Brave vibration [Anna Tsuchiya - PV Review]

NUDY SHOW! itself was a pretty good album. It got me interested in Anna, but I wasn’t exactly converted into a raving fan or anything. That and there were too many singles for me to really put her on here and force myself to make an opinion of her. So, I decided to leave her until her new era began. And now, we have the first sign of what’s to come: Brave vibration.

Honestly, I am VERY glad I left it until now. Already, I think I prefer this song to the majority of her NUDY SHOW! material. It’s not glaringly upbeat, but it’s not a dark rock song: It finds a nice little space between both sounds and gives you a middle-road, nigh-on mid-tempo rock track that doesn’t really match what the covers seemed to intend it to. That’s probably a good thing, because island rock would NOT be a good thing.

What’s good about this song is that it mixes darker-sounding verses with the optimistically upbeat chorus, which is always a good thing: Too much of one single sound can be rather glaring at times, so it’s nice when a song tries to play it up a bit, which is what they did here. Anna, vocally, sounds as you’d expect her to, but her voice suits the music well: Especially in the verses, when things are a bit grungier, but that doesn’t mean she works any worse in the chorus. You’re not really going to be surprised by the song overall, but it was a nice little creation.

However, it can seem a bit generic at times. I can’t pinpoint why, but it’s not really as mindblowingly epic as a song like Sailing Free, although it isn’t as bad as Rain, either. (Sorry for the glaring OLIVIA comparisons, but it’s true.) It’s not a mind blowingly orgasmic song, but it has something that I think her recent songs have been missing, so it’s nice to hear a song like this.

The PV isn’t much to write home about, though. It’s mainly shots of Anna singing on a rooftop with her band, and straddling various walls throughout the verses while she dons her island garb and wiggles around on the beach for the brighter choruses. I will say, I never thought Anna could be this good looking. I’m sure we all know how bad she can get, but for the majority of the PV, I’m pleasantly surprised by how she looks. Although that’s just about it for the PV. It’s a nice little piece of eye candy for anyone who gets hard over Anna, but again, it’s not mindblowing or epic or anything.

Song Score
A-

PV Score
B

Overall Score
B+

While it isn’t an overly epic song or video, it was a nice little package to start off the era with. The song is highly infections and a nice little change of pace, despite being a bit like previous efforts from Anna, and the PV had its charms, while still being, for the most part, mindblowingly unnecessary. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next, and hoping it turns out even better than this. (After the actual single releases, of course: Unless the b-side ends up being surprisingly high-quality, which would be great too.)

trax [ravex - Debut Album]

Tracklisting
1) I RAVE U (Original)
2) ROCK U feat. Namie Amuro
3) Just The Two Of Us feat. Tohoshinki
4) HOUSE NATION feat. LISA
5) Bangalicious feat. Anna Tsuchiya
6) Believe in LOVE feat. BoA
7) NEWエキセントリックガール feat. CHISA (NEW ECCENTRIC GIRL)
8) Golden LUV feat. Maki Goto
9) V.I.P.P. (Very Important Party People) feat. TRF & VERBAL (m-flo)
10) 1 more night feat. MONKEY MAJIK
11) 悪い子みつけた。 feat. Yuko Ando (Warui ko Mitsuketa)
12) I RAVE U feat. DJ OZMA

trax is the debut album from ravex, the 20th anniversary group formed along with GIRL NEXT DOOR to celebrate the special occasion. Every track features a different popular artist, with their songs receiving a dance/trance twist on top of their usual styles. It was released on the 29th of April, 2009.

Ugh. No. NO. No. I RAVE U is just as annoying as it was back on their first single. It’s basically just a full-on dance song, possibly even bordering on trance. I consider it a full-length interlude since it features no vocals whatsoever. POINTLESS, MOVING RIGHT ALONG.

Oh my god, and already we’re getting one of the best tracks on the album. ROCK U is a particularly hot collaboration with one Namie Amuro, and it’s rather close to her latest material, with an emphasis on WILD, except a bit more upbeat. It’s full of aggressive, gritty synths and alarms creating havock until we get to the surprisingly QUIET chorus, which consists of a simple beat repeating on itself with Namie, of course, singing along. I like how when she ends the chorus with the oh so creatively placed (not) scream of “ROCK YOU” with a much more uncontrolled, natural scream of “ROCK” being placed on top of her normal singing of the title. Adds just a bit more of a fiercely gritty rock style to the song. Unfortunately, most of the song has this one single irritatingly ANNOYING alarm beeping at you on top of the rest of the music, and is the ONLY reason I can’t loop this otherwise masterpiece of a song. A shame, really. Much better than any of her already brilliant material.

