PREVIEW: Managing to sneak in as the last big surprise of 2008 is Morning Musume's upcoming single Nai Chau Kamo. Tanaka Reina graciously played it on her radio show this evening and let me just say it is great. Along with that we have a low quality pic of the girls for this single and I'm really liking the image. It seems my prayer of more mature, mainstream songs was answered ^_^

-> DOWNLOAD <- right click + save as

Thanks to amp at jpmforums for the radio rip

Firstly I'm LOVING the sound, which seems Latin inspired, along the vein of Irropoi Jirettai - it's definitely a cool, mature sound that suits the current Morning Musume. Ai & Reina lead as usual but with more variety in vocals than past singles. I hear some Sayu, Eri and Risa and lots of harmonies and such from the others. I'm very happy with this track, what a perfect way to end 2008.

Everyone have a great NEW YEARS! See you in 2009!

PREVIEW: Ice Creamusume's debut music video liàn ài dēng chăng (roughly Entering Love) was released today via Yahoo! Music Taiwan. I managed to rip the PV off and upload it to youtube for you all. Quality isn't great but that's all I could do :p

So first things first, I'm extremely disappointed at the budget of this PV - They're dancing in front of a white background and they have some props, urgh whatever. I think I'm going to start giving up on UFA putting effort in anything they do from now on. Moving on...
The song itself is very sweet and I'm really enjoying it. The chorus is catchy and I think it suits the overall image of the group. The vocals are very nice and ShenShen's solo towards the end is really lovely.
The thing I like the most about this PV is that we get to see the girls' personality. They all act very goofy and cute, it's a lot of fun to watch, even if slightly unoriginal. I wonder if they'll do a PV for their Japanese version of the song?

NEWS: C-ute was honoured yesterday evening with a EXCELLENT WORK award, at the 50th Japan Record Awards, for their song Edo no Temari Uta II.

The award put them amongst artists such as EXILE and Koda Kumi in the running for the BEST WORK OF THE YEAR award. While they didn't win the top prize, which went to EXILE's Ti Amo, they were invited to perform at the ceremony, where they sang their nominated track.

This is the second year in a row that the girls have performed at the Japan Record Awards. Only a year ago the girls were nominated in the New Artist category, ultimately winning the BEST NEW ARTIST. Let's take a little stroll down memory lane to see how far the girls have come since this time last year!

C-ute is once again cementing themselves as the group to watch in H!P, being recognized for the second year in a row for their music. A BIG congratulations to C-ute, this is QUITE an honour and truly deserving :D

PREVIEW: Promotion for Takahashi Ai's upcoming drama, Q.E.D, is well underway and us lucky fans have a special 2 minute sneak peek of what's in store for us all!

So it's definitely looking very exciting! I'm especially liking the episodic feeling it looks like it will have, with the different cases to solve each week involving undercover work/costumes etc. Ai is so cute in her maid outfit ^_^ I can't wait for this!

*lol* I found this vid posted up at the jpm forums and I just had to share! It's a bit old, from June this year, but it was new to me. Make sure to turn on the subs if you need them (lower right corner -> middle button in the popup).

Yaguchi on her show Gyao MIDTOWN TV and participates in a punishment game, Moe Moe Idol Nyaguchi Mari, where she has to act like a kitty idol, adding NYA! to the end of each sentence ^^; Hilarious and cute!

PREVIEW: When in doubt, you can't go wrong with THE Possible: Their upcoming single, Shiawase no Katachi.

Firstly: The song is awesome. When I first heard the preview, I wasn't sure - but it's a very sweet track. Secondly: The PV is awesome. Not overly expensive (hell they dance in darkness) but it looks very polished and professional. The outdoor shots are sublime!

It totally gives me a Mihimaru GT vibe which is major points in my book!

