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Tracklisting
DISC ONE
1) Boom Boom Pow
2) Rock That Body
3) Meet Me Halfway
4) Imma Be
5) I Gotta Feeling
6) Alive
7) Missing You
8) Ring-A-Ling
9) Party All The Time
10) Out Of My Head
11) Electric City
12) Showdown
13) Now Generation
14) One Tribe
15) Rockin To The Beat
DISC TWO
1) Where Ya Wanna Go
2) Simple Little Melody
3) Mare
4) Don’t Bring Me Down
5) Pump It Harder (“Pump It” Remix)
6) Let’s Get Restarted (“Let’s Get Retarded” Remix)
7) Shut the Phunk Up (“Shut Up” Knee Deep Remix)
8) That’s The Joint (Joints & Jams Remix)
9) Another Weekend (featuring Esthero) (“Weekend” remix)
10) Don’t Phunk Around (“Don’t Phunk With My Heart” Chicago House Remix)
The E.N.D is the fifth studio album from the Black Eyed Peas. The title is an acronym of “The Energy Never Dies”, and according to band member will.i.am, the album follows the concept that a regular album no longer exists: Due to the nature of iTunes and the ease in which you can get individual songs now, he claims that they plan to make it a sort of diary of musical progression, and keep adding to it in the future. It is also the first album to make a heavy use of the 
synthesizer as the main instrument instead of going for mainstream R&B-styled music. The deluxe edition came with a second CD that contained four more original tracks, with the last six being remixes of previously released songs from other albums. It also had two singles: Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling, with Meet Me Halfway, Alive and Imma Be being released as digital singles prior to release as well. It managed to reach #2 on the Oricon album charts (despite not being a Japanese album) and #1 on the Oricon international charts. Other chart placements are not yet known. The album was released worldwide between the 3rd and 16th of June, 2009.
First off, I have one word to describe the Deluxe edition of the album: LONG. Secondly, I have one word to describe the entire album: Fresh. It’s always nice to see artists experiment and reach out beyond their usual predefined genre of music, and it’s even better when that artist exceeds in keeping up with their usual standards. The album does have the usual misses throughout, but they manage to mix their usual style of music with this electronic experimental nature to make an interesting and cohesive album.
I’ll be completely honest, something like this was the last thing I expected from a band like the Black Eyed Peas. However, as soon as I heard Boom Boom Pow: in all of its raw, hook-lacking nature; I knew that they were onto something here, because it managed to be extremely catchy while being radically different. (Although, Fergie’s mention of them “chickens jacking my style” always manages to crack me up, so that might have some part in it.) Then, as the digital singles started coming out, I knew they had the ability to extend this over an album successfully: Alive, Meet Me Halfway and I Gotta Feeling are all interesting and unique tracks, although Imma Be was a little less fantastic for me. I will say, I don’t like how overly extended that new talking intro for Boom Boom Pow is, and I usually skip straight to the actual song because of that (which is annoying, since they’re both one track), but it’s still a good song.
The album tracks manage to catch your interest, as well. For some reason, it’s always the humorous tracks that make me love BEP, and Out of my Head is no exception: It’s a playful, slapstick song sung almost entirely by Fergie that is pretty much just about drinking. She isn’t exactly the best singer, but I will say, she knows how to make a song humorous and interesting at the same time. One Tribe is also an interesting track, with the theme of the world getting amnesia to overcome our issues being a rather well thought-out, if not slightly silly, theme to write a song about.
The bonus tracks on the second disc, however, are less inspiringly interesting. The only good songs here are Mare, the majorly Filipino song about ladies and dancing, and the That’s The Joint remix present on here. (Don’t Bring Me Down is another good one, actually, so make that three.) The rest is pretty much nothing of note, though fans of those particular songs should take a listen. The album itself isn’t exactly perfect, either: Tracks like Ring-A-Ling (Nonsensical without the humor, and just plain annoying musically) and Showdown (A rather predictable, annoyingly plain attempt at music) tend to bring the album down in places, and for being an experimental synth album, there isn’t exactly as much as one would expect, which could be a downside for those coming here for that style of music.
I will say one thing, though: The album is consistent. Not including the bonus second disc, the album has tremendous flow, and all of the tracks work well with those around them due to the similar, united sound they all have. The only real hitch is a good track flowing into a bad track (Missing You to Ring-A-Ling, for example), but their similar synth theme makes the transition itself smooth either way. The transition between the two discs itself is even passable: Where Ya Wanna Go, however, opens with a rather fragile piano solo, so going from the synth-heavy, lyrically light Rockin To The Beat to it isn’t exactly 100% smooth. However, the acoustic guitar at the end of Rockin To The Beat helps lighten the transition, and the fact that Where Ya Wanna Go is alsoa synth-heavy song after the piano wears off works in its favor, as well. That’s The Joint tends to stand out like a sore thumb between two synthed R&B songs, as it’s pretty much a high-energy Lounge-meets-R&B song, so it’s a bit of a rocky ride. It depends on whether you like good flow between your remixes whether this’ll bother you or not.
Do I think they’re going to use this style again? Not really. Do I hope they’ll use this style again? Yes, indeed. While I was a huge fan of their last album, Monkey Business, I quickly outgrew it when I started getting into techno-pop and, well, J-Pop in general. Now that the Black Eyed Peas are experimenting with some riskier synths, they appeal to me on a whole new level once again. Plus, they pulled it off in a very good manner, so what’s not to like? The only thing I have against it is that it’s VERY LONG WINDED, so even I can’t help but get bored by the time I’m almost at the end of the first disc.
Album Score
B+
Favorite Tracks
1) Out Of My Head
2) Meet Me Halfway
3) Alive
4) One Tribe
5) Mare
6) Boom Boom Pow
7) That’s The Joint (Joints & Jams Remix)
8) Don’t Bring Me Down
9) Rockin To The Beat
10) Electric City
Experimentation is always a risky business when it comes to music. When it works out well, it’s definitely easy to notice and appreciate. Thankfully, this worked out well, and it’s only helped raise my interest in the Black Eyed Peas once again. If they were to go back to their older, purer R&B days, I’d probably be a little less interested, but looking in the now, The E.N.D was a very good thing. Let’s just hope this isn’t the E.N.D (Oh, how punny of me. *shot*) of their humorous tracks, because they always make the album for me. NICE WORK, PEAS~ Don’t stop it now.
(NOTE: It was a long album, so I chose 10 favorite tracks instead of 5. I tend to raise the number depending on the tracklisting, and 10 seems feasible for a 25 track album when I always choose 5 for 10-15 track albums.)
Tracklisting
1) We Can Work It Out
2) You Don’t Know What You’re Sorry For
3) In a Heartbeat
4) With a Love Like You
5) Everything is Nothing
6) Crash Landed
7) Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
8) Blue Angel
9) Magic
10) Everybody Come Out In the Sunshine
11) These Dayz
12) More Than You’ll Ever Know
13) When Will It Be Me
14) Come Home to You
15) Love Forgets
16) Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (Yasutaka Nakata (capsule) Remix)
The Next Generation is the seventh album for the German-originated (And popular in Asia only, for some reason, and none of their vocalists have been German…) pop group Sweetbox. It is also the first full-length studio album after the most popular vocalist in the groups history, Jade Villalon, left the group to start her solo career under the moniker Jade Valerie, and eventually join the group Eternity ∞. Instead, the role of vocalist has been taken over by American singer, song-writer and model, Jamie Pineda. The album had one single before release, We Can Work It Out, with the capsule remix of Everything’s Gonna Be Alright remix also getting airplay in Japan. The album was released on the 10th of June, 2009.
Sweetbox has recently been, more than anything, a pop group with classical influences in their music. Now that Jade has left the group, the direction was up in the air for a while, and now that it’s out, I can safely say… A lot has changed. Jamie has a radically different voice, and sounds a lot like your typical American R&B singer, while the group has a more R&B-influenced sound to match her voice. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your musical preference, but either way, this is the new sound for Sweetbox, so it’s worth checking out how they did anyway.
