Kanaete... Jpop & Anime Music for the Western Fan

Maintenance is on...

2007-08-03T18:41:00.000+02:00

Hi, everybody! I hope to have an entry with new music ready for the weekend, but in the meantinme I have been reuploading albums, erasing spam comments, updating entries... just regular maintenance work on the blog.

The posts for the months of February, March, April and May of last year (Mari Hamada, Kiroro, Spitz, Escaflowne Movie OST, ROmantic Mode, Akino Arai, Nanase Aikawa and many more) are fully operational now, so go take a look at those by clicking on the above links. Keep checking the Archive section down on your right for more music. I'll be back as soon as possible, dropping a quick message to let you know of other updated entries and/or with that promised brand new music post I've been talking about. Take care. AOI.

Glad to be back...

2007-08-01T11:11:00.000+02:00

Hi everybody... After so much time without posting, I don't know how to start writing this entry but with apologies for the long delay. I've been awfully busy. Yes, for this past 7 full months. Really. And this blog has evidently endured the consequences. It's not like I am suddenly done with my studies or my work is more flexible in any aspect, but I can't really go on looking the other way while the comments sections of the entries are filled with spam, album links expire, youtube videos are down and so on.

So I decided to come back once and for all, start posting again and also do some maintenance work to the site. The word verification system is on for the comments (though I wish I could erase the spam... if somebody knows how to, let me know via email) and I will start uploading the albums that are gone, replacing youtube links... hell, even correcting typos in the entries if I spot them ! :-)

I began with one of my favorites entries, the one about the movie "Windaria" and its wonderful soundtrack. Now, this score is VERY RARE, so you better grab it as soon as possible here, love it and hopefully it'll be enough to make you want to check out the film, if you haven't already. Just AVOID the dubbed, cut/censored/infantilised American version and try to get the original Japanese version. A visitor long ago had asked for a new rip in better quality of this soundtrack, and I'm happy to have fulfilled that request. So if back in the day you downloaded that album from this place, be sure to get it once more, in better quality and without that annoying sound at the beginning of each track. I also reuploaded the songs posted in my very first entry, which explained the concept behind this blog and introduced Akino Arai. You can check it out here.

Ok, now I got to go back to my books... :-S I'll be dropping a line here to warn you that an entry has been updated. And of course I hope to be writing new ones soon, posting new music. I look forward to it. Thanks to everybody that's been commenting and leaving short messages in the box in my absence.
Feels nice to be back !

AOI ^_^

KURAISHISU !!

2006-12-29T21:36:00.000+01:00

You thought I had passed away in India ?! Well, you're not THAT lucky... :-) Don't get me wrong, I got bitten by a stray dog (?!) and had to take rabies jabs as a precautionary measure, but that isolated incident and commuting to downtown Mumbai using public transport was the closest I ever felt to "danger" in such a fascinating country. Hopefully someday I'll be able to go back there...
I'm back home since a week and a half ago, but didn't have the time to update as promised. Gomen, gomen... You know, it's actually hard to go back to the routine after such a nice trip, specially if you have to go back to work and study during the holidays, when you are supposed to be having a great time with family and friends ! :-S

Anyway, those that are already used to my apologies for scarce updates know that at least I try to make up for them as well as I can. Today I have in store a triple treat for you: the 3 CD set compiling ALL of the songs made for that iconic OVA series released in the late 80's: BUBBLEGUM CRISIS ! To anime fans in their 30's, this name brings back loads of nostalgia. Bubblegum Crisis (BGC, for short) was one of the very first hits in OVA format (anime produced for straight-to-video release), and one of the first major titles overseas, having garnered legions of fans in Western Audiences. The reasons are multiple.

On the one hand, there was the sci-fi/cyberpunk plot: BGC is about a female group of mercenaries called "Knight Sabers", living in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, fighting biodroids (boomers) that actually helped re-built the city from scratch after a devastating earthquake but that are going berserk now. As the series progresses, it is revealed that both the group leader and the corporation behind the construction of boomers have hidden agendas. On the other hand, in the technical department, this series excelled. Although now it may look extremely dated, back then these standards of quality for animation were high, specially for the OVA format. And even if the animation may not have aged well, at least the music has.

BGC is unanimously remembered for its high standards in the music department. Each of the 8 OVAs that were produced counted with an individual soundtrack album by Kouji Makaino and the songs therein included are among the biggest classics in the fandom. Borrowing elements from the sounds of Heart, Laura Branigan, Bonnie Tyler -among others- and of the soundtracks of films such as "Streets of Fire", "Footloose", "Flashdance" or "Top Gun", the BGC songs will certainly take you back to 80's pop/rock bonanza. Of course, there are tracks to be skipped. CD2 of this collection gathers the songs sung by the seiyuus in the roles of Linna, Nene and Sylia and the material is not as great as the songs in CD1 and CD3. Nene's seiyuu (Akiko Hiramatsu) seems to have problems even holding a note and although Michie Tomizawa is an accomplished singer, her songs are the kind of 80's pop that nobody cares to remember... except for "Route California" ! That one's awesome and worth downloading the whole CD.

Now don't let my review of CD2 discourage you from getting the whole package. If the BGC soundtracks are to this day a milestone in anime music and a reference that raised the quality bar in the industry, it is mainly for what you'll hear in the other two CDs. The songs performed by Kinuko Ohmori (the seiyuu for Priss), Maiko Hashimoto (seiyuu for Vision) and Yuiko Tsubokura (of Kimagure Orange Road fame), as well as the songs peformed by the Knight Sabers as a group, are all great and worth giving to them a listen in loud volume.

To see what I mean, enjoy here the OP clip to the first OVA, courtesy of machinaezero @ YouTube, in which we get a first glimpse of the main characters of the series and the threat that boomers are while the addictive rhythm of the instant anime classic "Konya wa HURRICANE" by Priss is heard on the background:

And now courtesy of Murrrrraaoowrrr @ YouTube, here you have a rare clip of Maiko Hashimoto (the seiyuu for Vision) performing "Say Yes" in concert, with combined footage from the OVA, in a clip taken from the special video release "Hurricane Live 2033":

Undoubtedly, my favorite of the whole bunch has to be "Mad Machine". As if that song wasn't great enough and Kinuko Ohmori's rendition wasn't absorbing in itself, you have that wicked guitar solo that starts at the 3:45 minute and doesn't let go for over a minute. A must listen.

BGC had many other incarnations and spin-offs, most notably the 26-episode TV series "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040", which aired in 1998. To call that TV series a remake is not exactly accurate, but in any case, as in any other product related to the BGC universe, the soundtrack was a priority and some excellent music was produced and sung by Priss's new seiyuu, Akira Sudou... including a revamped version of "Konya wa HURRICANE".

Now, enjoy "Bubblegum Crisis Complete Vocal Collection 3CD Set"

Download CD1
Download CD2
Download CD3

And Happy New Year to everybody... ^_^

Another quick update :-S

2006-12-01T15:43:00.000+01:00

Sorry guys, you know this is not the ideal way to do an update like those you are used to if you are regular visitors to this place, but believe me that I've been very busy and didn't have the time or the concentration to write one of my usual rants about a certain Jpop act and their links to anime... :-S Let me just keep this place alive by fulfilling mike's request for the OP of the TV series "Boys Be". The song is "Daijoubu" and, together with its ED "Minna ga Inne", are performed by Aki Maeda.

Download "Daijoubu"
Download "Minna ga Inne"

And I'm sorry, but on the weekend I'm leaving to India... yay ! :-) Two weeks presenting a paper in a workshop and doing some tourism. It'll be my first time in that country and I'm really excited. Wish me luck over there and when I get back home, promise to write the entry on Eureka Seven and on the album that I'm dropping here for you to enjoy during my 14 days of absence... Naomi Tamura's "Thanks a Million ~The singles of Naomi Tamura~". A brilliant compilation for a brilliant singer/songwriter, very popular in the fandom after performing 2 OPs for Magic Knight Rayearth (both included in the compilation...).

I hope to come back soon and still find visitors to this place and comments on the music !! :-P
Til then, take care !
AOI

Eureka ! An update and an album reuploaded ! :-P

2006-11-15T10:43:00.000+01:00

I'm once again sorry for the lack of updates. Let me just tell you that I reuploaded (for the second time, damn it ! :-S) the amazing compilation album by ROmantic Mode "Romantic Pleasures: The Best of ROmantic Mode" and post for the moment the link to "Eureka Seven Complete Best", the album compiling OPs and EDs for this great 2005/6 anime TV series produced by the BONES Studio. I'll write the corresponding article as soon as possible. Enjoy ! ^_^

Anime Music Brilliantine 2006 Part II

2006-10-23T20:53:00.000+02:00

Hi again and my apologies one more time for the delay in updating the blog. This time I won't bore you with whatever's been going in my life that is *slightly* more important than this place, but be sure that I still enjoy blogging, posting music, exposing some amazing Japanese artists to the world and get your comments, messages and emails. Yeah, the two of them that I get each 15 days... To make up for the lack of updates, I thought about doing part two to the 2006 anime music brilliantine... you know, some songs that have really caught my attention throughout season 2006 in anime. With the second part of the season starting this month, there'll surely be at least a Part III some time in the future.

So let's start with the best of the bunch, IMO. This has to be the latest OLIVIA single, a double A side with the second OP & ED of the TV adaptation of "Nana". In part 1 of the Brilliantine I posted the first OP (courtesy of Anna Tsuchiya) and ED (also sung by OLIVIA) and I wrongly reported that Anna would sing the second OP as well. Well, it turns out that Anna is quite busy promoting her fantastic album "strip me?" and couldn't be on board for recording a track for "Nana". At the same time,"Nana"'s author Ai Yazawa was so pleased with OLIVIA being the singing voice of the character of Reira that now we have the new OP & ED sung by the latter. Enjoy (courtesy of @ YouTube) the new intro clip of "Nana" featuring the song "Wish" and sporting awesome animation and direction:

Since I previously talked a bit about "Nana" and what it is about, let's focus on OLIVIA instead. OLIVIA is amazing. That is what you have to know first. If you are one of the 430+ people that downloaded "A little pain" and left no comment whatsoever, you know what I'm talking about. Think Amy Lee of Evanescence, only cooler and more talented. Her music can be sometimes weird, but never ceases to catch your attention. And then there's the voice ! Oddly, she has never been a popular act in Japan, and why she is not an international star is beyond me. She's the daughter of an American man and a Japanese woman, so she is bilingual and shouldn't have a problem with language barriers. The fact of increasingly composing in English has raised her popularity overseas, yet only thanks to her involvement in "Nana" are the Japanese (re)discovering her talent. For now, enjoy the next two songs. In a loud volume. And if you don't love them, don't even bother coming back... :-P

NANA
OP2: "Wish" by OLIVIA
ED2: "Starless night" by OLIVIA

Secondly, we have OP and ED of "Ouran High School Host Club", a comedy set in the world of the insanely rich high school students of Ouran Private Academy. In that school, a guy has the idea of creating an all-male Host Club, with the guys entertaining the girls with easy talk over cups of tea and cake, and seducing them with ludicrously corny lines... all for a price. In this team, the accidental entry of Haruhi will turn things upside down from the start. Initially mistaken for a boy by the rest, the girl will become a resounding success in the Host Club cross-dressing as a male student. But there will also be complications when several Host Club members start having feelings for her... A great comedy, full of likeable characters. Enjoy the opening here, thanks to orenxso @ YouTube:

That addictive song is "Sakura Kiss", by Chieko Kawabe, a girl that started her music career in the role of Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury in the first musical they did on "Sailor Moon". Since then, she has collaborated in other TV projects, most notably contributing the ED "Be your girl" to "Elfen Lied" TV series. The ED to "Ouran..." is performed by a rock band called LAST ALLIANCE. The use they make out of this song in the final episode was very wise and moving. It's a series I recommend, even if the ending (with the manga still ongoing) feels a bit rushed and you think they could have developed a bit more such great characters. When you reach episode 24, you'll see what I mean ^_^. Enjoy the songs:

Ouran High School Host Club
OP: "Sakura Kiss" by Chieko Kawabe
ED: "Shissou" by LAST ALLIANCE

Now it's the turn of "Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles" intro and outro songs. Actually, these are the OP & ED for season 2 of the series, which is ongoing with great success. Tsubasa is a manga that the CLAMP ladies started simultaneously to their other current big hit: XXXholic. The crossovers between both series abound, a resource that CLAMP loves to use in their mangas. Still, this particular story didn't catch my attention at all, so I'd feel awkward recommending it. But hey, the soundtrack is penned by the amazing Yuki Kajiura (Noir, .hack) and the songs are great.
Check the OP2 clip here, courtesy of DCo @ YouTube:

Rather boring, I must say, like the series itself, IMO, but the songs are quite good. For OP2 and ED2 both KINYA and lovely Maaya Sakamoto were around for reprising their duties and singing in season 2. Now... Maaya had her own post not long ago, so let me tell you something about Kotani Kinya: if his voice sounds familiar to you, it might be because he became a household name by being the singing voice to the character of upcoming rock star Shuichi Shindou in the TV series of "Gravitation". He's also an actor, having participated in the Jdrama "Love Story" in 2001. Take a listen to the full version of "It's" and then to peppy Maaya singing "Kazemachi Jet".