Some exciting news today as I logged on to find that the blog has just surpassed 20,000 hits! *yay* When I first created the blog I had no idea there would be as many visitors as there has been but my daily hits have been gradually rising. Thank you so much to everyone who visits the blog, especially those who come here on a daily basis - it means a lot to me to see that the site is appreciated ^_^

I started the site back on July 15th, with my first post being a review of Berryz Koubou's Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance. Since then I think I've written 222 posts - I always try to post at least once a day so people have something new to see when they visit lol. I've tried to remain as dedicated as I can to bringing updated news and fun stories, that I hope everyone has enjoyed! ^^
When I first started tracking Stardust's hits (August) I was scarcely getting 10 hits a day. I have to give big thanks to the folks at International Wota, especially CK who is ALWAYS writing up the blog, for bringing those 10 hits per day to the hundreds I'm getting at the moment. Over the past two months especially, the blog has really grown in popularity.

As a commerative New Years/20K ... thingo, I've decided to list the posts which actually mattered amongst the 222 I've written so far lol:

Vocal Training with Junjun & Linlin
28th July 2008

This post was kinda special as before this date I was very focused on doing a NEWS driven blog. Most of the previous posts were news items or reviews, which I still do a lot of, but this was the first little post where I just brought something I thought was interesting and cool - footage of Junjun and Linlin in a vocal lesson. It got a lot of attention, being posted on IW a few days later, and the site had over 200 hits when this post got written up!

Canaria Club Live Document DVD

29th July 2008

I was very proud of this post: 1. because it took me AGES to do (I'm talking literally HOURS lol) and 2. because I love Canaria Club. This review of their Live Document DVD didn't get the attention I was hoping for. I'm pretty sure IW eventually wrote it up, but I think it mainly got gradual hits as I kept linking to it in subsequent posts *lol*

Kanna x Hasshi Scandal?
29th July 2008

Yes, I'm aware the first 3 posts are all within 2 days lol, but it was just a busy couple of days. I swear! This post, about Arihara Kanna's little scandal, got LOTS of hits but mainly from a different audience - the Johnny's fans. It was posted up at a few Johnny's forums and was googled a lot, resulting in it being one of the most popular posts on the blog.

Anticipating SanHora's 6th Story: Moira & Moira: The 6th Story
August 29th & September 16th 2008

These two posts regarding Sound Horizon's 6th Story album Moira still gets a heap of hits to this day. Because they aren't really about music most H!P fans are interested in, the hits are mainly from googlers who just happen to find the blog when searching about the album. I'm really proud of these posts, a lot of effort went into them, and I'm happy they've gotten the attention they have.

New Star *finally* coming to a close...
September 1st 2008

Ok so here starts the facination with the Taiwan auditions, NEW STAR, and the hundreds of hits I got everytime I posted anything remotely related to them lol. I dunno if I was just the only blog following the auditions but that's just what happened :P This first post talked about the remaining 15 contestants and picking out my favs - of which only ShenShen made the group :p

Introducing SI☆NA ...
September 7th 2008

This little post was about the H!P Kansai group SI*NA - I believe they had just recently been named as a group and these cute little vids popped up and I just had to share! Of course they still haven't debuted and my enthusiasm for them is starting to fade away, but just watching these vids again makes me excited for their debut, which should be any year now... (-_-;)

New Star Elimination Update
New Star 9/13: Recap & New Star 9/14: Another Recap
September 9th 2008
September 14th & 15th 2008

AHHH~ this was the horrible post where I accidently spoiled NEW STAR for everyone lol. It utterly confused me (the site had posted a news article about the eliminations before the episode had aired) and then I wasn't sure what was going on. Eventually it all sorted itself out when I got my hands on the episodes and reviewed them for everyone but it did leave me a bit rosy cheeked.

Ping Leaks Chinese H!P song....

September 20th 2008

This post was about Ice Creamusume's PeiPei (at the time known as Ceng de Ping) leaking the Morning Musume track Ame no Furanai Hoshi de Aisenai Daro via her blog. The song was already pretty popular (concert rip or whatever) so of course the post was popular too. I pretty much wrote off PeiPei's chances at getting picked as a result lol but I was obviously quite wrong. To be fair, at that point she had already been chosen ^^; ehhh - later that day...

