Lick me ♥ [Koda Kumi - PV Review]

After a great (Well, as far as I’m concerned) album and a passable single, you’d have to hope for a great single to improve the outlook a bit, wouldn’t you? Well, with titles like Lick Me, Ecstacy and Hashire!, you’d expect there to be a little bit of that inappropriate sexiness we all know and love, wouldn’t you? ESPECIALLY from the first one, if not the first two. Evidently, that isn’t what we got at all.

If you look at Lick me ♥ as a normal Kuu pop song and don’t even LOOK at the title, then it’s actually a really catchy song. I’m a fan of Kuu’s poppier, upbeat songs, and this is no exception, if you ignore absolutely everything about it (title and single-wise). That ad-libbing you hear over the heavier instrumental after the chorus isn’t exactly pleasing to the ear, and it’s the same for those sounds she INSISTS on making near the end of the video. But the instrumental is really catchy, and her vocals for the rest of the song are at least as good as the rest of her recent songs.

If you take the title into account, it’s more of a let down. Kuu’s always at her finest when she’s shoving bottles up her many orifices and kneeling on toilets in the shortest and tightest dress you could possibly imagine, and if she’s climbing up the leg of another woman, you can just consider that a bonus. Giving a song like THIS the title of Lick Me is just teasing. It had potential, and yet they left it as a campy pop song. For all I know, the lyrics could be dirty as all hell, but with an outer shell like this, that isn’t really much of a saving grace, especially when you don’t exactly understand what she’s singing.

The video isn’t exactly flattering, either. It has this whole retro feel to it, and it has a few different alter egos for Kuu in it, depicting different kinds of girls: Strawberry Girl, whose sections of the PV take place in a bowling alley; Mango Girl, who’s in a schoolbus full of people less than half her age; Bitter Choco Girl, who’s the only one that even comes CLOSE to being sexy in any sense, while all she’s doing is playing around on a single-seat couch in front of some green wall; and VANILLA AFTER ALL !1!!!1!!1!11!1! girl, who takes up the majority of the PV dancing around like a suggestive fool in an ice cream parlor. There’s nothing remotely attractive about any of these cutesy wigs or outfits she’s wearing; With the exception of Bitter Choco Girl, who I find to be passable, albeit POORLY represented, since she’s barely in the PV as it is.

I take it that the whole point of this is to show the different kinds of girls, their different personalities and the kind of ice cream that they seem to be related to. (OH, HOW SMART, A PV FOR A SONG CALLED LICK ME ABOUT ICE CREAM! I’m insulted.) Honestly, I see nothing different about any of these girls except that one likes bowling, one likes acting like a fool on a couch, one’s an idiot dreamer and another is a lesbian pedophile. It seems kind of pointless, but at the same time, it IS kind of cute. The costumes ruin it, but it does have its charm here or there. I don’t absolutely LOVE it, but once I get past my bitterness over all of this cheated teasing, I can stand it. It fits the song, at least.

One more thing to add about both the PV and the song: They seem SICKENINGLY short. The song was made in a manner that makes those three minutes and thirty seven second fly by, and I can’t really tell whether that’s a bad thing or not.

Song Score
B-

PV Score
C-

Overall Score
C

I’m disappointed that this turned out so horribly lame compared to the potential it carried, but at least the song is bearable. I can already tell I’ll never be touching the PV with a three foot shit stick again, but the overall package could have been a LOT worse. I’m hoping Ecstacy and Hashire! meet my expectations, though, because the single still has a shot with these two a-sides.

It’s all Love! [Koda Kumi x misono - 43rd Kumi Single]

Tracklisting
1) It’s all Love!
2) Faraway
3) Tenbin ~Tsuyogari na Watashi x Yowagari na Kimi~ (天秤~強がりな私×弱がりな君~ lit. Balance ~A Strong Me x A Weak You~
4) It’s all Love! (Instrumental)
5) Faraway
6) Tenbin ~Tsuyogari na Watashi x Yowagari na Kimi~ (Instrumental)

It’s all Love! is Koda Kumi’s 43rd overall single, and misono’s 13th single. It is also the first collaboration between the sisters. It reached #1 on the Oricon weekly charts, and was released on the 31st of March, 2009, after being pushed up from the 4th of March.

