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Best holdover:  My #1 from 2006, OLIVIA inspi’REIRA, released even more soundtrack material for the NANA anime this year, and I kept eating it up.  Angsty rock ballads are clearly OLIVIA’s forte (see “Recorded Butterflies” and “Winter Sleep”), but I was also surprisingly taken with Anna Tsuchiya inspi’NANA’s more uptempo punk rock, especially the ( Read more... )

Every December brings a flood of Ayu goodness -- always a new album, 2-3 new PVs, and a new concert.   I'm absolutely loving GUILTY so far, as much as I enjoyed (miss)understood two years ago, and much more so than Secret.  Although a little short, with only 10 tracks, there's not a dud in the bunch, which I couldn't say about my old favorite (m)u ( Read more... )

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 Wow ... so this is what happens when a multibillion dollar tech company forays into making music.  Samsung evidently has enough money to create its own K-pop supergroup, consisting of BoA, Xiah Junsu (of uber-popular boyband TVXQ, aka DBSK), Tablo (from Epik High), and Jin Bora, a jazz pianist.  And then they put out a blockbuster single, and to ( Read more... )

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You know, I'm so out of touch with Western music that I didn't even realize that Ami Suzuki's new single, "Potential Breakup Song", was a cover of a hit from this year.  I just listened to Aly & AJ's original version, and it's actually not much different from Ami's.  It continues her current electro-pop kick, but sadly SUGIURUMN is no Yasutaka ( Read more... )

No, I'm not referring to my favorite Ayu song, but rather Avril Lavigne's bizarro appearance on SMAPXSMAP today.  Unfortunately, clips aren't available on Youtube yet (wtf?), but the torrent's up at jpopsuki and boy is it memorable.  J-boyband relics SMAP duet with Avril on her bubblegum anthem "Girlfriend" ... and seem way more into it than she ( Read more... )

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I haven't been doing much random music sampling this year (the Jpop blog scene seems to have faded out), but I've become quite taken with an old song of Mika Nakashima's that I found on Teruki Paradise.  Most of her classic hits are in the vein of slow, slow ballads, so I haven't perused her catalog at much length.  Perhaps I've been missing out ( Read more... )

Who knew Israeli dance music had so much going for it?  I'm still fanning myself after checking out Yonatan Gatro's not-quite-safe-for-work video for "Hot Summer Nights":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwYsz0-UEk

Love the guttural Hebrew.  And the tighty whities.  And the ... oh, my!  Jpop could learn a thing or two... 

though we wish it wouldn't.  It's hard to believe, but I think I enjoyed the "fated" PV even less than "glitter".  While the first part had a paint-by-numbers plotline, at least it was easy to follow, whereas "fated" feels disjointed and rushed.  After one date, suddenly they're crazy in love and kissing in the rain?  And then getting married?  And ( Read more... )

Ayu's acting range extends from opening her eyes wide to opening her eyes wider.  And considering they hired a big-name director for "glitter", the PV is like Film Making 101, with the 'slow walk' in the opening scene, and the numerous gratuitous freeze shots.  I liked the sequence where she's filming in the crystal cave ... now that would've made ( Read more... )