So, as many of people have noticed, I have NOT been on since July. Well, I’m still alive and running, I was just having major school setbacks. My grades have been not-so-nice so I had the need to sacrifice a lot of things. But because it’s Christmas break & it is almost New Year’s, I figured I could whip up something special to end off a nice year of blogging! A top ten fit nicely. I’ll probably do a Top 10 for albums as well, possibly on New Year’s Eve. But as of now, we have a little top ten to score!

Alright, so I haven’t been reviewing a lot lately, but I have been taking into account what singles I have been listening to. Just to make sure: The songs I listen to could be completely different from the playlists that you listen to. If you think some of mine is off, it’s probably because I haven’t heard those artists in my life, or I just didn’t like it, so hopefully that’s a warning for anyone with bad criticisms over what I chose. Anyways, here goes!

10) AAA – BEYOND~Karada no Kanata
The band’s next attempt at rock music was awesome and their B-side dance tune was as awesome as the A-side. The remix may have dropped the single’s score to a 9.5/10 on the review here, but the single itself was something to love from AAA and I’m always hoping they can release another song like BEYOND and One Night Animal!

9) High-King – C\C (Cinderella\Complex)
Some sort of blend of R&B, Latin & bubblegum pop and you have wonderful creation, High-King with their song Cinderella\Complex. The song itself is very good, but not as great as the B-side, Kioku no Meiro, which is highly recommended by a lot of blogs I’ve read and I agree! Read my review here, in which I gave the single a score of 9.6/10.

8. Aira Mitsuki – Robot Honey
This lovely techno singer had four songs in one single, and 2 remixes. I couldn’t ask for anything more! Now, the songs were great in their own sense. Robot Honey had that “Perfume”-esque sound mixed with heavy synth to go along, which in my case, is something I would love and I am in love with it! Knee-high Girl is my absolute favorite track because the melody is just fantastic and although Aira goes on to repeat herself throughout the song, her voice flows along with the song. Every night heartfull music song, which is probably the worst Engrish I have ever seen, is a beautifully sung song with a slow synth, the closest thing to a synth-ballad ever and when it bursts loudly, it just sounds so harmonic. SAZAE FUNKADELiC is the BEST song on this album, hands down. The synth melody is fantastic and Aira’s voice blends well with the song. It just makes me want to jump and dance! If I had reviewed this, I probably would have given it: 9.6/10. Some points deducted for VERY VERY heavy vocoder & Every night heartfull music song taking me so long to actually like! XD

7) MilkyWay – Tan Tan Taan!
Now I wasn’t too sure about Anataboshi, but when I heard Tan Tan Taan! I instantly fell in love. I didn’t actually mind how child-like the song sounded, but it was Koha’s voice that kind of killed it for me, but it was better than Papancake, and she did have Sayaka and Yuu to back it up or make the song sound better ^^. The better song I would have to say was Gamushara, though. Not only was it super fun to sing along to, it was fun to dance to. The girls actually sound better in this song than in any other song I’ve heard from them and the overall melody is very upbeat and nicely done, with a nice quiet verse and then bursting into an exciting chorus! I love it, I could give it a 9.7/10 (I’m still hoping Koha’s voice can sound better…).

6) GIRL NEXT DOOR – Drive away / Shiawase no Jouken
Drive away was definitely the best GIRL NEXT DOOR song I’ve listened to, with its awesome piano synth in the background and Chisa’s vocals are so WELL DONE, like she actually sings the song and it’s not as annoying as some people think. The overall melody is great for dancing, too! Shiawase no Jouken was also exactly like it, only with a different melody. Chisa definitely knows how to sing and the melody in the song was very nice, but at some points it just started to become abrupt all over. Overall both songs served to be great “day after tomorrow”-esque songs (I was actually hoping they would sound like it!), but can easily become boring and repetitive, but they were very great! I’d give 9.7/10.

5) No Sleeves – Relax!
I was indeed in the mood to relax when I heard the song and when I went searching for new music, and I saw an AKB48 sub-unit. Figured I take the chance to hear it, and I fell in love with it. It has this amazing synth background with a bubblegum pop flow and sweet sound to it. The girls sound pretty cute, too. I’ve officially fallen for Minegishi Minami!<3 HEART no Ondo was also no exception. It had this weird start, but then it had this awesome “Morning Musume” sound to it and it was very R&B but techno at the same time. It was awesome to hear some decent singers like Kojima Haruna & Takahashi Minami to sing with Minegishi Minami! Definitely a good single, but can get a little boring and Relax! can get a bit annoying, but overall, great single! 9.7/10 for these ladies!

4) Buono! – Rottara Rottara
I don’t need a long explanation for this song, but: I had Rottara Rottara love for it and it was simply fantastic with its awesome guitar riffs and melody, as well as the girls’ awesome voices. But My Love blew the song out of the park. It was ska at its best: Trumpets, guitars, up-beatness, and the girls totally fit the excitement sound of the song. Congrats, Buono! I’d probably rate this to be 9.8/10 because Rottara Rottara can get a little boring even though it’s quite exciting, but My Love is always hyper and fun to sing along to.

3) Ami Suzuki – ONE
This single solidified my love for Ami, who joined Nakata Yasutaka this year for a little while (she’s now moving with m-flo, those bastards! Just kidding ^^ I love m-flo). ONE was a great song to hear, but a bit boring over time, but the one song that doesn’t get boring is A token of love, which, in the review here, in which I give 9.8/10, I express my true love for the song and how I’m also in love with the remix. Ami, this was one hell of a single!

2) Perfume – love the world
I think I fell in love with love the world right when I heard the preview, and then when I saw the PV. Then my love for it was solidified with the dark sounds of edge and its sexy repetitiveness. I think I can have my review say all there is to say here, with a great 9.8/10.