WHY does everyone hate this song?! It’s all Love! and its chaotic style make sense for one reason: It’s the two sisters, having fun. It’s basically a mix of their styles: It predominantly uses misono’s often-heavy rock style, and has elements of Kumi’s vocals with the sexy breathing and dance sections to tie it into both artists, as well as the sound effects used throughout. It IS a chaotic song, but the two sisters sound great together despite their sometimes questionable voices. They aren’t the best singers, even here, but they’ve made this work. Plus, the back-and-forth chorus was a cute touch. I commend them for finally collaborating and bringing us something so entertaining, it’s just a shame a lot of bloggers and certain people don’t seem to like it.

However, Faraway, Koda’s solo song, is a typical Kuu ballad. It’s generic, and uses the same forumla and sound as all of her other ballads. I can REALLY tell that she isn’t a great vocalist with this song, and it’s actually rather painful to listen to at times. I’m not even interested enough to finish the song, I mean, it’s all the same. Go listen to one of her older ballads, you’ll find nothing new here.

And misono’s song isn’t much better. Tenbin (No way in hell am I typing that whole name out again) is pretty much an acoustic ballad at first, and misono’s voice sounds horrible. Those extended notes and higher notes are horrible to listen to. There is pretty much NOTHING apart from the acoustic guitar in the song, which would have been good if she wasn’t shouting the lyrics. Again, I’ll pass. This is even WORSE than Faraway.

Single Score
C+

Favorite Track
It’s all Love!

I still love It’s all Love! It’s fun, it’s loud and it’s just a big laugh all the way through. The b-sides are what destroyed this single. Two b-side ballads, both done in the related sisters predictable, done to death and boring style. The b-sides needed to be fun, upbeat songs in the styles represented in It’s all Love!, not generic ballads that bring nothing interesting or even bearable to the single. At least it wasn’t a total flop, and it gave misono a chance to have a #1 release on the Oricon charts, but it was all riding on her sisters popularity. Frankly, I can see why now.

It’s all love! [Koda Kumi x misono - PV Review]

(Sorry, the video was taken down, I’ll put a new one up when there’s actually one that stays on YouTube. Sorry!)

I’m pretty sure It’s all love! came as a surprise to quite a few people. A few people I know, including myself, have constantly been saying amongst ourselves: “What would it be like if Kuu and misono collaborated?” Or expressing wishes for that to happen and such. Well, now it has, and I must say, I’m rather surprised at how it turned out.

Really, the song is a mix between the different musical styles of the two Koda sisters. The most obvious example of this is the aggressive, rock-influenced arrangement the song features, which is pretty much the staple of misono’s career. The evidence of Kuu’s style, apart from her voice, comes in the synths in the chorus, as well as scattered at times throughout the verses, in an attempt to pretty much make the two clashing sisters fit into one song without sounding like a hot mess.

That hasn’t stopped people from labelling it as such, though. There have been many criticisms saying the song is a messy attempt at a collaboration, due to the large number of sounds that you’ll be hearing at almost literally the same time non-stop throughout the song. Honestly, I have to agree… Sort of.

I will start by saying, I like their vocals. I think both sisters work well together, and misono’s higher register works well with Kuu’s deeper, sexier voice. I thought the short back-and-forth between them that made the opening was really well implemented, and the vocodering was a nice choice. I will say that it’s good that it wasn’t in the whole song, though. Also, that “Y’all ready?” that Kuu uses to open the song amuses me to no end. I love how she says it, for some reason. In all honesty, the verses are extremely quiet for what the song CAN offer, involving only the drums and guitar. I like how this works out, and the constant flashbacks to Kuu’s music in the heavily misono-influenced sound work well, especially those high-pitched backing vocals that come up in almost every Kuu song.

The chorus is where it gets “messy”. It’s yet another back-and-forth between Kuu and misono, so it CAN sound a bit choppy at times because of this. They sound like they’re cramming too many syllables into too small an amount of space, as they try to use as small an amount of time as possible in each of their turns. I think the back-and-forth was a great idea for the song, and it was even better that the verses use a more stretched-out version of it. Both girls get ample singing time, and you could easily say this song is pretty much a 50/50 in effort for both sisters.

One thing I don’t like: That synth solo near the end of the song. It’s a huge flashback to Kuu’s music, but I don’t like it here at all, all it does it break the flow. The quieter version of the chorus after that was a great lead-in to the normal sound, though. I love this song so much, and only partially because it has two artists I actually listen to in it.