Oddly enough, the boys from Tohoshinki are in on this, with their track being titled Just The Two Of Us. This one starts off in a bad manner, with the looping of the word “Tonight” dominating the semi-calm synth arrangement of the song. And it’s still going… It’s not until about 1:20 in that the song gets some vocals and takes a normal turn. There’s some noticable vocodering in this track, which was a bit odd to hear on voices such as these. Okay, soon after, we’re back into the looping. I think this song is a bit too eclectic in how it swaps between calm and slightly more upbeat. The vocodering is just sloppy, too.

Now we come to the b-side from I RAVE U, HOUSE NATION, featuring ex-m-flo vocalist LISA. I don’t like how it starts with that skipping and looping either, but looking past the awfully cheesy lyrics, I can handle this song. I like it, actually. The chorus itself is nice, overall, and sounds a lot more plausible away from I RAVE U. It’s not great, but I’ll take it.

HOLD UP. RING THE ALARM, THIS ALBUM JUST REACHED CRITICAL MASS. Bangalicious, the collaboration with Anna Tsuchiya, has to be the stand-out track on this album. Sexual innuendo aside, this song takes a very similar approach to ROCK U with its sound, and Anna’s singing in complete English here, which was a nice touch as she speaks it fluently. The lyrics are a bit nonsensical, but the synths work on being catchy and aggressive without deafening you like in ROCK U. The chorus is big on repetition here, but it’s all natural, so it doesn’t have that god awful clipping in it. It’s a very simple fare of the line “I don’t care, say what you want” with a few words being repeated here and there, but it works. The verses are DEFINITELY the highlight here, but I can’t help but love every second of this song. GET IT FOR THIS. Should’ve been a single. Love for Anna x 10.

And now we take it down a notch for… What, the first time on the album? Believe in LOVE, BoA’s collaboration track, sounds a bit better here, calming things down a bit instead of standing on its own as an ethereal track against a pop track. BoA’s voice leaves quite a bit to be desired, however, which is a bit unfortunate. I don’t really like how the synthed verses align with the “orchestral” chorus, but this section of the song is actually beautiful. I can see it in a new light here, but it’s still not an OMGWOWFIERCELYFANTASTIC song. That high note is quite impressive though.

Here’s something I was a bit worried about. NEW ECCENTRIC GIRL was a rather scary thought, as it features CHISA, the vocalist from GIRL NEXT DOOR. Thankfully, the opening synths are simple, yet catchy, and nothing like their done-to-death eurodance style in GND. Her voice leads MUCH to be desired, but for all intents and purposes, this is just a fun dance track, so who cares about vocal strength. That weird high-low synth section with a highly vocodered CHISA was actually REALLY catchy though. When they added more beats in and CHISA starts singing about some eccentric chick, it can sound just a BIT too chaotic, but at least it drops down again. I think I can hear a few reused synths in here… But it’s catchy nonetheless. Another highlight!

Well, I guess this album loves b-sides. Golden LUV featuring Maki Goto found its way onto trax as well, and again, it sounds a bit better here against the contrast of BoA’s track. It stands out, and helps differentiate the album tracks a bit. I like how it’s a dance song with an aim instead of more mindless dance tracks, and it actually has a cohesive sound instead of random synths thrown together.

Ah, TRF. I love you for EZ DO DANCE, but how well do we hold up alongside VERBAL from m-flo in V.I.P.P.? It has this disjointed synthed-up sound that sort of has a 90s sound thrown in with it. Those vocals singing over it are SO familiarly cheesy, especially with what they’re singing, but the whole backing vocal and rapping thing we have going on with the lively synth is actually REALLY engaging and interesting. It’s really repetitious, and there isn’t a smidge of presence for whatserface, the female singer from TRF. I can let it slide, because this is an AWESOME song. Not as good as Bangalicious, though. Verbal’s doing all the work, too, where are TRF in this anyway?

OMG, the awesome just keeps coming. 1 more night, the collaboration with MONKEY MAJIK, and the a-side for a digital single before release, is even simpler than the simpler songs, with the verses only consisting of one simple synth loop with the two (Canadian) vocalists singing. As such, it’s in complete English and their vocals sound oddly out of place. That’s part of the charm of the song, and when it gets into the chorus, it sounds even better. It’s not explosive, it’s not completely upbeat, it’s just a simple semi-ballad of sorts. Again, some of these synths start sounding a bit… Similar at this stage in the album, but on its own, it’s an outstanding track.