While R&B has become the dominant sound in the album, it’s still a crossover-styled effort. It’s not all fantastic, but there are a few times where they have managed to top even some of Jade’s old Sweetbox tracks. These tracks usually end up being closer to the older sound than the rest, but Jamie’s voice works well with them. These Dayz and Crash Landed are definitely the stand-outs here: These Dayz is more of a brighter pop-R&B song with an incredibly catchy melody and surprisingly good vocals from Jamie, with a few slighter classical influences backing the music up. Crash Landed, however, is a bit of an odd-ball. I can’t place the name to the sample, but it sounds rather Phanom of the Opera-ish with that piano and all. I’d say that’s where it’s from, actually. It’s a darker track, while still keeping that light, fun sound to it, and it has a much more distinct sound to it compared to a lot of the album tracks, which is always a plus.
Beyond this, there is a nice amount of good songs that I can certainly see myself listening to a lot. We Can Work It Out, the main promotional track, is one of these. 
It uses a piece of the same sample as in Eternity’s song I Will (The Spring section from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi), and has a nice, brighter semi-ballad pop sound to it. It’s not what I would have expected them to use as the promotional track, but it’s a nice, uplifting song. Love Forgets, the final original song on the album, is another interesting listen, being much more of a dance song than R&B, which was nice to see, and the strings do have a rather prominent place in the arrangement this time. Everything is Nothing is another upbeat, albeit mid-tempo track that you can’t help but smile at.
Musically, a lot of this album is actually brilliant. It’s not full of hits, and it tends to sound rather generic at times, too. More Than You’ll Ever Know, Coming Home To You and You Don’t Know What You’re Sorry For are prime examples of this, although Coming Home To You does have its good moments. To be honest, the main flaw I can see here is Jamie, and even that isn’t a huge problem. She actually has a very strong voice, and she may actually do well in the US if she tried to. That’s part of the issue. She has a rather generic R&B voice, all power aside, which radically changes this album compared to everything Sweetbox has ever done since Tina Harris was in charge of the vocals back for the groups first, self-named album. It’s nice to hear the crossover element stick, but it may be hard for you Jade fans to get into this straight away.
One last note: I’m not very happy with how the new version of Everything’s Gonna Be Alright turned out. I know it’s a Sweetbox staple, but as a whole, I would have been much happier if they had left it alone. Nakata should’ve stayed away, too: Honestly, I hated his remix to death after the initial fangasm wore off. It’s just that bad a remix.
Album Score
B
Favorite Tracks
1) These Dayz
2) Crash Landed
3) Everything is Nothing
4) We Can Work It Out
5) Love Forgets
As I said, hardcore Jade fans may have some trouble getting into this album. Take the time to listen it through, and don’t just dismiss Jamie straight away because she’s joined at a bad time for the group. She actually really is a good singer, despite a few reservations I have with her vocal style. A smaller focus on generic R&B tracks would be nice, but it was a pretty good first effort for new vocalist Jamie and first-time Sweetbox producer, Derek Bramble. Hopefully they learnt from this album and will improve in the future. (NOTE: These aren’t necessarily album scans, but they all kind of match to the cover, so they’ve been put here to make the review look pretty.)
Tracklisting
1) Leaving The City
2) Sinking Feeling
3) Night of the Dancing Flame
4) Through Time
5) Sow Into You
6) Dear Diary
7) If We’re In Love
8) Ramalama (Bang Bang)
9) Ruby Blue
10) Off on It
11) Prelude to Love in the Making
12) The Closing of the Doors
Ruby Blue is the debut album from Róisín Murphy, who was originally the vocalist for the duo Moloko, and was released after the pair disbanded (due to a lovers spat, believe it or not, since they were lovers and all.) It was released on the 13th of June, 2005.
Well, May’s almost gone, and I thought it was time to do a special review for the month. I’m currently procrastinating in reviewing Ayu and YAZIMA, and I’m waiting until my copies of BONNIE PINK and MEG’s albums get here to review those. Plus, this’ll actually listen to the album, which I’ve been kind of procrastinating on.
Anyway, Róisín’s debut solo effort is a rather… Odd experience. Moloko was a duo known for their dancier tunes, and Ruby Blue, to an extent, continues that trend. However, it’s not so much a dance album as an experiment of sorts. A big thing with this album is the lack of a conventional sound, or the lack of normal methods being used to get these unconventional sounds. There are a lot of gritty, heavy synths that don’t often mix together as you’d expect a melody for a song to go. A few songs even do this on purpose.
This is apparent in a few tracks, but the most relevant would have to be the opening track, Leaving The City. It’s a loud, chaotic track made up of a calm verse that uses a number of out-of-tune instruments and unmatching synths, leading into a completely random and highly chaotic chorus that doesn’t really do much apart from deafen you. There’s also Ramalama (Bang Bang), which is just a big mix of overly mechanical sounds and vocals that don’t work together well enough to keep me interested (the horrid opening doesn’t help either), and Off on It, which is just a bit too dull and mechanical to contain much of interest, either.
There are definitely quite a few good tracks here. For example, there’s the funk, swing-rhythm If We’re In Love, which is both the tamest song on the album, and it’s also the best. The sound is still sort of unconventional and different, but there’s some brass there to break it out of the synth-only rutt. Róisín’s vocals can be a bit shaky at times, but that’s mainly near the end of the song in the higher section. Then there’s probably the strangest, most outlandish song, Sow Into You. Once again, it features the odd synths, but there is a heavy usage of brass here, too. It’s outlandish because of its lyrics: The whole song is basically using lyrics relating to rain and farm harvests, while the way the song is written is relating them to love and sex instead, making it a rather interesting, if not quirky experience. Special mention should also go to the title track, Ruby Blue, which uses an overdriven guitar to give it a distinctive sound that stands out from the synth-and-brass we’ve heard so far.
It all goes well together because of the similar experimental style used throughout the album, but the main issue here would probably be that it’s so outlandishly different. It could make it hard for people to get into depending on their musical tastes, and even if you like this kind of music it may be a bit TOO out there to get into. There is a rather diverse selection of sounds, but it’s better to take it slow. Start off with a song like If We’re In Love, and ease in to it before going into the rest of it, or it might just give the wrong impression.
Album Score
B-
Favorite Tracks
1) If We’re In Love
2) Ruby Blue
3) Sow Into You
4) Sinking Feeling
Compared to many other dance albums out there, Ruby Blue will probably rub any first-time listeners in a very wrong manner. If anyone feels compelled to try this album, I suggest you stick it out. It’s a grower, but the majority of the songs here are, in reality, extremely catchy, and at least one should catch your attention. Don’t expect anything like Lady Gaga or the like, because you won’t find it here.
Tracklisting
1) When You Wish Upon A Star – MEG x Q;indivi [Pinocchio]
2) Beauty and the Beast – World Sketch [Beauty and the Beast]
3) Part Of Your World [HOUSE NATION Remix] – Q;indivi [The Little Mermaid]
4) The Enchanted Fairy Garden – Fantastic Plastic Machine [Tokyo Disneyland Disney's Fantillution!]
5) Mickey Mouse March – AYASE KOZUE [The Mickey Mouse Club]
6) A Whole New World – Late Night Alumni [Aladdin]
7) He’s A Pirate – 80kidz [Pirates of the Carribean]
8) Under The Sea – THE LOWBROWS [The Little Mermaid]
9) Baby Mine – Kaskade [Dumbo]
10) Reflection – Eric Kupper [Mulan]
11) When She Loved Me – A Hundred Birds feat. TeN [Toy Story 2]
12) Main Street Electrical Parade – Shinichi Osawa [Disneyland]
House☆Disney is a compilation/cover album that features many different Disney songs that have been rearranged and recorded by different techno and house artists, thus putting a new sound to the classic songs. However, there have been no language changes in the midst of the re-recording. The album was released on the 28th of January, 2o09.
