Filed under: Announcements & News
Yes, that’s right I’m moving house today and currently the only piece of furniture that’s not dismantled is the computer desk. We are also chaging internet plans at the new house (yay! more gigs) but this might take a while, so therefore I may not be able to post for about two weeks. But FEAR NOT! I shall return…
In the meantime let’s watch people fail at life;
I’ll be back in a jiffy~
Track list:
1. Arabesque
2. Ai no Jikken
3. Erotic
4. Hikousen
5. Kaifuku Suru Kizu
6. Houwa
7. Tobenai Tsubasa
8. Kyoumei
9. Glide
Kokyu is Salyu’s debut album, however it is not recognised as an ~official~ Salyu album because it was released under the artist name of Lily Chou-Chou for the movie All About Lily Chou-Chou. It was released on the 17th of October, 2001.
When the producers of the Japanese movie All About Lily Chou-Chou, also known as Riri Shushu no Subete decided that Salyu should play the fictional pop goddess Lily Chou-Chou, who helps insecure teenagers survive school-life through her melodic voice, they made the right decision. If you are familiar with and of Salyu’s later work you will be aware of her distinctive voice, but with Lily Chou-Chou her voice is much different. It sounds calmer, smoother and although it may not be as strong it still is pleasant to listen to.
If you’re not into slow moving and droopy music then unfortunately this album may not be for you, but if you are one whom likes emotional and somewhat depressing music then this album is a must listen. While Salyu in this album may be bland in terms of her singing she manages to capture the overall depressing mood of the album. In no ways is Kokyu a happy album. It’s subtle and melodramatic, but nonetheless brilliant. While some songs such as Kaifuku Suru Kizu may bore because of the lack of climax and interesting arrangement the majority of the album is presented nicely through simple arrangements and and sullen vocals.
By far the most depressing and best song on the album is Hikousen which is a piece of art in its own right. Only consisting of the lyrics “I miss you” and a few Japanese lines it is the epitome of the album. The arrangement, the vocals and the lyrics all come together as one and create one of the most hauntingly depressing, yet beautiful songs of the decade. I’m not joking… it’s that good!
If you’re looking for something that shies away from mainstream then look no further. Kokyu shall we say, is a very “different” album. It’s not a feel good album that will make you think the world is full of flowers after you listen to… quite the opposite actually. I wouldn’t describe Kokyu as a pop album, instead it fits better into the alternative album and I must say there’s no other albums out there quite like this.
While Kokyu has its ups, it’s not complete without its downs. On the most parts the arrangements, while simple, are interesting to however there is the odd occasion where the arrangements can get boring. The same can be said about Salyu’s vocals. In Houwa Salyu’s vocals are modified to make them have a more rugged; however this makes the arrangement take over and drown out the vocals which isn’t a pretty thing. Kyoumei although presented better also suffers the same fate in terms of arrangements drowning out Salyu’s voice.
Kokyu worked on a personal level for me, the album had an emotional edge which could not possibly be present in a mainstream album. Some songs (mainly Hikousen) where heartbreaking and oh so hauntingly beautiful. All I can say about albums like Kokyu is that there simply aren’t enough released.
Salyu has proved that you really can make an album appeal on a personal level. She has released something that is totally original and that can’t compare to any other out there. It’s a shame that she hasn’t released any more albums as emotional as this. As I have said earlier Salyu may not have very powerful vocals on this album, but the vocals she’s displayed on Kokyu work well with the music, however in a few instances they let her down as do the arrangements that sound her voice. Putting it simply; if you’re into a emotional and original album then look no further.
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Hits
Arabesque | Ai no Jikken | Erotic | Hikousen | Tobenai Tsubasa | Guide
So-so:
Kaifuku Suru Kizu | Houwa | Kyoumei
Misses:
N/A
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Overall Rating:
4 stars
So what do you have when you put your media player to shuffle and then place it next to a typical blockbuster movie scene; the soundtrack of life o’ course~! Big shout out to Josh from Shuffle and Repeat who gave me the idea (:
Opening Credits
Futari – Miyu Nagase: depends on the movie really, but I certainly know that I wouldn’t pick this for opening credits.
