The End.

Or not.  While I realize my time away could have easily began to exceed a full year, I'm back.  And with a ton of CDs to shoot down, rant on and ponder (well.. not exactly in those words), everyone should expect my full return this month.

Until then, rock on to the music.

Huge CD Blowout Sale

I'm finally back in Rhode Island. Please expect more updates in the near future! In the meantime, for those of you who are thrifty (like myself), please do check out my huge CD blowout sale (here) to raise money for my new car (insurance)! I have TONS of CDs I'm adding on a daily basis including Kpop, Anime OST, Jpop and Cpop- everyone from J, TRINITY, Amuro Namie, D&D. Sailor Moon, Love Hina, Hitomi Shimatani, Morning Musume, Utada Hikaru, AKINA, Country Musume, Melon Kinebi, Ayumi Hamasaki, ELT, Hayami Kishimoto, cookies, Matsuura Aya, Nana Mizuki and lots, lots more.

Give me an email anytime at (mariijane @ gmail.com) and make sure to read the buyers' guidelines. Enjoy!

☆ Notice

My apologies for the sudden lack of updates this past week. Things in my personal life have been a little chaotic and I haven't found the time to really sit down and listen to Hirahara Ayaka's new album (which has been sitting in my shelf for a couple weeks now). I have every intent to work on that plus a few other goodies (melody.'s new album for example). However, due to circumstances I'll probably be MIA during the next month as I am preparing to move in August. Come May 1st I'll be back in RI until the day before my move-out date so basically it's in my best interest to pack and prepare everything before I leave PA for the summer. Believe me when I say this is not a 'temporary' haitus that eventually becomes permanent: I have every intention of getting back to work when I have the opportunity. I hope at the very least I'll be able to squeeze in one or two more reviews this month before I split. Once I'm back home I'll have lots of free time to work on new and interesting reviews plus a huge CD-blow out sale I've been planning.

Thank you everyone for reading (I know you're out there!) and I'll be back first chance I have.

Natsumi Abe "2nd ~Shimiwataru Omoi~"

2006年3月29日
CD-A / HKCN-50034

01 学生時代
02 恋の花
03 F．O．
04 夕暮れ作戦会議
05 夢ならば
06 日曜日 What's Going On
07 東京みちくさ
08 だって 生きてかなくちゃ
09 エレベーター二人ぽっち
10 恋のテレフォンGOAL
11 ちょっとずつね。
12 エンディング

While I normally go through each track of full length albums individually, I felt it wasn't necessary in this case. I figure there's always room for esthetic improvement and modifying the current format a little couldn't hurt (I think).

I had little to no expectations for this album. Former Morning Musume member and current soloist, Natsumi Abe left a bitter taste in my mouth with the release of Koi no Telephone GOAL. It was cute, upbeat and the music video was adorable, but I felt it was too over the top for the Nacchi we'd come to know and love. It's not completely impossible to pull off "cute" without overdoing it. Yume Naraba was dull but surprisingly suitable for her image while Datte although a fun dance number to watch on stage had a remarkable similarity to any number of other songs I've already heard from H!P that year. Koi no Hana while refreshingly different from anything I've heard from her thus far, was still lacking: music along the same vein is readily available from many, many other artists. Up until then I loved her first album regardless of the number of remakes among the tracks; the material she managed to cram into that one disc easily showcased some of the best songs to come from H!P to date. Even the original album tracks were engaging enough for me to fully enjoy the release (anyone who knows me personally, would know it's generally difficult for me to really get into H!P's b-sides and album tracks). I had an inkling her second release wouldn't come close to her first, but completely overlooking her recent singles, somehow I felt the compulsive urge to try it out anyway and give her a another chance to hook me into her releases.

Before the disc even made its first spin, the first aspect I couldn't help notice was the completely mismatched and strange packaging. The outside is your average slipcase with a couple photocards tucked inside. From the outer photos we're given the impression of a mature, but none the less adorable Nacchi. The lyrics booklet however left me confused: space travel, bright flashy colours and garbled english. Cute but not really what I had in mind.

