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I just heard the news of Ayaka graduating. This sucks, as I loved Ayaka and still do. She's great. Hopefully there will come a ranking like this soon where I can prove my love for Ayaka to you. Well, she wasn't really doing anything much the last few years so maybe it's better this way. Still, this does suck.
Well, even though I will severely miss Ayaka I'm sure, even that won't ruin my day. Today is an awesome day, or at least it will be. It's absolutely awesome weather out there and it just happens to be Vappu in Finland today, which is basically just a day invented for us Finns to get absolutely wasted with good friends for no good reason at all except for it being Vappu (even though Wikipedia might say there is something else to it, too... pfft, they're all lies!). And so, I shall do just that. Time for a shower soon, then I'll get out there and drink until I can drink no more and later go witness a fucking awesome band live that goes by the name of Stam1na, hopefully spending the entire length of the evening, probably shirtless, in a brutal but always friendly metal moshpit... all while drinking way too much Koskenkorva. I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure it just doesn't get much better than that.
Before I do any of that though, I think it's finally time for my first proper post in ages. I've got a good one for you this time, I think.
Tsunku. The man who writes the majority of songs for H!P's line-up, with over 10 years of doing just that behind him, still scoring one hit after the other. Now, you can't by any means say he can never do any wrong... but he is a pretty damn solid songwriter, with years of experience and both personal highs as well as lows, still retaining that will of his to keep going, that unsatiable thirst to keep writing and crafting what he thinks will be his ultimate masterpieces of songs for people to remember him by.
This time, it's actually a little difficult for me to explain to you what exactly it is I'm ranking here. But it is a kind of top 5 songs of Tsunku's that are the most ambitious, epic or, well, simply interesting! As you can probably imagine, this ranking is incredibly subjective (not to mention very hard to do) so there's no need to take it all that seriously, because honestly, who really has the right to say any song is structured better or is overall just a better composition than something else? Well, alright, someone with musical training or so could easily judge them and say which songs are the most accomplished songwriting-wise, but even that is just judging the universal technical aspect of the songs... which is, of course, not all there is to a great song; it's also very much about your own opinion or "feel" of the song that decides which songs sound truly good to your ears. So hell, it's basically just a list of a bunch of great songs I like, though not quite. I mean, Minimoni Jankenpyon! is a great song and I love it to bits and all, but you won't find it on this list because it's just absolutely batshit-insane song-wise (though everyone decides for themselves if that is a good or a bad thing).
You could say I'm making a list of 5 songs that are great, but with somehow more "refined" songwriting/composition, even though I admit I have absolutely no training on this subject, nor any classical or otherwise real musical background. And so, keeping all that in mind, does it make any sense for me to be making a ranking like this? Fuck no. But here I go anyways.
Firstly, a honorary mention goes out to Minimoni - Haru-Natsu-Aki-Fuyu Daisukki! Yeah, I know what you're all thinking, you're thinking "pfft, just a honorary mention, that silly Henkka, I'll just move on and read the actual top 5..." but NO! That's wrong! Maybe other times it could be acceptable, but not this time! This is the b-side track to Minimoni Jankenpyon!, and god damn you, go listen to it now. Is that riff in the beginning awesome or what? It's not THAT special of a composition, but it's something a little different anyways, is it not? And very cheery too, while we're at it! Basically this is a song I just wanted to mention SOMEWHERE. I just want this track to get acknowledged! Hell, there isn't even a proper article for it on wiki.theppn, what the hell you guys?!
5th: Morning Musume - Namida ni wa Shitakunai: (I'm totally writing these explanations out of order and this is the last thing I'm writing now and I'm kinda in a hurry, I need to start getting drunk soon. You won't mind if I slack off a bit on this one, do you? :))
You might think this is a bit of an odd choice here... and it kinda is, you're right. Granted, it isn't very ambitious and it surely isn't epic at all. However, I do think it's very interesting and unique sounding. The melodies at times sound very unusual to my ears, at least in the context of H!P music. First it might sound like your basic throwaway Momusu b-side, but I really think it isn't, I'd say it's way underrated; I don't remember ever seeing any praise for it. Well, time to fix that right now. It's awesome! I just love the instrumentation here really!
Oh, fun little thing I just noticed now. A nice touch you might not notice right away is that at the start, all the lines sung go in order of when the girls joined.
