Ami Suzuki – Don’t need to say good bye September 29, 2008

Track Listing

1. Don’t need to say good bye
2. My wish -if you wanna be with me-
3. Don’t need to say good bye (Instrumental)

1. Don’t need to say good bye

I guess we’re sticking with the ballad for her last single of the era.  I wasn’t fully feeling this song just because of all the mishaps they were doing to Ami’s voice.  They were twisting it pretty bad and that made her sound strange.  Her English has gotten a little better, but it isn’t that great still.  So much for that huh?

2. My wish -if you wanna be with me-

I always loved this track even though it’s terribly repeptive.  Still the song has such a fun vibe to it that you can’t help but sing along.  The verses do come off a little mysterious and still has the strange twisting in it.  Then she hits the chorus and it disappears altogether and Ami sounds pretty good.  Though I do kind of wish they gave the song a more distinct sound and not make it sound like every other upbeat track in the album.

 

 

For being the last single for the “Infinity 18 Vol.1″ era it was disappointing.  Don’t need to say good bye was more or less of the same she’s been doing since her debut album.  So it’s nothing special.  Oddly enough, My wish -if you wanna be with me- is pretty catchy and definitly would have made a better A-side IMO

 

ANNOUNCEMENT + NEW ARTISTS September 29, 2008

So yeah, this week will be the 1st time I’ll spend a week on an artist!

 

AMI SUZUKI….everyday of this week I will do an Ami single to finish her SONY era and go through her 2 indies singles as well

 

About new artists, you’ve seen it.  Maki Goto & GIRL NEXT DOOR is the two new artists I’m doing…as well as something Die from Gold Hikari has reviewed and I got heavily into is Yousei Teikoku.  So after this week I will so do them

Tommy Heavenly6 – Ready? September 29, 2008

Track Listing

1. Ready?
2. GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE!!
3. Ready? (Original Instrumental)

1. Ready?

I think she tried for a more Avril Lavigne punk style for this A-side and it was definitly a nice sound for her.  I mean it’s not something surprising if you listen to American punk.  Though for being J-rock, she has got this style down pretty good.  Mixing both English and Japanese in the song, it’s pretty catchy.  The only thing I might dislike is her she uses her vocals.  It isn’t stellar, but it’s unique.

2. GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE!!

I don’t really like that the B-side was just like “Ready?”  I mean it’s a little more slower, but it’s still a Japanese Avril Lavigne song.  Not literally but you would know immediatly how similar the music is.  The clapping was so good though which made it stand out.  Is it the chorus?  Because it’s amazingly good.

 

 

Last single for the era was a little better than the last single.  Ready? and GIMME ALL OF YOU LOVE!! were definitly punk rock this time and she didn’t really fail at it.  Though the songs are a bit on the short side at least it was pretty good.  Though I still think the next era is her best.

alan – Hitotsu September 28, 2008

Track Listing

1. Hitotsu
2. Kimi Omou Sora
3. Tokyo Mimei
4. sign
5. Hitotsu (Instrumental)
6. Kimi Omou Sora (Instrumental)
7. Tokyo Mimei (Instrumental

1. Hitotsu

So, we have a ballad as the A-side.  Even though it isn’t as epic as “Ashita e no Sanka”, it’s just as pretty if not more.  Her vocals aren’t daggers to my through unlike some artists so I can really enjoy the song.  Chinese elements are prevelent in the song as well which brings a nice look to the past as well with the ballad.  Pretty good song.

2. Kimi Omou Sora

I thought this was more modern and yet oddly simplistic of a song.  It’s definitly a pop song just as how “Sakura Modern” was combing old and new to make a completely new track and sound.  Though I found this to be too much like said song to make a more efficient impression.  Luckily her voice is steady and really nice to hear.

3. Tokyo Mimei

I thought of a little R&B appeared for this song which is something I would not have expected.  Then it just turns out to be another pop ballad from alan.  I miss the mountain notes already.  The song just kind of left me thinking that this was really boring for a ballad and prolly should have added more to it.