The album opens with When You Wish Upon A Star, from the movie Pinocchio, which features MEG and Q;indivi in a dual effort. Obviously, it was also the major draw of the album for me, with MEG being in it. ANYWAY, the song opens simply with a surprisingly true rendition of how the original started, with sparkling synths and a music box playing the melody while the opening lyrics are sung over it. This is where the song takes a new turn, as the verse synth holds an extremely techno-influenced sound, with robotic beeps and blares making up the whole sound. MEG’s pulling her usual vocal issues here, which was a bit of a draw, and you can barely make out the lyrics as she sings, which kind of kills it. The chorus keeps the new techno spin, with the inclusion of many of the sounds heard in both the opening, and the original song. It’s rather linear in its arrangement, as it continues like this for the whole song, but it is a really enjoyable rendition, which is surprising since I wasn’t a huge fan of the original.
Now the songs start sounding a little less like their original counterparts. Beauty and the Beast, performed by World Sketch, still has the original piano in it, following the same melody and everything, but this time the newly spun synths are present through the whole song, giving a nice mix of piano and dance beats, which works well with the clear, crisp vocals that seem to be hitting all the notes perfectly. The synths sort of drown their voices out at times in the song, though. The end is rather enjoyable, as you can’t really detect any vocal faults as they’re singing, which makes me think they’ve distorted or altered them somehow, but you can’t detect anything if they have. It sounds brilliant overall.
Part Of Your World’s HOUSE NATION remix, performed by Q;indivi, sounds even less like the original did compared to the other two, which may be because it’s a remix, and yet it’s still the most enjoyable so far. It’s entirely made up of dance beats this time, and even more surprising is the vocals. As far as I can tell, Q;indivi only uses one vocal in all their songs, and while tracks like Just were absolutely horrible, they sound fantastic here. If they don’t use different vocalists, then kudos to them because the vocalist’s airy, thin voice suits the nature of the song perfectly. If they do, then at least this song still sonds great. This song has the usual techno break-down near the end, which is really the only change in the song, but either way it sounds great.
I’ve never heard this next song before in my life, so it’s come as quite a bit of a surprise to me. The Enchanted Fairy Garden (performed by Fantastic Plastic Machine) reminds me of one song in particular: Otsuka Ai’s Shachihata. While the cheerful, fast-paced synths are nothing like that song, a similar vocal style as in Shachihata is used here. I’m liking how the synths sound, but the vocals are just too strange, especially when the guy is doing them. At least the woman doesn’t sound horribly out of place.
Again, I’ve never heard the original Mickey Mouse March, but I’m sure it wasn’t like AYASE KOZUE’s version. A light techno synth is the main attaction of the song, with some whistling (which I know was in the original) and some distorted voices playing in intervals. The vocals carry a bit of distortion all around in this song, but they just sound out of place most of the time, and the childish vocals that sing along sound even stranger against the synths. The constat chanting of the letters in Mickey’s name makes the song even more annoying. The synth sounds nice here, but the rest is just too grating.
A Whole New World, performed by Late Night Alumni, is yet another total reworking of the original that doesn’t include anything from the original apart from the lyrics. It features a subdued sound, with what sounds like an electronically muffled electric guitar playing the entire arrangement instead of synths, though there are some obvious synths throughout the song. The vocals are in a similar subdued manner, so at least they suit the music. I do like this version, but it’s a shame that it wasn’t anywhere near as epic as the original.
Now we come to the first of the instrumentals on the album. He’s A Pirate, performed by 80kidz, is now a heavy techno song. I haven’t heard much of the original, yet again, but the familiar piano melody is present in the song, with the strings present as well. The rest of the song, however, is an unrecognisable fare, and it’s too much of a mess to really enjoy.
Unfortunately, THE LOWBROWS’ version of Under The Sea was horribly mutilated for this album. Yet again, it’s a heavy dance fare, with no signs of the original being visible at all. The western-styled vocals (they actually sound a lot like Christina Aguilera or another similarly-voiced artist) fit the synths well, but overall it’s just a horrible mutilation that turned a carefree song into a foreboding dance song.
Baby Mine, by Kaskade, is a lot more bearable than the last two songs, thankfully. It’s still entirely made up of dance synths, but they aren’t as messy or heavy this time. It contains a rather melancholic set of synths, and some light, wispy vocals that suit its sound well. Sometimes it sounds like the song can’t decide which mood it wants to settle on and utilize in different sections of the song, and once again it sounds nothing like the original did or was intended to. But, as I said, it is a lot more bearable than the previous two mutilations.
Reflection, which was handled by Eric Kupper, features a much more light hearted, latin-influenced sound, with vocals that sound rather western. Once again, it sounds nothing like the original, which is actually rather annoying since this is supposed to be a Disney album, but it is one of the most enjoyable songs on the album up to this point either way.
It’s at this stage that I’ve given up on hoping any of the songs sound like their original versions. Thankfully, When She Loved Me, by A Hundred Birds and TeN, is actually recognisable. I can actually believe that this came from Toy Story 2 while listening to it. The accented English sounds great against the echoing, simple synth backing track. Later on in the song, there are some quiet dance beats added into the song, but they’re nowhere near the main focus of the song. I was glad to hear something like this, despite being the second last track.
And the last track is both the second instrumental, and the second song not to come from a movie, with the first being The Enchanted Fairy Garden. Main Street Electrical Parade, produced by Shinichi Osawa, is instead a reworking of a Disneyland song. Having never been to Disneyland (and not having access to the original), I don’t know what the original sounds like, but this rendition actually sounds rather reminiscent to something capsule would bring out. It’s a simple synth arrangement with an array of beeps and blares and trumpet-like sounds that slowly come into the song at different times. The highlight of the song is definitely the “chorus” that first comes in at around 2:30, as it actually sounds like something that would be used in a parade at Disneyland. It’s rather repetitive, and yet it’s one of the more enjoyable songs.
Album Score
C-
Favorite Tracks
1. When You Wish Upon A Star – Meg x Q;indivi
2. Part Of Your World (HOUSE NATION Remix) – Q;indivi
3. Beauty and the Beast – World Sketch
4. When She Loved Me – A Hundred Birds feat. TeN
5. Main Street Electrical Parade – Shinichi Osawa
To be blunt, this album was extremely disappointing. Most of them sounded nothing like the originals, which makes me wonder why they bothered covering a Disney song and ruining it when they could’ve just created an original song with that sound. Granted, I haven’t heard a few songs on the album, so I could be completely wrong, but I didn’t really expect an album with the Disney moniker to sound like a heavy dance album with relatively few references to the original songs. I would really just recommend watching the PV for When You Wish Upon A Star when it comes out.
Tracklisting
1. Womanizer
2. Circus
3. Out From Under
4. Kill The Lights
5. Shattered Glass
6. If U Seek Amy
7. Unusual You
8. Blur
9. Mmm Papi
10. Mannequin
11. Lace & Leather
12. My Baby
13. Radar (Bonus Track)
14. Rock Me In (European & Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
15. Phonography (European & Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
16. Quicksand (European iTunes Bonus Track)
17. Amnesia (Japan & UK Bonus Track)
18. Trouble (iTunes Pre-Order Bonus Track)
19. Rock Boy (German Bonus Track)
(NOTE: So, I can’t really find anything to review, and I didn’t want to do a PV review tonight, so enjoy an early special review instead~ I will still be reviewing the album with the most votes when December comes around.)
Circus is Britney Spears’ sixth overall studio album. It had two singles before its release: “Womanizer”, which was her first #1 on the Hot 100 charts since her debut; and “Circus”, which is to be released to commemorate Britney’s birthday. It is to be released on December 2nd in America, and on varying other dates in late November and early December for the rest of the regions.
The album opens with Womanizer, which was also the first single in this era. This seems to be the track that helped everyone regain faith in Britney, and the fact that it topped the charts doesn’t exactly work against that theory. The song features a rough electronic beat, mimicking the sound of a siren, with Britney eventually joining the fray. For the most part, the song lacks the vocoders that Blackout was dominated by, which was a very good choice, as her natural vocals only help improve the song. It has a catchy beat and a great hook, which is already an improvement over her last album. At 3:42 in length, it keeps from dragging on, as well. It works well as an opening track, but it’s not exactly a great precursor on how the rest of the album sounds.