1) Perfume – Dream Fighter
Now, when I first heard Dream Fighter, I was excited. When I hear it now, I’m DEFINITELY excited. First off, their voices sound very normal, despite Nocchi sounding a bit off, but nonetheless, they sound like decent singers and you could now tell who’s who. The melody of the song is absolutely perfect, like a darker version of Electro World or a lighter version of edge. It’s not repetitive, but overall, the synth is amazing, and I love the sounds that all blend together. I could say a lot, but I don’t want to get carried away! Negai was also amazing, like an even slower version of Macaroni, but with a LOVELY, just LOVELY, piano piece at the end. The overall synth in the song is nice to hear and soothing. I don’t see why it’s so boring! Their voices are so quiet and nice with the song, it kinda makes you want to sleep. I don’t know… in all honesty, when I grabbed the single, I just thought it was an awesome single to end off 2008. Good job ladies, landing a first 9.9/10, NEW RECORD! (God, I was hoping for a #1…)

And with that ends our round for singles! I wish I could have gotten some other singles in, but I never get the chance to hear new music anymore… Anyways, keep an eye out for the top albums, and I’ll also have an honourable mention awards kinda thing! As for me, FHB’s HOME! (:

Wow, I think maybe I just stopped listening to those during January to June, because I cannot find one single in the list from those months XD Maybe I should keep track of half-years, too?

Ami Suzuki
ONE
Rating: 9.8/10

1. ONE
2. A token of love
3. ONE (instrumental)
4. A token of love (FM88 mix)

I seriously could not come up with a great headline x) But anyways, Ami’s finally seeing the career light with this single. Not only has Nakata Yasutaka become famous thanks to Perfume, but Ami is smart moving to Nakata for her usual dance-pop singing style. I’m MOST DEFINITELY awaiting that Ami Suzuki album produced ENTIRELY by Nakata. I think Ami also took tips from MEG and is keeping Nakata her producer, and who’s complaining?! FREE FREE was AMAZING and…

ONE was BEAUTIFUL. I love this single, although I find it a lot more laidback than FREE FREE. FREE FREE was a single full of heavy dance and techno, giving Ami the ero-cute look she was aiming for. ONE had done the same, but the music has toned down, so to speak. But I’m not complaining. I absolutely love what Nakata’s doing for Ami, and it has made her music sound ABSOLUTELY BETTER than before, even better than AROUND THE WORLD.

ONE, the single’s title track, is usually compared to FREE FREE. The PV, the cover, the styling of the song, her majorly vocoded voice? I’d have to agree. But ONE is pretty much a slowed-down version of FREE FREE. I really liked FREE FREE but I REALLY like ONE, too. It’s very sexy and ero-cute. It starts off with a slow introduction and vocal by Ami, and then it speeds up with her long noted ONE and nice little 8-bit beat. I like the melody, it’s quiet, looping and very techno-like, great for dancing, even if it’s slower and quieter than most danceable tunes. Ami is very vocoded in this one, much like FREE FREE, only you can hear her real voice in some parts. I LOVE the building up to the chorus and when the melody changes tempo and zooms into it, that was cool. I like singing along to the chorus x) There’s a piano I hear when she says “Number ONE” and I thought that was absolutely amazing, amazing in fact, I like the instrumental a lot more than the actual track. I also like the creepy voices within the instrumentals, adding a nice atmospheric effect to the song. It’s a pretty long song at 5 minutes, but I’m not complaining, I like the song. I like the quiet instrumental that stops then immediately builds up into the loud chorus, but Ami’s vocals when she sings “Number ONE” is very screechy, it kinda hurts my ears. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE ENDING. Just hear the ending, it’s amazing, the way it ends off and blends into the next song. ONE is a great song, I’d recommend it, but to be honest, I find it more repetitive than addictive, but I don’t mind the song at all. It’s a great song and a great way to kick off her career with Nakata.
Rating: 9.6/10*

The next song, A token of love is almost like edge is to Perfume’s love the world or SUPER MUSIC MAKER is to FREE FREE. B-side always better than A-side. (Why I keep getting these singles, I don’t know xP) A token of love is a MASTERPIECE. At first, I was taken aback by the strange opening, but with the scratching aside, we go into a looping 8-bit sound and then to a massive synth noise. Then it goes into a looping synthesizer, which is an amazing sound. Ami comes in vocalizing with the synthesizer going into a PERFECT MELODY, it makes you wanna tap your feet. I like how it transitioned into the verse Ami sings and although her voice is HEAVY with vocoder, she sounds great and I like how she makes her voice sexy and then proceed into vocalization ending up into the chorus and the chorus is PURE fun. It’s full of looping synth, Ami’s vocalizing, Ami singing the chorus and it was so singable because it’s in English! x) I was really hoping for a PV for this song, but I’m sad it doesn’t have one. I really like how the chorus ends and then it transitions back into Ami vocalizing. Ami sings again, only this time everything goes quiet, a little synth goes on and Ami sings again. The transition to the chorus is different from time to time, from zooming in to quiet stops and then BOOM there it is. I REALLY LIKE THE MELODY and how Nakata incorporates all these transitions to make it like a story! Nakata’s a genius! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the instrumental near the end where everything gets into a loop and Nakata mixes everything together. That was BEAUTIFUL. The ending was a little abrupt, but it was nonetheless worth my 6 minutes, and not at all repetitive, it was actually sung with a story! It was purely the best x)
Rating: 9.9/10

We get another instrumental, and then we get a remix (I think Nakata’s starting to do this tracklisting format, ever notice love the world’s tracklist?). A token of love (FM88 mix) is possibly the best remix I have ever heard since the remix of MEG’S HEART. It starts with a synthesized piano playing against a looping noise and then Ami’s vocals come in again, and it meshes SO WELL with the beat in the background. I love how the remix sounds good with the original melody and then when it transitions into the verse.. that was LOVE. Again, because it is remixed, it has the same elements of the original only mixed with a new melody, and I think I like this a LOT MORE than the original (despite the fact that the original’s already perfect xP). I love the winter-like beat in the background, reminds me of snow falling onto the ground and it sounds COOL! I LOVE the instrumentals in between, with the different sounding synth. It’s amazing! And Ami’s vocalizations are now hidden inside the synth but it adds an even greater effect to the song. It’s also shorter, so for those who were bored of the original’s 6 minute version, this one’s perfect for them. It’s great to sing along to and dance to and I could totally see this being played at a club. The ending was abrupt but it was a nice quiet way to end off the song! A PERFECT remix indeed!
Rating: 10/10

Overall Rating: 9.8/10
Ami’s definitely on a roll with Nakata! FREE FREE was a great way to kick off her now techno ero-cute style and ONE only made it better. Despite her high vocals, she can blend with the likes of Perfume and MEG and she can definitely get her career back into high places (ONE reached #17 on the charts, her highest since Alright! GOOD JOB AMI!) and I really like the path she’s taking. I’m hoping that album’ll come out soon…

Did I mention Ami’s suddenly becoming hotter than usual? x)

.. drool x)

* – Indicates I reviewed the song before (most likely in a PV), but have changed the grade due to overall changing opinions of the song.

