Kingdom [DVD 1]

April 12, 2008 at 10:20 pm | In Kumi Koda | 3 Comments
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  1. Introduction for Kingdom
  2. anytime (album version)
  3. FREAKY
  4. Under
  5. Koi no Mahou
  6. Himitsu
  7. Ai no Uta (album version)
  8. MORE
  9. Amai Wana
  10. Aishou
  11. Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto
  12. Wonderland
  13. Run For Your Life
  14. BUT
  15. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
  16. Black Cherry (live version)
  • bonus video

17. LIVE DVD TRAILER from LIVE DVD ”KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ SPECIAL FINAL IN TOKYO DOME”

(Guest commentary with my sister in italics)

The Introduction is just Kuu waking up with a series of damn beautiful effects!!! JUST PRETTY!

I think I’ve seen the single version of the anytime video once, so I don’t know what scenes are different. Throughout the PV, Kumi’s actually wearing all her own clothes. So the idea behind this is that her boyfriend is behind the camera. The bit where she’ s crying actually makes me sad to see, then she’s puts on her boyfriend’s jumper and all is well with the world :D ‘She seems to be obssessed with ice cream …(Talking about the bunny suit) that looks so comfortable. I guess you can’t not look cute in that.’

Now for FREAKY. The whole fighty thing is cool. I like the concept and the set. Whoever did that butterfly eye makeup needs an award. I have no idea what it is about the video… it makes the song seem so much shorter! ‘I like the costumes and the set and the dancing is cool’

Under is a weaker video actually. I think if they’d put a couple of dancers in with Kuu it may have worked a bit better, she doesn’t look as amazing in the solo dance bit as she does in the pose shot. One exception to that is the kick that she does into the splits is awesome. ‘It’s very ghetto-gangsta!’ Word! HA

Koi no Mahou begins the mini-drama… the plot is confusing and difficult to explain, so I’m not going to. The outfit she’s wearing in the beginning is the same as the one she wears in the HImitsu video. The bits where she’s at the stall is cute. She should have bought those red earings in my opinion, they match the outfit :D It’s all shiny, happy and colourful, just like it should be.

Himitsu is the second installment in the drama. This one is shot in monochrome, which suits the tone and genre of the song really well. She’s doing a photoshoot and there’s this whole thing with a waiter (the secret oh ho ho I hear you say) who’s the guy she bumps into at the end of Koi no Mahou. I don’t know what it is but the bit where she’s in the evening gown surrounded by the see through curtainy things, somehow strikes me as a kind of French thing. I don’t know why.

Ai no Uta follows on from Himitsu. Aww… Kuu’s all sad ’cause of the happy couples. Her acting in the scenes when she’s surrounded by the tear drops is quite superb. The whole ‘I’m smiling on the inside but my true feelings will come out and I’ll collapse in an emotional heap’ thing works really well. The colour is also drained from the sad parts of the video, dulled in the flashback and all-out in the tear drop sections. ‘Jewelry’s a big theme here isn’t it’.

A quick drop off from the mini-drama, MORE. Basically, MORE, is just a great display of special effects. The ’set’ is kinda Tomb Raider and incredibly amazing. And there’s a beautiful red dress, and fire…. WOW. ‘She looks like a phoenix’

I could write about Amai Wana in my sleep. I’ve seen it so much, it was the only song I was weak enough to download before I got the album. Back to mini-drama. Lots of conflicting emotions in this one. I suppose they didn’t put dancing in because it would detract from the plot, But I wish there was a dance version… that would be too cool. ‘I want all her jewelry’

Another quick stop off from the drama… Aijou. The make-up is amazing, the kimono is just plain beautiful. The set, wow. Her director of photography gets a mental award from me. The set up of this PV just plain rocks.