(...Oooh man, now I really gotta go and get drunken! Thinking about it now, though, this song isn't really all that "refined" either... Oh hell, I don't have the time now to look for a better one. Gotta go. See you! Read the rest of the post please, it gets better, I promise! :D)
4th: Natsumi Abe - Yuuyakezora: This oft forgotten b-side of Natsumi's first solo single 22sai no Watashi is basically here for the sole reason that it's one of the rare cases in H!P where I can truly say I've never heard another song quite like this in all of H!P's discography. Really. That must mean it's special somehow, right?
Nevertheless, Yuuyakezora is an interesting song, very much unlike any other H!P song I can remember, like I just said. It's a slow/mid-tempo one, with pretty interesting sounding instrumentation to give it a unique feel. Without looking at a translation of the lyrics before writing this, it doesn't take much to figure out they probably aren't very happy. Indeed, the vocals during the verses are filled with what could almost be called angst similar to the vocals in Shabondama, however with a much more substantial amount of sadness. Nacchi's vocal performance doesn't leave much to be desired; numerous are the amount of eargasms I've experienced whilst hearing those chilling choruses.
It's simply a surprisingly sad song for not being a ballad. I would basically call it the complete opposite of Nacchi's newest single Iki wo Kasanemashou. Give this another chance for a change; I know it's spring and all and you'd only want to listen to happy fun stuff, but damn, that's all the more reason to listen to something nice and depressing! Hooray for being negative!
3rd: Morning Musume - Dekiru Onna: The b-side track to Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT. Tsunku isn't afraid to sometimes really let his influences shine through in his songs, be it through Beatles-y Kids songs or what-have-you, and this is no different. Any j-pop song sung by a bunch of cute girls that sounds so much like Queen absolutely gets two thumbs up from me.
I feel Rika does an excellent job at both opening and closing this song. In fact, the opening line is pretty much my favorite line of the whole song. Though I use the word way too often on my blog, the very beginning just sounds incredibly eerie to my ears. I feel Rika really delivers on that line. Very nicely done.
Tasty guitar solo, too!
2nd: Morning Musume - Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~: This is definitely one for the epic category. This track just screams "epic!" at you, does it not? Yossie (along with Nacchi and Maki) takes on the role of the hot male center seducing the then-innocent Makoto, hot enough to even make me go gay for her... if she really was a male, that is.
You know, the problem with most of H!P's music (and j-pop in general too, I admit) is its inability to REALLY give me those kicks I get from some other forms of music. You might know what I'm talking about; hearing a part so good in a song, it just makes you feel ecstatic and it forces a smile on your face and you're thinking "ahh... this is what music is all about, man". Some people refer to this phenomenon as an "eargasm", or "music-induced erection".
I don't get that a lot with Hello! Project. It's not necessarily that I think other music is superior to H!P's offerings... the problem, I think, lies in the pop music format. You see, I think what really gives me those special moments with music are the build-ups. Yep, the build-ups, while not really rare in pop music, they could definitely be used more in H!P songs. Though while I do love them, there are exceptions to this rule: The Beatles are often times very pop, and they are able to give me that feeling of awesomeness no matter if there is a build-up in sight anywhere. I mean, "Because" from Abbey Road? Damn! ...But then again, The Beatles are, well, The fuckin' Beatles, man!
However, this is not a problem I have to experience with this song. As you know, this one features an awesome build-up and it's naturally my favorite part of the whole song. You know what I mean. First the whole call-and-answer thing Nacchi and Maki do, then Yossie's crazy solo and the "YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!"... followed by a short silence, after which we kick into the lovely chorus once more... and it's all just awesome. Watching some of the older performances of this one, it almost never fails to give me the chills. Specifically, right after the yeah's and during the break. Ahh, that anticipation of the greatness approaching...
Long story short, I love the song. But then again, who doesn't?
1st: Morning Musume - Souda! We're ALIVE: Yep, this is one song I feel definitely fills all three requirements of this ranking. It's epic, ambitious and most definitely interesting. And what's more, it's rocking as hell! In fact, it's so rocking I often have to make the "angry metalhead face" when listening to it; if you are the least bit into metal and have seen any live videos of especially the guitarists and bassists, you can't have missed this facial expression. The one that looks like they're extremely constipated. Or, if you play guitar or something yourself and you have to do some real fast picking, then you should also know what I'm talking about, it sort of comes out naturally! You know what I'm talking about, right? Right? Huh, you don't?! I'll show you!