Now, onto the PV. This is where I really get mixed reactions. Kuu looks great, as usual, apart from those horrid skin-tight shiny white pants. misono looks VERY different. She’s glammed out in Kuu style with short shorts, a black jacket and those ridiculous platform high heels you occasionally see Kuu wearing. Also, her hair suddenly got longer. And blonder. I think she looks pretty, but it’s not something I’d like to see her continue.

The beginning is mainly just the two sisters walking around a room and playing with these random scanner things while singing to the camera. I like the futuristic feeling these parts have, and Kuu’s face can be extremely amusing at times, but that random colored part that just SUDDENLY pops up near the first chorus is rather strange. When these parts come in at full-blast and we actually see longer segments of the PV in this room, it gets a bit cuter. I don’t like misono at all, with her yellow dress and “Retro” hair, but Kuu’s looking pretty sexy here, I must say. The exaggerated nature is a bit of a turn-off, but you’ve gotta love a short dress on a hot Asian woman, am I right?

Side note: That little section before the second chorus with Kuu waving to misono (who appears on the big screen) is beyond amusing. I’ll just sum these parts up by saying: This PV is full of many little exaggerated cute moments, and that’s why I love it so much.

However, the dance scenes are  a big no. misono should NOT try to dance like Kuu, she cannot pull it off, and it doesn’t fit her style at all. That horrible blonde extension hairdo was rather embarrassing, and so were BOTH of their outfits. A regrettable blemish on an otherwise amusing PV.

Song Score
A

PV Score
B+

Thankfully, the main attraction of the Kumi x misono collaboration was what I would classify as a roaring success. Both sisters gave a great performance, and the mix of their two styles was pulled off extremely well, apart from a few messy sections here and there. The PV was beyond amusic, too, and enjoyable at the same time… But those dance scenes should not have taken place. Take them out and put more wacky sister-to-sister interactions and we’ve got a winner.

TRICK [Koda Kumi - 7th Studio Album]

Tracklisting
1) INTRODUCTION FOR TRICK
2) TABOO
3) show girl
4) Your Love
5) stay with me
6) This is not a love song
7) Driving
8) Bling Bling Bling (feat. AK-69)
9) That Ain’t Cool (feat. Fergie)
10) Hurry Up!
11) Moon Crying
12) JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
13) Joyful
14) Ai No Kotoba ( 愛のことば; lit. Words of Love)
15) Venus (English Version) (CD+2DVD Limited Edition Bonus Track)

TRICK is Koda Kumi’s 7th overall studio album, released after the three singles MOON, TABOO and stay with me. It was released in both the CD and CD+DVD2 format. It debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts, and was released on the 28th of January, 2009.

The album opens slowly and surprisingly aggressively with INTRODUCTION FOR TRICK. It opens with the sounds of a crowd cheering or screaming, before an announcer introduces Kuu and she being singing against a loud, aggressive R&B synth line. It’s an in-your-face style track, and it serves its position as album opener well. It’s catchy enough to be a full track, and I’m actually pissed off that it isn’t.

TABOO hasn’t changed. It’s still the same in your face song about sex and homosexuality, and it’s still as hot as it was when I reviewed the single. In fact, it sounds even better after a track like INTRODUCTION TO TRICK, so if anything, I like it even MORE than I did then. This song was a stroke of genius.

We aren’t at a new song yet, but we’re close enough, since show girl was only a promo track. It opens with a brass-ish, big band styled instrumental for about two seconds before skipping a few times and leading into Kuu saying “Break it down now” and “Check it out”. It has a sort of urban feel to it, with some strange, echoey back-up vocals before bringing in a heavier  synth line when Kuu starts singing. The chorus is surprisingly bright and high, which I feel works as a nice contrast to the verses, despite taking a while to get used to. It’s an interesting song, with an odd sound to it that can be a bit deceptive at first, but it’s a catchy song that you can’t help but like. The PV is ridiculously fabulous, too.

And our first new song on the album is one of Kuu’s cheery pop songs. Your Love is a sparkly, bright pop song, as previously mentioned, and it’s about as good as any other song like this from Kuu. In my eyes, that makes it great, because I have a soft spot for these tracks. It’s not as good as Always from the TABOO single was, but it has its own special charm to it.

stay with me is still a song I can’t fully enjoy. I do like it in a small way, but Kuu and ballads aren’t exactly my favorite pairing. It’s a rather bland winter song, and while there is a bit of emotion in the lyrics, with maybe a bit more in the chorus, I don’t buy that she’s really putting everything into her vocals, which detracts from the song.

