That said, I still enjoy plugging bands and songs, so I’ve moved on to greener pastures (so to speak) with a music rotation + accompanying notes, updated every other Sunday. You can check it out by clicking the banner below, or you can just take the feed link.

I’ll keep this note up for a couple of days, then I’m going to axe this blog and put up a splash page until I can get it properly revamped. So long and thanks for all the fish!

Anyway, RE:BORN has nothing new as far as material goes; the tracklist is composed of songs from the multitude of singles he’s put out over the past year. (And when I say multitude, I’m not even exaggerating: the songs on this album come from six singles, and that’s not even counting the other three he put out this year. He’s been very busy, not that I’m complaining.) A majority of the songs came out in June over four straight weeks of singles, which I meant to review and then never really got around to the last three. So it’s high time to do that now, I say.

The album starts off strong with “JESUS -ЯRII-.” It’s different from the version released last November by about forty bonus seconds of rocking out; not much else has changed. I listen to this song almost every morning as my alarm clock — look, Gackt yelling “wake me up” gets me up, okay — so I was hoping for something more substantial, but I’ll take this. “SUDDENLY,” “NO REASON -ЯRII-,” and “IN FLAMES,” a few of the B-sides from the summer singles, follow it well; they’re all great rock tracks. “IN FLAMES” was my favorite song from the summer singles, and somehow it sounds even better here.

(Please view the post to listen)

“SAYONARA -ЯRII-” is identical to the version on the Jesus single last fall as far as music goes, but it now begins and ends with sound effects that rather take away from what’s otherwise a gorgeous song. It does, however, lead very well into “GHOST,” which came out last January as Gackt’s introduction to techno. I enjoyed it then and I still like it now, and the same goes for the GHOST single’s B-side, “BLUE LAGOON -深海-“, which follows it here. More than anything else, “BLUE LAGOON – 深海-” makes me think of an underwater sub, and given the war theme of Gackt’s Reminiscence et Requiem II tour (where most of these songs debuted) it works well.

“OBLIVIOUS -顔のない天使-” takes us away from the techno and to a really pretty ballad. Ballads are usually hit or miss with me, but I rather liked this one. It and “MY FATHER’S DAY” finish up the B-sides from the summer singles, and we’re left with the four A-sides in order. “小悪魔ヘヴン” remains a very entertaining song, while “FARAWAY -星に願いを-” is more pop. “FLOWER -ЯRII-” now has Gackt speaking before the song and is still one of my favorites from the summer songs. Finally, “LOST ANGELS” closes the album out beautifully.

(Please view the post to listen)

Overall, this is an album I’m going to have on repeat for quite a while. I don’t know what it is exactly — none of these songs are new, and if I’d known the order of the songs I could have been listening to it months ago. There’s just something about having it in official album form that makes it that much better to me. For some reason, I couldn’t get myself to listen to his summer singles that much when they came out, but I feel like I could put this album on repeat for a month and be perfectly content. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand how Gackt does that to me, but I’m not exactly complaining.

Of course, there’s also his latest single, and that might just win out…

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed “Bad Romance” — I’m not sure what it is exactly, but the song is catchy enough to stick in your head. The video was as strange as I expected, given what I’d read about her, but at the same time, it’s relieving to have such an odd video to watch. So much of mainstream Western music these days is made up of cookie-cutter pop stars, it’s refreshing to have an artist who dares to be as different as Lady Gaga does. I might not necessarily understood half of what she does, but I am all for her creative expressions. At least it’s not more of the same — haven’t we had enough of that?

That said, I’m going to go back to my Nightwish marathon now. I discovered them a few days ago and I can’t get enough of them; I’ve been listening to their albums Once and Dark Passion Play on repeat. I have no idea why it took so long for me to discover them, but I’m thrilled I did!

Anyway. I do have a point I’d like to get to, and that’s a rant about a musician who’s near and dear to my heart. Or more specifically, her cover art.

I speak, of course, about Ayumi Hamasaki. One look at the cover for her most recent single, Sunrise/Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~, should tell you everything you need to know. It’s very pathetically Photoshopped and she looks ridiculous. For Ayu, or at least her cover art, this is a new low.

But it’s one I definitely expected. I haven’t liked any of Ayu’s covers for a long time now, and each one is just another disappointment. The last one I actually liked was talkin’ 2 myself, which came out in September 2007. Since then, it’s been a string of one terrible cover after another.

Case 1: GUILTY

The CD/DVD cover isn’t terribly unique, but I like the colors and the font. But what the hell is up with her nails? Is she trying to poke her eyes out? I don’t even want to talk about how absurd she looks on the CD version. Just… no.