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
OP2: "It's" by KINYA
ED2: "Kazemachi Jet" by Maaya Sakamoto

Next are the OP & EDs to Honey and Clover II, the 12 episode sequel to last year's Honey and Clover ("Hachimitsu to Kuroubaa"). H&C is a nice series. If you are into "slice of life" stories like me, sprinkled with romance, drama and comedy, you'd enjoy this one a lot and warm up to the characters immediately. It tells the story of three male students at an art college and the love triangles they are caught in with different women in their life. The soundtrack features A LOT of insert songs by Spitz (one of my favorite bands) and Suga Shikao, since Chika Umino's (the author of the manga) favorite albums are precisely "Hachimitsu" by Spitz and "Clover" by Suga Shikao. But the songs I picked for this post are performed by Yuki, Suneohair, and a band that goes under the name of "The band has no name" (?!).

God bless Yuki... ^_^ Her voice can be quite unnerving. I should know because I absolutely detested her when I heard for the first time the song she did as OP for the first season of H&C... And yet I love this one below, don't ask me why. Suneohair ... well, I don't really have much information on him other than he became famous thanks to this series and that he sounds A LOT like a younger version of Masamune Kusano from Spitz. To make up for this lack of info, enjoy here the PV for the song you'll find below ^_^, courtesy of wickedrigel07 @ YouTube:

And about "The band has no name", well, all you need to know is that the song below is amazing, so download it and stop asking questions, ok ? :-P

Honey and Clover II
OP1: "Fugainaiya" by Yuki
ED1: "Split" by Suneohair
ED2: "Mistake" by "The band has no name"

And finally, let's finish this wrap up with some shonen anime. "Gintama" premiered last April with the first notes of Tommy Heavenly6's latest single "Pray" (Well, actually she has a Halloween single hitting the airwaves right now that I think is being released this week). Gintama tells the story of a samurai living in a fictional Japan invaded by an alien race that has forbidden samurais to carry swords... Well, I haven't seen the series and I don't plan to, though I've read a couple of the manga chapters and I must say that the absurd humour in them is very appealing ^_^. But as far as the music goes, the Tommy OP is a winner, and the ED by newcomers Captain Strydom (who also did an ED for "Naruto") will have you humming for a while... Enjoy them

Gintama:
OP1: "Pray" by Tommy Heavenly6
ED1: "Fuusen gam" by Captain Strydom

So that makes it for today's update. I noticed that each time I post individual songs, the post (in number of downloads) is more popular than if I post a full album... can somebody actually explain to me that ? Is there a reason I'm missing ? I welcome your feedback, so if you feel it's better to have this kind of updates, let me know.

Re-Upload Galore II

2006-10-04T17:44:00.000+02:00

A quick message to let you know that two more albums have been reuploaded. I'm talking about Akino Arai's latest compilation and Nanase Aikawa's "Crimson" album. The soundtracks to the Escaflowne and Windaria movies will be re-uploaded once I rip those CDs again in January with a higher bitrate... The new ripping is specially needed in the case of Windaria, 'cause the files I have with me here in Switzerland have an annoying clicking sound at the beginning of every track :-S. So, for now, this will conclude the re-uploading session. Follow the links below to check the entries I wrote about Akino Arai and Nanase Aikawa. And always remember to check the archives of this and other blogs, 'cause you may be missing great things and letting valid links expire because of inactivity :-(. If you find any other dead links, please let me know via email or the shoutbox. I'd appreciate it.

Nanase Aikawa
Akino Arai

Don't you see it's ZARD ?!

2006-10-03T20:44:00.000+02:00

Continuing with this self-assigned mission of introducing you all to some classics in the Jpop world, today I have the pleasure of presenting to you another compilation of a well-known artist in the fandom: ZARD.

Who are "ZARD" ? That is the million dollar question and believe me that whoever comes up with an accurate answer really deserves that prize money... ZARD, as far as everybody knows, is a Jpop group that debuted in the musical scene in 1991 with their single "Goodbye My Loneliness". In fact, back then they were a people that at least could be identified ! Original lineup included Izumi Sakai in vocals, Fumito Machida in guitar, Hiroyasu Hoshi in bass, Kimitaka Ikezawa in keyboards and Kohsuke Michikura in drums. And today ? Well, all that is certain is that after their 5th single, they stopped promoting their music in TV (both performing on music shows or giving interviews), no reference whatsoever about the members is found in the CD booklets (only Izumi is credited writing lyrics or music) and all promotional material is centered in vocalist Miss Sakai, who actually became the visible face of the "group". Weird, right ? Nobody knows which is the current formation of the ZARD. This reclusiveness came to some sort of an end when they performed for a limited number of members of their fan club in a cruise in 1999, but nobody is really sure whether the people playing next to Izumi were the actual members of the band or not. Same goes for their first ever national tour... held in 2004 ! Yes, that is 13 years after their official debut...

ZARD contributed songs to some very high-profile anime series that helped spread their work around the world and garner international fans of their music such as yours truly. The exception might be the OP they recorded for "Cooking Master Boy", a minor TV hit in 1997. But they are responsible for "Don't you see!", the 2nd ED of Dragon Ball GT and also came up with EDs for Slam Dunk ("My friend") and... of course... Detective Conan ("Unmei no Roulette Mawashite"). The latter is on my list of Anime Music Brilliantine for 1998, so it is a recommended listen for sure ^_^. The use of their songs in other media projects such as TV advertising and J-dramas would merit a chapter of its own... Unfortunately, "Don't you see!" is not included in the CD you'll find below so you will have to get it by yourselves somehow because it's a catchy classic in its own right. See what I mean by watching that ED clip courtesy of rudypigmei @ YouTube:

ZARD is one prolific group. Even if their popularity is not the same now as it was in the mid-90's they have one of the most loyal fanbases around eagerly awaiting for their next release. Up to now, they have put out 13 original albums, two compilations and a live CD and their latest single, "Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete" is their 42th !! Izumi is an accomplished songwriter and lyricist, having also composed songs for fellow B-Gram Records bands Field of View, WANDS and DEEN, also very famous acts during the 90's. Track 4 of the CD below is a collaboration with groups REV & WANDS for which she wrote the lyrics, and features Japanese baseball player Shigeo Nagashima in guest vocals. Spot him trying to hold a note by the end of the song ^_^.

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of its brilliant music career, Zard is releasing this month a triple treat for fans: "Zard Golden Best", a double album of greatest hits personally selected by Miss Sakai packed together with a DVD. I'm posting today a previous BEST OF release that spans the first eight years of Zard in the music business: ZARD BEST "The Single Collection: Kiseki", put out in 1999 to debut -where else?- at # 1... I've added two bonus to the original tracklisting of this album, the powerful ballad "Good Day" and a personal favorite, the song "Photograph".

I hope you don't mind the size of the file; it's the first time I post a full album at 256 kbps and it may be the last, 'cause at least by posting music in lower bitrate maybe I am indirectly forcing you to actually go out and support these great artists ^_- For further information on Zard, there is no better place on the net right now than ZARD the BEST, an impressive site in English made by a fan. Go take a look and admire this guy's amazing work... Here's today's album... enjoy !

UPDATE: As many of you may know, Izumi Sakai died on May 27th 2007 in a bizarre accident while in hospital, recovering from cancer. May she rest in peace forever. She leaves behind her music legacy and countless fans that keep smiling whenever her voice speaks to us through song.

One is All, All is one: FullMetal Alchemist

2006-09-27T15:55:00.000+02:00

Hehe... funny how I'm as confident about posting a new album soon as to say "see you tomorrow", and then only show up three days later ! Minna Gomenasai ! :-S I swear I don't get how so many people out there can have a music blog and update it on a daily basis... sometimes twice a day !! Mad props to them... Me, well, I have too many things in my hands right now and the blog, unfortunately for me, is not a priority :-(. Anyway, for today's post I have chosen one of those Soundtrack CDs that actually compile the OP & EDs of a given series... in this case, I picked arguably the biggest anime hit of this century so far, in both Japan and the USA: the TV series of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Fullmetal Alchemist started as a manga in February 2002 and it's still ongoing, getting new fans left and right. Its original popularity was boosted when the 51-episode TV adaptation aired for the first time in Japan in 2003, and specially once it was exported worldwide. Such a frenzy over a series, to my knowledge, had not been seen since Cowboy Bebop times and, even if it finished relatively not long ago, it has already been named a classic in the fandom. And deservedly so ! In a recent poll in Japan, it was voted best liked TV series OF ALL TIME. How wicked is that ?! Well, thanks to outstanding animation, story and likeable characters, FMA managed such top honors in a short period of time.

Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers living in a parallel universe that looks like early 20th Century Earth, where alchemists are enrolled and trained by armies as powerful soldiers. Edward and Alphonse Elric were children living with their mother (their father, a renowned alchemist, had left them) when the latter died of illness. Desperate, the two siblings attempted to revive her using alchemy, but their inexperience caused something to go horribly wrong: in the process, Edward lost his right arm and a leg, and Alphonse lost his whole body, having to have his soul sealed in a metal armor in order not to be lost forever. Edward, in turn, gets prostethic metal limbs. Since then, they travel around looking for the Philosopher Stone (they should go have a look at Hogwart's ! :-P), which would allow them to remedy what happened to them. In their trip, of course, they cross paths with a lot of memorable characters and villains. This plot summary may look a bit lame, but believe me, the series is worth your time and money.

The CD I'm posting today groups some of the hottest acts in Jpop and Jrock, which have contributed songs for the TV series of Fullmetal Alchemist. The album kicks start with OP1"Melissa", by Porno Graffitti, a Jrock band that started putting out great music in 1999. Yes, that's the band responsible for "Hitori no Yoru", OP of Great Teacher Onizuka. First ED is catchy as hell, and was provided by newcomer Nana Kitade, who recently performed this song and material from her album "18" at last OTAKON expo in the US. OP2 is by a band that needs no introduction... these guys are bigger than huge: L'Arc~en~Ciel, a band that should get their own post as soon as possible, I know. The song, "Ready Steady Go" would become the most famous of this bunch and the symbol of the series. ED2 comes courtesy of female Jpop trio Yellow Generation, while COOL JOKE and Asian Kung Fu Generation -two other Jrock bands to recommend- are responsible for OP3 and OP4 respectively. Finally, ED3 and ED4 were performed by two very popular acts in JR&B: Crystal Kay and Sowelu. Inomarru had the brilliant idea of posting the clips to them all @ YouTube in a single 11-minute file, with English subtitles. He/She really made my life easy ! ^_^ Check out the 4 OPs and then the 4 EDs back to back and get the feel of the series here:

So basically you get four great rock songs, and four laid-back female pop/R&B tracks. Thus, "Fullmetal Alchemist Complete Best", the CD of today, was originally an 8 track release. I chose then to add as a bonus the c/w songs of the singles released by Nana Kitade, Sowelu, Yellow Generation and Crystal Kay. I hope you enjoy those songs as much as the rest of the album.

Now, obeying alchemy's principle of equivalent exchange, I want something of equal importance/value in return for this album : comments ! :-P Don't be lazy-asses and drop a line... It's nice to know you are there.

Current non-Jpop music: Indonesian rock band "Sheila on 7"... check them out !

Download "Sahabat Sejati" / Download "Sephia"

Re-Upload Galore

2006-09-23T10:55:00.000+02:00

Hey guys... Until I make up my mind on what to post tomorrow, I have re-uploaded some of the albums whose links had expired for one reason or another... For this re-upload session, I selected B'z, Garnet crow and Hikaru Utada. I'm aware that the Escaflowne and Windaria soundtracks, and the Nanase Aikawa album are down as well. I'll replace those links soon too. Always remember to check the archives of this site for more music. Your downloading will prevent the links from being deleted by the servers. Enjoy these three albums by clicking on the following links that lead to the entries I wrote about those three acts. I'll be back tomorrow !

B'z
Hikaru Utada
Garnet Crow

Anime Music Brilliantine 2006 Part. I

2006-09-11T21:20:00.000+02:00

That's right, leechers... shamelessly borrowing the concept of "Brilliantine" from the guys at OC, the following is my own personal selection of what I consider some of the best anime songs that have been gracing the airwaves in Japan during season 2006. Of course, with so much music produced each year, the list could go on and on, but it has to start at some point and I chose the following OPs & EDs because they're quality material and I felt like sharing some NEW music for a change ! Yeah, we'll leave the J-pop antropology for a future post ^_^ Shall we start with the songs, the clips and the brief descriptions of the series they are part of ? This way, please...