Perfume
Monochrome Effect
Rating: 9.3/10

1. Monochrome Effect
2. Elevator
3. Oishii Recipe

If I was ever approached by someone who wanted to get into Perfume, but not listen to their recent music (I would wonder why they wouldn’t, but that’s not the case here), and they wanted to hear something good from the indies era, I would already have one answer in mind.

Monochrome Effect would be my answer. This single for me was probably the better single of their indies era, where Sweet Donuts is nearly sitting (Vitamin Drop can be hidden in the corner). It took me some time to get used to the single, though, because Perfume in their indies era had MAJORLY high vocals, OH and get this, they weren’t vocoded either, but they were still produced by Nakata. With that said, it hurt my ears a bit. It took a little getting to it, and finally, I’m in love with this single.

The title track, Monochrome Effect is a really fun cute little song that starts off with, what’s this? Super Mario Brothers music?! No, but it has the 8-bit sound that a band YMCK has. I liked the opening though, as it entered into Perfume’s vocals, where they’re much louder and the melody (which is still 8-bit) is playing along with their vocals. This time, they are not vocoded! You can tell who’s singing! Kashiyuka sings first, then A~chan, then a chorus.. where’s Nocchi?! Oh, she’s singing with the other girls x) I like how quiet they sound in the verses, and their vocals almost sound like they want to laugh, like they were putting some emotion into singing the song in the studio, all the while just having fun in the song x) It’s cute! xP I really like the melody in the verses, with that little organ playing around and several synthesizer pianos are just playing around, I’m pretty much thinking they didn’t get serious about this song, but simply had fun. And it sounds good! I’m not complaining! They hit the last few verses and then it gets quiet, with a simple synthesizer and the girls singing, and then it builds up to a last chorus before ending with an 8-bit video game instrumental special and then a last LONG note from the synthesizer. But there’s something to be said here. For me, if I had to listen to a Perfume song once and not listen to it again, would be this song. It gets on your nerves sometimes, and that’s less likely to happen to me these days since I’m a big fan of Perfume (Perfume most definitely revolves my world xP), but I recommend listening to it, just keep it off the repeat x)
Rating: 9.5/10

Elevator’s the next song and I think it sounds WORSE than Monochrome Effect. Not saying it’s bad though, it’s a great song, just Monochrome is better. Elevator begins with, yet again, another 8-bit sound in the beginning and then a looping melody throughout. Kashiyuka starts it off and again these girls aren’t vocoded like nowadays. We get also a xylophone melody in a little instrumental piece! It’s cute! I like the way the girls sing the vocals, because if you pay attention to the lyrics, the girls are talking about how an elevator moves compared to love and they sing as if it was a story. I really like how they made their voices sound cutesy to compare with the melody behind them, although it was a bit too high and bland for my liking (I think I like them vocoded better xP). They finish singing and then we get a little instrumental at the end after some weird looping effect (which I thought was the end of the song xP). They do a little singing part and ends off with Kashiyuka repeating the last few words and then ends on an abrupt note. I think about ever liking this song, and it turns out, I would probably just hate it the second time around. Again, it’s like a first-listen song, and then dies, almost like Yu-gi-Oh! cards. The game became famous when it came out, then died when more people started playing it x) (Oh, God, how I hate my comparisons xP) I like Elevator, but it’s not their best song. It was a good thing this song was short! Oh, how I’d hate it if this went on forever for four minutes…
Rating: 8.5/10

I think the best song of the single is in the last track, Oishii Recipe. Not only can they perform it live with full energy and with great performing skills, but they can sing it well. We start off with a zooming synthesizer and again, 8-bit music, but it brings in Nocchi & A~chan to begin the singing and my favorite part is when they sing the little chorus after their small verse. Kashiyuka has the cutest non-vocoded voice EVER! It’s adorable! I think the best thing about this song is, the chorus you can easily sing along to and dance to. It’s fast, but it’s so cute. I like the speed of the song, it makes you all energetic and hyper and I love singing along to the song because I find it easy to sing along to and I really like fast songs x) The dance they did for the song is amazing and I LOVE dancing to this song! I absolutely love it near the end when they do that little bridge with the melody following the melody of their vocals. And then when it pauses for a bit, I like how it is brought up to a fast melody again and into A~chan’s vocals. This song makes my feet tap too much, and I love it when they do that bridge again (and someone says Hai! Hai! and OK xP). And when they end the song with O-I-SHI-I RE-CI-PE as the melody follows it, that was the cherry on top! The perfect song of this single, I LOVED IT. And it doesn’t get repetitive and you can listen to it more and still fall in love with it! x)
Rating: 10/10

Overall Rating: 9.3/10
A really good single of the indies era, I would actually only recommend listening to Oishii Recipe. But, Monochrome Effect is a really great song and if you’re one of those people who can stand music and put it on repeat, I also recommend Monochrome Effect. I loved how Nakata incorporated 8-bit sounds into this single, which I haven’t heard from Nakata since Samurai Logic. I also like the fact that I can hear Perfume now, but knowing they were only 14-16 at the time, it’s expected their voices were higher than usual. Elevator, if I were you, just listen to it once, and once in a while, come back to it. It’s not a song that you’d wanna leave on repeat, it’ll get annoying, but to the person who wants a single from the indies era, Monochrome Effect’s a great way to bring you up to par with Perfume and a great way to start your Perfume fan-boy or fan-girl era! xP

Takahashi Hitomi
evergreen (PV)
Rating: 9.7/10

Ballads are really good sometimes. You have your Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, BoA, aiko, etc. For me, my first ballad? A rock ballad. At the time, I was already in love with Takahashi Hitomi. Bokutachi no Yukue was a really great Gundam SEED song and I wanted to hear more from her. I took for granted her second single, but I came back to Hitomi after Aozora no Namida (which was the best BLOOD+ opening I have ever heard). And after taking a hit at her second single, I thought of something during my forum days, when I was starting my own forum (which is now defunct) and thinking of a name that a lot of people in the Japanese-pop-internet-world might know by now.