Now we come to another in your face, mildly aggressive song, This is not a love song. It begins with a distorted Kuu singing, with the title included just before the synths come in. It’s a slow song, yet it still carries this kind of sexy, dirty feeling with it. The chorus brings in a few more synths and some louder singing from Kuu, which sounds brilliant, and the way she says “This ain’t a love song” actually sounds distinguishable instead of being pure Engrish. If you don’t like slow songs, I’d avoid this one, but don’t forget: Just because it’s slow, doesn’t mean it’s a ballad. Side note, Kuu laughing throughout the song was a rather nice touch. My only gripe is, it should be longer than 3:25.

The next song is rather surprising, too. Driving sounds a lot more technological than most of Kuu’s songs do, and it features some male vocals before Kuu finally comes in. It’s the kind of song you expect vocal distortions in, and they ARE present: The backing vocals are distorted instead of Kuu’s main vocal track, however. The smoother chorus sounds great, too, and uses the technological sound to an effect that could really simulate the feel of driving. It was an interesting song for Kuu to tackle, and the technological touches make it a techno-loving Kuu fan’s dream come true.

The next song seems to be a mixed bag to some. Carrying even more in-your-face bitchiness, Bling Bling Bling comes in. A lot of people seem to hate Kuu’s horrible Engrish in this song, and the arrangement seems to be a bit too random to really be good, but in reality, I actually really like this song. The constant mentions of money, cash and bling make it obvious what this song is about, and it fits the bitch attitude perfectly. The male rapper vocals that come in later aren’t good at ALL, but otherwise, I actually like this song, surprisingly.

Now we have another song that gets a rather bad rap. That Ain’t Cool tends to be a more Fergie-heavy affair than a Kuu song, but either way, I like the slow, once again bitchy feeling the song has. The synth layers in the song sound interesting, and it’s hard to describe how they sound, but the most prominent certainly have an Arabian flavor to them. Fergie’s vocals fit the song well, and the “Fergie-Fer” and “Kuu” introductions at the beginning sound pretty fitting to the whole theme, despite being… Somewhat pointless. Either way, the biggest flaw here is Kuu and her lack of a grasp on the English language. She can’t speak it. At all. Don’t even try, Kuu, it’s just laughably bad.

The next song, Hurry Up!, sounds like more of a driving song than even Driving did, with its extremely fast arrangement and distorted vocals, this time on the main vocal layer. This is the heaviest song on the album so far, which means it as well has an in-your-face style of sound to it, without actually really being as in your face as most of the other tracks have. I don’t like the chorus here at all, and the arrangement actually sounds kind of overly fast for Kuu, in reality, so I’m not a huge fan of this song.

Now we come to another ballad, after a string of aggressive, sometimes sexy songs. Moon Crying is the stronger ballad in this era’s single line-up, but I’m still not a huge fan. The vocals were handled a bit better than they were in stay with me, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s working for her. The simple piano arrangement with additional orchestra later on doesn’t really suit Kuu either. She needs to stick to her sexy, aggressive songs and not this crap.

However, I do like her pop songs, as I have said, and JUST THE WAY YOU ARE is the perfect example of a brilliant Kuu pop song. It features a thumping R&B-influenced arrangement with some strings, or a great imitation OF strings, playing in the background. Kuu’s vocals fit this style of music better than it does ballads, which is definitely a plus to this song. It has a catchy sound to it, and that’s only amplified by the fuller arrangement in the chorus. Some of the English lyrics here are a bit cheesy, but it could be a LOT worse. This is definitely one of my top tracks on the album, as it has that Kuu sound to it, while still managing to keep from being totally bitchy.

Joyful does JUST THE WAY YOU ARE’s job in a much less successful way. It has a much louder, happier arrangement, and even utilizes some electric guitars in it. It’s a bright song, and I would like it if it wasn’t for the idiotic chorus that basically only consisted of the word “Joyful” and the sound of Kuu “la la la”-ing. It kind of drags the song down.