Case 2: Mirrorcle World and Days/GREEN

When the Mirrorcle World single came out, I thought it was something simple, nice, and new. And I liked the colors. But when Days/GREEN came out, it just killed it for me. The concept worked fine for one single, but twice it just looked awful. There’s also the fact that I hate “Days” with a vengeance, but even without that I just can’t stand it.

Case 3: A COMPLETE

As a collection of all of her singles to date, she could have gone for something that represented her as an artist, like her A symbol. Instead she has a boring picture with little variation between versions. Yawn.

Case 4: Rule/Sparkle

Just look at it. Seriously, what the hell? The colors clash, the outfit is bizarre, and what is up with her hair? And that pose? WTF?!

NEXT LEVEL

The colors and disco concept, I love. But it came out incredibly wrong, from her clothes to her hair to the background. Just… ugh!

And that brings us to Sunrise/Sunset, which I don’t even need to explain.

Well, maybe I’ll like her next cover. Then again, I’ve been saying that for two years now…

Oh, the actual single? Sunrise/Sunset is yet another one of Ayu’s summer singles. Following in the steps of NEXT LEVEL, "Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~" isn’t the usual pop but more dance/techno, and I like it. "Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~" is the same song in ballad form, which in comparison is rather boring but could be worse.

One of those artists was RADWIMPS. The name alone caught my interest, because all good Japanese bands have a strange name, right? (At least, a good chunk of them do…) Their artist profile described them as having “the funk of Red Hot Chili Peppers,” so I knew I’d have to give them a try.

So off to Youtube I went to see if any of their PVs were there. The first one I stumbled upon was “Sentsuna Rensa.”

And all I could say was WTF?

If there’s some greater meaning in the PV, it’s utterly lost on me. The song itself, however, is awesome. The vocalist, Yojiro Noda, easily sings in both Japanese and English, both with superb pronunciation, and the song leaves you wanting to hear more. (And, admittedly, wondering why he’s singing about meeting Eddie Murphy in Hollywood.)

The second PV I came across, “Futarigoto,” assured me that they have more “normal” songs as well. Their sound is still incredibly catchy and memorable, and by then I knew I had to hear more of this band.

What I found was “Order Made.” This PV does have a deeper meaning, one I’m sure would have been lost on me if I hadn’t found a subtitled PV. It makes a fascinating analogy of the human body to making a sandwich and requesting what’ll be put in it, and the song itself is slow without ever really being boring. It certainly leaves you thinking.

RADWIMPS is definitely a band I’m going to keep an eye out for — I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve heard of them, and I hope they release more soon. In the meantime, I’ve become quite fond of their latest album, “Alto Colony no Teiri,” and I know I’ll be playing it all summer long.

My reaction, though, was more along the lines of “bring it on!” To be honest, Gackt has been spoiling us in the past nine months or so with all he’s been releasing, and after how little there was in 2007 and 2008 I’m thrilled to have new Gackt to put on repeat. (Even if he is sucking every last bit of my money away.) I would have preferred an album, it’s true, but at least we get the songs.

The first single, Koakuma Heaven, came out this past week. Its cover alone is fairly controversial, because yes, that is Gackt dressed as a woman. The song, too, is from a woman’s point of view — and it’s not just any woman, it’s about a hooker. Which means that as cheery as it sounds, it is a trashy song. Well, leave it to Gackt to go out there and make me say WTF. (For the curious, you can check out the lyrics.)

As far as the actual song goes, it’s really too dance-y for me. It’s Gackt, so I can enjoy it (and I think repeated listens are making it grow on me), but it’s not the kind of song I generally go for. It’s not bad, per se, and I imagine people who like this kind of music will enjoy it, but it doesn’t really do it for me.

The B-Side, however, completely makes up for this. “My Father’s Day” is a straightforward rock track, exactly my favorite kind of Gackt song, and I quite enjoy it. The song is dedicated to Ogata Ken, an older actor he met and grew close to when he was working on Furin Kazan, who passed away last year. The lyrics are really touching, but it’s hearing Gackt cry out “Good-bye Dad” that’s heartbreaking. It’s definitely one of his better songs, and I expect to be listening to it on repeat for quite a while to come.

(Please view the post to listen)
Though I could pass on “Koakuma Heaven“, “My Father’s Day” has me sure that the next few weeks will be great, and I’m excited to hear the new singles.

And I came to the conclusion that there is not and never will be an ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION PV that is anything but downright weird.

