Time to get into a "Romantic Mode"...

ROmantic Mode (or "ROM", to fans...) is, undoubtedly, my favorite Jpop group. They became famous after recording two OPs for the TV series After War Gundam X, one of the many installments in the long running Japanese animated science fiction saga Gundam. "Dreams", the first one of them, was taken from their self-titled debut album, which was released in August 21st 1996. Only four months later, profitting from the hype that their collaboration with a Gundam project entailed, ROM would release a second album -"Vision of love"- that included the other OP song, "Resolution". Take a look at that OP clip here, courtesy of juggernit @ YouTube:

Their style is unique. It is basically a kind of techno that avoids strict categorizations. Their songs usually leave plenty of room for great electric guitar solos performed by member Masaki Suzukawa and this feature has contributed to them having a sound of their own that is very recognizable. The trio is complete with producer extraordinaire Joe Rinoie on keyboards and, on main vocals, the incomparable Akira Asakura. Akira's voice is very distinctive; it doesn't sound like anything you may have heard elsewhere in the Jpop scene. I love her voice, because it is as singular as ROM's music is inside Jpop. Akira could rock the house with her power vocals for a crazy uptempo number, then purr for a funky midtempo or even serenade us throughout a slow track, always with the same easiness and great control.

The trio released a third album called Dimensions in October 22nd 1997, and a compilation album two years later, in March 25th 1999, shortly before breaking up as a group. I decided to post today "Romantic Pleasures: The best of ROmantic Mode" for you to have a sample of the quality of their work in such short space of time.

You have some tracks from their debut album (tracks 3, 5, 6 & 8), from their sophomore album (tracks 1, 4, 12 & 14) and from their third CD (tracks 2, 7, 9 & 10). Tracks 11 & 13 -"Quest for the future" & "Runner"- were recorded specially for this compilation & the latter was released as their final single with c/w song "Garasu no Ai".

The reason behind their splitting is rumoured to have been Akira's marriage and her decision to abandon her musical career for a housewife's life... In any case, they left behind 34 songs and a cult following that found in them an alternative to other techno groups such as TwoMix or move. Check them out performing "Eien ga Owaru made Atsui Kiss wo Shiyou" live on Japanese TV show "Music Park" in this very rare clip courtesy of doctone @ YouTube:


Akira -who had a music career throughout the 80's under her real name, Saori Saitoh- has officially changed her name by now. Fortunately, she has slowly surfaced once again on the music scene for singing "Mayonaka no Niji", the ED song to the critically acclaimed anime Saishu Heiki Kanojo (a.k.a for Western audiences as She, the Ultimate Weapon). I sincerely hope she keeps on singing and can only dream of a ROM reunion someday ! ^_^

Once again, enjoy the music and let me know your opinions on what you hear. Here's the album:

Nanase Aikawa's Crimson Album

Hey again... I promised to myself that for my next post I would have something ready courtesy of the lovely Nanase Aikawa. After 10 years of successful career, this girl is still Japan's fiercest rock chick. The CD I'm posting today is one of her best albums, in my opinion. It's called "Crimson" and was her third release, right after her great debut "Red" in 1996 and sophomore album "Paradox". Her style fussions rock with europop and has a highly energetic sound that somehow blends with some of the most beautiful rock ballads you will hear around. Don't let her petite size fool you: she can be loud as hell, and with fetish producer Tetsuro Oda they have been rocking their way up to today. With six albums, three EP's and two greatest hits compilations, Nanase is one of the most prolific girls in the Jrock world.

Even if her popularity has diminished in recent years, her fanbase is still strong and keeps growing around the world thanks to her contributions to anime soundtracks. Her song "No future" was chosen as OP (opening song for a show) for the Zoids TV series, and her hit "Owarinai Yume" -for the Inu Yasha TV series- has introduced her to a new generation of music lovers. Her latest tracks to be featured in TV series were "Unlimited" -OP for the anime hit Samurai 7-, and "Everybody goes" -ED of the sentai series Madam Senki Ryukendo-, off of her last EP "R.U.O.K.?!".

