Namie Amuro’s “CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK”

 

Namie Amuro / CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK / May 17, 2006
01. CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK / 02. Ningyou

The former Queen of Jpop, now self-monikered Queen of Hip-Pop is back with her first single in 2006. I was never really a huge fan of Namie Amuro, as her peak years occupied much of the middle 90s. Before the turn of the century, Amuro stepped down from her throne to give birth to a child, and in the meantime, allowed newcomers like Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki to garner a monopoly over the Japanese music market. Before long, however, Amuro returned with a sleeker, cleaner version of herself, and continued to put out bubbly pop tunes. However, because of her absence in the music market for a while, many had already lost interest in her records and had moved on. At this point, Amuro decided upon a total music and image makeover. Completely miming popular Western music, she took to hip hop beats, Adidas track suits, and smooth, slinky dance moves that brought bedroom activity to center stage; what we basically had after her soul/R&B/hip hop collaboration compilation When Pop Hits The Fan was an East Asian version of Britney Spears with a little more soul, a little less Federline (Amuro divorced her husband among a much publicized child custody battle). This image overhaul worked absolute wonders and before long, Amuro released a full length album, Queen of Hip-Pop in July of 2005, and has since performed sold out shows on her Space of Hip-Pop tour to pulsating beats complete with polished dance moves and live singing…she put Mrs. Federline to shame, she did. I could have done without the short skirts, though; the pseudo-humping is enough smut for one concert, thanks.

So even though I knew about Amuro for a while, it wasn’t until she released Say the Word that I started getting interested in her stuff. To be honest with you, I was already a die-hard Ayu fan and didn’t see the need to travel back in time to outdated music; 90s pop music is just not the same unless you were there in the era it was released and have attached memories or sentimental feelings toward it. So I left Amuro to get dusty on a shelf until a few months later when I received a tape with some old Japanese music talk shows like Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and Pop Jam and chanced to see an old live performance of her single I HAVE NEVER SEEN. I didn’t like the song right away, but rather took to it gradually, until I decided I liked it enough to purchase it. So I did and tried some old Amuro songs again, found myself disappointed again, and promptly placed her back on the dusty shelf again.

So basically, I didn’t become an Amuro fan until she began releasing her hip hop styled music à la “Want me, want me.” I have zero explanation to defend this fascination with typical American pop music to the tune of Japanese interspersed with dirty American phrases…but I liked it. I liked the overly catchy choruses, the hooks that demanded I purchase the entire Queen of Hip-Pop record and I guess I especially liked that it was a guilty pleasure I didn’t have to feel too guilty enjoying; I mean, technically, not Britney Spears, not shame inducing.

So that’s my long Amuro adventure. I bought the album and ended up liking it, as cheesy as it all was, as hilarious as the mock Lil’ John screaming “Yeah, here we go, whaaat?!” in “My Darling” was…I ate it all up and was sold with the final track No. In fact, I will even admit I like watching dance performances. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that if I was held at gunpoint and told to dance well or die, I would be shot faster than I could attempt a lame excuse for a Charleston, so when I saw the live performance for “No,” I was mesmerized…all that coordinated dancing, the ease with which she performed the entire song and still managed to sing the song live had me applauding with the audience at the end. I thought if Amuro continued pursuing this angle, she just may make me a (very, very guilty but willing) fan.

Her last single definetely did not disappoint; “Violet Sauce” is a catchy, catchy song. When I heard a new single would be released, I was hoping for something similar. I guess it’s true, be careful what you wish for. “CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK” is another catchy pop song with a catchy hook and a saxophone for atmosphere, peppered with those English catcalls Amuro fans have come to expect. It sounds like something that would come right off of Queen of Hip-Pop, so I don’t know why I don’t like it more. I’m well aware it’s a great song, exemplifying the definition of pop music almost perfectly…but it just didn’t sit well with me, and I wonder if this means I’m all hip-popped out. Or maybe I’m looking for something more from Amuro…which isn’t good, because what can you expect from a formula pop singer?