The album starts on a solid note. Gakusei is a synth filled, early 90s tribute to old school idols. I could almost swear for a moment I was listening to a Pony Canyon label album. It's an unique, refreshing sound for her, utterly charming and befitting of her stage persona. Quickly continuing off where Gakusei left the listener, is the upbeat and quirky F.O., a former would-be single that was eventually scraped. It's not terribly different or memorable from standard pop fare but it works with her vocals and has a reassuring feel. Yuugure takes things to a slow spin with a restrained rock feel: Nacchi's delivery while at her best just seem so detached and unemotional from the song it's a little difficult to overlook showing how honestly limited her vocals are. Taking a completely different turn from everything we've heard so far, Nichiyoubi is a cheese -filled, Tsunku heavy, hip-pop influenced track. It's both severely unfitting and strangely corny. I thought she was finally ditching the Tsunku grunts and wails. Guess not. The album takes a rapid spiral downhill from here.

Tokyo Michikusa, while normally in the style of something typically enjoyable (think pop meets neo-traditional), is more like the slack leftovers of a rehashed Yuki Maeda single. This is especially disappointing as her delivery of ballads is usually just right on the nail perfect. In this case Nacchi's vocals are anything but the problem. Nearing the final full length original track of the album, ELEVATOR Futari Pocchi is an overindulging snyth fest of fallacious samples, random guitar riffs and worst of all, a clearly programmed baseline. Otherwise while the song would have been typical yet still enjoyable, the overall poor arrangement makes it difficult to listen. Chotto zutsu ne. picks everything up in a R&B tinged laid back whirl before closing with a brief "girl-talked" styled outro.

To make things further strange, I'm left feeling a mixed confusion of impressions. Which is exactly what this album is. On one side of the spectrum, while the first half is anything but memorable, there's a particular old school idol sentiment that makes her performance an almost comfort food for those of us who remember the days of soft vocals, chirpy songs and Pony Canyon idols. Nacchi brought me back for a moment and she did this with ease and maturity. On the other side, this album's more mismatched than long sleeved argyle sweaters on a 90°summer day. Her first album showed audiences that she can successfully perfect mixing genres and with such a diverse number of singles it would have been an easy thrill for listeners. Instead we're given a few solid tracks and a handful of boring, poorly developed arrangements. And while her sen single was technically an extra release, Takaramono would have made much welcomed addition to the disc. Listening through the album in its entire isn't as painful as the individual tracks alone, but overall I can't help but think she can do much better than this.

C+

Purchase : JP vr [amazon.co.jp] [cdjapan] / KR vr [Annyoung]

Vanilla Mood "Vanilla Mood"

2006年2月08日
CD-A / AVCD-16087 (CD+DVD)

01 アイノトリコ
02 春フルぷるん
03 SOLDIER@my soul
04 カルメン前奏曲
05 珀
06 naked love〜亜麻色の髪の乙女〜

It's almost always difficult to make an accurate judgment on "new" Avex-fare, especially when the faces are from that of a girl group. As a nearly rule of thumb, girl groups don't last long in the industry, especially those on this particular record label. Shuffling through a dozen and more dead-end names on Avex's core artist archive, it's amazing how many of these names belonged to once aspiring groups of girls. Since the SPEED-era with the exception of Morning Musume there was an influx of girl poppers over the years in all possible numbers with ever so quickly decreasing ages and unfortunately, material. Stick some kids together, give em generic standards and teach them a handful of showy, 'zesty' dance moves: instant girl group for the fanboys. And in all honesty, it's boring. But what does one do, when something new and seemingly fabulous pops up in this same fashion?

Poking around a couple months ago I noticed the girls of Vanilla Mood. Samples were not yet up at that time and judging at my past luck at discovering new talent, I was prepared for something awful. However, what aspect attracted me more than anything else at the time, was the group's average age: 23, an almost unimaginable, unfathomable dream! So I decided to give the girls a chance not quite knowing what to expect. What I found was a simple ingenious concept brought to reality.

The immensely talented girls of VM are Waka on flute, Yui on violin, Mariko on cello and Keiko on piano. With beautiful vocals and a shining talent, these four young women both play and sing their own original material. The album covers six group numbers with only small additions of outside instruments and the result is an unique and gratifying pop fusion. Keiko both on piano and vocal is clearly the creative brains of the lot: in addition to writing the lyrics for all of the six songs, she also composed and arranged all of the above. It's almost amazing to see such bright talent being carried over into her work. The other girls are no slack either; in particular Mariko's playing is masterful and carefully skilled. On amber this is particularly noticeable as the girls create a mock traditional atmosphere and the cello is treated as a koto. The sound is serene, urgent and loud. Waka while equally graceful isn't given enough time in the spotlight: on almost all of the six tracks the flute simply carries each melody along with the exception of naked love for a brief bar or two. I would have honestly loved to hear more from the oldest member of the group. Last but not least, Yui's violin as almost expected is the most predominant of the instruments in their music. She plays lovely if not slightly rough in some places, specifically noticeable in amber. It's clear she excels in the more upbeat and quick melodies.

