[Single Review] Mika Nakashima x Kato Miliyah - Fighter

Can someone tell Kato Miserableface to close her damn eyes? They freakin' me out

When I first read the news about Mika Nakashima and Kato Miserableface's collaboration, my body was already activated to pop its pussy to whatever hot dance track they would be capable of dropping us.

This ultimately proved to be a bad idea because of the tremendous disappointment that ensued:

[Single Review] Mika Nakashima - Boku ga Shinou to Omotta no wa

The single translates to "I thought I would have died". It's like Mika could read my mind, because I thought my fandom towards her would have died as well. It's interesting that someone who looks like death all the time would release a song about how she would've died.

Apparently the songwriter, Akita Hiromu of Amazarashi, wrote Boku ga Shinou to Omotta no wa a long time ago and kept it with him for so long because he's so emotionally attached to it, so Mika managed to record the song and wanted to capture as much of the original emotion to it as possible. She fucking did it; bitch almost sent me into tears. Intentional or not, the simple pop-rock arrangement is also what makes the lyrics stand out a lot more than it already does. You can definitely tell Mika took the effort to make sure every line REEKED of heavy emotion, and the song doesn't even feel like a 6-minute song. Because of that I was able to also tolerate her near-horrendous near-shouting at some parts.

Today also somewhat runs along the same track as Boku ga Shinou to Omotta no wa arrangement-wise, which makes the entire single a lot more cohesive as a whole. It's catchy in its own right too and is a decent upbeat song coming from her in a really long time. I was almost convinced she gave up upbeat for good and was gonna pull a MISIA on us for life. I'm a little puzzled as to why they didn't include its instrumental track though.

The other b-side of the single is Sakurairo Maukoro -natural edition-, which is essentially an acoustic remix of the song. I have no idea why the heck they decided to go with the word "natural", but okay. Interesting choice of song to remake and include in this single though. Very out of the blue. But it sounds good and is a nice little bonus to the single.

This is Mika's first single is an extremely long time that actually kept me listening from start to end - I think the last single to do so was ALWAYS, and that's 3 bloody years ago! I'm so satisfied with this single, I can forgive that horrendous mess of a cover. I can even forgive that trashy weave she has on her head. I have to say this single has really stopped me from drifting further apart from her music and I'm excited to see what she has to offer for the rest of this era.

8/10

[Singles Review] July Singles Highlight: JASMINE, Koda Kumi

JASMINE - HERO

In an unusual twist of events, JASMINE released her latest single, HERO, 2 months after her previous! Someone's working hard! Further foraying into the EDM scene, HERO is a song that sends out an encouraging message, what with "don't give up", "you are my hero", "you is good, kind, important", you get the drift. It starts off rather slow before building up until the chorus where the bass drops and things really pick up from there. I really like the "your wish will change the night" part though; a pity it only appears once throughout the song. It gets a *tad* repetitive after a while, but overall I still like it.

The b-side, Missing, is a Kubota Toshinobu song that's been rearranged with a fuller electronic and R&B sound meshed together. It's a nice addition to the single, but doesn't really work for me. Somehow I feel that the arrangement sort of strips away the magic of the original song. On the other hand, I absolutely love Why (T.O.M Remix for JAS VEGAS). I normally don't enjoy ballads remixed, but this actually worked pretty well because it didn't sound forced. The arrangement complements the song really well and meshes together very smoothly.

Unfortunately, as a lead single to her sophomore album to be released in a month, it does fall flat and doesn't seem like a good choice to be released if they're trying to create hype for her album release. 

6/10

Koda Kumi - Summer Trip

It's that time of the year again when our favourite skank-ass ho drops her new summer single. As with all her weird-ass summer singles with their random-ass interludes, a radio-show concept is used for this which probably has the worst script ever. It's like the DJ didn't have enough content to talk about the song so he starts describing the music video out like we give that much of a damn.