Seriously, I often look just like that during those rocking, funky verses! Well, except for the whole going bald thing, thank god.
This song is all over the place but it's totally in a good way. I don't have to make a list of everything that goes on in the song, but what's important is that it doesn't feel forced or pretentious at all, not even while introducing that whole Russian polka section or whatever the hell that thing is. Even that is pure gold, and the transition is nearly unnoticeable. Like I've mentioned before, this song has what I think is pretty much the happiest part in any Hello! Project song ever, that wonderful chorus. I'll say no more about it. Just go listen to it to refresh your memory.
That sweet, sweet chorus...
Next is going to be something nearly essential of a ranking when it comes to H!P; it's the top 5 cutest songs.
P.S.: You bastards, don't even bother checking if these were all written by Tsunku; I double-checked and yes, yes they are! Hah! I escape ridicule once more!
...Phew, I'll never write another blog-post in a huge hurry like this again!
Inspired by podcasts of other bloggers like Vee, wu-san and CJ, here's the first one by me also!
Songs played:
Ikimono Gakari - @miso soup
Yuko Nakazawa - DO MY BEST
Origin - The Burner
Download it here (30:45, 42.2MB)
...And everyone is wrong once again!
What do you get when you mix cute, young girls, star-shaped tambourines, Irish/Scottish folky squaredancing, bitchin' bagpipes and you top it off by consuming a hefty amount of LSD or other psychedelic drugs?
One way or another, a whole bunch of fucking awesome, that's what. While combining these things can result in a variety of interesting outcomes, to many the most desirable result is the awesomeness better known as Anataboshi by Milky Way. This song is so incredibly fun.
Now, stop being such a cliché of a Koharu-hater and give in to the awesomeness of Milky Way. You know you want to.
Listed here is what I bought from eBay just now and for how much:
- Morning Musume - First Time, Second Morning (w/PB) and 3rd ~ Love Paradise albums - $13.99
- Morning Musume - 4th Ikimasshoi! - $10.50 (box w/poster)
- Morning Musume - No. 5 album - $10.50 (box w/poster)
- Morning Musume - Ai no Dai 6 Kan - $13.99 (box w/poster + photocard)
- Morning Musume - SEXY 8 BEAT - $16.99 (w/DVD)
- Morning Musume - I WISH - $1.49
- Natsumi Abe - Koi no Telephone GOAL - $0.99
- Miki Fujimoto - Romantic Ukare Mode - $3.85
- Aya Matsuura - Momoiro Kataomoi - $2.24 (w/photocard)
- Nochiura Natsumi - Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger - $2.99 (box w/photocards)
- all three 2000 Shuffle Unit singles - $3.99
These are all used, by the way, so that's how some of them were so ridiculously cheap. In total, I paid $81.52 for them all. There's 15 CD's so the average price for one was $5.4. Postage isn't included in that though, but whatever. Not too shabby. Don't you just love eBay at times?
And yes, I'm still saving up for that new guitar...
Oh great, and just now I received a 500 yen coupon from CDJapan. They're urging me to buy from them. They will do almost anything. Again i must ask: Tsunku, why are you taking all my money? What are you using my money for? Do you have better use for my money than I do? Why do you take it all away from me, why extend your greedy palms toward me, offering some of your sweet j-pop in return when you know I can not resist?
Not that any money really goes to Tsunku when you buy used on eBay, but still. :)
Holy shit.
Hoooolyyyy shit. I don't think anyone reading this even cares, but damn, this a pretty big deal for me.
You know how I've been raving about Aucifer a couple of times on this blog? They're pretty much my favorite j-rock band and basically they are to thank for me being as much into Japanese music as I am today. So I was doing what I always like to do once in a while, checking out the personal sites/blogs of the members of Aucifer to see what they are up to these days (as Aucifer is no longer together). And just what did I see in the guitarist Atsuro's blog? I was just staring at what I was reading, going ":O"
My favorite j-rock band now has a very obvious tie to Hello! Project. Fucking awesome.
