December 2010
7 posts
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61st NHK Kohaku Songlist
Had a quick look at the songs that this year’s NHK Kohaku performers will be singing. I won’t be sitting through the whole thing this time (for real!), there’s really nobody I’m that interested in. A few noteworthy picks:
・HY’s 時をこえ - A very nice song. Strange that HY would get picked for Kohaku this year, about 7 years past the peak of their popularity. I have no...
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COSMONAUT
Spent some time exploring BUMP OF CHICKEN’s new record. First couple of listens tell me that it’s a good album, though it might take a few more months before I decide whether or not to label it great.
I didn’t actually like the singles that preceded COSMONAUT that much (except Mahou no Ryouri) but in the context of a long-player they all fit in seamlessly, making up the pieces...
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2010 in Review: 20 (and a few more) Favourite...
It turns out 2010 was a relatively good year for Japanese music, if you’re willing to look further from the pop charts and explore a little bit more. The following 20+ albums dominated my Foobar and iPod playlists and are all worth investing time and money in.
Non-ordered list: 2010. Clammbon Their best album in a while yet. Manages to splice together those chalk-cheese (and water?)...
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Utada Hikaru's WILD LIFE Night 1
Just watched the stream of the first night of Hikki’s two Yokohama Arena WILD LIFE lives. It was short at just under 2 & 1/2 hours but of course, we’ve gotta remember there’s another one tomorrow night so she’ll need to conserve some energy for that.
Thoughts? Vocally, it was typically rough for her - Hikari was 90% off-key, and she struggled to hit the high notes on...
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Purchases in Tokyo
I really didn’t get much this time (for my standards) due to budget constraints. What I picked up:
・Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2. Utada Hikaru - This was a no-brainer given my on-off 10-year long love affair with Hikki’s music. ・Girls Talk. KARA - I’m not even going to bother denying that I’m absolutely in love with KARA…I just need to listen to Jumping and...
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Common SENSE
This is turning into an awesome year. New albums from my three favourite bands Spitz, Mr.Children & BUMP OF CHICKEN?!? Bring it on!
…is what I would have said if it was 2004, when Spitz released Iro Iro Goromo, MisuChiru Shifuku no Oto and BUMP Yggdrasil. Fast forward 6 years and my enthusiasm for all three has dwindled a little in the face of a changing Jpop landscape that is being...
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K-pop is winning the war.
A friend and I were having dinner with some Japanese record label types sometime last week and they were interested in knowing our opinion about the possibility of their acts expanding into specific Asian markets. CD sales have been sliding down the slippery slope over the past couple of years in the domestic market, so the obvious answer would be to look overseas. Simple, right?
Well it...