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Tracklisting
1) BARBiE BARBiE
2) CHANGE MY WILL
3) FREEDOM STAR
4) Happiness land (I Am Robot and Proud ver.)
5) FREEDOM STAR (TOKYO F★NKadeliKKK rmx)
6) CHANGE MY WILL (Modular Modular rmx)
7) BARBiE BARBiE (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
8) CHANGE MY WILL (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
9) FREEDOM STAR (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
BARBiE BARBiE is the 7th overall single from Aira Mitsuki, and her 4th major label single. Like all of Aira’s singles, there was only a CD version, with no DVD being commercially available. It was released on the 20th of May, 2009.
I’ll come right out and say it: BARBiE BARBiE is my least favorite a-side in this era. It’s pretty much a less 8-bit version of Robot Honey. It’s nice to hear another upbeat a-side after the ambiguous Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS, but honestly, did we really need a Robot Honey rehash in the exact same era that it originated in? I was hoping for something completely different, and while BARBiE BARBiE is a good, song it honestly just falls flat. It’s impossible to hate it, since I was a Robot Honey fan, but I’m extremely disappointed.
But now we get something completely different. Did you think HiGH SD Sneaker was an aggressive, fast b-side? CHANGE MY WILL is the same thing, but faster and heavier. This is a high-energy track that makes a lot of use of heavy synth beats and pounding drums. Aira’s under a heavy echo and vocoder here to match the theme of the song, and after BARBiE BARBiE, it was nice to hear a straight-out aggressive b-side to mirror it. Out of all of Aira’s aggressive b-sides, this definitely has to be my favorite just because of how far-out and aggressive it is. I’d like to hear more of this in the future!
And here we go again. FREEDOM STAR is… Very similar to BARBiE BARBiE. It’s another cute techno-pop song that I can barely sit through. Aira’s past singles this era worked things well: There was a distinctive a-side, a music-focused song, a semi-experimental track and a normal song. FREEDOM STAR doesn’t really fit there, and the fact that it sounds so much like the a-side just makes it extremely forgettable. I just don’t like how oddly generic it sounds.
Time for the C.O.P.Y flashback! I wasn’t a fan of the original, but I am a HUGE fan of the Happiness Land I Am Robot and Proud Version. It has a subdued sound to it, and opens in a rather simple manner with a few digitized string knock-offs and a simple back-up synth, followed what can only be compared to an accordion, albeit digitized. It has a nice relaxing sound to it, but the fact that the choruses and a lot of the later sections of the song have a much more fuller yet subdued sound makes the song as a whole a great experience. I like how the accordion sound was kept in the early chorus, too. The first Aira ballad or ballad remix that I like! (By the way, I Am Robot and Proud is a Canadian (although the guy is Japanese) electronica producer. Just in case you were wondering where the name for the remix came from.)
Now we have the FREEDOM STAR TOKYO F★NKadeliKKK remix, and I don’t really know what to think at first. It has a disjointed, random sound to it, and it’s kind of reminiscent of the disco sound COSMiC CHOPPER had, while using a few darker, more aggressive synths here and there to kind of set it apart. I have to say, I really do like this remix. It’s nothing absolutely mind blowing or fantastic, but it’s still very enjoyable. The original song should have been something like this, because it would have made the single much better.
The CHANGE MY WILL Modular Modular remix has a similar disjointed sound that the last remix did, except that it doesn’t have the central connecting synth or the disco sounds that helped improve the FREEDOM STAR remix. That said, I do like what they did with the song. They turned an aggressive faux-metal song into a more mature, experimental techno track. It’s not exactly the most mindblowing track on the single, but kudos are definitely deserved here.
Single Score
A
Favorite Tracks
1) CHANGE MY WILL
2) Happiness Land (I Am Robot and Proud ver.)
3)FREEDOM STAR (TOKYO F★NKadeliKKK rmx)
As odd as it seems, the remixes are actually what made this single. CHANGE MY WILL was the only new track I actually fully enjoyed, and the remixes were just really interesting and different. BARBiE BARBiE wasn’t horrible, but honestly, compared to the rest of the tracks it sounded like nothing. I’m glad the remixes and CHANGE MY WILL were so well produced, because (and you can quote me on this) the remixes are definitely what saved this single. That may be the only time I ever say this, too!
Four words can sum this song up: ROBOT HONEY Part Two. Listen closely. Go on, do it. Many of the backing synths will bear a slight resemblance to ROBOT HONEY, and others will be startlingly similar. This isn’t a bad thing, however.
I’ll start with the flaws. Bridge-to-chorus’ transition isn’t very smooth, and it’s actually rather annoying to listen to. So is Aira’s monotonous voice. The chorus is okay, and the verses aren’t too bad, but the bridge is once again the offender. It just sounds a bit TOO mechanical, even for Aira, the robot chick. Those verses are great, though. Also, there’s the similarity to ROBOT HONEY. That isn’t bad, but rehashes occuring in the SAME ERA as the original single are never a good thing at all.
The plus sides are that BARBiE BARBiE sounds a lot smoother and less in-your-face than ROBOT HONEY, which many will be rejoicing about. Also, the song itself is catchy. Flow issues aside, I can easily admit that I like this song. It’s definitely my least favorite A-Side this era (Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS was just too good), but that doesn’t mean I like it any less.
Now for the PV. This is ALSO like ROBOT HONEY. Shocker.
This time, however, it’s glammed-up Model Aira Barbie walking through a city, and it’s MUCH more detailed instead of childish drawings on white backgrounds. It’s not the best animation you’ll ever see, but it’s better than ROBOT HONEY’s. I particularly find mannequin Aira being controlled on its stage intriguing, and it was a nice addition to the PV, if not a bit irrelevant. There are a lot of fashion references in this PV, such as an Aira surrounded by animated cosmetics and worshipping a window full of animated dresses. Blonde isn’t really her best colour, but at least she looks a LOT better than that ROBOT HONEY trainwreck we had, thanks to that awful lighting and make-up.
There isn’t much dancing, but the stiff Aira dancing on a stage (while NOT being controlled like a mannequin) fits the barbie bill closely enough. It’s rather amusing, actually. The PV itself, as a whole, makes a lot more sense than a certain other similar PV. It has a relevant, noticable theme, and as a whole, it’s much more visually appealing. It also lacks the randomness of Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS, but I’ll leave whether that’s a flaw or a plus up to you.
PV Score
A
Song Score
B-
Overall Score
B+
Okay, BARBiE BARBiE isn’t Aira’s most interesting or modern song ever (as I was hoping it to be), but it worked well either way. I would have preferred not having the ROBOT HONEY similarities glaring at us like this, but at least it tries to differentiate itself. It’s catchy enough, and definitely a good song in many respects. I just hope she isn’t falling into a rut.
Tracklisting
1) Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS (サヨナラ TECHNOPOLiS; lit. Goodbye/Farewell TECHNOPOLiS)
2) HiGH SD Sneaker (HiGH SD スニーカー)
3) COSMiC CHOPPER
4) distant STARS
5) Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS (Traks Boys rmx)
6) HiGH SD Sneaker (BIG BEAT CRUSH rmx)
7) Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
8) HiGH SD Sneaker (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
9) COSMiC CHOPPER (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
10) distant STARS (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS is Aira Mitsuki’s 5/6th overall single (It could be classed as either number), and her 4th single that wasn’t a limited release. It was released on the 21st of January, 2009.