Crimson was released on July 8 1998 and span her 8th, 9th and 10th hit singles: "Bad girls", "Kanojo to Watashi no Jijou" and "Nostalgia", respectively. The three of them are among my personal favorites from Nanase. I first got to know this artist's music through only three mp3 posted in a long gone Argentinian website. One of them was, precisely, "Nostalgia". Just the passion she puts in her voice while singing, those wicked guitar solos and the overall kick ass rhythm of her rock tracks was enough to make me an instant fan. Take a look at the music video for that track, courtesy of Drychan @ YouTube:

"Crimson" kick starts with "OOOO?", an ideal song for introducing you to the typical Nanase sound ^_^. "Nostalgia" is loud rock at its best... "Sayonara wo kakesete" slows down a bit and always has sounded to me like a great ED song; too bad it never got picked ! "Nemurenai Yoru" is a great ballad, in the tradition of other Nanase classics such as "Konnani Aishitemo". "Night wave" is just an interlude for the transition to "Bad girls", where all hell breaks loose ! Yeah, baby ! :-P "Fragile" is definitely a personal favorite in this album, while "Velvet Moon" is furious pop and not precisely my cup of tea... "Tammani Shunkan", with those distorted vocals and guitars is straightaway unnerving, but then comes "Kanojo to Watashi no Jijou" ! That's the song you should play to newcomers to Jpop. I still have to meet the Western guy/girl who doesn't shake it to the contagious beat of this song. Love it !!! ^_^ "Yasashii Uta" puts the final touch to the album on a slow note... All in all, a great album to listen to in loud volume...

Enjoy it and let me hear your comments:

Welcome + "Kanaete" CD single

Hi, everybody... If you got here, then it is because you're familiar with the word "Jpop" and know what it stands for. And if you don't, then you most probably are here because of some twist of fate while surfing the net. In that case, let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Japanese music... "Jpop" stands for "Japanese pop" and, believe me, it is a genre of its own. There is certainly JR&B, Jrap, Jrock and many other sub-categories within Jpop, and you can expect entries posting music from different artists, current hitmakers and not, that have made an impression in Japan's music market... or at least in my CD collection... :-P This blog is conceived for and aimed at newcomers to anime and Jmusic, so the experts will have to be patient if I digress explaining from time to time what "OVA" means or what "Avex" is...

In this blog I will be sharing some of my favorite music for your entertainment, adding some information on the artists that sang or composed the songs or soundtracks that I post.

And I think there is no better way to start than posting the song from which I borrowed the title for my blog ^_^. It is one of my favorite songs ever, written and performed by one of my favorite artists ever: "Kanaete", by Miss Akino Arai. This song was used as the ED (ending song, a.k.a. the song played during the closing credits) of the anime TV series Ayatsuri Sakon, which aired on the Japanese anime TV Station WOWOW from October 8th 1999 to 31st March 2000.

Well, to be honest, I didn't see this series and there are some mixed reviews on the net about it. The plot is about a puppet artist solving crimes around Japan with the help of his young aunt -who works as a police detective-, his puppet and his talent as a ventriloquist. Let's just say that after reading this synopsis I probably won't see this series ever... :-S Anyway, maybe the series wasn't sensational, but the ED theme sure is and became one of my favorite songs ever. Enjoy right here the ED clip Ayatsuki Sakon, featuring the song "Kanaete", courtesy of JirouHotaru @ YouTube:

Don't tell me this song doesn't pierce through your heart... I provide you here below with a link to that song and to the c/w song of the single, "Syukusai no Mae". In Japan CD singles usually contain two songs, the main one and the "c/w song", which stands for "coupling with song"; it's another way of calling a B-Side, I guess. I will tell you more about Akino Arai in the future, when I share with you one of her albums... Up to then, enjoy both songs and let me know what you think of them:

Kanaete

Syukusai no Mae