To begin with, behold the absolute brilliance of the OP song of the TV series of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni"... It's been a while since I last felt that a song could sum up in just a minute and a half the right atmosphere of a series. And this song does just that: it's creepy to the point of freaking you out, menacing, and the imagery chosen for the clip also hints to the madness of the characters and the sense of dread that pollutes the rural façade of the little town where the events take place. Think "Twin Peaks" gone horribly wrong. "Higurashi..." is based on the popular videogame of the same name, and its animated version premiered in Japan in April of this year. This series is AMAZING (and the score is composed by Kenji Kawai, so you know it's worth grabbing a copy of the soundtrack as well). Definitely not for everybody, though... violence, torture, murder, gore, INSANITY... it's all there in the hands of characters that look in their early teenage years, but the story is compelling, the murder mysteries are absorbing, and the psychological horror is addictive and masterfully executed !! Check it out, whether you have played the game before or not. Here is the OP clip, courtesy of ermitron2 @ YouTube. Again, to me, one of the best of this year:

The song is performed by Eiko Shimamiya, of I've fame (mental note: do a post about I've... maybe post the soundtrack to "Air" ^_^), who has a stunning voice that is distorted by the producers in the right places of the song for conveying a bizarre and eerie feeling to the song. The ED of the series is "Why, or Why Not", by Hiroyuki Oshima feat. Katakiri Rekka. It's a very nice song melodically and the animation of it is also beautiful in its own right, but the main problem that I have with that ED is that it is in English... and, well, let's admit it: none of these two can pronounce a single line in English correctly. Very soon you feel like you're hearing mumbling that could be Hungarian, Tehuelche or Korean ! I'm sorry, but if you're taking the time and effort to compose a song in English and you succeed in it being picked for a TV series, have the decency to have it sung by people who can actually pronounce the words as they should 'cause that song sounds like a mess to me... Still, if you don't let that bother you, it's a very nice song and the OP anyway more than compensates for the ED's weak points. Judge for yourselves.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
OP: "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" by Eiko Shimamiya
ED: "Why or Why Not" by Hiroyuki Oshima feat. Rekka Katakiri

Next we have ZEGAPAIN, one of the latest offerings in the giant mecha subcategory of anime (it premiered last April as well). ZEGAPAIN tells the story of yet another teenage guy forced to pilot yet another giant robot used by yet another secret organization that is fighting yet another alien race... Mmm... pretty standard, right ? Well, honestly I only watched episode 1 of the series and though it had above average production values, the story in the initial episode wasn't enough to hook me. If you saw it, feel free to warn me if I'm missing a classic ! ^_^ Anyway, this blog is not about the TV series themselves but about the music, and in that department ZEGAPAIN excels. The OP song, "Kimi he Mukau Hikari" is the latest single from one of my favorite artists of all time: Miss Akino Arai.

Here is the OP clip courtesy of songoku7777 @ YouTube. You've got to admit that the song is beautiful, though odd for what everybody is used to hear in a mecha series... The digital effects of the birds, butterflies and fish are really attractive, don't you think ?

The ED song, unlike the case of "Higurashi...", is another masterpiece to my ears. It's called "Little Goodbye" and it is performed by a pop act that goes by the name of ROCKY CHACK (?!) (Don't ask...). I won't deny that the reason I love this ED as well is because Mr. Hisaki Hogaari (Akino's long time collaborator and arranger) is also behind the song and you can perfectly picture it being sung by Akino herself instead ! But to be fair, the song sounds great enough with ROCKY CHACK on board. I wouldn't be surprised if Akino composed the song as well, because sometimes she likes to step down and write for other artists collaborating in the same projects as her.

ZEGAPAIN
OP: "Kimi he Mukau Hikari" by Akino Arai (I LOVE HER !!! ^_^)
ED: "Little Goodbye" by ROCKY CHACK

The turn now is to introduce you to another CLAMP creation and one of my favorite mangas right now: XXXholic. No, it doesn't have any connection with porn, so don't fret and go out googling searching for images of it !! :-P The manga is gorgeous, yet the animated adaptation has been criticized for not being on par with other animes of the CLAMP factory. I have to agree with the series not having a consistent quality but as for the character design it is also true that for this series CLAMP introduced a new drawing style that has the characters looking completely disproportioned (small heads, looooong arms, etc) so what may look like amateur animation may actually be a faithful adaptation of the source material... XXXholic tells the story of a young boy that meets a witch who can grant wishes. He's desperate to get rid of his ability to see spirits, so the witch makes him work for her until his labour equals the price of the services he's asking from her. As we meet Yuuko's customers, we explore the weaknesses that plague human nature. It's a nice story and reminds me a bit of Tokyo Babylon, a previous CLAMP creation.

Here is the OP clip, courtesy of Asuki88 @ YouTube. Another great combination of music and animation, even if the lyrics of the song (19sai by Suga Shikao) do not match AT ALL with the subject of the TV series... oh, well... :-P

The soundtrack composed by S.E.N.S. is outstanding, but today I'm offering to you just the OP and the two EDs released up to now. I'm not quite feeling the first one, but the second one, performed by rock band BUCK-TICK (again... don't ask...) is great. I've had a soft spot for them ever since they performed the great "Gessekai" as OP of the TV series "Nightwatcher" ^_^.

XXXholic
OP: "19sai" by Suga Shikao
ED1: "Reason" by FONOGENICO
ED2: "Kagerou" by BUCK-TICK

And finally we have the first OP & ED of "NANA", the story of two girls (both named Nana) that meet by chance on a train to Tokyo and end up sharing a flat and becoming great friends despite their many, many differences. Yes, you guessed it right. This is the adaptation from a shojo manga (comic with a young female target), but the author (Ai Yazawa) is not only an amazing artist but also a great storyteller and guys most probably won't feel embarassed giving it a try (and could probably learn a thing or two about female psychology in fact ^_^). It's not just the main characters trying to find love in a cheesy story. These are two strong character pursuing their dreams in the big town and trying to make it on their own. "Paradise Kiss", another one of Yazawa's most famous mangas, has a similar take on life and was recently adapted to animation as well, and you can check a glimpse of it in my previous Tommy February6 post of last June.

The last clip of today is thus the OP of the TV series NANA, which premiered... in April !! (Maybe I should've told you guys that the anime season starts in that month... :-P). Here you have it courtesy of UsagiTachi @ YouTube:

The song is "rose" by Anna Tsuchiya... who performed this song and appears in the video as one of the main characters (Nana Oosaki), the rock chick striving to make a name for herself in the punk world. The ED is a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL ballad sung by OLIVIA in the character of Reira, the leader of a band that is the rival of Nana's. Do yourselves a favor and check out these songs.

NANA
OP: "rose" by Anna Tsuchiya
ED: "A little pain" by OLIVIA

After the success of both singles, these singers put out a second OP and ED each, but I couldn't get my hands on them yet, so minna gomennasai ! :-P

As always, I hope you enjoy the music and let me know what you think. Keep watching this space for updates, even if there's only one each 5, 10 or 15 days... I appreciate your loyalty ! ^_^

Magic WANDS...

2006-08-30T09:10:00.000+02:00

Ohayo! At least to me... ^_^ I'm having breakfast in the early morning and blasting the hell out of the CD I'm posting today. You know, just to get in the right mood to talk to you a bit about WANDS, one of the most successful pop/rock bands of the last decade, and another one of those acts that you HAVE to know. This blog will attempt to cover the essentials of Jpop and anime music of the past years and jump to more recent stuff whenever I feel the whole page is turning too much into a vintage Jpop shrine. In any case, even if some material may sound dated, be sure it is quality music and bare with me... I grew up listening to much of this stuff ! ^_-
So WANDS is a trio formed in 1991 by main vocalist Sho Uesugi, guitarist Hiroshi Shibasaki, and keyboardist Kousuke Oshima (the coolest looking guy behind the keyboards... ever! He looks like he was part of the original lineup of Pizzicato 5). The group disbanded in 2000, so there are no longer among us... but they made sure to leave behind a string of infectious hits to be remembered for.

Sho is a hell of a singer and performer, with a great voice for rock, though -truth be told- some of their songs are more on the pop side, dominated by Kousuke's keyboard rather than by Hiroshi's electric guitar. Just like B'z, they seem to have favored more agressive rock arrangements as years went by... and also as the musical taste of the masses switched to that kind of sound. The album posted below, "Best of WANDS History" is a true testament to the evolution of their music.

Their early material may easily be mistaken for B'z songs. The reason is simple: WANDS and B'z belonged to the same recording company -the BEING studio- who housed as well other immensely popular acts of the 90's in Japan, such as ZARD and DEEN. BEING was the most successful music company of the first half of the 90's in Japan, and counted among their ranks with producer extraordinaire Tetsuro Oda. This man was responsible for many of WANDS and B'z hits, and later devoted the last half of the 90's to model the sound of my girl Nanase Aikawa. Oda, to me, is a true music genius and a great musician himself (a guitarist that has released albums on his own) and I should put up one day a compilation of my favorite tracks produced by him.

Back to WANDS, they debuted on the music charts with their 1991 ballad "Sabishisa wa Aki no Iro", to which followed the single "Furimuite Dakishimete" in May 1992, just before putting out their debut self-titled album one month later. Both singles are mysteriously absent in the compilation you'll find below, but at least I can provide you with the music videos of them, courtesy of aleose 85 & YouTube. And before you start cracking up at their hairstyle and fashion sense, remember this was 15 years ago ! ^_^:

Poppy, right ? Just like a carbon copy of B'z first songs... After listening to the album, you'll let me know if you think they should've been there anyway. The compilation below at least includes all three of their songs contributed to anime series. The album kicks start with, undoubtedly, their most famous song in the fandom: the 2nd ED of the TV adaptation of the manga "Slam Dunk", "Sekai ga Owaru made wa" ("Til' the end of the world"). Such a brilliant song and performance by Sho... another instant classic in the fandom. Here is the clip, courtesy of jomarjerome @ YouTube, and if you didn't enjoy the previous two clips don't worry, the majority of the album below rather sounds like this:

Their other contributions to animation projects are the first ED to the Yuugi Oh TV series (track 11 of the CD below) and an ED as well for Dragon Ball GT. Oh, though not any ED... they had the privilege of recording the song (track 10) to match the very last images that the Japanese saw in the long, long, loooong saga that is the classic TV series of Dragon Ball. Those three tracks are among my favorites of this compilation, together with tracks 3, 4 and the great, amazing "Secret Night" (track 7). Track 12 in the original CD was a live, short version of "Sekaijuu no Dare Yori Kitto" performed with Miho Nakayama. I dared to replace that version in the tracklisting with the actual studio version of that song, for you to fully enjoy it.

After breaking up as a group, Sho continued in music performing solo and his first album ("Blackout in the Galaxy") came out last February. Can't wait to get a copy of that one... Here's "Best of WANDS History", a collection of songs taken from the five albums they released throughout the 90's... as always, I appreciate if you leave any comments on the music.

Play it on a loop: Maaya Sakamoto

2006-08-23T20:31:00.000+02:00

On the menu for today we have one of the most beautiful female voices that has ever graced anime music... ever ! ^_^ Many would agree with me on stating that any newcomer to J-pop and anime music must be acquainted as soon as possible with the talent of Maaya Sakamoto. This young woman initiated her career in a quite unusual way: in 1996, at age 16, she was an unknown girl in high school that was personally chosen by famous composer Yoko Kanno for performing songs for a project to which she had been hired to compose the soundtrack. The project in question was the TV series "Tenkuu no Escaflowne", marketed for Western audiences under the name of "The Vision of Escaflowne". Check the entry I wrote about the soundtrack to the movie made off this TV series by clicking the month of "March" in the Archives to your right.

"Escaflowne" became one of the most successful TV series of the last decade, gaining legions of fans in both the specialized media and the general public, and Maaya not only sang the opening to the TV series, but also was cast as the voice of the character Hitomi Kanzaki. This was a controversial decision, since Hitomi was the main character and it was being trusted to a complete unknown high-school girl with no previous work as a seiyuu ! Still, despite her inexperience, Maaya delivered a brilliant performance and captivated everybody with her sweet voice. This was the beginning of an intense career for Maaya as a singer, seiyuu and regular actress. Enjoy the clip that started it all, the opening of Escaflowne (the song is "Yakusoku wa iranai"):

After the Escaflowne project, Maaya & Yoko Kanno developed a friendship and professional relationship that would last to this day. Kanno produced her first album: 1997's "Grapefruit". It contained many songs from Escaflowne as well as new tracks that combined very well the voice of this young girl with the ecclectic sound Kanno is known for as an arranger. From then on, Kanno would involve Maaya each time she would be asked to compose the soundtrack to a new anime project. Thus, Maaya's voice graces the soundtracks of series like "Brain Powerd", "Wolf's Rain" and "Earth Girl Arjuna", but Maaya & Kanno songs have also been featured in TV series even if Kanno was not the composer in charge of the soundtrack. That is the case for "Card Captor Sakura", "CLAMP School Detectives" and "Rahxephon", for example.