“Yoru no Call,” at least, is fairly standard Ajikan fare. It primarily features the band making little puppets of themselves, and then juxtaposes shots of the puppets playing with the band playing. Of course, they’re not normal puppets. The picture’s worth a thousand words:

I personally find it hilarious that Yamada’s looks like a vampire, because he looks like a zombie in just about every picture I’ve seen of him. Kita’s weird green skin is pretty out there, too. And Gotoh’s can certainly sing like him!

Watching the puppets go around to different places is quite amusing, but the funniest part is definitely this:

The true mystery, though, is how Masafumi Gotoh looks so young in every single PV. I mean, he’s 32 years old!

But, really, nothing can really compare to their 2004 PV “Kimi no Machi Made,” which can be entirely summed by this bizarre picture:

Yeah. I got nothin’.

(And neither does Gotoh.)

Somewhat ironically, BoA’s self-titled American album was my introduction to the Korean singer. I’d heard of her, but I’d never had a chance to listen to her music until I heard she was releasing an English album. Curious, I decided to check it out.

The first thing that’s clear about it is that it is a very American album, from start to finish. It would sound right at home blasting from any club. As such, it’s fairly typical of American music — lyrics about love, sex, and clubbing are quite prominent. Hardly surprising, given the intended audience.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from listening to foreign music, it’s to completely ignore the lyrics and just listen to the music. I do like actually understanding the lyrics I’m hearing, and in the case of “Obsessed” I’d definitely say it makes it more entertaining, but overall it’s easy enough to just listen to the music and enjoy it.

Enough talking about the album itself, let’s get to the music! It starts off strong with “I Did It For Love.” It’s catchy as hell and downright addictive, and the song serves two purposes: it pretty much spells out what the rest of the album will sound like, and it leaves you wanting to hear more.

(Please view the post to listen)

Which you do. “Energetic,” “Did Ya,” and “Look Who’s Talking” are good dance songs, sounding much like those before it while having their own unique style. “Eat You Up” stands out, though, and not really in a great way — it sounds different from the other songs, and by different I mean trashier. I can look past it for the other songs, but that’s really all “Eat You Up” makes me think. And for a single (it was BoA’s first English release), it doesn’t sound particularly catchy.

“Obsessed,” however, makes up for this entirely. It, too, is thoroughly Americanized, but in a good way — it’s the kind of song I’d expect to hear on the radio and have stuck in my head the rest of the day. It’s for this reason that it’s easily my favorite track on the album.

(Please view the post to listen)

The rest of the album follows along the same lines as the tracks before it, with another exception in “Scream,” which honestly sounds completely out of place and strange, between the lyrics and the sound. This is perhaps because it’s a cover of a song by the German group Monrose, but it really just sounds odd. Somewhat conversely, her English version of her song “Girls on Top” sounds more natural here than it does in Korean. BoA finishes strong with “Hypnotic Dancefloor“, which to me feels like a reprise of “Energetic” between the lyrics and the sound.

Sure, BoA sounds like an American album. But for a Korean artist, this is a good thing — it fits right in with typical American music. I find it enjoyable and catchy, if you ignore some of the more trashy lyrics, and I hope she releases more here. In the meantime, I think I need to check out her Korean and Japanese releases.

I’ve listened to it almost two dozen times since it came out.

Ayu blew me away with NEXT LEVEL, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to be so wrong. I won’t go so far as to say it’s perfect, because it has a few things that I’m not so big on, but overall it is a terrific album.

I started listening to the album with significant trepidation, but I obviously needn’t have worried. “NEXT LEVEL” sounded much better after “Bridge to the sky” than it did in the promotional video, and I settled myself in for what I thought would be a decent album.

And then “Disco-munication” came on and shattered whatever expectations I had about the remainder of the album. I like some of Ayu’s interludes, but never to the point that I’d actually want to get up and dance to them — because usually they’re interludes. This one makes me say “wait, am I still listening to Ayu? What have I gotten myself in to?!”

(Please view the post to listen)

That question is answered in “EnergizE,” which is so catchy you find yourself singing along halfway through. (I have no doubt it’ll be part of her next tour, and I can’t wait to see it.) “Sparkle” fits in to this album so much better than it could ever sound by itself (and the PV is brilliant and really would have improved the “Rule/Sparkle” single). “rollin’” is easily my favorite track, and another song that sounds nothing like the Ayu I’m used to. Instead, it’s a thoroughly unique song — between the distortion of her voice in parts of it and the background behind it in the whole song, it makes me wonder why I ever worried in the first place.