Circus comes in with a much more hip-hop influenced synth arrangement, with Britney talk-singing over it. It can be pretty boring until the chorus comes in, and I don’t even really enjoy that section of the song. It’s a fairly repetitive song, and with this sound, that’s not necessarily a good thing. A definite step back, and not very good for being a title track/upcoming single.
This is followed by Out From Under, which begins with a simple string arrangement. Britney’s voice sounds great here, as she almost whispers the lyrics over the minimal arrangement. The chorus, with the additional synths it has, sounds even better, and I’m absolutely loving her vocals here. She’s putting a lot more effort into her singing this time, instead of relying on singing in a single note and letting the vocoder do all the work for her. It’s a huge throwback to her earlier ballad-style songs, and I absolutely love it.
Now we get the first of the great new dance tracks on this album. Kill The Lights starts with the beeping of morse code and ominous music with a radio announcer speaking over the noises, saying Britney is about to make a “special arrangement”. We then get some whispered lyrics from Britney that fit the mood well. When we get to the verse, Britney sings in short bursts, putting a lot of attitude into her vocals. She actually hits some notes this time, which she didn’t really do in Womanizer, which is good to hear. The bridge is especially catchy, and the way the vocals come out sounds great. The line “Is that money in your pocket, or’re you happy to see me?” is just an attempt to sound sexy that makes me sort of laugh, and the chorus is a bit annoying with the repeated vocals, but the way she sings “Kill the Lights” sounds great, and the second half of the chorus sounds a lot better, with Britney twisting her voice as she sings about how she “Killed the lights”, with with some more singing thrown in. The mix of R&B and dance elements makes this song much catchier than the previous two dance tracks on the album.
Shattered Glass features distorted synth noises repeating and slowly gaining speed, before a quick, clapping-based synth comes in and Britney starts ad-libbing. The simple sound of the clapping and Britney’s singing in the verse isn’t overly interesting in comparison to “Kill The Lights”, but when more synth comes in around the bridge, it starts picking up. The chorus, however, ditches it all and goes for a more piano-influenced sound, which works well with Britney singing about her past love that the song is based on. It has an in-your-face sound that fits the theme of the song well, and while it’s not one of my favorites, it is rather catchy. The lack of any of the actual synth in the chorus was what made this song really stand out, though.
I’m sure we all know the story behind If U Seek Amy, right? It features a repetitive, thumping synth line as Britney asks the listener if they’ve seen her “cousin”, Amy, as she searches the club/party for her. The song then erupts into the chorus, which features the thumping synth with a higher alternative alongside it. It’s a rather interesting way to ask someone for sex, but at least it’s subtle, right? No, it isn’t. But it’s still relatively hot, I guess. It’s an interesting song though.
Unusual You features a much more generally distorted sound, and Britney’s vocals are distorted with an echo effect as she sings in an almost moaning manner. It’s got a rather sensual sound to it, and the bridge sounds absolutely fantastic with the manner in which Britney is singing here. Her voice sounds great in the chorus too, where she’s hitting notes once again, as she sings about being confused about her lover and how he’s acting. It’s a nice song that borders on the line of being a ballad, and the theme of the song works well with the sound that it has, as both have an unusal twist to them compared to how the conventional song about love sounds.
Then we have Blur, which has a similar sound to “Unusual You”, but in a much more upbeat manner. The song is basically about Britney waking up with a hangover and forgetting what happened last night. The song hints a lot at saying she’s had sex and forgotten about it, which I thought was rather odd when put into context with the sound of the song. It has a rather individual sound to it as well, with a flowing backing synth and random higher notes playing in the background. The theme of the lyrics is actually rather hilarious when you think of Britney’s overall image since her break down, but I love the arrangement in this song, and the huskier, lower tone of her voice.
Mmm Papi has a whole 60s diner sound to it, with a clapping synth line and an upbeat backing track. The last note of each line Britney sings is randomly distorted to a high level, which sounds rather odd, but the chorus is unbelievably catchy, with its short lines and bubblegum overtone. It’s another song about Britney and sex, and while I’m honestly not surprised about how many songs of this kind she sings, it gets kind of annoying by this stage. Ignoring the lyrics though, it’s an oddball song that really makes you want to dance instead of just sit there listening to it. The sections with Britney repeating the title seem kind of random, but the way she says “Ooh lovey” in that suggestive tone is priceless.
Now we’re back to Circus’ heavy R&B sound. Mannequin sounds a lot like “Circus” did, but at a higher tempo and more synths being present. Those oddly twisted male vocals that you hear in the bridge and in sections of the chorus are more annoying than anything that really add to the song, and the fact that the same synth line is used throughout the song, again, does not help it at all. This is another song I always skip, but I’m actually rather surprised that it’s the first one since “Circus”. I really don’t get how “Love is like a mannequin”, either.
Lace & Leather is another throwback to the older Britney songs, but this time it’s to her more suggestive songs, instead of her poppier ones. It has the whole pop sound, but as the title suggests, it’s another suggestive song. The only real interesting part is the electric guitar-sounding solo near the end of the song. Otherwise, it’s another song I’d rather skip than sit through.
The final non-bonus song in this album is the second ballad to actually appear on the album. My Baby has a touching theme as she sings about someone who actually isn’t ever really hinted at. I can’t tell if she’s singing about a lover, or one of her actual children. Either way, it’s a touching song overall, and the simple string and piano arrangement the song has only helps. It’s a beautiful song, and I was surprised that they chose to put this at the end of the album, despite how fitting it is for this slot.
Listeners of “Blackout” will instantly know what this song is. Radar was a track from Britney’s last album, and was also a single. For some reason, they decided to put it here as a bonus track. Either way, it features a rough synth line with the beeping sound of a radar going throughout the song. Britney’s short sentences with this arrangement give the song an interesting sound, and the chorus features a hook that really grabs your interest. It would’ve worked well after one of the dance tracks on the album, as it’s definitely one of my favorites so far. It was the only track I really liked on “Blackout”, too.
Rock Me In fits the title well. The arrangement has an overall rock theme that really helps it stand out from the previous tracks on the album. The verses are interesting at the least, but what really caught my attention here was the higher register that Britney sings in during the chorus. The whole song is really catchy, and it has an older sound to the rock arrangement it features, which sort of reminds me of how “Mmm Papi” sounded.
Phonography sounds somewhat reminiscent to the radar beeps in the song of the same name. It has a quiet sound to its arrangement overall, and Britney’s using shorter sentences here. When she says “I’m into Phonography”, it sounds a lot like she’s saying Pornography instead, but despite that, the way the lyrics are sung works out well. What turns me off of this song is the odd noises that come in after the chorus, which sounds like a chicken being strangled. That’s what keeps me from liking this song as much as I could, but it’s still worth a listen. The phone terms used really make it sound like sex could be an element, and obviously that wouldn’t really be a surprise as it is.
Quicksand features a piano arrangement that instantly makes me think of the other two ballads, but some synth is quickly brought in this time, which makes the song seem a lot like an R&B ballad instead of a normal one as the previous two did. I like the overall sound the song has, and while Britney isn’t putting as much emotion into her voice as she did in the other ballads, it’s not really affecting the song in any real negative way. I don’t like how they dropped the piano halfway through the song, though. The segments where it’s present really stand out a lot more in comparison to the rest of the song.
Amnesia has a rushed sound to it, really. It opens with what I guess would be called moaning, before drums come in, and Britney starts singing. The bridge comes in really quickly, and I really don’t think it should’ve come up this soon, as that’s what makes this song sound so rushed. The whole theme of her singing about how she forgets her boyfriend around another guy (or is it just around her boyfriend?) is pretty interesting, as it’s not really what you expect to hear about in these types of songs. It goes back to the older pop sounds, which is good to hear, but I can’t get past the rushed feeling it has.
