The Candy Spooky Theater – Murderland January 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. TRICK or TREAT
2. Nightmare ~Fuminshou no Shoujo to Kaaten Goshi no Akumu~
3. Nemurenu Mori no Hanayome

1. TRICK or TREAT

Hmm, I guess we needed another freaky Halloween track right?  Well, TRICK or TREAT has the most darkest sound of the A-sides and it’s so demented.  Jack sounds so freaky singing along and just hearing his offlandish singing really made the song even more apparant.  You could say this is “Devilish Kidnapper”s twin.

2. Nightmare ~Fuminshou no Shoujo to Kaaten Goshi no Akumu~

That’s a pretty cool piano opening before turning into a harder rock track.  I think this is their most consistent song yet as it sounds really good and like something Asian Kung-Fu Generation would someday do, but with the Halloween touch.  Jack sounds like he’s being tortured singing throughout and it’s so much more enjoyable.

3. Nemurenu Mori no Hanayome

I think the band was initially thinking of a more calmer track.  At some points it worked, but when the music is covering Jack’s otherwise vocals, it just doesn’t really work.  The crashing piano chords with the fast drums and slow guitar moments really are strange, but oddly enough like the last single, there’s no Halloween theme going on in the track.

 

 

3rd Single was more or less the last single all over again.  I mean the main track was a pretty much a carbon copy of “Devilish Kidnapper” and the other two tracks are just the rest of the “Wonderland” single.  It might be a bland single but all 3 tracks are on their album

Chihiro Onitsuka – Shine January 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. Shine
2. BACK DOOR
3. Shine (Instrumental)

1. Shine

What a nice calm debut A-side.  Shine has a nice, flowing pop arrangement including some laidback beats.  Chihiro has a more deeper tone and it isn’t terrible.  You can really enjoy this in a beach setting and totally fall inlove with it.  Chihiro does conjure up a strange honky sound in her voice, but it’s not too bad.

2. BACK DOOR

BACK DOOR oddly seems like a slower “Shine” but is just as nice and calm like the previous track.  It isn’t as memorable, but it’s a pretty nice track overall, if you like slower pop songs. 

 

 

Chihiro’s debut single is pretty nice actually.  Shine and BACK DOOR are a nice blend of comtemperary pop and mainstream.  Luckily she’s pushing to be a pretty big seller.  This single definitly has done it right.

Koda Kumi – feel my mind January 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. Break it down
2. Crazy 4 U
3. Rock Your Body
4. Rain
5. Without Your Love
6. Talk to you
7. Hana
8. Get Out the Way
9. Sweet love…
10. Gentle Words
11. magic
12. COME WITH ME
13. Yume with You (R. Yamaki Groove Mix) (bonus track)
14. Cutie Honey (bonus track)

1. Break it down

So strange to begin the album by checking your missed messages.  After the strange opening, we get into this pretty cool track.  I do question the birds chirping in the verses, but this track has this cool sneaky sound that just made it work so good.  I really like this track.

2. Crazy 4 U

Crazy 4 U continues our foray with the groovy sounds and even though it’s a happy-go-lucky track, it’s pretty catchy.  As being the last single of the era it just made me happy to see it on the list.

3. Rock Your Body

Rock Your Body sounds a little tribal, but has the J-urban spark that Kumi usually has.  Add the clapping and acoustic guitar and you got this catchy little ditty.  I must say that I love Kumi’s vocals here and it just melded with song altogether.  Nice.

4. Rain

I like the muffled start up and then the sitar addition in the beginning.  This would be the first ballad of the album.  I must say she can pull of the R&B ballads quite nicely when she tries hard.  The chorus is a little shaky as Kumi really goes for some high notes that don’t exactly cooperate with her, but Rain isn’t a bad ballad.

5. Without Your Love

Pretty cool that she added this track  to the album.  I love her swagger in this track, but sometimes I wonder what’s really going on in the lyrics as I wrote down in the single review.  The energy and aggressive singing really made the song cool.

6. Talk to you

We finally get a pretty meh track.  Like it sounds a bit like the last few tracks and it just seemed dead.  Kumi is trying hard not to make it too bored, but alas, it’s just isn’t cutting it.  Other than that it’s a pretty laidback track, well for being all urban and such.

7. Hana

Kuu is getting it right with the ballads on the album.  Hana is definitly no exception and I really love the arrangement.  Kumi is on emotion overload and it just fit with the mood.  I’m not sure which ballad is better so far….hmmm…

8. Get Out the Way

Wow, great way to screw up titles.  As such, Get Out the Way is an upbeat urban track, but I really don’t like how robotic Kuu sounds singing in the verses and how weak her vocals are in the song.  I think this is my least favorite track from the album.

9. Sweet love…

I honestly thought this was going to be another ballad, but it turns into this groovy pop track.  Sadly, that came at a price of becoming stale and pretty forgetful.  I can give her props and putting out a nice happy track, but others cover it.

10. Gentle Words

I actually prefer the sitar sounds from “Rain” rather than this track.  Being the 2nd single release in the era, I kind of caught myself thinking this track was a bit fillerish on the album.  Maybe it’s just how similar this track is to the others. 

11. magic

Damn, the later half of the album is getting quite bland.  magic made me like it, mostly because I really enjoy Kuu’s quiet vocals.  She can really sound sexy and mysterious with it.  I also liked the arrangement and it sound like 90’s R&B which is great.  One of the best off the album.

12. COME WITH ME

Ending the main album tracklist is what started the “feel my mind” era.  There’s so much energy and funk that it really made me tap my toes along with the song.  Amazing A-side and great way to finish the album up.  I really do love the after-chorus where she sings really loud and such.