As for the album's material itself, the disc is a joy to play over and over. While there are a good amount of vocals included (give for the first couple tracks), they are clearly treated as just another instrument, an element to add strength and unity to the music as opposed to the pure focus of carrying the melodies in the foreground. This is something I've been dying to hear for a long time. The result in sound presented are completely unique and completely theirs: SOLDIER is mingled, eclectic combination of their gorgeous instrumentals and electronic rap-like vocals while naked love is a flirtatious mix of R&B beats, jazzy music and angelic vocals. Prelude to Carmen is an unexpected, fast paced and vocalized track loosely based off of racy opera, Carmen's original prelude. It's always a treat to hear original takes from young talent on dated pieces. It's also notable to mention Keiko is rocking it out on cembalo (the traditional harpsichord heard especially toward the end): there's just no end to her ridiculous talent! However to most fans of pop music, the second track and opening to their radio show, spring would be the most puzzling as it's an upbeat, dazzling four minute ditty of pop-like cuteness in the vein of Matsuura Aya's old material.

The album comes packed with a short. 18-minute DVD carrying two promotional videos for spring and amber as well as an enjoyable making-of featurette showing the girls filming the videos and working in the studio. Surprisingly Keiko is also quite the joker. The packaging for the album itself is alright; the discs are crammed in the same casing type as Koda Kumi's secret album and the girls clearly must like pink, sparkly things juding by the booklet and case inserts. The booklet is definitely a slack job: yet another fold out paper with a few photos in the back and lyrics in the front (I'm beginning to think avex has a sort of fetish for this thing). This was extremely disappointing as I would have loved to read linear notes or some thoughts from the girls as they're clearly bursting with creativity.

While Vanilla Mood may not be stricktly instrumentals, their material is quite possibly as close as one can get without stepping into the instrumental realm. However, I cannot stress how talented these girls are: it's almost disguisting how incredible Keiko is. The music is an absolute joy to spin: the arrangements are intelligent, the genres mixed are a compliment and the girls themselves are a hopeful addition to this otherwise dull and predictable industry. For more of their wonderful music as well as interesting chats and cute blurbs, check out their radio show available via web or podcast (linked to my right).

A-

Purchase : JP vr [amazon.co.jp] [cdjapan] / KR vr [Annyoung]

Kumi Koda "BEST ~second session~"

2006年2月08日
CD-A / SMJTCD 108~B (CD+2DVD) /

01 Introduction to the second session
02 D.D.D. feat.SOULHEAD
03 you
04 Candy feat.Mr.Blistah
05 Shake It Up
06 feel
07 WIND
08 Love goes like・・・
09 No Regret
10 Birthday Eve
11 Lies
12 今すぐ欲しい
13 KAMEN feat.石井竜也
14 Someday
15 A Whole New World feat. Peabo Bryson

DVD 1
Promotional videos for the 12 singles.

DVD 2
LIVE video from LIVE TOUR 2005 ~first things~

******************************************

Fads can be a dangerous thing. Expensive fads can be even worse. Blind hysteria usually ensues in one form or another, people make one sided choices and years later we think to ourselves "that's some dumb shit I pulled." The same can be said for fandom.

The question I pose is not based on the debate of whether or not Kumi Koda is a fad: for all it's worth, regardless of her material or the effort she puts forth in her work, her popularity is a fad. 100%. Twelve singles in twelve weeks? You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Come on. However, just because an artist or object is a fad, there are always those who genuinely enjoy the material for what it is. But separating the pure desire to buy into something from true enjoyment can be difficult. So as I sat in bed sick during the past couple days, I looked through the contents of my second session stash, watched the DVDs late into the night and flipped through the booklets and postcards wondering to myself, was it all worth it.

To put things into perspective, homegirl ain't no fool. As soon as I found the significantly lower priced korean version up for grabs, I ordered that one instead. Unlike its ridiculously priced japanese counterpart, the CD+2DVD version is not limited: as a matter of fact when I opened the packaging I received both postcards and the special photobooklet that many fans who preordered the album a month in advance, did not. Boo hoo. Did I mention I ordered mine a week after it dropped?