Seeing Atsuro currently playing guitar for none other than Shoko Nakagawa in TV shows and stuff was already pretty damn cool, but this is so much better. Atsuro aka Kato Daisuke has been involved in numerous Hello! Project songs as of late. He:
- arranged Athena & Robikerottsu's Honki Meki Meki Toki Meki Meki
- arranged Athena & Robikerottsu's Yuugure Sherbet
- arranged and plays guitar and all other instruments on Koharu Kusumi's Mizuiro Melody
- plays guitar on Melon Kinenbi's Drive
This, to me, is too fucking awesome. I just hope he continues to be involved with Hello! Project. Most of all it would be awesome if he got to actually both compose and arrange something in the future. Not to mention if he got a chance to play live for someone who needs a guitar player live, like Yuko or Ayaya. If you don't get my enthusiasm, just take your favorite band and imagine how awesome it'd be if someone from that group was involved with Hello! Project in such a way. :O
Here's a picture of him to show you just who I'm talking about. This is from a recent HEY! HEY! HEY! performance where he was with Shokotan.
Come on. Now you have no chance but to check out Aucifer since there's a tie to Hello! Project that's this clear! Here is a PV by them, the song is called CARNATION CRIME. Atsuro is the one with red hair. Be wary, this is a pretty good one!
Again, this is too cool. Well done Atsuro, keep at it!
Uta Doki!, the TV show mostly featuring H!P artists singing (mostly) classic songs from the 60's through the 90's. This show is finally drawing to a close since airing its first episode on October 2, 2006 and I feel that now as it's mostly done (the remaining 10 episodes will not feature anything new) it's time for what I like best: mindless ranking, baby. While I am looking forward to seeing what Berikyuu! has to offer, I don't think it's going to top the awesomeness of Uta Doki. As I have watched all episodes so far, this show introduced me to many classics of Japanese music that I'd never heard before, and even a few artists I decided to check out further. But most importantly, it was filled with fun and memorable performances.
So hey, if you never got into watching Uta Doki!, here's the perfect chance to check out all the best ones. Expect something much more laidback from me than usual because Uta Doki was all about fun and so I won't do this too seriously either.
Starting with a top 3 of honorary mentions:
3rd: 116 2007-03-21 Sayumi Michishige, Erika Miyoshi & Yui Okada - Jaa ne (originally by Onyanko Club): I greatly prefer this over the original by Onyanko Club for it has more clarity. Very cute performance! It's not very often that I actually like the sound of Sayu's voice. :) [watch here]
2nd: 059 2006-12-21 Melon Kinenbi - Wedding Bell (originally by Sugar): Good stuff here, somewhat odd song and solid vocals. Check it out. [watch here]
1st: 094 2007-02-19 Mai Satoda - TRAIN-TRAIN (originally by The Blue Hearts): Too bad this couldn't make the top 15. Mai is in top form here and really gets into it! [watch here]
(Geez, the last few lines look like a rainbow)
And then the actual top 15:
15th: 039 2006-11-23 Ai Takahashi (with Taisei) - CHA-CHA-CHA (originally by Ishii Akemi)
Taisei: "Baby, get on my Cadillac", Takitty: "Oh no, I wanna dance my CHA-CHA". I believe a greater conversation has never been had in the history of mankind, lyrical or otherwise.
Let's face it, Taisei is fucking awesome. Anything with Taisei in it will instantly make it much better and this one is no exception. Pure 80's, cheesy goodness and a catchy song that sung by Takitty will be stuck in your head for ages. "I wanna dance, do you like CHA-CHA-CHA / A virgin kibun CHA-CHA". This will not be the last of Taisei in this list; in fact, he has the most appearances in all of these, along with one other girl.
14th: 336 2008-01-31 Rika Ishikawa - Minato no Yoko Yokohama Yokosuka (originally by Down Town Boogie Woogie Band)
Say what you will of Rika, but there is no one in H!P that does the spoken parts in songs quite as well as she does. Shabondama and The Peace!, anyone? And so this song is a perfect fit for Rika since it is mainly just speaking, and Rika does it very well. This one should definitely be watched instead of listened to as in this one, Rika has this surprisingly menacing look with a piercing, mean gaze, all while grinning evilly. She sometimes looks like a devious wolf about to eat you and your family alive. I really liked this one surprisingly much!
