All about the Girls～いいじゃんか Party People～

Arenas vs. Domes vs. the National Stadium (Kokuritsu)

“We’re not fussed about large scale things and want to perform in halls and arenas again.  I can still remember the atmosphere in those places,” he said.

- Matsumoto Jun

We are all really ecstatic with the wonders that can be done on the stage and everything in Kokuritsu. But as a fan, I want to experience watching Arashi in Yokohama Arena, or even if possible, the Tokyo International Forum...

I think the reason why Matsujun wants the atmosphere of the smaller venues better because of the nearness of the audience to them. It feels more... home-ey. I actually thought that way was better. It's obvious that he misses that nearer-to-fans atmosphere..

Maybe I was also influenced with Namie Amuro's statement regarding her performances in domes. I could not forget that statement though I cannot really quote it. She said that the reason why she still perform in small halls even though she was offered the domes is because of the atmosphere. She wanted to be nearer to the fans who value her. Well, at first, an immediate reaction of haters is "Well, she won't be able to fill up a dome, anyway." But judging the number of performances in THE SAME VENUE, and seeing that the tickets are sold out, you might want to say otherwise. She can eventually move to a bigger venue and just perform once or twice, that will save her energy. But her love for her lives and the atmosphere of being near to fans is the reason why she chose halls over arenas and domes. Besides, I thought her Concentration 20 Dome concert is the worst... T_T... Her arena cons are quite good though, and in the case of Best Fiction, they had the ability to put up a major production with a lot of props (including the famous silver shoe).

So let's go back to Arashi. It's true that it will be very difficult if they perform back in arenas since they have a lot of following and they don't have all the time in the world to perform in the same venue a lot of times. It's, let's say yes, less tiring to around in a smaller place (and even sometimes, you won't be able to go around of the small space anymore), but the simplicity and the simple fun of being near them is soooo amazing! I quite remember the nearness of the fans in their Taipei arena concert...

It would be nice to see them perform in a smaller place. Even if you remove all the fountains, the LED lights everywhere, the dozen moving stages, I think the atmosphere is already enough...

Love love... :))

Bad sleeping partners!! (orly???)

Found this interesting poll in arama from Music Station... The title, well, it really misleads, especially if you're awake at 3 in the morning, and your mind is fuzzy... I was like "WHUT JAPAN?" My mind went down the gutter...

It's funny, Kana, Takako, Ohno, and Aiba found themselves in this poll! Oh-chan, does that imply that being unmoving while you are awake means you're the opposite when you sleep!!

(# *_* #) But before you think of anything else, what the poll really wanted to say is " the people who, when they sleep, are so hyper that they can hit you or whatever while they're sleeping"! Makes sense, in the more decent way... You wouldn't want a sleeping partner who would threaten your life while you're trying to sleep. But then... hahahaha...

01. Satoshi Ohno (Arashi)
02. nocchi (Perfume)
03. Haruna Kojima (AKB48)
04. DJ Chemical (FUNKY MONKEY BABYS)
05. Wakadanna (Shonan no Kaze)
06. Kana Nishino
07. Masaki Aiba (Arashi) - IDRC... :))
08. Takako Uehara (SPEED) - the sleeping "akuma" LoL
09. Koki Tanaka (KAT-TUN)
10. Yuusuke

***

Speaking of MSute... I really loved their performance of Yubiwa... So flawless and pretty!!!

This is my first time posting here in TypePad... i think it's kinda sleek and simple but I don't know if I can always post here... But oh well... I hope we can have fun here! ^_^

SPEED - Yubiwa

Their newest single, Yubiwa... is a nice smooth song which is a collaboration with GreeeeeN's producer. Hmmm.. this is actually a cover of a song by an indie (?) rock band, which i forgot the name...

Cover

This is actually an amazing single... So simple, yet so wonderful... Though... the cover is quite bugging... But then, there are two tracks in the single, "Yubiwa" and b-side "Tracks".

I think Yubiwa is better than their earlier release, Growing Sunflower, because of its nice and smooth flow of lyrics and melody. The song gives me the "my graduation" feeling. And still, they are trying to give Hitoe and Takako some singing lines... Their blending is quite wonderful when given at the right spots in the song. A very mature track that was meant for them.
At first, upon listening to the original version of the song, I thought that it would not fit them. But the arrangement and the tempo were changed to fit SPEED perfectly.