Okay, the dtopia girls always have freaky lyrics, and this is no exception, since Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS is about the end of the world. Namely, due to global warming. Freaky. That aside, it’s got Aira’s usual techno sound to it, but it’s a lot calmer, and it isn’t as in your face as ROBOT HONEY was. It’s got a ton of different sounds in it to separate the sections such as the bridge (A constant repetition of the title over a faster beat) and the chorus (A sound much closer to Aira’s normal sound, but still quieter). There’s more in there, and I could be separating the sections wrong, but the sounds are still there regardless. It’s not as eclectic as Aira’s previous a-sides, but in a way, it’s one of her strongest a-sides so far.
Now we come to another song that tries something a little different. It starts with a calm, almost ballad-ish sparkling instrumental with Aira singing over it, before slowly bringing in some more aggressive synths and going into an all-out rock-influenced affair. HiGH SD Sneaker is very similar to Knee-high Girl, in that it has a lack of vocals and uses music and distorted computer voices as its main fare. Except, it doesn’t at the same time. HiGH SD has a proper chorus, which was good to hear, but the verses are mainly the same talked phrases repeated until the computer voice comes in and sings along with Aira in the background. I have a thing for songs like this (I really liked Knee-high Girl too), so I really enjoyed how it turned out, and the aggressive nature was another plus.
COSMiC CHOPPER has a heavier sound to it as well, while still carrying some light piano and airy synth. It’s an interesting mix, and it comes off sounding like a few older 80s synth-pop songs, which I thought was cool, since Aira sounds perfect with it. It carries the calmer nature of Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS with it, meaning it takes the good parts out of both songs, and because of this, I actually prefer this to either of the other two songs. It’s something else Aira hasn’t really tried, in the fact that it isn’t really outright techno or techno-pop like most of her other songs.
Now we hit a low point with distant STARS. It’s another ballad, and it sounds almost exactly like Every night 
heartfull music song, except for the muffled opening that sounds like it’s playing on a record player. I thought that was an awesome touch, and really, when the actual song starts, it is better than all of her other ballads have been, but… I’m still not a huge fan. It’s almost a continuation of Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS, lyrically. Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS was about us destroying the Earth with global warming, and distant STARS is about Aira’s wish to start again on the moon. Interesting lyrics there, really… I don’t know the full translation, but that’s the gist of it.
The Traks Boys Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS remix is basically a music-focused version of the song: The first half is the chanting section placed over a thumping arrangement with some interesting synths slowly playing over it and growing louder and louder. The odd transition into the second half is horribly clunky and unprofessional, but the aggressive sound it adds to the chorus comes off fantastically. Both halves of the song are great, but that transition drags it down slightly.
The BIG BEAT CRUSH HiGH SD Sneaker remix has a much grungier, more electronic sound to it than the original version did. It’s got Aira shouting in some sections of it, which was rather interesting, and what they’ve done with some of the instrumental sections was rather surprising. It gets rather repetitive, but there are some vocal segments in the chaotic instrumental to break it up a bit. It’s not the best remix I’ve ever heard, but it is pretty good.
Single Score
A+
Favorite Track
COSMiC CHOPPER
Wow. This single has a much more evident space theme to it in comparison to Aira’s previous works, and it was full of experimentation as well, which was nice to hear. Every song was enjoyable, with the part-exception of distant STARS. This is the first Aira ballad I’ve heard that could be considered a grower, so who knows what could happen. It was a brilliant release, though, so my hopes for the album are even higher than they were after hearing ROBOT HONEY, now. Plus, I mean, both the remxies were bearable at their worst, so that’s definitely a very good thing, right? Hopefully this means she isn’t going to slow down any time soon, because this is fantastic.
Tracklisting
1) Valentine STEP
2) Tofubeats Mash UP include 11 Aira Songs
3) L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl
Valentine STEP is Aira Mitsuki’s 5th (For all intents and purposes, TECHNOPOLiS could be the fifth, but I wanted to review this one first, so it got the spot) single, and her second limited release single. It was released on the 21st of January, 2009.
So, this is a rather large surprise. Instead of the usual techno fare Aira follows, Valentine STEP utilizes heavy Latin influences. It has the most natural sound of any of her singles, which I thought was great, but the vocal distortions are still there, and there are the occasional little synth effects in the background during the chorus. Side note, the effects when she starts chanting “Valentine Step” are rather catchy for some odd reason, but maybe that’s just me. It was an interesting “step” for Aira to take, and I think she did rather well for a song so radically different to what she does.
But Aira, geez, 21 MINUTES?!?! I am not one to sit through a mash-up, and this is really no excepti0n, since all it is is basically her old songs played with new random effects placed over them. The spot with Aira talking in the opening is rather interesting, but honestly, can’t sit through this. If you like mash ups, then I can’t see why you won’t like the Tofubeats Mash UP, but I don’t like it. Despite liking most of the songs in it. I know, I’m weird.
For good measure, here’s a song listing:
1) China Discotica + (2)Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E (It’s China Discotica with some of Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E’s chanting.)
3) Fantasy Candy + (4)HEART LINE ALIVE (HEART LINE ALIVE plays over an instrumental section of Fantasy Candy after it’s played through)
5) Knee-high Girl
6) SAZAE FUNKADELiC (TOKYO IKEJIRI PLASTIC BABE rmx) + 7)Happiness land (Happiness land starts playing over the remix pretty soon after it starts)
8 ) Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E (Cherryboy function ver.)
9) Rock’n Roll Is Dead (<3333)
10) ROBOT HONEY
11) High Bash (Original ver.)
In guess Aira’s a fan of recycling, huh? Seriously though, L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl makes its second appearance in her discography here, although this is its first official addition to a release. It’s pretty much a quieter, calmer version of GALAXY BOY, but it’s still good. I’m not the biggest fan, but it’s an alright song to listen to every now and then.
Single Score
B
Favorite Song
Valentine STEP
So, it was really interesting to hear Aira tackle a Latin song, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear her succeed at making it sound great while still keeping her little twist in it. I could’ve done without a mash up, but it was nice to see L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl get an official release. A little less vocoder in Valentine STEP would have been interesting to hear, but I’m really pleased with how well Aira did.
I think I know a few people who’ve been waiting on this single/PV to come out~
Well, it’s here. They’ve finally released the PV to Aira Mitsuki’s next single, Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS, and being the Aira fan that I am, I decided to review it as a sort of “first impressions” before I go writing a review I’m going to change my mind about five seconds later.
Honestly, the song isn’t what I was expecting. I was really thinking we were getting a ballad a-side, I’ll admit, mainly because of the Sayonara in the title, as stupid as that may sound. It’s a rather simple song, full of quiet synths that don’t really sound overly Aira-ish, with the more recognizable spacey sounds in the background sometimes. It likes to speed up and slow itself down a bit, too.
