AAA – BLOOD on FIRE October 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. BLOOD on FIRE
2. BLOOD on FIRE (Instrumental)

1. BLOOD on FIRE

Initial D….what’s that mean to me?  Well, it means blood-boiling adrenaline rushes and high-speed races.  The music should also be this dynamic and well-made.  Does AAA do this right?  OH HELL FRIGGIN YES!  AAA’s debut track is the driving force for the movie “Initial D” and it so did its job.  Like all of the other tracks used for the series (Looks at m.o.v.e’s discography)  This one in particular was definitly an easy fit.  Takahiro doing most of the vocals, Misako leading the gals, and Mitsuhiro doing the rapping it kind of works in a lot of sense.  Though I wished the other members had more time in the song mostly the other girls since Urata did sing a line or two in conjuction with Takahiro.  Their energy is phenominal almost and the chorus really proved to be the best area of the song as they say ~Your blood’s on fire!!!!~ Hot!

 

 

This couldn’t have been a better way to start off their career.  I still don’t think any of their other songs come close to the awesomeness that is this track.  Maybe if there was a B-side perhaps, but who cares this single wins IMO

ARTISTS BLOWOUT FINALE!!! October 31, 2008

Yes, i swear this is the last intro of artists im doing.  So you’ve seen my addition of The Candy Spooky Theater which is a cool band so far but I’m adding these artists:

Mami Kawada

Yep, coming from the same company as artist MELL, I was pretty surprised by how good PSI-missing is and I already reviewed that….so I’ll just follow in this era.

MiChi

A relatively new artist that’s catching on the scene of J-pop she actually is pretty good in English and Japanese and she’s already hopping up the charts with her debut.  I’ll start with her mini-album then lead into her true debut single.

AAA

As such there’s a good group from the avex label and this is one of them.  Used to be a 8 member but one left due to sickness issues and now we have 7.  I’ll start with the ATTACK era

The Candy Spooky Theater – Wonderland October 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. Merry Go Round
2. Spook House
3. Ferris Wheel -Cinderella no Kimi to, Kanzen ni Kowareta Shimatta Ouji-Sama no Boku-

1. Merry Go Round

Definitly continuing using the haunting sounds, Merry Go Round sounds a little bit like a dance tune for some reason.  I mean there’s still guitar and some funky Halloween things going on.  We finally hear something in English as well because they say ~Sing a song, sha-la-la-la-laaa~  Yeah maybe a little too simple but the song has got some cool factors.

2. Spook House

Showing a harder sound.  This is definitly full fledged rock right here.  We finally get to hear Spooky Jack sing fully and it reminds me of a Japanese version of Marilyn Manson.  Which is probably a good thing because his voice sounds to try to be hardcore and yet keeps its cool.  Definitly a cool rock track.

3. Ferris Wheel -Cinderella no Kimi to, Kanzen ni Kowareta Shimatta Ouji-Sama no Boku-

The beginning is quite messy at first, but then it starts to get its momentum after a while and Spooky Jack sings in a more deeper tone this time and I found the song lacking the support it should have had.  Also, the song has an echoed quality to it which kind of annoys me.  Either way, I didn’t notice anything too Halloween-ish about it, which is a 1st.

 

 

Their 2nd single was fortunatly a lot better than their debut because they started to get comfortable with this Halloween setting they are all about.  The first two tracks were really good, but the last track kinda was plain to me for some odd reason.  Overall pretty good.

Perfume – Baby cruising Love/Macaroni October 31, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. Baby cruising Love
2. Macaroni
3. Baby cruising Love (Instrumental)
4. Macaroni (Instrumental)

1. Baby cruising Love

I still think the first line is grating to my hearing, but this is one of thir best tracks.  Not only does it have the Nakata touch, but it seems like the songs actually has some emotion within it.  Kashiyuka sounds so young and petit, it’s quite scary.  The other two girls sound like they normally do.  I still think it has a wintry disposition to it which is such a nice surprise. 

2. Macaroni

I’m not one to be shocked when it comes to J-tek, but Macaroni has done that.  It’s quite slower than “Baby cruising Love” and sounds natural for a J-tek song.  There’s just something that I wished they did in the chorus.  It’s whenever they take the pause, I keep thinking they say ~ma-ma-macoroni~ but they don’t…*sad face*.  Still it’s one of their original offerings from the group.

