January 31st 2007 · Read More · Comments(2)
Wednesday. The most stressful day of the week! And, of course, to relieve myself (and everyone else) of stress, every Wednesday I’m going to introduce a J-pop singer to you guys.
This week, we’ll start with one of my personal favorites: Otsuka Ai.
Profile:
Name: Otsuka Ai
Age: 24
Birthday: 9.9.1982
Debut: 2003
Hometown: Osaka
Other things, you don’t need to know. >.>;
Ai-chan is one of my favorite singers. Hailing from the comedy capital of Japan, Osaka, her music has this sort of weird, twisted humor that you can sense in some of her more playful songs. A skilled pianist and guitarist, she has been playing piano since the age of four. After auditioning, she was taken in by avex trax in 2003, home to some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Ayumi Hamasaki and BoA. An extremely talented singer, she writes, composes, and sings all of her songs by herself.
Why do I like her so much? There’s many reasons. One of them is her “aura” that she gives off. She’s always had the “girl next door” look, never focusing on glamour. While other artists may dress up fancily, wear revealing clothing to show off their figure or such, she never does. If I saw her on the street, she could very well be my neighbor or a close friend of mine. I can identify with her because of her simple, down-to-earth style. Everytime I watch her perform, she never dances, she never goes for theatrics. Most of the time, it’s just her in a white dress and a single spotlight. Pure, beautiful music in its most simple form.
As a singer, she’s extremely mutifaceted. Like I said, some of her songs have this weird, twisted sense of humor. This humor is evident in some of her more playful songs, such as “SMILY”, “Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 735 Yen”, or her smash hit, “Sakuranbo.” Especially in “735 Yen”, she gives a not-so-subtle description of sexual arousal, although she insists the song is about roasting beef tounges. Right. >.> “I get wet,/change color…” …okay. XD Songs like these, which are fast-paced, genki and hyper, have earned her the name “The Toybox of J-pop.”
Although, despite that, it’s not those songs I truly enjoy. I believe she truly shines when singing her beautiful ballads. Her sweet voice is just pleasing to hear. Songs like “Kingyo Hanabi”, “Planetarium” and “Renai Shashin” showcases her excellent vocal quality. It’s soothing to hear these songs, really.
She’s still got a long way to go; she’s only been in the industry for a little more than three years. Yet, she’s already done an amazing job as a singer. In fact, accodring to Oricon, she was the 8th highest selling artist in Japan last year, and she was also voted first for “Female Celebrity You’d Like To Date” in a national poll conducted by Oricon. (Those crazy Japanese >.>)
I really have tremendous respect for this woman: a singer, songwriter and composer put into one and at the same time, a singer that doesn’t care only about image and superficiality. People like this are hard to find in mainstream pop culture these days.
One day, she says, if her singing career falls flat on its face, she’s going to go teach Kindergarten. She’s even got her teaching license. If she does decide to do that one day, I’m definitely sending my kids there.
But, enough introducing and listening to me rant. Why don’t you experience for yourself how she is? Here’s my first Otsuka Ai song. I fell in love with this song the first time, and it’s still my favorite one even to this day. Here you go. Listen and enjoy.
Otsuka Ai - Kingyo Hanabi
Cheers!
~晃
January 29th 2007 · Read More · Comments(7)
Last time we met, Pa-chan asked me who my favorite singers are. She, incidentally, is a Tf6/Th6/”whatever incarnation this fool thinks up next” fan. While I do like some of her music (Pray, Ready?, Hey My Friend, Everyday at the Bus Stop), she’s probably not one of my favorites. No, my favorite artist would have to be gackt miyavi the following artists:
1. BONNIE PINK. Look, in my mind, there’s no argument. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and has one hell of a voice. It’s too bad she’s not *that* mainstream,
but she’s got my support. Best speaker of English that wasn’t born in America in J-pop, hands down.
2. Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル). Her voice is beautiful, SHE is beautiful, and her tetris skills are legendary. As a really good friend of mine once said, “IT’S THE TRIFECTA OF OF DORKY LOVE OMGZ.” There’s no more you can ask for from an artist, and if you try and ask for more, you won’t get it. So don’t be greedy.