And the last piece of the drama. The-futuristic-where-not-much-happens Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto. All this is is Kuu in a white shiny room with a lot of translucent screens showing clips of the various videos in the mini-drama. Now I’m sure it would help if I understood the words, but I don’t so I’m kind of lost on this one. ‘It’s very educational, I like looking at the shiny things’

Wonderland is, funnily enough, inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The COLOUR 0-0. It’s ridiculously cute, fits the song well too. Bouncing mushrooms, funny! I prefer the black dress to the white one. The candy-cane! The elephant! This is just an acid trip.

Run for Your Life was given a comic book kinda set up, which I love, and it illustrates the two different sides of Kuu. ‘Sexy is the best’ and ‘cutie is my life’. I feel a bit sorry for Cutie!Kuu, she gets left behind by the other girlies. Basically, they’re both after a guy, and while Sexy!Kuu goes straight after him, Cutie!Kuu runs for her life… straight into the guy. The PV totally captures the fun of the song.

Ahh… the ever controversial BUT. Geez, the amount of colour in the first outfit! Yikes! Masculine women bowing. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll say too much.

YAY LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki !  Tohoshinki rock, Koda rocks… win/win situation. The whole futuristic thing works with the movie tie in. All the guys look quite awesome so I won’t pick anyone out particularly. I adore Kuu’s massive sunglasses, I want them for my holiday to Egypt. JUST PLAIN FREAKOID AWESOME

Black Cherry -live version- begins with some interesting English from Kuu. I’m not too keen on the dancers outfits. Staged very well, Kuu’s singing is actually deeper than the album track. The crowd sure enjoy it.

LIVE DVD TRAILER makes me want the DVD so much. The clips are really well chosen and the entire thing just looks soooo……. 0-0

Kingdom [DVD 2]

April 12, 2008 at 9:16 pm | In Kumi Koda | Leave a Comment
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Koda Kumi Premium Limited Live In Hall In Yokohama Arena

  1. Cherry Girl
  2. BUT
  3. WON’T BE LONG
  4. Someday
  5. you
  6. hands
  7. MORE
  8. Your Song
  9. Koi no Tsubomi (A Cup of Milk Tea Bossa Nova Version)
  10. Sweet Love…
  11. WIND
  12. FREAKY
  13. girls
  14. Through the sky

(Commentary by my sister in italics and there are no ratings… cause I don’t think my brain could handle it. So this is less of a review and more of an informative commentary. I meant to do this years ago… didn’t get round to it)

The DVD kicks off with Cherry Girl. The first song by Koda Kumi that I ever really liked and now the first song by Koda Kumi my sister ever liked :D She’s prefers the live version because ‘It’s groovier’. She has a full brass section to perform to, which really gives the song such energy. The only thing I’d say is that I hope it’s fake fur she’s wearing. Kumi’s vocally rock steady, and she’s looks great and moves really well around the stage.

BUT is next. And not many people know this but Koda Kumi is actually half-Japanese, half-Cossak! (sp?) Kumi’s vocals suffer a little because of the opening but it’s pretty solid. The movements she and her dancers are doing are quite simple but effective and it has to be, cause for most of the song she’s still wearing that fur coat, when she takes it off she moves a lot more fluidly.

I LOVE this version of WON’T BE LONG. I like it more than the album version :D The brass section does something to it that makes it such a great song to listen to/watch. Kuu’s having fun, no doubt, and so are the dancers! I love the dance and want to learn it and so does my sister. ‘even if you’ve heard it once, you can join in.’

Someday busts out a full string orchestra! And while the intro goes on, Kumi struts up and down the stage smiling at people in the audience looking almost deranged ^^ The first time she asks the audience to join in on the chorus… and of course they all know it. Not a huge amount happens but we don’t care about that do we?

you. I envy the pianist. And, as per usual, a guy in pajamas enters and starts an emotional lyrical routine, with lots of emoting and pointing towards Kuu. Violins, raising platform and smoke all included in the entry price. Then a girlie dancer with a mohawk enters and dances with pajama guy!!! There’s a lot of depth in Kumi’s performance though and the chorus is pure LOVE. It’s a miracle! Snow inside Yokohama Arena! ‘It’s a bit overdone’

This was actually the first time I heard hands. This section is in black and white, which, while being appropriate, doesn’t really need to be done. Very emotional performance. It’s only done with the piano as backing and there’s a beauty in that simplicity. ‘I like it.’

