Diamond/Over the clouds
February 7, 2010 at 3:03 PM | In Alan | Leave a Comment
Artist: Alan
Release Date: February 3, 2010
Label: Avex Trax
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
1. Diamond
2. Over the clouds
3. Diamond (Instrumental)
4. Over the clouds (Instrumental)
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I usually get really excited whenever it came to any releases from alan. (Although her past album was such a bore) I didn’t really expect much from this single but I guess that she did a really good job with the covers this time!
I actually thought that Diamond would have been a great addition to life since it was the kind of ballad that wasn’t so boring to listen to. This ballad turned out great with so much similarity with essence of me. The use of percussions and guitars also added a nice touch to the soothing arrangement. I would usually think that this song would be so-and-so but since it sounded so much better than most of the songs of her past album, I guess I could say I appreciated this song more.
Now Over the clouds is probably one of the best A-sides as well as the best upbeat song that alan has ever done! It starts with a calm instrumental at the beginning and all of the sudden, there’s an aggressive, yet awesome upbeat atmosphere following! I thought that she did an okay job with the synchs back in her older releases but this was just too good. There are some parts of the song when her vocals sounds distorted which was also cool since she never distorted her voice in her other songs. Over the clouds definitely exceed my expectations and was definitely worth being the second A-side!
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
Happy Anniversary!
February 7, 2010 at 2:48 PM | In ~News | Leave a CommentAt last! The blog is (almost) a year old! This isn’t the official anniversary since Aesthetic Rhapsody actually went online on the 15th. (I will be out of town by then)
On Febuary 15, 2009, Aesthetic Rhapsody started out as “the music of Arisa Natsumaya” on a blog spot account. The first review was “Poker Face” by Ayumi Hamasaki and the most recent was “stay with me” by Kumi Koda. The blog currently has 335 posts, 228 comments, 45 categories, 33 links on blogroll and over 23,000 viewers.
Thank you so much for the support during this past year and I hope that the blog will make it to its second birthday!
Stay tuned for the “Aesthetic Rhapsody on WordPress” anniversary on April 4!
~Eve
stay with me
February 4, 2010 at 9:23 PM | In Kumi Koda | 1 Comment
Artist: Kumi Koda
Release Date: December 24, 2008
Label: Avex Trax
Personal Rating: 4/5
1. stay with me
2. Winter Bell
3. stay with me (Orgel Version)
4. stay with me (Instrumental)
5. Winter Bell (Instrumental)
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stay with me is what the cover art suggests: a winter ballad. If I were to compare stay with me with Ai no Uta, I would say that stay with me sounded really plain and boring.
It’s been a while since Kuu did uplifting songs. (Besides her dance influenced and pop songs) Kuu not only sounds great when she sings Winter Bell, her vocals give out a charm that makes the song and arrangement sound the more interesting. After listening to the A-side, Winter Bell was totally refreshing.
The stay with me (Orgel Version) just has those music box elements that had been mixed in to the original arrangement.
Personal Rating: 4/5
Kirei À La Mode
February 4, 2010 at 6:31 PM | In Shoko Nakagawa | Leave a Comment
Artist: Shoko Nakagawa
Release Date: October 22, 2008
Label: Sony Records
Personal Rating: 3/5
1. Kirei À La Mode
2. Kamitsure
3. Yakusoku
4. Kirei À La Mode (Instrumental)
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Seems like Shokotan is really up and running with her music career with all of these singles being released so close to each other. Anyways, Kirei À La Mode ended up being one of my most favorite of Shokotan songs. Not only her vocals is free of those squeaky little pitches in her voice, the arrangment sounded really beautiful and supports her vocals nicely. It’s got a good combination fo string instruments which flows in with the arrangment even more.
Kamitsure’s got the synch but I didn’t appreciate it as much as I did with the A-side since the arrangement kinda reminded me of alan’s “my life album” boring. But regardless, Shokotan still provided a solid performance.
Yakusoku is probably one of those song that’s not really that ‘new.’ Sure its face paced but it’s something I’ve already listened to.