Ai no Kotoba ends the normal album tracks in a somewhat less successful nature. It’s a ballad, and it takes some elements from both Moon Crying and stay with me. I like this ballad a lot better than the other two, and it was really a good way to close the album, but I still think Kuu should avoid these songs.

And now (explicit language alert) the shit hits the fan (end explicit language). Venus is a cover of that famous song, Venus, most likely known best for the lines “I’m your Venus / I’m your fire / Your desire”. The bad part about this is that Kuu sings in complete English. Engrish is the better term, since you can barely understand most of what she says, which drags the song down horribly. In fact, that first famous line sounds more like “I’m your Penis” than anything else. No, Kuu… Stick to Japanese.

Album Score
A+

Favorite Tracks
1. show girl
2. This is not a love song
3. JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
4. TABOO
5. Driving

Well, this was definitely a huge improvement over Kingdom in my eyes. Most of the tracks were highly enjoyable, and while Kuu fails horribly when she tries to go into her English singing mode, and her ballads are pretty much laughable, every other moment save a few flops was brilliant. It had enough bitch factor to live up to the Kuu name, while still mixing in other music styles to make it sound a lot more diverse than it may actually be. I’d definitely recommend this for anyone wanting to get into Kuu!

stay with me [Koda Kumi - 42nd Single]

Tracklisting
1) stay with me
2) Winter Bell
3) stay with me (Orgel Version)
4) stay with me (Instrumental)
5) Winter Bell (Instrumental)

stay with me is Koda Kumi’s 42nd overall single, and the final single in the TRICK era. It debuted at #1 on the Oricon weekly charts, and was released on the 24th of December, 2008.

stay with me opens with a simple wintery chime sound, with some strings joining the ensemble quickly. There doesn’t seem to be a terrible amount of synth in this song, and you can tell from the get go that it’s going to be a ballad, which is a bad thing when it comes to Kuu. Amazingly enough, this ballad has actually grown on me. Sort of. I’m still not a huge fan of it, but I find it a lot more bearable now than when I made that Christmas/Winter PV write-up. She’s given us worse, but she’s definitely given us better.

Winter Bell is, predictably, another winter song, but this time it features a lot more synth and the use of Christmas bells throughout the song, both the fast Santa-styled bells and the large gonging church bells. It’s not exactly as enjoyable as Always from the TABOO single was, but it has a certain charm about it that makes it worth at least one listen.

Following the Kanon Wakeshima style, they inserted a stay with me Orgel Version onto the single, and honestly, the fact that it starts instantly and doesn’t really have any breaks throughout just makes it seem kind of cheap and overly fake. It’s a cute little piece, but nowhere near as enthralling as Kanon’s orgels.

Single Score
C+

Favorite Track
Winter Bell

It wasn’t a great single, but for a Winter release, it was pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of either song, but at the same time, neither of them is honestly a complete failure. I wouldn’t listen to it constantly like I would with TABOO, but it isn’t as bad as some people seem to think it is, in my opinion.

TABOO [Koda Kumi - 41st Single]

Tracklisting
1. TABOO
2. Always
3. TABOO [HOUSE NATION Sunset in Ibiza Remix]
4. TABOO (Instrumental)
5. Always (Instrumental)

TABOO is Koda Kumi’s 41st overall single, and the second in the “TRICK” era. The single was released in a special “Playroom” edition, which had a special cover, but a more limited tracklisting, with only the original version of TABOO and the instrumental. It peaked at #1 on the Oricon charts, and sold 83,298 copies total. It was released on the 8th of October, 2008.

After hearing the noticably conservative “MOON” single, TABOO came as a huge throwback to Kuu’s older, sexier image. The song has a dark, gritty arrangement to it, that has a sound highly reminiscent of at least a few different Western R&B songs. Kuu’s muted vocals at the beginning don’t really suit the tone of the song, and that doesn’t change terribly throughout the rest of the song. She uses her normal singing voice in this song, and while it does sound good, a sexier, huskier tone, or at least a deeper register would’ve suited this song much better. Despite these vocal aspects that could’ve been improved, it’s definitely a better song than anything on “MOON” could’ve ever been. We all know “stay with me” is going to be another ballad upset, but hopefully TRICK takes on this kind of sound with more of its tracks, because this is where Kuu really shines.