Waking Up
Reading Time With Pickle – Regina Spektor: One of Regina Spektor’s quirkier songs. Not the best song for waking up as it is slow and droopy.
Going to School
BARBiE BARBiE – Aira Mitsuki: The Asian Barbie doll song ‘eh? Doesn’t quite fit into the whole school theme, although it would be quite energetic while I walk to the bus stop.
Falling in Love
Standing Up – Tina Arena: NO! NO! NO! It needs to be mellower and more interesting XD. C’mon get some good songs already~!
Fight Song
Heartless – Kanye West: Yeah this song isn’t actually a bad one, especially for the consequent of the fight… “I did some things, but that’s the old me”. Seems like a good line for a fight to me.
Breaking Up
Lighting Strike – Snow Patrol: I love this song SO MUCH! Being nearly 17 minutes in length it’s one of the longest songs on my library. The subdued mood matches the breaking up, and also the mention about the different weather could be a metaphorical reference to the many feelings experienced when breaking up.
Prom
Under Babydoll – Nana Kitade: Nah, too much rock and the atmosphere is dark… not an atmosphere I’d like to experience at prom. NEXT!
Life is Good
See The Sun – The Kooks: The name pretty much says it all! The lyrics are sweet – “You can have it all and wrap it in the world.” Having said this it is also about the jealousy of someone else perfect life, so maybe not?
Mental Breakdown
Sakuranbo – Ai Otsuka: ROFL… COULDN’T HAVE PICKED A WORSE SONG!
Driving
Soba ni Iru ne – Thelma Aoyama: I was so hoping that Koda Kumi’s Driving would come on, but instead I was given this… which doesn’t fit the mood.
Flashback
Irreplaceable – Beyoncè: Hmmm seems to me that iTunes doesn’t want to work with me tonight… AARGH!
Getting Back Together
Emergency – Paramore: Lulz, *rolls eyes* once again a shocking song to suit the mood. Would’ve made a neat breaking up song though…
Wedding
Kiseki – Koda Kumi: Well it’s a love song, however personally I would want to be avoiding a song by Koda Kumi because her sugary pop just doesn’t suit the mood.
Paying the Dues
Tookumade – Do As Infinity: “Soo far away (from fitting the mood)” Yeah that sounds about right…
The Night Before The War
Runaway – Pink: Yeah this could work, it’s a nice song about insecurities and the lyrics “I’ll try to stay alive” fit pretty well.
Final Battle
Sunglass – Utada Hikaru: Umm yeah because a laid-back R&B song fully fits a dramatic battle… err no!
Moment of Triumph
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write A Letter – Billy Williams: LULZ!
Death Scene
ReBiRTH – Ayumi Hamasaki: Despite the name being about birth this interlude by Ayumi Hamasaki actually fits REALLY well!
Funeral Song
Prologue ~ Trust You – Tainaka Sachi: Another instrumental that fits absolutely perfectly!
End Credits
Fully Alive (Acoustic Version) – Flyleaf: An emo song to end a movie? Hmm it could work in a few instances… or not? Lovely song though!
So lets see how I went ‘eh?
Spot on: 6
Hmmm: 5
Total miss: 9
Despite my low score that was actually really fun. I’m actually planning on making this a monthly feature now… hopefully my scores will improve XD!
Filed under: Chihiro Onitsuka, Features! | Tags: Chihiro Onitsuka, Chihiro Onitsuka Gekkou, Chihiro Onitsuka infection, Chihiro Onitsuka Memai, 鬼束ちひろ, I Love Chihiro, I Love Chihiro Onitsuka, J-POP, Japanese Pop, JPOP
Yes, so as you may have guessed from the image above this post is about my love for the singer/songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka.
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Chihiro Onitsuka was born on the 30th of October, 1980 in Nango, Miyazaki. She was strongly influenced by Western Artists such as The Carpenters and later on Jewel which is her main inspiration as a singer and songwriter.