4. sign

Not really much a full track, but like an elongated interlude.  It’s has alan doing some chinese ad-libbing so some futuristic sounds.  I found it to be oddly relaxing and good to listen to.  Now, if there were just vocals, then I’d probably would have had this track as my favorite.

 

 

alan’s 2nd single really didn’t surprise me in any way actually.  I mean she didn’t use her powerful vocals as in her debut.  The songs did make her sound more mainstream, I’ll give her that, but the songs were a little on the boring side.  sign was probably the most interesting track from here.

 

Nami Tamaki – CROSS SEASON September 27, 2008

Track Listing

1. CROSS SEASON
2. i CAN FLY
3. Lost and Found
4. CROSS SEASON (Instrumental)

1. CROSS SEASON

Daisuke Asukara produced this track!  Wow, I never would’ve thought these two would’ve combined for such a sweet dance track.  Though it’s not as powerful as her other dance track. example: Believe or Result, but this song has a pretty smooth side to it.  Lyrically it’s about her graduation that happened recently which is a nice change of style to lyrics.  Oddly, there’s something that doesn’t sound right in Namiville….and I can’t place my finger on it.  Maybe it’s just that I’m used to hardcore stuff.  Still what they did to this song on the album was just rude.

2. i CAN FLY

Why is Nami yelping?  It doesn’t seem to suit her very well, but being a rock track, I thought this was a pretty nice try.  At least it’s better than that godawful “Ready Steady Go!”  There’s some fun in its vein which is nice and all but I don’t like how she tackled the chorus much as it seems that it’s mechanical and somewhat off.  Other than that her energy is like beyond awesome in this song. 

3. Lost and Found

Thank you, this was the better B-side and it made so much more sense and kept the energy that “i CAN FLY” had.  I’ve used to forget this song so many times that it was bad.  Eventually after some hard listening, it stand out on its own pretty well and was a strong B-side.  The only thing I can really say about this is “What is this, Brightdown’s prelude”  that’s because it sounds similar and has a dark tone to it, even though “Brightdown” is obviously better.

 

 

 

So, Nami’s 1st single for the final SONY album was pretty good.  It doesn’t stand against the more harder tracks in her discography but it does set a calm feeling for being an A-side.  The b-sides being very rockish were pretty good, though i CAN FLY can get annoying.  It’ll be surpassed royally by the next single for sure. BTW   I’m on ends between if I like her leaving SONY because SONY pretty much made her career with the various tie-ins she had.  I hope she does go with avex in the end and they better promote her well!

Perfume – Polyrhythm September 27, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. Polyrhythm
2. SEVENTH HEAVEN
3. Polyrhythm -extra short edit-
4. Polyrhythm ~Original Instrumental~
5. SEVENTH HEAVEN ~Instrumental~

1. Polyrhythm

It’s what really started the Perfume rush.  This song that’s about recycling and many rhythms (hence the title) is so friggin catchy.  The music is numbing to my ears and its soooo good.  The chorus could use a little work, but when they get to the repetitive part saying ~Polyrizumu and Polyloopu~ that’s where the song just becomes beyond awesome.  All 3 girls get a solo line and its ahhhhh.  Best song of their career even though “love the world” is up there too.

2. SEVENTH HEAVEN

A beautiful piano line starts this pretty smooth ballad perhaps?  It’s still dance but it doesn’t sound like a lot of the other songs.  I really enjoyed this laidback tune and how relaxed the girls are.  Especially when they say ~Seboonth Heaben~.  The song is pretty much a prelude to what “Baby cruising Love” was.  So it’s pretty good beyond that.

3. Polyrhythm -extra short edit-

No!!!!!!!  Why did they decide to do this.  They took the part that made the song what it was and destroyed it.  It still is a good song but stripping it’s repetitive part is just unholy.  At least it’s Polyrhythm and it still is one of their best songs…does this make me sound like I’m advertising the song or what?