You could say evergreen has no way of giving me the name “freehummingbird”. But it wasn’t the song, no. It was the PV. But before we can get to that, I always liked this PV.

Not because it’s purely Hitomi singing against a sunset backdrop, or in a green field nearby. But because of how Hitomi pours her performance into this song, and shows emotion.

The video also has this orange tint in the beginning that makes it feel the mood, and then when we move into the grassy field, not only does the tint change to another color, but it makes the video purely beautiful. Not only that, but it is in a real field, so you know they weren’t using a fan for Hitomi’s hair to blow. It was pure wind x)

To start off, the first entire singing sequence is in one whole scene. A moving-camera close up of Hitomi, where the camera can’t hold steady while trying to film Hitomi but, as it may give a bit of headache to follow that wobbly camera around, it gives a feeling of home (you know, like home-video. I obviously can’t hold a camera properly, so I can remember it like that xP), a feeling that it is filmed like that to give this song a homecoming feeling.

I absolutely love the sun in the background, though.

We move into the next scenes where Hitomi is seen yelling into the sky and singing her heart out as the wind blows on her.

They also focus on her close-up, and I LOVE the close-up video effect, where it is her, but the tint makes it look so beautiful, that you can’t get your eyes off of Hitomi.

I also love the slow motions of the video, where sometimes Hitomi would be moving around with the wind slowly. That’s absolutely beautiful. And I LOVE what she’s wearing, great clothing for a female rock star!

We end off this PV with Hitomi singing close-up again to the camera, a few several angled shots, and then a last look at Hitomi in front of the sun.

The song is a masterpiece. It starts with a zoom into a piano and Hitomi singing her heart out. The piano builds up into a mesh of loud electric guitar and piano, making for a great rock ballad. After that instrumental, Hitomi begins to sing much quieter with a quiet piano, drum and guitar melody that picks up into the bridge quite nicely, with a happy feel to it as it builds up and as it reaches the chorus, it picks up a moodier but happy feeling to it. Hitomi’s vocals, although a bit childish, are AMAZING. She puts her feelings right into her voice, and the way she sings, it’s almost like a story, from a loud to soft to other volume voice, giving me goosebumps (I like them goosebumps! xP). She has a nice range to her voice when she sings the chorus, which I really like in her, she’s really good at screaming her lungs out. I really like the instrumental ending, where it is loud in the beginning and it ends on an abrupt, but beautiful note and I can hear violins! It’s a great rock ballad and one of the best I’ve heard!

So what’s the scoring?

PV – 9.5/10
The PV manages to make close-ups a treat for the eyes and all the nice little effects and camera work make for a nice little PV. I would’ve minded a little story to the PV, but Hitomi put in a lot of effort into her emotions for this PV and I LOVE HER EMOTIONS. She really knows how to show it (she can probably do acting!)! The little problem here and there is that the camera effect of the wobbly beginning aren’t too appealing (it is a good effect) because it could potentially give me a headache the second time I watch it. Overall, though, I thought this PV had a really good feel to it, a watch-the-sunset feel and well, the PV gave me an influence to remember.

Song – 9.8/10
It is absolutely beautiful. I love the instrumental melody behind it and they can totally make a great rock ballad (and for me, some rock ballads never work). Hitomi’s vocals, again, I thought were a little kid-like (but who am I kidding, she was only 16 at the time.. or was it 18?), but she pulled it off with a great vocal range in the chorus. She makes great ballads! I even like KO.MO.RE.BI! And because of evergreen, I have fallen in love with her songs, and that sympathy album? GREAT. <3

Overall Rating: 9.7/10
This song feels almost like a love song, but yet, it also feels like a story about yourself. Not only does it have a story-feeling to it, it’s great to sing along to! I already memorized the lyrics x) It’s a great ballad that can definitely be pulled off by Hitomi’s voice and the PV is a great way to show off the song, and I like how close-ups can actually make a good PV and Hitomi looks great as always… and she was only around 16 at the time! That’s great!

OK, so about how this inspired my name freehummingbird?

Take a look at this screencap at the end:

Two birds flying free.

They might not be hummingbirds, but at the time I was trying to sing evergreen. I didn’t know the lyrics at first, but I liked the song so much, I was humming the song to myself. When the birds popped up at the end, I hummed the melody to myself that when I was signing up for a forum (DreamerS forum) I noticed how free those birds were that I played the song again, started humming it and typing in free humming bird as my user name. I was like WOW, that looks COOL! I didn’t like the fact they were separate, being how I hate underscores. So I joined them altogether. And we get this amazing name of mine that I probably use on every JPop site I go to x)

And when I see my name, I always think of the song, evergreen. (:

Shiina Ringo
Honnou (PV)
Rating: 9.9/10

Shiina, after getting to know her music a little bit more, gives me a little bit of that creative genius that Nakata Yasutaka has, only she has applied hers into grunge-like rock with a female nasal vocal touch. Not only is her music sleek and full of guitar goodness, her PVs are full of it too, although not too many feature a guitar (unless you’re Koufukuron or Kabikouchu no Joou), but this PV we have here? Something much more different, like say Nurse Joy of Pokemon meets Infection, that JHorror flick, plus a song that’ll probably give some people some chills.

Shiina likes to play characters in her PVs often too much. Before Honnou we get Koufukuron’s messy angel, Kabikouchou’s short-haired guitar goddess, and Koko de Kiss Shite.’s grungy messed-up emo-like girl. What do we get in Honnou?

Shiina cosplaying as a nurse.

Except this nurse is not normal. (By the way, remember I have ditched that PV scheme, so let’s mash it up!) Not that I’m saying that Shiina’s nurse is bad, she is indeed the hottest nurse since Nurse Joy of Pokemon (GOD, I am such a Brock xP), with that damn red lipstick and that sexy hair that brushes up her face, amazing… but…

Yeah, she breaks glass. How fucking sweet is that?

I’m not too surprised. After all, she did it on the cover.

There is something freaky about Shiina’s nurse though. Honnou was probably the influence for those freaky nurses in Infection, that creepy horror flick with green blood HAHA. Anyways, we start off with her standing up. There’s broken glass on the floor, and BOOM she breaks glass with her fist, as if it didn’t hurt her. We get some screens of some blood bags and her singing along with a guitar-playing doctor (you don’t see that everyday!).

