2010: Albums

So, this is possibly the last entry when it comes to my look back to 2010.
I’ve long decided on my Top 10 Albums but to bring them in order was a hard decision. But here you go!

#10 3OH!3 – Streets of Gold

Yes, good single, good album track and now good album. After listening to three tracks on the previous album so often I couldn’t hear them anymore I was pretty excited about this album and in the end it did deliver. It’s not perfect and sadly not as kick ass as WANT but still has the nice catchy tunes that will stay in your head for a long time. And for the most part the album is just a great fun.

Best Songs: Double Vision, See You Go, House Party

 

#9 Mao Abe – POP

None of the songs on this album were good enough to be on my other lists but as a whole package you can’t really go wrong with this album. It is fun and she shows different styles even though I still wished she would have been a little bit more creative and had tried some more stuff. But that just means I can be curious about the next album.

Best Songs: I wanna see you, Mada, Tsutaetai Koto

 

#8 Berryz Koubou – 6th Otakebi Album

Berryz Koubou just had a strong year all around. We got with almost every single two songs and they never really disappointed. So it was double the fun. Also, with songs like Otakebi Boy WAO! they got back to more fun songs and even though I still can’t stand Risako’s voice I can’t help but see it as a step in the right direction that Yurina got to be the center once. Oh, and Dakisimete Dakishimete is on the album which is my favorite so yeah <3

Best Songs: Dakishimete Dakishimete,  Otakebi Boy WAO!, Seishun Bus Guide

 

#7 UPLIFT SPICE - MEMENTO

With UPLIFT SPICE you just know what you’ll get. Great rock tracks with a unique voice and memorable melodies. And that’s really all I want from them. I have to be honest and say that I think Omega Rhythm was a bit better because I really liked to listen to it all the way through but on the other hand when it comes to MEMENTO I know what songs I prefer. Well, I’m happy as long as there’s a new album next september. I really like that pattern.

Best Songs: Queen Anne’s Revenge, Cosmology, Mönster

 

#6 Ayumi Hamasaki – Rock’n'Roll Circus

Everyone who read my review knows that I think that this album was a step in the right direction. Back. For me it felt like from somwhere between Rainbow and Memorial Addresse and while most people didn’t like it and seem to prefer Love Songs (which isn’t going to show up on this list) I think this was the better Ayu album of 2010.

Best Songs: Don’t Look Back, Microphone, Last Links, count down

 

#5 AKB48 - Kamikyoku Tachi

The problem I have with this album is that it doesn’t feel like an album. It feels like a collection of all the singles AKB released in that time. Every fucking B-Side is on there. Everyone who bought the singles must feel like a fool. Except for those who buy allt hose Singles for Handshakes and the likes. But yeah, after all those were some pretty strong singles and also the B-sides were quality stuff. Nothing to complain about really.

Best songs: RIVER, Sakura no Shiori, Tobenai Agehachou

#4 JASMINE - GOLD

Oh look, it’s a debut album! But a damn good one. If you haven’t heard about JASMINE yet, where do you live? I have to be honest and say that the singles were the best tracks and album tracks were good, but not as good. But that doesn’t make the album any worse, it just means I had too big expectations. But what do you expect after songs like THIS IS NOT A GAME and sad to say?

Best Songs: THIS IS NOT A GAME, sad to say, L.I.P.S.

 

#3 2NE1 – To Anyone

Just like last year, 2NE1 still going strong. It was a long wait for the album but I guess it was worth the wait. The dance tracks are great and I even got to like the slower songs a lot more. My sister just loves Apa (Slow). Plus the solo songs and remix and english version. I guess this album offers everything you want from a korean album. Yes, there’s a difference. I’m curious how there songs will turn out in Japanese and if they will be successful in the US. I doubt it but let’s just drink some tea and see.

