Wednesday, May 1, 2002

ARTIST: BUMP OF CHICKEN (Review requested by Clara) ^_^ Hailing from Chiba, Bump of Chicken is: Fujiwara Motoo on vocals and guitar, Masukawa Hiroaki on guitar, Naoi Yoshifumi on bass, and Masu Hideo on drums. The band formed in 1994 but the four have known each other since preschool. Starting off playing Beatles covers, they made their first original debut at a high school festival in 1995 and went on to win several awards for their music in the following years. After about 3 years of doing lives and distributing demo tapes, they were signed on by major label, Toy's Factory. Their first major single, Diamond was released September 2000. Bump of Chicken's music is generally uplifting and upbeat- lots of major chords and strumming guitars. The basslines are solid, as are the drums. The vocals are probably the weakest point as Motoo tends to whine in a hoarse, nasally tenor most of the time. He has improved somewhat with time and their latest album, Jupiter, shows off a little more of his range and tone. This doesn't really detract from their growing popularity though, and as Ger so eloquently stated in an earlier Glay article, sometimes it doesn't matter if you can't sing as long as you're happy doing it. On a side note, they've also added hidden tracks to most, if not all, their releases so far. Each "secret" song is usually a live or rough cut of something and provides a nice little bonus for listeners. Bottom line, Bump of Chicken is a fun band to listen to after you get used to Motoo's vocal style. There's nothing overly weird or experimental about the music, just straightforward rock with a little bit of a raw element thrown in. They're still growing, both as individuals and as a band and it'll be interesting to see how their sound develops. Definately worth keeping an eye on in the future. Official Website: Bump of Chicken Recommended Fansite: 1979 Recommended Songs: tentai kansoku - Probably the most popular of their singles so far. Vaguely reminds me of cartoon video game driving music. Light, happy, carefree. Stage of the ground - First track on Jupiter and my personal favorite so far. Has a slight celtic flavor with fast drumming and guitars. Perfect way to begin an album. Bye Bye, Thank you - Sweet, swaying song. DANNY - One of the "hidden" tracks. Live and VERY rough but absolutely hilarious. Japanese hillbilly? Irish Drinking Song? I think it's even in English! XD LAMP - A very nice piece from their indies days. Starts out balladish but speeds to mid-tempo and never looks back. - MS - - Comment - It's 01:35 a.m., and Teru's still hugging his plant

Monday, April 29, 2002

SHIROI HEYA PRESENTS: XJA PAN PART II Go to Part I to read the beginning of the adventures of Pata Pan. Part II also features a special cameo by Kamijo of Lareine. Read Part II - Gerald and MS - - Comment - It's 07:26 p.m., and Teru's still hugging his plant

Monday, April 29, 2002

REVIEW: FOREVER TO ME [THE BRILLIANT GREEN] Let me start off by saying that I'm not sure that the copy I have is a true copy. It starts off with the sounds of someone pressing a tape recorder button and the quality varies throughout, so I'm suspicious that the mp3 I have (and that's going around the net right now) is a rip of the PV. But you can hear the music just fine, so I'll review off this copy. Someone confirm this? The tempo of this song and the general feel is about the same as you'd expect from any BuriGuri song. I'd compare it to Angel Song ~Eve no Kane~ in terms of feel and mood. Ryo comes in first with minor arpeggios with Jun supporting on bass, and you can tell it's going to be one of their more dramatic songs. Tommy's voice seems to have gotten better since their last single...maybe Tommy February6 really did help. The first verse of this is in English, which threw me for a bit, since even though Tommy sings mostly in English, their singles have always been in Japanese. But there is only one stanza in English and then the rest of the song is in Japanese. The bridge of this is really nice. Tommy is a singer who makes English lyrics combined with Japanese lyrics really effortless, and her lyrics "My heart is crying out for you, yeah/Forever to me/tsuki ga kenakuro bara ni/kokoro o komete" flow nicely with the accompaniment, which suddenly becomes slightly stacatto. Ryo has some nice guitar work in here, which is what I've always liked about The Brilliant Green - at first glance, they don't seem guitar oriented at all, but Ryo has always been the solid, steady beat behind all of the songs with his bold guitar accompaniment lines as well as simple but well put together solos. The bridge fits in seamleslly with the chorus, and I know I compared this song to Angel Song, but Forever to Me, especially the chorus, seems much more dramatic than Angel Song ever was. For one, Tommy's voice is stronger on the highs. Before, she could hardly sing up to a B without sounding like she was strangling on something. Now, it sounds really nice. You can tell she's reached the top of her range, but she sustains and doesn't strain to reach the note. Secondly, the guitar and bass are joined by synthesizer once the chorus starts, filling out the sound with strings. Ryo has a really awesome blues riff/mini solo from 1:54 to 2:06 and then Tommy starts in on the second verse, with the synthesized strings accompaniment still playing. After the second chorus comes another quieter bridge section at 3:24. As far as I can tell, none of the instruments actually drop out there, but all of them are very soft, showcasing Tommy's vocals as she sings "If I can go anywhere for you/I see your smiling face I love you." The instrumentals get suddenly louder and it segues into a dramatic pause with Tommy alone on the first three notes of the chorus before everyone comes in again. The chorus repeats twice and then Ryo plays the little blues riff as Tommy sings the last six notes of the chorus, repeating until at the end everyone drops out and she's singing a capella. Then the song ends. The only thing I didn't like about this song was the ending. Maybe it's because I'm not much of a fan of Tommy's voice, but I usually prefer instrumental endings. In this case, I think a nice fade away would have been better, but it's not my song, and the rest of the song is more than enough to make up for this tiny quibble. Tommy, Ryo, and Jun perform wonderfully (though I do feel sorry for Jun...his parts aren't anything exciting). In all, this is probably one of their best singles. As I said above, I'd compare it to Angel Song, but this song is much more tightly woven and focused, giving it a more professional edge. I uploaded the song for you on the sidebar. Again, it's that PV rip, but better than nothing. I'm buying the single so hopefully I can get a better version up sometime. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 12:05 p.m., and Teru's still hugging his plant