NEW STAR Winners Chosen & Who are the NEW STARs?
September 20th & October 3rd 2008

Later that day we all found out the New Stars and everyone was shocked and disappointed that the little girl (who will forever be known as Risafan) did not make it ;_; I'm still recovering from that one. One of the most popular posts on the blog stemmed from the NEW STARs as I set out to determine Who are the NEW STARs? - I knew so many people hadn't followed the auditions and had no idea of who these girls were so I managed to get my hands on the last episode and made some vids of each performer and posted them up. Now please keep in mind I know nothing about video editing lol - it took me a while, but I got there in the end. It was worth it though, I'm proud of this post!

Aibon: Rockin' Out!

October 12th 2008

This post goes to show how even posts that take hardly any effort can become much more popular than more intensive posts. This 5 min post where I just posted some pics of Kago Ai got hundreds of hits lol. Crazy eh? It is Aibon though and she is rockin! ;) (re-reading this I realise I used the word post in this... post far too often lol)

Kill Me, Kiss Me: HANGRY & ANGRY ... grr

October 13th 2008

I wrote up this post about hANGRY&ANGRY literally at like 3 in the morning lol. I remember I was so pumped at seeing it and was so excited I had to write it up right then and there. I remember it very vividly, my friend told me that the pic was obviously photoshopped and laughed at me for thinking H!P would ever do anything like this -_-; lol. Anyway every man and his dog did a post about H&A so I can't remember if it was very popular, but I enjoyed writing it.

The End of an Era: Elder Club Graduates
October 19th 2008

This was a sad day for me :( Urgh, Elder Club - they'll be missed. I'm still in mourning and they haven't gone yet - I'll prob be mourning for a few more months afterwards. Once again, every man and his dog, I think this post got lost among the masses - but those are my sad feelings on the news.

Halloween no Musume!
October 31st 2008

Ah! One of the posts I'm most proud of! So much work went into these little horrifying Musume's but every minute was pure joy. This is the type of thing I just do when I have nothing else to do so it wasn't a huge waste of time lol. I got lots of nice feedback on this post and many hits, a few sites linked to it which was cool. I'm dreading what I'll have to do for next Halloween *eek*!! I'm *hoping* I won't have the time to do something similar (I needs a life lol) ... but we'll see.

NEW STARs Jet Off
November 11th 2008

The formula for success: NEW STAR related x post = popular ^_^ lol. I actually translated this article from Mandarin via a really crappy online translator. Urgh, the things I do for the blog and all you lot :p

Tough as Nails, Fierce as C-ute
November 12th 2008

Nobody really cared about this post lol (that's always how it is, when I actually try to make a post people will like - nobody does :p) That being said, I still really like this post and I'm putting it here in an attempt for somebody, somewhere to care lol. *please... pleeeease!*

Int'l Wota Here I Come!
November 19th 2008

Wow, it doesn't seem so long ago that Pengie emailed me about joing IW lol. Since then I've done all of 3 writeups on the site -_-; I'm such a bad contributor! My New Years resolution is to be more active on the site! Best bit about IW is meeting all the cool (yes you're all cool!) ppl on wotachat, hours of fun ^^!

Welcome, Ice Cream Musume!
November 21st 2008

Wooo~!! We finally got a name and cool group pics! My love for the NEW STARs never dwindled and my love for Ice Cream just made me love the group even more! peachusagi commented on this post: You always have the best news! - AWWWW see, everyone loves Ice Creamusume!

Yum! Ice Cream! ^_^
November 23rd 2008

This post got NO attention at all!! @_@ <- tis my angry face lol. Do you know how long I sat down trying to think of Ice Cream flavours that would go with each member? lol! I got the idea from CK who kept blabbing about how each girl should represent a flavour. Now we actually know that the girls do have flavours - I have to say mine are much better >.<

Ayaya's in the Kitchen... with Chickens?
December 9th 2008

Ahahaha! LOL this post was great *is not conceited* - I'm talking about the actual song ;) I think this one got lots of hits and everyone seemed to love the Kitchen & Chicken track! I've still got my fingers crossed for a release in the near future. I don't need another slow ballad ... I WANT CHICKEN!!!

The 12 Days of Christmas
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
December 14th to 25th 2008

Most of December was busy for me, with Xmas and all, so to keep the Blog up to date and as a nice holiday surprise I decided to do my 12 Days of Christmas countdown. December has been my most popular month so far - I'm not sure if it's because of the 12 Days but people kept coming back and it was nice to be able to share those 12 songs with everyone.