Best Songs: I Don’t Care (Reggae Mix), Can’t Nobody, Clap Your Hands

 

#2 Tokyo Jihen – SPORTS

I’m still not sure about #1 and #2 but since I’ve listened to SPORTS not as much as to the #1 this album gets the second spot. SPORTS is great. I already blogged about it because it blew me away. Listen to it. Every single song would be perfect as a single release. You won’t get bored when you listen to it the whole way through and in the end you’ll want to listen to it again. It’s great.

Best Songs: Sweet Spot, Noudouteki Sanpunkan, Kachiikusa

 

#1 BENNIE BECCA – BENNIE BECCA

It’s pop, it’s rock, it’s hip hop, it’s Japanese, it’s English, it’s the perfect mixture.  This album is just so much fun and is it really  a surprise when those great artists work together? I just wish that I wasn’t a one time only thing. I want more from them. I can’t go back to just one of them T_T

Best Songs: Ashita, Dilemmas, KAMINARI GIRL

2010: Singles (A-Sides)

So, I pushed my review of the music from last year a bit back because I’m not really finished listening to everything. But now it’s february and I think it’s time. If I listen to something special from 2010 that wasn’t included here but should have been I will just blog about it the normal way.

But what were my Top10 a-sides of 2010 (as far as I know). I won’t break it down into language/country/genre etc. because I didn’t manage to listen to as much as I wanted. So I’m just gonna start:

#10 Selena Gomez & the Scene – Naturally

I didn’t really want to like this song but whenever I accidentally heard it while it was playing on TV it just got so stuck in my head that I had to give in and just <3 it. I listened to the rest of the album and it’s quite good but nothing compares to Naturally.

#9 °C-ute – Dance de Bakoon!

I wasn’t sure which one to pick. Dance de Bakoon! or Otakebi Boy WAO! from Berryz Koubou. But because of Risako’s voice that I just cannot stand and the fact that Maasa once again has been screwed when you look at the amount of solo lines she gets I went with Dance de Bakoon! because it is a freaky, cool song and just as fun but with more bearable voices.

#8 Ayaka Hirahara – Keropak

Man, what a surprising song from Ayaka Hirahara, didn’t you think so?! And this is one of the songs that I put on my “makes me happy – instantly” list. It can be cold outside and I know I have to work with shitty weather for another 3 hours but then I listen to Keropak and I start smiling and almost dancing. It’s more of a skipping to the beat. But yeah, she should definitely do songs like this more often.

#7 3OH!3 – Double Vision

When I first listened to the album it was a rather mediocre listen and the only song that stuck with me was I’m Not The One because it was slow and something different. But over time I started really liking the whole album and it was a close run between Double Vision, See You Go and House Party but yeah, Double Vision takes the cake.

#6 ORESKABAND – Jitensha

2009 I started being interested in ska as it was something I never really heard of. And then I started liking it and so was 2010 the year when I tried listening to more ska. And you know, ORESKABAND already have the ska in their band name, who else should I have listened to? And Jitensha might just be the song with one of the most simple choruses but that’s what makes it just so much fun!

#5 AKB48 – Beginner

Japan’s #1 is my #5 but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. I really do but I guess there are parts of me that do so because of the banned original PV and some do because there were actually some lines (more than one!) in the song that I could translate without any help. But still, this song rocks and it’s exactly what AKB48 should keep releasing. Except for when’s graduation season. I know you need your Sakura Song.

#4 Wonder Girls – 2 Different Tears

I never really undestood the whole craze about Nobody and this single too, I listened some weeks or even months after the release but it just hit me out of nowhere. It’s such and earworm and the english lyrics just add to that. I loved it. I had it on repeat for a whole night and never got tired of it.