This should DEFINITELY have been in with the real tracks instead of the iTunes pre-order version. Trouble has a rough techno sound to it, and Britney’s voice features some distortions this time, which fits the sound of the song well. It’s yet another song about love, but it’s not one of the sex love songs, which is nice to hear. The chorus, which is basically a statement from Britney that she quickly decides against and changes, has a catchy sound to it, and that’s not really a lyrical technique you hear a lot. The word ‘trouble’ is repeated a lot, though, but I can let it slide. The lower sound of the song works well, and it’s nice to hear something that could pass for a techno-based ballad (if there were a few changes in instruments and all) from Britney.
The final bonus track for Circus comes in with Rock Boy, but you’ll be lucky to hear this if you live outside of Germany and buy it legitimately. It has a total rock sound to it in comparison to the other rock-influenced songs on the album, which was interesting to hear coming from Britney, and she sounds alright in it. I’m not overly happy with it, but it’s alright for a listen every now and then.
Favorite Tracks
1. Kill The Lights
2. Trouble
3. Unusual You
4. Radar
5. Out From Under
So, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this album was actually really good! Compared to “Blackout”, this was a much better album, and it featured a plethora of genres instead of the stock standard two or three. While there are a few songs I usually tend to skip for varying reasons, the majority of the tracks all have something good to bring to the album, so you’ll probably find one track you’ll like here. Keep in mind that I’m not usually a fan of Britney, or Western music in general (I hated Blackout, too) when I say that this album is SPECTACULAR.
Tracklisting
1. Perfect Star Perfect Style (パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル)
2. Linear Motor Girl (リニアモーターガール)
3. Computer City (コンピューターシティ)
4. Electro World (Album Version) (エレクトロ・ワールド)
5. inryoku (引力, lit. Gravity)
6. Monochrome Effect (モノクロームエフェクト)
7. Vitamin Drop (ビタミンドロップ)
8. Sweet Donuts (スウィートドーナッツ)
9. Foundation (ファンデーション)
10. Computer Driving (コンピュータードライビング)
11. Perfume
12. wonder2
“Perfume ~Complete Best~” is the debut album from the J-Tek trio Perfume, and is also their first best-of album. It contains all their singles up to Electro World, apart from their two Hiroshima indies singles that Nakata didn’t produce. It reached #66 on the Oricon charts upon the initial “Limited Edition” release, and #144 for the later “Regular Edition” release, which fell off of the charts for two weeks and re-entered upon the release of the “Polyrhythm” single. The “Limited Edition” was released on the 2nd of August 2006, while the “Regular Edition” was released on the 14th of February 2007.
Perfect Star Perfect Style comes in with some quiet synth playing, before my ears are ripped open by Perfume’s somewhat awful un-vocodered voices. It could be a lot worse (MEG), and when the verse comes in, they sound a bit better. It’s nice to hear them without the vocoders that GAME was absolutely plagued with. I mean, the vocoders are still there, but their real voices are easily distinguishable. The arrangement itself has quite a few rough spots, with sudden pitch changes that make no sense and some weird sounds here and there, but overall, it’s pretty good, and as said, Perfume’s voices aren’t overly bad. It’s a decent way to start their debut album, I guess.
Linear Motor Girl then kicks it up, giving us a much faster song than the predecessor that focuses a lot more on synth beeps and thumps than the smooth, musical sound PSPS had. The heavily vocodered engrish “Are you ready?” never fails to make me think of Ayumi Hamasaki and that talk show she had. Anyway, back on the song, it focuses a lot on the beeps, and the vocoders are a bit lighter when we get to the verses of the song, and they tend to harmonize pretty well. I mean, what, is it only one girl singing or something? I can barely hear anyone apart from the usual strong voice with the small changes to it in the background that I assume are the other two girls. I can’t even tell who’s singing the main part in this song. It’s alright, but it’s not too good.
Next we have Computer City, which I had dubbed an “Unconventional Ballad” in my recent J-Tek post. The song has a heavy computerized sound to it, which evidently fits the name, but the high pitch and sort of fading beeps in the background give the song a sort of space-y sound. While the verses are pretty much flat when it comes to the vocals, the chorus sounds a lot better in this respect, and I’m loving the acoustic guitar in the background. I can’t tell whether the song’s about the impending overtake technology’s putting on us, or whether it’s completely about heartbreak, because the lyrics (once translated) tend to be one huge mindfuck of the two. It could just be me, though, I guess. The vocals with the music tend to make the song sound kind of mournful or sad, even. It’s one of my favorites from the album, anyway. It would’ve fitted well on GAME, and it tends to have the most vocoder usage so far, so the vocal weaknesses are sort of covered. (Cheaters…)
I have no idea what differences the Electro World (Album Version) has from the original version, but this song is a lot heavuer than the previous four tracks. It’s pretty much the Complete Best’s take on GAME, the title track from their next album, apart from the presence of actual vocals and a meaning. The new opening has a nice ethereal, soothing sound to it before we’re treated to more synth beeping. I rather enjoy how the vocals sound throughout the song, but the extended notes in the chorus can be a bit grating at times. The song has a much heavier usage of synth compared to the previous songs, and the vocoder’s used a lot more here too; probably on a similar level to Computer City. The extended instrumentals after the chorus are brilliant, too, as is the one thrown in the middle of the verses. The song tends to sound a lot better after you’ve heard it going for a while instead of sitting through the extended introduction, but it’s definitely one of the stronger tracks on the album. The lyrics sort of make me wonder whether this could be called an “unconventional ballad”, too.
And now we’re back into a lighter, almost idol sound with inryoku. The opening with the short cuts of Kashiyuka singing the title of the song over and over is unbelievably adorable, and the chorus, with its continued usage of synth beeping and the cheery backing track, sounds pretty good too. The repeating of the “pa” sound tends to get on my nerves a bit, as does the sort of flat sound the song has. The use of the piano (organ, maybe?)/synthesizer to make it SOUND like whatever the hell it is in the background sounds nice though.
Say hello to the namesake of my previous blog~ I actually have no idea why the hell I decided to use Monochrome Effect, because the linearly boring synth and horrible, wavery un-vocodered vocals make this song a real pain to listen to. The chorus sounds a bit better, but the verses are absolutely unbearable. It sounds like a Tek-Idol song, really. I guess the odd vocals could be considered somewhat… Erm… “Cute”, but it’s not really working.
Current namesake~ It’s actually sort of ironic that Monochrome Effect (my first blog) is right before Vitamin Drop, because I had absolutely no idea when I chose this name. Vitamin Drop still sounds sort of reminiscent of an idol song, but it does so in a much more interesting manner, with the lively synth and sparkling beeps that make up the arrangement. The vocals are still largely un-vocodered, but they sound a lot stronger in this song. It’s sort of linear still, but the arrangement has its quieter moment near the end, which helps switch it up at least a little bit.
Now we have the first ever song Nakata produced for Perfume. Sweet Donuts carries a sort of idol sound to it STILL (this was still their image at the beginning of their career, really), but it carries a more computerized sound than songs like Monochrome Effect and Vitamin Drop, while sounding more unbelievably cute than either of those songs did. The weaker vocals are still here, but both the chorus and verses sound so cute that I can let it pass~ Despite being a rabid idol hater, this song is actually standable.
Foundation follows this up, and I must admit that I’m rather surprised to see a b-side make it onto the album. The high opening, lowering synth sounds are sort of annoying, but the arrangement sounds great when it comes in, following a much smoother arrangement compared to the beeps you can hear a lot on this album. The chorus is extremely annoying though, if not only because of how the title’s said, and how it lacks any real lyrics. This is sort of a skip track, really.
Computer Driving goes back to the beep method, and it ends up sounding sort of like a slower Linear Motor Girl. It has a cuter sound to it, as does most of the latter half of this album, and that’s sort of what kills this song, along with the continued linearity that seems intent on dragging the song on with the once again un-vocodered vocals.
