mihimaru GT – Torokechau Dandy~ July 7, 2009

Track Listing

1. Torokechau Dandy~
2. mute
3. Torokechau Dandy~ (Instrumental)
4. mute (Instrumental)

1. Torokechau Dandy~

So here we are, a month after their last A-side, “Switch” was released and well we get our summer A-side from mihimaru GT.  At first, I was disliking the track as it combines their hip-hop lyrics with a summer pop feel which sounds meh to me.  miyake has much more of a presence here along with hiroko which is cool since she was all over their last A-side.  It’s hilarious that they featured a steel drum solo…so random.  Still, I gotta say it’s grown on me and the PV is a little too suggestive…I mean hiroko, god you’re such a perv!

2. mute

mute is quite interesting as it continues the summer mood, but in a more relaxed form.  Then all of a sudden the song goes all rock as miyake starts in with his rapping section.  Ok, this song is starting to remind me of “Hashire!” back on Kuu’s recent single.  It’s cool, just a little unoriginal at this point of time.

 

 

mihimaru GT’s 4th was defintely fitting for the season, but unlike “Switch”, I didn’t really feel a connection with the single as a whole.  I mean yeah Torokechau was cute and dirty while mute was more of an alternative sounding track…but together they just didn’t make me connect.  Go back to your style back on “Switch” please!

ayaka – Minna Sora no Shita

Track Listing

1. Minna Sora no Shita
2. Arigatou.
3. Koi Kogarete Mita Yume (2009/04/22 Nippon Budokan Live ver.)
4. Minna Sora no Shita (Instrumental)
5. Arigatou. (Instrumental)

1. Minna Sora no Shita

I know she’s sick and all, but c’mon another slow song?  I know she’s more famous because of her ballads and such, but I really want something that’d last in my mind since after this ayaka is going off into hiatus land.  I will say it’s a lot better than “Yume wo Mikata ni” and we here her vocals stand out more with the orchestral arrangement.  Beautiful track from ayaka and I guess it does make for a nice longing period, so this song is a good way to go out.

2. Arigatou.

Now this was the song I was hopefully waiting for.  It’s not as upbeat and fresh like “CLAP & LOVE”, but this is quite nice.  It’s more upbeat nature stands out for me and even the brass made the song peppy almost and I quite like that about this track.  ayaka’s vocals are nice and full here which added to the mood.   Good track as well.

3. Koi Kogarete Mita Yume (2009/04/22 Nippon Budokan Live ver.)

When are her live performances not sucky?  Now coming from her last single, I was surprised it wasn’t “Yume wo Mikata ni” that got the live version.  She never messes lives up and she continues this streak with this live.  Her ballads never come off as bad, especially if they are sung live.  Hearing ayaka singing her ballads to me sound better than the recorded versions and once again does it for me. 

 

 

Ok so ayaka releases this before her prolonged hiatus for who knows how long and well it’s a great way to leave the fans off like this.  Minna Sora no Shita is great ballad from her and put along the lines of “Mikazuki” and others.  Arigatou. is also nice being an upbeat track as well.  The live also was just as good as her many other live versions.  So in other words, not a flaw in the single.

YAZIMA Beauty Salon – Hamaguri Bomber

Track Listing

1. Hamaguri Bomber
2. Hamaguri Bomber (KARAOKE)

1. Hamaguri Bomber

Unlike the surprising sound of their last single “SAKURA”.  Hamaguri Bomber is actually a nice summer track with some latin flavor going on.  I love how this is actually quite cool and I love the chorus to the song because there like ~BOMBAAAAAAA~.  It’s explosive and fun and OZMA, Takaaki, and Noritake sound just as funny still.  There’s even a guitar solo thrown in there for the kicks. 

 

 

I wonder if an album is nearby since this is the 3rd single in the era and they show no signs of weakening from them since this song shows of more of their vibrant stylings…and even though they aren’t supposed to be taken seriously, the music is otherwise pretty strong.  Hamaguri Bomber is like going to another one of those tracks that’ll get stuck in my head for weeks to come since “SAKURA” is still is.  Another good single from the 3 guys/girls/whatever?!?

Koda Kumi – 3 SPLASH

Track Listing

1. 09:00 A.M.
2. Lick me ♥
3. ECSTASY
4. 12:35 P.M.
5. Hashire!
6. 04:20 P.M.
7. Lick me ♥ (Q;indivi-Yusuke Tanaka Remix)
8. ECSTASY (Caramel Pod E Remix)
9. Hashire! (420 Remix)
10. 12:00 A.M.

1. 09:00 A.M.

