Miyavi – Gagaku June 24, 2008

Track Listing

1. Hatachi Kinenbi
2. Coin Lockers Baby
3. Kusare Gedou e.
4. Night in girl
5. Girls, be ambitious
6. Oresama Shikou
7. Gariben Rock
8. Onpu no Tegami
9. Shokubutsu Ningen M no Theme
10. Dear from…XXX (bonus track)

1. Hatachi Kinenbi

Angry guys singing Happy Birthday…..yeah right, talk about strange.  Then hard Miyavi guitars play and OMG….his voice is so unique, like his screaming really is piercing and his low droning voice makes him sound like he’s so tired.  It’s a clash of sound in my ears I’m very shocked at this.  Then it ends with the angry guys finishing Happy Birthday….what a strange opening of a song.

2. Coin Lockers Baby

Kinda settling a march tone to the song, Miyavi strikes hard chords to start off this pretty cool track.  Even more hard pounding fills this track.  He’s using his low speaking voice and then you hear him screech it’s so eerie yet fitting for who Miyavi is.  Then we finally 1st hear his airy higher pitch and OMG creepy!, this track is definitly a good one right here.

3. Kusare Gedou e.

Y’know this song is pushing the metal/visual kei genre very far with this song.  You know there’s a melody within the loudness of the music, I was very impressed at the percussionist.  Though the chorus was annoying Miyavi, still sounds alright with his surprising weirdness.  Then it ends abruptly right into the next song

4. Night in girl

Then we get actually a nice change in sound as Night in girl is a lot more quiet and here Miyavi actually sing and use his acoustic.  Perfect setup into it from “Kusare Gedou e.”   As time goes on in the song her vocals get stronger and louder but it just ends quickly as it started, so I guess it was a perfect interlude.

5. Girls, be ambitious

This was the only single off the album, and the promotional of the album to since none of the others made it which surprised me since the single were really good.  Girls, be ambitious starts with twinkling sound before Miyavi comes in with his deep voice.  Actually, this would be the first to have some catchy stuff going on.  I’m not sure where the chorus is but, I think it’s where Miyavi starts hitting pretty high notes and ad-libs them.  So shocking to hear, I would suggest to try this song first before getting into his harder stuff.

6. Oresama Shikou

We’re led straight back into the hard sounds of Miyavi, if I’m correct “Oresama” was a film that had Miyavi in it, I personally haven’t seen it yet, but I bet it’s a wild ride.  The song goes into the interlude where the drums and guitar are played syncopadedly which was something new, and I heard a whistle in there too.  Miyavi sounds annoying with his ad-libbing in his lower register but nonetheless it once again ends immediatly straight into the next tune.

7. Gariben Rock

I pretty much enjoyed this song actually, the verses calm down a bit before the crazy chorus!  He actually sings a bit in this song too which is a nice surprise.  It’s one of the craziest songs in his collection for all the different time fields he enters.  At one point there’s a beat and it’s so catchy to listen to him quietly sing then belt out ~Yourself~ it’s a great tune.

8. Onpu no Tegami

Wait, what??? A soft piano playing in a song?  This is definitly a shocker to the album.  As it is a ballad, Miyavi does sing in his medium range, which is a great thing, this is what I like about him.  He can go into soft mode so quickly, after that some percussion is added to give more of a beat.  It’s such a beautiful song to hear, this is probably my favorite track, and it ends with the piano

9. Shokubotsu Ningen M no Theme

Dark synths sounds and wind noises slowly brings this track to life.  The odd chords in the song actually creates a very tense mood in the song, then it gets strong percusion.  You can hear Miyavi in megaphone mode, singing along with the odd guitar.  It’s so freaky, and then you hear some ad-libbed Miyabi in his airy pitch.  Such an odd song i like the drum interlude that was pretty nice.  Shadow the Hedgehog anyone?