Gradually, Maaya started to become more involved in her music by writing the lyrics of her songs while Kanno and frequent collaborator Yuuho Iwasato handled music and arrangements. Maaya kept on releasing albums with them on an almost annual basis: 1998's DIVE, 1999's Hotchpotch, 2001's Lucy (and later that year an EP called "Easy Listening"), 2003's albums Shounen Alice & Nikopachi. Both "Hotchpotch" & "Nikopachi" are in fact compilations of different single tracks that she recorded for anime or game soundtracks. In them we can find jewels such as "Kiseki no Umi" (opening of the TV series of Record of Lodoss War) and "Gravity" (ending of Wolf's Rain) that any person able to hear should treat themselves with ^_^. Check out the PV (Promotional Video) for the latter song, which is in English, courtesy of randymatsunaga @ YouTube:

Beautiful song, don't you think ?! :-) Finally, in 2005, Maaya decided to record an album without the supervision of Yoko Kanno. That is the post of today, the album "Yunagi Loop".

Maaya right now keeps herself extremely busy as a seiyuu in anime and videogames, and also dubbing famous female roles for the Japanese versions of many blockbusters. She's the voice of Padme Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, of Kate Brewster in "T3: Rise of the Machines", of Lisa in Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball, of Max in the TV series "Dark Angel"... The list is impressive and keeps being updated. She also debuted on theatre in the role of Eponine in the musical Les Miserables... there's nothing she can't do.
In the anime department, her latest contributions have been the endings "Loop" (included in the album below) and "Kazemachi no Jet" to the TV series of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles... yet another CLAMP creation !! (I swear I'm not making this on purpose... :-P).

For now, enjoy Maaya Sakamoto's 2005 album "Yunagi LOOP" ! I must admit that "Lucy" and "Easy Listening" are still my favorites, since I grow too used to the Kanno touch in her songs, but I thought of posting her latest offering to keep you updated on what her material is sounding right now... Let me know what you think !

You gotta love the Japanese... (III)

2006-08-23T11:02:00.000+02:00

Oh, God... It's been a while since I last laughed so much with a TV series, and I had to talk to you a bit about it because it deserves much more exposure than it originally had. I came across the following clip by chance in YouTube and the insanity portrayed in it was enough to catch my attention. See... the series is called "Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan" and initially you would think by the title that it is yet another Magical Girl series (these series just love to include the word "Tenshi" -"Angel"- in their titles). This first impression would be reinforced by the main character's design: a very cute girl drawn in typical shojo manga style that uses an asset for casting a certain spell. But then, looking closely, you realise that the tool she uses is a metal bat with creepy looking spikes and that "Bokusatsu" means literally "Club-you-to-death" !!

Enjoy the insanity that is "Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan" with this first look at its opening clip, and then I'll go on with my rant:

Amazing, ah ? This is proof that the Japanese produce animation for all ages and gender groups in whatever possible genre :-). Just reading the lyrics of the opening song I knew I was hooked ^_^ Well, it turns out she really is an Angel, sent from the future by God to kill a teenager that would cause many problems when he gets older. But instead of doing that, she decides to stay at his place and try to reform him. The problem is that she's very childish, moody and unstable, so whenever she's pissed she would grab her club and savagely kill him or whoever is around in the most gory and bloody way imaginable. Then, when she gets back to her senses, she sincerely asks for forgiveness and with her magical spell ("Pipiru piru piru pipirupi") (?!) she brings them back to life ! I hadn't seen so much blood on TV since "Elfen Lied" ! The series is full of parodies to magical girl series and other anime titles and of course has a rather sick sense of humour, but then again... so do I, so I strongly recommend the eight 15-minute episodes produced. You can watch them in YouTube by typing "Dokuro-chan" in the search bar. If you watch the first episode and laugh with what happens at the 1:22 minute, then go on... it's for you ! ^_-
Here is the full song for your hearing pleasure, performed by the talented seiyuu Saeko Chiba, who was cast as Dokuro herself.

I'll be back soon with a full album ! Pipiru piru piru pipirupiiiiiii ! :-P

Introducing: ayaka

2006-08-20T12:01:00.000+02:00

Hi, peeps ! Last week, J was nice enough to share with us all a song by newcomer ayaka , and I found the song so good and her voice so beautiful, that I HAD to do some research on her and get more info and material of her just-starting career ^_^. Ayaka Iida (her full name) was born in 1987 in Osaka and debuted last February in the music scene with the ballad "I believe", which reached #3 in the Oricon Charts in its first week, making it the highest debut entry by a female singer since 1998, when Hikaru Utada kick started her career at #2 with her double A-side first single "Automatic/time will tell".

"I believe" was used as the theme song of Japanese TV drama "Rondo". This wouldn't be her sole contribution to a TV project, since, as J pointed out, her third and last single up to now ("Real Voice") is the ending song of TV drama "Supli".
Check her out performing "I believe", live @ Music Station TV show, courtesy of littlefairyfromnam @ YouTube:

Her first album ("First Message") is scheduled for release next month, and I can't wait to see if she delivers the goods that her three singles have been foreshadowing. Her style reminds me a bit of Chihiro Yonekura at times, but it has a more folksy/guitar-driven feel than the straightaway pop that Chihiro can come up with. Among her influences, she cites the likes of The Beatles, Sheryl Crow, Carole King and Dreams Come True... and I think their influence on her music is palpable.
Here is her single discography up to the moment !

Ayaka - I believe
Released on 02.01.2006
Tracks:
1) I believe
2) Yume no kakera
3) I believe (instrumental version)

Ayaka - Melody ~sounds real~
Released on 05.10.2006
Tracks:
1) Melody ~sounds real~
2) Blue days
3) Melody ~sounds real~ Live Version
4) Sha la la Live Version
5) Blue days Live Version

Ayaka - Real Voice
Released on 07.19.2006
Tracks:
1) Real Voice
2) Peace loving people
3) Real Voice (instrumental version)

Thanks again to J for the track, and the rest of you, keep those contributions coming this way ! :-)

Just Wild Beat Two-Mix Music !

2006-08-15T10:50:00.000+02:00

Hi, everybody... This week we have another BEST OF compilation album by another group commonly associated with animation: Two-Mix. This duo have been putting out great techno/dance music since 1995, but in fact both members had known each other since early in the 90's and had previously worked as a group named "S Connection" and even released an album under that name. Two-Mix is composed of Nagano Shiina in lyrics and synths and Minami Takayama in vocals and composition. Their link to anime projects is not only the result of their energetic music being selected as openings of TV series, but also because Minami happens to be one of the best and most prolific seiyuus (voice actresses) of her generation...

In fact, in Japan, seiyuus are true celebrities. Almost all of them (male and female) are also singers... with a varying degree of accomplishment... :-S Singing is an important part of their studies for becoming professional seiyuus, since whenever a TV series is successful and its characters become popular, they are invariably called to contribute their vocals for "character songs". These songs are either featured in the original soundtrack of the series, or in "character song collections"; that is, CDs that assemble songs sang "in character's voice" by the seiyuus. These albums can actually move a lot of copies ! Minami (whose real name is Izumi Arai) is actually one of the few seiyuus that managed to have a music career in a mainstream group and not only as a seiyuu singing anime music on her own (à la Megumi Hayashibara or Junko Iwao, for example). Minami is fondly remembered as the voice of lovely Kiki in Hayao Miyazaki's excellent movie "Kiki's Delivery Service", as the nutcase Dilandau in "Escaflowne" or the bitchy Nabiki in "Ranma 1/2". Her versatility and talent as actress is well proven by now, and can currently be appreciated in the role of Conan Edogawa in the mega-hit "Meitantei Conan" (a series I seem always to end up talking about, for one reason or another...).

Two-Mix became famous after contributing two opening songs for the TV series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, as well as an ending song for its continuation in OVA format. In the fandom, they were embraced as soon as the first notes of the first of their opening songs for Gundam Wing aired for the first time ^_^. There is no anime fan in their 20's that doesn't recognize the opening music and lyrics of "Just Communication" ("Just wild beat communication/ Ame ni utare nagara..."). Here you have that milestone clip, courtesy of Darkhell @ YouTube:

Great, uh ? :-) Yeah, I thought so... Their music (just like Romantic Mode's) matched perfectly the imagery of a long-lasting science fiction series such as Gundam. After releasing the singles "Just Communication", "Rhythm Emotion" and "White Reflection" for the Gundam saga, Two-Mix released their first album entitled "BPM 132" in 1995, to which 3 (three!) others would follow throughout 1996 ("BPM 143", "BPM 150 Max" & "Two ->Re(Mix)"). In 1997, their first compilation album ("BPM Best Files", the post for today) was released but they wouldn't slow down their pace: two other CDs were put out that same year, three others along 1998, two in 1999... it was rather hard to keep track of the releases of these two ! Fortunately, if you want more information on them, you can find on the net places like this that should give you a hand with a (more or less) complete discography.

Knowing that their fan base was in its majority anime fans, Two-Mix attached a bonus CDRom to the album I'm posting today. It included an animated music video to "White Reflection" that boasted animation of OVA quality featuring animated versions of the members of the duo chasing a mysterious light all across the USA. Blink and you'll miss the World Trade Center Twin Towers there. I think that, besides being a nice gesture to fans, the clip is really well-made and synchronized with both music and lyrics. Here you have it, courtesy of Darki @ YouTube:

And what is of them right now ? Well, after 2003 they have vanished a bit as a group... Minami continues her acting career; most notably, still in the role of Conan after more than 450 episodes now ! But she also has slowed down a bit on her professional life after marrying last year... to Gosho Aoyama, the creator of "Meitantei Conan" !! That was new to me, I had no idea... Good catch, Minami !
In any case, here you have the album for a sample of their early work in the mid-90's. Enjoy it in a loud volume ^_^. My favorite (besides the Gundam tracks, which are the first three) is "Diving to Paradise"...

Chara: A sip of Caramel Milk

2006-08-09T10:50:00.000+02:00

This week I finally reached 10.000 visitors... ^_^ I can't help but to be happy for this achievement, even though I'm perfectly aware that what took me 6 months, other music bloggers around managed to achieve in only 3 weeks ! Well, let's say that the idea behind this blog was never to become the most popular site for music around. I could have joined the community of blogs that provide you with the latest downloads of the most listened-to styles in music right now. But my intention for "Kanaete" was instead to introduce newcomers to anime/manga and Japanese culture in general through the great music that is produced in the island. If the subject matter I picked for my blog meant to sabotage its popularity from the start, then so be it... :-P But with an average of a hundred visitors a day, and a few comments from time to time, I'm more than satisfied. Specially if many in the process got to overcome the language barrier and learnt to appreciate music for what it is and what it is meant to produce in us. You know, this place hasn't really benefited from publicity other than the kind cross-references featured in the blogs of a group of people who have seen my work, liked it, and judged it merited further exposition... To those people (Toya, Etienne, Monica, Knotie, Aaryn, Jessica, Lee, OC Team and the rest), I'd like to express my gratitude ! :-)

Enough of my rants ! ^_^ Today I have the privilege of introducing you to another great artist: Chara. Chara (whose real name is Miwa Satou) is a singer/songwriter born in 1968 that plays a variety of instruments but masters in particular both guitar and piano. She became famous in Japan in the early 90's, thanks to the success of her first album ("Sweet") released in 1991. Her style is certainly difficult to classify, as it is frequently the case for artists fully compromised with their music and their artistry. Chara has toyed with indie pop, alternative rock, folk and even trip-hop. What is characteristic of Chara is her voice and singing style. I'll be the first to admit that because of her childish-sounding voice her music is not for everybody, but if you let yourself get carried away by the musicality of her compositions and dig her lyrics, you're in for quite a great ride !

After "Sweet", Chara put out albums on a yearly basis up to 1995, year of release of her first BEST OF compilation entitled "Baby Baby Baby XXX" (?!). In order, those CDs were "Soul Kiss", "Violet Blue" and "Happy Toy". In 1996 she joined briefly the Yen Town Band as a vocalist and released an album with them, but this period in her life was rather characterised by her incursion into acting. She starred in "Swallowtail", an indie movie directed by Shunji Iwai, in which she played Glico, a cheerful prostitute who takes care of an orphan girl. She got good reviews for her performance and later that same year she starred as Coco in another Iwai project: the short film "Picnic". On the set of this latter production, she met actor Tadanobu Asano, who would later become her husband and father of her two children.

After the hiatus that filming, marriage and motherhood meant for Chara, she would resume her solo music career in late 1997 with the album "Junior Sweet", to which followed "Strange Fruits" (1999), "Madrigal" (2001) and "Yoake Mae" in 2003. What you have below is "Caramel Milk: The Best of Chara", her second BEST OF album put out in 2000 for compiling songs from this second stage of her career. You'll find below the tracklisting of the album in the comments section, because I forgot once again to edit the tags before uploading (gomen, gomen... :-S).

Chara is not an artist that has collaborated with anime projects at all. But you are probably going to see her name associated with the song "Himegoto", the first ED of the TV series "Vandread". Be careful, though ! That is not Chara singing that song, but another artist that goes by the name of SiLC and that -let's put it this way- must be a huge Chara fan because she sounds almost identical to her... Chara has indeed her share of followers inside music, and has influenced the likes of Bonnie Pink, Cocco and a whole generation of other female singer/songwriters in the Jmusic world.