Sunday, April 28, 2002

ARTIST: TAKUI I first discovered Takui purely by accident. I was going through one of my X Japan phases (they come and go) and was on the Cafe Le Psyence site researching Dope HEADz and Transtic Nerve when I noticed that there was a third band on the site which I had never heard of. The band's name was Takui. It looked interesting, so I clicked on the link. I was surprised to discover that Takui was not a band, but a person. There wasn't much English information available on him that I could find, but my curiousity was piqued enough that I went ahead and downloaded some Takui songs. Among the songs I got were Innovator and Calling You, and what I heard absolutely floored me. Takui was a member of a band called "Maggie Mae" from 1994 until around 1998, when they broke up and he went solo. So what, you may say, he's one in a long line of solo artists who release a few albums and get relatively famous and then no one ever hears from them again. In Takui's case, however, not true. Anyone who has ever heard Takui will agree with me that he is amazing. I've heard Takui described as "the next Gackt" and to a certain extent I believe that might be true. Takui is a relative newcomer to the jrock music scene, but he's already made an impact in Japan. His voice is on a more tenor pitch than Gackt and a bit thinner, but he has an amazing range, both musically and emotionally. His voice actually reminds me of Janne da Arc's Yasu, but clearer, younger, and in general, more elegant. He writes both lyrics and music himself, and anyone who has ever read Gackt's lyrics will be relieved to discover that Takui and Gackt are far different there. So far, I've counted only a few "dakishimetes" in Takui's lyrics, and they lyrics themselves are creative and very beautiful. But he also has a wild streak, as indicated by most of his song titles. Who else would name his songs and albums things like Roll Up for the Universe, BADLY NOOO!, or Beat Yourself Blind? (OK except for Glay XD) But here is where Takui and Gackt differ. Gackt is an experimental artist who loves to work in classical music and weird elements into his music. Takui can be described as more "straight forward rock and roll," and I know that sounds boring and plain, but in the jrock industry, there are very few straight forward rock and roll artists. He uses a lot of guitars and heavy bass and drums and many of his songs are loud, fast, and hard (Innovator, Dummy Fake Rollers). However, he is also experimental enough to test the boundaries of his music, and piano ballads like Mother Sky, midtempo songs like Fork in the Road, and the incredible, eerie Saraba Matenro no Fairy Tale showcase his full potential. If you haven't tried Takui, I suggest you listen to him as soon as possible. This is an artist who has the potential to be as big as Gackt, Glay, L'Arc~en~Ciel, or B'z. It's only a matter of time before the Takui revolution sweeps across the rest of the world, and I believe it's already begun. Takui's next album, Chunky God Pop, comes out on June 19. Visit the Takui Official Site for details or CD Japan to order. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 02:53 p.m., and Teru's still hugging his plant