13th: 073 2007-01-19 Yuko Nakazawa & Kaori Iida - Makenaide (originally by ZARD)
Ah, now this is a treat. Yuko and Kaori doing the ZARD classic, Makenaide. Such a great song and I think Yuko and Kaori were the perfect girls to do it too, they sound great here, especially Yuko. I've nothing more to add; it's Makenaide!
12th: 358 2008-03-03 Risa Niigaki - Love Letter (originally by Kawai Naoko)
The most recent Uta Doki featured on this list. I didn't think anything this recent would make it, but hey.
I'm very happy Risa managed to have her own featured week on Uta Doki before it ended, and I think this is the best one from the week. Very catchy and Risa looks irresistibly cute even if her hair looks like a dead animal, and she sounds absolutely lovely. I like the fun hand movements during the chorus (or pre-chorus is it?)
11th: 104 2007-03-05 Natsumi Abe & Tsunku - Tsugunai no Hibi (originally by Zaitsu Kazuo (Tulip) with Hara Midori)
Let's get one thing right out of the way which is essential for anyone reading my blog to know: I love Tsunku's voice. So much so that I'd have sex with it if it was possible. Yes, you didn't just misread, I said have sex with his sweet, sweet voice. I'm not sure what the hell I even mean by that. Perhaps if it was possible for it to somehow be born again as a human being. Hmm. And hey, the man himself looks pretty sexy, too. I would again stress that I'm very straight indeed but what's the use, not like any of you would believe me at this point. And I can't don't blame you for that!
But my point is that I love his voice and how it is sort of semi-raspy at times. Sounds great to my ears and it's great listening to his Beatles cover album and other stuff too. Also, you people who are always complaining about Tsunku "ruining" everything by throwing in his vocals, pfft. Sure, the stuff he puts on there can sometimes be cheesy, annoying or even downright frightening, but it belongs in there as much as anything does! I wouldn't have it any other way. Sing on H!P's songs to your heart's content, Tsunku-man! Imagine if there was a superhero called Tsunkuman. I don't know what his special skill would be, but I do know he would beat the shit out of Superman, Spiderman and Batman any day of the week.
Anyway, this is a pretty notable performance because it features what is to my knowledge one of only three existing duets between Tsunku and H!P members. There's this one, another Uta Doki duet with Yuko and then one recorded one with Takitty. I don't think there's any more, but correct me if I'm wrong. It's a lovely ballad nevertheless and especially Tsunku's vocals are very memorable for me; they feel very heartfelt.
Oh, now I thought of one! The ability to shoot sexy beams out of his nipples! How's that? That's the obvious one though, not very original I guess...
10th: 355 2008-02-27 Yuko Nakazawa - Momen no Handkerchief (originally by Ohta Hiromi)
While I do love Yuko, first and foremost this is here because I love the song so much. It's ridiculously good and catchy. Not to say Yuko's performance of it isn't good though. Such a nice melody and the lyrics are quite touching in a way. Yuki (Maeda) did this on Uta Doki too, but I preferred Yuko's version.
I'm gonna go way off-topic here for a bit. Now, while I don't often talk much about the looks of these girls, I'm going to right now: FINALLY the person in charge of Yuko's hair at least TRIED to do the right thing by making hers completely straight... but it's not enough. I hate how they try to have Yuko "look her age". No, fuck that! She's now.. what, pushing 35 or so? I don't care, she still has her looks and you know what I think needs to be done? Cut it short again. It needs to be short, because that is the ultimate Nakazawa hair style. Short, and preferably blonde. But at least short. And that's saying a lot coming from someone who usually thinks hair should never be cut. But yeah, let's face it; Nakazawa has never looked better than with short hair like in these pictures (particularly the first two pictures show that are in my opinion the nicest looks Yuko has ever had):
Be honest with me here. Is there anyone here who prefers her silly, grandma-ish curly long hair look with the first two pictures, or even any of these? Yeah, she needs to look like the mean, angsty bitch she is, and you just can't pull that off with the whole huge/curly/long/flowy look. Or, hey, even worse, how about this look:
I never want to see anything like that done to my Yuko again.
She doesn't need to look beautiful, she needs to look sexy! Really, Nakazawa being sexier with long hair is about as likely as Ayappe being sexier with short hair (blasphemy!) or Kei being sexy... ever. In any situation.