Personal Rating: 3/5
Tsuzuku Sekai
February 4, 2010 at 6:19 PM | In Shoko Nakagawa | Leave a Comment
Artist: Shoko Nakagawa
Release Date: September 10, 2008
Label: Sony Records
Personal Rating: 4/5
1. Tsuzuku Sekai
2. through the looking glass
3. Tsuzuku Sekai (Instrumental)
4. Sorairo Days feat. 8bit Project (spiral chiptune mix)
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Ever since visiting Shokotan’s blog and seeing that people started to talk about her latest album, I remember feeling the sudden urge to review her releases again, so here’s a review! (But I still have to review her old releases before getting to that album)
Seems like Shokotan finally dropped her bubblegum pop and sweetness in exchange for some new rock outlook with Tsuzuku Sekai. At least it didn’t sound so bad since her vocals had taken up a notch and the electric guitar accompiament went well in the arrangment. The only thing I really have to say is “Keep up with the good work but I almost miss your happy style for some reason.” I’m beginning to think that her older style grew on me…
Oh good, just when I thought that Shokotan was about to completely change her style, through the looking glass goes back to the happy pop that she usually sings. Still not so impressive but it reminds me of the good old times when I listened to her first song awhile back.
I think that the original song somehow grew on me so listening to the Sorairo Days feat. 8bit Project (spiral chiptune mix) didn’t really soudn too bad. The only problem with the song is the remix since it made the arrangement sound so weird D=
Personal Rating: 4/5
KIZUNA
February 4, 2010 at 5:59 PM | In Tiana Xiao | Leave a Comment
Artist: Tiana Xiao
Release Date: April 23, 2008
Label: Imperial Records
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
1. KIZUNA
2. Painting
3. KIZUNA (Instrumental)
4. Painting (Instrumental)
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KIZUNA was actually the first Tiana song that I listened to before checking out her debut releases. Although I already thought that Sweet Obsession was already good enough, KIZUNA totally takes a step up with its slik aggressive pop arrangement and that oh, so dark mood. Anyways, her vocals sound much more natural in this song.
Painting was probably one of the songs that doesn’t beat Sweet Obsession but it’s still considered worth listening to. The arrangment is still well developed and has elements that makes the song one of its own. But so far, this is one of the Tiana songs that I don’t really listen to as much. (But is still a decent song!)
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
Sweet Obsession
February 4, 2010 at 5:19 PM | In Tiana Xiao | Leave a Comment
Artist: Tiana Xiao
Release Date: January 23, 2008
Label: Imperial Records
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
1. Sweet Obsession
2. TEMPTATION
3. Sweet Obsession (instrumental)
4. TEMPTATION (instrumental)
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Tiana Xiao has been aroudn for quite some time and I’ve finally decided to feature her onto the site after stumbling upon one of her songs posted on youtube during one of my procrastination adventures. And I have to say, her music is AWESOME! Now let’s get on with the reviews to see what I mean.
Other than Alan’s Ashita e no Sanka, Sweet Obsession is another one of those debuts that really comes out strong! With the background vocalists and beats, who would have thought that Tiana’s japanese vocals was actually a part of her second language! Regardless of the not-so-complex arrangement, I still thought that the chorus was the one elements that made the song stand out and how Tiana was able to deliever that strong performance with her vocals. This was definitely a good listen but there’s actually a better song lurking on this very cd…
TEMPTATION contrasted with the A-side with it’s completely different, yet totally aggressive arrangment and style, Tiana delievers an even more powerful performance as she sings at a lower pitch with both the catchy chorus and verses! TEMPTATION also seems to be more “put together” than the A-side…it’s jsut my opinion. But regardless, this is another great song coming from Tiana!
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
Secret
January 31, 2010 at 9:22 PM | In Ayumi Hamasaki | Leave a Comment
Artist: Ayumi Hamasaki
Release Date: November 29, 2006
Label: Avex Trax
Personal Rating: 4/5
1. Not yet
2. until that Day…
3. Startin’
4. 1 LOVE
5. It was
6. LABYRINTH
7. JEWEL
8. momentum
9. taskinst
10. Born To Be…
11. Beautiful Fighters
12. BLUE BIRD
13. kiss o’ kill
14. Secret
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Not yet was an interlude with some sort of whispering at the beginning which eventually progresses in to that powerful rock mood. A short and great way to start off the album. (Where did that fire come from, girl?!)
Many people say that until that Day… was an average song but for some reason, I enjoyed it quite much. The guitar riffs were a cool touch and the chorus was just plain powerful….maybe it’s because she kind of repeats parts of the lyrics too much? I honestly didn’t find it a problem listening to it though.
Startin’ is pretty upbeat for my taste. The introduction has a little hip in the beats that sounds a little out of place in the song since the vocals has a touch of agressive pop in it. This was probably the first song that Ayu’s vocals began to sound more mature but even so, I got pretty boredof this song quickly.
The only distinguishing factor with 1 LOVE is the fact that it’s got a great opening and kickass chorus but it seems like I want to skip the majority of the song just to listen to the chorus. Otherwise, I would just pass on this track.