I noticed that they have been consistent with their B-sides, starting with UTAKATA, Moonlight Honey, and now "Tracks". I remember Hitoe and Elly saying that they like those kinds of songs to sing and dance to. I think it's quite wonderful. They are also experimenting with other producers and composers aside from Hiromasa Ijichi. Because of these consistent releases, I do hope that they'll have a new original album soon which would be composed of fresh, consistent, and wonderful tracks.

Dreams

For the past week, I had the set of weirdest dream... All of them almost looked casual that I would have believed that they are true!

Except that, for each night, I kept on dreaming meeting a random Arashi member and take a picture with them as a souvenir...

That was the weird part because I don't like taking pictures of myself, and it's quite impossible to meet them and take pictures with them...

But in each dream, it was as if we are all friends and we are all familiar with each other, that's why we took pictures!

And remarkably, I have a professional SLR camera, one of my dreams too! It was like I was a personal official photographer of the boys when we hang out together...

Those are really nice dreams, though I forget about the details a few moments after I wake up (like, yeah, normal dreams)...

Do you also have some weird but good dreams?

Kana Nishino's "to love" album

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Let's go, hime!!

1. Prologue ~ What a Nice~

I think this cute intro song gives us a preview of the whole album... IT was nice, slow, and soothing... Gives a fantasy-like feeling to the listener...

2. Best Friend

This is one of my most favorite singles from her (the other one being "Dear"). It simply is a heartfelt song talking about a best friend. How nice! And of course, it has nice background music that really appeals to the ears. It's not that boring, and it has this very light melody that really gives that nice feeling while you're reminiscing memories with your best friend.

5 out of 5

3. Summer Girl feat MINMI

I only have seen MINMI posts but I don't really know her. But then, I like this collabo. Very fun, very summer-y. Listening to this song makes you feel that it's really summer. It raises the tension! Plus, the mixture of beats is not annoying to the ears, a good choice for pleasure listening. I enjoyed listening to this song. And it's a good tour song too, in my opinion...

~Don't stop the music. Turn up the radio... Turn it up~. I want some dancing, and some romancing...~

I think MINMI's voice is also good, and it fits with Kana's.

5 out of 5

4. Hey Boy

Hey Boy is a rock-influenced track. But surprisingly, this is somewhat a flirty song... Haha... That's how I can describe it, anyway... In essence, it's can be a continuation of Summer Girl because they're in the beach and they spotted a s-surfer boy! And the rest goes on... I also like this song... But I can't imagine Princess Kana singing this in a fierce style... Talk about being fierce while being cute!

4 out of 5

5. Motto (more)

This is one of her mushy mushy youth-emotion related song. This is very RnB influenced in my opinion. But this is actually not one of my favorites since this is not one of the more polished song by this girl. Maybe it's because of the sudden start of the chorus without any musical or melodic transition... It just doesn't sound that right... And there are parts that the instrumentals and backup vocals mix up and sound like "what?". But then, this song also has good and easy feeling with it... It doesn't really give a heavy feeling. Maybe that's the disadvantage of having that kind of voice.

4 out of 5

6. love & smile

Another cute song! This song also gives a light feeling that fits with its beautiful feeling... Very simple and sometimes even childlike. It even tempts you to sway along with it. And funny enough, there are children singing along at the end of the song! Very nice. It radiates this kind of feeling that makes you smile...
Sometimes though, it sounds too slow.
And this also showcases Kana's more english. I like her accent, even though it still has the Japanese accent, it's more of the understandable side... Amazing... :)

4 out of 5

Next album...

Finally gotten hold of Kana Nishino's "to Love"

It's stereotypically the kinds of songs that the young people would love. Especially if you understand the lyrics, you would be able to relate to the song. Heartbreak as a young woman, a song about your high school best friend, unrequited love, and things like that...

I liked her singles so this album came out as a surprise. It is not entirely filled with mushy-mushy RnB ballads that she released earlier. Hey, one of these is even a summer party song (though still related to youth). But then...

Kana Hime (as what Arashi calls her in HnA)... By now, you'd be able to buy those princess furniture... :)

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Reviews will come when I finish my exam. But yeah, right now, it's part of my jam. I'm kinda late but then, better late than never, right?

***

...

I wanted to get out of this spiral...

You don't understand, do you?

Boku no Miteiru Fukei (part 2)

So, let's move on...