Warui ko Mitsuketa, however, is a different story. It’s kind of… Like… Reggae?! Mixed with electro-pop, really. Yuko Ando has a really… Strange voice. It’s hard to get used to, but that kind of faux-strain thing she does with her voice at the end of certain notes is interesting to listen to. It’s actually kind of… Boring… For the final track of a dance album.

OH, GOD, TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!!! I completely forgot I RAVE U was coming to close the album after all of this awesome, and DJ OZMA’s inclusion was just as bad. Really, after listening to the whole album… I can KIND of appreciate the song. OZMA himself sounds pretty good here, so I can’t complain. He’s not exactly a talented vocalist, but he works well with trance synths. It’s a LITTLE bit better, but still horrible.

Album Score
A-

Favorite Tracks
1) Bangalicious feat. Anna Tsuchiya
2) NEW ECCENTRIC GIRL feat. CHISA
3) V.I.P.P. feat. TRF and VERBAL
4) Golden LUV feat. Maki Goto
5) ROCK U feat. Namie Amuro

Well, ravex are just full of surprises, aren’t they? trax was full of engaging and interesting songs, and while they did overuse certain synths, the majority of the album was a really great listen. Fun, too. Techno seems to be missing fun, lately, taking cute instead. Hearing such a large number of popular artists get this techno treatment was part of the fun, though, and I’m hoping ravex comes back for me! Quick note though, guys: Ami Suzuki is part of avex. Why isn’t SHE on here?

Features again~

So, I have a few more features I’d like to add today~ I’ll be adding two now, but there IS a third one that I’d prefer to announce through a PV review. You’ll see why tomorrow, when I write it, so keep your eyes peeled for that~ Anyway, for now…

So, I haven’t been an OLIVIA fan for long. Mainly since her Trinka Trinka mini-album came out, and I thought that was fantastic, in its own way.

However, after finally listening to Sailing free today, I HAD to feature her. Besides, the cover (pictured left) is just orgasmically beautiful (Apart from her face, which is kind of iffy, but kind of fits too). Almost as fantastic as the song itself. So, I’ll be doing a PV review of that later on (not tomorrow, that’s when the new feature’s coming up~), and I’ll be starting with either Sailing free or Trinka Trinka, I’m not exactly sure which… I’ll see what happens, so keep an eye open for her anyway.

Okay, so, Anna Tsuchiya is a bit overdue. I was GOING to feature her when NUDY SHOW! first came out. However, the number of singles turned me off. That’s one of my problems with what Nakashima has going on at the moment… Or did, with her last era.

Anyway, I only got to featuring her because hearing the preview for Bangalicious, which is going to appear on ravex’s album, reminded me that she was starting a new era soon. Maybe. Well, there was a possibility. And such, I decided to take the opportunity while it was still available so I wasn’t drowning in a half-finished era full of a huge amount of singles.

So, yes, I’ll be reviewing whatever she releases next. I’m not sure what it’ll be or when it comes out, but it’ll be here.

Okay, so I’m not a huge fan of I RAVE YOU, Believe in LOVE or Golden Luv (That’s all I’ve heard so far), but as I said… Well, come on, Bangalicious sounds too hot for words.

So, I’ll force my way through their singles, and eventually, I will review their debut album. Whether it’s called TRAX or avex TRAX, I couldn’t tell you, but it’ll be reviewed. Eventually.

Also, this group contains a bit of a hint to a semi-secret feature I’m planning on doing. It’s nothing huge or anything, I’d just rather feature them through another method. For the shock value, entirely.

As such, expect a PV review… Very soon. The artist/unit in that PV will be the last feature.

Also, a few changes…

• I will not be reviewing any of Mika Nakashima’s VOICE era. Well, no more of it. TAFE is riding me hard enough, so I have to spend most of my online time on assessments, and… Well, the singles. THERE’S TOO MANY!
• I will not be reviewing Fly Away or Lady-Rise by Maki Goto. Yet. There’s something flying around about those being b-sides on her next single, so consider those held off. If they aren’t on that single, fine, I’ll review them. If they are, I’ll be starting there.
• Emi Hinouchi and her time on this blog is being considered. I know, I said I wouldn’t do it anymore, but I’m a very predictable person. She may be another “wait until her next release” case.
• Sowelu, Soni and possibly Urata Naoya are facing a similar fate. With the time I have to actually get a review out, I can’t see them happening soon. Soni’s being considered for removal completely, but Sowelu will probably be started/continued after her latest best of album, depending on how her next single turns out. Urata, I’m not so sure about. We’ll see.
• Part 2 of the Digital Devil Saga OST review will be postponed a bit. The two week Easter break’s coming up soon, so, maybe I’ll have time for it in the middle of assessments.

Any other artists and reviews are business as usual for the blog. There you have it~