The second track “Ningyou,” is a slower, more ballad-inspired song. I hate hip hop inspired ballads, so I hate this song. I even listened to the whole thing from start to finish just in case, and I still didn’t like it. I tried, I did all I could! Finally, aside from the standard instrumentals, the last original song is a remix of the title track. It’s almost exactly like the original song except that it has some extra beats thrown it; it’s mediocre, and a change from dancey-trancey remixes, but disappoints none the less.

As her 30th single, this is definetely not the best Amuro to date, and though the title track is catchy and I do like it, it’s missing that je ne sais quoi, that quelque chose spécial. It sort of reflects the reason I got bored and agitated with popular American music so many years ago and searched for something else, something more. It’s only so-so. Or wait, I mean comme ci, comme ça. Oui, oui (I’m nothing, if not consistent).

♫ Official Site
♫ Buy CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK

Friday night shuffle I

Wherein I put the ol’ iRiver on shuffle and post the first five songs that come up.

The Rasmus – In the Shadows: The Rasmus are a sort of pop rock band that range from light hearted, peppy tunes to darker, more guitar driven songs that center on stuff like misery, death, dead things, dying things, and hiding from the sun. Though it is their darker music that I really enjoy, this poppier tune from their fifth album was the first song I heard by them a year or so ago and upon hearing it, I proceeded to play it five hundred times in a row. After that, I was pretty much all “In-the-Shadows”ed out. Still a great song, though.

Violet UK – Blind Dance: Violet UK was supposed to be the brainchild of former X Japan drummer Yoshiki. Recorded in his Los Angeles based branch of Extasy Records, the music was supposed to be more classical and use English vocalists, rather than Japanese ones. However, besides a few orchestral medleys performed live for foreign diplomats, Yoshiki has yet to release a full Violet UK album, though he has been promising an official release for about seven years now (Chinese Democracy anyone?). This particular song was featured in a commercial he did for 7-Eleven in Japan many moons ago (four or five years ago, I believe). It’s obviously only a demo, but it gives you a good idea what the newfound master of classical music is capable of (as if we don’t know already). The song is pretty slow, kind of ballad-y with some pop and the vocalist kind of sucks. I don’t think I’ve listened to this song before today in about two years, not since I pretty much grew out of Yoshiki and got bored with his post-X Japan “I will never play drums again, woe is me!” symphonic creations tinged with nothing but dead promises.

3 Inches Of Blood – Premonition Of Pain: I came across 3 Inches Of Blood back in December. I downloaded about four of their songs to see if the album would be worth buying. Two minutes into the third song, I decided to just skip the album all together and just enjoy the four songs that sounded like one looong song, because I figured if I bought the album it would just be one really looong song. 3 Inches Of Blood is a Canadian metal band, and they do metal really well, but it’s kind of all very staple based, as in, straight metal with no innovation. In fact, the only difference I can see that might make them stand out is the vocalist, Cam Pipes’, contribution to the music; his voice is sort of falsetto meets screamo. It’s also sort of odd and distracting.

Yoko Shimomura – Sora: This is an orchestral piece from the newly released Kingdom Hearts II original soundtrack. It’s OK, but I’m sorry, as far as video game music goes, my heart belongs to Nobuo Uematsu. I believe Sora is the main character’s name so I’m guessing it’s his theme song…? I don’t know. I stopped playing new video games approximately thirty years ago when they ceased manufacturing Playstation I games. I’m old school like that.