Pic 2

1. don't stop

I think this is quite confusing. The melody changes abruptly when they reach the chorus... Like I said earlier, somewhat like they pasted a different song in the middle of a song. Though I really loved the sleek intro for the song, the confusion it created made it NG for me... Not that I hate the abrupt change... Maybe it just needs a little transition.
3 out of 5.

2. Shizuka na Yoru ni

I knew it. From the title, I really guessed that we won't get any "Top Secret"-ish dance track that I really missed from this master of dancing (and singing)... It's like an upbeat version of "Take Me Faraway". But I guess Ohno's been dwelling on RnB tracks which are the eatable music of Japan nowadays. It feels like I'm listening to Shota Shimizu's songs. And because it sounds like him, I wouldn't lie: I'm also eating it. :)) Though, even though I'm not a big Ohno fan, I am wishing for another hardcore dance track... Ohno-san, Odorinasai! :)
5 out of 5

3. Mukae ni Iku Yo

In this song, I suddenly remembered that RnB track from SPEED's single, "UTAKATA". I think this song is trying out those kinds of songs... I don't know if it really fits them because this time, I found the song missing something and boring... Maybe this isn't the right path, guys...
3 out of 5.

5.  1999*4##111

Nino... I don't know what to say. Let's just say that I don't know how meaningful this song is. Okay? Am I listening to a Jackson 5 song? That's my first impression... Especially the intro... I'm so sorry, it's on the same line as "Himitsu" but the latter is better. And suddenly like a Christmas song backup group!!!

NO! I'm not bashing Nino... I find the song cute! Maybe the arrangement wouldn't work as an acoustic track, I think... So I will go with Jackson 5-ish type because that still makes the song cute (Nino in afro wig?).... And Nino, you're always experiment good music... :)
4 out of 5

6. Sora Takaku

I really loved the song preview from the drama SP... Because the chorus and the "1...2...3...4...5..." sounded so good. This is almost a reggae mixed with pop song... But then, like a wave, it has its maxima and minima parts... The bridge before the rap is the minima part for me... Hey, why do you have to be at the last part of the last CD of the song? You are pure gold!!!
5 out of 5

7. kagero

I want to know the reason why they used Romaji for this title when almost all English titles were written in katakana... Maybe that's the point, we don't know... There's an eerie feeling that this song releases (and it's in a good way!). It's like a dark version of their midtempo songs like "Wasurerarenai", and "Kaze"... Hmmm... But I think it will take some time before I will get used to it. More tracks like these, please?

8. Summer Splash

I have the same message. You are pure gold! And a good end for a summer album... Well, the title screams "summer", duh, but it's more summer-y than the other tracks!
I like the effort of rapping in a mild and light manner (compared to COOL & SOUL and Re(mark)able and Attack It!... they're trying to be kakkoi there).  It makes them look so cute. I want to see them sing this. And it's really a nice summer song. GOOD JOB, guys! But this is not experimental! They've been singing songs like these before...
5 out of 5

***

Okay. Does my review sound negative? I don't want to make people feel bad or anything because as much as possible I want to give positive reviews so I want to dwell on the positive side. But like what I said in the intro, I guess after reaching the milestone of 10th year, they want to have some changes by experimenting. Let them be. I'm sure that after looking at the finished product, they'll be able to map themselves on what to do next. Of course, I have this perception that they cannot control much of their singles' consistency because they're almost always used for dramas and stuff and they have to match them with it. But then, we know that even they don't have the full control of their album tracks, they can also have their say (Y/N?).

But yeah, it's also hard to do that "consistency/coherence" part in this kind of experimental album. And it might take them another 2 years or more to be able to release a greatly consistent and pure gold album. Hey, it took them 6 years to release pure gold albums from ONE - TIME. DAL is somewhat a concept album where they also started experimenting gradually. I'm not really expecting them to pull out stuff like that immediately. They're idols and not like my other favorite artists who have the complete freedom to choose what to do with their music career. But I appreciate that they're trying to go forward as they are aware that they're getting older (yeah, Nino, too. XD).

Lastly, I want to say: "I don't believe sales make up what the artist is. If they perform well, sing well, and love what they're doing, I feel very proud." *

*I hate weekly sales posts and the whining on their rankings

Boku no Miteiru Fukei

This is Arashi's new album. Well, sadly, I didn't have much favorites on the first listen, except for the last track... 'Summer Splash'. But I must give a chance, this is Arashi after all...