By far, this is the scariest scene for me in the PV. The music gets a little freaky here.

Her slow-mo running to approach the glass to kick it with her heels is AMAZING. I absolutely adore that scene.

We get another scene with her caressing a patient and kissing her all over, even with that damn red lipstick on her boob. That was another amazing scene. Sure, too controversial, but oh-so Shiina do me next! (I’m thinking Shiina probably caught a cold from that patient after that kissing though..)

We get even more glass breaking scenes, and her singing so angrily, it’s perfect.

Oh look, she even has a name tag!

I absolutely adore the final scene, where she just, not in slow-mo but instinctively, punches that glass like it’s a piece of nothing (and that fist musn’t hurt at all) and the camera zooms out to reveal that OMG people were holding the glass, BUMMER. It was all FAKE. x) That’s ok, I knew that beforehand!

The song itself is a work of art. It starts with a screeching horror noise. Almost freaky… Like a horror movie opening theme and then we get the other instruments and Shiina singing through a speakerphone (it even shows in the PV). Her voice gets normal after a few lines and there’s a loud piano and quiet guitar mixed together. After the very loud and screeching Shiina (which I loved, it was SO GOOD) stops singing, the melody gets creepy again, then moves to a piano-driven verse, with Shiina’s nasal voice continuing to get louder and louder to the angst-ridden chorus. I really like the piano instrumentals in between and those freaky violins really bring out the goosebumps of the song and I absolutely love how Shiina tells a story with her different vocal ranges, taking this song into great detail and the song definitely meshes well with the PV. Definitely one of my favorite Shiina Ringo songs!

So, what’s the scoring here?

PV – 9.8/10
The PV was amazing, and directed so well. Shiina most definitely knows how to play an angry nurse and she can definitely pull off a sexy nurse look. I love the slow-mo scenes and I really like how white the scenery is, despite the dark sound of the song. The only problem for me was that they really did have to show how they break the glass… that ruined not only my fantasy of how she breaks that glass but also a million others, it would’ve been more fun that way, but the PV is definitely one of her best!

Song – 10/10
Sleek, strong, sexy. Shiina has the perfect voice for this song and she can definitely pull off the anger of this song. The instruments of the song definitely add a creepy atmosphere to the mix and gives me definite goosebumps, something I love to hear in a song (ie. edge by Perfume) and if Shiina ever went back to her solo career, I’ll be waiting for the next Honnou!

Overall Rating: 9.9/10
I’d say this is the reason why Shiina’s still in the music industry today. She’s a creative genius, the song’s amazing with its very creepy surreal atmosphere of angst and instinct. The PV not only took it to new heights (and made Shiina even more popular) but it brought a visual representation of Shiina’s feelings of the song into reality. She makes angry nurses look effortless! Definitely a recommend!

Perfume
love the world
Rating: 9.8/10

1. love the world
2. edge
3. love the world (instrumental)
4. edge (extended mix)

As a big Perfume fan, I feel the need to review something Perfume FAST. That doesn’t exactly mean I’m bias, I’m not pushing any other artist away. I just love Perfume<3 What can I do? I also feel happy Perfume are for supporting worldly issues and being happy, mixing the two together in what we get here:

love the world, which hit the #1 spot on the Weekly Charts in it’s first week (YAY! PERFUME!), could be the next Polyrhythm, promoting the image of love for the world, but it’s not exactly about recycling and saving the planet. It’s about plainly being HAPPY on the planet. Perfume make great musical speakers, don’t they?! There’s also another side to this single, but I’ll get to that later.

But first, let’s look at the song, love the world. I love love the world, and yes, in a literal sense, too. Again, I am a big fan of Nakata’s works, but I love the masterpiece of the 80s in the song. Just listen to the instrumental, the synthesizer almost reminds me of the old 80s synth music, where almost every disco artist used some form of synthesizer, and Perfume’s love the world just reminds me so much of it (even though I wasn’t born in the 80s, I took a loving of my parents’ disco music XD). The song has a happy synth feel to it, and the lyrics also make a person VERY VERY happy. For instance, me. Listening to this song on the bus on a bad day, HELPS a person “be in a good mood yeh”, “have a nice day” and “revolve the world”! The lyrics are almost like a feel-good anthem, what Perfume’s pretty much known for! xP I really like the beginning of the song, with those synth beats and Perfume, although VERY VERY heavily vocoded, sound amazingly cute (especially Kashiyuka). It is actually hard to tell who’s singing though.. so that nixed their vocals, although I could tell who’s singing in the verses, and is that Nakata I hear in the chorus?! x) I really like the overally happiness within the song, and I think I’m too happy that I keep saying that word. I need a synonym for that word, FAST. x) Anyways, the song is the perfect summer lovin’ and feel-good song! It works great in the sunshine, especially taking the bus! And it’s purely danceable, and who can’t sing along with Perfume in the chorus.. rub rub love love the world! This song reminds me too much of plastic smile, too, except 80s meshed and more upbeat than usual x) But who said that was a bad thing?! xD
Rating: 9.5/10

Now, I mentioned something about another side to the single. edge. Why is it “another side”? DEATH. AMBIENCE. It’s a rip-off of Take me Take me! It’s a song (and no pun intended) with pure edge. The song starts with a breath of scary breath, most likely Kashiyuka’s. When I heard that, it gave me goosebumps and a song that does that are usually ballads, not techno songs, which is new! Anyways, we get this scary upbeat techno noise looping around and a freaky synth noise, and BOOM we get Kashiyuka singing “dandan suki ni naru ki ni naru” several times, and then A~chan with “Down Down clip on you fall in trap”. Those may just be the weirdest and freakiest lyrics ever. You can actually tell who’s singing here, as the vocals are now somewhat less vocoded than usual, making for a really dark-themed and vocalized message song ABOUT DEATH. That’s right! The lyrics are about how you have to live life to the fullest because, as mentioned in the last line of the amazing chorus, which the beat and their vocals are purely amazing, it’s genius, “everybody dies in the end”. Now, that doesn’t sound like something Perfume would sing, but I’m not easily shocked. They had to do a song like this eventually, they just can’t stick with the happy sounds. They gotta have creative variation! Although the song itself is overly repetitive, that being the verse over and over for each girl in each round after the chorus, the song brings an original sound to Perfume, a much more darker sound than that of GAME. It’s sleek, sexy, almost like a side of Perfume that didn’t want to be shown as an a-side, but still be presented so that they let people aware Perfume’s changing (hence why it’s a b-side, in my theory). I think this song is absolute genius and the overly repetitiveness is comparable to Chocolate Disco, very fun to sing along to and you just can’t get enough of it. People also complain that this song is very hard to dance to, and I fight to that. It’s absolutely easy to dance to this (I even tried) and I would see Perfume perform it live most definitely. I really love the ending to the song btw, it’s almost like a dark and creepy ghost ending.. Pure genius indeed. (Oh no, not one of those b-side-better-than-a-side singles!)
Rating: 10/10