#3 Patrick Stump - Spotlight (New Regrets)

If you have read this blog for a while (which I doubt) you might have read somewhere that I’m a Fall Out Boy fan. Well, Patrick’s going solo so of course I follow him. His voice is probably the main thing I love in Fall Out Boy but he doesn’t need his voice to convince me that he can make it on his own. This song is proof enough. If the whole album is going to be like this I am more than pleased. But, oh mother of god, that voice <3

#2 Miss A – Breathe

I heard that on their first single there’s a song that’s even better. But I haven’t listened to it yet. I’m really interested but Breathe is enough for me at the moment. Not just is the MV one of my favorites from last year but also the dance and everything. Damn, this thing is cute. Whenever I didn’t know what to listen to I listned to Breathe. Because I knew I would listen to it for a while. One listen is just not enough when the song is only a little over 3 minutes long. Damn you KPop hooks!

#1 JASMINE – THIS IS NOT A GAME

All caps for my #1! This is a song that made me listen to the whole discography of an artist immediately. Again. I already followed her since her first single but THIS IS NOT A GAME made me realize that I probably didn’t give her a fair chance and after that every single just got better. Well, not better than this lovely song but definitely almost on the same level. And I guess you will find ONE on this list when I do it next year. Keep rocking JASMINE! Finally some kind of R’n'B that I can listen to without getting bored.

Well, here you have it. My Top10 for 2010 when it comes to a-sides. Next is album tracks and after that Glee. Because, I love Glee, you know. And then top albums. Oh, and no b-sides because I haven’t heard anything good really.

It’s H!P but still~

Maybe you got the wrong impression by reading this blog but in fact I’m still following Hello! Project in all its glory. Which means that I at least listen to (almost) all the releases, just maybe not on the release date.

After all I still know enough to make up my mind and take part in this year’s Hello!Blog Poll.

Some explanation:
Maasa is of course my #1. She’s got that special something for me and every time I see her (on my compute screen T_T) I find something new to adore about her.
Then there are some people from Morning Musume and I just can say about that that I’ve been watching some making videos and DVD Magazines, and those are the girls that stood out most to me because of how funny they were. Really like the bunch :3
Next Airi and Maimi because… they are cute? I don’t know, they get some points for being really beautiful (except for Airi’s teeth but who wants to complain about something like that when it comes to idols?) and some points for being … nice. I just got a generally good opinion about both.
Ai comes next, just because of her voice. That’s it.
Most of Berryz Koubou comes next because I like them as a group. Miyabi and Momoko are a bit further away from the top positions because (through Buono) I got to know some of there not so likeable character traits…
Then the girls I’m not really interested in. S\mileage just has to grow up a bit. Yurina between them because she got some points for that Base Ball Bear CM XD
The last on the list are there because I just can’t stand them really. Except for Risako. I can’t stand her and her voice.

Now the other chart. Not much to explain there:

The Best of 2009 (Part 4)

Songs that rocked hard and weren’t on any albums from my Top 15.

That’s just a rule so I won’t gush about X all the time >_<

This won’t be a top list because I just can’t bring myself to think about how something is better than the other thing again this year.

An important song would be Berryz Koubou‘s Dakishimete Dakishimete. Even though I got into idols thanks to Buono! I found my favorite H!P girl in Berryz Koubou and Dakishimete² is responsible for that, too. It’s such a great song that I learned the dance for it. Yeee~es. I did it! I’m very proud of myself.

If you’ve read Part 0 of this series, you might’ve realized that I’m going into the more rockish direction in the western music world. So MY BOY was a real pleasure to my ears. I never thought I would hear something like that from any H!P act. But you should never underestimate the girls from Buono!. Though, I think they aren’t really the ones responsible for it but what the hell~

H!Ps flagship (still) Morning Musume. were a guarantee when it came to at least listenable singles. They didn’t invent the wheel anew but I enjoyed all of them. But through the contest with the PV for the B-side 3, 2, 1 BREAKIN’ OUT I learned to love that song. That’s one of the songs that make me instantly happy. And I make all those typical Japanese poses and gestures while singing along. Just sad that there were a lot good videos out there for the song that weren’t even nominated…

There’s nothing mentionworthy from the H!P world so let’s look at some other idols. No doubt, AKB48 was successfull this year. All their singles sold well and they took even my money… But the best single was RIVER, hands down. Let alone that chant at the beginning. I hope they do this at Kouhaku this year. That would be awesome and no one would forget them. I tried getting into Idoling!!! and the such but that’s right now all from me about idol songs.

