[Music] J-music on Itunes Part II-Reflections and Artists featured

This is the second part of a special reflective entry on Japanese musicians (J-pop/J-rock) offered on the Itunes music service. Again, it’s not necessarily a reflection for or against the service specifically, but it’s more or less something that all of you could use and note if you want to support your favorite artists.

I’m a fan of both Oblivion Dust and L’arc~en~Ciel for example. Imagine my surprise when I found a few albums by both artists added to the long list of J-musicians featured on the service. “Kiss”, Laraku’s latest album, is now up for download on Itunes as well as “Dune”. (Now all they have to do is add more Monoral, Fake? among other bands, and then we’re talking, haha). Namie Amuro’s “Play” and single for “Baby Don’t Cry” were also added to the growing archive to my pleasant surprise. It shows that more accessible songs are readily growing and that even some of you have responded in terms of supporting your favorite artists, but it will take more in order for more obscure and underappreciated artists in the J-music spectrum to be added to the Itunes catalog, so I encourage, if you haven’t already done so, to speak out about what artists you want added to Itunes (you can even use my entry as a referential list of some of the artists you’d like to see on Itunes-I know I could make a personal list of 10 artists right off the bat).

I decided that I wanted to use this as a reference point for those of you who are looking for artists on Itunes (also for myself since I’m always looking for new artists to listen to-even outside the J-music spectrum) and for those of you who really do want to know when they update and what artists, specifically, they update, because Itunes doesn’t really have a notification system regarding when they add specific Japanese artists to their growing repetoire, aside from when it falls under the World releases or if you have purchased that artist before under the “My Alerts” tab. If you want to use it, feel free, I’m going to add tags to this post as it grows and refer to it if other artists surface.

Updated: A lot of J-artists have been removed from Itunes, but that’s also meant that a few who haven’t been offered in the past have been added. One thing I will say is that if one of your favorite artists was removed (Itunes, why the devil did you take down Ami Suzuki – I was just going to buy her album “Supreme Show” when you took it down?!!!!!!!! It wasn’t even up for 2-3 weeks!!!!!![end rant]), send requests to Itunes and encourage the people you know to support them by buying their songs from the service. This would help a lot in terms of the international market breaking into the American market, and I’d love it if Itunes ended up taking the barriers of only offering select artists on their service from other countries and just allowing more of an open selection of music in totality.

I’m going to try to update this a bit more, because it hasn’t been updated since November of 2008 and there have been a lot of popular artists that were once available that are now removed, while others have been added. I’m not sure why for the removals (lack of sales, expenses, etc.), but I do find it unfortunate and I hope that they could offer more to offer for those of us who can’t purchase from import (or just can’t shop for music in general because of limited accessibility – in my own personal case, that’s the truth) in the future.

[Music] BoA – The First Album (US Version)

Undeniably, BoA Kwon, simply known as BoA, has a strong track record in the Asian music industry, spanning more than 10 years. As an incredibly diverse performer/singer/dancer, she possesses a solid pop music style with different inflections – some of which may be jazzy or have R&B flares (Do the Motion), energetic (Be the One, Valenti, Listen to My Heart), dance (Moto, Girls on Top), and then a multitude of beautiful ballads (Every Heart).

Many anime fans may recognize her contribution to the series Inuyasha with the ending theme “Every Heart”, and I can honestly say that it was my introduction to her as well.

BoA started her music career at a very young age. A friend of mine and I just talked about this the other week and he was very surprised that at 15 years old, she recorded “Every Heart”. Considering she’s had a music career since the age of 12, that tells you something. It may surprise many that she’s releasing her 15th studio album overall (not counting compilations) and first English album with “The First Album”. She’s only 22 years old, and that’s quite impressive in its own right not simply for her age, but her range of releases including Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and English formats. Go girl. :)

Over the years, I’ve kept up with her major album releases back and forth, but suffice to say, somewhere along the line I lost track of her release schedule, and since some of her singles didn’t quite latch on to me, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to see her due range. There are some stylistics in her music that I take more of an immediate impression toward while others don’t really move me. Thus, you can say I’m more neutral about her collective musical style, but I like and respect her as an artist. What made me jump back was the announcement that she would make her first official English debut, as it definitely piqued my curiosity.