Credit for the photos and some of the info included in this article goes to Project J, a now defunct site that used to feature the profiles of many Jpop & Jrock acts and that shares the goals of "Kanaete". It's a pity it's not around anylonger... It was a great place for getting some more info on Chara, specially about her complete discography.

Enjoy the album and let me know your views, dammit ! :-P

You gotta love the Japanese... (II)

2006-08-07T18:36:00.000+02:00

This is the section conceived to show to you the weird and the funny... and for today's offering I found something really special ^_^. First, it is important, absolutely necessary, that you see this clip:

That was the first OP of beloved TV series Card Captor Sakura, another CLAMP creation and arguably the most successful they ever had in both paper and animated versions. It has been aired in most Western countries, so I guess many of you know it at least by seeing the TV ads for it. It's one of my all-time favorites. It's really great and worth checking out. The song is "Catch you, catch me" by GUMI, and it's already a classic in the fandom...
Anyway ! Now... well, take a look... AT THIS !!! :

Words that come to mind include "scary", "hilarious", "disturbing", "embarrassing", "brave", "awesome"... the list goes on and on. I don't know who the hell that guy and his friends are, but this goes beyond an otaku hommage to achieve status of crime against humanity... :-P Like I said in the previous post for this section, if this doesn't motivate you to leave comments, then nothing will !!
I'll be back soon with some music ^_-

Teriyaki for everybody, please...

2006-07-29T13:07:00.000+02:00

Teriyaki Boyz is a Jhip-hop (yeah, I warned you that such thing existed... ^_^) that is a sort of side project from members of other Jhip hop groups in Japan. It is composed of rappers Ilmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, Verbal from m-flo and Wise from Bathing Ape. Nigo, also from Bathing Ape, heads the group and is a fifth member of Teriyaki Boys, but he's rather in the background, handling production credits, in charge of the consoles and being the fashion guru of the group, leaving the spotlight to the four MCs. That is why you see only four faces on the cover of their album , and there is an aclaration in the form of a "4+1" sign that refers to Nigo's involvement in the group.

Their debut in the Japanese music scene is very recent: their first and only album up to now, "Beef or Chicken" was released last November and it created an instant hype thanks to the outstanding line of producers that graced the tracklisting. There was Daft Punk producing the track "Heartbreaker" (which is actually a new take on Daft Punk's hit "Human after all") and Beastie Boys' member Adrock producing four other tracks, including the title track. Additionally, Just Blaze, Cornelius, Automator, DJ Premier, Mark Ronson, Cut Chemist and The Neptunes also contributed to the album producing a track each, with Pharrell being featured in the latter track... really an impressive list of people in the hip-hop and electronica scene. Obviously, the fact of being signed to DefJam Records was instrumental in getting such big names to collaborate in the project. Check them live in famous Japanese TV music show "Music Station", performing "Heartbreaker", courtesy of neptunes13 @ YouTube !

Their next release was only some weeks ago, contributing the songs "Tokyo Drift" (produced by The Neptunes as well) and "Cho large" to the soundtrack of the movie "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift", the third and latest installment in the car-racing movie franchise. "Tokyo Drift" is a great club-banger, and here you have a music video made out of footage and trailers to the movie by chulitagurl247 @ YouTube, so that you can enjoy the great jam that is "Tokyo Drift" with some great chasing scenes:

Here is the track "Tokyo Drift". And right below is the album ! Thanks once again to CJC for uploading and sharing it. It was an ideal contribution to diversify the menu of this blog. I only knew "Heartbreaker" from them, but I'm really enjoying the full album...

"X" marks the spot

2006-07-26T14:30:00.000+02:00

Hi everybody! Yeah, I know I had promised an update for last weekend, but the possibility of going trekking to the mountains with a couple of friends came up and I welcome every possible opportunity to go outdoors and enjoy summer, so the blog had to be put on hold once again. Today, to make up for the delay, I am sharing with you a megafile comprising two soundtrack albums released for that great 2001 TV series that is "X".

"X" started in 1992 as a manga featured in the comic magazine Monthly Asuka by the Kadokawa Shoten Publishing House. Their authors are an all-female studio that go under the name of CLAMP and that are, by now, legends in the manga and anime fandom, having created some of the most popular, critically acclaimed and commercially successful titles in both their paper-based and animated versions, such as "Chobits", "Card Captor Sakura", "Magic Knight Rayearth", "RG Veda" and "Clover", among many others.

CLAMP members are Ageha Ohkawa (formerly known under the name of Nanase Ohkawa) handling the writing of the stories, Mokona Apapa and Mick Nekoi in the drawing department, and Satsuki Igarashi in design and general planning. Their work is not only characterised by their graphic style (which has evolved along the years and also as Mokona and Mick influenced each other), but also by developing great characters, creating emotional endings with unexpected twists, nuanced villains and love relationships of all sorts, with a strong presence of homoerotism specially among male characters. To read a CLAMP story is never dull: these girls are already a brand of their own, having experimented with every possible genre inside manga and having always found outstanding success thanks to the quality of their work. Each time a new title by them is announced, plans for its adaptation to the screen (the small or the big one) are simultaneously made. And, fortunately, they are workaholics that never seem to take a break or to suffer from creativity droughts...

"X" is up to the moment their longest manga. It has reached a 18th recopilatory volume in Japan in 2003 and the ending, foreseen for volume 20th or 21st, is long-awaited by fans since then. The publication of this title is on hold for the moment; sources in the internet claiming that the reason is a dispute over creative differences with Kadokawa about the ending created by the authors, others saying that it was CLAMP's decision to call for some time off after the Kobe disaster ("X" features plenty of scenes of apocalliptic destruction by earthquakes) and the Sakakibara incident (the beheading of a boy by a 14 year-old murderer that apparently was influenced by violence in manga, videogames and films). "X" is certainly one of CLAMP's most violent titles, and beheadings certainly abound, but the dates of these events and the decision to suspend the publication of the manga don't really match, so I'm more inclined to believe the first version.

The first animated adaptation of this manga was under the form of a music video to the song "X" by (how appropriate...) legendary rock band X-Japan. The video was only 2 and a half minutes and left fans salivating for more. Here you have it courtesy of bentoprd @ YouTube:

In 1996 an anime movie was finally released, but despite the expert direction by Rintaro ("Metropolis") and many other celebrated artists involved in its production, the movie was panned by the fans. And for a reason: to try to encompass the twelve volumes of manga that were published by then in a two hour movie was suicidal, and too many changes had to be done to the original story in order to have the rudiments of a coherent story.

But finally, in 2001, the TV adaptation was done in 24 great episodes that adapted the 18 volumes... and went even further, providing the fans with a conclusion to Kamui's saga. It is no secret that CLAMP starts a manga only when the story is already written and the members are satisfied with it, so there are plenty of chances that what we saw on the screen is actually what we will eventually see on paper someday when publishing resumes. But it is also very well known that adaptations of CLAMP work to the screen aren't usually literal, and there are way too many differences between the published volumes and the episodes... so some variation should not be discarded. Yet, the ending makes so much sense and is so fitting to the journey that the main character -Kamui- has undergone, that it really feels like the closing to the story that CLAMP imagined.

"X" tells the story of Kamui, a 16 year-old boy that is called to decide on the future of the Earth on Judgment Day in 1999. He must participate in the fight between two factions of warriors empowered with supernatural abilities: the 7 Dragons of the Earth, who are willing to eliminate humankind and give the Earth a fresh new start, and the 7 Dragons of Heaven, who want to preserve humankind even at the cost of seeing Earth further deteriorating because of our activities. His choice of band will have an automatic influence on which group his best friend Fuuma joins. Destiny has foreseen that these two become enemies in the fight. Each of the Dragons is a complex character with a fascinating story behind, and the main topics are friendship, sacrifice, hidden desires that sometimes we are not even aware of, the consequences of our pursuing them and, above all, if there is such thing as fate and if we can fight it.

I have no words to describe how awesomely cool the story is. The TV series, perfectly adapted the colossal fights, the deepness of the relationships among characters (usually belonging to different factions), the angst, the tragedies, the apocalliptic atmosphere... The voice casting was top-notch, with stand-outs Kenichi Suzumura outdoing himself in the role of Kamui and scene-stealer Mitsuaki Madono playing Sorata.

And then... the music ! Naoki Sato composed an amazing score that I'm sharing today with you, guys. Two soundtrack albums were released and I'm comprising both in a single file for your utter enjoyment. Included are the OP rock song "ExDream" by Myuji, and ED "Secret Sorrow" by Kohei Koizumi (who is a guy, don't let yourselves be fooled by his voice... :-P). The instrumental pieces are marvellous, and will give you goosebumps for different reasons. There are tracks like "Destiny" that make you smell the nearness of battle, and then others like "Simply one desire" that leave a warm imprint in your heart, thanks to the professionalism of the orchestra arrangements. You won't find the karaoke versions of OP and ED (included in the sountrack) because the file would otherwise be too big, but the TV size versions are there. Mr. Suzumura sings the final track, the insert song "Crystal". And also included is the song "Strength", also by Kohei Koizumi, which was used in the OVA "Yochou", released to the market as a sort of episode zero to the TV series... (Awful idea if you haven't read the manga, because it contains many spoilers !! :-s). Unfortunately I don't have much information to share on Mr. Saito and on some of his other work in animation... hell, not even a photo of him ! :-(

But at least, as a test of the quality of the animation and of the general feel of the TV series, enjoy the OP courtesy of Ramblingnakuru @ YouTube:

Go check this manga out (it's published in most Western countries) and if you enjoy it, then get the DVDs for the TV series, because I'm sure that the manga will hook you enough to want to know how the story ends...
Here's the album, and always remember Kotori's wise words..."Destiny is not decided yet !" ^_-

ROM Reuploaded by Request

2006-07-16T17:27:00.000+02:00

This is a quick message to let you know that the ROmantic Mode album "Romantic Pleasures: The Best of ROmantic Mode" has been re-uploaded. Thank you, Rose, for warning me about the expiration of the previous link. You can check out the entry I wrote about this amazing group and download the CD by clicking on the month of "February" in the Archives section to your right. It is one of the groups that I would like the most to introduce you to, guys, so give it a try and give me some feedback on them.

I have also added an alternative download link for Tommy February6's album "Tommy Airline", because somebody was having problems with rapidshare. I hope you enjoy both albums. I'll try to be back next weekend with a soundtrack, for a change ^_^.

The flight of the Garnet Crow

2006-07-15T18:24:00.000+02:00

Ok, guys, so... as I had told you via the comments box to your right, today we have yet another greatest hits album ! Yay ! :-P You know that the aim of this blog has always been to introduce newcomers to Jpop/Jrock acts, and I think that there is no better way of doing that than presenting to you compilations of their best material and, if you dig what you hear, just leave you free to check out the rest of the discography of the artist or group in question, don't you agree ? This time, I'm posting a collection released last year by another one of my favorite groups: Garnet Crow.

Garnet Crow is a quartet formed by Yuri Nakamura on vocals, Azuki Nana and Hirohito Furui on keyboards, and Hitoshi Okamoto in guitars. One of the main reasons for their popularity is the originality and versatility of Yuri's voice and the depth and poetry of Azuki's lyrics for their songs. Yuri's voice -just like Akira Asakura's, the vocialist of ROmantic Mode- is very different from what you usually hear in the Japanese scene. Blessed with a wider than average range, Yuri is specially confident singing in a low register for adding dramatic tones to the lyrics, but goes higher when the tempo calls for it with equal mastery. It's enough to listen to the beautiful, haunting "In little time" to understand what I'm talking about... The combination of her expressivity with the quality of the lyrics was enough for them to be noticed quite early in their artistic career. Their story started in 1999, when the two girls -who were already friends struggling to make it in the music world- met the guys in a recording studio. They found that they all had in common their passion for music and were equally frequenting studios for cutting demos. They quickly draw the attention of music producers thanks to the catchy melodies and simple arrangements of their songs, fusioning pop and light rock. The affinity between the four of them grew stronger as they rehearsed as a group, and soon Garnet Crow managed to edit an EP called "First Kaleidoscope ~kimi no uchi ni tsuku made zutto hashitte yuku~", which was a major success in the indies scenes. Track 1 from their BEST OF album below ("kimi no uchi ni tsuku made zutto hashitte yuku") is precisely taken from that indies EP and you can notice by the sound quality that the guys were tight on the budget back then... Check them out performing in concert one of their hits, the song "Kimi to Iu Hikari", courtesy of uenokado @ YouTube, for a first sample on how they sound live as a group:

Their official debut in the music scene, recording for a major, was in March 2000 when their single "Mysterious Eyes" was released as OP # 7 of that long-lasting, cult-favorite TV series, "Detective Conan". Here's the clip of that opening, thanks to K.Himura @ Imeem.com, as a sort of additional preview to Garnet Crow's music before you download the album. You have to bear the intro with Conan telling the viewer about the episode of the day, and then at the end his reading the list of sponsors of the TV series, but it's a cute video and gives you an idea of how the OPs are really shown on TV over there ^_^:

Just like B'z, Garnet Crow developed a long partnership with that TV series, aditionally contributing four ED songs up to now (# 10, 14, 18 & 20; the first two -"Natsu no maboroshi" & "Yumemita ato de"- included in the CD below).