New track, MORE, is next. I love how she kicks it up in this chorus. This is a song made to be performed and boy! Is it performed! She is also wearing a magical, colour-changing hat. Well, she’s not really the light keeps changing and the hat goes from red to blue in the light. ‘I like the chorus and it is well-sung’

Your Song is when ‘ballad fatigue’ (onee-chan’s term) sets in a little. The dress she’s wearing is very Japanese pop concert. Huge and poofy. Convincing wig too, shame about the two huge growths of feathers protruding from her head. The string section is put to great use here. ‘Not as catchy, there’s no hook, you can’t hum it’

Yay for Koi no Tsubomi! This is the ‘A Cup of Milk Tea Bossa Nova Version’ so it’s a lot more relaxed and laid back in comparison to the album version. But Kuu’s still being cute and singing with a huge hyper smile on her face.  Good choice to perform just because of the brass section. Artistic shots of the mirror ball also included.

Sweet Love… and now, Ladies and Gentlemen, a picnic. With men in white suits performing a pseudo hip-hop dance around women holding parasols. It has personality, definitely, even if they all look like they’ve just come from the prom. ‘That guy that’s dancing with Koda Kumi, his hat doesn’t fit ‘im’

A quick speech from Kumi where she explains that it’s the last song (even though it’s not)… and other stuff I don’t understand.

A really beautifully ballady opening from Kuu for WIND. And again the audience joins in :D then it goes into the real version of the song. Complete with confetti. There’s always confetti. ‘It’s catchy, but not as much as the others.’

And now for the horrifically edited FREAKY which begins the three song encore. There’s a quick video at the beginning with footage from the PV, and shots of a ‘ newspaper’ which is full of Engrish. But seriously the editor must have been taking LSD or something… the shots change so quickly and so often, it’s really painful on the eyes and the head. This is the only weak one on the DVD, and it’s not Kuu’s fault. –She’s wearing the dancey outfit from the PV BTW-

Another little chat with Kuu… Again I have no idea what’s going on

girls is the penultimate song. Hyper-Kuu-Pop at it’s best. Kuu and her dancers are bouncing around and throwing stuff into the audience. I don’t know what it is, but I want one -_- There’s also a sort of ParaPara routine which I’m going to learn… eventually. Even the backing singers know it!!!

And now for the actual saigo no uta. Through the Sky well, my sister wasn’t too happy it’s a ballad. Making good use of the strings though. The ad-libbing is ROCKING THE HOUSE MY FRIENDY.  ’The other one sounded more like a finale number, this should’ve gone before’ I think it’s a great closer actually… Mainly because of the ad-libbing

TOKYO STAR

April 9, 2008 at 5:36 pm | In Miliyah Kato | Leave a Comment
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001.jpg

  1. LaLaLa ft. Wakadanna (Shonananokaze)
  2. 19 Memories
  3. Better Days -sweet love side-
  4. You Go Your Way
  5. Kiss
  6. Love is…
  7. Saigo no I Love You
  8. Just Wanna Have Fun
  9. Tough
  10. Young Lady
  11. Sayonara
  12. U Gatta Understand
  13. Ai wa Kawarazu
  14. Futurechecka ft. Simon, Coma-Chi & Taro Soul
  15. Tokyo Star

(I’m writing this as I listen to the album for the first time)

LaLaLa has a bit of a weak opening, in my opinion. There doesn’t seem to be enough going on throughout a lot of the song. It’s a good song and Miliyah Kato’s voice is very nice… When the track does pick up some energy, it becomes a whole lot more interesting. Could do without… whatever his name is though. For the first Miliyah Kato track I’ve ever heard, I’m rather looking forward to the rest.