I might have a different impression regarding this album versus a lot of people who may just be introduced to BoA’s style via this album, because I’ve followed her Japanese/Korean releases and have more of a bias to compare this album with her previous work. Having mentioned that, it’s worth saying that it’s a different experience in consideration, but those in the American market scheme who listen to artists like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, or Madonna might find this familiar territory. It’s very much a dance album, and if I had to paint a brush of what to expect with this – quite a few of these songs equip a vocoder and largely synthesized/processed sound that tends to be repetitive. That’s probably a common criticism I’ll employ when I go through this album, so I’ll just say it for the record and leave it at that in my summary.

She works with some nice collaborators (Bloodshy & Avant and Sean Garrett to name a few). No doubt it’s infectious and catchy, but it was kind of the sound that I was afraid that she would be marketed within if making a transition to the U.S – and I don’t say that for the stylistic itself, but the possibility of it taking on redundant progressions. “Eat You Up”, the first single from the album, paints a fair picture of how this album comes across in spurts – no doubt, if you see her in a live performance, she’ll engage you visually and with a vigor that makes her hard not to love. The production is slick, sassy, and radiant, and her vocals mesh very well with the melody, but….and there is a “but” here – the lyricism doesn’t quite deliver and it easily becomes redundant. “So Yum Yum” is one of the bridging chorus lines here just as an example for the lyrical missteps for me, among a few on the album, but you can forgive it because there are parts where the fun/attitude comes across. I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy for the song when it first came out (unfortunately, I’m still not a fan of the song itself), but the complimenting MV (where she shows off her awesome choreography) made it worth the watch and listen.

Thankfully, there are some stronger songs offered, and overall, I have to say, for it’s respective genre, it’s executed well. BoA possesses a style I think is nicely noted, and the album came across a lot better than I thought it would. Would I recommend it? Well, you’ll have to find out below the cut.

Read my album impressions below the album cover and tracklisting.

BoA – “The First Album”
Release Date: March 17, 2009

Tracklisting:
1. I Did It For Love (Ft. Sean Garrett) (3:00)
2. Energetic (3:42)
3. Did Ya (3:01)
4. Look Who’s Talking (3:09)
5. Eat You Up (3:12)
6. Obsessed (3:47)
7. Touched (3:07)
8. Scream (3:16)
9. Girl On Top (3:37)
10. Dress Off (3:41)
11. Hypnotic Dancefloor (3:43)

[Music] Chris Cornell – “Scream” album review

I felt like opening this review up to the table because I listened to this album a few times and felt I had to write about it. Those of you who think that I have been critical of an album before, prep yourself accordingly, because I don’t think I could aptly rant about an album as much as the experience that was Chris Cornell’s “Scream” album, released not long ago in the 2009 spectrum. It tells me one of two things:

1. Don’t try to emulate a sound of what you think might work. Stay true to who you are as an artist and as a person. You can take risks and think outside the box, that’s well and good, but just because it might work for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you. There is no set recipe that translates from one person to another when it comes to their craft. That’s something that one of my former professors taught me, and I couldn’t tell you how thankful I am to him in that measure, because I’ve carried that lesson with me in my life.

2. Progressive sounds can work together, but usually that involves a chemistry that occurs between the artists that does more to compliment each other’s strengths, not compete against them.

Those were the problems I saw in this overall, and it’s not like I’m trying to knock anyone who may have worked on the album in the regard, but I think in the greater scope of things, “Scream” left much to be desired and then some.

As a fair measure, I will tell all who may read this page – I love Chris Cornell – love him to bits, and if he were to ever read this review, I would tell him that I have no hard feelings toward him and I love the work he’s done in the past. Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog – I’ve followed a lot of his stellar work, and I have an open mind when it comes to music genres, especially when it comes to blending them. Heck, I love Timbaland too, because I’ve seen some great songs come from his collaboration efforts with different artists, and I would likely tell him the same thing if he were to come across this review as well. I don’t mind the fact that they chose to work together to make a piece of art and make something unique within the current stream of music.

But to come up with something like this? THIS?! You are two very talented, exemplary gentlemen, even illustrious in your artistry, but I’ll be blunt at the expense of sounding a bit crass – “Scream” has more bark than bite, and those of us who were unfortunate enough to be bitten weren’t feeling the vibe here. There were moments that I can say that I did like, yes, but…not when the whole is considered.

I’ll explain more below the cut, cover art and tracklisting.