Zilch – Swampsnake: Zilch is the Los Angeles based band of former X Japan turned numerous solo projects guitarist/singer, hide. Zilch was supposed to be the band that would make hide famous in the United States, except that a little thing called grunge got in the way of their musical debut. Knowing the public wouldn’t receive the kind of metal they put together, they planned to wait before releasing the album except then hide committed suicide. The band went ahead and released the album in his native Japan anyway. Of course, nobody except hide fans really bought the album and the CD didn’t do so well. Since then, they’ve replaced the singer, put out a respectable remix album featuring artists from pretty famous American bands (long shot here, but ever hear of Nine Inch Nails?) and tried to continue putting together music, though they remain quite unpopular without their original creator. “Swampsnake” is an OK song, but there are far better songs on their one and only albumfeaturing hide, even those crazy English remakes of X Japan/hide with spread beaver songs.

Rina Aiuchi’s “MIRACLE”

Rina Aiuchi / MIRACLE / May 03, 2006
01. MIRACLE / 02. ESPECIAL THANKS 03. MIRACLE-ALLEGRO VIVACE.MIX-

When I first heard Rina Aiuchi’s music, it was with the release of Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense in conjunction with Detective Conan. With complete disregard to the whole anime tie-in (seriously, what popular artist from Japan hasn’t been affiliated with an anime?), I really liked the song. It was bubbly, upbeat, and fit the whole dance-pop genre like a glove. I bought her first album and was a bit disappointed. One year later, in 2002, I swallowed any preconceived notions I might have had, and purchased her second album POWER OF WORDS basely solely on the beautiful shiver-inducing ballad “NAVY BLUE” and the trancey “Run up.” Once again, I was disappointed; beside two or three songs that were beautifully arranged in retro pop sentiment, the album was no good and I was tired of seeing her emulate the covers of Ayumi Hamasaki’s own first two album covers to the point of embarrassment.

I decided I was no longer a Rina Aiuchi fan. For two years, I continued listening to her sugary pop music because of her voice, but two years was enough and Aiuchi could no longer rest on those laurels alone. Aiuchi’s voice is the quintessence of soprano, but with just the kind of smooth timbre and feathery air to bring out the most heartfelt of ballads; but not pop music. It seems that although her vocals are one of her strongest features (it’s certainly not her speaking voice however; think Alvin & the Chipmunks meet helium), they’re actually more of a hindrance when it comes to the pop market: her voice is much too frail to do powerful songs like “OVER SHINE” the justice they deserve. And although Aiuchi consistently puts out singles and albums, and has even hosted her own television show, the public agrees: she is just mediocre. And when in doubt as to why and scared of fans’ massacres in bloody protest to one’s opinion that the music isn’t all that great, blame the record company: GIZA sucks when it comes to promoting their artists (but c’mon, the music really isn’t all that great and that’s the biased truth!)

Since the release of her second album, I’ve been a light switch follower of her music. Off and on I’ll give a song a random listening chance or try out a new album to see what she’s up to and how those vocal chords are doing, but often I’ll just like one or two songs off an album and remain uninterested and disappointed in someone who has potential to be someone who is and does so much more and isn’t and doesn’t, instead focusing on much more important things like designing fake nails and posing for kooky fashion photo books.

However, it’s that time again; the final single before her new album DELIGHT is released at the end of May. I figured it was time to check in with Aiuchi and proceeded to give in to the rainbow challenged cover art and give MIRACLE serious consideration. Then again, scratch that; it’s hard to take anyone riding a huge disco ball in what appears to be a jean skirt but could just be a handkerchief seriously. “MIRACLE” is a happy, happy song. I mean…it’s pretty happy. Ai Otsuka happy. That’s pretty fucking happy. It even has the synth beats and typical Engrish chorus amidst some mediocre harmonies. Upon hearing “MIRACLE” I was struck with the fact that nothing about Aiuchi’s music has evolved or changed and I’m left wondering how she’s managed to stick around this long. Maybe it’s the double haircut she’s sporting? The only saving grace about the A-side is, as usual, her vocals. As a final note, that psuedo guitar solo is a joke.

