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 ❤

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?!

The Best of 2009 (Part 2)

I just realized that I don’t know how many parts this series will have. Sure, I will post my Top Albums #10 – 6 in this post but I also got ideas for more 2009 related posts. Best Songs for instance. But we will see.
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#10  BoA’s BoA

It’s not like I was totally trilled when I first listened to the album. I got a few favorites that stayed but all in all I realized with time that, in fact, it is a very stable album that you can listen to without getting bored or annoyed by some bad engrish. And with what BoA is capable of by now, I’m in no position to criticize her. Can’t say my English is perfect, not by a long shot. So I keep listening to my favorites but won’t skip any of the other songs if they appear on my playlist.

Best Songs: Did Ya, I Did It For Love, Hypnotic Dancefloor and Girls On Top
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#9  Buono!’s Buono! 2

This was the album that got me interested in H!P again and in idols in general. That means that this album is the reason for my now daily growing love for AKB48. Funny, isn’t it? So, a place for this album in my Top List was safe but which position? With some great singles and not bad at all album tracks it is a fun listen and live it rocks even more. You appreciate the ballads more, so I recommend watching the concerts. Can’t wait for the new album. With MY BOY on it, it might rank even higher than Buono! 2.

Best Songs: Rottara Rottara, Shoushitsuten -Vanishing Point- and Kiss!³
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#8  Mao Abe’s free

This lady is kind of well known on this blog. The post I made about her is one of the most seen ones here. I wish she would be the best newcomer this year for me because she deserves it. But the album was released really early in 2009 so it didn’t stick in my mind as much as I wanted it to. It’s still a great album if you like rock chicks and even if not, you totally should check her out. An oppurtunity would be her second album that’ll be released in January 2010. You will surely read about it on this blog!

Best Songs: deadline, free, Kotoba and MY BABY
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#7  Utada’s This Is The One

I wonder how many people won’t understand why I think it’s better than BoA. It’s really simple. It’s my taste. I listen to this album and I know it’s Hikki’s work although her american style changed of course. I would have loved another Exodus but she had to fit to the american mainstream and maybe it’s still questionable if she managed to do so, but it still was a step in another direction I liked. All the songs except for one are great and I don’t really care for the lyrics. Why should I? I don’t know the lyrics of her Japanese songs either.

Best Songs: Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – FYI, Me Muero and Dirty Desire
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#6  Shiina Ringo’s Sanmon Gossip

When I first listened to the album I knew it was good and that I liked it, but more in a Tokyo Jihen way. Not as a Shiina Ringo album. So I didn’t really look at it more after the first listen and was surprised when I realized after some time that I listened to a ton of songs from the album without even noticing. That was the moment when I knew that I treated it badly and shouldn’t have gone with my first impression. The album is great, even with the Tokyo Jihen similarities. I hope it makes me more interested in the band itself. All in all I hope she still continues to do solo work but I don’t mind a longer hiatus. (OMFG, the cover art <333)

Best Songs: Marunouchi Sadistic, Karisome Otome and Shun

In the next post I will finally reveal which ones my Top Albums 2009 are! Stay tuned (or not. Don’t know if anyone is actually interested in mine at all~)

Quick look at some albums from the last 6 months

I’m really, really out of ideas (except for one…) and that’s why I will just look back at the last 6 months (+) and think about some albums that were released in that time and are of some interest to me. Omg, that won’t be just Jpop albums, so be warned!

It will always be three albums in a group even though they won’t be connected in any way because I will do this in a chronological order.

Gee by Girls’ Generation (SNSD) – The song Gee is a real burner but I have to be honest: The rest of the album wasn’t as good as I hoped in the beginning and I don’t remember a song besides Gee.

free by Mao Abe – I think I made my feelings about this album and this artist clear with my last entry. It’s just a dream when you think about how it is a debut album and that she wrote everything herself at her young age.

Trick by Kumi Koda – I love all the dance tracks and I even like one of the ballads o.o Her engrish is a bit annoying at times but you get used to it. Really hot album and I’m still not sure if it’s my #1 when it comes to Kumi.

Lonely Road by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – I was so happy when I listend to this album because Don’t You Fake It was a disappointment. There was just Face Down that really stood out and even though many people loved Guardian Angel it never really impressed me. And here we have a lot of unique songs and they all have a good portion of power with them! Love it!

Buono! 2 by Buono! – This was the album that was the reason that I’m to date very near to a full wota. I read somewhere that Buono! would be the right group if you’ve never been into idols but are interested and… at first I didn’t think of them as something special. But whenever I wanted to rate a specific song from this album I could almost never say “Meh…” they were all good in their own way. And now I love specific songs!