 

 

Polyrhythm is the best single Perfume has released.  I mean the A-side is magically delicious to listen to, except for that poor excuse of an edit.  SEVENTH HEAVEN was surprisingly good and the choice to leave it off of “GAME” was pretty bad since it would’ve fit easily.  Other than that…AWESOME SINGLE

capsule – S.F. sound furniture September 27, 2008

Track Listing

1. S.F. sound furniture
2. GO! GO! Fine Day
3. Portable Kuukou
4. Uchuu Elevator
5. Future TV
6. Mirai Seikatsu
7. Kabe ni Tsuiteru Switch
8. Super Scooter Happy
9. Milk Tea no Jikan
10. Ocean Blue Sky Orange
11. Retro Memory

1. S.F. sound furniture

I love their opening sequences and this is no different.  Except that oddly this is a bubbly opening starting with some typing then it just opens to this crazy happy video game sound…It’s definitly one of their best openings.

2. GO! GO! Fine Day

Then it’s led smoothly into this funny track.  The brass sounds sound so good and the music is very lively and filled to the brim with happiness.  Somehow though the lyrics don’t stand out for me and are possibly pretty monotone with Koshi.  The only thing that really keeps this song afloat is the music which is so good.

3. Portable Kuukou

I think this track is definitly a step in the right direction.  The song is less loud and the song has a futuristic sound with laser shooting sounds I think.  For a song that musically sounds good comes with it’s downfall which is there’s barely any singing.  There’s just some ahhhh-ings going on and that’s about it.  Still the music is so addictive.

4. Uchuu Elevator

Really, we’re back to the happy crap?  Yes, though it has some video game quality-like sounds in it that keeps this song sounding fresh.  I just didn’t like how the vocals worked for me.  It sounded very airy and filled with some flat sounding notes.  The descending notes really sounded cool but other than that, I was bored with this song.

5. Future TV

A somewhat of a interlude.  It’s obviously some one watchin TV and I know that first switch was a capsule though I don’t know what it was then they switched to some robotic dude who blabs for the rest of the interlude….nuff said.

6. Mirai Seikatsu

Do we really need mathematics going around in the song?  I’m not sure why but this song is very lounge-like and has accordion in it ^_^.   Koshi actually sounds pretty nice, even with the random synth line and random other sounds.  I liked the simplicity in this song mixed with the futurisitc stuff…including the telephone ringing.  Fun song!

7. Kabe ni Tsuiteru Switch

I love how that guy says the title.  Though the song is just basically him speaking robotically.  Musically it’s a bit urban and somewhat jazzy also which at this point is a new genre Nakata has taken up and it doesn’t sound right for me.  There’s some female vocals that sound muddled in the music but the sounds ends there with a fanfare….

8. Super Scooter Happy

Alright!  Frickin Seseme Street music.  I mean it’s lighthearted and playful, but the song is just overly cute for me.  I mean I don’t know what exactly turns me off from this song, but damn….there’s a lot of these happy tracks on this album and this one had to be the worst.

9. Milk Tea no Jikan

Another interlude with the sound of making tea against a xylophone solo.  It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s funny that they would do such a thing.  Oh Nakata you weirdo. 

10. Ocean Blue Sky Orange

The best song off the album is this islandy track.  I would have expected to hear this on a Katamari Damacy album but it’s not there.  Koshi doesn’t sound half bad here.  Her voice seems to have this dreamy feeling to it where it works to her advantage.  It did put the image of a beach instantly in my head.  LOVE IT!

11. Retro Memory

Hey, finally a normal song!  It’s a bit quicker in the instrumentation and still has that lounge feeling and with accordion playing also it’s awesome.  What’s with that start-up before the 1st verse?  That was so wrong!.  Other than that this track is oddly catchy, but doesn’t really make me wanna scream I wanna hear this again.