13. Yume with You (R. Yamaki Groove Mix)

Remixing the urban styling to a more Arabian feel.  This version of “Crazy 4 U”s B-side is a pretty surprising one.  I did feel Kuu was sounding pretty awkward with the beats and such and sounded like she was dragging the song terribly.  Other than that, this was a nice change of styles and broadened the soundfield on the album.

14. Cutie Honey

Being a cover of a theme song.  This is actually Kumi’s sexiest track to date, by that I mean lyrically.  There’s so many good things about the song.  I mean Kuu sounds great, there’s many stylings and instruments all over making the song sound more complete than other songs on the album.  She even does ~HONEY FULAAASHU!~  I’m not entirely sure why she featured it on this album.  BTW it’s on the next single as well as the next album…

Tracks Recommended

• magic
• Hana
• Cutie Honey
• Break it down

3rd album, feel my mind is an album I usually forget about.  It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s just kind of there.  Notice that I actually loved the album tracks so much more than the singles.  That should be hinting at something.  Seriously, this album was alright, but doesn’t beat her later releases.

Aural Vampire – DEATH FOLDER January 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. Economical Animal Superstar
2. Darkwave Surfer
3. Vampire Ecstasy (Kohki Destruct System Remix)

1. Economical Animal Superstar

You know what?  I have never been introduced in this style of music, Industrial Dance xD.  Economical Animal Superstar would be a great start with it’s quite dark synth melody and EXO-CHIKA’s filtered vocals.  She really does sound amazingly dark for a female singer.  I got to say though, this is one freaky song and I love every minute of it.

2. Darkwave Surfer

Continuing on we have this almost trance-styled track, Darkwave Surfer.  You still have the industrial sound and EXO-CHIKA is more filtered in this track, which makes it hard to hear what she’s saying sometimes.  Luckily, the music is what basically saves the song from being too mindless. 

3. Vampire Ecstasy (Kohki Destruct System Remix)

Alright, so the single came after the album which is OK, and I haven’t heard the original yet, but this version does sound different against the other two tracks on the single.  Not only is their more sound, it’s pretty much a rock track.  I kind of like the style, but I’m just used to their synth stuff basically.

 

 

Aural Vampire debut single is pretty cool and does represent the group’s overall sound.  The Vampire Ecstasy remix was a cool thing to add on.  Still this single is pretty high on my listened to list.

TWO-MIX – BPM132 January 8, 2009

Track Listing

1. Just Communication
2. Good Dance!!
3. Thousand Nights
4. Friend
5. Silent Cruising
6. Callin’ You
7. Divin’ to Paradise
8. I Love You
9. Second Impression
10. You Can Do It

1. Just Communication

The only A-side to represent the album, Just Communication is a pretty cool dance track.  Even though this song is really old, there’s some great beats and rhythms.  Minami’s vocals are great nice and she can really hit some good notes.  Still it’s quite minimal comparing to dance music these days.

2. Good Dance!!

Good Dance!! also shows that there could’ve been more to the song, but the song has a pretty hopeful sound and pretty upbeat as well.  ~Let’s go dance, tonight! is a great line from the song and it’s just a happy dance track.

3. Thousand Nights

Definitly Arabian sounding, Thousand Nights is a great song to show off what TWO-MIX can do.  I mean there’s some arabian flute playing the melody and Minami comes in singing all mysteriously under the music, which was a pretty sweet idea.  I think this is their coolest track so far.

4. Friend

Once again showing a more happier side, Friend is a little underwhelming to listen to.  I’m not sure why exactly, but I was pretty bored with the tracks as the song didn’t really move itself along much.  Minami though still sounds great here though.

5. Silent Cruising

For being called silent, this song was pretty much hectic as dance songs go.  There’s some great synth melodies throughout and Minami sounded much stronger this time.  I’m starting to get a little tired of the happier tracks, but I love Minami in this song too much to really hate this song. 

6. Callin’ You

Honestly, this happiness thing, has to stop.  It could be classified as a ballad as it is a pretty soft sung tune, but it was just so boring that I couldn’t help but dislike it quite a bit.  Yeah, this isn’t a good song after all.

7. Divin’ to Paradise

Divin’ to Paradise starts off pretty quietly and in a dream-like state which is such a nice way and then Minami and the beats come in with this paradise kind of sound and then these different sounding synths start up and it’s like surprising.  Pretty awesome song.

8. I Love You

I guess it’s better than calling it Ai no Uta right?  As usual it’s a ballad, but with TWO-MIX’s touch to it.  Minami sounds a bit strange, maybe a tad higher pitch than normal.  Still, she’s rather strong singing along with the up and down synth melody.  Right when she hits the chorus, the song goes upbeat and then she gets terribly nasally for some reason…that’s weird huh?  There’s even accordion in the song….so strange.

9. Second Impression

It’s like they went and tried to use the Reggae theme for Second Impression…It’s quite strange and Minami isn’t singing too much, she’s rather talking through the verses and then singing later on in the song.  I guess it’s alright for a Reggae-sounding track.

10. You Can Do It

Now this is the song that surprised me the most.  It’s the darkest, fastest, and coolest track on the album.  Minami does sound a bit strange being filtered, but add in the crazy keyboard antics and the pulsing beat and we get this great track.  To finish the album up like this is quite baffling, but I won’t argue.

Tracks Recommended

• You Can Do It
• Thousand Nights
• Divin’ to Paradise
• Just Communication

BPM132 when listened today will sound pretty aged surprisingly and I couldn’t blame them.  They aren’t capsule, but they can make some pretty rad tracks.  Their debut isn’t too eye-popping, but there’s tracks that’ll definitly interest you.