I put the ol’ iRiver on shuffle and post the first five songs that come up.
hide – POSE (MIXED LEMONed Jelly mix ver.9): “POSE” is one of the more popular hide solo works, even featured in X Japan concerts as his rather promiscuous solo spot (not everybody got one, and some people who didn’t deserve one got one, ie Heath, Yoshiki, everybody else besides hide). “POSE” was remixed a lot, probably due to the catchy upbeat industrial vibe of the original which opens up with a ping-pong game before the guitars and industrial beats come in while hide waxes eloquent on the state of human nature. This remix is found on the posthumous In Motion single release. It sounds very much like the original, making it a rather superfluous track on an altogether superfluous single release.
Hikaru Utada – Boku wa Kuma (Instrumental): As the end of 2006 drew near, singer/songwriter Hikaru Utada released “Boku wa Kuma,” a rather hypnotic nursery rhyme meant for children. I find this particularly strange, as her core-audience is cetainly not children, although the song was featured in Minna no Uta, a children’s music program, where it became quite popular. Although the song itself is quite fascinating (“I am a bear! a bear! a bear! a bear! who is not chocolate!“), this instrumental version came up on shuffle, so enjoy it sans vocals.
hitomi – My Planet (Tatsumaki Remix): Probably one of the greatest trance compilations ever released was song+nation 2 trance. Fresh off the heels of song+nation, a Japanese pop star tribute to the victims of 9/11, came the remixed edition. Spanning two discs, the album is probably the best and my favorite dictionary definition of trance. Each song ranges from seven to twelve minutes apiece, gradually building up, gathering instruments, getting synthtastic before the chorus comes in and the song reaches a trance plateau before gradually beginning its descent. Amazingly enough, while I find each and every song on the original “song+nation” drab, expendable pop music, I love pretty much every single track on this album; that is how amazing and unique each remix manages to be. hitomi’s “My Planet” remix is no exception. If you’re ever wondering what real trance sounds like, wonder no further.
Ringside – Cold On Me: Ringside is a pop rock band from California that mixes contemporary electronic sounds in their work that injects an almost Depeche Mode-like quality in their work. “Cold On Me” is a good example of this, a plaintive song about a failing relationship. Surprisingly, the key changes are similar to late 60s/early 70s pop music, which comes in strongly through the vocals. Not a song I play very often, but a decent track on the 2005 self-titled album.
The Cure – Just Like Heaven: If you haven’t heard this song before, then yeah. I pretty much have nothing to say about that.
appears 