If you've read my PAST<FUTURE album review, this is the same thing that I will say... This is a confusing album in terms of genre... Like there are 16 new paths in front of the boys and they want to try the 1st half mile of each before knowing where to go next. And I am wondering if this always occurs on the albums after a BEST album. With this album, I began wondering on what kind of music Arashi will release for the next years... This album makes everything so unpredictable that I don't know what to think about it.

Maybe one thing that I want in an album is coherence. Even though the tracks are all different, there must be unity in terms of... hmm... order of appearance, I guess. So that it will look like we're traveling from one place to another, as though they are telling us a story. Well, maybe that's just my opinion. So that there are no tracks scattering around.

I will remove the singles in the reviews... :) And I haven't read the lyrics yet so I'm just basing with the song... So it doesn't matter much what the songs say

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DISC 1

1. movin' on

I kinda like the intro. It's quite funky for me. I can think that this is a slow jam dance track and kinda pleasing to the ears. I remembered "Wave" when I listened to this song, just a hundred times better and faster.
3 out of 5

2. mada ue wo

There were some nice backup guitars and violins that gave some Indian or Latin dance background? Maybe. Because Sho's rap part also contains the small voices in the background that sounded like tribal cries (or something like that). But there was something missing in this song that I can't really put a finger on. But it's a good dance track.
4 out of  5

3. Refrain

Can I say that this is a mid-tempo ballad? It's like a dark midtempo-ballad. A tamed sister of "truth" or whatever. I like it. Maybe it was Ohno's intro that got me into it. And the background voices also gave this exotic vibe to the song. Now this is a mature track!
5 out of 5

5. T.A.B.O.O.

I don't understand anything from the song (well, that's the point exactly). Hmm, it screams Sho from top to bottom. But the guitar intro and the chorus really reminded me of two animes I've watched from before. And trumpets? And shouting? Hmm, this song is quite good but I feel like the rap part was so out of place in the song... Maybe it sounded like another song pasted in T.A.B.O.O. (and I think that's really a taboo... kinda like how Dr. was a taboo in my taste). The instrumental bridge, however, is quite good for a dance routine (yay! please dance, Sho-san.).

This is not a fail... 4 out of 5

6. Circus

This screams like a live show from the starts. I can see the guys in an intro of an opening red curtain wearing top hats and sitting on thrones. With canes please? This looks like something from the DAL era (since DAL is one hell of a circus!) and can be actually the first track of the said album because of the rising curtain feel. Since I love DAL....
5 out of 5

7. Gift

Why did I suddenly remember the song "Nothing's Gonne Change My Love for You"? Maybe it's because of the first verses... Then suddenly, I remembered their own "Be With You"... Haha... I must be crazy. This song might be that second to the last song? The slow song where they get to say their heart-wrenching messages to fans (my favorite part too), and the part where Aiba will start crying... Oh my... I am totally imagining their concert in my head...

I thought that the first parts were too slow and it sounded boring at the start. There was a buildup, in the middle, however.
3 out of 5.

8. come back to me

I hate autotune! But that's not what the song is, right? Well, there are parts that are matsu-auto-tuned... And it sounds like "One in a Million" for me. Well, the wonders Jun can do. He doesn't have the best voice but he knows what kinds of song to sing. You are so adorable. "I love this city!" Was this song really made for a concert? There were even an interactive part in the middle of the song!

Funky diva is funky... XP
3 out of 5.

9. Magical Song

The title screams "cutesy aiba-chan and his magical song". But behind the intro that sounded like those songs in Dance Revo is a really magical and hypnotizing song...

Oh, Aiba, stop doing this to me.

Okay, it was like a playful song. There were even a nursery rhyme tone involved in this song. And a mixture of what my sister told me... Yeah, that's it! That's the reason why I felt that familiarity. It sounds like a Chinese song! Well, on the first listen, I thought of those 90s JPop songs that I really love so I got really hooked. I also like the quality of his voice here.

Pretty Aiba is pretty...
5 out of 5.

12. let me down

This is a cool song... Or should I say, this is a song that was made to give out this cool image for the boys. I like the opening lines and the fast rap-like lines used for the chorus. I could say that this is one of the mature sounding songs in the album... Fresh... But what was the first lines? "i'm gonna say let me down..." ? am i right? Hmmm... But they used low voices that were in the line as "Super Fresh"...
4 out of 5

Disc 2 will come by... err... tomorrow...?