Chihiro was originally signed under the label Toshiba EMI, however in 2004 she changed labels due to the fact that Toshiba EMI released an A-side album against her will. To this day Toshiba EMI still release material of Chihiro… I guess they must miss her huh?
Ironically her first single Shine didn’t even make to top 200 on the Oricon Charts, however her second single Gekkou which was of an entirely different nature, being a haunting ballad compared to an upbeat pop song, which honestly does not suit Chihiro. Her second single was followed by Cage and in 2001 followed by Memai/Edge which Best Lyrics Award at the Japan Record Awards.
Her first album Insomnia was released on the 7th of March, 2001 and currently is her only number one material to date. It is estimated that sales topped 1.4 million. From then on her popularity has declined, however she still managed to release beautiful piano-driven ballads.
In 2002 Chihiro started a new era with the release of infection/LITTLE BEAT RIFLE. Despite being possibly Chihiro’s best and most emotional song to date infection was plagued with controversy. The Western world was getting over the grief and terror of the September 11 attacks, when Chihiro released a song with figurative lyrics about a “heart-shattering” explosion. Unfortunately the timing couldn’t have been worse and because of this promotion of infection was cancelled – one of the many mistakes made by Toshiba EMI. Chihiro released a sixth single Ryuuseigun which was then followed up with her second album This Armor
A mere nine months later and Chihiro released her third album Sugar High. With very little promotion Sugar High still managed to reach two on
the Oricon. During the end of Chihiro’s Toshiba EMI days she released four singles Sign, Beautiful Fighter, Ii Hi Tabidachi Nishe e and Watashi wo Waltz wo. Then tragedy struck… Chihiro needed to have throat surgery (which is the worst type of surgery for a singer as it can permanently effect their voices) if she was to peruse her singing career. Chihiro’s voice is noticeably different and weaker on her fourth album LAS VEGAS however in later singles her voice seems to have improved.
Being the smart label that they are (cough cough) Toshiba EMI decided to release a best of album, entitled Singles Box against Chihiro’s wishes which in return Chihiro packed her boxes and broke the ties with the record label.
In 2004 she signed a label under Universal Music and released a breaking her folk barriers by released a rock inspired single Sodatsu Zazzou. Despite once again having little promotion (not even a PV!) the single reached 10 on the Oricon Charts!
And then…
…Chihiro seemed to disappear from the face of the planet…
Chihiro went on a three year hiatus in which she was stalked, at one point weighed only 36 kilograms, read comics and listened to Arashi and Tori Amos.
In 2007 Chihiro came back from the dead (or at least it seamed that way) and released two singles everyhome and Bokura Barairo no Hibi followed by her fourth and much anticipated album LAS VEGAS.
Currently after the release of LAS VEGAS Chihiro has released two singles Hotaru which was released in August, 2008 and X/Last Melody which was released on the 20th of May 2009. Another single Kaerimichi wo Nakushite is scheduled for release on the 25th of July 2009, which will hopefully be followed up by a fifth album.
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I discovered Chihiro Onitsuka purely by chance. The first song of hers I ever listened to was Gekkou and from then on I have been captivated!
Chihiro’s alto voice is STUNNING! Her head voice and most notably her chest voice is ~amazing~!
Waiting for Chihiro to release new material has been an excruciating wait, however it was worth the wait. X/Last Melody was released a few days ago (May 20 to be exact) and is amazing and shows a darker and aggressive side of Chihiro.
Chihiro is highly recommended to people who like… uh anyone really? I won’t make comparisons to other artists because the fact of the matter is that her voice is completely original and her arrangements are so ambient that she bends the rules of pop and rock to come up with emotional, heartwarming and heartbreaking songs about love, pain and loss delivered with mystifying arrangements and an exceptional voice.
Yes… I’m just slightly obsessed ^^
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When I first heard Meisa Kuroki’s music the first word that came into my head was ~NAMIE~! Both Meisa and Namie Amuro’s voices sound extremely similar, their musical style is the same and with the cover above I’m even starting to question whether they whether they are separated at birth?!