Tracks Recommended

• Ocean Blue Sky Orange
• Mirai Seikatsu
• Portable Kuukou

Musically this is a fantastic album, but vocally this has to their worst as of right now.  I mean the music had some great music that looked back to previous albums, sadly Koshi just sounded dead to listen to through most of the tracks and there were few instrumentals was pretty bad. 

Eri Nobuchika – Kodou September 27, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kodou
2. Kodou (INCOGNITO DEJA VI MIX)
3. Sketch For Summer (G.RINA MIXXX)
4. Kodou (KARAOKE)

1. Kodou

Even taking things in a more different route.  Eri decides instead of dance or jazz she tries for a ballad.  To be honest I think she’s sounds pretty good still, but the music is definitly nothing we haven’t already heard before.  The chorus is probably the highest point of the song and then you hear brass again….So it’s another jazzy track?  *sigh*  We’ve heard this before in “Sketch For Summer” so it’s nothing new altogether.

2. Kodou (INCOGNITO DEJA VU MIX)

Even more jazzier than the main track, I was like OK, we get your point so it’s pretty much nothing new at all, except being more true to it’s form which is obvious.  I still think the chorus is the strongest part and sounds really good.  Other than that it’s a song that goes into obscurity.

3. Sketch For Summer (G.RINA MIXXX)

I knid of like that opening to this track, very mysterious but then the song comes in and Eri’s voice sounds oddly pleasant here.  Though the song doesn’t really go anywhere.  I think there’s an islandy feeling somewhere in its translation, but it doesn’t really stand out until the beat comes in about 2:15 of the song.  Somehow, the song is going for a climax…Still….remixes for her are pretty bad usually

 

 

Kodou is in fact her worst single for me.  Nothing really stood out for me as anything new.  The remixes didn’t really stand out much really.  Luckily this release was 2 weeks for the album, so I guess it really wasn’t planned to have good ratings in the 1st place.

Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack – Disc 2: 2/2 September 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. Aeons
2. The Farplane Abyss
3. Eternity: Orchestra Performs
4. 1000 Words (FFX-2 Mix)
5. Nightmare In the Cave
6. Party
7. Vegnagun Awakens
8. Clash
9. Struggle to the Death
10. Destruction
11. Demise
12. 1000 Words (Piano Version)
13. Ending – Until We Meet Again!
14. 1000 Words (Orchestra Version)
15. Epilogue – A Reunion

1. Aeons

Or mostly known as the boss battle theme against them.  This song is very dark and somewhat messy of a track.  I mean it sounded like “Turmoil” but led nowhere, so this track already fails as it is.

2. The Farplane Abyss

There’s some tension laid out here being the Farplane’s theme.  It’s kind of cool with the strings playing.  Then you hear the strings play “1000 Words” which was so odd and yet kind of clashed against the dark background.  So I found this so interesting.  It has a climax before leading back into the quiet start.

3. Eternity: Orchestra Performs

Somehow, I like this rendition a lot more.  I mean there’s some flute and some beautiful orchestration and yet it keeps the interest with it’s pop roots as well.  Though I really didn’t know where they played this at, I kind of thought it stood out from the rest of the CD altogether.  Nice

4. 1000 Words (FFX-2 Mix)

Koda Kumi or Jade in everywhere else returns for this shorter version of said song.  It’s still the emotional ballad and when it’s played in the game it’s just powerful and quite a sight to watch.  I thought it fit in the game so well and definitly made the game feel quite calm before the start of the 5th chapter.

5. Nightmare In the Den

A wondrous piano solo.  I actually like the life of this song took.  It’s mysterious and dark yet somehow foreboding an epic battle to come.  Eventually after the piano run-through the main song starts to play and is once again like the last two songs so it’s nothing new here.

6. Party

A march style represents the Crimson Squad.  It sounds like a damn anthem which bores me to death…I thought of the other and the one on the 1st CD and to be honest this was the most boring of them.  The chants didn’t really help the song out either.