The packaging is standard: the jewel case is your typical multiple disc fare and the lyric booklet contains a few sexy shots and has a cute coloured border theme going on. Honestly, it's nothing to scream about. The two postcards included are the covers from the other two versions available (on the japanese release anyway) and the coloured extra booklet tells a 60s-styled story through pictures of Kumi searching for her two lost dogs. Actually, it's really cute and I enjoyed looking at the flashy patterns and cheesy clothing. However when I was done it came to me: where the hell do I put it? Leave it to Avex not to bother including a slipcase to place the extra goodies. hiro's recent CD/DVD-set came with a completely useless cardboard box while this.. didn't. I'm stumped.

The album contains all twelve a-sides (as some had bsides) from her single bonanza as well as a kickin intro (which was later made into an internet only full release), a brand new track and a bonus duet (which of course is included on all Korean discs). All together as an album, the music lives up to par and makes a rather complete CD. Some of the songs alone don't make the cut as individual single quality: Someday, an upbeat and wonderful way to close the album isn't exactly what I'd picture as single material while Kamen is a five minute snooze fest. I normally enjoy her ballads but Kamen is just slack. WIND is another upbeat but perfect example of forgettable material. As an album filler, it's all good. As a single? No. "feel" and "Lies" are perfectly listenable material but work so much better on the album than individually. Surprisingly it's the new music that has me hooked. The intro however short it is, is a body shaking, sexy arabian themed dance track: for those able to download the full track, do find it as I feel it's one of the best songs to come out of the twelve thirteen single release. Love goes like.. is Kumi doing what she does best; the R&B/Hip hop hybrid while her duet with Peabo Bryson is surprisingly lovely. If anything I would have liked to hear Bryson sing in English while Kumi carrying her lines in Japanese would have been so much more emotional and fluent toward the track as opposed to her alright English; poor accents are only crippling to a song.

The DVDs are pretty standard: a few of the music videos are enjoyable and a few of them put me to sleep. The concert was entertaining even if the setlist could have been a little more exciting. At the time of the performance there were a number of tracks available and yet some of the most boring and overplayed were chosen. I would have assumed by now Kumi would be penned as a Hip hop artist but for whatever reason, that hasn't happened yet.

The album is perfectly substantial on its own. And while I question how many of the songs are actually worth single releases individually, I'm sure there are plenty of albums we listen to with skipable tracks. In a way this makes the collection that much more disappointing: for an album filled with newly released singles, I expect single quality music, something clearly not consistent throughout this release. The DVDs are a nice touch however fans and buyers generally have forgotten, these discs are not bonuses- they're more than included in the purchase prices. It's easy and convenient to rationalize such a pricey purchase by claiming the two DVDs make up for the expensive release, but hypothetically speaking, if the concert DVD were on its own, I'd be hesitant to claim it's even worth the usual 3000 or so yen pricetag. The same goes for the music videos. Just because something is included and the price at first glance can be a potential great deal, it doesn't mean it is. And this is the poster child example.

Depending on where the limited Japanese version is sold, the price varies. Originally 5040 yen, with this version out of print, I've seen a few import stores jack the price to as high as 100 US dollars. An absolutely ridiculous price when there are tons of alternatives available. At annyoung the Korean version (with the postcards and booklet) is around 32 dollars while Yesasia carries a Chinese release minus the bonus goodies for about 10 dollars cheaper. There is also a Chinese version album and PV DVD release for a couple bucks cheaper than the 2 DVD release. While the postcards and booklet are cute, they're so not worth ten bucks.

What it comes down to, is a question whether the buyer genuinely likes Kumi's material, or if she is just another blind follower carried into the Kumi-mania insane hype. Since the version I purchased was around 35 dollars after shipping I'd have to honestly state that the price is pretty good for two dvds and a full length album. The album has some solid material and enjoyable songs. However if there was a cheaper CD-only release available at the time, I would have went for that- the music videos are alright and the concert was hardly worth buying individually. Think before you buy. This is so not worth 5040 yen.

B-

Purchase : JP vr [amazon.co.jp] [cdjapan] / KR vr [Annyoung] / CH vr [Yesasia]

DREAMS COME TRUE "THE LOVE ROCKS"

2006年2月22日
CD-A / UPCH-1473 (CD-ONLY)

01 愛がROCKするテーマ
As proposed in its title, a short intro track of spoken word and a hauntingly beautiful melody turned trip hop.