Always changes up the sound and gives us more of a regular J-Pop track, similar to the poppier tracks Kuu has released before. It has a much more upbeat sound to it, and Kumi’s taking on her cute image, which she can pull off at least as well as her sexy image. This song is honestly what I’m more used to, which led to me preferring it over TABOO, but only slightly. Of course, TABOO’s grown on me now, so Always falls behind a bit, but it’s still a brilliant pop tune. Also a lot better than anything on Kingdom was, except for maybe Under.

The singles ends on the HOUSE NATION Sunset in Ibiza TABOO mix, which actually reminds me somewhat of some of the club tunes Nakata’s produced at first, but with a special twist to it. Overall, it’s pretty bland, and most of the effects seem to drown Kuu’s vocals out. There’s quite a bit of vocal looping, too. The arrangement has its moments, but I wasn’t too impressed overall.

Single Score
A+

Favorite Tracks
TABOO, Always

This is definitely my favorite Kuu single as of the current time. It features Kumi’s best attack at the Dance genre of music, and it has the perfect upbeat pop tune to compliment it, while contrasting sounds at the same time. They do clash somewhat, but it’s nothing too bad. If there’s more music like this on TRICK when it comes out, I’m definitely going to be happy. If this is just temporary, though, I’m going to be peeved, because “stay with me” is definitely not looking good for me. (P.S. I absolutely LOVE the scan next to the summary. <3)

MOON [Koda Kumi - 40th Single]

Tracklisting
1. Moon Crying
2. That Ain’t Cool feat. Fergie
3. Once Again
4. Lady Go!
5. Moon Crying (Piano Arrange Version) (First Press Bonus Track)
6. Moon Crying (Instrumental)
7. That Ain’t Cool feat. Fergie (Instrumental)
8. Once Again (Instrumental)
9. Lady Go! (Instrumental)

MOON is Koda Kumi’s 40th overall single, and her first in the “TRICK” era. It is the first release since her controversial statement in January 2008. ”Moon Crying” was used as the theme for the ABC drama Puzzle, while ”Lady Go!” was used in a Visee Kosee CM to promote their new Glamorous Hunter product. The track “Once Again” was produced by the reggae artist Pushim. The single is certified as gold for selling 100,000 copies, and reached #2 on the Oricon charts. It was released on the 11th of June, 2008.

The single opens with Moon Crying, which is introduced by a beautiful piano solo that soon has the strings joining in. I’m rather surprised at how well Kumi’s voice suits this song, but she doesn’t seem to be showing a whole lot of emotion in the chorus, which makes the song kind of fall flat in that aspect. This is somewhat fixed when she starting singing at a higher pitch in the chorus, which allows her to show a bit more emotion in her voice in a much easier way, but at the same time it still sounds like she’s emoting as she should be, or at least not as much as she should be. It’s a beautiful song, but I feel it would work better if the rest of the instruments were left out of the song at the half-way mark, because a ballad like this would work much better on a minimal scale.

Okay, what the hell have we got here… The single continues with That Ain’t Cool, Kuu’s collaboration with ex-Black Eyed Peas and current solo artist, Stacy Ferguson, a.k.a. Fergie. The song has a sort of Arabian twist to its quiet synth, with a mature dance beat backing it up. The only real problem I have with this song is the simple fact that Kuu is almost non-existent. Kuu gets the whole second chorus to herself, but her English is so horrible, that it’s almost laughable to actually hear her even attempt to sing it. I’m amazed I can actually make out what the hell she’s saying. If it wasn’t for her chorus, I’d actually like this song a lot more, whether it focuses too much on Fergie or not. It’s still an alright song, but Kuu only kills the song, she doesn’t help it.

Once Again has a Reggae sound going on with it. The opening lyrics that go with the synth are overly cheesy, which is something I usually can’t stand in a song, and the arrangement is nothing like the Reggae tunes other artists have tried, such as Leah Dizon’s “LOVE SWEET CANDY”, which I think pulled it off much more successfully. It’s still an alright song, but I feel that the beat is just lacking. Kuu’s alright while singing the song, and I don’t have any real gripes apart from those cheesy lyrics, but it’s still better than the past two songs overall, if only just.

