BERRYZ KOUBOU 5 (FIVE)
(Piccolo Town/King)
Available on CD, CD/DVD, and iTunes Japan Rating:
Five albums. That’s how long Berryz Koubou has been with us so far. OK, technically, one of those “albums”, 3 Natsu Natsu Mini Berryz, was actually a six-song mini-album, but it was numbered not much differently than a full-length release), but that makes then the only Hello! Project group other than Morning Musume to have more than four studio albums in their discography, and ties them with Aya Matsuura for number of studio releases released in their career to date – only Ayaya has been in the music business for a few years longer than Berryz, who only started making records in early 2004.
Berryz Koubou albums have been enjoyable yet imperfect affairs. Their debut long-player, 1st Cho Berryz (the only Berryz album to have the original 8-nin lineup) was a very good start, but their sophomore release, Dai 2 Seichouki didn’t have much memorable material besides its five previously released A-sides, all of which were recorded after founding member Mahia Ishimura left the group. The aforementioned 3 Natsu Natsu Mini Berryz, despite the inclusion of the band’s first mature-sounding single “Jiriri Kiteru”, is more notable for the three covers of summer-themed Hello! Project songs by various subclusters of the group (including fan favorite Risako Sugaya doing a fine solo turn on Aya Matsuura’s “Yeah! Meccha Holiday”). Last year’s 4th Ai no Nanchara Shisu was their best long-player since their debut, although I have to admit that the album’s closing two tracks, while OK, seem anti-climactic.
Thirteen months to the day their last album came out, Berryz Koubou released 5 (FIVE), and with it they manage to maintain the personal best they established on 4th Ai and then some. Read the rest of this entry »
No sooner did I mention how long it was since Morning Musume last released a studio album, than word comes out (in the wake of “Pepper Keibu”’s PV hitting Dohhh! UP – suffice it to say that I am knocked out by the song and its current PV and that, for obvious reasons, I certainly won’t complain about the amount of face and mic time Reina Tanaka gets; I’ll save further description for the week the single is actually in my hands) that Morning Musume are releasing an album of covers centered around the work of songwriter Aku Yuu (who died last year at the age of 70, leaving behind 5,000 songs from his prolific pen). This made my ears perk up considerably given my deepening interest in Japanese popular music of all kinds (something that sparked my grabbing that stack of enka 45s on eBay, which sparked The Vinyl Pagoda Project, of course).
Like the tracks that filled out the first W album (including two songs penned by Yuu, the Pink Lady covers “Southpaw” and “Nagisa No Sinbad”), the album will offer to 21st century music lovers a look into Japanese pop music history. The bad news is that since the album’s concept is centered around songs from the Aku Yuu back catalog, there’s no opportunity for Morning Musume to try their hand at some other Showa Era songs – like, for example, a chance for Reina Tanaka or Ai Takahashi to plow through a rocking take on Akina Nakamori’s “Shojo A”.
Unfortunately, as a couple of other bloggers in the IW blogosphere have pointed out, the cover concept also orphans all of the post-Sexy 8 Beat singles that would have otherwise ended up on a MoMusu long-player. Granted, “Kanashimi Twilight” and “Onna Ni Sachi Are” may have a home on the ALL SINGLES COMPLETE anthology, but what about “Mikan” and “Resonant Blue”? I don’t know, but I’m not completely worried about that right now. This is the first Morning Musume studio album to not have a number in its title, so it’s a relatively safe guess to suggest that Morning Musume’s proper ninth album, after another original single release in, say December 2008 or January 2009, will give “Mikan” and “Resonant Blue” a long playing home.
COVER YUU, when released this November (a year after “Mikan”), will also serve one other positive purpose, I think: Not only reinforcing, but cementing Morning Musume’s place in Japanese music history. They’ve already broken Pink Lady’s records for most Top 10 singles and most Number One singles on the Oricon charts, and it already looks like MoMusu’s 21st century take on “Pepper Keibu” will extend those reigns. What other record of Pink Lady’s could Morning Musume surpass? Going higher on the Billboard singles chart than “Kiss In The Dark” did would be nice – but that, as one wise man often says, is another show.
As odd as it might seem for Morning Musume to be following up one of their best ever singles with a cover version, I certainly don’t object to their forthcoming cover of Pink Lady’s “Pepper Keibu”. Pink Lady were the first Japanese act I had ever heard back when “Kiss In The Dark” was being heavily pushed by Elektra Records here in the States, long before that disastrous variety show. And it isn’t the first time Morning Musume ever encountered Pink Lady (their 2004 Music Fair collaborations on “The*Peace”, “S.O.S.” and “Love Machine”, anyone?) or anyone in Hello! Project recorded a cover version from Mei & Kay’s back catalog – Aibon and Nono, of course, covered “Southpaw” and “Nagisa No Sinbad” on their first album as W, Duo U&U, back in 2004. Of course, there was Takitty and Gaki’s recent turn portraying Pink Lady on Japanese TV earlier this summer (doing this very song).