02 PROUD OF YOU
The '2006 World Baseball' theme, this is a wonderful stomp beat, uplifting track and a great way to start off such a consistently solid album. Beautiful vocals, an undeniably feel good tune and perfect delivery. This is more than single worthy.

03 また「つらい」が1UP
Opening with a dramatic start, tsurai quickly turns into a quirky, electronic and almost surreal five minute curiosity. It sounds like ska. It sounds like reggae. It sounds like pop. While Miwa's vocals are once again on the nail, it's questionable really how much of a long impact it leaves: frankly, the song leaves me with a loss of words and a slightly garbled impression. It's alright.

04 めまい
A laid back, downbeat ballad, Memai is simply lovely: Miwa's vocals are exquisite, expressive and impressive all in one.

05 JET!!! 〜album version〜

06 哀愁のGIジョー
Grab a latte, crack open a book and relax to this enchanting pseudo bossa nova lounge tinged track. With beautiful instrumentals, dynamic composition and perfect arrangement, even a seasoned bossa fan could be fooled. The flute adds a breezy touch and again, the professional vocal performance makes this more than single worthy.

07 SUNSHINE 〜album version〜

08 ていうか
Another upbeat and charming little pop ditty, teiuka is an almost bossa influenced track that's not quite happy but much quite feel good. The bridges change the song's course in such a subtile manner it's almost amazing how many genres the duo managed to stuff into one four minute package. This achieves what tsurai attempted.

09 WIFEHOOD ステ奥伝説　PART1 〜主婦の精　妻の精〜
An interestingly buoyant combination of 70s big band and an almost childish chime, WIFEHOOD requires a sort of acquired taste to fully enjoy. (Much like 'wifehood' itself!) Getting past the taunting intro, this makes quite an entertaining and inviting album track.

10 ウソにきまってる
The electrifying, dramatic tune ROCKS absolutely needed to be complete. Dancable and collected, USO ni Kimatteru has the classy and seasoned sound of a well groomed performer.

11 空を読む 〜album version〜
12 何度でも 〜album version〜

13 SPOON ME, BABY ME
Sexy, downbeat and oh-so classy, this is a perfect track to end this wonderful album. Carrying a confident, foxy performance from Miwa, midway a pumpin beat kicks in that left me itching for far more.

******************************************

I'll be the first to admit that the last song I enjoyed from DCT was SNOW DANCE. Since then, this blockbuster pop group dropped from my fandom radar seemingly indefinatly as I found so many of their releases were beginning to repeat themselves in a boring slur of rehashed material and sound alike singles. Earlier this month I happened to come across a brand new promotional copy for around 500 yen and I figured if there were even just two songs on the entire album I enjoyed, it would be worth the 4 bucks or so. Bingo.

The material on this disc is worth far more than 500 yen. In fact, I'm readily willing to claim it's worth every cent of the 3059 price tag. With an eclectic, absurd diversity of tracks, Yoshida Miwa and Nakamura Masato recreate the stages of love and life through lyrics and song. The singles included on this album, specifically JET and the latino influenced SUNSHINE are excellent. The album tracks with the small exceptions of the puzzling tsurai and the tasteful but acquired WIFEHOOD are so damn listenable you'll find yourself listening to this album spin after spin.

DCT's won back another fan with the release of THE LOVE ROCKS; if they continue to create such bold and genre bending material they'll find themselves a quick spot amoung my favourites. This album is sure to far more than please fans, newcommers and previously disappointed fans (such as myself) alike: a limited DVD & CD bundle is available as well as the CD-only format release reviewed here. There's a reason why DREAMS COME TRUE has continued to be a household name for over 17 years in the industry. Nevermind the records broken and awards recieved; it's irresistible, seasoned material like THE LOVE ROCKS that makes them the famed names in music history that they are. Get this album.

A

Purchase : JP vr [amazon.co.jp] [cdjapan] / KR vr [Annyoung]

A Self-Inroduction & General Info.

I was so excited at the idea of creating this blog, that I actually forgot to write a short blurb about myself for those who may not know me. It's almost always a good thing to know a little something about the person writing the reviews.