Track Rating; B+

Now for 19 Memories. It has a little bit of a These Words Angela Aki feel. Even though it’s not what I usually go for, I really like 19 Memories. It has a softness and strength, potrayed very nicely in Miliyah’s vocal. The instrumentation is not overly complex and the overall effect is pleasing.

Track Rating; A/A+

Better Days -sweet love side- follows 19 Memories very nicely. Simple instrumentation and a certain softness and strength. It has a great rhythm and flow that makes you go right along with the song. Whilst samey songs usually annoy me, this has something that makes it less than abrasive.

Track Rating; A

you go your way begins with a vocal that I really like. The guitar makes the “R’n'B” feel to the track more bluesy :D It reminds me of a song I heard the other day on the radio.

Track Rating; A

Kiss. It’s getting hard to talk about each song without repeating myself. And we’re only on track 5. THERE’S FIFTEEN. Great, not quite as interesting as a couple of others.

Track Rating; B+/A-

Love is… sounds like Love Will Grow from Final Fantasy to begin with. Love is… is a ballad, if you couldn’t guess from the title. Lovely use of strings in the chorus, Miliyah vocal is rock steady and, well, I love the song.

Track Rating; A+

Saigo no I LOVE YOU , The Last I LOVE YOU, right? “R’n'B” ballad, so you can imagine the arrangement. This is okay, nothing amazing, just not quite my style. Even though it’s been executed very well.

Track Rating; B-

Just Wanna Have Fun has a great synth-y sound. It has plenty of pace which means the song fits the title. While not being the most thumping party song, there’s fun to be had.

Track Rating; A-

TOUGH. It opens with a distorted guitar and then introduces a strong beat. Pretty samey song, so I’m a little bored with the lack of interesting features in the track.

Track Rating; B

Young Lady kind of follows Saigo no I LOVE YOU. Not entirely impressed.

Track Rating; C+/B-

Track 11, Sayonara, yeah ballad. Good to show off Miliyah’s vocal, but unfortunately it’s quite easy to tune out halfway through. Not enough happens in four minutes

Track Rating; C

Ummm… U Gatta Understand? Right. I love the use of traditional instruments in the opening, unfortunately it’s not sustained throughout the track, which it should have been…

Track Rating; C+/B-

Ai wa Kawarazu has a very relaxed feeling to it, with the backing plodding along :D Nice chill out song I feel. There’s something about the simplicity that I like.

Track Rating; A

FUTURECHECKA Sounds promising straight from the get-go. Aggressive beats and rap, with Miliyah Kato’s fab voice seems to be instant win!

Track Rating; A+

And finally, Tokyo Star. Again, more aggressive and power. A bit of electric guitar really boosts song up the rankings… And that’s the end of the album.

Overall… Despite there being a couple of weak spots in the tracklists, and what my less than stellar commentary failed to mention, I did actually enjoy this album quite a lot.

Overall Rating; A-/A

Charisma Kirei

April 6, 2008 at 9:06 pm | In Melon Kinenbi | Leave a Comment
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  1. Charisma Kirei
  2. Onnazakari
  3. Charisma Kirei (instrumental)

Charisma Kirei is a bit of fun really. It’s not amazing, but it’s not bad. The chorus is the best bit about it, I love the way they sing ‘Come on ba-bay!’.  There’s not any intolerable vocals, they all put in a decent performance, but the overall thing that strikes me is how bare the arrangement is. A little more music and this would have probably felt a lot better.

Track Rating; B+/A-

I love the opening to Onnazakari it sounds so Mario it’s almost funny… It would be funny if that was all, but NO, Mario all the way through. It gives the songs bounce and energy though. Again, quite a bare arrangement, though I do still like the song.