And here’s another treat for edge-lovers.. an edge (extended mix)! Personally, I think the extended mix is the absolute best version of edge, even though both are perfectly genius in their own way. 8 minutes long, this song adds around 2 more minutes to an already 6 minute track, it is delightful in so many ways. The beginning is a pure treat into the song, a simple bass drum beat following into Kashiyuka’s breath. The vocals in this song are so much more different to that of the original, because in this, they harmonize their vocals, adding a talent Perfume is doubted for and also adding in a prettier, yet still a dark voice to their song. The melody also changes compared to its original, where it gets a new tempo and a new sound from time to time. The ending is the absolute best part of the song, where, almost like Ami Suzuki’s ONE, it gets a new kind of sound, a disco-like sound and that just makes the entire song explode its tasty load of goodness onto me (did that sound just as wrong to me as to you?). It still may be an overly repetitive song, but like I said in its original, it’s because of that that this song is so much more better than love the world and also its surprising lyrics and sound. Thank you, Perfume and Nakata. You have made me happy, despite this song’ll make me sad and I’ll forever keep your song in my pure memory. x)
Rating: 10/10

Overall Rating: 9.8/10
One of the strongest Perfume singles to ever hit the charts, Perfume’s definitely on a roll! The single presented a two-sided story about loving the world. Love the world in being happy, and love the world because you’ll never know when you die. It’s almost a two-sided coined single! I love the messages that Perfume’s bringing out in this single and although edge beat love the world, I really like both songs and I recommend them both, although love the world is more likely to pierce your ears with 80s sound than that of edge. I really like the way Perfume and Nakata are going with their new material and I hope for that next Perfume single to be as good as love the world! Go Perfume!

And good job getting the first #1 techno single EVER in Japan! WOOT!

NOTE: This is the regular edition of the single. It has a completely different tracklist to that of its limited counterpart. In the near future, I might review the limited edition, depending if I can find that single.

Crystal Kay
ONE (Regular Edition)
Rating: 9.1/10

1. ONE
2. Suki
3. ONE CORNELIUS REMIX
4. ONE DEXPISTOLS REMIX
5. ONE (instrumental)

So, Crystal Kay has been a figure in my music library for a long time and I’ve always anticipated her releases (I anxiously waited for all her ALL YOURS singles, and I completely loved Namida no Saki ni). Despite my lack of taste for that horrible cover (which is why Crystal gets zero for that but ONE for the music), I really wanted to hear this song, not only because it was for the Pokemon movie, but because it’s Crystal Kay. I love the girl x) Plus hearing about ONE wanted me to only hear about it more XD

ONE, even though it barely managed on the charts, is one of my favorite Crystal Kay singles and I did have really strong hopes for the single because it had the major tie-up to a Pokemon movie (but I’m pretty sure Japan’s had enough of those Pokemon movies.. I lost count, weren’t there over 9000 seven Pokemon films released in Japan? Correct me if I’m wrong.). Poor luck for Crystal, hope for the best for COLOR CHANGE! (I wouldn’t be surprised if it got #2 on the charts.. all her albums do that despite poorly sold singles.)

That being said, ONE is a superior track. When I saw the PV, I was AMAZED at the quality of the song. It starts off with a nice opening, very sweet and quiet, with some eventual booming drum noises. Crystal enters, and her voice is so sweet! It’s like a love song, starting with some good memories and then when she gets into the chorus, it’s like a heavenly piece of cake. I really like the chorus a lot and I sing to it more often when I’m not actually listening to the song. I love her voice when she harmonizes and the la-la’s are really cute, flows very well with the techno melody in the background. It’s R&B meets techno, I love it (two of my favorite genres)! I really like the violins in the background of the song when it hits to chorus everytime, and it always reminds me of those happy JPop songs like Koi no Tsubomi (Koda Kumi) or POP STAR (Ken Hirai), which all songs similarly have violin-like instrumentals in between (which makes me think if they have the same producers). I really like her little quiet singing with the quiet melody near the end and the song just gets better at the end when it sounds so happy. I really like cheer-you-up songs. They do their job well, to cheer you up! The ending was a bit abrupt for my taste, but I like the happiness vibe within the song and the overall techno melody with her R&B soothing voice makes for a great mesh of talent! Good job, Crystal!
Rating: 9.8/10

Here’s another one of those times when I absolutely think the b-side should be an a-side. Suki is a prime example. I think this beats ONE by a longshot (although ONE was already near the top, I’m thinking Suki is just perfect). Suki opens with bursting bass dance beats, which I love (thank God! I thought this song would be a ballad xP). Kuri opens it with a spelling of the word (which in Japanese would be “Like” or “I like you” in some sense), and it’s very danceable and her voice flows with the song and I can’t stop spelling it, it gets stuck in your head! She adds a few verses here and there, but the highlight of the song is the simple chorus of “Suki, S-U-K-I, I don’t wanna say goodbye” or something like that. It’s almost similar to Chocolate Disco (Perfume), where all you need to say is this and you’re on your way to a great song! I also like the tempo transition into a vocoder-mixed with a bass beat rock vibe in the song, where Kuri starts singing a new verse. I like how sometimes it transitions from quiet to loud and the booming beats that increase volume over time. It’s an amazing techno, dance track that makes me want to sing along and spell the word over and over again. It makes me lose control x) The perfect b-side, although I would have wanted it as an a-side.
Rating: 10/10