The second song on the album is “ESPECIAL THANKS.” In the world of Jpop, I have come across strange titles like this countless amounts of time, and yet, I still can’t help wincing. I think this is due to years and years of education and the moment I stop flinching is the moment I’ve gone stupie for good. So in retrospect, this wincing is nothing if not reassuring. This song is more of a ballad. It’s pretty simple and serene, employing stereotypical elements of any slow pop number; that cascading xylophone/bell sound I forgot the name of (OK, I just made myself look dumb, it is not good when an actual song drops your IQ) and the appropriately placed acoustic guitar. And god damnit, stop it with the psuedo guitar solos already. They are a joke.

The only saving track is the final track, “MIRACLE-ALLEGRO VIVACE.MIX-,” and you know the other songs are bad if I am calling this one a saving grace. It’s basically a dance version of the title track and doesn’t detract too much from the original aside from some extra beats to get the party started. Which it wouldn’t, ’cause my party would start throwing stuff if I played this single. Like rocks, or other heavy objects that can break things, like human bodies, and probably through windows, or better yet, at my radio. Also, I’m shocked Aiuchi has not yet caught on to the CD+DVD release phenomena, rendering this disc even more completely useless.

‘Nough said. Disappointing. And that sucks, because this is the third Jpop review I’ve done in a row that wasn’t worth my time. The album will probably suck and I’m still not sure if I’m nice enough to give it a listen. I think our relationship has to take another route; if this album sucks, it’s over. No more second or third or fourth chances. This is your fifth. Get it right or get a new writer.

♫ Official Site
♫ Buy MIRACLE

Atreyu’s “A Death-Grip on Yesterday”

Atreyu / A Death-Grip On Yesterday / March 28, 2006
04. The Theft / 07. Your Private War
08. My Fork In The Road (Your Knife In My Back)

The one thing I can say about Atreyu is that if you like consistency and you like one of their albums, you will probably love them all. Consistency is certainly not always a bad thing and has its reassuring qualities; change has the potential to be hit or miss while consistency has a tendency to hit the bulls-eyes…for a while. There comes a point in every band’s lifespan when a crucial decision comes into play; do we give the people what they want, or do we try something new and risk losing fans? I think Atreyu chose to play it safe this time around…again. However, I can’t say it’s textbook consistency. Another thing I noticed about Atreyu is that each CD seems to be a continuation of the previous release, as if “Creature” was the next song after “Five Vicodin Chased With a Shot of Clarity,” with more of a gradual change that cannot be determined from CD to CD, but comparing their first release with this new one sheds some more light on their attempts to innovate.

The Atreyu on A Death-Grip On Yesterday is a more melodic Atreyu. The hard riffs and throat curdling screams are still present, but they’ve become a bit more varied in their instrumentation. Much like the CD itself, songs are short (beside the final track, nothing surpasses four minutes) and to the point, completely disregarding gradual intros or entrance pieces; songs seem to almost begin straight at the chorus. There isn’t too much difference in the lyrics, and I find myself hearing songs like “Ex’s and Oh’s” and marveling once again at the ability Atreyu has to churn out lyrics that read like enchanting poetry, yet sing like trite anecdotes.

It’s not a bomb of a record, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed. There are only nine songs, and when I found a song I was really into, it was over before I really started to get into it. Case in point, “The Theft.” This is just a really, really good song. The verses invite a mystical acoustic guitar with a serene choral backdrop before crashing into a chorus of almost epic proportions sans appearing staple based like some Aerosmith songs can begin to sound. And if you think that comparison is strange, here’s another one: I think Atreyu should pull a T.M.Revolution. That is, not necessarily to put out a cover album of their own songs, but to provide some evidence that they are able to completely evolve their sound without losing the essence of their unique musical spirit (a.k.a. UNDER:COVER). In other words, bring something to the table that old fans will appreciate and bring in new fans who might not have liked their earlier work. It’s difficult, but not entirely implausible.

Until then, I’ll remain disappointed in this release, as it merely seems a continuation of The Curse and doesn’t nearly reflect the time the band claims they spent on it.

♫ Official Site
♫ Buy A Death-Grip on Yesterday