Ayumu – Occultics no Majou March 16, 2011

Track Listing

1. Occultics no Majou
2. Bring The Fate
3. Occultics no Majou (Miracles Mix)
4. Occultics no Majou (off vocal)

1. Occultics no Majou

If you don’t know who Ayumu is, she’s half of Zwei…just putting that out there.  Anyways, Occultics no Majou does a good job with Ayumu’s vocals since they’re powerful vocals and she put them with a good arrangement and she pulled the song off very well.  For a song at this calibur, I was quite impressed and Ayumu did very well on her own!

2. Bring The Fate

As the single’s B-side, I was wondering what was coming out from it…but I wasn’t even sure Ayumu even fully participated in the song.  The track has a very eerie feel to it and it’s kind of spooky in a way.  Being near the same length as the A-side, I was disappointed that it was just merely an instrumental of all things.  It’s pretty, but it could’ve used vocals BADLY!

3. Occultics no Majou (Miracles Mix)

I was hoping for something better with this version of Occultics no Majou seeing as it’s nearly 7 minutes in length.  I love the strings that opened the song up since it played the melody quite nicely.  However, things change quite quickly into this beepy almost urban-ish take of the song with Ayumu at the reins.  As time goes on, the remix kind of sounds good and catchy, but way too long.

I was surprised to see that Ayumu took a quick solo route when she joined 5pb. Records.  I actually think Occultics no Majou is impressive and I’m surprised they gave her a song that did good with her vocals (Now, why couldn’t they have kept that thought when Zwei started?!?).  Anyway, I was disappointed that the B-side was strictly an instrumental while the remix was alright but too long…

Harenchi☆Punch – Kyujosho JUMP↑

Track Listing

1. Kyujosho JUMP↑
2. HIKARU Stage
3. Jaa ne de Yubikiri Mata Ashita
4. Kyujosho JUMP↑ -instrumental-
5. HIKARU Stage -instrumental-

1. Kyujosho JUMP↑

Wow, Kyujosho JUMP↑ really kicked things off quite loudly with Tomomi singing strongly while Mako has the rapping parts of the song.  It’s a bit strange in an idol song, but the song is upbeat and peppy which fits it, but they really wanted to sing loud this time around.  If you like loud vocals this would definitely be your type of song!

2. HIKARU Stage

As the first B-side on the single, HIKARU Stage really cuts the energy down in half, but keeps Tomomi’s loud singing present.  It’s really nice to hear Saya and Mako sing a lot more this time around though and let’s be honest, they sound so much better than Tomomi for sure.  I actually prefer the acoustic side to them than whatever was in “Kyujosho JUMP↑”.  The weird thing was the male rap interlude…it was rather quiet and lame…

3. Jaa ne de Yubikiri Mata Ashita

Luckily, the second B-side brings the pep back up in a good way and the effort put in this song by Tomomi, Saya, and Mako is quite strong in the song and they sound like they’re having more fun, but once the chorus comes around…the girls are sounding a little bit pitchy in places.  Ok, this song is interesting for sure.

As the trio’s 3rd single, Kyujosho JUMP↑ might have slightly stepped up after “Megaphone”, but I still don’t really enjoy the main song as much as I did with the B-sides.  Those showed the gals off way more even though it lacked Mako’s rapping and such.  Their vocals do need to tone down a few notches though, they’re starting to sound like they’re yelling!

sifow – Mermaid Story

Track Listing

1. Mermaid Story
2. Donna ni mo
3. Kiseki
4. Mermaid Story -Instrumental-

1. Mermaid Story

Just from looking at the cover, I was wondering what cheesefest was coming out of Mermaid Story, and long and behold…the song is a definite change up from her first A-side “I Uta”.  There’s still traces of rock in the song, but there’s a whole lot more of synths involved and it gave the song a lighter presentation.  sifow’s vocals aren’t bad, but they seem light for the song for some reason.  Good song!

