ikimono-gakari – Nakumonka November 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. Nakumonka
2. Orion
3. Nakumonka -instrumental-

1. Nakumonka

Nakumonka sadly ends the A-sides of the era in a very disappointing way.  I mean did we really need another ballad from the trio…Does “Futari” and “YELL” fill that gap fine enough?  Oh well, I actually don’t find anything about Nakumonka to make it stand out besides the songs melancholic feel (which once again, been proved with previous A-sides in the era.  So much for ending nicely for the era huh?

2. Orion

I’m not sure why the J-pop world is hopping on to name their songs Orion after Mika started it.  Not that I don’t mind right now but let’s just hope it doesn’t become a wildfire like “Ai no Uta” did.  Now ikimono-gakari’s Orion does remind me of their previous B-side “Omoide no Sukima” in which the song has a bit of harmonica before turning itself into a ballad tune.  At least that made it different to said song.  Still, a another ballad song isn’t the direction I didn’t want this song to go and I’m once again bored and not liking the song.

 

 

ikimono-gakari finishes their era in a very boring manner.  Nakumonka and Orion just doesn’t live up to their more memorable songs of the current and last era.  It just seems their lacking something this era besides “Joyful” and “Hotaru no Hikari”.  I wished they pick up and hopefully have great tracks lined up for the album next.

Yuna Ito – Let it Go November 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. Let it Go
2. Happy Days
3. Let it Go (instrumental)
4. Happy Days (instrumental)

1. Let it Go

I didn’t expect Yuna Ito’s new A-side to be so free-sounding as it is here.  Let it Go does sound like western mainstream music, but that’s not a bad thing.  Yuna’s vocals are strong, but not like “Koi wa groovyx2″.  I hear a little bit of folk here too, but it sounds fresh from her as well.  Not a bad A-side to start off a new era.

2. Happy Days

Unfortunately, the B-side comes off as a little dry when compared to other songs.  It still carries that western feel like “Let it Go”, but it seems to be a little calmer and the song is a little more condenscending and happy which is nice and the addition of the strings/synth solo was a nice touch but beyond that I couldn’t find enough redeeming qualities.

 

 

Wow, it has been a while since “DREAM” was released huh?  Well, Let it Go was a nice single to start the new era.  It also seems like Yuna is wanting to even out and get more upbeat songs when compared to ballads.  It’s alright, but right now it just seems like an average release.

Rina Aiuchi – ORANGE★NIGHT November 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. ORANGE★NIGHT
2. CALL MY NAME
3. Dakishimete
4. ORANGE★NIGHT -instrumental-

1. ORANGE★NIGHT

Finally, after a while of not so good A-sides, we get an actually catchy one in ORANGE★NIGHT.  While it does retain the pop/rock sound that was back in “PLAYGIRL”, it’s actually more catchier and not as demanding in the vocals as previous songs were.  Rina’s vocals are still not perfect in the arrangement and seems too wrong here.  Still, it’s one of her best A-sides in a while.

2. CALL MY NAME

The first B-side of the single, CALL MY NAME is a ballad track, but with traces of rock and synth to add some style to it.  At first I ignored it because there wasn’t really anything special about it, but hearing it again, it’s actually a better track suited for Rina.  She doesn’t sound terribly out of place, nor as thin on “ORANGE★NIGHT”.  After a while though, the song becomes rather monotonous and unmemorable, but still is a good B-side.

3. Dakishimete

Sadly, the worst track has to be Dakishimete.  It seemed to strip even more instruments and left us with an R&B track.  It feels stretched out too long and doesn’t exactly move itself along as it should.  I’ll admit that Dakishimete probably is the best of Rina’s vocals on the single, but the arrangement is a huge borefest.

 

 

Rina’s 2nd single of the era is rather unimpressive on me.  ORANGE★NIGHT is pretty good, but her voice isn’t suited for this style of music and we’ve known that for quite a while.  CALL MY NAME and Dakishimete are poor tries at being worthy at being at the top of Rina’s ballads and fell flat.  I hope things change soon…