My Song for You by Mai Fukui – Mai Fukui is a newcomer from 2008 that I also think of writing about. There’s just the problem that I expected something different from her debut album. Well, not expected but hoped. After the single Can Can her lively side just was the thing I needed in that rainy spring back then but the album mainly contained more songs that were calm and good for your soul. I learned to really like the songs but I’m still hoping for a more powerful next single.

NEO by MUNEHIRO – There’s not much to talk about because I don’t really know the singer but the album is very good for the summer. Well, somehow that was a bit redundant to say because it’s J-Reggae/Dancehall. That says it all.  I just want more albums like this because the summer is going to stay for a bit longer and I need suitable music!

Voice of Earth by alan – This is a 50/50 album. There are these phenomenal tracks where she shows what she is capable of and then there are those filler tracks. They may be good if you want to sleep but for me music should be for something different. I still really enjoy her music, don’t get me wrong. And as a sidenote: The B-sides are often also very good.

This Is The One by UTADA – I just love it! I love everything under the name UTADA it seems o.o (That cleary excludes Cubic U >_<) When you look at my last.fm profile you will see that the UTADA tracks are almost as much as the Hikaru Utada ones. The album has that special feeling to it and Poppin’ is the only song I avoid. It just gets on my nerves~ But the rest ist ❤

The First Album BoA by BoA – I hope that’s the correct title. I know that a lot (well, the majority) thinks that this album is better than Hikki’s one when it comes to the american releases but my opinion is just different. I only listen to four songs from this album I think. Namely: Eat You Up, Did Ya (which really is great but totally different than the rest of the album), Did It For Love and Hypnotic Dancefloor. So, there are those songs and… the other ones. But those four songs are enough for me to keep the whole album.

Platnimun 9 Disc by Morning Musume. – I’m still relatively new to the whole H!P scene but it was like a must to listen to a Morning Musume album after getting some other groups to know. And yes, there is Resonant Blue which got me to like the nine girls and made me take a closer look but the rest is nice nevertheless nothing that special. Shouganai Yume Oibito after all gives me hope for the next single even though I like the B-side a lot more.

Driving Hit’s by Kumi Koda – And another Kumi album. I didn’t expect anything great from this album and I think that’s the reason I like it so much. The whole album just flows but you can still listen to one song for its own and you won’t be disappointed. Good work! Maybe not from Kumi but… from whoever~

NEXT LEVEL by Ayumi Hamasaki – I was quite surprised myself that I like that album so much. First I though it was nice but after I wrote the review for my German blog it just hit me that this album is so good because there are some songs that are so epic that one or two fillersongs (even though even those are good) aren’t that bad. Ayu keeps on making music I love ❤

A Shipwreck in the Sand by Silverstein – This is a somehow special album to me because it was released some weeks before I saw Silverstein the first time live. They didn’t change their style a bit but I think that’s the reason I love them. You can rely on their solid music and even though I don’t really have favorites from this new album (like My Heroin or Call It Karma from Discovering The Waterfront) but I will find the time and they will be there~

Dear Diary by FM Static – I don’t really know what I should wirte about this album because I just recently listend to this band and loved the lyrics and the music. Don’t even know which song belongs to which album but they all seem very good! Just wanted to promote them a bit.

Urban romantic by Rie fu – This was the album where our little J-Folk lady goes new ways and experiments a bit. And it worked really well for her even though I still like the Strings Verion of romantic better than the original one. At times it was a bit too much with all the soundeffects but the important point is that it wasn’t boring. *cough*Tobiraalbum*cough*

SEEDA by SEEDA – After I’ve listened to this album I was sure that it was a good thing I give everything that crosses my way a chance or maybe two. It’s HipHop and I don’t usually listen to it but this time I did and it was totally worth it. It’s just an interesting mix and you recognize other songs and you just are surprised how good the rapping works above those beats. It’s not the “toughest” HipHop you will find but it definitely is something that isn’t wrong to try out.

Sanmon Gossip by Shiina Ringo – I was so happy when I read that there was a new solo album coming and don’t get me wrong – I really like Tokyo Jihen but Shiina is a league of her own. With this album she basically moved more in the Tokyo Jihen direction but I don’t mind. It’s still a really good album and the only thing that could beat it is its cover xD

So, this was it. In the beginning I wanted to write about more albums but to some of them I haven’t really been listening enough for an oppinion and other ones belong more to the second half of the year. Maybe I make something like this also for singles but I doubt it. But who knows~

I hope the next entry has a clearer concept… xD