LALALALALA is your classic summer Kuu song which reminds me a lot Hashire! in the verses somehow, lol. It's like a better version of Poppin' love cocktail. The song is catchy and probably sounds great live too. You know a song is gonna rally up a crowd good when you put in not one, not two, but 5 freakin' Las in it.

While the usage of grammar in IS THIS TRAP? is questionable in typical Kuu fashion, it's unquestionably a catchy electropop song that once again captivates the listener with a shit-ton of OH WOAH OH OH!s. It's like a watered down version of TABOO / ECSTASY, but in a good way, and is probably my favourite song off this single. The interlude before it talks about how the song is about Tokyo, where Kuu achieved her dreams and sings about the ups and downs (the traps) in it. Pretty interesting and actually something worth listening to lol

TOUCH DOWN easily wins me over simply because it's ghetto as hell. The song was also previously recorded by JoJo 100 years ago, just not officially released. Whatever man, ghetto Kuu is all I need in my life. Frippers up! Frippers up! It's a little electronic, a little rock, and a little hip-hop, resulting in some real twerking action.

Summer Trip offers three awesome summer songs in three different genres, it's like a freakin' buffet. But as with all Kuu releases, they all just sound like shit that's been done before. You've seen people said this a thousand times, but there's no denying to it. While I enjoy the songs now I honestly don't know if her next album is anything to look forward to at all, but that's another post for another day. 

 

7/10

[Singles Review] May Singles Highlight: Perfume, JASMINE

Magic of Love

Perfume disappointed with Mirai no Shitseum, and they disappointed HARD, which is why it's only right for them to redeem themselves with Magic of Love. Did they? Kind-of. Magic of Love didn't prove to be as amazeballs and make me play it to death; not as much as Spring Of Life and Hurly Burly, so in comparison to those that song falls flat. The only thing that made this song stand out was how Nocchi sounds weird as fuck in this song, and it's not even in a good way. Maybe she just sounds like that. Poor Nocchi. Handy Man, on the other hand, has some sort of Indian influence to it. Indian-sounding for a song called Handy Man? Unintended subliminal message or not, I love it. But it doesn't make this song sound any less like something that was almost given to KyaryPamyuPamyu by a hair. This single proved to be just average for me, and didn't seem to have the same spark as their previous singles. I'm just overall glad they didn't go downwards from Mirai no Shitseum. Now that would've been BAD.  

6/10

High Flying

Gurl, where you been for 1 year? I absolutely LOVE High Flying. Not as good as Best Partner, but a good song nonetheless. I like the subtle hints of EDM here and there, but given the current trend I certainly wouldn't mind her going all out electronic for the next album (fuck the other a-sides) because it's not like rehashing the same ol' R&B sound is going to do her any favours. Speaking of that, the b-side, BED, is a cover of DOUBLE's, which takes on a slightly jazzier, and more slower R&B feel. I love it. The arrangement is more or less similar to the original, but I found the latter's vocals to be more soothing and smooth which fits the song well. I thought JASMINE on the other hand sounded rather forced on some parts. Anyhoo, I also wonder if titling the song "High Flying" has anything to do with, you know, getting high. ;) Because if this is what she can give me while she's high, I'm not exactly impressed.

 

6/10

[Singles Review] March Singles Highlight: Namie Amuro, KyaryPamyuPamyu

Big Boys Cry / Beautiful

Namie Amuro does what she wants, does what she likes, and still does it better than ayumi hamasaki. Force PINK KEY from PLAY to have sex with WoWa from Queen of Hip-Pop and have its resultant child go to Disneyland and what you'll get is Big Boys Cry. This is some good shit, and I will be more than happy for Namie to go back to her hip-pop sound anytime even if it's just a little bit. And that climax? Make them big boys CRRRRRRAAAAAA AH AAAAAAAAAI!!! Your fave can never, especially if your fave is ayumi hamasaki. Beautiful is exactly as it is - Beautiful. ebibabi spend tanai feering like a stranjur. ebibabi wurs to know hao tu be strowngur. Putting the Engrish aside, and the fact that Namie isn't a vocal powerhouse therefore making this song beyond her calibre, it's actually fucking amazing. I would have never expected Beautiful to sound like this after hearing the snippet in that ESPRIQUE CM last year. Is no suppliiiiies, is no suppliiiiiiies... istu! Browing in da win! I will be playing this single till the end of time tbh.