Better known as "Marly" (or "lolixioa"/"polaris"/"mar-li" on bbs & chatlines), I'm a 22 year-old chemistry grad student with a love for both coffee and music. (I could go on for a considerable length on coffee but I doubt that would be as interesting.) I've reviewed and/or staffed at j-poop.com and j-fan as well as ran my own (now inactive) website, cafe-lain.net. I've had a few years experience in the Japanese music industry as well as many years locally: my mother was a popular jazz singer in her day while my father is a musician who also restores instruments and equipment as his business. I love any and all forms of music regardless of whether I personally enjoy or condone the messages within: it's my strong belief that music is this world's common language, something to be preserved and respected.

I hope to be able to branch out a new generation of music fans with my reviews and strive to disregard any biased feeling I may have againest or toward any material I review. Something I have learnt over the years that is precious to me and something that people need to realize when forming their own analysis, is that just because one enjoys a work, does not necessarily mean it is of high quality or that it's even structurally "good." Believe it or not, there are basic structural standards that may make one work of higher or lower quality than another. Everyone has personal tastes regardless of how terrible or how wonderful such music is and as a reviewer, I must put aside whatever personal feelings I may have and look at the music through an analytical sense and for what it is. Music. I promise to fill such expectations to the very best of my ability.

Most of the music covered here will be recent albums and singles as I recieve them (recent being within a 3-month window as I sometimes order albums well in advance only to recieve them a month later). On full length albums and box sets I will not review previously released tracks such as singles and bsides: if it's a best album I will simply do a general review of the tracks as a whole. Singles will be treated in a similar fashion. The overall uniqueness and quality of the presentation (packaging) will also be covered. Every so often I will do a FLASHBACK review, looking over older used and/or out of print albums just to hopefully give everyone a look at some jewel that may have been lost by time. I think everyone will soon discover what strange tastes in music I have..

With that being said, I'm a 60s Japanese music nut. The sorrowful, enka tinged lyrics, the immensely skilled vocals, the slick jazz infused melodies, the lack of bubblegum.. everything about the industry back then makes me a happy girl. Ishida Ayumi has long been a favourite (BLUE LIGHT YOKOHAMA anyone?) but I'm also in love with singers like Carmen Maki (before her metal-head days), The Tigers, Aoe Mina, Mieko Hirota, Asakawa Maki and the list could go on and on. I'm an avid collector/listener of 60s vinyls but I'm no stranger to the occasional 70s or 80s LP: Anzen Chitai (FANGIRL moment) and Nakamori Akina have been long time favourites.

Of course I also enjoy modern artists too, the SPEED girls being a few of my favourites (I only wish Uehara Takako would go back to releasing music) as well as artists like Hirahara Ayaka, Vanilla Mood, DOUBLE, Kohmi Hirose, Shibasaki Kou, Kaho Shimada and many more. I hope to share many of these wonderful artists' works with everyone in the near future.

If anyone ever has anything on their mind, please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at mariijane @ gmail.com (omit the spaces).

BoA "OUTGROW"

2006年2月15日
CD-A / AVCD-17795 (CD-ONLY)

01 Silent Screamerz
An energertic, dancable and funky start to the album. Following the same vein as make a secret, in an upbeat whirl of hip hop and pop the song definatly gives the album a dance vibe. If not a little on the repetitive side, BoA's delivery on vocals is perfectly smooth. Of all the various mutations of pop her music career explores, I've always been fond of this best. Great intro.

02 DO THE MOTION
03 キミのとなりで

04 OUTGROW〜Ready butterfly〜
At first spin my initial reaction was "Britney Spears?" And indeed, while the song may share some similarities, upon further listening this electronic dance track directly rivals the style of her Korean albums. Give for her cross-over compilation and cover albums, for the greater half of her career her Japanese and Korean releases have been boldy defined: her Korean releases taking a harder, hip hop route and her Japanese more rock and pop tinged. OUTGROW is a delicious combination of both.

05 make a secret
06 Everlasting
07 LONG TIME NO SEE

08 cosmic eyes
Taking the original album songs one step further, cosmic eyes is an upbeat, trip hop inspired pop track. Electronic, fun and just a little quirky this gives the album its "cute" appeal without going over the top. It almost reminds me of hiro's Baby Don't Cry. (Note I said, almost.)

