Track Listing
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vogue
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vogue “HΛL’S MIX 2000″
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too late “Soul Solution Remix”
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vogue “Dub’s mellowtech Remix”
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vogue “Groove That Soul Mix”
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vogue “400BPM Fatback Mix”
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WHATEVER “FPM’s WINTER BOSSA”
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vogue “pandart sasanooha Mix”
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vogue -Instrumental-
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ever free
1. vogue
I was happily surprised to see that vogue turned out to be a first for Ayu trying out bhangra. I guess I’ll have to comment on Ayu’s vocals here and it oddly fits the song, but at various points it does sound somewhat dated as a full package. It’s a nice track and is a great welcome after that long “LOVEppears” era.
2. vogue “HΛL’S MIX 2000″
It’s not an Ayu single without a remix from HΛL. It sadly took out the bhangra out which is sadly an unfortunate happening and the song does have the sameish feel the other remixes they’ve done. Besides that, you do actually hear the lyrics a bit better here and a few places, Ayu is computerized in some lyrics. It’s nice, but feels rather stale.
3. too late “Soul Solution Remix”
So it comes to no surprise that too late gets to be remixed for this single. It does suck that it falls into that position where the song takes a long while to get it going. It’s still not that good of a track, and it’s even worse being remixed. Her vocals sound even more whiny than normal and the music being boring did not help it much.
4. vogue “Dub’s mellowtech Remix”
Like with HΛL, you can’t have an Ayu single without a dub going on and we get one with vogue (as usual). It’s actually quite chill when compared to the last few dub’s. That being said, it’s sadly a bit too monotone all over and not really changing much besides the main melody and Ayu’s lyrics. It’s alright, but needs a bit more spark for me.
5. vogue “Groove That Soul Mix”
Another remix, we actually get back into that dance mood with this remix. It features your typical beat, but with piano featured. It also feels a bit like the last track since it’s laidback and nicely done. I still found myself not liking the way Ayu’s vibrato was handled, but this was a better remix off this single.
6. vogue “400BPM Fatback Remix”
Then we get into the weirder remixes of vogue and starting with 400BPM Fatback, this was a very strange remix for sure. There’s a lot of vocal distortions and an equally amount of transitioning going on here. It’s hard to really describe the arrangement style since it sounds like it was randomly thrown together. I’m still on the fence if this was genius or just a hot mess.
7. WHATEVER “FPM’s WINTER BOSSA”
Considering that the last remixes of WHATEVER was eurobeat and such, it’s strange to see WHATEVER get the bossa-nova twist and mixed in with a wintry-like feel. It’s beyond weird and it oddly fits with Ayu, except for the part where she ~whoa, whoa, whoas~. I can’t stand that part in any of the versions of WHATEVER. It’s once again, strange, but a nice remix altogether.
8. vogue “pandart sasanooha Mix”
I was not at all impressed with their last remix for “from your letter” on the “kanariya” single, so I was dreading to hear this tune. The opening was really weird and started with a conversation between two guys. Then this heavy drum beat pops in Ayu sings the chorus. Then this striking violin line pops up out of nowhere before Ayu comes in with the verses. Already, I do thing it’s better than the “from your letter” remix.
9. ever free
Acting as the single’s real B-side, ever free is once again a B-side that never sees light on a studio album of Ayu’s and I actually don’t know why. It fades itself in and it actually sounds like one of those depressing ballads that Ayu is good with. Once again, it doesn’t really try to become an epic and beat out “vogue”, but it does a good job here and ever free is probably my favorite Ayu B-side that didn’t make album-side.
The first of the trilogy, vogue was a different step for Ayu. The leading track was totally out of left field and it’s Indian roots oddly fit here especially since it was after the euro-ness of “LOVEppears”. The B-side, ever free was a depressing little tune that closed the single off quite nicely, but I felt there could’ve been some awesomeness with it. The remixes were actually safe and weren’t too bad or too good, so a perfect neutral.