8/10

Ninjari Ban Ban

I don't mean to compare KyaryPamyuPamyu with Perfume (ok maybe I do) but Ninjari Ban Ban shits explosive diarrhea ALL over Mirai no Shitseum. I'm not gonna lie. This is cutesy done right, so there is a huge pile of shit that needs to get together here. Tbh I almost wish this song was given to Perfume instead. Unite Unite is average and very lukewarm which I'm not a huge fan of. Minna no Uta is just meh. KPP has been a hit or miss for me since Moshi Moshi Harajuku but she does have occasional gems like Tsukema Tsukeru and Furisodeshon. Other than that her music to me makes me can't help but feel like it's Nakata Yasukata's inner 5-year-old girl at play which is highly disturbing.

 

6/10

[Singles Review] February Singles Highlight: ayaka, Perfume, Crystal Kay

beautiful / Chiisana no Ashiato

There aren't really many surprises when it comes to ayaka. Even based on the single's cover art alone you can pretty much tell that this shit is gonna be good, and damn right it is. beautiful is more or less the usual ballad affair from ayaka with gospel elements added in as well. This is when the unavoidable pun comes in - it's beautiful! There is a consistent build-up throughout the song and the instrumental bridge is what makes this song especially amazing imo. Chiisana no Ashiato brings about something different for ayaka to try out. It's an uplifting song with a rather playful arrangement combining military drums, the flute, violins that work really well for her, so this is something unexpected coming from ayaka. Hajimari no Toki English ver. is a nice addition to the single, but nothing really impressive. It uses a piano instrumental instead of the original which I don't really like but I guess I appreciate her effort in trying out Engrish lol

7/10

Mirai no Museum

I'm not gonna lie - I'm not here for Mirai no Shitseum. I understand that it's a tie-in for a Doraemon movie, but they should've just released this as a digital single or something. This literally gave me goosebumps and it's not because it's good. It's terrible. I hope the producers of Doraemon delete Perfume's numbers and never contact them again. Daijo Banai saves the single, but barely. It's a watered down version of Nee without any climax whatsoever. I do like it, but given its repetitiveness, like Communication, I will probably tire of it in 3 hours. The area in which I give fucks about this release is so empty, I didn't even realise the single was already released!

4/10

My Heart Beat

Trust Crystal that sneaky bitch to release a digital single without any announcements or information or whatsoever (either that or I'm just blind) except for one puny CM which even I didn't watch. Universal ran out of budget for Crystal Kay so they couldn't afford to manufacture physical editions, do promo, or even hire anybody to do the single's cover art. The cover doesn't even have the single title on it. Nonetheless, My Heart Beat is still amazing - although I'm almost positive it's a leftover from VIVID, I'm glad this has a chance to see the light of day - it's a really funky, electronic, light number with some really orgasmic bass guitar noodling. Kaze no Kanata, on the other hand, is an R&B ballad with a really moving feel somewhere along the lines of Come Back To Me / Rising Sun from VIVID. Somehow I get a really Utada Hikaru feel off the melody and I love it. How more Japanese bought Perfume's latest single than this, I have no idea.

8/10

[Singles Review] Go to the top, Force, DEEPNESS

I feel like doing an individual post for one single review would be too short so why not combine them so that it would look like it's very long and make it seem like I did actual hard work?

Today we will be reviewing three singles that are very distinct from one another -- a mother's comeback single, a redundant recut single, and a single that could have revived someone's career but didn't.

Don't worry, this is not a comparison post so keep your pants on.