Perfume, the song titled after the band, comes in next, and it’s a drastic change from the rest of the style of the album. The song carries a heavy 8-bit sound to it, while still keeping a cure, upbeat sound. The vocals are vocodered, but it’s still not at an extremely high level. Just enough to make them fit. It’s one of the fastest songs on the album, which doesn’t always work with the 8-bit sound, but it worked pretty well here. I’m surprised that this song was a b-side in the first place considering its name, and the fact that it’s a b-side makes me surprised that it’s even here. Either way, it’s a good song, especially for the NES and SNES players out there, if they weren’t annoyed to hell by the music.
wonder2 closes the album, and the echoing “la”’s over the spacey synth doesn’t sound very good at all. When the girls stop ad-libbing and it’s just the arrangement, it’s not as bad, and the verses tend to sound very well done. I think this is the first time the vocoder is used to sort of granulate their voices and break segments up into multiple sounds, too. It’s another b-side, but this tends to be my second favorite of the three (after Perfume), apart from those damned “la”’s. It was a nice way to end the album, and it fits the position well, too.
Album Score
B-
Favorite Tracks
1. Computer City
2. Electro World (Album Version)
3. Perfume
4. Sweet Donuts
5. wonder2
While the album goes towards the idol sound to an annoyingly large amount, a lot of the songs here are at least decent, with the songs towards the end of the era sounding a lot more like the Perfume that we all know and love. I’d call it a decent introduction to the girls, but GAME is, overall, a superior album.
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.
Tracklisting
1. Graceland
2. Addicted
3. Here Comes The Sun
4. Pride
5. Bold And Delicious
6. Every Step
7. Break Down
8. Dreams
9. Ladies Night
10. Vaya Con Dios
11. Beautiful Girl
12. Over And Over
13. Happy Tears
14. Million Miles
Addicted is the 6th studio album from Sweetbox, and the 5th overall to feature Jade Villalon on vocals. It was released on the 1st of March, 2006, and is probably best known for the songs that were given to Ayumi Hamasaki to work with: Bold And Delicious, Ladies Night, Pride, Beautiful Girl, Every Step and an old demo song, In The Corner (not on this album) were all given to Ayumi to work with, all with intact titles apart from Beautiful Girl (Changed to Beautiful Day) and Every Step (Rainy Day). Many songs on this album also sample classical pieces, which is common in Sweetbox works.
Graceland opens very mysteriously, relying entirely on a strings section, with Jade singing over it. It all gives the image of darkness, especailly when the synth comes in. It gets a lot more interesting at the chorus, where it gains a highly synthesised arrangement with the strings playing along in the background. It’s an interesting sound, and the strings and synth work perfectly together, with Jade’s voice accompanying them well. It tends to get a little worse when the additional synth comes in, as it gains a much grittier, electronic sound that kills the mood. So it averages out to be a pretty much general song.
We now come to the title track Addicted, which samples the classical song “Vivaldi”. This is also the only sample that I know, so, sorry guys. ANYWAY, I’m sure many of you will recognise these opening strings, which come from said song, which quickly lead into a highly R&B influenced arrangement that is composed of synth that tries to mimic the classical sound, complete with strings and what I can assume is an organ, before coming back to the chorus that features the same arrangement from the chorus mixed with the strings from Vivaldi that opened the song, which are now extended. Again, Jade’s voice fits perfectly, and this song lacks any overly sudden changes of mood that ruin it. It’s a great choice for the title track, really.
More opening strings, this time a happy medium between Graceland and Addicted, and they appropriately make you think of a sunrise, which you should hope for with a title like Here Comes The Sun. Like Graceland, the strings are present throughout all of the song, along with some synth, which is, again, R&B influenced, but with a large pop influence at the same time. I tend to lose interest halfway through this song, when it takes a higher tone and sounds a bit too awkward to be of any good. It does go back down, but by that point more of the same isn’t really enough. It’s a nice optimistic song, but it’s kinda boring.
And now we ditch the strings and get us some piano. Pride is the first song on the album to not begin with strings, and is also the first song that Ayumi was allowed to use from this album. It’s a slower song that sounds familiar, to the point that it could even be a cover. Confirmation on this would be great if you could provide it. Anyway, the chorus beings in some strings and drums, which all work really well. They last for the remainder of the song now, and it works well. It’s not too dark, but it’s not a happy song either, which can be heard in the lyrics; to sum it up, it’s a song about loss, but it may not necessarily be death. It’s open to some interpretation, really. But it works.
And we finally break the routine! Bold And Delicious is the first song to really break the mould on this album, and it ditches any classical pretences to give us a song with a much more modern sound to it. The song opens with adlibbing and finger snaps, along with some synth that resembles some sort of shaker instrument, possibly maracas. It has a heavier R&B sound to it, but it has an interesting twist: Every time she reaches the “Bold and Delicious” line, you’re treated to a breakdown that takes on a rock sound, with the heavy use of electric guitar that can also be heard slightly in the beginning and throughout. It’s also the most explicit song so far; Not that the lyrics are openly dirty, but it’s definitely about relations of some kind of intimate nature, winkwinknudgenudge. Heheh… Maybe.
The next song can either be very annoying or very touching. Every Step is a ballad, but not as grand as J-Pop ballads usually are. I say it’s touching, because it’s another song about loss, but this time it’s a lot more dramatic instead of vengeful. The lyrics and simple arrangement are beautiful, but there’s a huge flaw: THE FREAKING METRONOME! It’s there throughout the whole song, so it can get a bit grating after a while. It could also have some relation to the song, if it were, say, a clock or something. But it’s still unbearably grating sometimes. A large downside to a beautiful song. However, it isn’t really there for the second half of the song, but the drums mimic the metronome sound, so it can be a bit annoying. Also, at the same point in EVERY chorus, there’s this weird, strangled cry that fades in and out that gets sort of creepy, especially in this song.
Another song with a gimmick. However this time, it’s a music box, and it doesn’t last throughout. But it is an odd thing to open this song with. Break Down is another sadder song, but not on any level we’ve seen on this album. This song has a more R&B sound to it, with all the focus in the first verse being on the clapping and piano, with some minimal synth being added just before the chorus, which brings in a few more sounds, but nothing significant. It’s not a great song, it tends to be a bit too plain at times, when compared to what Sweetbox can do.
Again, a song with a similar emotional tone. Dreams annoys the hell out of me. The song consists of a piano that oddly sounds somewhat muffled, with some seemingly jibberish voice overs. They MAY be reversed, but I can’t be certain. The song keeps a similar R&B beat throughout, with almost NO changes, and while I don’t really mind said beat, it’s too simple to make it overly interesting, and those reoccuring voice overs get too annoying to warrant a real listen.
“Good morning, class!” Ladies Night has womans anthem written all over it. The song has one general theme: Bash men as much as possible within a 3:15 time limit. Ladies, listen to this song. It gives some great tips as to how to lose your boyfriend if he isn’t satisfying you. It has a more modern sound to it, and is pretty much borderline electronic. It sort of emasculates you when you listen to this song, so be warned. It’s a fun song, really, despite the sometimes alarming lyrics, and I can’t help but listen to it every time I have my iPod on.
The next song is odd. Vaya Con Dios has a foreign sort of sound to it. Mexican, to be exact. I dunno, that’s what it makes me think of. Anyway, it’s another upbeat song, that focuses on its clapping synth and eventually, the piano. It’s another fun song, but it sort of pales in its position after Ladies Night. It’s a fun song, but it seems sort of niche really, with its individual sort of sound.
Beautiful Girl has the whole 50s feeling to it, as it sounds like the sort of soft rock you’d hear in one of those 50s movies with the hesitant, preppy girls and the nerdy guys that love them. Anyway, it’s another empowerment song to women, as it’s basically questioning what it means to be beautiful. You can’t really pinpoint a mood to it, but that never means much. I really like the arrangement during the chorus, as it adds in the whole extended note synth to give it a fuller sound. Jade’s vocals, again, work well with this song.
Over And Over opens with a quick, skipping synth, before leading into a familiar clapping synth arrangement. The opening synth manages to sound different, which adds to the song, especially since the familiar synth sort of takes away from the song overall. The verses can be a bit boring, but this song has one of the better choruses on the album. I swear, whoever produces Sweetbox’s music is good at making music that fits Jade’s voice, because once again, it sounds great.