But their relationship with animation projects was not limited to Conan. Almost all of their hits are linked to anime series, having provided OP's & ED's to the likes of Project Arms ("Call my name"), Patapata Hikousen no Bouken ("Naked Story") and, recently, two OPs and an ED to the animated adaptation of the manga MÄR. Their music, therefore, is well known in the fandom.

The albums "Sparkle", "Crystallize" and "I'm waiting for you" would continued their initial string of hits. But even if their work has benefited from the diffusion that the partnership with anime entails, they haven't reached in Japan the level of outstanding success that they merit, being considered as critical darlings but not fully embraced by the masses.

In 2005, willing to close a first chapter in their career after only 5 years of activity, they put out their first "BEST OF" album, a collection of hits, self-covers, fan-favorite album tracks and new songs in a double CD package. I'm just posting CD1 of the compilation and hope that you like the 14 songs therein included to the point of buying the album and enjoying the second disc as well. My favorite in this CD is undoubtedly "Sen ijou no kotoba wo nabaretemo...", and if they hadn't made such a crappy video for it, I would have posted it as well for gracing these lines... :-P

Here's the album ! Let me know what you think of it and hope to be back soon with more music...

Choose me or die: Tommy February6 ! ^_^

2006-06-12T19:47:00.000+02:00

Hi everybody... once again I'm sorry for the sporadic updates... :-S You know, having a music blog takes more time than anybody can initially think of, and sometimes, even if I love blogging and seeing that some of you out there are enjoying the music I post, I really don't like investing my free time spending those precious hours in front of the computer... Summer is almost here, the weather is improving dramatically where I live and, naturally, I want to go outside with friends, tan a bit, enjoy the lake, have a beer late at night and all that jazz ! In any case, today we have a special guest that I hope will make it up to you. And by "special", I mean "demented"... :-D

Behold the absolute coolness and greatness that is Tommy February6 ! Yes, people, you are going to love this lady or I will have to personally smack you all with her plastic microphone filled with candy. And I mean it. Tomoko Kawase -her real name- is the vocalist and lyricist to Jpop/rock group The Brilliant Green, one of the few bands that actually innovated music in Japan with their sound, which is close to classic American guitar rock. Having enjoyed a significant success with The Brilliant Green (a group that deserves a post of their own, for sure), Tomoko kicked off a solo career in 2001 while the band took a hiatus. However, nothing in Tomoko's previous discography would have hinted to what Japan and the world were about to witness from her...

In July 25th of that year, Tomoko dropped her first solo single ("Everyday at the Bus Stop") under the name Tommy February6 (the 6 is silent and written as an exponential number, FYI), boasting a brand new sound and style. Her new stage name is a combination of her nickname inside The Brilliant Green and her actual birthday date. Tommy February6 is a made-up character: a girl that sings the most retro 80's synth pop you could have EVER thought of while dressed in 60's clothes and eyewear.
She appears in almost ALL of her videos in extremely girly pink settings, surrounded by cheerleaders (this was before Gwen Stefani took the idea for her Hollaback Girl video), fluffy pelouches, plastic toys and everything Hello Kitty, Sanrio's Star Twins and even Pokemon paraphernalia ! She frequently looks drunk in her videos, almost falling while trying to perform for the footage, badly lipsyncing, dancing to really simple choreographies, bored and looking like she wished she was somewhere else ! I swear that when you see the final product, the result is absolutely hilarious and you have to have a lot of humour to appreciate the whole package: the hommage to bubblegum pop in the music and the ludicrous concepts in her cheap videos. If you are trying to imagine what the hell I'm talking about, then check out her video for her hit "Love is forever" right here, courtesy of tommyandnacote & YouTube !

If you're not chuckling after seeing that, I don't know what is wrong with you... Anyway, after a string of hits, Tommy released her self-titled debut album (when else?) on February 6 2002 to great success. Tommy is not only about the music -which is fun, contagious and nostalgic- but also about a whole marketing campaign that has put out a clothing line, an official doll, a sticker collection... everything you can think of carries her logo by now. Her second album, which I post today, is called "Tommy Airline" and stayed loyal to her trademark sound. And which is that particular sound ? Well, as I mentioned lines above, her music is 80's synth pop taken to the extreme. You will listen to this album and songs like "Je t'aime, Je t'aime" will remind you of early Mylène Farmer or Vanessa Paradis; "Dancing baby" recalls the very beginnings of Madonna, and in many others you will think that she is channeling by turns Laura Branigan, Erasure, Kylie Minogue and many, many other stars that made this sound recognizable throughout the decade we love to hate in music: the fantastic 80's ! ^_^

Yet, after this release, Tomoko will take some distance from her Tommy February6 alter ego... and would develop another ! Yes, a bit dissatisfied with her TF6 persona, Tomoko created and alter ego to her alter ego (?!) called "Tommy Heavenly6" (?!?!), a punk chick that also released several singles and an album that was equally successful. Tommy Heavenly is radically different from February in image, sound, and substituted the cheerleaders of the latter for a band of Caucasian musicians that appear in her videos having a blast with her, much like in Avril Lavigne's video to her first hit, "Complicated". Tomoko likes to refer to February and Heavenly as other sides to her, one lighter and the other darker, but those characteristics may only apply to the music, going from pop to straighforward punk... but not in personalities, given that February usually looks like a drunk catatonic beyotch...

In any case, here you have "Tommy Airline", released in 2004. The 12 tracks are followed by 3 other tracks from the "Lonely in Gorgeous" single (yeah, don't ask about the gramatically correctness of that title...), which became the return to the spotlight of February after Heavenly seemed to have taken over for good. The song is one of the best that February has put out, and was used as the OP to the TV series of that great Ai Yazawa manga "Paradise Kiss". I have to post that video, just for you to have another taste of Tommy February6's music before you download the album, and because it's one of the most accomplished combinations of music and imagery that I have recently seen in any OP or ED. Here you have it courtesy of kuroinamida1 @ YouTube:

I have also included a couple of c/w songs from her singles, as a final touch... You know... because basically I'm THAT cool... Anyway, what is Tomoko doing right now ? Well, The Brilliant Green unfortunately seem on a permanent break and she on her own is doing so well that I don't know if they're ever reuniting... After the "Lonely in Gorgeous" single, she came back to her Heavenly self and next July she's releasing the single "Pray", OP of the TV series "Gintama". Here is the album, guys, so enjoy it and bring back 80's POP ! ^_^

Welcome to Akino's Eden...

2006-05-29T23:28:00.000+02:00

As I promised, it's time to fully introduce you to the incredible artist that this site owes its name to: Miss Akino Arai. Yes, I posted the "Kanaete" single as my first entry in this blog, and she was also mentioned on the "Escaflowne" and "Windaria" posts, but I say her own full album article is long overdue, and after all this is my blog, so 'nuff said ! :-P

I'm a fan for life of this woman and of her music. I swear once you let yourself be carried away by the sweetness of her voice and for the ambiances that she builds up around each of her melodies, you just cannot get enough of her. Each song she composes and arranges with longtime musical partner Hisaaki Hogari is a world in its own where the most dissimilar instruments (from strings to synths, from mandolin to electric guitar and everything in between) are combined to ellaborate a flowing mood that is... just impossible to describe. You may read user reviews of her CDs and everybody agrees on the musical genius that she is: her lyrics are poetic, enchanting, metaphorical... her sound is unique, original, unclassifiable, yet absolutely distinctive. I could go on praising her music but I think that if "Kanaete" was not a fair sample that should speak on my behalf, then I don't know what will it take...

Akino Arai was born in August 21 1959, though the exact date is subject to debate, since she's such a reclusive person that seldom is open for interviews and shies away from discussing about her music and most of all her personal life... She's said to have turned to music as a creative outlet in order to express herself after her father abandoned the family when she was 8 years old. She used to perform at her mother's coffee shop (sort of a "Phoebe" from "FRIENDS", but with talent... :-P) when she won a popular song contest in Japan that would open the doors for her in the music industry.

But the way was not easy: her recording company and management were trying too hard to mold her image and sound. After a first album she was not happy with, she left disenchanted the company and focused in singing backing vocals for the likes of Tomoko Tane and Yuri Shiratori, and started composing singles for commercials. She was rescued from this relegated position by none other than Yoko Kanno, with whom she formed a collaborative team in the "Please save my Earth" soundtrack. This experience made her regain confidence in her creativity and resume her own music career. Since then, she has put out the amazing music we are acquainted with, and collaborated with animation projects... mainly productions of the Sunrise Studio.

The list of anime titles that she has collaborated with is impressive. While many singers and groups turn to anime music as soon as they see their popularity declining, Akino is an artist that was introduced to the masses through anime music, and only later developed a parallel career as a singer/songwriter and published her own albums. She never forgot about her beginnings and the adoring followers that she found in the anime fandom. The first single of her professional career was "Yakusoku/Utsukushii Hoshi", from "Windaria" and the love affair between her and the Japanese anime followers was instantaneous. Her name became known internationally when she composed OP & ED of the classic OVA Series "Record of Lodoss War" (both performed by Sherry), one of the first hits in that format in the US. By the time she sung "Voices" in another OVA megahit, "Macross Plus", she was a familiar name but that song undoubtedly placed her on a pedestal in anime music. "Voices" is a classic on a par with "Ai Oboeteimasuka" from the Macross movie or "Zankoku na Tenshi no Teze" from the TV series "Neon Genesis Evangelion"... The EDs she performed for the TV Series "Noir" ("Kirei na Kanjou") and "Outlaw Star" ("Hiiru no Tsuki" & "Tsuki no Ie") reaffirmed her status as a leading artist in anime music, while also introduced her to a new generation of fans that got into anime thanks to the segment "Adult Swim" in the American version of Cartoon Network.

I'm posting today her 2005 compilation album "Sora no Uta", which was put out to celebrate the first 20 years of Akino's music career. To try to encompass in a single disc 20 fruitful years of music is a nightmarish task for many artists. In the case of Akino it is extremely difficult since she has done songs for videogames, commercials, background music for her radio show, collaborated with groups such as Marshmallow and Goddess in the Morning... let's say she's really a prolific composer that knows no boundaries in her creativity. "Sora no Uta" focused then on extracting songs from her albums as a solo artist, and while I cannot actually complain about the selection, of course many favorites of mine were left out. It's particularly puzzling not to see any tracks from "Eden", which is one of my favorite albums of her... Here you have an extremely rare clip of her performing live her song "Little Wing", as part of her 2002 RGB Tour. The video is taken by a fan but it's really a treat to see her in concert (credit: allirow @ YouTube):

This is the tracklisting of the album below, with a brief description of the songs:

1) Sally no Beedama (this song is actually a self cover of "Ningyo Hime" by Rie Tanaka, ED of the TV series "Chobits"; Akino rewrote the lyrics of her own song, rearranged it and performed it herself for this album).
2) Kakusei Toshi (ED of TV series "Tokyo Underground")
3) Voices (from OVA "Macross Plus"... a true classic)
4) Sputnik (only Akino can combine subtle opening with a sample in Russian and finish the song with hard rock breaking loose... and making it work !)
5) Kouseki Radio
6) Hiiru no Tsuki (ED of TV series "Outlaw Star"... the reason why she got so many new fans)
7) Moonlight Anthem ~Enju 1991~ (from OVA "Please save my Earth")
8) Silent Stream (from TV series "XAXZA: Your own personal number"; a little known gem that I'm glad she included in this album)
9) Koneko no Shinzou
10) Gareki no Rakuen
11) Satellite Song
12) Natsukashii Umi (OP of TV series "Kurau: Phantom Memory")
13) Kirei na Kanjou (ED of TV series "Noir"... one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear !)
14) Furuu Purachina
15) Wanna be an Angel (from OVA "Macross Plus")
16) Utsukushii Hoshi (ED of movie "Windaria"; rearranged version for this album... as beautiful as it's always been!).

Track 1, 2, 8, 12 & 16 previously unreleased in an Akino Arai album
Tracks 3, 7 & 15 from album "Sora no Mori"
Tracks 4, 10 & 14 from album "Furuu Platinum"
Track 6 from album "RGB"
Track 9 from album "Sora no Niwa"
Tracks 5, 11 & 13 from album "Kouseki Radio"

Should you need any more information about this amazing artist, there's no better place on the net right now than Kimiko's website; check that one out; it's in English and she did an awesome job compiling information on each of Akino's releases. Akino releases this week her latest single, entitled "Kimi he Mukau Hikari", OP of TV series "Zegapain", so you can see that she's still very active participating in anime soundtracks.
Here's the album... more than ever, enjoy it ! And remember: "we can fly/we have wings/we can touch/floating dreams...":

Another Vintage Soundtrack: Nausicaa OST + Bonus

2006-05-20T10:24:00.000+02:00

It's a Joe Hisaishi galore today, as fans of vintage soundtracks around the world rejoice in the music from the first film of Studio Ghibli !! Yes, pals, today we have the OST to "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), a movie from 1984 that is an established classic in the anime fandom and that -much to my shame- I only watched a couple of months ago...