Because hey, I'll be honest here; Yuko is the ultimate Hello! Project MILF. No doubt about it. Well, except for the whole mother part... poor Yuko. :(
9th: 101 2007-02-28 Yuki Maeda - Miserarete (originally by Judy Ongg)
Absolutely love this performance. This song at first might sound perhaps a bit cheesy, but it turns out to be a seriously eerie and beautiful song. If you're completely new to Yuki and the sort of vocal prowess you can expect from her, do yourself a favor and check this video out right now. What a performance. The first time I saw this, I literally had chills running down my spine. No lie. She is able to put so much emotion into her vocals it's amazing, and she does so seemingly effortlessly. It's quite nice visually too, that thing she does with her arms during the crazy chorus. Recommended viewing!
8th: 053 2006-12-13 Mari Yaguchi & Country Musume - Koi no Dial 6700 (originally by Finger 5)
Cute and awesome. So awesome. Mari is cuter than ever, and what a rocking vocal performance by all 4 of these girls, but especially Marippe shines here! Just listen to those "WOW!"'s she does. It's a wonderfully energetic and uptempo song, not to be missed.
7th: 120 2007-03-27 Nozomi Tsuji - Harusakikobeni (originally by Yano Akiko)
Another one from the Secret Festa Uta Doki concert Morning Musume did, following Jaa ne. I guess this is a song/performance you either love or hate. I'm personally in the former bunch. Nono was the perfect choice for this song as her voice has that cute quality that is very much needed in this song, but yet it still requires skill to sing well. Let's just say I would not have wanted to hear Sayu sing this one... Anyway, it's an extremely cute song. Go listen to it.
6th: 115 2007-03-20 Ai Takahashi - Sotsugyou Shashin (originally by Arai Yumi)
Had to include one more from Secret Festa. This is very unlike anything on this list. It's a slow, somehow fragile sounding perfomance, but yet it evolves to a beautiful and very memorable chorus. Above all, though, it's just damn awesome. A very relaxing and at the same time beautiful listen and Takitty does a flawless vocal performance on this, I might add. Things like this remind me why Takitty truly deserves leadership in the current incarnation of Momusu.
5th: 096 2007-02-21 Maki Goto - Marionette (originally by BOØWY)
"Holy shit!" is what I thought when I first saw this performance. I never was a huge fan of Maki, and it was mainly because I always thought she was an extremely overrated and poor vocalist. I thought she was a combination of the very weak singer she was in the early days and the perhaps even weaker current "sexy" version. I'm still not the biggest fan of hers, but at least now I don't have any misconceptions about her singing talent, and it was this performance which urged me to check out her solo material further and so it is largely to thank for that.
The theme for this week in Uta Doki was "rock", and man, rock like hell is exactly what Maki does. She instantly shattered my beliefs of her being a weak, quiet vocalist with this song. She absolutely owns this song, and I'm not exaggerating when I say she might be doing an even better job with this than than Kyosuke from Boowy himself when he sang it. I like how she often looks to be laughing during breaks in singing; I like to think it's because she's thinking to herself "oh shit, I am absolutely slaying people with my awesomeness.. ah, time to go again. *clears throat* KAGAMI NO NAKA NO MARIONETTE!.."
I'm not kidding here. If you also think Maki is not as good as everyone says, watch this video and it might help change your opinion of her. She's absolutely on fire in this one. Sexy as hell, too, if you don't mind me saying, much more so than if she was doing the usual, being scantily clad and just rubbing her boobs for no apparent reason. Not that I really mind that side of her either. Mostly I just like boobs in general. A lot... Rather addictive, those things.
4th: 178 2007-06-18 Mari Yaguchi (with Taisei) - Jenny wa Gokigen Naname (originally by Juicy Fruits)
What the hell is WRONG with Taisei?! Jesus. I think the man seriously needs some help, medical or otherwise. This could be the cutest Mari Yaguchi performance in existence. Yeah, you heard me. She is so, so cute. And what's better is that Taisei is matching her cuteness in pure insanity. Also one of Taisei's best "performances" for sure. Please do not miss this one, if just for seeing Taisei being absolutely hilarious and out of his mind. I think he might've been on some most likely illegal substance in this one. I just love watching his antics. I also enjoy Marippe's little imitation of him. Good stuff, good stuff. This one has always been one of my favorites.