At first, I thought it was lacking. It’s a bit of a grower, just like love the world was for Perfume. It feels like it’s missing one thing that’ll make it even catchier. In this case, however, a little time changed that opinion. Outside the chorus, it really sounds like Aira’s on the verge of breaking out into a robot rap, as she’s more talking than singing, and sometimes it gets so fast that it led me to use that analogy. These are the parts I thought were lacking, as well as the section with the constant repetition of the title afterwards. The only part I really loved was the chorus, which is the section that opens the song, as far as I can tell. That’s what I mean when I refer to the chorus, anyway.
Once you get to the lack of bass and the oddly quiet sound for an Aira non-ballad, it starts making more sense. If you don’t like it at first, give it a few listens: If you aren’t entirely Techno-allergic, I can almost definitely say that it will grow on you. Of course, we all have different tastes, so who knows.
Aira PV’s usually tend to have a certain crazy hook that makes them more interesting to the viewer. Colorful Tokyo Sounds No.9 had its abundance of stop-motion, while China Discotica has its lovably random color changes and backgrounds, with the occasional shot of something entirely different. GALAXY BOY had its space theme and a 2D dancing Aira, while ROBOT HONEY had its animated world. In a way, Sayonara TECHNOPOLiS takes different elements from each of her PV’s and puts it into one package.
The animated world from ROBOT HONEY is here for most of the song, but it’s done in a manner that looks a bit more presentable and prettier to look at. The stop motion from CTSN.9 is here in the sections where the title is repeated, with the random neon additions to Aira drawing inspiration from China Discotica. There isn’t much from GALAXY BOY, but it could be said that the song itself draws some inspiration from its sound. All together, it could be seen as a compilation of Aira’s different video-based efforts, and the fact that the song has the word goodbye in its title makes me wonder if this is hinting at something happening in Aira’s career. Of course, that’s not the point here.
It’s a great PV, immensely better than ROBOT HONEY’s was, and while the scenes of Aira walking in that dark hallway were kind of dull, the contrast between that and the animated scenes is pretty big, though the animated parts usually end up being the preferrable one: I just love that outfit she has on in it~
Good part: Aira isn’t so killably ugly in this PV, so that should be a plus by itself.
Bad part: She still can’t dance. At least she isn’t actually trying this time.
Song Score
A+
PV Score
A
Overall Score
A
Overall, I really don’t see Aira disappointing her fans with this single. The PV still features the quirky, nerdish Aira we all know and love, while the song gives those fans of her spacier sound what they were wanting. The previews of the other tracks on her MySpace page sound interesting, too: She seems to have a set single pattern now. I’m left wondering why the cover of the single has nothing to do with the PV, but I guess that’s just not going to be mentioned.
(P.S.: I’m too lazy to do the PV Best & Worst post today, expect it in the next few days.)
GALAXY BOY was the main promotional track for Aira Mitsuki’s debut album, C.O.P.Y., and also acted as the opening track for the same album.
And WHAT a track! The song is easily one of Aira’s best songs in her discography, opening on a quieter note, before bringing in the thumping, ethereal, space-element synth. Despite having the kind of chorus that could bore you quickly, the way the package is presented keeps the song interesting through these verses, through the anticipating bridge and into the chorus, which shows off just how catchy this song actually is. It’s easily the part that’s going to get you hooked to the song. Why this wasn’t its own single, I’ll never know.
It had one hell of a PV to go with it, too. It follows the same space theme, with Aira driving through space at the beginning of the video, and getting into a laser fight with three separate copies of herself. There’s a lot of psychadelic rainbows here to top it off, too, shooting past and around Aira throughout the video.
In fact, in almost every shot of the video, you can see the glory of space itself, with Earth (or some other planet) being the most obvious landmark in the sky in the background. The video throws the sci-fi space theme at you whenever it can, but at least it fits with the theme of the song. This is how Tek videos really should be.
The real clincher here, though, has to be 2D Aira. Throughout the whole video, Aira is shown from a 2D perspective, with the chorus even having this paper-thin Aira dancing around in the most awkward manner I’ve ever really seen. It’s actually rather hilarious, and for people like me, nostalgic.
How is it nostalgic? Three words: Parappa the Rapper. That old PS1 game that had paper thin characters trying to dance around without the proper dimensions for it. It was over a good decade ago, but this was the first thing the chorus dance reminded me of. And that’s a good thing, because that game was AWESOME for its time. ( Don’t tease me, it’s true. ;~; )
HOWEVER! There’s something I should point out to you all…
AIRA’S PV IS A COPY OF THE SONG TECHNOPOLIS’ MUSIC VIDEO~ As sung by Yellow Magic Orchestra.
A COPY! A COPY!
AND IT’S PROMOTING AN ALBUM NAMED C.O.P.Y.!!!
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Just take that however you will, I think she pulled it off pretty well.
Video Score
A+
Total Score
A+
Do you see why I reviewed this PV first? Yes, this is definitely what I would consider Tek perfection. It’s the only song in the genre that hasn’t worn thin for me, even after listening to it millions of times. Every Nakata act has this happen to them eventually, but Aira’s still clear. Nakata needs to step back and take a look at this, because this is pretty much what Tek should be. It makes Perfume look like regular J-Pop in comparison, when you take the arrangements into account.
Tracklisting
1. ROBOT HONEY (ロボットハニー)
2. Knee-high Girl (ニーハイガール)
3. Every night heartfull music song
4. SAZAE FUNKADELiC
5. ROBOT HONEY (Sound Around rmx)
6. SAZAE FUNKADELiC (TOKYO IKEJIRI PLASTIC BABE rmx)
ROBOT HONEY (ロボットハニー)(digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
8. Knee-high Girl (ニーハイガール)(digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
9. Every night heartfull music song (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
10. SAZAE FUNKADELiC (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
ROBOT HONEY is Aira Mitsuki’s fourth overall single, and her second under a major label. It was released on the 29th of October, 2008.
ROBOT HONEY opens with a very 8-bit reminiscent arrangement and a short vocal section cut from the chorus by Aira, before bringing in the rest of the arrangement. It’s definitely got a bit of a more bass-based sound to it compared to her other a-sides, while still keeping an airy sort of sound. Which is good, because it’s nice to hear that Aira’s producers are trying to differentiate her sound a bit as the singles go past. It may just be me, but Aira’s voice doesn’t sound as heavily vocoded as it was in her other songs. It’s a really catchy song, something you can dance to, while not ditching the cute sound and going all-out into being a dance song. I think it has an electric guitar in the background, too…
Knee-high Girl opens in a somewhat similar manner as ROBOT HONEY, but the vocals come in a lot quicker. Aira’s voice is vocoded an extreme amount in this song, and she isn’t even the main focus: A small, robotic voice that almost blends into the arrangement has more of a feature in the song than Aira did. It’s another song that you could dance to, but this time it’s actually trying to go a bit more into that genre instead of keeping from doing that. It still has a sort of cute feeling to it, though. It reminds me of capsule and Perfume’s mainly instrumental tracks, but with Aira’s special sound to them. And the fact that I love this song’s instrumental makes that a good thing.
