Kylee – Love Kicks… March 17, 2009

Track Listing

1. S.A.U.
2. You Get Me
3. THAT ONE
4. Not For You
5. Empty Handed
6. Wherever You Are Tonight

1. S.A.U.

S.A.U. means Something About U.  Right from the start you hear how punk she is and I really love her voice.  She’s got a powerful voice for someone at a young age especially with how hectic with everything is going.  The use of synths also seem to be a pretty cool addition.  What a powerful start for Kylee.

2. You Get Me

OMG, I’m am loving this song so damn much.  Not only is the song is the main promotional track, it’s the first track I ever heard from her.  It’s a love song, but put into a teenager’s vision because the whole basis is that even though I’m weird as hell, you’ll still love in the end.  The PV was even cool and she’s really does make herself look so cute (jailbait moment). 

3. THAT ONE

THAT ONE starts off with some pretty cool synths and then it becomes this hard rock tune which does surprise, even though “VACANCY” was hard to.  I really like how she tackled the whole I’m looking for you and I really wanna find my guy.  It’s quite different and it’s also a pretty interesting track nonetheless. 

4. Not For You

Our next track is actually a pretty calm track compared to the others and it’s quite a pretty sad track, even with the dramatic piano crash during the 2nd verse.  I love her pain and anguish in this song and honestly it’s the best track off the mini.  It even beats out “You Get Me” now that’s something!

5. Empty Handed

Scratch that as the last one being the calmest, Empty Handed is just an acoustic-only track which is a nice change from the rock side.  I kind of like the whole breakup feel and she’s wondering how things happened, but in the end she’s left enpty-handed.  I actually thought this song was a bit empty and maybe typical.  I really like her vocals though.

6. Wherever You Are Tonight

Things seem to slip further when our next track pops up.  I’m also finding myself being bored with the track even though I really like the music to it.  It’s a little punkish, but also pretty alternative at the same time.  I’m also in love with the guitar solo as well.  Maybe it isn’t as bad as I initially thought, but the other tracks are better in my opinion.

 

 

Kylee’s first mini-album was surprisingly good.  Only one of the tracks really bored me, but the rest really showcased Kylee as a whole and I really see that she might make it big someday when she’s older.  Her voice is just so good for someone her age, I swear it’s good.  Wait til she’s in her 20′s and she’ll be at Hitomi S.’s level

Namie Amuro – WILD/Dr.

Track Listing

1. WILD
2. Dr.
3. WILD (Instrumental)
4. Dr. (Instrumental)

1. WILD

Ever since “Come”, Namie has been really into this kind of electronica and it makes a strong comeback in WILD.  I have to say the song is hot and even though the lyrics are a bit off, I mean the chorus has body parts mentioned, something is wrong with that picture.  It’s got such a sweet beat and the whole ~LET’S GET WILD!~ line that’s frequent in the song is amazing.  One of her strongest songs, but seriously Namie…you could’ve lengthen it for sure, because this song is oddly short.

2. Dr.

On the other side of the coin, Dr. is obviously a hot mess of a song.  I’ve said that MEG’s “FREAK” was a hot mess because of the weird musical style she took for it.  Dr. is a hot mess cuz of how many different styles it takes.  It starts off like some kind of freaky science fiction film.  It’s got a cool rhythm, but then…everything gets thrown out of proportion when the whole marching section comes up and Namie is like wanting a doctor to help her.  I’ve actually grown to like the song despite I always get thrown off by that weird part.

 

 

Damn, Namie is continuing her reign of great releases.  Representing as the first single of the era, WILD was an awesome dance track and even though it’s way short, it’s definitly worth a listen.  Dr. is likewise a dance track with a huge wrench in the song, but it’s not terrible and can be good if you denounce that part.  Awesome single, Namie!

Ayumi Hamasaki – poker face

Track Listing

1. poker face
2. FRIEND
3. poker face (Instrumental)
4. FRIEND (Instrumental)

1. poker face

Wow, has it been 10-11 years since this came out?  poker face is one of Ayu’s most important songs because well it’s her debut track and 2. she never ever performs this because during the recording her grandmother passed away.  Ayu never performs much to the chagrin of fans that want her to re-record it.  Now her vocals have stepped up a little bit since her Columbia era and even though it isn’t as refined as it is nowadays, poker fave has a certain charm that I really like about it. 

2. FRIEND

FRIEND at first sounded like something of her past era, but luckily that changed when the piano came in.  It isn’t as exciting as “poker face” but it’ll pass for right, but like it’s really bland to me and just seems like B-side material.