The common style within the album are the calm opening that transitions (in other words explodes) into this hard rock or techno atmosphere. That’s how it is with It was, with a very quite introduction and extremely strong arrangement during the rest of the song. This turns out to be one of my favorite new tracks of the album.
LABYRINTH is a boring interlude. There’s nothing mroe to say about this track.
I honestly do not know why JEWEL was choosen to be one of the promotional tracks of the album and why it’s popular among the other songs. It has the same style as To Be when there little or no instrumental in the background with only Ayu’s vocals. Don’t get me wrong though, I did love how Ayu’s vocals flowed nicely with the song but it just see it as a ballad that could be boring.
I actually watched the (wintery) music video before listening to this on the cd. momentum was somewhat a hard pop track but for some reason, I just had to listen to this song over and over. The tone of her voice sounds so melachonic and the instrumentals provided very strong support to her vocals. This song is definitely worth the listen…dont’ forget to watch the music video too! (Another one of my favorite among the new tracks.)
taskinst is like one of those interludes that just sticks out like a sore thumb. It just doesn’t blend well with the tracks after this.
Born To Be… begins with a choir singing “Born to be” until Ayu’s vocals enters in not soon after. Now, this is new Ayu material since her songs aren’t normally oriented this way. Plus, her vocals were flawless but the arrangement still didn’t go up a notch.
Another song is the popular Beautiful Fighters. When I first gave this song a listen. I thought that the beginning of the song was a bit awkward. The whistles blaring at the beginning of the song was something new but not something I would like to hear at the beginning of the song. However, I liked the chorus when she’s like “We are Beautiful Fighters.” Very catchy, but perferrably without the whistles. (Although I know that it was supposed to compose and incoprate the whole mood of the song.)
BLUE BIRD was definately a great song! I liked how the acoustics in the background were pretty slow and how there was a change in rhthym as the song progressed. After hearing it the first time, I would remember how I always wanted to replay the whole song a few or more time. I guess, it grew onto me pretty quickly! The charming instrumentals gave this song another thumbs up!
kiss o’ kill is another enthusiastic and strong track with awesome chorus and arrangement. Overall, its a decent song but the only reason why I like listening to it is because of the chorus. (Pretty selective with the parts I listen to with the songs of the album.)
Secret was one really boring ballad. Plus, I didn’t feel statisfied when I realized that this was the end of the album. It’s just a boring way to end it, enough said. D=
Personal Rating: 4/5
GLORIA
January 31, 2010 at 12:20 PM | In Yui | Leave a Comment
Artist: Yui
Release Date: January 20, 2010
Label: Sony Music Japan
Personal Rating: 5/5
1. GLORIA
2. Muffler
3. It’s all too much (YUI Acoustic Version)
4. GLORIA (Instrumental)
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GLORIA turns out to be a very uplifting with a catchy acoustic flavored rhythm that marks to be one of Yui’s strongest singles to date! (Ever since she started to go for the rock outlook.) The chorus also turned out to be the strongest part of the arrangement. In fact it makes me listen to the song just because of the chorus. (Oh, that can’t be good.)
Muffler adds to Yui’s consectutive chain of awesome B-sides! Although this time around, the A-side beats the B-side, Muffler is another strong performance from Yui.
Just when I thought that the original sounded good enough, the It’s all too much (YUI Acoustic Version) makes the arrangement sound much more refined and made me want to listen to the original over and over for comparison. Great addition to the single!
Personal Rating: 5/5
LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
January 30, 2010 at 11:56 PM | In Kumi Koda | 2 Comments
Artist: Kumi Koda
Release Date: November 7, 2007
Label: Avex Trax
Personal Rating: 2/5
1. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
2. Dear Family
3. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki (Instrumental)
4. Dear Family (Instrumental)
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What a very bright cover….
Anyways, LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki is a total trainwreck after listening to it a few times. For those who do not know, Tohoshinki is actually a name of a (somewhat popular) Korean band that’s doing a collaboration with Kuu in Japanese. However, the worst part about it is that the boys just can’t sing without Kuu playing “powerhouse” and their Japanese just doesn’t sound so…..natural. Although I thought that the arrangement sounded pretty cool, the whole song seemed really off whenever the band sung.
I think that the only reason why Dear Family sounded better was because Tohoshinki weren’t singing in it. (No offense to Tohoshinki fans out there: it’s just that they can’t sing Japanese very well, but I do believe that they can sing K-pop much better!) Kuu’s vocals soudned very strogn and went well with the laid back arrangement. Something worth listening to after listening to the A-side.
Personal Rating: 2/5
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