I’m sure quite a few people were surprised by Every night heartfull music song’s preview. It has a very similar sound to Darling Wondering Staring, from the Darling Wondering Staring/STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER single, but this song has the advantage of the vocals not being distorted to an insane amount. I’m even going to say that the song has strings in it, unless that’s another fancy synth arrangement they added to improve the ethereal, spacey sound this song has. I was never really impressed by the preview, and I’m sorry to say that the full thing hasn’t really done much better. But it’s not a song I’d skip, so I still like it.
SAZAE FUNKADELiC is the last real song on this single, and it’s pretty much Aira’s most unique offering yet. It’s a much more mature song compared to what we’re used to from Aira (Maybe on the level of Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E, from her debut album, or a bit under it), and it has a sort of… I want to say Oriental sound, but some of the instruments later have a much more Ethnic sound to them instead. Aira’s vocals are distorted to a similar level as they were in Knee-high Girl, and it’s another dance song, but this time it sounds a lot more like a normal one. It has a normal vocal line, too, instead of having the same lines repeated and scattered throughout the song. This was probably the song that impressed me most on the single because of its unique sound. When coming from Aira, anyway.
The ROBOT HONEY (sound around rmx) comes in next, and while it sounds all nice, ethereal and summery, I’m not really feeling it. The new arrangement doesn’t seem to fit Aira’s vocals at all, and the chorus even manages to drown the vocals out, which I wasn’t really enjoying very much. I’m not a fan of Sound Around’s sound, which this song is obviously heavy on, and the only real part from the original version of ROBOT HONEY is the looping electric guitar riff in the background and the vocals. I’ll pass on this, thanks.
And closing the single is the SAZAE FUNKADELiC (TOKYO IKEJIRI PLASTIC BABE rmx), and once again, I’m not really impressed. The opening, coincidentally enough, takes a page from Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E’s sound, which was the song I mentioned in the review of the normal version of SAZAE, but the rest of it sounds like they’re trying to make it into a club song, and it comes off as sounding watered down instead of original. I’ll pass on this one too, unfortunately.
Single Score
A+
Favorite Tracks
All (Excluding remixes)
So, ROBOT HONEY has finally leaked, and I have to say, the four original tracks were definitely worth the wait. The only track I wasn’t overly impressed with was Every night heartfull music song, but it’s still a good song, which excluding remixes makes this single a slam dunk for Aira. I never expected the remixes to be that good, but the a-sides make up for it. While they aren’t TOTALLY original if you look at Aira’s discography itself, compared to other J-Tek artists, this single’s much more creative and original than their whole discographies. Having a full-blown Tek-Ballad helps, too.
NOTE: I will NOT be sending the link to anyone else who asks for it. Most albums are easy to find, and even when you think they aren’t, they usually are. “Kyo Music City” has this album as well as many other hard-to-find releases, so go google the site name and look there.
NOTE 2: IGNORE THE COMMENTS SAYING I WILL SEND THE LINK. They were one or two exceptions. I don’t usually do that, and I won’t be doing it anymore. Deal with it.
Tracklisting
1. Amai Zeitaku (甘い贅沢; lit. Sweet Luxury) – MEG
2. China Discotica (Substance Remix) – Aira Mitsuki
3. Local Train – immi
4. Stay Fine – Sound Around
5. Love Me After 12AM -RAM RIDER REMIX- – m-flo <3s Alex (CLAZZIQUAI Project)
6. Sayonara Revival (サヨナラリヴァイバル; lit. Goodbye Revival) – Saori@destiny
7. The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough – Sweet Vacation
8. My Treasure – www.lollipoptears.com
9. Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix) – KALEIDO
10. you’ll be all right -re:construct- – Iwaya Shigeru
11. Magic Colors – Nakatsuka Takeshi
12. Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM mix) – RAM RIDER
13. Just – Q;indivi
14. R.G.B – Spangle calli Lilli line
15. Dreaming rabbit – The Sakura Telephone
BEAUTIFUL TECHNO is a compilation album containing tracks from many different Japanese techno artists, and one Brazilian artist. (Namely, KALEIDO.) It was released on the 16th of July, 2008. The cover model artist is Kishimoto Cecil. As it’s a compilation, I’m not sure of many of the inidividual artist names in the groups, so I’m sorry about that.
The album opens with a song I’ve reviewed at least three times on Vitamin Drop, Amai Zeitaku, by the hacky Techno-Pop artist MEG. Despite her being hacky, I still love the clean, smooth sound that Amai Zeitaku has, which was always something I missed in a lot of her later songs. Her voice is still sort of grating at times, but this is one of the songs where it sounds a bit better when put with the music. It only just missed being in my favorites for MEG’s BEAM album, and would probably be up there now if I re-reviewed that album. It’s a nice mid-way point between her mature dance songs (MAKE LOVE, MODEL) and her more carefree songs (HEART, PRECIOUS).
The next song is ALSO one that I’ve reviewed three times. This time, it’s the China Discotica Substance Remix from upcoming Techno-Pop artist Aira Mitsuki. While you may be wondering why the original wasn’t just put on here, I like to think it’s because the album boasts a smoother sound to its songs. The Substance remix is a lot less rough than its original counterpart, and while I was never a huge fan of how the song skips parts of the original and has that annoying overtone throughout, it does fit this album very well.
We now come to the first track I haven’t reviewed on this site before. Local Train, by immi. The song opens with a simple, blaring synth-line, followed by a skipping vocal section and thumping synth line, and I’m already loving it. This section is certainly infectious. Unfortunately, it quickly takes on a smoother, more connected feel, and it gets a little less interesting. This is the first song to not involve vocal distortions, and that really helps this song a lot, because it helps keep the fast, quiet nature of this song working well. I still prefer the skipping style of the opening and closing sections, but it is a nice song overall.
The compilation continues with the song Stay Fine, by Sound Around. The song has a quieter, almost natural sound to it, and the high-toned voice of the vocalist work well together, but the beginning of the song can be pretty bland. There are a few ethereal sounds throughout the verses to improve the light feeling of the song, and the vocals are perfect for the song. There’s actually a somewhat Aira-ish quality to her voice, highly reminiscent of Darling Wondering Staring. There is a bit of distortion, but they could majorly pass for being vocoder-free. About 2:52 in, the song sounds as if it’s rewinding, and I’m thinking this is something wrong with the mp3. So, I’ll look up on that and see what I can find, as it sounds really unnatural. Sorry about that, guys.
The next song is probably the worst up to this point. The Love Me After 12AM -RAM RIDER mix-, which was an m-flo loves collaboration preformed with Alex from the CLAZZIQUAI Project, opens with a simple clanging sound, before the steady synth comes in, with Alex’s vocals slowly coming to the foreground, and it all sounds alright at this stage. When Alex starts screeching though, the distortions on his voice make it almost unbearable. This is why I can’t stand the chorus of this song, as that’s the main focal point of it. The verses are bearable, as they don’t have this horrible quailty, and I rather enjoy the dance-based synth throughout the song, but as the chorus is usually the focal point of a song, it doesn’t help that they’re pretty much horrid.