The next songs on the single are remixes of the title track, and although ONE CORNELIUS REMIX sounds like a potential remix track, it’s not my favorite. The melody that is now turned into a simple piano sound has made Kuri’s voice and lyrics mismatch with the song’s melody, which I’m really pet peeved about. I really like the transitions and the orchestra sounds in between, but we could so do without the trumpets, they sounded scary! I really like the piano in the song though, it sounds amazing and I really want to try it for myself. It goes on for a pretty long time, almost 5 minutes, so it gets a bit repetitive to me, which is probably why I’m just skipping through it to see if there’s anything else good in the song and I don’t have to listen to the boring parts. I really like the instrumental ending though, very nice touch to the song.
Rating: 8.0/10

ONE DEXPISTOLS REMIX (a play on words of the Sex Pistols) is probably my more favorite one, even though it follows the same method of off-beat singing to the melody, but I really like the techno opening, and when the beat stops and Kuri stops, man, that was the cherry on top! I love stuff like that, it brings me anticipation and wonder (like, OMG where’s the song?! I’m starting to like it!). It’s still a little off-beat, but I really like the looping beats. Her voice is vocoded though, and I really liked the voice behind the machine better, so that kinda nixed the song, but I really liked how the looping beats sound with the chorus, except in some parts, it just sounded so off-beat it was almost not as good as the CORNELIUS REMIX. When Kuri stops singing, I really like the beat in the background. It was like a mix of hip-hop and techno, and then blending Kuri’s vocals. I didn’t like the ending much, since it ended so abruptly, but it was nicer remix to CORNELIUS. (I think you can see that I’m more of a techno remix guy, and not the mellow remix guy xP).
Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 9.1/10
The single was amazing! Crystal’s two new songs have definitely made her a top favorite on my iTunes and I am eager for that COLOR CHANGE album (and it has an ugly cover too, yeck, but the songs are saving it). Although the remixes weren’t too special, they had a good prescence in the single and brought some individual creativity to a song, but originals are always better! I really want people to listen to track two, Suki, it’s amazing! ONE is a great song, too. If you feel sad, use it for a song to cheer you up (not to mention, it’s a song about best friends, which is also a friendship song! Nice!). Good job on this single Crystal and now I desperately await COLOR CHANGE x)

OK, so a little tidbit introduction here, but sorry for the lack of updates! I haven’t actually gotten to writing any reviews because summer’s been hectic and as a blogger, I’ve been getting a major writers block. I have no ideas and I currently have no idea how I’m gonna say things! Also, I feel a tadbit lazy in the last few days, due to me starting my summer job (which, ironically I started right before the day I reviewed the last PV I had reviewed) and I come home lazy, trust me, I do not work for the entire day, and I feel blogging is too much work after cleaning clothes all day x)

Anyways, I’ve thought about having new ideas for the blog. One thing for sure is, the PV scheme? Totally gone. I’ll just mash it up in one great review or maybe even spice things up for PV review specials (keep a look out for an Ayumi Hamasaki Memorial address PV review special!). I might change the header of the site, or even the style of the site. I’ve also added tags to reviews now and .. for a big update..

I’m gonna be re-reviewing a lot of my old reviews, possibly deleting some in the process (those that were done before International Wota covered my stories, in a possible way to probably bring up those hits I once had xP). I really felt like I did those in a rushed way, or maybe it was because I was 14 at the time and didn’t have any clue how to write a review. Nevertheless, I’m back!

Hoping I can get back to this every once or so, I think I can manage a few more posts before school starts, so (don’t take this as a real promise, I might come back in September, because in August, I’m on a trip to California!) I’ll be reviewing again!

Berryz Koubou
Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance (PV)
Rating: 7.0/10

After a radio-rip and all that, I could probably say that I fell in love with the song. I don’t know too many people who do like the song, but I am one of the lovers, and I congratulate Berryz on a well done comeback to my iPod shuffle (I just stopped right after VERY BEAUTY, but I have developed a liking for their more recent singles.. just not as much as this ;D). But the PV could just use some twirking..

So, Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance is Berryz most recent single and I, although not too impressed, love the song. For me, it actually beats out Dschingis Khan (if that’s how you spell it), but Yuke Yuke is just pure fun. But can the PV also do for me what the song did?

Fashion Sense – For several scenes, the girls are in a cutesy outfit, but it’s so baggish looking it makes them look fat. They also wear visors, which looks nice on them. There’s also some weird loose vest they’re wearing, but I’m not gonna go there. I sure like how they give Risako, Miyabi & Momoko the purple hot pants, while the others get pink hot pants (that was hint of sarcasm) & the boots just look weird with the mix, but overall, I like the mix, as it’s more (in the obvious sense) awesome than that of those horrendous monkey suits. But it hugs Risako’s “sexy” curves and makes Yurina stand out (of course, she always does.. that’s the freakin’ tallness). I hate the suit on Chinami, she covered her hair and now she looks like a bald monkey (oh snap, that’s cause they ARE wearing monkey suits! -_-). Chinami, I thought you were my favorite! Just, I was excited to see them in monkey suits, but it looks HORRIBLE. Like, the way the girls wear it, just no. And monkeys do not have ears like that!
(7.5/10)

Story / Point – Do you see one? No, I don’t really think there is one. Another H!P PV with a dance shot and up-close shots. There are two dance-shots (the normal suits & monkey suits), but that’s not much of an impression on me. They should have some sort of monkey thing going on here, but NO, just a monkey dance and them singing, dancing and acting foolishly. I am not impressed Berryz. So typical of your PVs. (I think the point here is they’re trying to turn me into a monkey! NOO)
(5.0/10)

Choreography – Maybe I like the song, but I just don’t like this PV, it’s horrendous. The choreography? They could do so much better. Although I like how crazy they get in the dance, they do it massively throughout, which gets a bit annoying. Not only that, but the monkey dance? Not good, not good at all. Although the wackyness and monkey dance gave me the thought that Berryz is just being fun, it’s just another cute-like scheme to get the little kids going, but I did like some of the choreo.. so I guess I can give them a sympathy vote on this part.
(7.0/10)

Special Effects – NONE. I did like how the title came in with the beat, but uh, couldn’t they have done it by not covering the girls.. The only real special effect in here is the banana zooming across the screen and the random switches of each costume scene (but that only gave me a somewhat-epileptic attack HAHA). Still not impressed.
(5.5/10)