Well this single begins with someone outside playing with the radio and this funky beat starts up.  It screams funny and actually listening closer it sounds like Kuu’s at the beach or something as the end sounds like there’s waves crashing upon shore. 

2. Lick me ♥

Yep, our first track was the main track that was to promote the single and well….the song is kind of like her other summer tracks like “girls”, “Come Over”…etc.  I love the part where she’s like ~da da da~ I thought that was nifty in an otherwise summer pop track.  The title though screams sluttiness though….she’s such a damn tease.

3. ECSTASY

The next full track on the single, ECSTACY is quite hot and especially since her and these kind of tracks kind of go together.  Unlike her last tracks that were like this “TABOO” and “Driving”, ECSTACY is more focused on the arrangement and the usage of electric guitar.  This is definitely way better than the latter while being as good as “TABOO”.  It does sound more complex and maybe like a few ideas just thrown in, but I think the song is Kuu doing what she does best and that’s making sexy songs.

4. 12:35 P.M.

Our first of two interludes, this one is more laidback and quite funny especially when the only thing to really get from it is “It’s time for showdown”.  Not much else to say really

5. Hashire!

Unlike “Lick me ♥’s” more cute take of summer, Hashire! is a summer track under the veins of summer, but I can’t say the song isn’t anything amazing.  I’ll say it’s something we haven’t exactly seen since “Ningyo-hime” and rock isn’t one of the best things Kuu has done (example: It’s all Love!”). It’s alright, but both of the other tracks are better IMO

6. 04:20 P.M.

After “Hashire!” Kuu moves from the beach into her car and drives off as this small R&B beat pops in before it stops and then something that sounds like a club comes in with a dance sound before it ends with a continuous beep.  A little more exciting than the other interlude and intro.

7. Lick me ♥ (Q;indivi-Yusuke Tanaka Remix)

Instead of the cutesy side, we get a more dance-infused track.  I’m surprised to see Yusuke from Q;indivi handle this track and handled it well.  I heard the Q;indivi sound which is dance and strings mixed along so I thought it did a great job.  The main song is still intact and Kuu’s voice sounds good under this arrangement.  I think it’s actually better than the main. 

8. ECSTASY (Caramel Pod E Remix)

ECSTASY though didn’t need a remix IMO.  I was right, the remix is a cut n’ paste kind of remix and while some of the song sounds nice…I basically took out the song and some of it sounds bad.  The verses were cool though I’ll say that.  Actually as time flies by it gets better a more sexier which is cool.  I love the ascending line as Kuu is whispering ECSTASY…that was pretty shweet.

9. Hashire! (420 Remix)

So ending the remixes off, Hashire! pops up and it’s oddly the most drastic of the remixes.  She’s under auto-tune and the original sound of summer rock is thrown out for a more electronic sound. I actually quite like the more driven track here as well.  The remix does have it’s annoyances like Kuu’s vocals repeating over and over, but otherwise this isn’t bad at all.

10. 12:00 A.M.

After the remixes are done the single finishes out with it’s outro kind of like how “4 hot wave” did and well it sounds more like a little bit of “Lick me ♥” was added just to finish things off.  It’s kind of cool how how at the end ~K-u-m-i~ was spelled out before ending.

 

 

Kuu’s “first” single of a new era, 3 SPLASH isn’t a bad single at all as many people claimed it to be.  I mean yeah OK Lick me ♥ and Hashire! are a bit obvious at this time of the year but it’s to be expected since she hasn’t had a summery A-side in quite a while.  ECSTASY was the clear winner here as it’s all hot and sexy.  The remixes were pretty good all-around for sure and Lick me ♥’s is better than the original…(thx Q;indivi).  The interludes and such were to make this single flow a bit like how “4 hot wave” did and once again worked for its cause on the single.  People thinks it’s a bad single, but I don’t I mean it’s better than “stay with me” and the solo song, “faraway” from her collaboration single with misono.  So this was basically a good way to officially start the era.

Ayumi Hamasaki – Fly high

Track Listing

1. Fly high “HΛL’s MIX 2000”
2. Fly high “SAMPLE MADNESS REMIX”
3. Fly high “Supreme Mix”
4. Fly high “Acoustic Orchestra Mix”
5. Fly high “SHARP BOYS U.K. VOCAL MIX”
6. Fly high “Saturation Remix”
7. appears “HW Club Mix”
8. Fly high “Dub’s F Remix”
9. Fly high -NON STOP Mix- “N.S DANCE MEGA MIX”
10. kanariya “fake compilation”
11. Fly high “Album Version” -Instrumental-
12. Fly high “Vocal Track”

1. Fly high “HΛL’S MIX 2000”

Actually, it’s the closest remix off the single that uses the main version.  The beginning is a bit different as it doesn’t open hardcore into the chorus.  The song does sound more refined and the song changed around a little bit mostly with Ayu’s “rap” section.  It’s just as good as the original if not better actually.