(Please view the post to listen)

I never would have thought the very Chinese-sounding “GREEN” would work so well after “rollin’,” but it does, and actually got me to like the song much more than I did the first time I heard it. It’s followed by “Load of the SHUGYO,” which aside from having a bizarre name, is another interlude that makes you forget it’s an interlude.

The rest of the album is great, but there are several things about it that don’t make it as good as it could have been. For starters, “identity” strongly reminds me of her 2007 song “decision” and makes it difficult to listen to seriously as a result. And although “Rule” does sound better when listened to in the album, I still find it pretty bland. “LOVE ‘n’ HATE“, however, makes up for this. Like “EnergizE” and “rollin’“, it is a thoroughly different sound for Ayu, and the album is definitely improved by it.

“Pieces of SEVEN” sounds like the interlude it is, but at least it sounds interesting. The thing is, it fails as an interlude, because the transition between it and “Days” is fairly disorienting — it’s more of a dance-influenced track the whole way through, and “Days” is a winter ballad.

In fact, “Days” is the weakest point of the album. I’ll be blunt: I hate this song. No, I utterly despise it. In general, I find most ballads boring, and although there are a few of Ayu’s I like, “Days” is not one of them. It’s beyond boring, it’s utterly pointless and a waste of a song, and it sounds entirely out of place on this album. The one and only good thing it does is transition well into the final song, “Curtain call,” which primarily features just Ayu’s voice and a piano and sounds lovely. It closes the album beautifully, at least until you turn it back on.

I love this album. I’m going to be listening to it years from now, marveling at the fantastic creation it is, and all the time in between. It’s sort of a surprise I like it so much, I suppose, considering I’m usually not big on dance-influenced music like this, but I love it. I just wish it didn’t have “Days” (which at this point I can’t even listen to anymore, I just skip straight past it). More than anything, though, I’m thrilled that I was wrong about NEXT LEVEL, because it was nothing like what I expected — it was a million miles past it, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

By the middle of the first song, I was positive that this was an album I was going to love for years to come. As much pop and classical music I listen to, I am foremost a rock fan, and ONE OK ROCK’s sound appealed to me immediately. I wasn’t as instantly sold on the vocalist, but after a couple of songs I found myself liking his voice more and more, and knew I was going to have to hear more of this band.

And then I realized why the band sounded familiar. I’d just read an article the other day about its guitarist, Alex, getting arrested for groping someone, which has resulted in their next single’s delay and the guitarist’s career up in the air.

To which I say: well, damn! Did it have to be right when I got into them?

Despite that, though, I am thoroughly enjoying ONE OK ROCK, and my thoughts on their albums are behind the jump.

Kanjou Effect is, in a word, brilliant. “Koi no Aibou Kokoro no Cupid” grabs your attention right from the start, and the first few tracks continue that energy. “Living Dolls” slows it down and features some English lyrics, as do several other songs on the album. A few of them — especially “My sweet baby” — bring American bands like the Backstreet Boys to mind, which is a bit… unexpected, but not bad, because the music is still terrific. The strongest track in my opinion would be “Break My Strings,” though the others are all just as great.

(Please view the post to listen)

My one and only gripe with the album is the last track, “JUST.” There’s nothing wrong with the song itself, but there’s a hidden track at the end of it. The pause between the two songs is far too long, and I’m too impatient to sit in silence for that long, so I find myself skipping ahead. Still, if that’s the only issue I have with it, it’s clearly a fantastic album, and I do expect to enjoy it for quite some time to come.

BEAM OF LIGHT, their second album, should really be called a mini-album, as there are only eight tracks (including an interlude) and the total time is under half an hour. Nevertheless, it would serve as a great introduction to the band, particularly “100%(hundred percent).”

Their first album Zeitakubyou is honestly just as good as Kanjou Effect. The songs flow together well, though a little variation would probably help it — it’s pretty much all rock songs. Not that I’m complaning, but it does get a little difficult to tell them apart. The exception to this is “Yume Yume“, which was their second single. It made me sit up and listen immediately, and I think it’s probably my favorite song by the band.

(Please view the post to listen)

In fact, all three of the band’s singles appear on this album, and they’re all great in different ways. “Yume Yume” is captivating, at least to me, while “Et cetera” is (relatively) slower and “Naihi Shinsho” is a fairly typical song for the band — typical in that a lot of their songs are like it, which is a compliment because it’s a great song. And I have no complaints about their other mini-albums, Keep it real and ONE OK ROCK, which are both great.

In short, this is a band I’m going to keep a look out for… so long as they weather their current scandal.