DJ Takado / CONNECTION ’06 / July 03, 2006
04. Candy ~egytian reggaeton mix~
08. BLUE BIRD ft. DJ Takado (Silicone Soul Club Mix)
This CD is remixed and compiled by DJ Takado and features prominent Japanese pop figures Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, Namie Amuro, Mika Nakashima and Hikaru Utada, which is just about as huge as it gets. However, despite the alarming cast of characters, the bill falls short of coming up with a dramatic enough play to capture your attention. The introduction is an immediate blatant steal of Hamasaki’s “connected,” which serves absolutely no purpose as it neither reflects what the rest of the disc will sound like, nor does it merge into the second track as some sort of non-stop megamix.
The second song is a slow, club remix of Kumi’s “Candy,” which falls short of the later remix of the same song, which at least has some flair. The third track is Hamasaki’s “SEASONS,” which has absolutely no business being on this disc. It’s a slow song to begin with and the remix makes it seem as if the vocals have actually been slow-moed. So basically, I’m three tracks in and I’m disappointed already. As I mentioned before, the fourth track, “Candy ~egytian reggaeton mix~,” picks things up a bit, though the blatant advertisement of reggaeton initially turned me off; I don’t do anything remotely resembling Daddy Yankee. The remainder of the disc is just as slow and substance free. The remixes attempt to grab hold of some sort of breezy, summerish, carefree vibe, alternating between ambient tones and funk beats, which comes up sounding a lot like really bad club music they play in huge record stores to attract hipsters and appear new school.
I realize some people are into this sort of thing; but in this case, some people aren’t me. The thing that really did it was the sort of twist in plot line with the closing song, another blatant rip-off of Hamasaki’s “alterna.” Stop the madness! The CD’s only popularity basically lies in the names attached to them…and DJ Takado isn’t one of them. Which is why I am of the camp who believe one should have a license to remix. And a license to title compilation CDs because this jumbled mess is basically the opposite of any connection I’ve ever seen.
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