2. Fly high “SAMPLE MADNESS REMIX”

This remix is just odd as one.  I mean at first there’s like brass opening and an interesting beat going on, but after the song goes all freaky and filled with night sound and synths and Ayu’s tweaked vocals.  I’m not  big fan of this remix as it’s not as memorable nor anything really makes me want to remember it either.

3. Fly high “Supreme Mix”

Ahhh the beat gets more aggressive as our next remix starts up and Ayu repeating ~It’s gonna~ over and over and over and it quickly annoys me to no end.  This remix just drags the song to no end and I consider this the worst of the era easily.  Nothing really happens, just a lot of repetition and by the time it gets to Ayu’s chorus, you just wanna press next.

4. Fly high “Acoustic Orchestra Version”

The unexpected happens when I saw that there’s a coveted version of Fly high on this single.  Being the first of many of these tracks.  It’s not a remix (thank god).  They took the whole song’s arrangement, threw it in a trash and have a Orchestra playing the song.  I thought this was what the singles previously released needed badly and I got to say this was definitely something awesome…plus it’s Fly high with strings!

5. Fly high “SHARP BOY’S U.K. VOCAL MIX”

Yeah, our next remix sounds IMO less interesting than the original as it has the same beats going on and sounds dry again.  It actually just stayed at the same flow the entire time then add in the vocals and you basically got boredom.  I’m not a fan of this track at all!

6. Fly high “Saturation Remix”

I’ll say this remix is a bit more edgier and more rock than anything off her last singles.  It’s like how Nami Tamaki’s “Prayer” was remixed.  So take a synth heavy track and just replace it with hard guitars and an overall metal sound and you get this remix and I kind of liked it until the chorus where it gets strange.  Freaky remix, but cool.

7. appears “TW Club Mix”

appears gets its own remix (again) here and well it’s more or less anything special unlike the remixes back on it’s own single.  It does sound nice as there’s a pretty smooth opening into the track which was basically the synths, sadly after she finishes her line the music gets into a club sound, but it doesn’t sound forced, it’s quite more comfortable than some past club remixes.  Ok, so it’s better than I thought…hmmm

8. Fly high “Dub’s F Remix”

The next two tracks are so unbelievibly long it’s just outrageous.  First off is another one of the dubbed mixes and well this is one is just way too long for my liking.  I mean it does add things and Ayu starts singing about 3 minutes in…it’s just way too drawn out being almost 11 minutes in length. 

9. Fly high -NON STOP Mix- “N.S DANCE MEGA MIX”

Would you believe that this track is longer than the last one borderlining 13 minutes?  Yeah…I’m not sure why they credit this as a megamix when there’s clearly only one song being hit.  I mean there’s changes in the song that’s frequest enough, but there’s so many different styles in the song and I don’t recognize one of them and it’s probably for the better. 

10. kanariya “fake compilation”

I’m not sure why this has such a strange title to it.  kanariya gets another remix, but sadly its a club track and it’s just as bad as the ones found on its respective single.  I mean there’s a little touch of disco here and there and the bass is quite cool, but this otherwise sounds like another boring club track from here.

 

 

The last recut single of the era, Fly high was an amazing track from LOVEppears and to have it become a recut was a good idea if it wasn’t for the fact that it was the 2nd recut single.  Fly high’s single didn’t have the main track like “kanariya’s” did, but then again it does have the longer length.  Remixes were once again more misses, but a few stoof out and introduced us to the Acoustic Orchestra Versions which was a great idea to put out for fans.  “appears” remix was pretty good while “kanariya’s” was just not needed.  *phew I’m done with this era”

Ayumi Hamasaki – kanariya

Track Listing

1. kanariya “Jonathan Peters’ Vocal Club Mix”
2. kanariya “Struggle Mix”
3. kanariya “HΛL’s Mix”
4. kanariya “DJ-TURBO Club Mix”
5. kanariya “Dub’s Energy Remix”
6. Two of us “HΛL’s Mix
7. kanariya “SPAZM Mix”
8. from your letter “pandart sasanooha Mix”
9. kanariya “Big Room Mix”
10. kanariya “HIROSHI’s Nite Clubbing Mix”
11. kanariya “Full Vocal Mix”
12. kanariya “Original Mix” -Radio Edit-
13. kanariya “Vocal Track”

1. kanariya “Jonathan Peters’ Vocal Club Mix”

Whoa 10 minutes just for a remix?  That’s crazy right?  Yup well kanariya gets that treatment and I consider this way to long to digest and even then it’s takes way way too long to get Ayu in the song.  I’m just not liking the fact that it begins the single in a bad way IMO. 