3rd: 330 2008-01-23 Hitomi Yoshizawa & Ayumi Shibata - Hatsukoi (originally by Murashita Kouzou)
Again another one that is here basically because the song is so awesome. Luckily it was performed by two very talented vocalists so they don't ruin it either. While I'm a huge Yossie fan, I have to admit it might've been Ayumi who did an even better job here as far as vocals go. She sounds absolutely wonderful, but Yossie isn't far behind either. In any case, the couple sound nice together and that's what matters. It's also nice seeing Ayaka swaying in the back to the song and mouthing the lyrics. Any others out there who liked this one?
2nd: 070 2007-01-16 Mari Yaguchi & Kei Yasuda - Genki wo Dashite (originally by Takeuchi Mariya)
I didn't think this would make it quite this high on the list, but the more I listened to it, the more I realized that I've no excuse to NOT place it this high. It's a pretty little ballad being sung by the extremely efficient pairing of Kei and Mari, their compatibility proven by the fact that they often get to sing together in dinner shows and other little fan club events. It has a very calming effect on you and both girls sound very nice and soothing. I don't really have anything else to say about this one, but please watch the video because I think this one is quite underappreciated.
1st: 022 2006-10-31 Ayaka (with Taisei) - Monkey Magic (originally by Godiego)
"With a little bit of monkey magic everything will be all right."
Come on, you had to know this was going to win as soon as you saw the title of this post. There is just no way this could not win, not in a million years. I do not believe anything as great as this could be created again within the same show. I believe this is something like the universally recognized standard of measuring awesome.
Also, Ayaka is incredibly sexy. In a weird, kind of goofy way. Gotta love her!
Even if all the rest of the over 370+ episodes of Uta Doki had been a complete waste of my time, it would've all been worth it just for this song.
I basically made this post just so I could say how awesome I think this performance is.
This performance is fucking awesome.
So there we go. The purpose of this post has been served. I'm done.
I'd really like to see someone else rank their Uta Doki favorites as well. Someone else do it too! It'll be interesting to see these last few Uta Dokis where the viewers voted their favorites, to see if the Japanese agree with me on any of these songs.
Now if you don't mind, I've got a shitload of Miike Takashi movies to watch. Ah, twisted plots, black humor, extreme perversion and most importantly absolutely mindless violence, a lovely combination indeed!
Expect a small break from new posts to this blog unless I get super productive for some reason. I'm going to be quite busy the rest of the month and I think I'll only have time for the Roundtable feature over at Ray's American Wota. Next time I should be back to my ranking madness...
Release date: 2008/03/12
Tracklisting:
1. Dschinghis Khan (PV)
2. Darling I LOVE YOU
3. Dschinghis Khan (instrumental)
When I first heard Berryz Koubou's next single was going to be this song, I was very disappointed to say the least. You see, I, as a Finnish person, have an extreme prejudice against this song right from the get-go, to say the least. If you're Finnish, you will know what I'm talking about. But to sum it up, just so you know where I'm coming from, I've been hearing this song ever since I was little and any mention of it makes me think of the 80's, spandex and this guy's ugly face:
So, I'm as surprised as you are as I now acknowledge that I'm quite enjoying this.
This does indeed sound like some older Momusu material, specifically Koi no Dance Site, but not in the nostalgic kind of way at all like Mikan, no; it sounds as if nothing has changed and the Golden Age was still going strong, perhaps because of DANCE MAN's usual excellent arrangement. Thankfully not much of the original, rather cheesy 80's disco sound is left intact, and it is made to sound much cooler with excellent electric guitar and a surprisingly big amount of DJ scratching sounds that are made use of. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate me some good old disco at times too, I'd just rather only do it when under the influence of large amounts of alcohol...
A complaint I have often heard about this song is that it sounds like a bunch of chipmunks or that the vocals are too high-pitched. Personally I don't really get it. Sure, it can get a little high during the choruses but there are enough of those girls with not such high-pitched voices to balance it out, and I feel it's nothing compared to some Buono! songs where those three, especially little Momo, can literally hurt my ears from time to time.