Chris Cornell – “Scream”
Released: March 10, 2009

Tracklisting:

1. Part of Me (5:15)
2. Time (4:40)
3. Sweet Revenge (4:11)
4. Get Up (3:36)
5. Ground Zero (3:10)
6. Never Far Away (5:07)
7. Take Me Alive (4:37)
8. Long Gone (5:16)
9. Scream (6:15)
10. Enemy (4:36)
11. Other Side of Town (4:49)
12. Climbing Up the Walls (4:49)
13. Watch Out (4:03)

[Music] Crystal Kay -”All Yours” and “Color Change” album reviews

I thought I would take the opportunity to pay tribute to an artist I’ve been following in the J-music spectrum for a while now, and she ranks as one of my favorite J-singers to date.

Crystal Kay, also known as Crystal Kay Williams, is a Japanese Pop/Rhythm and Blues singer who was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan. She has performed in a multitude of venues since a young age, even had her first record deal at 12 years old! If there’s one thing that pulled me into Crystal Kay’s stylistic from the get-go, it would have to be her vocals. She has a very nice range and sweet tonality that I think people who love the genre can really appreciate. My introduction to her was…it’s hard to say, because it’s been quite a number of years since I started listening to her. I would say it was somewhere between the time she released “Almost Seventeen” and her world premiere album “Natural”. I heard the songs “Candy”, a catchy R&B romantic tune, and “Good Morning Sue”, which was arranged by Yoko Kanno from what I recall, and from that point on, I went through almost every album in her discography. I own her single for “Koi ni Ochitara”, and I’m trying to backtrack and collect her singles/albums in my CD collection (which is hard because it’s the devil trying to import music overseas).

She’s released a total of 8 albums and 24 singles to date, and that’s quite a track to have at the age of 22. I wanted to review a few of her recent albums, one of which I’ve been trying to review since 2007, but haven’t quite had the time or energy to pen accordingly, and the other is a release that was just noted last year.

Below, I’m providing the album covers and tracklistings to her last few full album releases “All Yours” and “Color Change”. “All Yours” was released in 2007 and actually is Crystal Kay’s first #1 charting album on the Oricon charts. The album has a healthy mix of appealing pop/R&B tracks, from the anime ending single for “Nodame Cantabile” (”Konna ni Chikaku de…”), to the infectiously catchy “Escalator” and lovely ballad construction of “Kitto Eien Ni”. Thinking about it in retrospect, it was just a strongly constructed album on so many levels, and it’s definitely one of my favorite releases from her to date. “Color Change” is a sweet album in its own respects as well. I highlighted it as one of my favorite releases of 2008, but I actually have a chance to come into the songs from that album in more detail for this entry.

Detailed reviews of each album beneath the cut.

Crystal Kay – “All Yours”

Released: June 20th, 2007

Tracklisting:

1. こんなに近くで… Konna ni Chikaku de… (4:02)
2. Dream World (3:44)
3. Anytime (4:42)
4. あなたのそばで (Anata no Soba de) (4:32)
5. Cherish (4:07)
6. STILL (4:57)
7. Butterfly’s Garden (3:40)
8. きっと永遠に (Kitto Eien ni) (5:02)
9. ESCALATOR (4:58)
10. Sugar Rain (4:45)
11. I Wanna Be (4:02)
12. Lonely Girl (3:59)
13. Midnight Highway (3:53)
14. Last Kiss (4:52)

Crystal Kay – “Color Change”

Released August 6, 2008

1. 涙のさきに (Namida no Saki ni)
2. ONE
3. Good Times
4. Help Me Out
5. ITOSHIIHITO
6. 帰り道 (Kaeri Michi)
7. トキノカケラ (Toki no Kakera)
8. TIME GOES BY
9. I Can’t Wait
10. Shining
11. It’s a crime
12. History

[My Favorite Things] Favorite Albums of 2008 [Japanese]

Part II of my favorite albums of 2008, this time those that I’ve heard in the spectrum of Japanese music. As with the former entry, this is a continuing list and sorted by release date, rather than in a ranked list of sorts, because they come from a multitude of genres, and I couldn’t really rank them juxtaposed to each other because they’re all of considerable note.

List beneath the cut :)

[My Favorite Things] Favorite Albums of 2008 (English)

2008 has been a bit of a turbulent year for everyone in light of many world events and crises happening on a global scale, and in the same vein, music itself seems to have leveled out on scales in my mind that have ranged from quite good to considerably average, even for some of the long standing artists/groups that have come out of the woodwork after quite some time on hiatus. We’ve seen some long standing independent artists who all of a sudden catapulted to stardom in the past year, even some who came into it by accident. We saw a diversity of releases in the pop spectrum from power energetic pop to lighthearted folk to hard rock to R&B/hip-hop to even rooted blues/jazz. It’s been a diverse year, and I think some of these artists deserve due credit.