"Nausicaa" tells the story of a young princess of a tiny kingdom in the Valley of the Wind. It has been some time since an apocalyptic war destroyed human civilization and nature, and the survivors coexist under the constant menace of the "Sea of Decay", an spreading woods of fungus and sporae emitting toxic fumes. In there, huge insects rule, and among them the Ohmu, the magnificent caterpillar-looking giant bugs that roam the desert in a stampede at the climax of the movie. When a neighbouring country unearths an old weapon from the war times and tries to use it for destroying the Sea of Decay and its inhabitants in order to regain control of the Earth, it is up to Nausicaa to intermediate between both factions once she realises that even the Sea of Decay has a role in the new ecosystem of the Earth.

Nausicaa would be the first hit for famed director Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli. In this film he would introduce us to some of the recurrent themes in his filmography: strong independent female characters, nuanced "villains" that are not one-dimensional characters but actually have reasons for their deeds, the relationship between man, technology and the ecosystem, the wisdom of the elder, the power of inner strength and belief in oneself, etc... Anybody that ever saw a Ghibli production knows what Miyazaki films are about and how wonderfully produced they are. Part of the enchantment of any Ghibli film is the score, and ever since Nausicaa, Miyazaki has trusted the soundtrack to his long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi.

Western audiences have discovered Studio Ghibli's work after the major success of "Princess Monoke", a 1997 Miyazaki film that got its worldwide distribution rights through Miramax and Disney. As a result of the partnership, Disney launched previous Ghibli films on DVD and VHS formats and distributed in theatres the following Ghibli releases "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" (a.k.a. "Spirited Away", winner of the Oscar and the Golden Bear in the Berlin Film Festival) and "Howl's Moving Castle". Those films were responsible for introducing Hisaishi's music to a whole new audience that found in the dupla "Miyazaki-Hisaishi" a creative match made in heaven, not dissimilar to "Spielberg-Williams" or "Burton-Elfman".

Joe Hisaishi is actually a pseudonym; his real name is Mamoru Fujisawa. This talented composer was born in Nagano in 1950 and started playing the violin at age 4. Since early on in his career he began a fruitful association with animation, having composed all of Ghibli's soundtracks as well as the score for "Arion" and for TV productions like Mospeada (a.k.a., the "Third Generation" in Robotech, for Western audiences...). Hisaishi also developed a creative tandem with acclaimed director Takeshi Kitano and his talents can be appreciatd in movies like "Dolls", "Hana-bi" and "Brother".

What you have here is a mega-file in .rar format comprising the original 13 tracks of the OST released in 1984, plus the 9 tracks of the Symphony Album that was released shortly BEFORE the actual premiere of the film, plus the two image songs from the movie sung by the lovely idol Narumi Yasuda (who would later have a career in Japan as an actress...). Those songs were mainly used as background music for the trailers of "Nausicaa". Here you have two of the original Japanese trailers of the movie, courtesy of mondkaktus@YouTube. The first one is set to the title song "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" and the second and shorter one should be taken as a preview of the wonderful music that you will find in the album below:

This two-in-one album will provide you with most of the music heard in the movie. I specially like the Symphony Album, with some tracks from the OST rearranged for orchestra. You may find the sound of the OST a bit dated; as I warned you when I posted the "Windaria" OST, the synths were the "in" thing in soundtracks in the mid-80's, and Hisaishi was stepping out of a phase in his work that found him preferring minimalist arrangements. As a result, portions of the tracks sound like videogame music from the Commodore 64 times :-S, but melodically they are still enjoyable, and when the full orchestra kicks in, your hearing pleasure is guaranteed. Just let yourselves be carried away by the first track and you'll see what I mean...

As always, enjoy and leave comments, for crying out loud...

Hikki's in da house !

2006-05-09T21:21:00.000+02:00

Hi, peeps ! I still feel guilty for not updating in so much time between Windaria & B'z, so here am I again willing to upload another greatest hits compilation, this time the first single collection released by my girl, J-R&B princess Hikaru Utada :-).

Hikaru ("Hikki") was born in 1983 in New York to Japanese parents that were connected to the music biz. Her mother is an enka singer and her father is a music producer. Though she made her first babysteps in music as a pre-teen in the US, success wouldn't hit until she released in 1999, at 16 years old, her debut CD "First Love" in Japan. At first sight, people who didn't know how talented she was and how much she was involved in her own music would have thought she was just another idol destined to disappear within 6 months. But then success hit Hikki, and it hit like a tsunami, convincing skeptics that this girl was here to stay...

"First love" became the biggest selling album in Japanese history, with over 10 million copies sold thanks to the popularity of her hits "First love", "Automatic", "Movin' on without you" and "Time will tell", all of which were # 1 songs and are included in this compilation. Her sudden megastardom was only strengthened with the release of her sophomore effort "Distance", and third album "Deep River". In those albums, Hikki continued growing as an artist, songwriter and producer, doing things her way, experimenting and getting a great response from the public to her lyrics and beats. Take a look at the "First Love" videoclip here, with subtitles, courtesy of rickazinhu @ YouTube:

In 2003 she attempted to cross-over to the American market with an English album called "Exodus", but that move suffered from the "Coco Lee syndrom" and was unsuccessful due to lack of promotion and to weird songs that, in my opinion, were not on a par with her Japanese material... Yeah, and I mean that even if Timbaland produced three tracks there for her ! In any case, her popularity in Japan has granted her the possibility of collaborating with big names in the American R&B scene, such as producers Rodney Jerkins ("Time Limit") and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis ("Addicted to You"). She also enlists reputed personalities in the dance music world to remix her songs for Japanese and overseas markets.

Right now, many Americans maybe know Hikki either as a dance artist under the name of just "Utada" (she had a #1 hit in the Billboard Dance Chart with "Devil Inside" off of "Exodus"), or as the voice performing the English tracks "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary" from the videogame Kingdom of Hearts I & II respectively. I think she definitely has the talent to crossover to the country where she was born (the fact of having English as mothertongue doesn't hurt, of course...), but she needs to deliver great material and claim for the promotion she deserves after being such a phenomenon in sales in Asia.

For the time being, at least, she stays focused in her career in Japan, and her next album (entitled "Ultra Blue") will be released next month. Here you have the cover, so check it out as soon as it comes out. Anticipation is increasing to see what this talented girl will deliver next...

For now, here you have a compilation of her past hits in the form of "Utada Hikaru Single Collection vol. I"... enjoy ! :-)

B'z as hell !! It's Showtime !

2006-04-27T10:27:00.001+02:00

Hi everybody ! I'm SO sorry for the lack of updates... I've been working my @SS off lately; actually I've been so busy that I thought about posting something from jrock/power pop duo B'z ! (Get it ? Bu-sy... B-Z...? Ok, nevermind... :-S).

B'z is formed by Tak Matsumoto in guitar and heartthrob Koshi Inaba on vocals. They kicked off their career in 1988 with the release of their self-titled debut album. By that time they showed off a promising sound that mixed hard rock with pop at times, with the guitar expertise of Tak on the forefront and the brilliance of Koshi's vocals shining in each rock song.

Still, that first period wouldn't prepare the guys for the MASSIVE success they would achieve starting a couple of albums later. I mean, this guys RULED the 90's and are already LEGENDS, having put out 36 singles that went straight to the top of the Japanese charts on the day of their release ! I think this is something, to my knowledge, really unheard of in any other point of the planet...

The album I'm posting today is "B'z The Best: Pleasure", which compiles 14 of those # 1 hits and is a perfect introduction for the newcomer to the music that this duo makes. Released in 1998 together with a second Greatest Hits called "Treasure", the album below has songs varying from the euro-pop infused "Bad Communication" of the early 90's (sung in English), to the rock balladry of "Alone", to the loud energised hard-rock of "Samayoeru Aoi Dangan".

There's a little something for everybody in this album, but you have to go pass the kitsch and absurd intro to the first track, "Love Phantom", which to this day makes me laugh like mad... ^_^. My favorites here are the three I just mentioned, plus "Hadashi no Megami", "Be there" & "Easy come, easy go". Both members of this group have also developed successful solo careers.

Here you have the official video of "Easy come, easy go", courtesy of cubdukat @ YouTube. It may look dated (and silly... specially Koshi's moves when he dances) but the music's still good:

The guys have collaborated with animation projects in the past, most notably contributing the openings "Giri Giri Chop" & "Shoudou" to the TV series of Detective Conan, and the ED "Mienai Chikara" (featured in their "Treasure" compilation) to TV series Jigoku Sensei Nube. Koshi on his own extended his partnership with "Conan" by adding his song "Overture" to the list of ED songs of that anime. Take a look at Conan's 20th OP, Shoudou, uploaded by coolish 17 @ YouTube, and then to Nube's ED, courtesy of nuonemeisuke @ YouTube:

Fortunately for all of their fans around the world, like me, these guys happen to be complete workaholics, and don't show any intention of retiring. Their last album, "The Circle" was released last year and it's great to see they are still popular and growing strong in their artistry just as their career is about to turn 20 years old ^_^.

Here is the album, enjoy it in a loud volume !

And check the comments section for a little p.s. ...

Vintage Soundtrack: "Windaria" OST + Bonus

2006-04-17T18:18:00.001+02:00

Hi, peeps ! This time I wanted to upload for you the soundtrack to the 1986 anime film "Windaria", a.k.a. "Once upon a time". This music really takes me back. I must have seen this film when I was around 12 years old and I still remember how "shocked" I was when it was over: I had just seen an intense drama with an actual message... in animation ! Watching that film on my own one boring Sunday afternoon on TV is one of my earliest memories of realising that animation can be a means for narrating ANY story and that anime existed under many other guises than Giant Robot series...

"Windaria" tells the story of two pairs of young lovers who become embroiled in a war between two rival kingdoms. The action takes place in a fantasy world where haunted woods and legendary animals are commonplace, yet the issues dealt with in the story are very real and regrettably close to human nature. Topics including greed, loyalty, love, betrayal, etc are carefully balanced in this tragic tale of the consequences of our weaknesses. It is not an uplifting movie at all. You get to see the outcome of a senseless war in every level -from the ecological to the personal- but as harrowing as the script is, or as outdated as the animation may look, I recommend it. Don't be fooled. There are some harsh reviews on it around, but those are for the Americanized version of the movie. In fact, the same company that bought "Macross" and rewrote that series (turning it into "Robotech" once pasted to two other unrelated anime TV series), performed the same kind og "makeover" to "Windaria". The results were less than spectacular...

The soundtrack to the movie was composed by Satoshi Kadokura, whose other credits include the music to the Gundam F91 movie and the Wataru TV series. You can tell that Windaria is an anime from the mid-80's by listening to Kadokura's use of synths -typical of the period- turning some of the tracks into video-game sounding pieces of music. I enjoy a lot more the instrumental tracks with orchestra on them, such as track 1 -"Theme from Windaria"-, which sets from the start the tone for the whole movie. Other nice tracks are 6, 7, 10 & 12. You have here the original 14 tracks of the score released in 1986, plus 4 others that were released some years ago in a reissue of the soundtrack in a double CD package together with the OST of the OVA film "Birth". Tracks 4 & 14 are an IS & the ED song of the movie, sung by my girl Akino Arai. This would be Akino's first work in an animation project and actually "Yakusoku" would become the first single of her professional career. Her voice sounds a bit different from what you hear now, but of course this is the case for anybody that has been singing non-stop for the last 20 years ^_^.

Here you have the clip of the scene where the IS "Promise" is playing, courtesy of amyj17uk at YouTube:

Kadokura is still active as a composer. One of his recent projects was the soundtrack to the J-horror movie "Shikoku", which I also recommend in case you dig ghost stories à la "Ringu" or "The Grudge"...

Enjoy the album and leave your comments below !

Fire Bomber ready to take off !

2006-04-12T14:58:00.000+02:00

Hi everybody ! Today we have an album of Jrock/anime rock courtesy of fictional rock band "Fire Bomber". The members of this band, specially the two singers, are the main characters of the TV anime series "Macross 7", sequel to the CLASSIC (yes, in capital letters) TV series of 1982, "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross". The original Macross was a cultural phenomenon in and outside Japan, and it achieved massive popularity worldwide when it was bought by Harmony Gold, rewritten and pasted together with two other unrelated TV series, and then aired for western audiences under the name of "Robotech".

Macross is still being broadcasted from time to time around the globe, harvesting new fans. The reason is simple: it was just a great script intertwining a love triangle with a serious sci-fi story. Sequels to Macross had been done before Macross 7. There was the movie retelling the events of the TV series, the mediocre (except for the soundtrack by Shiroh Sagisu) OVA series "Macross II" -which was quickly wiped out of any continuity- and the gorgeous OVA series "Macross Plus" that counted with a score by Yoko Kanno.