Track Rating; B

Single Rating; B

Sunny Day

April 6, 2008 at 8:55 pm | In Kazue Fujiki | Leave a Comment
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  1. Sunny Day
  2. Touka
  3. Sunny Day (instrumental)

Sunny Day is a mature-sounding ballad, that doesn’t get too ballady… if you know what I mean. It has superb instrumentation and doesn’t get boring at all. Fujiki’s vocals are mostly very strong and she carries the track very well. This is one song that’s really worth a listen :D

Track Rating; A+

Touka is a more ballady-ballad. With just a piano over the first verse and then introducing strings, you can see where this is going right from the get go. And, well, it gets there. Slightly less impressive than Sunny Day, but it’s definitely very good, especially for a B-Side.

Track Rating; A-

Single Rating; A

Missin’ U

April 6, 2008 at 8:47 pm | In Yuko Ishida | Leave a Comment
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  1. Missin’ U
  2. Can’t Stop My Love
  3. Missin’ U (Instrumental)
  4. Can’t Stop My Love (instrumental)

Though Missin’ U isn’t my usual style of music, it leaning more towards “R’n'B” ballad, there’s something about it that I really enjoy. Sturdy vocals, a great chorus and a constant sound that contribute major brownie points. There’s nothing specific to love or hate about Missin’ U, the entire package just works

Track Rating; A+

Can’t Stop My Love gets a bit funky! Her pronunciation at the outset is a little ‘eh?’ but I can get past that. Again, solid vocal, great flow and the chorus is awesomely poppy. Not quite as good as Missin’ U  but it’s a little hard to compare them

Track Rating; A

Single Rating; A/A+

Love Paradox

April 6, 2008 at 8:32 pm | In Leah Dizon | 1 Comment
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  1. Love Paradox
  2. Under The Same Sky
  3. Love Paradox (Instrumental)
  4. Under The Same Sky (Instrumental)

Love Paradox is the second chance Leah Dizon needed. It inspired me to go back and listen to her debut album, Destiny Line, which I had initially found incredibly dull. Now I like it a great deal more, but back to the point. Love Paradox is a Namie Amuro-ish dance song that suits Leah a lot better than some of her previous material. It’s no secret that Leah Dizon is not a fantastic singer… yeah… but here the overall arrangement and tone fits the nasal quality she possesses. I love this track way too much.

Track Rating; A*

Under The Same Sky is a much weaker track… much, much weaker. A sort of ballad-y thing. She hits a couple of horrible vocal moments here and there but it’s tolerable because they’re actually few and far between. Under The Same Sky sounds wistfull and distant, with sort-of wave sounds and a very relaxed melody. Nice, not entirely memorable, but it’s really nice to see that she’s improving.

Track Rating; A

Single Rating; A+

Mikan

April 6, 2008 at 8:24 pm | In Morning Musume | Leave a Comment
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  1. Mikan
  2. Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! BOMB GIRL
  3. Mikan (instrumental)

Lookie lookie… It’s the reason I started listening to Momusu! I loved Mikan from the first time I heard it (When I DL’d the dance shot version) and I still love it to a stupid degree. It has an amazingly addictive opening and a great bouncy pace! Just fun all around.

Track Rating; A*

Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! BOMB GIRL is a jazzy b-side that inspired the name of 2007’s autumn tour. I love BOMB GIRL as much as Mikan . It oozes the same energy and just makes you want to join in. Memorable and fun.

Track Rating; A*

Single Rating; A*

60s70s80s

April 6, 2008 at 8:17 pm | In Namie Amuro | Leave a Comment
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  1. NEW LOOK
  2. ROCK STEADY
  3. WHAT A FEELING
  4. NEW LOOK (INSTRUMENTAL)
  5. ROCK STEADY (INSTRUMENTAL)
  6. WHAT A FEELING (INSTRUMENTAL)

NEW LOOK is, hands down, my favourite track of the three. It’s sugary cuteness wins over all, in my opinion. The chorus is addictive and has cute English phrases here and there. Namie’s ad-libbing is spot on, and the song ‘Baby Love’ isn’t over-sample and doesn’t sound contrived… Major victory.

Track Rating; A*

ROCK STEADY is my second favourite tr…. you can see where this is going. Automatically, before I even heard the song, it gains points for sampling an Aretha Franklin song. The woman is a legend and vocal superstar, and, while the sampling isn’t as obvious as that of Baby Love, it still adds to the track.