 

 

How did Ayu do on her debut for avex?  Well, let’s just say the other singles of the era outshine this one.  poker face is a pretty good pop track, but I would really want a new version of it.  FRIEND though was particularly forgetful and I rather forget about that altogether.

Yuna Ito – miss you

Track Listing

1. miss you
2. BREEEEEZIN!!!!!!!
3. Urban Mermaid -Bittersweet Movement Blood-I Riddimix-
4. miss you (Instrumental)

1. miss you

The gentle sounds of waves crashing begins miss you, which is not surprinigly a ballad of all things. I have a sense of what her ballads sound like and miss you doesn’t disappoint. Her vocals are just so appealing and really smooth and easy to like. Defintily a smooth track and a pretty ballad.

2. BREEEEEZIN!!!!!!!

Oh now this is so odd. Instead of the pretty ballads I’ve heard before from Yuna, this actually was off the wall and is so lively with it’s island-like vibe and feel. I do think that her vocals in the chorus are pretty weak and squeaky, but it’s nothing that could be cleared up by the fact the song’s feeling is BREEEEEZIN!!!!!!!

3. Urban Mermaid -Bittersweet Movement Blood-I Riddiemix-

I actually haven’t heard the original much to the dismay of people, so I can’t make a prognosis on how this sounds when compared to the original mix. All I know is the song is about girl power basically so it’s a good topic to start in. I love how she incorporated island themes with this track which makes the singles overall theme complete. Yuna sings really well and the song has a good orchestrated feel to it which I’m surprised it had.

 

 

Wow, this single surprised me well. I loved the fact that the single had an overall theme to it and how all 3 tracks sounded way different from each other. I actually am excited to get into “Koi wa Groovyx2″ now.

Rina Aiuchi – START

Track Listing

1. START
2. Lavender Rain
3. Kirakira
4. START -instrumental-

1. START

START was officially where Rina was showing her rock sides.  Don’t get me wrong, START still has synths and other interesting stuff and even a piano for lulz.  I was so very surprised to see that it really stood out from her past works by a long shot and could be one of her best tracks she’s had in a long while.  This was a great A-side to have for sure.

2. Lavender Rain

Our first B-side comes in and it’s also just as different as her other works.  The first thing that I caught was the almost space-y sounds in the background and then the acoustics that took over the song.  It might not be the most original song, but this was good for easy listening.

3. Kirakira

Oh no, now this song was definitly unoriginal and probably one of her lamest songs she has.  I felt that she was very bored and detatched from the song itself.  Now the arrangement is basically “Lavender Rain” sped up, given a more acoustic sound and added low synths.  Definitly the weakest off the single.

 

 

Rina’s 2nd single to represent “PLAYGIRL” was basically good.  START and Lavender Rain both complimented each other even though the former shows a new style to us that I like while the latter was easy listening.  Kirakira was just not what I wanted and I’m sorry to say it but it’s a bad song.

UVERworld – D-tecnoLife

Track Listing

1. D-tecnoLife
2. MIXED-UP
3. AI TA Kokoro
4. D-tecnoLife (TV Mix)

1. D-tecnoLife

I knew I’ve heard this song before!  From the big anime hit, Bleach, UVERworld’s debut track is for that?  Anyways at first, I thought Takuya’s vocals were pretty strange as rock groups go, but as time went by it seemed to get better.  Remembering how cool this song opened up Bleach, this was one of my favorites from the series as well as HandMC’s “Ichirin no Hana”.  Great track.

2. MIXED-UP

MIXED-UP right from the start sounds definitly different because instead of singing, Katsuya takes over and is rapping here which definitly threw me off.  If that wasn’t enough the song sounded more chill and has piano melodies which is uncommon for a rock group.  There’s even sax playing near the end which was strange.  Still cool song.

3. AI TA Kokoro

When it came to the 2nd B-side, we see a return of Takuya singing and Katsuya rapping as well.  I’m not sure where to classify this as a rock ballad or just a rock song because it fluctuates between the two a lot.  I’m not sure why, but I’m sensing some electronic usage as well.  I’mm say it’s the favorite from the single.

 

 

UVERworld’s debut was so good.  D-tecnoLife was the typical rock anime opening, but it was tackled pretty well and it’s one of the catchiest tunes.  AI TA Kokoro seemed to crossbreed the other tracks and I’m so happy to see this on the album.  MIXED-UP was something I would’ve never thought I’d see happening, but I kind of like it dispite being a pretty short song.  Good single to start with from them.