Ice Creamusume's Love Revolution 21!
December 22nd 2008

Let's talk about crazy Ice Creamusume for a second ... this post of mine was the all time most popular post on my blog - pretty much by far lol. When I posted it I NEVER imagined the reaction it would get. I pretty much heard the track would be on radio that evening, went to the radio show's website and found it was online and then decided to record it while I was listening. I then posted it before I went to bed and when I woke up I had hundreds upon hundreds of hits. The radio rip has been downloaded over 800 times from the blog, as well as countless others from other forums and youtube. My 1GB bandwidth even exceeded on the site where I post my audio files lol. A very popular post and a nice Xmas gift to myself!

So there we have the most significant posts in my short blogging history and after all that time writing this post up, those 20K hits have now surpassed 30K *lol* ok not quite ;) Once again, thanks so much to all the people who visit the blog. I hope you'll keep coming to check it out after the New Year. Maybe for your NY's resolutions you can all comment a bit more, eh? ;) lol.

Have a great New Year!
xMarsx

I promised Amy I would do this a few days ago but I suck at keeping promises and, you know, whatever. But I'm doing it now ^_^ so here we go, my H!P BEST OF 2008 Poll RESULTS! Remember people, this is all personal opinion ;)

BEST

Best Group Single:

Resonant Blue Morning Musume

I've already blabbed ad nauseum about how much I adore this single so there's no real point in continuing - suffice to say, it rocked my socks.

Best Soloist Single:
Okitegami Fujimoto Miki

Ok, so I've heard people go on and on about disliking this song or that it doesn't suit Mikitty but didn't she want to do Enka? I thought she asked to do it. Either way this is an awesome track and it's not really Enka at all to be honest. Like, it might be in theory but Mikitty doesn't sing with all the Enka flair and it ends up sounding like a normal jpop ballad. It's a moving, nice song and amongst a horrible year for the soloists, it is the best.

Best Group Album:
3rd ~Love Escalation~ C-ute

3rd ~Love Escalation~ was an album that wasn't really appreciated by many, I think because they didn't expect the type of music that was on it. A lot of people only liked Erika's solo song, where for me it is one of the tracks I barely listen to, not because I don't like it but because I love the rest of the album even more. I read a review once that said it could be a soundtrack to a dorama and I agree, It has a very school day drama feel to it. A great album.

Best Soloist Album:
Best selection 15 Iro no Nigaoetachi Natsumi Abe

There was little to choose from but it's a best of Nacchi so you can't really go wrong there. The new track is really fun too and it's nice to look back through Nacchi's solo career and pin point the exact moment when all the soloists began to go downhill XD

Best PV:
Resonant Blue (another ver.) Morning Musume

While I've given this award to MM, my fav PV of the year is probably Edo no Temari Uta II by C-ute because it perfected the dance shot PV - that being said, I am forever chirping on about story lines in PVs and Resonant Blue's PV came as close as H!P ever has. It looked great, each girl had their own little scenes - the main issue with it was that it made no sense. People were going places, doing stuff, but we didn't know why. That's the next step ;)

Group with Best Overall Releases:

C-ute

Since C-ute debuted they've been the epitome of great, unique releases. Their singles have a lot of variety, from the Happy LALALA Shiawase no Uta to the Latin flavoured Namida no Iro not to mention the unique Edo no Temari Uta II and the pumped up FOREVER Love. Throw in their '07 singles and none of their stuff sounds like a carbon copy of their other singles (see Berryz in 08). Variety is what is needed and C-ute delivered with some great tracks.

Best New Group:

MilkyWay

MilkyWay didn't excite me TOO much to begin with. Though I like Koha, her solo singles are enough for me and I'm one of the few people who wasn't head over heels in love with Kikkawa from the 8th gen auditions. Their debut, Anataboshi, won me over and they are completely awesome. They have charisma when performing and are a great addition to H!P. I decided against awarding this to High-King purely since they aren't really a group rather than a one time unit, it seems.