7. Vegnagun Awakens

That same piano line starts the song up but this becomes the boss theme.  Interestingly, I thought the organ lines was pretty nifty and made a very sinister theme.  Since, supposedly Shuyin is the SPOILER (man at hand).  Still, it’s a great way to start the final boss with a demonic organ track.

8. Clash

Oddly this song is what the title says.  It’s many ideas clashing, which isn’t a bad idea at first but there’s already too many songs that has this damn idea and they failed so what makes this any better?  Not much really…

9. Struggle to the Death

Another demonic tune and a little more interesting, it’s still clashing but with staccatoed strings and some odd random voices.  Another one of those tracks that you really don’t understand really and left you thinking WTF was I just listening to?

10. Destruction

This one makes so much sense.  The strings actually playing a very tense line and then this tuba comes in and really shot the song up good.  The climax does return the clashing sounds but they aren’t as random and lame as it was used.  I think this was the Final Boss Theme.  Which was so good.  Definitly an awesome tune.

11. Demise

More like a continuation of “Destruction”, there’s not really much to it until the keyboard line which sounded like something from Final Fantasy 8.  Though it goes back and loops quickly so it didn’t really leave much of an impression on me than the previous song.

12. 1000 Words (Piano Version)

Yes, it is what you think it is sort of…It’s an instrumental version played by you guessed it…the piano.  So I kind of liked the melody and I noticed it pretty quickly put without Kumi or Jade this song just lands on boredom and straight up being taken and made it bleh….Use the lower piano notes more!

13. Ending – Until We Meet Again!

The ending is a pretty flute opening until the strings come in.  Then it gets pretty odd for this game.  It’s like Disney happy practicully with its huge orchestration and moving melody.  Even though it finishes pretty quickly I thought they did a good job with this piece.

14. 1000 Words (Orchestra Version)

Another version *sigh*…I already reviewed this track on Kumi’s album and even then this was a pretty good track.  Now with the orchestra behind her voice actually fits the track pretty nicely.  Maybe, a little louder so she won’t be covered by the music, but this was a better version overall.

15. Ending – A Reunion

Playing ”Besaid” in an orchestrated fashion.  This is obviously where Yuna reunites with “him”.  I kind of thought that whole scene was just tacked on for some reason.  I mean it really didn’t make any sense at how or why they decided to bring him back for the end.  Luckily it did finish the story and the music was pretty too.  Sweet story. 

Tracks Recommended

• Eternity: Orchestra Performs
• Destruction
• Ending – Until We Meet Again!
• Vegnagun Awakens

Ugh, so many 1000 Words tracks…..Anyway we finish off the soundtrack with a lot of pretty strange tracks.  The whole “clash” theme didn’t really work for me as most were during the final boss scenes.  I enjoyed the 1st CD more all in all, but since I’m all done with this soundtrack I can breath a sigh of relief XD

Ai Otsuka – Planetarium September 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. Planetarium
2. drop.
3. Planetarium (Instrumental)
4. drop. (Instrumental)

1. Planetarium

Wow, I really love she shakuhachi opening to one of Ai’s best tracks in her career.  Planetarium is probably considered a ballad but the chorus has some rock elements which didn’t really bother me.  I mean I was like surprised to hear the guitar being here which made the song even more epic.  What made this song even more famous was that it was used in Hana Yori Dango, which IMO makes any song that’s on it, pretty epic and big.  Way to Ai for making this.  Nice to have a firework shoot off before the final chorus.

2. drop.

A more laidback pop song, drop. really didn’t capture my interest at first.  After a while though, the fun sound did make me happy to hear it.  Somehow, there’s some awkward chorus and transitioning issues afoot which took away from the experience.  The instrumental parts were even weirder because you wouldn’t have expect it either.  Strange song.

 

 

Planetarium really hit the nail on the coffin.  As it was an epic ballad by the Ai-chan who would’ve known she’d pull it off so well?  Being a tie-in helped it quite a bit if you ask me.  drop. is definitly B-side material and probably was a good idea to leave it off the album.