You don't have to take my word for this, but I do believe I'm pretty good at predicting if something will sell well or not. When Mikan came out, everyone was saying "OMG this is so like the good old days, this will sell a million copies!", but not me; I could just hear from the song how the general public would find it boring as hell, and it just so happened to turn out to be Momusu's lowest selling single. And I can't really blame them; honestly, I think it is a pretty poor song. But man, if this single doesn't sell, then I wonder... what in the HELL will?! ...But then I could just as well be way off here and this will do awfully in the charts... which has happened before, too; I thought Honto no Jibun would sell like a few thousand copies at best, but it just so turned out to be the highest selling Kids single at that point in time. But you win some and you lose some, right? Though to defend myself, I made the prediction before I learned to like that song. But yeah, even though you just never know about Japan, I have a good feeling about this song.
The second track, Darling I LOVE YOU, is also apparently a cover of someone because its marked as "Berryz Koubou ver." on the single. I don't know who, but it doesn't really matter. Unfortunately, I'm not really feeling this track and don't think it's all that special. So, standard b-side fare, I'm sorry to say. Quite enjoying the keyboard-work here at times though. The part starting at 03:07 is quite fun too.
So overall, Dschinghis Khan is quite decent indeed. Enough so for me to give this a pretty good rating even if the b-side wasn't all that special. And really, seeing Maasa looking all cool with her tough cop-sunglasses, playing a Flying V electric guitar in the PV? Enough to make this the best thing ever, just for the pure metal credits. Momo doesn't look too bad either with her very 60's acoustic! Still there would've been a real simple way to make this even better, perhaps even worth giving a perfect 10 for: simply covering Moskau instead of Dschinghis Khan. Seriously, just look at this:
I wonder who would've played the part of the main guy. I'm thinking Maasa, I think she could've nicely pulled off that lifting yourself up from the floor and doing that thing with your legs thing he does. Chinami should be the guy with the sick moustache.
Rating: 8+ out of 10
"Rangers end up pissed in tar!"
I'm not going to make a new post just to say this, so I'll only mention it briefly here: you can totally count me in on the Resonant Blue fanclub. One bitchin' song, that one. At first I wasn't sure about it, but it has already grown on me immensely and I'm quite enjoying it. This is a relief after what were, in my opinion, some very disappointing releases like LALALA Shiawase no Uta or the full-length albums by Ongaku Gatas and Buono!, which, by the way, everyone but seems to be loving. Well, at least the "new" Canaria Club single was awesome. Not really new since it came out almost two months ago, but I only managed to acquire it some time ago. One of the more interesting Tsunku compositions in a while, go check that one out. I'm loving those analog synths...
Anyways, after a small break it's time to return to the ranking craziness. This one was hard to do, because if there is one thing H!P is truly specialized in, it's the carefree and sickeningly happy/cheery songs. You know you're in for a hard time of ranking when you're left with 40 songs you feel are the absolute happiest and you need to get rid of 35 more. Oh well...
First off, I want to give a honorary mention to Souda! We're ALIVE. While it is mostly one of their more rocking songs, I have to say that the chorus here might be some of their happiest sounding things they ever released. Really, go listen to it. But here's the actual top 5:
5th: Athena & Robikerottsu - Shouri no BIG WAVE!!!: It was only just as I was finishing this post that I realized this song had to be included. Originally this spot was going to go to Minimoni (either Minimoni Hinamatsuri! or Minimoni Telephone! RIN RIN RIN) and I kind of feel bad for doing a list like this without having them included... but what can you do? But, at least Athena & Robikerottsu are (were?) like the new Minimoni anyways so it should be alright.
But really, even setting aside the cheery composition and overall positive theme, how could any song not make it on this list if it starts with such cheery words spoken by Risa: "Hi, we are LOVE GIRLS! Let's catch a dream with us. Don't give up! Are you ready? OK? Let's go!" Or how about these lyrics of inspiration: "every day, have fun, wonderful life!" Such blasphemy just will not happen, not on my blog! Ah man, forget about the music, wonderfully poetic lyrics like these are the real reason I listen to girly j-pop. This shit just wouldn't fly in a Burzum song I reckon. At least I can't really picture Varg Vikernes using his trademark black metal vocals to scream out a horrifying, tortured "happy day, good boy, charming girl, go, yeah, 3 2 1 go, okey-dokey, yeah!" Maybe on the next album...
Oh, and then there's this thing Mittsi does in the PV... I'm often torn between thinking it's the cutest thing ever or absolutely despising it and thinking it is the single most annoying hand movement ever. Sometimes when I see this, I feel a deep urge to murder people.
I'm not kidding.