Happy Tears is a very quiet song, with the instruments taking a back seat to Jade this time, when the song opens. It’s a more dramatic song, with the uplifting atmosphere mixed with fitting lyrics. It mainly consists of one verse, one chorus, an instrumental, and another chorus. This makes it feel sort of lacking overall, which isn’t a real plus for this song, and her vocals actually sound a bit worse this time. It’s forgettable, really.
The final song on this album is completely acoustic. As such, Million Miles is a simple song, with a larger vocal focus. Jade’s voice actually sounds best in an acoustic song like this than it has on most of the album, and that’s saying something, when her voice has been great throughout. While this song is good, it’s SHORT. 2:22 seems sort of normal for an acoustic track like this, but you can’t help but wish it was longer.
Overall Score
A+
Favorite Song
Addicted, Ladies Night, Beautiful Girl, Million Miles
This is pretty much Sweetbox’s best album, and a great way to end their career as a group. Of course, Jade has gone on to perform solo now, but if they had kept going at this rate, they could have been much better as a group. Admittedly, this is a group I love to fawn over sometimes, but I feel that they really deserve it, especially when it comes to this album.
I will now be featuring… MEG.
I was hoping I’d never say those words on this blog, but I’ve had a large amount of requests for her, and after Jin requested that I review her after accepting a request of mine, I thought I may as well give in and just do it. So here she is.
I’ll start off by reviewing her single Amai Zeitaku from the BEAM era, as requested. So stay tuned.
Also, don’t forget my previous melody. review that I just posted!
EDIT: And now, I’ve decided to announce something else…
I will be featuring Sweetbox in my next special review!
I’ve been a pretty big fan of Sweetbox for a long time, ever since the release of Final Fantasy X-2, which featured their songs Real Emotion and 1000 Words.
As such, I think it’s a great idea to make them my feature , as they’re most popular in Asian countries as far as I can gather. Plus, special reviews don’t apply to the Japanese-only rule, as it’s not an era or discography being reviewed.
Anyway, I will be reviewing their album last album together, Addicted, very soon! Especially since I can’t review anything Asian. (Damnit, Wiki.Theppn…) Also, the “Good Morning, Class!” title will make sense after this review. xD;;
Vampire Ecstacy is the debut album from the B-Horror themed industrial techno (Possibly? I’m not totally sure on their genre) band, Aural Vampire. It was originally released on the 22nd of March, 2004/6 (I’m getting two different responses to the release date), as their debut material: It had no singles preceeding it. Sales information is unavailable.
Tracklisting
1. opening
2. Vampire Ecstacy
3. Freeeze!!
4. Terror Vixen
5. Hana no Sakigake
6. THE REPOMAN
7. Preservative Woman
8. Crimson Tyrant
9. S.O.B
10. Disco King
11. Banboro Koubo
12. Murealism
13. PNFPN
While opening is about three minutes long, it is an interlude that mainly suits to set the theme for the album: It consists of music that you’d usually hear in movies that have demonic elements and such, and RAVEMAN (Or I’m pretty sure it’s him) speaks in a low register voice that succeeds in really creeping you out. This is also the first of the songs to sample audio clips from old B-Horror movies. I don’t know them all, but I’ll try to point them out. I only know one for sure though.
Onto the first song. Vampire Ecstacy starts with an electronic sound before the synth opens, starting slowly with effects on the top, and slowly gaining in volume. It has that industrial sound from the second it opens, and as soon as EXO-CHIKA’s vocals come in, the song succeeds in getting a whole lot creepier: The ethereal, distant sound of her vocals suit the theme of the album very well, but when it hits the verses, it tones it down a bit. EXO’s vocals come in completely now, still digitized to come extent, and while she has a mechanical sound to her voice, it suits well, and you can tell she has talent. The choruses are short, and tend to exist mainly to give a change of pace to the song. At about 4 minutes in, the song breaks and a heavily digitized voice comes in: “Fear, hate, love, immorality: It is Vampire Ecstacy.” It has an eerie feeling to it overall, but it’s not the best song on the album.
Freeeze!! was the only song by Aural Vampire to get a PV made for it. It opens with the sound of what I assume is candles, with some slight voice overs that continue into the synth, before all effects stop, three small beats are heard, and the real song begins. It’s a lower toned song compared to Vampire Ecstacy, and EXO-CHIKA sounds a lot better in this song. It sounds a lot less creepy compared to the previous tracks, but knowing AV, it surely has a darker meaning to it. ( The site with the translations closed down, so I can’t confirm. Sorry. >< ) Throughout the song, you’ll hear the beat for the song being played on a piano, and it comes out being my favorite part of the song; Again, it’s not exactly creepy, but it’s better for those of you who don’t like creepy music.
Both EXO-CHIKA and RAVE MAN have a personal interlude in this album: Terror Vixen is EXO-CHIKA’s. It has a heavy marching band sound to it, with EXO changing her vocals to suit the sound better. It does feature some male vocals in it, which’re sung in a rather odd way… Reminds me of opera singers, really. It’s actually a good track, would’ve made a good full-length song.
Hana no Sakigake already sounds completely different to every other song on the album. It opens with a piano, that actually sounds sort of jazzy, or maybe has some blues influence. It’s quickly joined by some heavily industrial synth, WHILE STILL KEEPING THE PIANO. That was what shocked me, they don’t seem like they’d fit together, do they? EXO-CHIKA’s voice is all over the place in this song, but I think it might be to try and suit the song, as it actually fits it pretty well. I never really listened to this song before now, but it is actually a great track.
THE REPOMAN is the first song that features a sample from a horror movie I can actually pinpoint: That movie being The Repoman. I don’t remember WHERE I read it, and I only know the name of the movie, but this song features sound clips from it. It opens with a distorted voice saying REPOMAN, which you’ll hear throughout the song, which is followed by the synth, and soon after, the audio sample from the movie, which leads into the proper song. This is another of my favorite songs from the album, as while the verses are somewhat bland, it reverts to the chorus synth a few times before it actually reaches the chorus, which helps break the monotony of the track. EXO’s voice is good here, too, and for once you can’t possible hate an artist for singing mechanically: That’s basically her plan.
The next track is my favorite on the album, hands down. Preservative Woman opens with a skipping vocal distortion clip playing over twice; It comes back throughout the song too. It then leads into the synth, which this time features a highly asian sound. I can’t exactly pinpoint which country it reminds me of, but if you asked me to answer right this second, I’d hazard a guess at China. The verses follow the usual theme: Simple, quiet synth with EXO singing over it, before exploding into the chorus, which mixes the asian-themed synth, the vocal distortions and the usual synth beat. The second verse has some interesting distortions on EXO-CHIKA’s vocals, which helps set the song apart, if only slightly.
Crimson Tyrant is what I like to consider RAVEMAN’s interlude, despite being 5 minutes long. It begins with a simple synth beat and audio clips of screaming, with a man speaking over it. It then cuts out completely and cues the most demonic voice you’re going to hear on this album. It’s odd though: At about 1:08, the synth beat comes in and… I don’t know how to describe it, but what you get sounds somewhat hilarious. It’s a sort of thing like a rapper trying to get his audience excited or something, just spoken in the demonic voice. I actually rather enjoy the synth in this song, and it’s the only song with the vocals being provided by RAVEMAN (Or some man or other) instead of EXO-CHIKA. It lacks any real change in the music, or any vocals, but it’s somewhat catchy: I had no idea this song extended past the demonic voice until I decided to finally listen to it now.
S.O.B opens with the sound of a sinister music box, with some haunting synth played over it. It’s an interesting song, as it lacks the thumping synth AV are known for, and instead goes for an ethereal, hauntingly creepy sound. It wouldn’t be AV like this though, and right on cue, 1:30 means we get more of the usual synth. The song still manages to sound different from every other song though, thanks to the aforementioned techniques they utilize in it. It’s a fairly short song, clocking in at only 2:35 long. The closing is downright creepy though: It has multiple audio clips of EXO talking, all distorted somewhat, and since I have no idea what she’s saying, it makes it 10 times worse.