2. kanariya “Struggle Mix”

Thank god we got this remix because it takes the poppy kanariya and makes it epic.  The beginning is so gritty and and darker in composition which is like a total 180 degrees from the original mix. It’s definitely one of those remixes you need to hear to get a good feeling of Ayu’s more robust remix material.  Struggle Mix is amazing.

3. kanariya “HΛL’s Mix”

I am starting to get a little tired of seeing his remixes on each single, but this one is actually quite good.  It doesn’t feel tacked on and the beginning’s more mysterious sound is quite cool.  It’s god a pretty cool synth melody and Ayu’s singing actually fits into the mold of the song.  I don’t what’s with the rise of sound in the background that sounds like a siren or something, but it’s cool.

4. kanariya “DJ-TURBO Club Mix”

Aren’t there ever remixes that just get to the point without having some long ass introduction into it?  I can hear sounds of the original being somewhat implemented into it and well the beats are nice.  It’s funny some of the song uses the backup singers.  After that Ayu does come in and her vocals seem to be quieter than the music.  Strange but ok…not that good of a remix though.

5. kanariya “Dub”s Energy Remix”

Now this track is definitly a nice track with it’s chill dance sound and the music makes more sense than before.  It still does kind of drags especially being past 7 minutes.  There’s not a lot to say about the remix beside it’s a nice track. Oh yeah long startup as well.

6. Two of us “HΛL’s Mix

Whoa, the forgotten B-side gets to have a remix?  Wow coming from her debut era, Two of us got a more quieter remix with a light touch of synths to back things up.  I do like how HΛL changed the boring track into more of a nicer and simpler listen.  I feel like those background synths just wanna explode and make the song harder, but it works if it didn’t do that as well.  It’s a nice remix and I like it alot.

7. kanariya “SPAZM Mix”

I was expecting something shocking out of this remix because well…SPAZM???!?  I guess I can see that with the random excerpts of electricity and the one note played by the violin.  It doesn’t really go anywhere though not having much of a real direction or any real surprising factors about it.  Kinda boring if you ask me.

8. from your letter “pandart sasanooha Mix”

I really don’t know why from your letter has a remix on this single in particular.  At first I was like oh this is going to be a big band version of the track, but it turns into an odd combination of synths and timpani going for the track and I don’t like this mixture.  The middle interlude has some random speaking/cheering which was just not needed,  It is the only remix for from your letter that’s made it onto a single, so I guess that’s good.

9. kanariya “Big Room Mix”

If I thought a remix would be uber useless, I’d say this one would be one of the because it’s just too stale and really doesn’t stick to my mind at all.  I mean there’s some good things, like the deeper synths, but the overall club sound is starting to wear thin.  Man, these remixes are getting worse and worse after time passes on this era.

10. kanariya “HIROSHI’s Nite Clubbing Mix”

See this remix starts out the right way with Ayu singing the chorus before getting the music going.  I like how they also put in the English lines in the song as well before Ayu’s verse it makes the song open up to a more better track.  The music is obviously club based but it sounds nice and fits the mysterious mood of the song.  Another really good remix here.

11. kanariya “Full Vocal Mix”

Another club remix?  Jeeze don’t we already have enough of these for one track?  It does feature Ayu singing the track which is pretty cool as it since the song doesn’t take forever to get into the song.  Still I find the arrangement sort of dry when compared to some of the other club remixes on the single. 

12. kanariya “Original Mix” -Radio Edit-

After all that, we finally get the track that went with the PV and if you remember, this was a hidden track off of “LOVEppears” and then it wasn’t anything special since the song was more of an afterthought than anything special on the album.  I still like the BKGD vocalists and the guy that pops in with his lines.  It sounds like a bit R&B albeit a bit light and I kind of like it, but Ayu’s vocals here are kind of nasally especially near the end….of this short track.

 

 

kanariya beging the recut singles of “LOVEppears”.  The first of the two (two recuts??? what???) was definitely heavy on the remixes and most of them were club-based and pretty bad IMO.  Only a one or two are any good which were Struggle and HIROSHI’s remixes.  Two of us and from your letter are odd tracks to begin with and giving them remixes was even more odd, but at the end they were both alright with Two of us being the better remix.  I don’t think I’ve seen a hidden track ever get its own single so this was a first.