Best New Soloist:

Ogawa Mana

Yes, Ogamana is part of the NICE Girl Project and not H!P but Amy listed TNX stuff in the nominee section so at the risk of offending all the ManoEri fans out there, Ogawa is the best new soloist. Ogawa is a terrific vocalist and performer, she is yards above most of H!P and it's truely a shame that more people haven't discovered her.

Best Established Group:

Morning Musume

I was originally going to award this to C-ute but when I thought back on 08, Morning Musume had a pretty good year. Sure it wasn't filled to the brim with releases but the tours of Asia, the Cinderella musical not to mention the different activities for the individual girls - it was a nice year for the girls.

Best Established Soloist:
NONE

Let's face it, the soloists sucked this year. I'm tempted to give this to Mikitty for the ability of milking Okitegami for the entire year - but no, one release doesn't cut it.

Best Photobook:
Happy girl Niigaki Risa

Truth be told, I'm not somebody who downloads entire PBs and checks them out. I tend to just see the preview pics and whatever anyone sends me. Happy girl was a great PB but, Risa is always adorable and those snow shots were so great! ^_^

Hottest Idol of 2008:

Takahashi Ai

08 was Ai's first full year as the leader of Morning Musume and she has done a terrific job. She leads in almost every performance, she has to mentor the younger girls, not to mention all the other duties she has been given as leader. On top of this she had the biggest role in the Cinderella musical and has been filming the new drama Q.E.D the past month or so. She has been working so hard and to me that justifies being the Hottest Idol of 2008!

WORST

Worst Group Single:
Come Together Ongaku Gatas

Ongaku Gata's much anticipated 3rd single turned out to be a dud (for me). I know some people LOVE it but when compared to their GREAT singles last year, this one was horrible. Throw in the fact that Manoeri and Mucchi were gone and thus the eggs became backup dancers - and this ends up being a hell of a disappointment.

Worst Soloist Single:
Kizuna Matsuura Aya

*yawn* This song bores me so much that I cannot even feign the enthusiasm to write how bad it actually was. Kitchen & Chicken walks ALL OVER Aya's crappy ballads.

Worst PV:
Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance Berryz Koubou

Ok, so maybe Charisma Kirei (or whatever that Melon song was called) was worse but Monkey Dance wins the award for so many reasons. Firstly this song actually got a PV, meaning somebody actually took the time to think up this atrocity and build the backdrop etc etc etc Secondly Berryz were coming off their best selling single EVER! so you'd think UFA would throw them a bone, instead their budget consisted of monkey suits (which are cheap as chips) and one giant, fugly banana. It was just such a disappointment. Yes, tons of deluded Berryz fans loved it because of the *cute* monkey poses, but we're talking about the actual PV, not the fact Berryz manage to save all their shitty PVs with their personalities. It was a white backdrop with a giant crepe paper banana and some monkey outfits - it sucked. This PV disappointed me immensely and totally brings up the whole UFA being cheap bastards subject again, which I'm not going to get into in this post ^_^

Worst Vocalist of 2008:
Mano Erina

This girl is meant to be H!P's saviour - soon she will be the only soloist, along with Koharu - the thought alone makes me shudder. Remember the days when we had Ayaya, Nacchi and Maki - now we have Manoeri and Koha ... *urgh* Get the girl a singing coach, pronto!

Least Attractive Girl of 2008:
NONE

Looks are all subjective and, truth be told, nobody in H!P looks bad. They're all pretty cute!

So there we have it, hope it lived up to your satisfaction Amy and everyone else who bothered to read ^^; Peace out!

PREVIEW: Ice Creamusume's debut release, the mini-album 1st Best! is released next month. The girls have recorded 2 songs in Japanese in preparation for the release.

1st Best!

The album is released on the 9th of January in Taiwan.

PREVIEW: Ok, so it's a day or two late ... but Maimi has debuted the title track from C-ute's upcoming album, Akogare MY STAR, on her radio show. The song has an upbeat, dance feel to it and everyone gets a solo line ^_^

Want a gift?