Sayonara Revival, by Saori@destiny, leads straight into the vocals, which sound a bit sketchy at this time, but it makes up for it with some interesting, skipping synth backing the vocals. The song sounds a lot more “in-your-face” after the songs we’ve heard so far, as it has a rougher overall tone, and is probably what a lot of people are used to after listening to some of the tracks Nakata has produced. The synth can be a sort of hindrance when it starts looping on itself, and it drowns the vocals out semi-regularly, which is a shame, as for the majority of the song, they’re actually quite pleasant. All that aside, it’s a nice song, and if you can overlook a few technical glitches in those mentioned aspects, you’ll definitely get something out of it.
Next up is The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough, by Sweet Vacation. The song opens with a highly technological, robotic sound to its synth, which I quite enjoy. The vocals quickly come in, and they seem to be majorly, if not entirely, in English. The high vocals suit the technological sound of the song perfectly, with just enough distortion being added to make them blend in properly. The chorus tends to sound a bit repetitive, with a high focus on the phrase “good enough” being placed, but overall, this is probably the most enjoyable song on the album so far. It’s the second shortest song on the album though, clocking in at 3:38. With a title like this, I wasn’t really expecting much, but it’s a brilliant upbeat tune.
My Treasure, performed by www.lollipoptears.com, leads straight into a faster, dance infused sound, with some higher synth added soon after. This song is probably the most open with its happy nature so far in this album, and it’s great to hear. A short talking sequence plays before the vocals, which blend perfectly with the style of music, which still carries a technological overtone. The vocals in the chorus stand out more from the music and sound more natural, while still having the distortions on them. It’s the kind of song you’ll want to get up and dance to, which is great to hear on this album.
Following up is the black sheep of the album, the Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix), performed by KALEIDO. It’s the black sheep, because it’s performed in Portuguese, and the band is also from Brazil. I assume it’s on here because Nakata remixed it, but anyway. The song opens with a simple, thumping beat with the vocalist ad libbing over it, and her slightly deeper voice sounds brilliant, even when it isn’t singing. The slight vocals over them make them fit the simple, thinner sound of the song much better, and while it sounds odd to hear someone singing in Brasilian right after a bunch of Japanese songs, it actually manages to sound a lot more interesting than many of the previous songs because of this. There isn’t much change throughout the song, and it lasts an exact six minutes, but you should be able to last through the song, as it’s definitely a great addition to the album.
Back onto the natural order of things, we’re given you’ll be all right -re:construction-, from Iwaya Shigeru. We’re back to a similar sound that Local Train had, with some robotic beeps added throughout. When it comes to its full accompaniment, it sounds more like My Treasure than anything else, or maybe the preceeding song, while still keeping the illusion that there are actual instruments throughout the song. For all I know, there could be a guitar in there. The female vocals that come in remind me A LOT of Toshiko from capsule, except for the large amount of distortions placed on her voice. The verses tend to be sort of boring, and the emotionless quality of the vocals makes the choruses sound more boring than they have to. The lack of any real changes in the song keeps it from ever picking up.
Oh, good lord, next please. Magic Colors, from Nakatsuka Takeshi, opens with some deeply distorted vocals that makes them come out in an unappealing way, and they’re coupled with a carefree synth line that has an almost.. Mexican quality? I’m bad at sticking country musical styles to songs, but anyway. The vocals don’t fit the song at all, and the random sounds added throughout don’t help the song at all. I can’t even sit through this song. Skip it, please, for your own sake.
Next up is a song that really caught my interest, mainly because of the collaboration this artist has done with Ami Suzuki. The song on this album, Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM remix), is performed by RAM RIDER (He produced cover versions of his two songs SWEET DANCE and MUSIC for Ami Suzuki’s DOLCE album). Back on topic, the song opens with an exploding sound and the usual simple thumping synth line, with more synth slowly added over it, with a few… Odd sounds from RAM RIDER himself, I assume, thrown in. About a minute in, this all stops, and we’re treated to one long, 8-bit sound, before the synth lines are slowly added in again. The entire song has an 8-bit sound to it, especially through the vocals, as his voice is distorted to the absolute EXTREME. This makes it really hard to decipher what’s actually being sung, but the overall synth arrangement with the heavy vocals make an interesting mix. It’s another song that lacks any real change throughout, but I absolutely love the way this song sounds. I can see why RAM RIDER’s one of the most well-known Techno artists in Japan now, despite this being a remix.
Just, by Q;indivi, comes next. It has a natural, rainforest sound to it, with a waterfall and birds, before it cuts out once or twice and leads to the simple synth line with the deeper female vocals this time. This song sounds a lot more natural compared to any other song, which is nice, but the vocals sound a bit too deep, as if they’re distorted in the wrong manner for this kind of song. There’s a change in the middle of the song that makes pretty much everything indistinguishable, which helps break up this somewhat awkward song somewhat, but it doesn’t really help much. It’s just not that interesting.
R.G.B, contributed by Spangle calli Lilli line, acts as the semi-final for this compilation album, and the song has a much more laid back sound to it, and it features a guitar and some rather odd tapping sounds. The light vocals sound like they’re being sung in a strained manner, but not in an overly obtrusive way, so they sort of work. The arrangement doesn’t see much change in the first minute, which in this case probably isn’t very good, as it gets sort of annoying as it repeats on itself. When more sounds are added in the choruses later on in the song, it gets a bit more interesting, but overall it’s not a really large contribution to the album by itself.
Dreaming rabbit, by The Sakura Telephone, closes the album. The song opens with an odd stretching synth, with the distorted vocals quickly coming in over the synth. Again, there’s an almost Aira-ish quality to the vocalist’s voice, and the overall arrangement is extremely similar to the song in question, Darling Wondering Staring. However, about a minute and a half in, it takes a childish, xylophone sound instead. The song follows this arrangement for most of its duration, so it’s a pretty bad way to end the album.
Album Score
A-
Favorite Tracks (In Order)
1. Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM remix) – RAM RIDER
2. My Treasure – www.lollipoptears.com
3. The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough – Sweet Vacation
4. Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix) – KALEIDO
5. Local Train – immi
A great thing to note about this album is that it includes music by artists many of us probably haven’t ever heard of. As such, this is a great introduction for those of you who are new to the Techno-Pop scene, and the veterans may just find something to love in this album. I myself have discovered at least two artists to keep an eye on in this album (RAM RIDER and immi), so maybe you will too. Recommended for anyone curious about Techno-Pop.
Tracklist
1. GALAXY BOY
2. China Discotica
3. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9
4. Darling Wondering Staring
5. HEART LINE ALIVE
6. China Discotica (Substance Remix)
7. ファンタジー・キャンディー (lit. Fantasy Candy)
8a. ハイバッシュ (Original ver.) (lit. High Bash)[Regular Edition]
8b. ハイバッシュ (YAKENOHARA ver.) (lit. High Bash) [Limited Edition]
9. Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E (Cherryboy Function ver.)