But there’s a lot more in the Jpop world! Kaela Kimura‘s BANZAI was great because it was pure fun and made me happy =) Ayaka Hirahara, an artist I listen to because a friend of mine loves her, surprised me with the rock influenced Romeo & Juliet from her newest concept album. She could more often try out new styles. Too many ballads aren’t that good. Chihiro spiced things up a bit and succeeded and alan did the same and… failed. But Romeo & Juliet is a step in the right direction! Oh, and while I’m talking about rock a bit I’ll also mention that I loved the Koda collaboration this year. It’s all Love! was great because they worked really great together and the song was a bit different with how the lines were given and placed. Good idea and misono’s voice was at least decent. I tried her solo stuff. Never again…

Now let’s talk about some B-Side material. Ha, material! Sowelu‘s MATERIAL WORLD was one goddamn good song and perfect if you are an Audiosurf player like me. But I talked about B-Sides so I better tell you that I liked the -WTF Edit- even more. E-guitars and stuff. Damn, I’m as simple minded as a man.  The other B-Side I’d like to mention is BENNIE BECCA‘s Dreamer (80kidz Remix). At this point I really pity people who don’t listen to singles. I was one of them not long ago. So glad I changed my mind. The last B-Side on my list is Shining Butterfly from the we-never-change-the-style-of-our-covers girlgroup BRIGHT. Sad thing I don’t like the other songs from them that much…

The only songs from female artists that I want you to know they are great, before I start with some male artists, are first off Thelma Aoyama‘s I’m Sorry from her album Emotions. I don’t think it was released as single beforehand but I’m not sure. Was it? I want to recommend Thelma Aoyama to all the Jyongri fans that think Jyongri got a bit boring in the last months. Their voices are kind of similar. And after all there’s Aya Kamiki. I listened to one album by her and had her in mind as some kind of Japanese Avril Lavigne copy but those times are over. She seems so… womanly now o.o And her W-B-X ~W-Boiled Extreme~ single was great. Not just the song but there’s also a second Instrumental on it that I listen to almost more than to the A-Side xD Can’t wait for the new album!

I told you so and now they’re here. The male artists! In my half-year review I already talked about SEEDA‘s selftitled album, but not only do I want to recommend the full album but if you don’t have the time to listen to a full album just do a quick YouTube search for his songs DEAR JAPAN and SO HIGH. At least the first one should be found easily. It’s great hip hop~ After almost 850 words I now want to mention a Johnny’s group. I liked one song from them. A B-Side. But I think I would be hated by many fangirls if there was no JE in none of my Best of 2009s. Arashi‘s Tokei Jikake no Umbrella. It’s not like Arashi needs me to recommend them to someone anyway…

That’s it with the Japanese men and let’s go to my last paragraph for this post before I go to my grandparents to welcome the new year. The Korean Invasion! BoA‘s English album was a good first attempt but what I really liked was that her Japanese releases also got better. The best song till now definitely the collaboration with Crystal Kay and VERBAL: UNIVERSE. It’s kind of sad that it’s already on the Best&USA album. Of course I cannot not mention SNSD/So Nyeo Shi Dae/Girls’ Generation when I’m talking about KPop. But I have to say that I thought Genie was 10 times better than Gee. Gee got annoying too fast. And it was too poppy for my taste. And no, the dance is no reason that I liked it better. But the dance to Brown Eyed Girls‘ Abracadabra made me watch the performances of that song so often that I really liked it in the end. Sign, not so much… I think my Korean taste has its period sometimes.