Why, hello there. You’d expect a song called Disco King to be an upbeat, danceish tune, right? Well, of course Aural Vampire didn’t take that route with this song. It opens with an odd synth beat, which can only really be described as semi-aggressive. The song has a clapping beat to it, and might sound somewhat discotic at times: I like to think of it as a disco for demons. It’s the only way I can really describe it. While the tone may change and there may be bits of synth removed at times, it’s probably the most linear song when it comes to this, as it lacks a lot of changes in its sound. It’s not one of my favorites, but it’s interesting to listen to. You can tell Aural loves musical distortions, as this song’s full of them. As well as the usual vocal distortions.
Banboro Koubo opens with a distorted drum playing, before being followed by some more synth: It’s hard to describe it this time, but it really freaks me out for some reason. The verses’ sudden drop in tone also tends to convey an entirely different feeling along the same lines. I don’t really like this song, and I can never really tend to sit through it: Probably my least favorite track.
This next track has been extremely confusing to me for quite some time. Not the song itself; what’s been confusing me is the name. There’s an Aural Vampire song circulating the internet called Maria Rhythm, and as I don’t have the file to compare it with, I can’t tell whether Murealism is the same song or not. Anyway, moving on. This song is probably the most aggressive when it comes to its sound, as it has a rather piercing quality to it, despite the rather muffles sound of the instruments. I don’t like the fact that it takes about a minute to get to anything different though, so I never really sit through this song.
Oh good god. PNFPN wins for biggest surprise on an album. It opens to the sound of drums and an ethereal synth and piano combo, followed by music that sounds as if it was pulled straight from the 80’s. It has a bittersweet, melancholic (Wow, is that even a word?) feeling to it, yet it sounds positive as well. That’s what freaks me out about it: I remembed the translation hinting at some apocalyptic meaning behind the song, which fits: When the song reaches the 4:23, the song acts as if your CD’s screwing up and skips around, which leads into a return of the highly distorted voice of RAVEMAN. Despite the somewhat positive synth behind THIS speaking track, it still somewhat makes the song creepier. I love the synth for the majority of the song, but I can’t stand it when it starts to skip around: I scare exceedingly easily, so it’s no surprise.
Album Score
B-
Favorite Tracks
Preservative Woman, Hana no Sakigake
While this album regularly succeeds in creeping me out, I love it, no doubt. It just has some of the best songs I’ve ever heard, and I love how original it sounds compared to the usual music you’d hear. I mourn about this album for two reasons though:
1) It lacks their two best songs (Hot Blood Workout and Darkwave Surfer)
2) It marks is their first and only album since 2004-6. I recently heard word that they were signed by AVEX last year, so hopefully they make a comeback, as they’re still performing live and everything. What we have now, however, is pure gold in its own right.
NOTE: I’m considering bringing in a section where I review songs that haven’t appeared on a release, just so I can fawn over those fanboy songs that I can’t review yet. I chose this moment to announce it due to the aforementioned absence of Hot Blood Workout and Darkwave Surfer. So, look out for that~
ALSO, I’m still not sure what I’m doing with the reviews. Just a warning.
OOOOOOOTAAAAAY.
Sorry about the lack of reviews guys. My internet has been a total bitch to me lately, as I’ve run out of bandwidth. As such, I’m lucky to be able to post this warning. I won’t be able to review tonight because of said bandwidth, and tomorrow night I have a crapload of school work to catch up on after being sick for about a week (really bad chest/throat infection. ><), but come Thursday I promise to undergo a reviewing spree for you all~
Unless I have more work to catch up on. If THAT’S the case, expect the spree on Friday.
I’ll take this time to also announce my monthly special review…
Before I do, remember that this was a thing for artists I can’t actually feature on the website, or for special live/dvd releases from artists. So, yeah. Just so you all know. This months will be…
(Left: EXO-CHIKA – Vocalist
Right: RAVEMAN – Production)
Ah, Aural Vampire… Japanese Industrial Goth music at its best. This is the one genre I’d usually never think of getting into. However, for some reason, I absolutely fell in love with Aural Vampire. Despite their classing as a gothic industrial band, they have their share of breezy, upbeat songs that make them better for listeners like me. However, they obviously have industrial music too, which I don’t usually like. So it should make for an interesting review. Another interesting fact is the darker messages of their music compared to anyone else I feature. They get a lot of their ideas from those old B-horror movies, as well as apocalypse theories and ideas of demon invasions of earth. I consider them to be a concept band of sorts, because of this, which is also a rather interesting point.
The reason I don’t actually make this a proper feature is because they lack releases. They have their debut single, DEATH FOLDER, and their debut album, Vampire Ecstasy. Both were released in 2006, and the only other songs in their discography are some loose songs not shown on any release. Therefore, since DEATH FOLDER is impossible to find, I’ll be reviewing their album, Vampire Ecstasy. Look out for it as the end of the month draws closer.
Okay, we all know what a Perfume fanboy I am, and as such, I always try to find everything I can about them. Namely, their entire discography. I just managed to find the one single that’s been eluding me for ages, so to celebrate, I decided to review it in all of its glory. Presenting the first special Musing/Review combo~
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AKIHABALOVE was a special event release by Perfume, and is not considered one of their official releases due to the guest producer, DJ Momo-i (Better known as Momoi Haruko). It was only available during the Uchimizu events during the summer of 2005, and is now a collectors item worth around $450 due to its rarity.
Track Listing
1. AKIHABALOVE (Perfume x DJ Momo-i)
2. AKIHABALOVE (Karaoke) (Perfume x DJ Momo-i)
Despite how stupid it may seem to review a concert single, this is Perfume as you haven’t seen them before. You can attribute this to DJ Momo-i, the producer of this single (instead of the usual Yasutaka Nakata.) This hasn’t appeared on an album by the girls to date, either.
Anyway, this song has a much heavier techno sound to it compared to any other works by the girls. It’s full of aggressive synth, and you can at least vaguely hear an electric guitar at certain intervals throughout the song. The vocals of the girls aren’t synthesized this time around, yet they still seem to suit the new style of music shown in this single. It shows that the girls can handle music that’s a lot more mature compared to their normal works, while still retaining the cutesy feeling their usual songs have. While Momoi is a vocalist/singer herself, she only features in this song by providing the back-up vocals for the girls, which can only really be heard in the Karaoke version of the song. It’s a shame, as Momoi is another great techno pop artist, but at least she gets some sort of feature in the song.
HOWEVER, I do have one gripe with the song. While the chorus is great, it can sound a bit awkward at times, and the verses do tend to get a little boring due to the quieter nature of them. It’s still a great song, so I won’t mark it down for it, but it can get annoying.
Anyway, despite this being released in 2005, I find myself hoping another collaboration between Perfume and Momoi takes place soon, because these two work great together.
Overall Grade
A+
For you readers who are getting sick of the cutesy style Perfume is well known for, AKIHABALOVE may be worth a listen due to the individuality the track shows. It even works well as a karaoke if you’re into the heavy techno style of music. Definitely the best song by Perfume, if not solely for its originality.
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I realize I did rave about this song, but in my opinion, it deserves it. This single alone should have shown Nakata that they don’t have to oversell the cutesy images of the girls. Anyway, both ways work. It’s just great to hear this different style of music from the girls.
This won’t be the first random/special review I do, either. They won’t be announced or anything, and I won’t be doing them very often (I’d say around one or two a month), because I don’t want to cause TOO much confusion to you readers. Not all of the specials will be about Perfume, either. I was going to review a special album instead, but I was overly excited by finding this, so I just had to do it~
I can’t provide a direct link to the song at the moment, so instead, I’ve decided to embed the music video. Credit goes to whoever uploaded it to YouTube~
I can provide a link to the forum where I downloaded it later~ Also note, this new section is only for special releases by featured artists, or albums released with no singles by artists that I don’t regularly feature. If I ever decide to review a past album by someone that I DO feature, that’ll go in the normal review section.
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