Radio

For you people who -really- just want a short sample of a few songs, you can check out a few here, on my radio blog.

rotation

So here are the goodies! They're not alphabetized or organized in any manner (aside from being grouped by artist), but it's not that long of a list, so just scroll through them.

Gawd, yes, I know, I have way too many Ayumi songs.

 

Album: AROUND THE WORLD
Artist: Ami Suzuki
Rating: 3 / 5
Comments: I'm not sure but I think that this was Ami's comeback album after that whole legal issue that caused her to fall from popularity and to be dropped from her label. It's heavy on pop-dance and there are a few tracks on the album that are decent, like the title track, AROUND THE WORLD, Risk, Negaigoto, and with you. However, I don't tend to listen to the other songs as much since they just don't seem to be as catchy or memorable. I also noticed that a few songs on the album sound a bit too similar to each other. Overall, it's a so-so album. I probably couldn't stand to listen to the entire thing, but if you like songs of this genre (I'm not so heavy on the pop-dance anymore) then it's worth a shot.
Track Listing:
1. AROUND THE WORLD
2. Hopeful -OVERHEAD CHAMPION MIX-
3. Beautiful
4. Sweet Voice
5. Delightful
6. For Yourself
7. Negaigoto
8. Risk
9. Eventful
10. with you
11. Times
12. I'm alone
Download: here

 

Song: part of Me + Memorial Address
Artist: Ayumi Hamasaki
Rating: 4 / 5
Comments: The reason I'm keeping this song in the rotation is because this is the high-quality rip from the A BEST 2 -BLACK- CD with Memorial Address attached as a hidden track. Last time, all I had was the rip from the PV, which included sound effects, so it really detracted from the quality of the song. Okay, now I have to admit, after listening to this song a few more times, it really started to grow on me. It still does sound painfully a lot like Voyage but Ayu's vocals really shine through and the chorus of the song is very powerful. And no, I still don't understand what the heck the PV's all about, with the mantis eating the butterfly and the snake eating the mantis .. that was just weird. Memorial Address is such an emotional song (especially after viewing the live version where Ayu actually bursts into tears) I really love how that was included as a hidden track.
Download: here

 

Song: I Miss You?
Artist: Do As Infinity
Rating: 5 / 5
Comments: I absolutely adore this song. Whether it's Tomiko's refreshing vocals or the adorable pop-rock composition or even how it feels so NANA-esque, I don't care, I love it all and I am totally in love with this song. There is certainly an innovative use of different instruments and it all keeps up to this one strong beat that does not dissipate through the entire song.
Download: here

 

Song: Vanilla
Artist: Gackt
Rating: 4 / 5
Comments: I'm sorry, I just had to put this song on the rotation. One of my friends innocently sent it to me not knowing the real meaning of the song. I myself hadn't known until I saw the live version where Gackt .. gets it on with Masa, one of his band members. Some of my thoughts as I watched it were something like WHAT IS THAT GUY'S HEAD DOING THERE?! WHAT IS GACKT DOING ON TOP OF HIM!? Then that just lead me to finding the lyrics and well. The rest is history.To get the gist of this song, just think of vanilla ice cream on a hot day. .. Yeeaaaahhhh.
Download: here

 

Song: kaihouku
Artist: Hitomi Shimatani
Rating: 5 / 5
Comments: I'm sorry, I'm just a big sucker for 90s sounding music. Last time I had up Hitomi's Osaka No Onna, which was her enka debut song. kaihouku is Hitomi's JPop debut. Her voice is as lovely as ever and I am completely in love with the composition of this song. The background is so very 90s with the synthetic sounds and tinkly downbeats. I think, to me, this is definitely a breath of fresh air from her usual latin-genre songs like PASIO or Angelus. I would probably put kaihouku up there with Destiny ~Taiyou no Hana~ as my favorite Hitomi songs, maybe even higher since I overplayed Destiny a bit too much.
Download: here