What makes this even cooler is that Morning Musume broke Pink Lady’s record for most Top 10 singles in the Japanese Top 10 awhile back, which adds a nice bit of irony (however unintended) to the proceedings.
Hopefully, once this single hits the racks, we won’t have to wait several months for the follow-up. It’s already been almost two years since the last studio album, for Chrissakes…
THE HUSKY Husky
(Chockyu)
Availablilty: CD EP Rating:
While the rest of Whiteberry has been, for the most part, idle and out of the limelight since their final concerts in March of 2004, lead singer Yuki Maeda has not. In 2006, with fellow ex-Whiteberry, bassist Yukari Hasegawa briefly in tow, Yuki Madea reemerged on the Japanese independent label Deadgirls with an eponymous CD EP from her first post-Whiteberry band, a four-piece all-female unit dubbed yukki. The existence of the new group was something I wasn’t aware of until Zush at Kakko-ii.com wrote about her new band’s project in late 2006. Thankfully, I got a hold of a copy of the CD in time for it to make my list of the Top Albums Of 2006 on MotokoAoyama.com v1.0. yukki (the band and the EP) found Yuki Maeda not only singing, but playing guitar and writing all of the material. It is a great EP – imagine Whiteberry without the keyboards.
Unfortunately, yukki the band never followed up yukki the EP. Yukari Hasegawa disappeared again (presumably to return to college), and the band continued for several months before quietly disappearing. No one who followed Whiteberry and yukki knew what was up until the group’s homepage presented a link to another site – the homepage for a new band fronted by Ms. Maeda called The Husky.
With their sort-of-eponymous debut CD EP, again an independent release (this time on a label called Chockyu), Yuki Maeda seems to be slowly progressing away from her Whiteberry past. While her distinctive vocals remain, with the existence of The Husky, Yuki Maeda finds herself, for the first time in her professional career, to be the only female member of the group. Joining her in the lineup are former La’cryma Christi drummer Levin and newcomers Yasuaki Miyaji on guitar and Sunao Nakamura on bass and baritone guitar. Like with her previous post-Whiteberry band, Yuki Maeda continues to rely on her own material, having penned all of the songs on the album, save for two songs where her lyrics are set to music composed by Miyaji.
“Story”, the EP’s highlighted track (a PV exists, Yuki’s first since “Shinjiri Chikara” – yukki never made any) opens the proceedings in fine form. Initially, the song retains the Whiteberry-minus-keyboards punk sound from yukki, only to be interrupted first by a baritone guitar riff from Nakamura and then by a tinny acoustic-sounding guitar (actually an unplugged electric recorded with a microphone) initially underpinning Yuki’s vocals before veering back into Whiteberry-style punk.
“Hitori Botsuchi” follows with a slightly slower rock tempo and an arrangement and chord sequence that recalls some of Living Colour’s minor-key material from Time’s Up. Miyavi does some rather interesting guitar work in the recording’s left channel that sounds more like a synthesizer than a guitar, while a creepy-sounding string synthesizer (played by an uncredited keyboardist) intrudes on the song’s atmosphere.
“not control” (the song title isn’t capitalized), one of two songs co-written by Miyaji, takes the band and the EP on a left-field turn by bringing some ZZ Top-meets-George Thorogood blues riffing into the mix for much of the song. A false ending suddenly takes the band into a jazz-rock vein for the song’s coda.
“Tsuchi” keeps the band within blues/classic rock territory by way of Elvis Costello, slowing down the tempo and giving them a 12/8 time signature to contend with. A slightly anarchic Theremin (or at least Miyaji making some Theremin-like sounds with his guitar and effects) interrupts things as the band goes from the song’s B-section to its chorus. The third time the B-section around, Levin changes things around by throwing in some tribal-sounding drumming before shifting back into gear for the final choruses.
“Ime” sounds like its going to veer into early Chili Pepper-esque funk at first, but Levin’s Motown-esque drum beat nips that in the bud, while Yuki’s lead vocal obliterates further Motown comparisons and Miyaji tosses in some modern rock guitar noises for additional texture.
“Mekumori”, the second of the Maeda/Miyaji songwriting collaborations, returns the band to mid-tempo 12/8 time, but with songwriting and playing that sounds both familiar and new at the same time. While not a fast rocker, the song itself is quite anthemic, and allows Miyaji to take flight with a tasteful extended guitar solo.
It’s safe to suggest that The Husky’s EP represents a considerable and major musical progression for Yuki Maeda. The EP allows her to come further out of her old shell, forging a new musical background that compliments her distinctive and instantly recognizable vocals. Hopefully, the next recordings we hear from Yuki Maeda will be a follow-up release from The Husky rather from yet another new band. Unless Whiteberry reunites, of course.
SCANDAL Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal (Kitty Inc.)
Availability: CD EP, iTunes US & Japan Rating:
SCANDAL – vocalist/guitarist Haruna Ono, vocalist/lead guitarist Mami Sasasaki, vocalist/bassist Tomomi Ogawa, and drummer Rina Suzuki – have left quite the impression on American J-Pop fans since they toured as part of the Japan Nite package tour this past spring. The group was the smash hit of the entire tour by all accounts, and copies of their first single Space Ranger were selling out at every tour stop. So it is no surprise that anticipation for a full-length SCANDAL album was high.
