BEST ALBUMS OF 2008: #7: KODA KUMI “Kingdom”
With our period of mourning for punk guitar legend Ron Asheton concluded, we now resume where we left off with our end-of-year album list…
KODA KUMI
Kingdom
(Rhythm Zone/Avex Trax)
Available on CD, two different CD/DVD sets, and iTunes Japan
While her mouth might have gotten her in a bit of trouble not long after this album came out (it’s apparnently not nice to joke about the nature of mothers in Japan), what usually comes out of her mouth – great urban contemporary-influenced pop – still served her well even while she was forced out of action for a few months. Kingdom still topped the album charts in Japan and stayed there while Kuu-chin was incognito – no doubt thanks to the fact that the album is a solid package of modern R&B/pop that has everything post-TLC American urban music lacks – solid songs and vocals, with no monotonous sound structures, gimmicky lyrics or half-assed hooks to be found. Kuu-chin’s vocals are getting better with every succeeding album – and the next one is coming out in a week or two, so feel free to play catchup with Kingdom if you haven’t already.
(SIDE NOTE: Speaking of Rhythm Zone artists, when the fuck is Maki Goto’s first post-H!P record coming out?)
IN MEMORIAM: Ron Asheton (1948-2009)
When you’re a music lover, waking up one morning or turning on your TV or computer to find out one of your heroes is dead is always a terrible thing to have to endure. I went through it with John Lennon in 1980, D. Boon in 1985, Frank Zappa in 1993, Kurt Cobain in 1994, Joey Ramone in 2000 (with DeeDee and Johnny following him in subsequent years), Lisa Lopes in 2002, Johnny Cash in 2003, and now Ron Asheton of The Stooges today.
Anybody who knows me well knows that The Stooges, along with Morning Musume, are my top favorite bands. When the release date of The Stooges’ first album in over thirty years, The Weirdness, was approaching (along with their subsequent American tour), MotokoAoyama.com v.1 held a Stooges Watch. Witnessing the Stooges blow the roof off of the Electric Factory on April 11, 2007, was the greatest concert I have ever witnessed in my 41 years.
When D. Boon and Lisa Lopes were prematurely taken from us, I was beyond saddened as I loved both musicians and their respective bands, and their untimely demises (both resulting from auto accidents) ended any chance I would have of actually seeing The Minutemen or TLC perform live – and I had missed a couple of opportunities with both bands. While Ron Asheton’s sudden passing – said to be of a heart attack – is also a great loss for rock and roll, the pain I personally feel is not as extreme because I was fortunate to see them live, just as I would later be fortunate, thanks to my fiancee, to be handed a guitar signed by Ron, Iggy Pop and Ron’s brother Scott on Christmas Day 2007.
Ron, thank you and rest in peace. You will not be forgotten. While you’re reuniting with your long-lost Stooge brother Dave Alexander (original bassist on the band’s first album and Fun House), say hello to D., Lisa, Joey, DeeDee and Johnny for me.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2009, #8: DIR EN GREY “Uroboros”
DIR EN GREY
Uroboros
(The End [US]/Freewill [Japan])
Available on CD, double LP and on iTunes
I have tried to write about this album several times since both my import CD and my US double vinyl arrived in my PO Box (the latter arriving a month after its release – what’s up with that, The End Records?), listened to it, enjoyed it… and had trouble trying to summarize things well enough for a review at the time.
That having been said, the album – irregardless of its edition – is an absolute masterpiece. Compared with their two previous American releases, Uroboros takes a lot more musical risks than its brutal predecessor The Marrow of a Bone, with songs that have earned comparisons to Led Zeppelin (“Dozing Green”, which could have been on In Through The Out Door) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Stuck Man”). The classic DEG instrumental sound and feel is still intact, and of course there’s no singer anywhere in rock whose voice is as multiple-personality as Kyo’s (probably his closest contemporary is Slipknot’s Corey Taylor). Bottom line? Best hard rock or heavy metal album of the year; in fact, so good, it knocked Metallica’s comeback album Death Magnetic out of contention for the Top 10 this year.