09 抱きしめる

10 Love is just what you can't see
If there was ever a song to bring Jennifer Lopez to mind, this is it. With a slight urban feel and downplayed wholesome approach, BoA's vocals are top notch. Although in many ways it's also the quiescently generic pop standard, it still makes a funky, listenable addition to the album.

11 Stay My Gold
The last of the original album tracks, Stay My Gold is a sparkling midtempo ballad. With sweet vocals and cute lyrics it would have actually made a better outro to the album than With U.

12 soundscape
13 With U
14 First snow (Bonus track)

******************************************

While this is BoA's first full length, Japanese album in a little over two years, I'm finding myself split on the fence on this one. Amoung the tracks spanning its fourteen-length total, a whopping nine songs are from the four singles included, leaving a mere five original songs. Depending on how one looks at this aspect of the release, it may or may not be a good thing. The single tracks are all equally excellent and it's a refreashing change to see some damn good bsides finally included on a full album (as opposed to a compilation). And despite their lacking number, amoung the original songs are most definatly solid material. But however their quality, with so little on hand it's that much easier to see their flaws and the more I listen, the more generic Stay My Gold and Love is just what you can't see become.

I picked up the CD-only copy of this dual version release. Unfortunatly the presentation is nothing to scream about: the flimsy booklet includes six rather boring, uninspired, in-studio shots of BoA. I can't tearfully complain enough how cheesy that eagel shirt is. For the most part the lyrics are printed on blank, white pages. Avex's packaging has become so stale over the past couple years: it's no small wonder people would rather download than dish out the cash.

Somewhere along the past few years, more or less since the release of her first album, I've dropped off the BoA-fan wagon. Her last couple albums failed to impress me and so by her best collection in early 2005, I stopped purchasing her singles altogether. Interestingly enough, I've found that amoung the four singles included here are some real gems. While it appears many hardcore (current) BoA fans may criticize their appeal, for the rest of us, we've struck gold. If you haven't picked up any of her recent releases than it simply wouldn't matter how much material on the disc is old or new, therefore making this album is a fantastic place to start. As for those of you who may have picked up the singles, unless you're a diehard collector I would suggest taking a look at the priced down Korean or Overseas versions available.

B

Purchase : JP vr [amazon.co.jp] [cdjapan] / KR vr [Annyoung]

Mika Todd "Mika"

Mika / SPB-2501 / 2005.03.23

01 Medley: The Look of Love / Killing Me Softly
02 Moody's Mood for Love
03 You Took My Breath Away
04 At Last
05 Pick Yourself Up

If you don't know who Mika Todd is, you're probably living under a rock. Former Minimoni & Coconuts Musume, H!P sweetheart, Mika is the daughter of jazz pianist, Johnny Todd and sister of famed designer Shay Todd. Forming a music group with several friends from class, Mika performed in resturaunts around her hometown, Waikiki (Hawaii) and was eventually discovered in an H!P talent audition for Coconuts members. On May 2nd, 2004 she graduated from Minimoni/H!P to persue her dream of stardom in America. She now resides in Los Angeles but has returned to Japan several times for solo concerts backed by her father's band. A full length album is planned for release in the states this year.

This indies released CD was formally only available at one of her Japan concerts. With the exception of You Took My Breath Away, each of the tracks is a cover of a famed jazz standard while the mentioned, is composed and written by Mika herself. Overall, while this is a lovely album for a beginner, I would have honestly enjoyed it more if the music backing the tracks weren't the same synthesized piano (I have a personal peeve with too much synth when it's not needed). Mika's vocals, although nothing to scream about, is polished and a delight on the ears. She's come quite a lengthy way from her Minimoni days and it really shows. However, would it honestly have been too much to use an actual piano? The over use of synth seriously make the tracks seem cheesy regardless of how much effort Mika's put into her vocals- I honestly can't label this CD with a straight face as jazz for such reasons. The lives she performed with a full band backing seem so much more professional: even just a simple piano would have worked. But regardless, it's not dfficult to see how much work she's put into becomming a stronger vocalist. I'd like to consider this a demo for her upcomming album rather than a polished, finished release. Listening to the tracks in that perspective, the album's pretty good and hopefully a solid start for her future solo career.

You can purchase this album [here] for about 12 dollars after shipping. Please support her career if you like her: the entire purchase price of the album goes directly to Mika herself and it's questionable how long it will be available! I recieved my copy in three days. This will most likely become a collector's item for the dedicated Mika or H!P fan- order yours before they're gone!

B+