The regular edition closes with Lady Go!, which has a much poppier dance sound to it. It sort of makes me think of “Real Emotion”, which Koda sung for the Japanese release of Final Fantasy X-2, but not to an overly large extent. Kumi’s voice probably suits this song better than any of the previous songs, which is definitely a plus, because I really enjoy the brighter, sweeping synth arrangement the song has. Apart from the usual extended instrumental near the end that you hear in many songs, there doesn’t seem to be much change in the song, but I enjoy the synth and Kuu’s vocals enough to actually bypass this fact. What dance song isn’t repetitive, anyway?

The first press edition doesn’t end there, however. Buyers of this press are treated to the Moon Crying Piano Arrange Version. It’s pretty much the same song, with the same arrangement, but my request of a lone piano accompanying Kuu was answered. It has a much more acoustic sound to it, which I tend to enjoy a bit more than the regular version, but otherwise, as I stated, it’s pretty much the same. I prefer this version, but the same vocal flaws and gripes still stand.

Single Score
B

Favorite Track
Lady Go!

So, this single had a few flaws in its songs, but I don’t really mind the majority of the tracks as much as I thought I would. They all featuerd a different kind of sound, and each pulled the sound off with varying levels of success. That Ain’t Cool was definitely the biggest upset on this single for obvious reasons, but even that track still had its good points. The single could’ve been a lot better, and sexy Kuu is still highly preferrable, but it was a decent release, at least.

TABOO [Koda Kumi - TRICK (Upcoming Album)] PV Review

So, Kumi’s had a pretty rough career. Varying success in recent times, that huge interview upset about the amniotic fluids of 35+ year old women, and a big mindfuck of a switch from sexy Kuu to slightly conservative in comparison.

Thankfully, after the “flop” that was MOON (I didn’t mind it though, see the review) and the four songs included on it, Kumi came roaring back with this sex-fest, taboo-exploring PV, bringing with her the sexy image she so carelessly discarded in “stay with me”.

To be honest, I despised this song when it was first released. I don’t know why, I just thought it was a pretty poor effort compared to some of her other stuff. Then again, I’ve never been a gigantic Kumi fan as it is, so that really couldn’t have helped the situation. However, I’ve had a complete change of heart. The song carries a sound similar to what many Western artists such as Justin Timberlake may use, but I feel that Kumi’s producer worked with the sound a lot better than the blander Western counterparts. And no, that’s not my bias against Western music talking, I really thought those songs were bland and annoying.

The almost gritty sound of the synth doesn’t compliment Kumi’s voice as well as it could, but you could say that actually adds to the song due to the racy subject matter we have going here. Another gripe is the end of the chorus. This is the only part of the song that REALLY annoys me, because it sounds like it ends just a BIT too suddenly. I can let it pass because of how dance-friendly and infectious the rest of the music is, though.

The PV is where this song could gain some controversy though. The video explores many of the different taboo’s of society, mainly revolving different sex-related themes. I guess you could say the bathroom scene could be about rape or something, while the following scene is blatantly showing the fact that Kuu’s hot for teh wimenz. Kuu’s acting seems kind of transparently fake, though, and I don’t really buy that she’s turned on at all. There may be some more hidden in there, but really, the video is one big make-out sex orgy. Especially with all the guy-on-guy and girl-on-girl stuff near the end that, this time, doesn’t feature Kuu.

Kumi’s still got some attitude in the song though, from her forceful ejection of the “scum” in the opening scene, to the S&M bondage dress in the bathroom scene and the altered womans army uniform in the room scene. The choreography near the end is pretty spiffy, though, so that was fun to watch.

The ~Another Edition~ PV for TABOO was most likely created to address this racy issue, because it’s got more of a focus on Kuu close-ups, while keeping the sex at a bare minimum. Gotta love toilet dancing, but this PV has a lot less excitement in it. I guess it does its job well though.

Song Score
A

PV Score
A-

Total Score
A

To be honest, lesbian sex orgies don’t really do much for me, so I’m not a huge fan of the PV. The concept behind it is quite interesting, though, and I must admit, Kuu is damn hot in that maid costume… I prefer this song to a LOT of her older material, so hopefully she keeps this up when TRICK comes out. This is how Kuu should stay, because this is where she truly shines when it comes to her music and the promotional videos.

This post also has a second point to it, though…

I will now be featuring Koda Kumi on my blog permanently. I’ll be starting with her latest era, and the opening single MOON, before moving on to the TABOO single and then stay with me upon release. I’ve been considering this for a while, but Kingdom kind of sucked. But here we are now~