DOWNLOAD - right click -> download


So is this song great or what?! ^^ It seems Tsunku is saving some great tracks for albums, Berryz' had some great album tracks too - so let's hope 4th Akogare MY STAR turns out to be a strong album.
The covers were also released yesterday and have a spring feeling to them:

I probably would have preferred something a bit different but this is ok. That Airi/Kanna shot looks killer! - and the group photo is very sweet. I think I'll prob end up getting the limited, not sure. We'll see.

Here's the tracklist:

1.★憧れ My STAR★ (★Akogare My STAR★)
2.Ｏｎｅ'ｓ ＬＩＦＥ／Umeda, Okai, Hagiwara
3.Yes! all my family／Suzuki
4.涙の色 (Namida no Iro)
5.愛してる 愛してる (Aishiteru Aishiteru)／Nakajima, Arihara
6.青春ソング (Seishun Song)／Yajima
7.Ｂｉｇ ｄｒｅａｍｓ
8.ＳＨＩＮＥＳ
9.約束は特にしないわ (Yakusoku wa Toku ni Shinai wa)
10.FOREVER LOVE
11.江戸の手毬唄Ⅱ (Edo no Temari Uta II)

4th Akogare MY STAR is out on the 28th of January.

...my true love gave to me MORNING MUSUME,
a celebration,
something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Firstly: MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone! I hope everyone has a great day filled with lots of joy and memories. What better way to celebrate this Xmas than with my personal favourite group, Morning Musume! Though they've only released 2 singles this year, I think many were blown away by the enigmatic Resonant Blue, a song which surprised and brought plenty of joy to lots of people this year!

When I first heard this song it was via a pretty ordinary radio rip and I was truly transfixed. It was something totally different to what MM had done before and I was in love with Resonant Blue from the first second. Around the web, there was definitely a sense of excitement about this release, the vast majority of people LOVED it and everyone was trying to find out who sang what lines (because everyone sounded so different and great) and then eventually we learnt it was all Ai and Reina lol, but whatever. From the 4 PVs to the kick ass covers, for me, this was one of the greatest releases MM had produced in years.

The new, more mainstream, image was very welcomed by a lot of the fans and one we had gradually seen MM nudging towards in recent songs. I can only hope that Pepper Keibu (which I did really like) was a slight deviation from this new direction (due to the remake album) and that MM will return to this style with their next single. I really think it is what MM needs to maintain the current fans and win new ones, we need MM to stick around for many more years! ^_^

I hope you've enjoyed reading these 12 Days of Christmas segments. I know a few people have discovered new artists through it and I hope many of you enjoyed at least reading my own thoughts on the songs. Now, I purposely only decided to use 1 H!P track for the 12 Days since otherwise there would be far too little variety lol. As a result I'll list my 10 fav H!P singles of the year:

10

Fujimoto Miki

Okitegami

09
Athena & Robikerottsu

Seishun Love Lunch

08
Berryz Koubou

Dschinghis Khan

07
Buono!

Lotta Love Lotta Love

06
MilkyWay

Anataboshi

05
C-ute

Namida no Iro

04
High-King

C\C (Cinderella\Complex)

03
Buono!

Renai Rider

02
C-ute

Edo no Temari Uta II

01
Morning Musume

Resonant Blue

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty good year for H!P in regards to actual songs. I've quite liked a number of the releases and hopefully 2009 is even better! Once again, have a great day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
♥ Stardust!

...my true love gave to me a celebration,
something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Ikimono Gakari had a big year, releasing 5 top10 singles and 2 albums (My Song Your Song was released just this week). All their singles did really well this year and were all very enjoyable, but the group ended on a high note with the delightfully playful Kimagure Romantic.

This song was released just a few weeks ago but it's definitely one that many people seem to love. It's such a fun, cute song and it totally makes me smile whenever I listen ^_^ I was hooked right from the first time I was introduced to it, with the chorus being the major selling point for me. Ahh~ It's so cute! ... and not sickeningly sweet/cute but adorably *aww* cute. The video is also really cool, I love the video game aspect of it, very creative :D Everyone MUST do the crazy dance when they listen ... DO IT!! ... ^^;;

So as I mentioned before Ikimono Gakari just released their 3rd studio album this week and it debuted at no.1 on the daily charts *yay* I'm hoping for a weekly no.1 - they've never managed one before I don't think, but it's long overdue!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas Eve, remember to not go to sleep TOO late - you gotta give Santa time to deliver all your presents ^_^; Peace and goodwill!