Macross 7 was the return of the Macross saga to the airwaves. Though it didn't get the same response from critics and viewers as the original cult favorite, it was a decent work and produced its own spin-offs in the form of a movie and two OVA series. Something that has always been taken care of in any product entitled "Macross whatever" is the music. In the original story, music played an important part and so it did in this sequel in particular. The soundtrack was composed by Shiroh Sagisu and Yoko Kanno, and for the singing voices of the main characters -Basara and Mylenne-, they got Yoshiki Fukuyama (of JAM Project) and Chie Kajiura respectively.

What you have right here is the BEST OF CD of the rock band they are members of: Fire Bomber. You have the OP & EDs of the TV series (tracks 11 & 13, 10, 8, in that order), the OP & ED of the OVA series Macross 7 Dynamite (tracks 14 & 5), plus other remarkable songs such as the monster ballads "Light the light" & "Angel voice". Despite being a group that existed only on celluloid, Fire Bomber released singles and albums that were big hits in Japan, and they performed in sold out concerts nationwide. Their sound is anime rock fusioned with acoustic and pop at times. I hope you like it.

To give you a hint of how the album below will sound, take a look at the following clip, the OP of the series set to the music of the song "Seventh Moon", courtesy of Angalus @ YouTube. And right after it, the OP to the OVA, "Dynamite Explosion", uploaded on YouTube by laputabx.

A special mention goes to Haruhiko Mikimoto, the character designer of the original Macross and of Macross 7, who did the artwork for this album. He's one of my favorite manga authors and he even did a manga set in the same universe, called Macross 7 Trash. Check it out if you can. Here's the album !

You gotta love the Japanese...

2006-04-06T14:29:00.000+02:00

Oh-HAAA ! ^_^

This song was actually # 1 in Japan some years ago !! Addictive beat, weird artist, insane choreography, hectic clip directed -let's say- "under the influence"... of course it had everything needed to become a hit ! This video (courtesy of hughsafer & YouTube) comes with karaoke in romanji so that you can follow the lyrics and sing along... Click under your own risk...

If this doesn't motivate you to leave comments, then nothing will !
I want this song as my next ringtone !!

Here's the mp3 for your hearing pleasure...

And if you wanna know who the hell this guy in drag dressed up as a doll is, click here.

I'll have an album up for the weekend, until then... mayo tchu-tchu's to everybody ! :-P

The Throwbacks !! ^_^ Mari Hamada's 1991 album "Tomorrow".

2006-03-29T19:54:00.000+02:00

This time around I felt like posting some Jpop from the early 90's. And few acts were ruling the Japanese music scene back then as Miss Mari Hamada.

Mari started her musical career very early on. In 1983, at only 16 years old, Mari released two albums: "Lunatic Doll" and "Romantic Night" that would immediately establish her as the "heavy rock idol". In Japan, the idol industry is huge. Idols are very young girls that step into the music scene for a couple of commercial pop singles, pose in demure & angelic clothes in sensual photos for magazines and calendars, and... get forgotten within 6 months. Well, Mari escaped such destiny because of a particular quality in her: talent !

The first phase in Mari decades-long career would find her singing rock and hard rock, releasing an album per year, and collaborating with consecrated musicians that worked for international artists such as Pat Benatar and TOTO, among others.

Yeah, that's right: you wouldn't guess it from the album I'm posting today, but this chick was fierce as a rocker ! Check out this video of her performing her hit "Blue Revolution", out of her 5th album of the same name from 1985. Pay attention to the final high note in super-head voice !!:

Mari then switched to a more poppish sound in the early 90's, for the second stage in her career. Precisely, "Tomorrow", released on October 19th 1991, reflects that transition. It is Mari's 13th album and included her hits "Paradox" and "Telecontrol", which were put out as singles, together with c/w songs "Missing" and "Rainy Blue", respectively.
To this day, she's still in the music biz. Her last album ("Elan") was released last year and, though her popularity is not the same as that of the late 80's & beginning of the 90's, she's still fondly remembered as the "Queen of Jrock".

In the rock department her torch was passed to Nanase Aikawa and other members of the female Jrock younger generation, but her voice still soars, specially in her celebrated ballads. Her success as a balladeer led her to release two special compilations of slow numbers ("Sincerely" I & II).

Two of my favorite tracks of today's album are the ballads "Tomorrow" and "More than ever" (the third one would be the uplifting "Precious Summer" ^_^). Take a look at her performing "Tomorrow" in the following clip courtesy of lostgeneration2 @ YouTube. Now THIS is show(wo)manship ! Whoever this person is, he/she uploaded A LOT of videos of Mari in concert so just keep browsing them...

You won't believe it, but I found this CD in a regular used CD store in Buenos Aires ! Thank God for globalization ! :-P In recent years, Mari has diversified her interests as an artist, trying her luck in acting and even as a seiyuu (voice actor) ! She was cast as Natoru in "Neko no Ongaeshi" (a.k.a "The cat returns" for Western audiences), a Hiroyuki Morita animation film of 2002 that was backed by no other than Studio Ghibli ("Howl's Moving Castle", "Spirited Away").

Here's the album. Enjoy its early 90's pop/rock sound.

Kiroro's album "Diary"

2006-03-20T22:29:00.000+01:00

Hi, peeps ! I'm switching to some easy-listening music for the post of today. You know what I'm talking about: nice, infectious melodies -often with simple arrangements and warm vocals- that makes us smile, sometimes feeling guilty afterwards! Well, there is no guilt in me when I listen to Kiroro's music...

Kiroro is a female duo that puts its all into their music. They have been writing their own stuff for the last ten years and performing it to great succes, often with just a piano as the only instrument on scene. They became a local success in 1996 in their hometown Okinawa but nationwide popularity arrived in 1998 with their breakthrough hit "Nagai Aida", out of their debut album "Nagai Aida: Kiroro no Mori".

Kiroro is formed of Chiharu Tamashiro on main vocals and Ayano Kinjo on piano. Chiharu's voice is really touching, specially in slow numbers, which are their signature mark. I am posting today the album "Diary", released on March 3rd 2004. If you listen to the first song ("Mou Sukoshi"), you will get acquainted with the sound Kiroro is mainly known for: soothing ballads with just piano and voice (well, and some strings or guitar on the background). This has proved to be a hit formula for the girls, since their biggest hits have been ballads that followed this trend, such as "Nagai Aida", "Suki na hito", "Mirai he" or "Aitai".

"Mou Sukoshi" was released as a single, and so was "Bokura no Message", which was used as the OP of the anime TV series "Mujin Wakusei SURVIVE". Here you have that clip, courtesy of alictam23 @ YouTube:

A year later, another song from theirs ("Ikitekoso") would be used as the OP of the TV series "Kabutomushi Ouji Mushiking - Mori no Tame no Densetsu" ("King of Beetles", for short...). Up to now, that has been all of its connection to animation, but undoubtedly there'll be more to come, since the girls have the nice habit of releasing an album per year... Check out next the OP for "King of Beetles", courtesy of pturna @ YouTube:

And here's the album for your hearing pleasure ! Take the time to drop a comment on what you hear...

Kanaete's first month on the Web

2006-03-20T12:38:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody ! I apologise for the lack of updates, but this last 10 days were extremely busy at work. You'll have a Kiroro album soon to make up for the long wait ^_-, I promise...

Today my blog is one month old and, before uploading again for you guys, I thought about posting an open letter just to thank you for your visits and, specially, for the feedback from those that leave messages or comments to the albums. Anybody out there hosting a music blog can tell you that it takes a lot of effort, dedication and patience, but it is all worth it when you realise music is bringing joy to others and you actually get a couple of words from people telling you so. I do want you to drop a line to praise/criticise the music and the artists, tell me a bit about your favorite tracks and hopefully start the discussion and the exchange of information that this blog was conceived for. Your album contributions, of course, are also welcome and I will give you full credit for the music you sent to me. If you don't know how to upload to a free server, tell me so via email and I'll get back to you with the instructions... ^_^

In sum, thanks for the support and keep on letting me know you are out there enjoying Jpop and anime soundtracks ! ^_^

Moving on to... Classic Soundtracks !

2006-03-11T13:02:00.000+01:00

How about posting some BGM, instrumental music for a change ? I've been sharing a few albums of Jpop artists and speaking about the animation series to which they may have contributed songs, but I think it is time for you to enjoy a full soundtrack and let yourself be carried away by outstanding pieces of music specially conceived to provide background to a scene. In this sense, there aren't many composers out there better than Miss Yoko Kanno. I truly think this woman is just the epithome of talent, and if you don't know her, you are about to hear why.

Yoko Kanno (born on May 19 1964) had already worked in music composition for commercials and a couple of video game titles when she got a call from Victor Entertainment to do the music for an upcoming project they were readying: the anime adaptation of the shojo manga "Please, save my earth". The music was mostly credited to another composer and arranger, Hajime Mizoguchi. This man would become Kanno's long time collaborator and eventually her husband as well (awwww... :-P). On a side note, the soundtrack to PSME would also feature the vocals of no other than Miss Akino Arai herself.

The OVA series (Original Video Animation; that is, animation released straight on video) of "Please, save my earth" would make Kanno famous among animation fans in Japan, but her international consecration would come after being commissioned to compose the music for another celebrated OVA series: Macross Plus, in 1994. Since then, she has been a regular staff member of some of the greatest oeuvres in animation, either on TV or on the big screen. The list of projects she composed the sountrack for includes Cowboy Bebop, Brain Powerd, Wolf's Rain, Earth Girl Arjuna, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and The Vision of Escaflowne, among many others.

Precisely, today I'm posting the OST (original soundtrack) to the Escaflowne movie in which she collaborated once again with Mizoguchi. The movie was released in 2000, in the aftermath of the phenomenal success of the TV series of "Escaflowne". The motion picture offered a whole reinterpretation of the story seen on TV. Do yourselves a favour and if you haven't checked this series or the movie out, do it now ! It's from 1996, but it's still looking fresh... the true blueprint of a classic. Take a look at this special trailer released to promote the movie for Western audiences, featuring one of the main pieces of music of the soundtrack. The video is courtesy of solidsnake1mgs @ YouTube. It's in Japanese, but you get to appreciate the quality of the animation and of the score:

The Warsaw Philarmonic Orchestra and Chorus did a magnificent job performing Kanno's & Mizoguchi's compositions. As it was the case for the TV series, in the movie we still have plenty of camera music, but there is also pastoral, and some of those "weird" tracks Kanno is famous for, in which she combines percussion, samples of voices, made-up languages, etc. Kanno has been known for her experimentation in music and for her mastery of diverse music genres that she uses interchangeably for setting the right mood or ambiance on the scene.

In this soundtrack in particular, tracks 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 20, and 22 were composed and arranged by Hajime Mizoguchi; the rest are Kanno's. The file below includes ED song "Yubiwa" (Ring) as track 1, performed by Maaya Sakamoto. The English version of that song is plainly horrible, so skip that track ! (#25). Hidden track # 26 is another nice Sakamoto song, also included in her album "Hotchpotch", which I hope to post someday in the future.

Here's the soundtrack for you all; enjoy it and let me know your thoughts on it:

A dosis of Spitz for everybody !

2006-03-04T13:40:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody ! Today I thought about introducing you to rock quartet "Spitz", one of my favorite Jrock bands. They have been around since 1987 but debuted officially only in 1991 with their self-titled album. They would achieve massive popularity four years later, with the release of the album I'm uploading for you this time around: "Hachimitsu" ("Honey").

This CD is one of their best, in my opinion. It's their 6th album and it included their 11th & 12th Singles: "Robinson" (considered their breakthrough hit) and "Namida ga kirari", respectively.

The album was released on September 2oth 1995 and sported a very easy-going rock sound in songs like the title track, "Ai no Kotoba" or "Robinson". Their melodies are infectious and, well, I have to admit that "Y" is one of my favorite ballads ever. As a first taste of their music, here you have the clip to the opening song of the album, also entitled "Hachimitsu", courtesy of Azil14 @ YouTube:

The group is composed of Masamune Kusano on vocals & guitar, Tetsuya Miwa on guitar, Tatsuo Sakiyama on drums & Akihiro Tamura on bass. I'm a big fan of Kusano-sama's vocals; his voice is very expressive and has some range ! ^_^

Their songs have been featured in Japanese TV shows, though up to recently not in animation at all. That was until the release last year of the anime series "Hachimitsu to Kuroubaa" ("Honey & Clover"). This show -which had a run of 26 episodes in Fuji TV from April 14th 2005 to September 26th- had several Spitz tracks as Insert Songs. An "Insert Song" (IS) is a song featured as background music during a certain scene, but that it is neither the OP nor the ED of the show itself. In the case of Honey & Clover, two tracks from the album that I'm presenting to you today were chosen: "Hachimitsu" in episode 1, & "Y" in episode 14. The latter track is one of my favorite ballads ever. Here you have the clip of the series featuring that song, courtesy of shadow03422 @ YouTube:

Try to check out the anime; it has received rave reviews from the public and I personally think it's one of the best for the season 2005.

And here's the album. Let me hear your thoughts on it:

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

2006-02-22T23:57:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-21T22:22:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-20T21:01:00.000+01:00

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