10. Beep Count Fantastic (feat. Terukado)
11. イエロー・スーパーカー (lit. Yellow Supercar)
12. Happiness Land
13. STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER [Regular Edition Bonus]
14. Rock’n Roll Is Dead [Regular Edition Bonus]
15. ROMANTIC ROPE [Regular Edition Bonus]
16. Darling Wondering Staring (PLASTIC FANTASTIC remix) [Regular Edition Bonus]
17. L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl [HMV Bonus Track]
18. YAKENOHARA MEGAMIX (Hidden Track) [Limited Edition Bonus]
COPY is Aira Mitsuki’s debut album, and was released on the 3rd of September, 2008.
The album opens with one of the best new tracks on this album, GALAXY BOY, which was the main promotional track for the album. It opens with Aira singing, with some shining synth behind her, before the main arrangement comes in. This song has what I consider the most bland verses on the album, but the bridge actually gives the song some sense of having an arrangement, when the now double-length chorus comes in and makes the song about ten times more interesting. It’s also the part of the song that’ll keep you coming back, as it’s definitely catchy. A side note, both covers for this album are based on the GALAXY BOY video, sans 2D Aira. (Watch it, you’ll see.)
We now come to the second single for the album, China Discotica. The synth arrangement for this song sounds pretty random at times, but that actually helps the song. The most annoying part of this song is definitely the repeating “Ey” sound that opens the song, but the rest of it is definitely addicting. It doesn’t really make you think of China, and I have no idea what the hell a Discotica is, but that doesn’t matter. It’s sorta sad that the Chinese had to burn her by not playing this at the Olympics though, despite being a respect song for them.
Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 was definitely a great debut for Aira, as it shows how catchy, yet simple, her songs can be. It finds a happy medium between GALAXY BOY and China Discotica, as the whole arrangement is interesting, without any of the verse breaks GALAXY BOY had, while keeping it simpler than China Discotica. The synth never really changes much, save for a few additions in the chorus that help the song come out a bit better. This song definitely has the largest Perfume influence compared to any other song, as if you’re an avid Perfume fan, you’ll be able to pick up on a few similarities between this song and a few select others from them.
Darling Wondering Staring was probably the weakest of the A-sides this era. While I love the heavenly synth arrangement at times, the verses sound a bit too choppy, and Aira’s voice is distorted in a way that doesn’t seem to help. The whispering before the chorus is a bad move as well, as the song doesn’t flow as well after that, and the chorus itself tends to have too many words crammed into it, so it comes out as too fast. It’s not horrible, but it has some obvious flaws.
Now comes the second new song on this album, HEART LINE ALIVE. It opens with an upbeat, jumping synth line, that rises into the actual song. The song isn’t as happy as the opening makes you think it is, though, as there’s a sort of darker tone to the way the tone of the song comes off when it reaches the chorus. It’s another great synth arrangement, and Aira’s distortions fit well here, but while the song’s good, something about the random Aira sounds they put throughout it annoy me to no end. The slow down at about 4 minutes with the pan pipe sounds was a nice touch though.
Next up, in an extremely odd move by the arranger of the tracklisting, we have China Discotica’s Substance Remix. It’s not a bonus track, it’s just there, and most likely because it appeared on the Beautiful Techno compilation album. The song has a much more stable synth line, and while it loses the random charm of the original, it’s a good song on its own. The high volume, continuous synth line in the bridge and opening can be a bit grating, as it tends to be a bit louder than everything else found in the song. Also, it cuts the chorus from the song completely, with only the “Plastic Fantastic” line remaining. I’ll take the original over this, personally.
Fantasy Candy is the next new offering on COPY. It’s another instant start song, blasting straight into Aira’s singing and a synth line that sounds strikingly familiar to China Discotica, until it finishes the chorus. This is one of the fastest songs on the album this far, with a steady thumping beat and random chiming electronic synth lines in the background that help give the song a bit more life. The song takes an instant notch down when the vocals stop for the second time, which is fairly early in the song, which is more of a reasonable idea for how the verses are going to sound in comparison to the chorus. The song has a great bridge too, and I’m always a fan of when vocals start high and end low. It may be due to my odd attraction for fast techno pop, but this song is definitely the best up to this point in the album.
This is where the tracklist starts to get confusing. You folks with the regular edition of COPY are treated to the original version of High Bash. Aira’s vocals are low at the beginning, and distorted to pretty much the same degree as every other song. The song has a thumping synth line once more, that takes an extremely choppy sound before the first verse. It’s probably what Fantasy Candy would sound like if it was a bit slower. As such, in its current position, it comes off as a bit boring. The chorus is probably the blandest I’ve heard from Aira, and the rest of the song isn’t much better, to be honest.
The High Bash YAKENOHARA version has the same vocal line as the last song, with a much more active synth arrangement to accompany it. The synth has a much louder sound to it, and has a bit more bass compared to the original version. Otherwise, it’s pretty similar to the original, in that it doesn’t change much and has dull vocals. It’s an improvement, but I’m still not overly interested.
This next track is confusing, too. The version we have here is called Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E (Cherryboy Function ver.), but where’s our original? Anyway, it opens with a synth line resembling a tambourine (after some splat synths with Aira sighing over them), which lasts quite a while. This section of the song is certainly lively, but at a minute in and no vocals to speak of, I was getting nervous. They come in after that minute, and the song takes its usual one notch down method. The synth line is definitely interesting, and is the main reason you’ll be listening to the song, so hopefully you like it as much as I do. It’s a song that likes sticking to its forumla.
Beep Count Fantastic is definitely the most aggressive song on the limited edition of COPY. The beginning is a repeating synth sound that’ll pretty much deafen you, followed by a thumping bass line and rising synth sounds. It’ll then swap to the opening synth at a much more drawn out level, which is later joined by some synth that sounds closest to how a musical synth arrangement would act as a phone key dialing tone. There’re no lyrics until OVER a minute in this time, and they last for under half a minute, and by this point, I usually either get too bored to care about to continuing, or my sore ears won’t allow me to. It might be danceable for some people though, and would most likely sound great in a dance club.
Yellow Supercar is bound to get your blood pumping after the last song, and it lives up to the Supercar portion of its name: this song wins the award for fastest song on the album (as far as I can tell), and it sounds twice as fast as any other song. It might not be literally, but anyway, the song starts off slow and thumping, like many Aira songs do, followed by the song speeding up slightly (Fantasy Candy speed), then doubling itself afterwards. It’s full of quick rolling synth and beeps. Aira does a great job at keeping up with this ADD song, with the only real let down being that the chorus mainly consists of the words Yellow Supercar. I can live with that though, because this song is just great fun to listen to, with its upbeat atmosphere and high-speed sound. (Like I said, fast techno is in.)
Happiness Land is the final non-bonus song you’ll hear on this album. It slows it down considerably after Yellow Supercar, and adds a traditional flair to the song, albeit only a small one, with the Chinese-influenced beeps that play during the opening. There’s something that screams B-side about this song, which may be the somewhat bland chorus, yet it’s still an alright song to listen to once in a while.
