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 [...]
Entries Tagged as 'J Pop'
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
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
Rimi Natsukawa 夏川りみ – Self Selection – My Comfort Album
September 25th, 2008 5 Comments
There is comfort food. And there is comfort music too, I reckon. You know how it is like when every time you listen to a particular song or album and that triggers a particular memory of yours? Maybe “Last Christmas” was played when you gave your first kiss away, maybe “I Don’t Wanna Miss A [...]
Tags: 夏川りみ · Rimi Natsukawa
Anna Tsuchiya – Strip Me? Where Do You Draw the Lines?
August 16th, 2008 1 Comment
I thought long and hard before buying the new album by a Russian/American/Japanese singer, model, and actress Anna Tsuchiya (土屋アンナ). Exactly how do you draw the line between a good rock abum and a not so good vocalist (*ahem* I am looking at my band)? Call it a Japanese album when 98% of the lyrics [...]
Tags: Anna Tsuchiya · 土屋アンナ · Nana
Mai Kuraki (倉木麻衣) – One Life – Quite Possibly Her Spiciest Piece of Work
June 15th, 2008 1 Comment
I made a promise to myself that I will contribute my thought on Mai Kuraki’s 7th album to the online community back in March this year. Her albums don’t come cheap. The RRP are S$72 (USD 52) and S$52 (USD 38) after discount. And you can’t pick a random Japanese album to sample in HMV. So what I [...]
Tags: 倉木麻衣 · Mai Kuraki
Utada Hikaru – Heart Station – Classic It May Not But What A Soulful Voice She Has!
May 8th, 2008 14 Comments
If you have purchased Utada Hikaru’s latest album lately, you may wish to check if track 10 is truncated towards the end of the song. The friendly assistant at HMV (Citilink) was ripping the plastic covers of more than 10 of her CDs open including a newer batch and an older batch and they all have the [...]
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YUI – I Loved Yesterday – Kill Me Softly With “LOVE & TRUTH” …
April 27th, 2008 4 Comments
… and then kill me again. I must have heard that one song “LOVE & TRUTH” no less than 400 times by now as I have frequently left my players (Hi-fi, mp3 phone, PC iTune) on single song repeat mode while traveling, working, reading, and blogging ever since YUI’s third album has landed in Singapore. And if you think that [...]
Tags: YUI
BoA – The Face – And The Conquest Continues
April 1st, 2008 11 Comments
To tell you the truth, I am more thrilled by BoA’s phenomenal success in the music industry at the age of 21 than her music itself. Straddled between the Korean and Japanese markets, her 11th studio album is a Japanese release that attained the number 1 position in the Oricon chart the 6th consecutive time [...]
Tags: BoA
Wish By Yuna Ito – Of Moon Rabbit, Urban Mermaid, And A Titanic Theme Song
March 25th, 2008 6 Comments
Strange to say, I thought Yuna Ito’s 2nd album “Wish” is much better than her debut “Heart” in so many different ways but yet, the sales figure so far doesn’t agree with me. Perhaps the movies “Nana” and “Nana 2” that she has acted in and her accompanying soundtracks did help to push the sales [...]
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