Granted, it’s been a hectic year in my own neck of the woods, and I haven’t been able to partake in all of the music releases noted throughout the year, but I wanted to take the time to pay tribute to some of the music that stood out to me. I don’t necessarily go by what many music magazines and publications say to determine what stands out in my mind, but I actually did refer to many to get an idea of what was at least released, so I’m noting album covers, release dates, and respective commentaries in this blog to provide you some reference points to follow.

As always, take this list of favorites with a grain of salt: it’s an opinion, nothing more than that, and if anything I hope it gives you the opportunity to peruse the work of some of these artists in perspective.

All right, to get started, I decided to make a list of albums divided into groups by language. I’m only focusing on three languages this year, considering that’s all I’ve had my focus in turn with. English, Spanish, and Japanese. English is my native tongue. I know Spanish quite well, so it’s closer to being native with the number of years I’ve studied it. Japanese…I’m still working on, but I get the gist it. ^_^

This entry commences with Part I: My favorite English releases of the year. I will tell you at the moment that this list will be long, probably much longer than the Spanish entry, but about as long as the Japanese one, because there were a lot of releases that caught my attention this year. Some were excellent from more independent perspectives, others from more mainstream. I differentiate only in terms of designation, not putting either on an unnecessary pedestal. With that in mind, this is a list of [insert # of albums here] albums in total, in no respective order (I tried…and ended up not being able to do it. So what I’ll do is order them by release month and talk about them accordingly. You will be able to find the album covers, release dates, and comments beneath the cut. As always, feel free to comment if you have questions, concerns, opinion, or even additions you think would be great to this list. I may add a few more selections as I go through my list of listened albums, but I’m sorting them by release date, not by rank.

[Music] Phoenix Rising -”Ascension”

Phoenix Rising’s forthcoming album “Ascension” certainly proved a listen that I wasn’t quite expecting in the mix of music I found myself coming into in recent context, particularly noting its soothing atmosphere and respective rhythms. For those who may not be familiar with Phoenix Rising, they’re a group incorporating a range of styles from New Age, jazz, avant-garde and classical roots. Based out of San Francisco, California, Phoenix Rising is composed of Wendy Loomis and Monica Williams, with a number of illustrious artists collaborating with them in the course of the album, including Jennifer Lim (guzheng), Debra Podjed (tablas), Jessica Styler (hang drum), Suellen Primose (cello), Irina Mikhailova (vocals), and Karen Segal (guitar).

The album sets the stage for its listener with a combination of rhythms designed to immerse in rich, calm tonalities suited for meditation or relaxation in a number of mediums. Indeed, it was an album in which I couldn’t pull away from, composed of seven tracks including:

1. Seed (6:44)
2. Creation (5:43)
3. Nourishment (6:59)
4. Heartstrings (6:01)
5. Unspoken (6:57)
6. Insight (7:11)
7. ASCENSION (6:59)

The culturally diverse rhythms are subdued, yet simultaneously invigorating. “Seed’, as per example, commences the album from a rooted, earthy tonality that vibrantly shimmers and glistens in its respective strings, accented with a light flute in progression. “Creation” transitions from this rooted sound into a darker, yet soothing tonality with prominent piano, accented with light drum and flute, each of the instruments coinciding to immerse the listener in its respective rhythms.

“Nourishment” is lighthearted, richly composed and satiating in its lush composition. “Heartstrings” surges with romantic musings, no doubt accented by a combination of the prominent cello, piano and flute that carefully pluck at one’s own in its culminating surges. “Unspoken” has an ironic feel in its composition, offering the sole track where vocals are noted alongside the surging instrumentation. I think Irina Mikhalova’s vocals are pristine and well noted in the context of the song, creating a contrast that eases alongside the respective rhythms. There are moments where those collective contrasts surge a bit to heighten in a building tension, particularly when her vocal surges above and alongside the melody, but it’s noted within its potent context, and I think those who can identify with its sense of longing will appreciate it the most. “Insight” was among my personal favorites with its playful keys, building flute accompaniment, and light strings. “Ascension” concludes the album with a transition to enlightened sensibilities, rich, textured instrumentation that culminates each of the elements presented through the course of the album.

“Ascension” was certainly an album I highly enjoyed and found fitting to its respective aims: providing an immersive, soothing yet diversified listen that stands out among its respective peers. The album’s set for release in January 2009. Information for pre-ordering can be found on the group’s MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/bayareacontemporarymusic.