06.30.08

Again and Again

Posted in Candies, Music at 3:52 pm by aiwish472

The “Golden Age” of idols ended long ago. Alright, the 80s wasn’t really that long ago. Nevertheless, the world of Japanese idols actually started in the early 70s. So in 30 years, almost everything has been tried. It would take a genius producer to come up with a song or a style that hasn’t been shown yet, especially when during that golden age, idols would show up one day and leave the next. [And no. That genius is not Tsunku.]

I found all this out after I was listening to the radio one day. It was an online stream; I was able to find Japanese music. A song came on that I instantly liked. It was called “Haru Ichiban” by an idol group named Candies. Candies is — well, was — a Japanese idol group from the 70s. As I discovered more information on them, I saw their work parallel with that of Hello!Project’s.

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06.21.08

A Music Survey, 夏の歌。

Posted in Aya Matsuura, Berryz Koubou, Hello!Project, Hello!Project Kids, J-Pop, Maki Goto, Morning Musume, Music at 11:21 pm by aiwish472

(Thank you for this, Misa. I’ve been inspired to write, and write about something J-Pop related too!)

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06.12.08

Thirty-one Thoughts on a Lot of Stuff

Posted in Bananas in Pajamas, Berryz Koubou, Biyuuden, Blog, Bunnies, Classic Film, Fred Astaire, Gene Tierney, Ginger Rogers, Hello Kitty, Hello Pro Egg, Hello!Project, Hello!Project Kids, High-King, Humphrey Bogart, J-Pop, Johnny's Jimusho, KAT-TUN, KAWAII, Kusumi Koharu, Lauren Bacall, Milky Way, Morning Musume, Music, Ogawa Makoto, Ongaku Gatas, Random, Releases, Sayaka Kitahara, W, Yuko Nakazawa, °C-ute at 11:34 pm by aiwish472

The following is a whole bunch of thoughts. Or just random things that I wanted to mention. XD Some are serious, some are silly. Some are Hello!Project related, others are not. The links don’t always appear blue for some reason, so hover your mouse a bit. Have fun.

(636 words and 32 categories, 8 of which I’ll probably never use again! WOO!)

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06.05.08

The Best Damn Vocalists in Morning Musume History

Posted in Hello!Project, Morning Musume, Music at 12:03 pm by aiwish472

A quick run down of Morning Musume’s top ten vocalists follows, one being best.

10. Miki Fujimoto
9. Sayaka Ichii
8. Maki Goto
7. Yuko Nakazawa
6. Iida Kaori
5. Mari Yaguchi
4. Aya Ishiguro
3. Kei Yasuda
2. Natsumi Abe
1. Asuka Fukuda

~

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’ll point out that every person on that list (except Miki) is from early Morning Musume. There’s something about the early days of Momusu that just can’t be replaced, ever, no matter how cute your Reina and your Sayumi are. It’s the quality of the vocals. The first generation, without a doubt, was the strongest vocals Morning Musume ever had, and second is not far behind them. In 1997-98, it seemed that vocal quality was what was considered when members were chosen, not how cute they are, what kind of personality they had, or how many photobooks they could sell. And isn’t that what really matters? Argue all you want, but singing is what these girls’ initial purpose was, and still is. Sure. Now, they sell DVDs, photobooks, and whatever else is in the Hello Project official store on any given day, but back then it was all about the CDs. And you know, that’s still what their purpose is now, too.

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05.28.08

HAY GUYZ GUESS WHAT I HEARD!

Posted in Hello!Project, Hello!Project Kids, High-King, J-Pop, Lauren Bacall, Music at 10:12 pm by aiwish472

High-King’s PV for Cinderella Complex is here! And it’s ool. So watch it. I’m going to screencap it later and write about how much I love that song, Saki’s pretty voice, how great Ai and Reina look, the debut of cute Egg Yuuka, and Maimi’s overall awesomeness. So expect a post tomorrow. =P

In the meantime…what to say…what will make this post spiffy….

Ah, here we go. Now I can finish that sentence. In the meantime, Lauren Bacall is amazing! So be distracted by this picture. XD (Oh, how I love my idols.)

I’m so excited today, in case you couldn’t tell. I even wrote two blog entries. Summer began yesterday after much waiting! Yay~

…Hey, this post is 121 words. 121 is 11 squared. XD

音楽♪青春

Posted in Aya Matsuura, Hello!Project, J-Pop, Maki Goto, Morning Musume, Music at 2:07 pm by aiwish472

After reading the “My Journey” series at Renai Project (which was very well written, might I add ;) ), I decided that I would like to write of my own “Journey”.

Morning Musume and Hello!Project…means a lot to me. Not only is it my favorite music, it’s a source of happiness, it’s something to cheer me up, and it’s an obsession. Go ahead, call me wota. XD

How did I get to this point? What did I love before Morning Musume?

It all started when I was little…

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11.08.07

Yum. Incomplete Tangerines.

Posted in Hello!Project, Morning Musume, Music at 9:12 am by aiwish472

I really like Mikan. I like everything about Mikan. I like the PV, and I like the song, and I even like the album covers.

Read more…

09.24.07

Mr. Moonlight II: Ai wo Kudasai, songs stuck in my head, and the air

Posted in Hello!Project, J-Pop, Morning Musume, Music, m-flo at 5:04 pm by aiwish472

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a Mr. Moonlight II? Now, before you start in with all the “That’s a golden era song, the current lineup could NEVER pull it off,” please let me explain. ^_^

I think Linlin would make a great Abe Natsumi. Their voices sound slightly similar, if you listen to her line in “Onna ni Sachi Are.” Well, I think so, anyways. The cuteness factor…eh, maybe not so much. But that doesn’t really matter, ne?

