Nowadays, I seldom write about the music I listen to. Not as often anyway. With legal and unlimited music download, it matters little if it is a good album, or a bad one. Because worst case, I delete the album off my digital storage. On average, I listen to an album once, or twice, and then move [...]
Entries Tagged as 'J Pop'
YUI – Holidays In The Sun – A Pleasant Album, Still Same Style
August 2nd, 2010 No Comments
Tags: YUI
Ayumi Hamasaki – Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus – Another Great Production
May 5th, 2010 6 Comments
At the counter, the sales assistance hesitated for a brief moment and he asked, “Do you want the poster?”. Do I want the poster?! I am a fan. Hit me with one! Really. Do I want the poster? I asked Cynthia where I should paste it. Dining area, I suggested. She frowned and counter-suggested the [...]
Tags: Ayumi Hamasaki
Love Psychedelico – Abbot Kinney – An Uplifting Album
February 16th, 2010 No Comments
Celebrating their 10 years of music career, the Japanese band Love Psychedelico has released a new album “Abbot Kinney”. I still like their debut “The Greatest Hits” the most (how appropriately titled!). But “Abbot Kinney” is growing on me. I guess I was looking for that dark melodic track “Last Smile” in this new album [...]
Tags: Love Psychedelico
Korean / Japanese Singer BoA’s First English Album Is Now On Our Daily Playlist – Best&USA
May 30th, 2009 2 Comments
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. She is young, she is talented, she is ambitious, and at the age of 22, there are few artists who have released a dozen of commercially successful albums in three different languages. As mentioned in my previous post (April 2008), I had my hopes and fears [...]
Tags: BoA
Next Level by Ayumi Hamasaki – I Love It
May 7th, 2009 1 Comment
I met my friend for lunch one day at Shokudo and told her that Ayumi Hamasaki has released a new album. “Who’s [What’s] that?” she asked. Maybe I am too naïve to think that everyone know who she is. Japanese artist Ayu has been my inspiration for years. Since 2000, she has been releasing one [...]
Tags: Ayumi Hamasaki
Rimi Natsukawa 夏川りみ – ココロノウタ – A New Studio Production, A Live Recording, and A Concert DVD
May 3rd, 2009 2 Comments
I wouldn’t imagine in a light year that I would enjoy listening to Japanese folk music. Rimi Natsukawa’s previous album “Self Selection” has been like a comfort album to me. So when I saw her 13th album “ココロノウタ” selling on the shelf, I quickly grabbed one without even test listening to it. “ココロノウタ” comes with 3 discs. [...]
Tags: 夏川りみ · Rimi Natsukawa
Mai Kuraki (倉木麻衣) – touch Me! – Odd Song Choices Aside, A Decent Effort Nonetheless
April 18th, 2009 2 Comments
Again, the Japanese pressed CDs of Mai Kuraki don’t come cheap. Three times the price of a normal disc. HMV Singapore charges me the price of one English CD as shipping fees. I guess it is sort of fair. If only I could read Japanese and order online instead. Pondered in front of the counter [...]
Tags: 倉木麻衣 · Mai Kuraki
Mika Nakashima – I Don’t Know, I Don’t Know, I *Know* “Voice” is My Favorite of Hers So Far
January 7th, 2009 No Comments
Having followed Mika’s music career since her debut album “True” – and I just realize that I have all 6 of her albums! – “Voice” has got to be the most appealing, most infectious of all. To be honest, I was surprised because although from time to time there are great music albums in the [...]
Tags: 中島美嘉 · Mika Nakashima
YUI – My Short Stories – Did You Know This is a B-Side Compilation?
December 2nd, 2008 7 Comments
No I didn’t. Nor the Oricon chart cares. 21 years old Japanese singer songwriter and one-time actress releases a b-side album and it charted at #1. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her 4th album “My Short Stories” at HMV. Wasn’t it this April when she released her last studio album? I am still [...]
Tags: YUI
Ayumi Hamasaki Complete Singles – Is This for You?
November 10th, 2008 27 Comments
Hardcore Ayu fans will get this, regardless. For just over S$30, even if most of us – the fans – have already had most of her albums (I have close to 300 songs of hers that amount to 23 hours of continuous enjoyment), this box-set is a very nice to have. It has: A beautifully [...]
Tags: Ayumi Hamasaki