Well, it looks like anticipation will still be high for a full-length SCANDAL album. Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal is a four-song EP and three of the songs have already been released as their first three singles. Fortunately, it makes sense to include all three singles on this EP, given how quickly they have sold and how hard they are to obtain as physical CDs outside of Japan.
The “new” track which opens the EP, “Koi No Kaijitsu”, starts with a powerpop introduction a-la The Raspberries before the band shifts into old-school ska/rock-steady for the verses. The introduction and verse are repeated before the band shifts gear again with a Beatleesque pre-chorus and refrain. After the intro/verse/prechorus/refrain sequence is given a second go-round, an instrumental bridge with an R.E.M.-esque chord sequence, but played Beatles-style and flavored with some conservative use of phase-shifting – adds a further dimension to the proceedings. The three-part harmonies by Haruna, Tomomi and Mami are more than pleasant to listen to.
For those that never got the singles and didn’t choose to download them from iTunes, they all follow on the EP in their original order of release, and benefit from an even better mastering job than the original singles. For the curious and uninitiated, here’s what early American adopters of SCANDAL have been enjoying for the past few months:
“Space Ranger” starts with some ominous synthesizer drones before the rhythm section kicks in. The two guitars follow, along with an uncredited organist supplementing the guitar riffs, with the end result being a very catchy song very reminiscent of ZONE.
“Koi Moyo” is my personal favorite of the three original singles. Instead of emulating ZONE, SCANDAL seem to have found a sound almost entirely of their own making. The production recalls Husker Du circa Flip Your Wig and Candy Apple Grey – indeed, the song itself sounds like how the Huskers would have sounded had Grant Hart played a straighter, more Tommy Lee-esque drum beat instead of his swinging style. Tomomi plays a very interesting, cliche-free bass line in the song’s introduction and instrumental tags, laying back to play only half-notes and whole notes during the verses and straight eighth-notes during the chorus. There’s no keyboards to be found, the three-part harmonies are tight, and Rina’s drums have a great wooden-room sound around them.
The EP’s closer, “Kagarou” kicks off with some Wire-sounding powerchords before a single-note synth line akin to early Devo adds its own icing to the rest of the introduction, with the rest of the song sounding like a guitar-heavy Elvis Costello & The Attractions (any keyboards beyond the occasional synth icing are pretty much obliterated by Haruna and Mami’s Stratocasters) and some of the lead vocals, especially during the first verse, recalling W.
Even if you already have the singles – either physically or from iTunes – Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal is a worthwhile purchase, especially as a physical CD, which I highly recommend as the packaging is pretty cool: An emulation of the Beatles’ Let It Be cover, with the CD packaged in a miniature gatefold album cover, complete with a Japanese-style plastic inner sleeve for the CD itself. (Yet another current CD that I would love to see come out as a 180-gram vinyl record! – Matador, Merge, and Saddle Creek, are you paying attention?) The girls of SCANDAL are apparently just as enamored of their American fanbase as the entire inner gatefold collage is dominated by live picks of the band from the same tour. Hopefully this will be a nice tideover until a true full-length LP from the quartet emerges.
Major news breaking this morning as AKB48, the outsized J-pop unit that even has its own theater in Tokyo, has firedAyaka Kikuchi from their lineup. I’m not a fan (actually, I’ve never heard a note of their music and I’m sure some folks would say I’m missing out) but this news still made me say whoa (as did the fact that Tokyograph, a frequent news source for J-Pop bloggers, actually linked to IntlWota and one of its member sites – nice job, guys!).
With such a large lineup (albeit often split into three smaller groups), I have to wonder if the departure, forced or otherwise (six members have already graduated from the group), actually affects the makeup of the band in any way. When someone graduates from Morning Musume, the effect is obvious at first with the next single to come out after the member’s departure, but the band adapts relatively quickly and continues to make high-quality music. I wonder if someone separating from AKB48 would be as noticeable as a member or two leaving a symphony orchestra – again, though, I’m not familiar with AKB48’s music so I personally don’t know for sure. I am sure, however, that like with Morning Musume, when a favorite member departs it’s a sad day for their fans. I’m sure that Cat at the AKB48 blog Aitakatta! is taking it hard – the news that Kikuchi had been caught had already upset her before today’s news broke. Being a longtime MoMusu fan, I can’t help but sympathize with AKB48 fans in an instance such as this.
Whether AKB48’s handlers are looking to be more hardcore than Up-Front Works regarding the personal lives of their contracted talent is up for debate – members have already stated in interviews long before today’s news broke that having boyfriends while being a member of the band is prohibited. It will be interesting to see if (god forbid) any of the older members gets in worse trouble for following an Aibon-esque path in their offstage lives.
ETA: Ouch. They sure moved fast. Her picture’s been ripped off of the wall at their theatre (thanks to Julia for the pic):
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