without making a racket!”).I have to admit, I’m not totally familiar with all of Asobi’s songs yet. Their debut album (Asobi Seksu) was the only one in my music collection until the gig (picked up their new albums, Hush and Acoustic at Olympic Studios, there though). Disappointingly for me, they didn’t play my two favorite tunes, I’m Happy But You Don’t Like Me and Umi De No Jisatsu, and it was that dream pop energy that first attracted me to their band (that and the Japanese connection ^^;). But I was happy to discover more from their archive and the new stuff from Hush, which was only released this week.
Performance-wise, Chikudate, James Hanna and their support are great to watch. They get heavily into the music (particularly the heavy parts!) and are pretty dynamic on stage. And yes, Yuki Chikudate is also ridiculously cute in person. Small, cute Japanese girls are always alluring and you can’t help but coo when she sways about, bundling her hair in her hands. Of course, she also knows how to straddle a stool and knock sixes and sevens out of the drum kit, but some would say that makes her the perfect woman!
Listening to the new albums in more detail, for me, there aren’t any songs as outstanding as my two faves, but the Acoustic album, recorded here in London, is really lovely. Chikudate’s voice reminds me a lot of Bic Runga at times, and the acoustic melodies really suit her. Thursday and Urusai Tori are probably my picks from that. Here’s Thursday:
From Hush, I do really like Me & Mary:
Overall, Asobi are growing on me more and more with every listen. They’re unlikely to go really mainstream, which is somewhat to my relief, as I look forward to more gigs like the ICA one in the future.
Ayaka January 12, 2009
Posted by ayasawada in Music.Tags: Ayaka, Jpop, Music, Zettai Kareshi
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Sing to the Sky cover
Over the last year or so, I’ve been listening on and off to Ayaka, a Japanese songstress, for want of a better word. But it wasn’t until last year, with the release of her second album, Sing to the Sky, that I’ve really become a fan.
I first came across her in 2006 when Omni over at Random Curiosity took time out from anime blogging to highlight one of her PVs. Her first album, First Message, soon followed. She has a really clear voice and a superb range of vocals, which are of course demonstrated in a range of ballads. But whilst those are nice, she also has more upbeat clap-along type songs.
I used to listen to Ayaka on and off, but have really rediscovered Sing to the Sky after starting the Zettai Kareshi drama (more on that when I finish the series). The ending theme is Ayaka’s ‘お帰り’ and it’s a really sweet song, though it opens a little oddly with what sounds like bagpipes (!). The song is about returning home (hence the title) to the warmth of someone who loves you. Yes, it’s as wholesome as it sounds and I love it ^^.
Yes, I’ve finally figured out how to embed tracks into a post.
Anyway, the rest of the album is similarly good. The first two tracks, ‘Power of Music’ and ‘愛を歌おう’ always lift my spirits and are on my early morning playlist. ‘今夜も星に抱かれて’ is a sweet, relaxing tune a little like お帰りbut more subtle. ‘Why’ is also a great, positive tune, though an odd choice to accompany the PSP game Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core if you ask me.
I’ve pretty much been listening to Sing to the Sky on repeat these past couple of weeks. Its great rediscovering albums after a while. If you get a chance, do give some of Ayaka’s songs a listen.
Rie Fu – Romantic November 24, 2008
Posted by ayasawada in Music, Video.Tags: Jpop, Music, Rie Fu
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Romantic cover
Along with the new Yui album, I also ordered the first press of Rie Fu’s new single.
Romantic is totally unlike her other songs, with Rie’s vocals mixed with synthetic beats and no clear beginning, middle and end. It’s essentially quite a modern track and a step away from the acoustic ballads she’s known for, though apparently it’s a cover. Here’s the video:
It’s a perfectly amicable song, very dreamy, and does grow on you after a few listens. But it’s not really outstanding and I certainly don’t love it as much as her last single, Home, which was typically catchy, though so wholesome you could have made brown bread out of it.
The B-sides on Romantic though, are typically good. In fact, I totally love the second track, In the airplane, which mixes Rie’s upbeat vocals with some modern harpsichord (I think) for a really catchy, sunshine of a song. I want to upload it here for you to listen to, but haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet ^^; (need to ID a place to host audio files). UPDATE 22/2/09: Here’s the song. Enjoy!
Yui – My short stories November 20, 2008
Posted by ayasawada in Music.Tags: Jpop, Music, Yui
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My Short Stories cover
I got Yui’s new B-sides album through the post last weekend and have been listening to it to death ever since. According to the Listen The World blog, it’s hit the top of the charts and sold over 174,000 copies in the first week! O.o
If I’m honest, it’s not as strong an album overall as Can’t Buy My Love. But like I Loved Yesterday, I feel it’s got some really outstanding tracks that make up for the so-so ones. ‘HELP’ is absolutely outstanding, even if it is quite old now (this is a B-sides collection after all) and I’d forgotten how much I love ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Winter Hot Music’. ‘Why Me’, apparently the first song Yui wrote, is also very pretty.
I’d made sure to pre-order this so I got the limited edition first press, which came with a bonus DVD featuring videos and a 45minute live. It was totally worth it as the live is great, even though Yui pulls some strange faces when she is singing sometimes ^_^; She really puts all her strength into her singing. Best of all, the live is punctuated by several random inserts of Yui playing impromptu acoustic street gigs in random covered shopping streets around Japan. These are really fun to watch. I wish I could have been at one…
Also, if it doesn’t sound too strange, I really like the paper the CD booklet is printed on. Nice and glossy.
This is HELP.
Oh Baby Baby Oh Baby Baby
夢見てるのよ 小さな頃から
Baby Baby 憧れだけが強くなる
Oh Yeah! チャンスをください
I believe my god oh oh oh!
I believe myself oh oh oh!
Yeah! 神様 HELP!
Pre-Parade (Toradora! OP) November 3, 2008
Posted by ayasawada in Anime, Music, Video.Tags: anisong, Jpop, Music, toradora!
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This week’s song-I-can’t-get-out-of-my-head is Pre-Parade, the OP theme of the new anime Toradora!,
The song is sung by the three main female seiyuu’s, Kitamura Eri, Horie Yui and Kugimiya Rie. It’s a good fun, catchy number, not to sweet and fluffy but capturing that crazy but sweet anisong dance vibe that makes stuff like Bouken Desho Desho so popular.
I really like the lyrics, which are pretty much about the main character Aisaka Taiga, constantly gearing herself up to confess her true feelings, saying the wrong thing and subsequently beating herself up about it. I also like the (mild, but typically Japanese) use of an English word and its Japanese pronounciation to mean two different things — in this case the ‘Pre-Parade’ and the ‘Preparation’ (or ‘pre-pare’ if you were to shorten it in Japanese) of confessing and (hopefully) getting a good response.
Anyway, it’s ridiculously catchy and I’ve had the chorus cropping into my head at many inappropriate moments (usually in meetings). The anime is pretty fun too and growing on me week on week ^_^
English translation after the jump, taken from Words of Songs. The kanji and romanji lyrics can be found there. (more…)