10. Dear from…XXX

Another surprise to be handed the bonus track is an acoustic song.  I like how he plays the guitar, I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten worldwide attention….well he might with his crazy lifestyle!  He sounds like he’s moaning the words, it’s quite funny to listen to, but very pleasing.  I like the acoustic Miyavi a lot, he’s got so much talent.

 Tracks Recommended

• Girls, be ambitious
• Onpu no Tegami
• Dear from…XXX
• Gariben Rock

 

Miyavi’s debut album was rockin’ hard, It was almost a guilty pleasure to the Due le Quartz fans out there. I kinda wished he added the other single on here, but this will set me in, I really love this album.  The 2 non-rock tracks were so well made too.

 

m.o.v.e – around the world June 24, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. around the world
2. around the world (in the midnight(work)mix)
3. around the world (TV MIX)

1. around the world

A pretty strange opening leads us to a great guitar riff.  motsu’s rapping is kinda slower than “ROCK IT DOWN” though Yuri sounds so much better.  Even then this song should have been so much faster.  This is very slow for a euro-dance song.  So I’m pretty disappointed in the song itself.

 

 

Yea, so this is probably one of my least favorite single from the “Electrock” era.  Though later releases get better!  So pass this single up guys!

dream – Heart on Wave/Breakin’ out June 24, 2008

 Track Listing

1. Heart on Wave
2. Heart on Wave (2FT Mix)
3. Heart on Wave (HAL’s Mix 2000)
4. Breakin’ out
5. Breakin’ out (Y&Co. Remix)
6. Breakin’ out (Dub’s Club Remix)
7. Heart on Wave (Instrumental)
8. Breakin’ out (Instrumental)

1. Heart on Wave

A little more lighter this time around with the synths, It’s prominent feature is the piano for sure.  It’s also slower than their 1st single which was a nice change being that the 1st single was a strong dance single.  The 3 girls don’t really sound together in here though and sound a bit off in their overall sounds.  After a while it can get boring because of the slower speed.  The scratching before the chorus was definitly an annoyance in the song ick!  Other than that, the song is pretty ok, though not their best.

2. Breakin’ out

Staccatoed strings start off this dance tune while an announcer speaks out before the guitar comes in.  That begiinning was pretty interesting.  I like the whole dance feel to this song it’s very much like what we would her in clubs.  The girls actually sound good saying ~Breakin’ Out~ which is rare in girl group today.  Chords are also pretty good too….dang why are all the b-sides so far is better than the a-sides?

 

 

dream’s 2nd single was a change of pace mostly, I mean a slower pop song; Heart on Wave showed they can do somewhat a good slow pop song, while Breakin’ Out shows more of their talent in the dance genre.  I prefer the latter though, just because I’m used to the dance genre from them.

Koda Kumi – Trust Your Love June 24, 2008

 

 

 Track Listing

1. Trust Your Love
2. STILL IN LOVE
3. Trust Your Love (Sean “Sepp” Hall Remix)
4. Trust Your Love (Razor’s Radio Mix)
5. Trust Your Love (Thunderpuss Radio Mix)
6. Trust Your Love (Instrumental)
7. STILL IN LOVE (Instrumental)

1. Trust Your Love

Twinkly sounds actually start this R&B tune off.  It’s cute, but it’s just unusual in the song.  The song itself actually is very well made.  The chorus sounds familiar though, I have no idea how it is, but it just makes me remind of like 90’s R&B. The bridge surprisingly shows how good Kumi can get.  Enjoyable song this is!

2. STILL IN LOVE

So we come into the B-side and actually it’s a lot more hipper than “Trust Your Love”.  It’s got your R&B elements like beats and well, the usual sounds if you know what I mean. Actually I kinda though this song sounds a bit more complete than the A-side.  There’s such a funky beat to it that it just makes me want to tap my foot to it.  Great song!

 

 

Kumi’s 2nd single was definitly a pleasant one!  Trust Your Love has got some of the beats that pretty much represented 90’s R&B which is a good reminder. STILL IN LOVE brought funkiness to the single that was even better!