 

 

Baby cruising Love ends off the era in a pretty good note and it was nice to see both tracks had PV’s.  BcL shows off what we already know of them and pulled off a pretty good laidback J-tek track.  Macaroni though was the surprise of the single with it’s bouncing factor and simplistic view on J-tek.  Have to give credit to Nakata for putting music to these tracks. 

 

Aira Mitsuki – Robot Honey October 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. Robot Honey
2. Knee-high Girl
3. Every night heartfull music song
4. SAZAE FUNKEDELiC
5. Robot Honey (Sound Around rmx)
6. SAZAE FUNKEDELiC (TOKYO IKEJIRI PLASTIC BABE rmx)
7. Robot Honey (digital mp-3 mastering mix)
8. Knee-high Girl (digital mp-3 mastering mix)
9. Every night heartfull music song (digital mp-3 mastering mix)
10. SAZAE FUNKEDELiC (digital mp-3 mastering mix)

1. Robot Honey

 Wow, for being an A-side it’s definitly something new.  She hasn’t done a real girly track and to be honest it’s quite the catchy track.  I’m finding that she’s more airy than usual in her vocals, but it fits the song’s theme pretty well.  The frequent bleeps do seem to cover her sometimes but it isn’t too noteworthy.  I still think “CTSNO.9″ is much better IMO

2. Knee-high Girl

I’m quite surprised this next track was released on iTunes by itself for sale.  Funny because I’m hearing the same croaky voice heard in “Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E” but oddly this song has a party-like atmosphere which is really good.  The downside of the song is that there’s not enough going on lyrically.  There’s like no verses, just the chorus and the croaky voice saying random things, but I do love the music for it.

3. Every night heartfull music song

As freaky that title is, the song is actually very ballady even for a J-tek song.  It’s slow and the lyrics are pretty smooth and slow.  I quite like this almost hypnotic sound and it’s probably the best track off the single.  Aira actually sounds really good under the vocoder and this song is great.

4. SAZAE FUNKEDELiC

Then we get this song which sounds like it’d be perfect on C.O.P.Y as a single.  It’s got a pretty cool beat and some quick lyrics from Aira.  It sounds kind of ethnic in a way, I can’t exactly pinpoint but there’s something that makes it stands out.  The chorus flys by and it’s like an addiction.  Another hi-top track.

5. Robot Honey (Sound Around rmx)

What’s up with everyone wanting to have a summery remix for their A-Side?  I mean MEG and Ami Suzuki has done it as well.  I actually think it did a great job with this track.  Take some synths, boost vocal sound, add some piano and percussion and you get this.  I found it easier to understand Aira through this remix and the music is quite cool and reminds me of capsule’s music.

6. SAZAE FUNKEDELiC (TOKYO IKEJIRI PLASTIC BABE rmx)

Then we have this remix.  I hated the introduction and her voice seems a little more vocodered and after she finished this chorus it gets pretty boppy (I guess that’s a word).  Like the song really sounds different to her other remixes.  Then there’s this part that reminds me of the ad-libbing of “China Discotica”.  This has to be the funniest remix I’ve heard in a while.

 

 

Not even gonna go through the mastering versions….Anyway, could this be Aira’s best single so far?  I actually think so, because all the songs+remixes were pretty good and showed a different side to Aira that we’ve haven’t seen before.  To actually hear a J-tek ballad fully was awesome.  The other 3 tracks are so danceable and great.  Definitly recommended

chatmonchy – Kaze Fukeba Koi October 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kaze Fukeba Koi
2. Suishin Ryoku
3. three sheep

1. Kaze Fukeba Koi

I do find myself loving this track with it’s hard beat and rawness of the band.  I’m still not enjoying the vocalist much, but I guess shes does the song justice through the verses.  The chorus was also pretty cool, but still not enjoying the vocals too much.

2. Suishin Ryoku

A little more calmer for the first B-side, but it still has the raw sound of a band.  Sadly this song gets overkilled because of Eriko’s vocals.  The chorus really made me cringe as she tried to reach for those high notes at which she’s failing at profusely.  I guess this was the worst of the single.

3. three sheep

The slowest track shows up and is probably even worse than “Suishin Ryoku” I mean the verses are alright and with a pretty quiet sound except the drums.  It’s until she goes into the chorus where things start to go bad because Eriko is mostly in the high range and she’s very thin in sound and off pitch in the worst sense.  Ugh….

 

 

So chatmonchy’s 2nd offering in the era is definitly nothing to write home about.  Each song does get gradually slower and also worse in some respects.  So in honesty Kaze Fukeba Koi is a cool song to listen to, but they other two really makes me cringe in not such a good manner.