While Happiness Island marks the end of the normal tracks, STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER, the second A-side from the Darling Wondering Staring/STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER single, opens the Regular edition bonus track section. I’m still not a real fan of this song, despite the acoustic guitars thrown in with the array of the usual synth. The song comes off as boring in comparison to some of what we get in the album, so it’s not surprising that it was placed here instead of somewhere above.
OH LORD, AIRA, I LOVE YOU! This is probably the least likely cover of a song you’d expect Aira to do: The Lenny Kravitz song Rock’n Roll Is Dead. This is what you call putting an electronic spin on old Western rock, as it opens with some metallic synth thuds followed by an electric guitar solo from the original song, followed by some ethereal synth, which is blown away by the electric guitar from the opening, with electronic distortions placed over it. Aira makes a noise or two in this part, but the vocals come in shortly after. I’m LOVING the arrangement in this song, and despite it having minimal vocals, they fit perfectly in this song, and it easily tops anything I’ve heard on this album. It’s an interesting mix of two seemingly unrelated genres, and yet it works perfectly. It does tend to repeat itself with the guitar, but not in a bad way. Sadly, this is the only new song found in the bonus track section on the Regular edition album. This is also the song that rivals Beep Count Fantastic in aggressiveness. (Thus the “On the limited edition” line in the BCF song review.)
ROMANTIC ROPE, the B-side from the China Discotica single, follows up Rock’n Roll Is Dead, and I groan at how boring it sounds in its position. It’s a calmer song, with a much softer sound, but it’s also the worse of the B-Sides that have appeared on Aira singles. (Candy Light Mode and this song.) There’s never much of a tone change, which is never a good thing, and while it’s one of the few songs from Aira to feature a lot of natural instrument sounds, it doesn’t pull it off as well as Candy Light Mode did, which makes you wonder why it was left off of the album.
To end the Regular edition album, we’re given the Darling Wondering Staring PLASTIC FANTASTIC remix. This is a remix that annoys the hell out of me, with the repeating Aira sounds, and the destruction of anything ethereal that could be heard in the original version, which was what made it as good as it was. It’s oddly catchy at the same time though, so I don’t really hate it. It’s just a general dislike thing, as they’ve basically removed the lyrics and made it an original song of its own.
Almost there now! All of you people who purchased this from HMV will get the bonus track L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl as well, and to be honest, this sounds like STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER’s twin. It’s another ethereal song, with airy, echoing vocals and a light synth arrangement. When it reaches the verse, it sounds a bit more like a dance song instead, due to the increased beat and quickly added new beats. The chorus follows the latter arrangement, before going back to square one and slowing down again. The break down near the end is pretty well done, with some interesting, high-pitched synth thrown in. It’s a very good track, but overall, it doesn’t add a large amount to the album itself.
And now, to end the most confusing album in our current times (for you Limited Edition album holders, anyway) is the YAKENOHARA MEGAMIX. This song is a medley of a few tracks from this album, including: China Discotica (Substance remix), China Discotica, Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9, Swallowtail D.A.N.C.E (Cherryboy Function ver.), Beep Count Fantastic, and ROMANTIC ROPE, in that order. I’m not too happy that they left some of the better songs out of this, but no matter how you look at it, it’s basically a repetition of some sections of the above songs with the “Ey” sound that opened China Discotica opening it, and a looping of the ending sound from ROMANTIC ROPE closing it. There are some sped up and skipping parts though, with the most annoying definitely being the end of Beep Count Fantastic, where it keeps rising and getting louder until it deafens you and swaps to ROMANTIC ROPE. I’m not a fan of mega mixes, and this is no exception.
Album Score
B
Favorite Tracks
GALAXY BOY, Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9, HEART LINE ALIVE, Yellow Supercar, Rock’n Roll Is Dead
While this album certainly has many ups and downs, overall it’s a solid debut album for a budding star in a genre that’s only now gaining true attention in the music industry. Many of the new tracks don’t come off as well as they could, but there are a few true gems found within that make this one of the most recommendable Techno-Pop albums of 2008.
Tracklisting
1. Darling Wondering Staring
2. STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER
3. Darling Wondering Staring (PLASTIC FANTASTIC Remix)
4. STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER (digital mp-3 mastering ver.)
5. Darling Wondering Staring (Instrumental)
Darling Wondering Staring / STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER is the third single by Aira Mitsuki, and is the final single in the COPY era. It was released on the 7th of May, 2008. It is also considered to be an independent release from her label, as it is a Tower Records exclusive release, instead of D-topia releasing it. It debuted at #1 on the Tower Records store chart, and sold out.
Darling Wondering Staring opens the single, and I’m already thinking it’s going to be her best yet. I absolutely LOVE the piano sounds and synth that open this song, as it gives the track a heavenly, happy feeling. But then I hear her distorted AND elongated note, and I cry out in pain. It’s not THAT bad, but when you digitize this kind of note to that extent, it just ruins it. It gets better later, but the song carries a choppy, messy kind of feeling, despite still keeping that wonderful sound that opened it. The verses tend to be the really messy parts, while the chorus carries the opening feeling the song had, with the overly digitized vocals that absolutely kill your ears at times. In certain parts, it also sounds like she’s stuffing too many sentences into one chorus, with how fast she has to sing them. This isn’t as good as Colorful Tokyo Sounds No.9 overall, but it’s definitely better than China Discotica. I’m glad to see it made it onto her album though, since it’s an independent single.
Apparently, STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER is a cover song. I’ve never heard the original, and I don’t even know who Cornelius (The original band/singer) is, but either way, this song has a similar opening in that it keeps that whole ethereal feel, while this one also sounds a bit more aggressive in comparison, with the acoustic guitars followed by the light backing vocals and sparkly synth. The verses are a lot cleaner this time around, and are a lot better to listen to. Aira goes for the short sentence approach this time around, which sounds a lot better than the large sentences in Darling Wonder Staring, but the chorus sort of falls flat with the fact that it’s basically just the title of the song repeated over and over again. It’s a long chorus, too, considering the lyrical content. 30 seconds may not seem like that much, but it seems like forever with this song. I prefer the overall arrangement in this one compared to the first A-Side, but I can’t really decide which is better generally.
I never know what to think of the Darling Wondering Staring (PLASTIC FANTASTIC remix) track. The majority of the song seems to be the original’s lyrical content chopped up and played in segments over a butchered synth line that absolutely ruins the heavenly feeling of the original. However, it is still oddly catchy, so it’s not a bad thing overall. It’s barely a remix though, as it more often than not sounds like a brand new song due to the lack of lyrics and totally new arrangement. I’m not a huge fan, but it’s one of her better remixes.
Overall Grade
A-
Favorite Track
Darling Wondering Staring, STAR FRUITS SURF RIDER
More often than not, this single leaves me hopelessly and utterly confused. I never know which track sounds better, and my opinion seems to change somewhat depending on when I listen to it. It doesn’t top Colorful Tokyo Sounds No.9 overall, but I prefer it to China Discotica. All of her A-Sides are good, but this single just leaves me bewildered about whether to love it or simply like it.
China Discotica is the second single from new Electro-pop artist, Aira Mitsuki, and is actually her first major single. It was recorded in both Beijing and Japan, and is considered to be an “offering of respect” to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It was released on the 5th of March, 2008. Sales information is unavailable.