...my true love gave to me something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Koda Kumi began 2008 with a bang, her 6th studio album Kingdom rocketing to number 1 with sales of 750K, and the year was pretty good to Kuu-chan. Her 3rd single of the year, TABOO, saw her gain her 5th number one single and a return to the funky, dance sound which made her so popular.

TABOO was a track I was obsessed with this year. While I like lots of songs, I rarely listen to them on repeat over and over, even with songs I call my favourites - but with TABOO I did. It was just the perfect track Kuu could have released after Anytime & Moon Crying which while good, didn't have that edge that Koda is known for. I was even compelled to buy it and it was a wonderful purchase ^_^ ~! The video caused a bit of a stir but hey, it's Koda. If she wasn't strutting around in little girl guide outfits, I'd think something was wrong. This is the way Koda Kumi should be (at least in my opinion). I definitely prefer these upbeat, infectious tracks over her ballads, but she seems to like the ballads and they're pretty good so I'll run with it.

Speaking of ballads, Koda's Winter themed single stay with me was released this week and I've heard that there is already a major buzz for the song. It seems the Japanese public loves their ballads and this one is a sweet one, so it should do well. Koda is also releasing her 7th studio album TRICK at the end of January 09. I have high hopes for it to live up to her previous albums. Go Kuu!!

PREVIEW: The world debut of Ice Creamusume's debut hit the radio just minutes ago and being the Ice Creamusume fan that I am, I was there ready to record it ^_^ The song Lian Ai Ge Ming 21 (恋爱革命21) is a remake of Morning Musume's smash hit Renai Revolution 21.

DOWNLOAD - right click -> download


Now the song is in Mandarin which some H!P fans might find a bit difficult to get used to (personally for me it's not an issue since I listen to plenty of mando-pop). The arrangement is EXACTLY the same which is a bit of a shame, I would've liked something a bit different but hey, I can understand why they didn't change anything. The girls sound pretty good, some are better than others but nobody is horrible. It's extremely difficult to tell who is singing what just yet lol. I really like the synth "ooh ooh BA-BY, yeah~!" parts - they sound pretty cool and different from the original. All in all a cool track for the girl's mini album 1st Best! which is being released in Taiwan on the 9th of January.

...my true love gave to me a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

When Tohoshinki/DBSK began 2008 they had not yet managed to hit the top spot on the Oricon singles chart but a rise in popularity saw all 4 of their group singles hit the top spot of the charts this year. They also released a 5-set of solo singles from each member, all managing to make the top 10. This highly successful year was capped off with their first no.1 hit, Purple Line.

Before 2008, I wasn't really interested in Tohoshinki much at all, but Purple Line really made me pay attention and I think it made Japan pay attention too. The song has an infectious beat and a cool sound to it, it's a great track. It marked the start of a string of no.1 hits for Tohoshinki and it was a great year for the group. Songs such as Doushite Kimi o Suki ni Natte Shimatta n Darou? and Jumon -MIROTIC- showed the diversity of Tohoshinki whether it be a ballad or a faster paced song. MIROTIC was also an Asia wide hit, with the song being the group's much anticipated comeback in South Korea. The album sold in excess of 450K there and is still a massive hit. The group also received numerous awards including top honour at the Golden Disk awards.

But wait... there's more! (cue informercial lol) ... the year isn't over for Tohoshinki just yet - the boys have been invited to perform at this years Kohaku New Years event, a first for them and a true honour. They also have a single sceduled for release in early 2009 which, like Purple Line, is sure to kick off a successful year.

...my true love gave to me 10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Hamasaki Ayumi, the Queen of Jpop, celebrated her 10th anniversary in 2008 and held her second tour of Asia. Because much of the year was spent touring, Ayu released only 1 studio album and 2 singles in 2008 (along with a singles compilation). Her first '08 single Mirrorcle World, an extended version of the introductory track of GUILTY, saw her hit the no.1 spot on the Oricon singles chart for the 30th time.