Anyhow both artists will be featured on Ironic Clown in the near future~!
I’ve seen this circulating through a few of the J-Pop blogs and thought I would give it a go… ^^
What was the first Japanese song that you ever listened to?
Well I know that everyone says this, but my first Japanese song I ever listened to was Simple And Clean by Utada Hikaru. However unlike the majority of J-Pop fans who heard this song first from Kingdom Hearts, I actually didn’t! My friend was showing me a song that she thought I might like, and yeah I liked it… and then the snowball effect happened…
Did it inspire you to like that group/singer, or did it turn you away?
Definitely inspired me! At first I would ONLY listen to Utada Hiakru and then eventually I started to branch out into different Japanese artists until it became an obsession.
What is the one song that you have been listening to for the longest time?
Haha, well obviously Simple And Clean, but the song that has never ever gotten old for me and I have listened to it for years now without getting bored of it is Keep Tryin’ and Dareka no Negai ga Kanou Koro.
What group/singer have you liked the longest?
Utada Hikaru for sure~! I still adore her, but she needs to release stuff more frequently than she does. Having said this pretty much everything she does release is of exceptional quality.
What is the song with the most plays on your iTunes player?
Surprisingly it’s not a Japanese song. It’s actually a song that released not too long ago, it’s Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait. Yeah I had an absolute obsession with it not long ago and left it on repeat for about a week!
Is that song your favorite?
Um, well I’m not really obsessed with it anymore, but I still love it because the lyrics are sweet.
If not, what is?
Well, at the moment I really like It’s All Love by Koda Kumi & misono, however I’ll eventually get over that, but for the time being it’s just so damn catchy!
Hmm for all time that’s a bit of a hard one. I absolutely love Rie fu’s Romantic because it’s just so unexpected and at the time I first listened to it I could relate to the lyrics a lot. Dramatic I know.
As far as English language music goes; Nicest Thing and Foundations by Kate Nash are two songs that I can listen for an eternity and never get over them
Is there any one group that you can listen to all/most of the songs by? If so, who?
I’ve got a confession to make… I don’t listen to any boy bands! Shocking I know. So I guess in answer to this I would have to say Perfume, because they are one of the only Japanese “groups” that I listen to… in short I prefer solo artists…
What is your favorite agency?
That’s a hard one mainly because an artist’s performance doesn’t usually have to depend on the label they have. For some reason I have this sneaking suspicion that Toshiba EMI isn’t a very good label because many people change labels when they are with Toshiba EMI
What is your favorite group/singer?
Again, that’s a tough one. I guess I would have to say my all time favourite Japanese singer would have to be Utada Hikaru, but I don’t listen to her that much. Some (not all) other Japanese artists I really like are; Rie fu, Faray, Chihiro Onitsuka, JYONGRI, KOKIA, MiChi, Miwako Okuda, melody., Perfume, Namie Amuro, Meisa, Eri Nobuchika, Koda Kumi, Yuna Ito, BoA, Thelma Aoyama… and yeah the list could pretty much go on forever…
My overall favourite English artist is Kate Nash, but I also love Regina Spektor, Adele, Jack’s Mannequin, Lily Allen, Beyoncé, Angus & Julia Stone, Flyleaf, Ela Soza, DeVotchKa, Gabriella Cilmi, The Hoosiers… once again this list could go on forever~!
In general I can listen to most artists if they have a good voice and interesting/catchy arrangements…
Filed under: Thelma Aoyama | Tags: Aoyama Thelma, ONE WAY, Soba ni Iru ne, Thelma Aoyama, Thelma Aoyama - DIARY, Thelma Aoyama DIARY review
Track list:
1. My Beginning
2. Soba ni Iru ne [feat. SolJa]
3. ONE WAY
4. My dear friend
5. Last Letter
6. RHYTHEM
7. GOOD TIME MIX [feat. MIKU from YA-KYM]
8. HIGHER
9. Paradise
10. This Day [feat. Dohzi-T]
11. Kono mama de
12. Anata ni aete Yokatta
13. Mama e
14. DIARY
DIARY is Thelma’s Aoyama first studio album. It was released on the 26TH of March, 2008 and reached number three on the Oricon Weekly Charts selling a total of 372, 375 copies making it the 26th best selling Japanese album of the year.