2. Otsuka Ai (大塚 愛). She ties with Hikki. Why? I really can’t choose between the two, Ai-chan has that perky edge that Utada doesn’t have, but Hikki’s definitely winning in the vocal department. She’s also a songwriter and composer, which I really respect, especially in this day and age when most artists have no talent.
4. BoA (보아). Not because she’s a particularly good singer or anything, mainly because she’s hot. If you say she’s made of plastic, I will kill you. I am in DENIAL.
Other people I listen to on a regular basis: Kobukuro (they’re really good, I’ll write about them the next time they release a single), ayaka (simply amazing voice), CHEMISTRY, and WaT. Notice! I don’t just listen to girl bands. XD;;
Well, you might ask me, “Akira, what are you favorite songs?!” I know you won’t, but here they are, just to give you a sense of what I listen to. I do recommend everyone to listen to these songs, really.
Bonnie Pink - Perfect
Bonnie Pink - Got me a Feelin’
Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep a Secret?
Utada Hikaru - traveling
Otsuka Ai - Kingyo Hanabi
Otsuka Ai - Planetarium
Otsuka Ai - Haneari Tamago
Morning Musume - Love Machine
Morning Musume - Renai Revolution 21
Kobukuro - Kaze
That would be my top 10, in no specific order.
Well, I think that just about wraps it up. Basically, if I had to sum it up, I usually look for talent before looks when choosing who to listen to. I don’t think the face of a singer is particularly important, mainly because, well, you don’t sing with your face. You sing with your voice.
~晃
Postscript: You may have noticed a random link in my “favorites” section, wsyntax. Let me clarify.
Wsyntax is run by one of my good friends, cyanoacry. He’s a quite interesting guy with a very deep knowledge of several niches. If you need anything shady, go talk to him. >.>;;
January 29th 2007 · Read More · Comments(4)
So. By the graces of the Tao and (probably more importantly) my constant bitching, I’ve gotten a blog. Alright. Throwing in 500 yen at Meiji turned out to work after all.
Anyway. I’d like to thank The Nihon Review for giving me this blog to rant and rave. I realize that I’m supposed to post half-relevant material here. But what would make me different from the other 20 million anime blogs out there on the large sea we know as the intarnets? Well, let me tell you…
Basic Info:
Name: Akira
Age: High School Sophomore.
Location of Birth: Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Hobbies: Stalking Being a fan of certain J-pop stars. >.>
By night, I am a: Translator.
Yes, now you know. What’s my job at NHRW? I’m a reviewer, of course. What do I review? Well, I’m supposed to review music, so for now, I’m reviewing J-pop albums. I don’t know if my job’s ever going to get better than that, or if I’ll ever get paid, but I’m going to worry about that later.
Well, about that. There’s several people that deserve mentioning. First of all is my good friend Kurier, who, thankfully, happens to not be a weaboo. He runs the Otaku Instrumentality Project. Completely disregard his mission statement; his goal is to have all the otakus in the world gather up in one place, form a giant entity and take over Tokyo.
Secondly is my wonderful co-worker Pachinko. I’ve heard that if you stick moneys in her you can win fabulous prizes. >.> She runs a fashion section over at The Japanese Do it Better. So, if your goal in life is to look like this (in which case, will you PLEASE hand me your phone number), go over and take a look! She’s wonderful.
Finally, my overbearing absolutely wonderful boss, Sorrow-Kun. No, he’s not an emo. He runs a very, very subtle propaganda center blog for our website: Welcome to the NHRW. Right then. Go visit him, or he might kill me.
I guess that’s it for the first post. I hope I can update with the frequency of a 4chan camwhore, but those kind of speeds evade me. Ah, whatever. For more madness and fun (and more shameless pluggage!) go visit the NHRW forums. Who knows, you might find something fun…
Right then, next time I’ll actually post something constructive. Till then!
よろしくおねがいします！
~晃
NOTE: All music posted on this site is for LISTENING PURPOSES ONLY. If you do not own the album, please delete within 24 hours. I’d really love it if we all supported these artists and spread J-pop around the world. =D