Tracklisting
1. China Discotica
2. ROMANTIC ROPE
3. China Discotica (Substance Remix)
4. China Discotica (Digital MP3 Mastering Ver.)
5. China Discotica (Instrumental)
China Discotica has a much lighter, almost Dance feel to its music, and is considerably lighter when compared to Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9, her previous single. Aira’s voice sounds quite different in this song, too. Her voice is still under filters, but this time they make her voice sound much deeper, so it could be hard to tell it was even Aira singing if you didn’t have prior knowledge. They could try getting filters that don’t make her lisp so noticeable, too. Otherwise, I don’t get the whole “Plastic Fantastic” line that opens the song/chorus, and the title sounds a bit strange to me, including when she actually sings it. It’s a good song, definitely catchier than her debut, but overall it’s about even.
ROMANTIC ROPE isn’t as good. The song has an overall subdued sound to it, and the verses can be somewhat dull with how quiet they are after the lively China Discotica. The choruses don’t change the form of the song much, apart from tweaking the beat a bit. Her vocals are great in the song, though, but the lisp is still noticeable, even when she sings in Japanese, which hasn’t been present yet. It’s amazing that she won with the lisp. Not to offend anyone, but usually they don’t go for singers that have that problem.
The China Discotica Substance Remix tries to give the song a club vibe, which overall, doesn’t suit this song at all. The arrangement is extremely grating overall, and it overpowers Aira’s vocals constantly throughout the song. There are times when the arrangement can be at least somewhat bearable volume-wise, but it’s annoying how they insist on dragging the song on by basically cutting the first chorus entirely, and having the rest focus on the “Plastic Fantastic” line. Overall, it’s a skip-worthy track, which isn’t surprising, as remixes are barely ever any good.
Overall Grade
B-
Favorite Song
China Discotica
While I enjoyed the A-Side to this single, overall, it was a step back from her debut. I didn’t expect the remix to be any good, but I must admit, Candy Light Mode, the B-Side from the Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 single, got my hopes up for the B-Side on this single, which ended up coming off as a bit boring. Not horrible overall, but they can do better. They might want to work on her lisp, too. At least changing the synth so it’s not as noticeable.
Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 is the debut single from 2007’s MEGA TRANCE Singer Audition’s winner, Aira Mitsuki. The title track was used as the the official song for the “Transformer Cafe”, based on the popular anime series. It was released on the 8th of August, 2007. Sales information is unavailable.
Tracklisting
1. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 (Original MIX)
2. Candy Light Mode
3. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 (LAVA’s Electrip Remix)
4. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 (Disco-Punk Remix)
5. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 (MP-3 Senyou Digital Mastering Ver.)
6. Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 (Instrumental)
Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 opens simply with a rushing synth sound, with Aira’s vocals coming in. Already you can detect a flaw in her vocals: When you hear her pronounce the word “sounds” throughout the song, you’ll easily notice her lisp. I have no idea if it’s because of the synth or not, but it can be annoying. You can pick it up at other sections of the song, but apart from this flaw, the song follows the usual synth arrangement, and you can already hear how reminiscent of Perfume this single is. It’s definitely a catchy song, and apart from the lisp, it’s nice to hear a different voice in this kind of music, as hers is easy to differentiate from the techno-pop artists that sometimes seem to all sound the same, synth or not. Her voice is also still easy to differentiate from the synth in the verses, which is another plus.
Now comes the song that REALLY made me fall in love with Aira. I’m not sure why I love Candy Light Mode as much as I do, but it’s undeniably catchy; possibly moreso than anything we’ve heard from Perfume lately. Aira’s voice opens the song instantly, and you can already hear a difference: There’s a guitar. Probably. I mean, it still sounds like a synth guitar noise, and the synth arrangement is still heavy, but the guitar (possibly?) is pretty much the main focus of the beat. Note that the possibly statements are because some note sound too high to be a guitar, so I can’t be certain. Anyway, Aira’s voice seems a bit better here, as you can’t really hear the lisp that was present in the title track. The Marie Antoinette line in the chorus really confuses me, as I don’t have a translation, but overall it’s a fun, upbeat, fast paced song. A-side material, in my eyes.
Now comes a remix-fest. Whoopee. Anyway, the Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 LAVA’s Electrip Remix has a much more house feel to it than the original. It has a much mellower sound, and starts much slower than the original version did. Aira’s digitized vocals don’t seem to fit very well at times, but her voice is a lot more distinguishable this time around. I’m really starting to think the lisp is her fault, not the synth, but it’s not very distinguishable in the rest of the S words, so it’s forgivable. I actually like the accompaniment, and the digitized backing vocals in the chorus don’t fit, but it all works well otherwise. A totally digitized vocal track would’ve killed this song.
Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9’s Disco Punk Remix starts off horrible. It constantly repeats the nine sound from Aira’s reciting of the title, before coming into a much more aggressive techno sound. The heavier nature of the song can be a bit annoying, but maybe that’s because I’m not a fan of the more aggressive techno styles. It lacks any real lyrics AT ALL, which is a huge disappointment. I’m not a fan, but heavy techno fans that don’t mind lyricless (Apart from the repetitions of the title) songs will get at least something out of them.
Overall Grade
B+
The two original tracks are a great listen for any fans of electro-pop, and the two distinctive styles between the songs will keep you from getting bored throughout them any time soon. The LAVA Electrip Remix is also one of the few enjoyable remixes from a single that I’ve heard, but only real techno fans will get anything out of the Disco Punk Remix. It’s a great debut from Aira, but hopefully she doesn’t stick to this one style like other techno-pop artists have. If she doesn’t, we should have a great artist on our hands.
Yes… That’s right. Again, I’ve been influenced to feature a new artist. Again, it’s been by Megumi.
So..
I will now be featuring Aira Mitsuki, a new 18-year-old techno-pop artist, being produced by Oonishi Terukado. I have no idea who that is, but he isn’t Nakata, so it’s a nice change. She was discovered through the 2007 MEGA TRANCE Singer Auditions, and was chosen as the winner out of 6,325 applicants. She has yet to release an album, but I’ll be reviewing her debut single, Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 very soon.
EDIT: Turns out Aira’s supposedly influenced by Perfume’s music. Damnit… Oh, well.
This is also a DOUBLE feature. I’ve received a few requests about this next artist, one of them requesting a specific, so here she is:
I’m pretty sure the majority of you know melody. I’ve pretty much been a fan of her ever since I heard READY TO GO! (the album, not the song), and I have yet to actually sit through Lei Aloha, so I’ll take this as a good opportunity to do so. However, I’ll be starting with the requested era, which was the READY TO GO! era, namely its first single Lovin’ U, and I’ll most likely follow that with her Lei Aloha era.
I know I have a lot of work to do already, but I can’t resist a good artist when I hear one. At least you’ll get a lot of varied people~
So, later on, expect a review of Perfume’s GAME album, and most likely one of these two reviews~
(Here is is, Ethan, you’d better be happy. >>
Happy early birthday, too~)
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