2. Donna ni mo

To me, I thought this song was suited more with the title, “Mermaid Story” since it feels a bit aquatic in nature.  It means the song’s nature is more poppy and lighter in execution, but I thought it sounded nice and kind of catchy despite sifow’s light vocals that were covered by the music most of the time.  It’s a nice tune though, I will admit.

3. Kiseki

Closing the single out, Kiseki is the ballad of the single and since it’s just sifow and light instruments, the song is a bit of a bore for me.  Her voice sounds like it’s off pitch, but it could be the lack of a good melody here who knows.

sifow’s 2nd indies single shows direction and actually sounds so much more better than what “I Uta” was.  Both Mermaid Story and Donna ni mo were cute pop songs that worked for her, but the latter had a problem with volume between the music and vocals.  Kiseki though was a little bit of a boring ballad…but I guess she started somewhere right?

Versailles – Philia

Track Listing

1. Philia
2. Judicial Noir
3. Desert Apple

1. Philia

I don’t find myself finding anything really amazing about Philia that can be said about the previous A-sides they’ve had, but I love the progressive metal sound from the band and it’s still present.  KAMIJO’s vocals sound odd this time around, it’s like he wanted to be a whole lot more deeper for some reason.  Are we trying to be ASAGI from D?  Either way, it’s a good song, nothing totally amazing, but it passes.

2. Judicial Noir

I can’t tell if Judicial Noir was meant to be harder than the previous song, but I feel like this one has a much stronger melody and also because it’s not as long.  KAMIJO’s vocals are a whole lot more expressive to me with this song for sure and while it’s naturally similar to the last track, this one doesn’t feel so weird.

3. Desert Apple

I actually thought of “Zombie” when this song first started, but not as heavy as said song.  I kind of love the arrangement out of this song the most and there’s a noticable amount of bass heard in the song which made me happy as hell.  However, after a while I noticed that this had no lyrics at all and was a solo case for the rest of the band.  It’s actually one of the best solos I’ve heard from the band yet so that’s good!

As the second single of the era, Philia isn’t quite as strong as “DESTINY -The Lovers-”, but it shows consistency and that’ll make their next album strong hopefully.  I do think Judicial Noir was better, but that was because it wasn’t as vocally off as Philia was.  The instrumental was a nice treat though since I think it’s their best since Jasmine You’s passing.

Shion Tsuji – Ai ga Hoshii yo

Track Listing

1. Ai ga Hoshii yo
2. Namae mo Shiranai Kimi ni
3. Rain Song -Pianisshion-
4. Ai ga Hoshii yo -SOUL EATER TV SIZE ver.-
5. Ai ga Hoshii yo (Instrumental)

1. Ai ga Hoshii yo

Why does Shion have to sound like YUI and miwa?  It’s so hard to seperate these three artists since they have similar instrumentations for their songs.  Ai ga Hoshii yo sounds good and she sings pretty well in the song, but seriously there’s nothing stopping me from thinking that it could’ve been seriously a song for YUI.  I still think “Candy kicks” is a better song.

2. Namae mo Shiranai Kimi ni

Beginning with the busy tone on phones and Shion’s vocals filtered a bit was interesting and the song comes in smoothly and it oddly does remind me of a more synth based “Candy kicks”.  When I say that, it means it’s light, upbeat, and carefree which are songs that Shion really does excel at.  Her vocals also sounds relatively different than in “Ai ga Hoshii yo” and that works for me since she sounds more husky than normal.  Better track is here.

3. Rain Song -Pianisshion-

Rain Song from Shion’s debut album, “Catch!” gets a piano version and two extra minutes.  I mean don’t get me wrong, making it past 6 minutes is bold and all, but it oddly worked a much better meaning in this one when compared to the original take.  Having just piano might bore some people, but I think she did well since she usually has her guitar with her in her songs.

Starting a new era, Shion began with a quite interesting song with Ai ga Hoshii yo…seeing as it’s tied to SOUL EATER of all animes.  It’s good, but people might mistake her for a more famous someone XD.  Namae no Shiranai Kimi ni and the piano version of Rain Song were a lot more of a presentation since they weren’t that bland and were more memorable.  Hmmm good single!