Uhh... thanks, Utada, I'll get right on that.  I can't believe those words even came out of your mouth ( Read more... )

HOT:  Ayumi Hamasaki - "Rule" and "Sparkle", and PREMIUM CDL 2008-2009 (best concert ever!)
HOT MESS:  All of the "Rule", ""Days" and "Green" remixes.  Like, every last one of them.

HOT:  ravex - "Believe in Love" feat. BoA
HOT MESS:  ravex - "I RAVE U" feat. DJ OZMA

HOT:  SWEET BLACK feat. Maki Goto - "Fly away"
HOT MESS:  Ami Suzuki - "Reincarnation"

( Read more... )

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1.  Youtube's streaming HD is frigging unbelievable.
2.  It's pretty ballsy to recreate a 5-minute dance sequence live AND juxtapose it with the original PV.  They were so amazingly in-sync for the whole time, I kept having to remind myself that the screen wasn't just a blow-up of their live performance.  Really neat.  You can tell they spent hours ( Read more... )

In a year of BEST DESTINY and BEST FICTION, here are my BEST of the year:

BEST queer content:  BENNIE K - HI-EXPLOSION with DJ HI-KICK.  Step aside, "TABOO" and "GREEN".  Instead of using queer imagery for scandal or shock value, BENNIE K pulls us deep into an authentic underground club scene where drag queens hold court and a glowing, blue drink ( Read more... )

this *is* a 4-minute GAP ad!  Otherwise masquerading as Yuna Ito's eminently watchable new PV, "Koi wa Groovy x2".  I'm used to commercial tie-ins and product placement, but this takes it to a whole other level.  Watching this, I realize how much I miss that series of white soundstage GAP ads from ten years ago, with the different themes, like soul ( Read more... )

I find it hilarious that Ami Suzuki's "can't stop the DISCO" was used as a promo song for a DONUT company!  When she clearly has never eaten a donut in her life, let alone anything else, really.  Seriously, I think she's the skinniest of all the Jpop starlets.

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Also surprising is how Ayu's performing the hell out of "Mirrorcle World" lately, almost 6 ( Read more... )

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... comes courtesy of BoA!  In one swoop redeeming an annus horribilis, my favorite Korean pop princess reminds everyone why she got to the top in the first place.  "Bad Drive", while one of my all-time faves, is one of BoA's most underrated tracks.  So overlooked, in fact, that it's that rare species of single B-side that didn't even make it onto ( Read more... )

Kato Miliyah?!  Whaaaaat??  I'm lurving "SAYONARA Baby", her first foray into clubland, which caught me completely by surprise.  Although she's had a few pop-ish hits, I always expected her to stick relatively close to J-urban territory.  But here we are with a track that thumps so hard it puts DAISHI DANCE to shame.  (I feel compelled to mention ( Read more... )

What's this about Amano Tsukiko retiring from her solo career after the release of "ZERO"??  And here I was blissfully enjoying her new single, which is vintage Tsukiko with its organ, string orchestra and all.  Although admittedly she's super-pitchy during the chorus...

It seems like all my faves are retiring or going on hiatus, one by one... :(

wow, didn't realize it's been so long since I posted...  Anyways, I was eating a deliciously sweet Zespri golden kiwi today, when I thought that something just wasn't right.  Shouldn't there be a theme song playing in my head while I'm eating it?  Something shamelessly peppy and techno, but strangely familiar?  And accompanied by a PV of varying ( Read more... )