Effort – Like what other blogs said, I think they’re trying to hard to be cute. Simply put, they put TOO MUCH effort, and it shows. I mean, monkey suits, putting Chinami and Masaa (the cutest ones, other than Momoko, in Berryz) smack dab in the front (well, Chinami, I don’t mind, but Masaa, not too sure of), and the supposed yelps of the girls and strangest cutesy vocals, and the weird faces, the crazy-ass dancing, should I make a list? Either Tsunku thinks it’s hot for them to try this hard and get some money, or C-ute has just plainly beat Berryz and Berryz want their crown back. Other than that, I think some of the girls have put some good effort, like Saki, she made a nice appearance in the PV and Momoko, Risako & Miyabi sure look good that they don’t need effort. Yurina is just really not in this PV, though. I rarely saw her.. and she’s so freaking noticeable -_-. Chinami and Masaa just tried too hard. It was killed.
(6.5/10)

Sex / Violence – I like Risako’s curves. YUMMY. The other girls are still pretty, but Risako is starting to get to me. Chinami, I don’t know anymore. She’s getting too cute. RISAKO.
(9.0/10 +)

Song – OK, something really good about this after all. The song is great. I like it so much! But, the vocals need some twerking. Like, these girls are trying too hard, and it’s so evident in Chinami and Masaa, with Masaa’s off-key “TE WO AGENAI!” or Chinami’s “BANZAI!” being all randomly added into the mix. Are they trying to be like Yaguchi Mari?! They can never beat “SEXY BEAM!” Anyway, everyone else had alright vocals. I didn’t hear much of Saki.. but they all sang OK. The beat is amazing though. I could listen to the instrumental for days and just dance to it. The song is just pure fun and the beat makes a person go nuts, just like a monkey. I also like the cute-mixed-with-techno effect in the song. I like the drum effects and the nice little tempo changes from time to time, with the song either slowing down then suddenly getting faster. Although the vocals aren’t great, it’s fun to sing along to Berryz! I am on the edge with this song though, because I just don’t like too many of the song’s vocals, but the beat’s great! Although, I didn’t like that random sound change in the middle of the song.. what the heck was that?!
(8.5/10)

Overall Rating: 7.0/10
The PV is a stink bag. It makes the song look like a poor Berryz Koubou comeback, but if you just listen to the song, it’ll be a very good Berryz Koubou comeback. The PV was horrendous, the costumes just looked so bad, the dance is weird, but eventually I could see myself doing it. Chinami and Masaa are overly presented here.. I mean, couldn’t they just make an even amount of eyecandy for each girl? Chinami and Masaa are already cute, but Tsunku, stop making them cuter! Risako is very hot, though. I have developed a liking for her these days =) But for new Berryz listeners, beware of this PV. Just listen to the song!

Berry berry too cute monkeys!

Intl Wota has themselves another little survey to fill out, and for Celestia’s question to “Aren’t surveys fun?” .. They sure as hell are! (:

1. You have found a magical J-pop genie who will grant you one J-pop related wish (so no wishing for a million dollars or world peace or anything like that). It can be virtually anything as long as it’s directly related to J-pop, and don’t worry, because this is the nice sort of genie, not the kind who will try to find a loop-hole and screw up your wish. So, what do you wish for???

I wish Perfume ruled the world. NOT (not until they get a second number one album). I wish Nocchi would marry me. NO, broom’s gonna kill me O_O.. I wish I could sing for Nakata Yasutaka. That way, the audience wouldn’t hear my horrible voice and that I’d have this wicked (yet, altered) awesome robotic voice and have people dance like crazy. NO NO, I just wish A-chan of Perfume would stop hogging the spotlight! She keeps talking in their interviews, let Nocchi or Kashiyuka have some speaking time! =] (HAHA, well sometimes, to be honest, I like A-chan being the spotlight.. she is so bubbly XD)

2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?

Not really, but I’m really pissed off at Ayumi Hamasaki. I don’t exactly know why, but her voice is just killing my ears these days. Is she trying too hard or is she trying to regain the spotlight (the spotlight she’s technically still in -_-”)? I have no clue, but the music’s all too similar, and sorry if I offend any hardcore Ayu fans, but when you’re #1 album streak is done.. you could say that people aren’t just liking the material anymore. Unless you can make a techno album and have Nakata hide that voice ;D

3. Who do you think is the sexiest japanese singer out there?

Koda Kumi and her boobs or Shimizu Saki.. she’s getting even SEXIER. I mean, High-King anyone? DAMN. Girl, work it work it work it.

4. How about the cutest?

Nocchi. NO, Kashiyuka. CUTE CUTE CUTE.

5. Best personality?

To be honest, A-chan. I mean, even though she hogs the spotlight and talks to much in her interviews, she’s SO BUBBLY it’s CUTE! I loved that yelp she did on HEY!x3 when she was surprised a past boyfriend was the surprise guest. It was AMAZING, I just had to replay it.

6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5?

Person 4. Kashiyuka all the way (but Nocchi would have been a good contender, but she’s a mix of everything =D).

7. You work for a Japanese music magazine, and you have the opportunity to interview your favorite artist or group. What are a couple of the questions you want to ask them?

Hmm, tough question! Uh…:

- Why did you want to be in the music industry, other than becoming famous or making opinions known through music?
- (for artists still in school) I know it’ll be a bit personal, but has music really taken a toll on your educational life? Are you relatively considered popular or have you been kind of shunned because of your life as a musician?
- (if artist was in a group) Do you guys get along well?

I don’t know what else, but I’m happy with those questions ^^

8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad?

I actually listen to “love the world” when I’m sad, because it’ll make me happier. =)

9. When you’re really happy?

When I’m happy, I tend to listen to a happy song, which could be like “Koufukuron” by Shiina Ringo or “love the world” again by Perfume.

10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs?

Who doesn’t!

11. How about dance?

YES, everyday.

12. Artistic integrity question!! If someone offerrered to pay you for blogging, but they were allowed to censor some of your opinions or veto some of your blogging ideas, would you do it?

Sure, why not? I mean, some opinions can be a little offensive or contradictory or even biased, and if they take that off, sure, go right ahead. I would do it, it would be fun and I’d be getting paid just to go on the computer and type up an opinion!