I’m also thinking that Eririn could be Maki Goto. Eri has such a beautiful voice, and such a wide vocal range; I just love the way she sounds. She’s improved so much since joining Morning Musume. The sad thing is, she hardly ever gets to show it off. Just think, if Eri got this part, she would be able to really show her wonderful talent. [See links at bottom of page]

And of course, the biggest role of all: Yossie’s. Gah, if there really was going to be a Mr. Moonlight II, I would get sad seeing anyone in Yossie’s part. Nonetheless, I think Risa should take this role. She, like Yoshizawa, has some of the lowest, yet prettiest voices in H!P (See link at bottom). And like Eri, rarely gets to display it. Plus, Risa would be adorable in that suit. <3 =P

The song stuck in my head right now is “Luvotomy” by m-flo loves Namie Amuro, but has been switching on and off with “Stuck in your love” by m-flo loves melody. And if I hear one more m-flo song today, I’m going to kick Verbal’s little meteorite ass to the moon! XD

As I got off the bus today, the air felt very different. It was cool and crisp, unlike the humid heat I’ve been experiencing the past few weeks months. The feeling reminded me of when I was in Vancouver two summers ago. It felt so nice, I wanted to stay outside for a while. But I had to go to math class, which didn’t bother me too much because I like math.

Eri links:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vg8efenajiw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nETPn5We8Gk

Risa link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=A3svfFIU7g4

09.22.07

Maki Goto - How to use SEXY Review

Posted in J-Pop, Maki Goto, Music, Review at 10:08 pm by aiwish472

How to use SEXY is the 4th album from Hello!Project soloist Maki Goto. It’s okay, there were some songs I liked a lot, and others that I didn’t. Read below for more.

Before I review every track, I would like to say that I still get a kick out of the title. Ah, Engrish! xD

The first song, “How to use Loneliness,” is my favorite new song on the album. I was kind of surprised; as I thought it would be a boring ballad. Boy, was I wrong. It kind of reminds me of “Ekizo Disco” (from 3rd Station), I’m not quite sure why though. At around 3:10, there are some breathy sounds, and they sound good with the background music. Also on this track, the multiple “whoa!s” at the beginning are interesting.

The next song on the album is “GIVE ME LOVE.” I like this song, but can’t exactly put my finger on what I like about it.

The third track is “SOME BOYS! TOUCH.” Ah, how I love this song. I liked it since it came out, and it replaced “Sayonara ‘Tomodachi ni wa Naritakunai no’” as my favorite Gocchin song. Maki’s voice echos at the end of every line, except when she says “Come on, together.” It adds a cool effect. My favorite part of this song is the chorus.

After that is “City Wind.” I don’t like this song. The first five seconds or so reminds me of caps coming off bottles, and it just turns into an uninteresting ballad. It has no emotion, really. It sounds the same throughout the whole song. The background music is uninteresting, and no matter how much Gocchin tries to make her voice sound interesting, it sounds blah.

“Nee Samishikute” is the fifth track. This song was just…meh. It doesn’t do anything special for me. ‘Tis an R&B song. It makes me think of GAM’s “Koko de Kisu Shite.”

The sixth song on the album is “Glass no Pumps.” I go through phases with this song. I’ll love it for a few months, but then it gets on my nerves for several weeks. I mean, who could endure listening to “Dance with me baby baby, I love you hold me, hold me” 365 days a year? I would suggest not listening to it in excess….
“DAY BREAK.” Hmm. When I first heard this, I thought of it as a slow big-band song. The second time I heard it, it sounded more jazz-ish. It’s one of the better slow songs on How to use SEXY.

After that is “WOW Suteki!” It sounds inspiring to me. Maki’s voice sounds really good here, especially during the chorus.

“Secret” is the best ballad on the album. I like the piano beginning. Another part of the song that sounds nice to me is when Maki sings that big “whoa” towards the end. The verses are slow, and it speeds up a tiny bit near the chorus.

And the last song is called “LIFE.” This is my least favorite song on the album. Another ballad. It has this air-ey feel to it. I don’t know how to explain. But I don’t like it.

Overall, I would give this album a 7 out of 10. I like all the singles that were included on the album, and most of the new tracks were pretty nice.

09.16.07

Makira, SeeYa, Rainie, and Jolin

Posted in Hello!Project, J-Pop, Jolin Tsai, K-Pop, Maki Goto, Mandopop, Music, Rainie Yang, SeeYa at 9:32 pm by aiwish472

If you didn’t know, Gocchin did a cover of a song called “Hips Don’t Lie” that was originally by another artist named Shakira.

At first I thought, WHOA. This is going to be so weird. The song’s in Spanish, and, despite that, Maki’s voice won’t sound good with it. But when I downloaded the song, I found that it was actually really good!

Here’s the MP3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0vrwii

Second thought: I used to just like Korean trio SeeYa. It was just another one of those artists. But recently, I’ve been finding myself listening to them more and more, even the songs I used to not like. Sub-obsession? Possibly. =P

Two more quick thoughts: Downloaded Jolin Tsai and Rainie Yang’s new albums. I’m not really into either yet. They lacked something.

When I heard Jolin was releasing another album under the same label as she did Dancing Diva, I thought, ‘Yay, Dancing Diva II!’ But no, this one wasn’t at all like Dancing Diva. It was…so-so. Same with Rainie’s “Free Gate.” I loved “Ai Mei” and “Meeting Love.” This one was…meh. I hope within the next 12 months, both Rainie and Jolin release something I’ll like more, because they’re some of my favorite artists (definitely my favorite singers from Taiwan! =D)

That’s all for today. =)