Track Rating; A+

WHAT A FEELING was never really going to be my favourite track. It was released ages after the other two and I didn’t like it immediately. That said, it’s still a great song. A great dance feel, sticks to the theme ridiculously well and keeps you on your toes (Dancing :D )

Track Rating; A+

Single Rating; A*

I Loved Yesterday

April 6, 2008 at 6:47 pm | In YUI | 3 Comments
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  1. Laugh Away
  2. My Generation
  3. Find Me
  4. No Way
  5. Namidairo
  6. Daydreamer
  7. Love is all
  8. I will love you
  9. We Will Go
  10. OH YEAH
  11. My Friend
  12. LOVE & TRUTH
  13. Am I wrong!

Okay, so I haven’t posted in a while… I’ve been busy and unmotivated, unfortunate combination, but I’m going to start right back up with Yui’s new album I Loved Yesterday. I’m listening to this as I go along btw.

Laugh Away is a nice opening, which hits it’s stride properly when Yui tells us to ‘Get away’ . The chorus is hands down the most interesting part of Laugh Away, mainly because of the great high-notes that are thrown in.

Track Rating; B

My Generation. Yui has always had an incredibly identifiable style and in her music there’s very little diversity but when there is she kicks it up. My Generation is not one of those tracks. It has that distinct sound. That said it is still a good track.

Track Rating; B

Find me sounds a little different; Good. It has a more melancholy tone and more subdued vocals for the most part. Listening to just these three tracks you notice that Yui pretty much always does a normal tone for the verse and raises her voice for the chorus at the price of sounding a little strained. Find me is no different in that respect.

Track Rating; B+

No Way is only just over one minute long. It sounds a little more rock and roll and provides a nice break from the samey sounding stuff. Should have been a full out track.

Track Rating; A

Acoustic ballad time.Namidairo has some beautiful strings in its opening, which should have been sustained through the verse at least a little… I’d probably like this more if there was less guitar, more ochestra. I done think Yui’s vocal portrays enough emotion for a ballad and Namidairo is more than a little disappointing.

Track Rating; B-

Daydreamer is track 6, and what a nice track 6 it is! It speeds along, not in a hyper way, sounds like early Good Charlotte-type stuff. Nice. Probably my favourite track so far.

Track Rating; A

Love is all sounds incredibly like… everything you’ve ever heard from Yui. Nichts Besonderes. Again, strained vocals during the chorus.

Track Rating; C/B-

I will love you has a nice introduction but a really boring opening verse. In regards to melodies, Yui doesn’t seem to work very well with verses. Her choruses have great melodies but the rest tends to suffer.

Track Rating; C

We will go started sounding promising, Interesting drum patterns and dischordant mixing… sounding like it could be fun. Unfortunately, the pre-chorus returns to scream ‘This is YUI here!’ at you and the chorus doesn’t do anything interesting.

Track Rating; B+

OH YEAH. Okay… this didn’t exactly make me go ‘Oh Yeah!’ for all the reasons I’ve stated in the rest of this review. Oh Yeah has a bit more energy though which gives it a couple of bonus points and the ‘Atarashii’ that begins the chorus is great.

Track Rating; B+/A-

My friend. Strings and piano kick this off, and just like Namidairo they’re dropped as soon as possible, only to be brought back during the chorus to highlight how dull the rest of the track is.

Track Rating; C

LOVE & TRUTH hits the speakers next. Damn boring verse. She sounds so bored… and a bit like she’s been to the dentist and her jaw’s still a bit numb. Not really impressed.

Track Rating; C

Am I wrong sounds just as dull. End of story & end of album.

Track Rating; C

Overall… It’s dull, monotonous and has very little to offer. It sounds like everything else Yui’s ever offered up, which is good if you’re a diehard fan. Not so much if you enjoy as much diversity as I do.

Overall Rating; B-

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