Step aside Yuna Ito, Thelma Aoyama is here! From the beginning it’s quite clear that Thelma’s voice is absolutely amazing and matches perfect with the pop music that she makes. Her voice is soft, smooth and emotional which makes the entire album come to life and without her amazing voice the album wouldn’t be half as good as it is.
The beginning immediately tells us that this album will be a typical sincere, love based album. In the introduction track My Beginning Thelma says (in a quite well executed English) “This is way, my words, my message, my story, this is my… diary.” The piano backs up these lines to add to the sweet feel of this track. It’s a great way to start an album as it gives us a taste of what we can expect.
The introduction track flows immediately into the second song Soba ni Iru ne which is an lovely and rather mellow song. It features SoulJa which as usual doesn’t add any creative input and to be quite honest I would be perfectly happy if he wasn’t even in this track because his rapping ruins the mood. However this might be slightly biased coming from a person who can’t stand most rappers.
From ONE WAY to This Day Thelma shows her pop side with the occasional ballad thrown in here and there. Thelma’s pop tracks are produced well because she keeps things simple and balances it out with acoustic instruments, mainly the piano. This works well for the majority of the tracks, however a couple of tracks (mainly This Day) can tend to get on the boring side, and once again the rapping doesn’t do Thelma any favours. For a debut artist Thelma has collaborated with a fair amount of people. She worked with Soulja in Soba ni Iru ne, MIKU from YA-KYIM in GOOD TIME REMIX and Dohzi-T in This Day. Surprisingly none of the “featured” artists add anything special to the album and as I have said before I would be perfectly happy if they weren’t even included in the first place.
DIARY has a total of five (six if you include the introduction track) ballads. Some may call this a lot, but personally I think this is a perfect balance. Thelma performs her pop ballads at top quality, much thanks to her amazing and calming voice. She manages to convey a lot of emotion in her voice and can hit high notes well. She sings with a head voice that is clear and tranquil. The ballads do tend to sound the same, however I quite like all the ballads so this doesn’t have to be seen as a bad thing.
Thelma uses a moderate amount of English. The most can be seen in the introduction track, obviously, as it is completely in English. Thelma tends to say random phrases in English such as; ”Every night I’m missing you. Every night I want a new… Namida…” and “Don’t leave me alone, please don’t go away. You’re my everything.” and other cliché phrases like that.
Some may not like the track listing because most of the ballads seem to be squished at the end, but personally I don’t mind this track listing because it makes the album flow better and ends the album on a sincere note. The flow of the album is pulled off nicely, especially between My Beginning and Soba ni Iru ne which seem to flux into one song. Perhaps an interlude could have been included between This Day and Kono mama de, however even without an interlude the album seems to flow relatively well.
Overall DIARY is a great album. I think Thelma’s voice matches the type of music that she creates excellently. Even though this is Thelma’s first album she still manages to sound professional and genuine. She has released feel good pop music that is lightly sprinkled with synth to create a felicitous album with warm vocals a laidback feel.
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Hits:
My Beginning | Soba ni Iru ne [feat SoulJa | ONE WAY | My dear friend | Last Letter | Paradise | Kono mama de | Anata ni aete Yokatta | Mame e | DIARY
So-so:
RHYTHM | GOOD TIME REMIX [feat. MIKU from YA-KYIM] | HIGHER | This Day [feat. Dohzi T]
Misses:
N/A
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Overall Rating:4 stars
Yes, that’s right… I’m moving… no, not moving blogs or anything drastic like that! We’re moving house, which is pretty exciting?
So what does this mean for me?
Well unfortunately for the next two months my blog will be slightly inactive because of the fact that we are moving house AND half yearly exams are coming up soon too. So I WILL still post, but maybe not as much. I really am sorry… T_T