I liked the whole girl group thing that was going on but on my paper with my notes there are now only male Korean artists left, so let’s beginn with the most obvious one. I think GDragon‘s voice is a bit annoying in BigBang because you can hear it above all the others. But solo it works. My favorite song from his album is She’s Gone (feat. Kush) and I can’t even tell you why. The repetitivness of it should be a reason why I don’t like it but somehow it isn’t. It’s the same with Super Junior‘s Sorry Sorry but I managed to listen to it over 40 times. Another boygroup I liked was SHINee with Ring Ding Dong but mostly because of this parody. What I liked from the start was F.T Island‘s I Hope but my sister watched their MV on YouTube (she becomes more and more a little version of me. First my western taste in music and now I got her to like the east, too!) and that made me like it even more. Very cute <3

The last song I will recommend is Zin/Jin Tae Hwa‘s Fallen Angel (feat. Jed) but you may know that already since I made a whole post on that song and its MV. Where’s the (mini) album, Tae Hwa. Where?!

Shuffle 5 ~Idol Version~

So, before I begin with the next Stage by Stage I thought I could do what I sometimes do but this time I will write about it.

Since I started to be interested in H!P again (first time was around 2003/04 I think) I collected more and more Idol music. So much, that I can’t really tell the songs appart. Of course there are some exceptions but you get what I mean.

So, now I have some songs of Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou, °C-ute, AKB48 (<3), Idoling!!!, etc. and I will use iTunes to pick 5 for me that I will then write about here and give them stars or hearts or points or something.

So, let’s start with the first one:

Samidare Koi Uta by W

And we start right off with a total win! This is my absolut favorite ballad by W. Well, I don’t really know how much there are but I guess none of them can beat this song. So, it’s a ballad but the speacial thing is that their voices are over each other’s in some parts which is just a great effect and they manage it really well. And then, shortly before the chorus they start singing together. Goosebumps, I tell ya! So, to make it a bit harder for me I can only give 5 points and I try to avoid half points so my opinion is clearer. And even if they have squeaky voices that doesn’t hurt the song so much: 5/5

Rope no Yuujou by SKE48

Second song and already one I can’t find a cover for. Well, doesn’t really matter. I can remember that I really liked the song when I first was watching S2 so I’m curious what I will think when I will hear it now again. It’s a very powerful song with some rock elements in it what I really like. My favorite AKB48 song is similar so you can’t go wrong here. The chorus is also kind of catchy and there’s a guitar solo! (But it could have been longer). Hm, I could search for some flaws but right now I don’t see why I shouldn’t give it 5/5. I need a studio recording of this song!

Inochi no Tsukaimichi by AKB48

This song ranked #11 in my Top20 list and surley not without a reason. The beginning is really special because it’s so haunting and even without understanding what it means you can hear that the song has something mysterious about it. After the intro the song drifts into an a bit more poppy direction but not too much but the effect from the beginning can’t be hold, sadly. But it’s still a very good song because the verses and chorus are still good and the intro appears some more throughout the song. Team B did a good job here. 4/5 (<- if I included the performance it would be more.)

Darling I Love You by °C-ute

This was the b-side of Namida no Iro and as far as I know there’s also a Berryz Koubou version of the song. And that song was so promising at first with heavy guitar and synths and stuff and then it become this pop song with the typical Hey!s. And I understood Garin instead of Darling at first. But let’s hear what the song else has to offer. The chorus is annoying because of the repetition of the song title. The rest of this song consists of various parts that are thrown together so that it never really seems to flow. There was a part I liked (i think it was the longest of the verse) but it drowned because of all the other ones that were around it being crazy. Can’t really say I enjoyed it much. 2/5

Ai no Iro by AKB48

Yes, AKB48 again. That’s not a surprise since one third of my “Idols” playlist consists of AKB48 songs. But this song doesn’t do much for me. It starts like it could be the beginning of some J-Tec song but that’s just the first two, three seconds. And then there’s not really something to talk about. Not for me at least. I’m curious what I will write about the song when I’ll review K5. Maybe the performance can save the song somehow. 2,5/5

So, that was it. Maybe I will do a singer-songwriter version of this or a J-rock version. I don’t know. We’ll see. I hope I can put the Stage by Stage to A3 up tomorrow~