Ayu is kind of special to me because, like many people, she originally got me interested in Japanese Music. While I had heard some stuff before (mainly from games) Ayumi was the first Japanese artist I could call myself a fan of and that fandom of Jpop has just grown in leaps and bounds since then! While I've expanded my fandom to other artists now, Ayu will ALWAYS hold that special place in my Jpop loving heart ^_^
Mirrorcle World was such an awesome track - when I heard Mirror on GUILTY it really did leave me wanting more and it was great the song got single treatment. It has a lot of oomph and energy, fitting for Ayu's 10th Anniversary. I think a few people were disappointed that Ayu's 10th anniversary was a little quiet on the release front, myself included since I obviously can't take advantage of Ayu's awesome Asia tour - but this single lasted me through the whole year and through Ayu's ALL SINGLES COMPLETE I was able to rekindle my love for some past singles which I hadn't listened to in a while.

Of course, Mirrorcle World was Ayu's only single of 2008 until this week when she released Days/GREEN which looks to be on heading for a certain no.1 spot on the charts. Sales so far have been pretty pleasing and it seems Ayu's 10th Anniversary has been a great success. I'm hoping for another 10 awesome years! ;)

...my true love gave to me an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Avex celebrated their 20th anniversary this year and debuted the special group GIRL NEXT DOOR, fronted by Chisa. Though they only debuted in September, the group released 3 singles in 2008, with their most recent top 3 hit being Jyonetsu no Daisho:

GIRL NEXT DOOR was a group I REALLY tried to like straight away but just didn't. Their dance sound just didn't appeal to me and I felt their first two singles were very similar; they weren't bad by any means, it just isn't the type of music I really enjoy straight away. That being said, Jyonetsu no Daisho won me over straight away and was the epiphany I was looking for with GND. The song is pulled back ever so slightly from their upbeat previous songs and it's just a very memorable track from the trio. Chisa is such a cutee you can't help but like her and she is a great vocalist. The PV is also really stunning, their best yet.

GIRL NEXT DOOR have had a pretty successful year despite only debuting in the later half of the year: 3 top 3 singles, an invitation to appear at this years Kohaku and they also have their debut album being released next week. On top of this, the groups official fanclub 'Next Door' will launch on Monday - it's been a few pretty busy and very successful months for GND. 2009 should bring more of the same success!

...my true love gave to me a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Kalafina, the brainchild of the immaculate composer Kajiura Yuki, debuted in January this year with Oblivion and followed up the single with the amazing sprinter/ARIA. sprinter is an incredibly imaginative track, with the 4 fantastic vocalists showing off their skills.

sprinter was another song which I came across while reviewing for the blog and that is one of the main things I love about writing these reviews. I generally now listen to most of the new releases each week and discover all these little gems that would otherwise have flown straight past me. sprinter was a true find! This song has so many levels and variations, it's eclectic yet at the same time it is in harmony. While the song is led by Hikaru, each girl sounds flawless and the layered vocals are to die for. I've expressed awe at some of Kajiura's other works and she puts together another fabulous piece here, she's a true magician!

While Kalafina have only released 2 singles this year, 2008 is not over for them. Their 3rd single fairytale is released next week and features the vocal talents of Keiko, Wakana and Hikaru. It is another wonderful song and I will keep my eye on this group in the future.

...my true love gave to me a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

When we talk successful songs in 2008 you can't look far past ARASHI's Truth. The single (Truth/Kaze no Mukou e) is by far the highest selling single of the year, infact ARASHI have been the best performing group on the singles chart this year with 3 of their 4 singles in the yearly top 10.

Now I'm not really a Johnny's fan, I do like some tracks and some groups but I don't listen to anything regularly and I'm not all that excited about releases. I knew pretty much nothing about Truth before the single was released and only listened to it because I was reviewing it for the blog. Boy did I get a surprise, this track is so great! The whole single was totally awesome but this song in particular had to be one of my 12 memorable tracks for the year not only because of its success but because I really do love it (a lot of people do it seems!)

It really has been ARASHI's year. Truth/Kaze no Mukou e sold 618K which is just amazing in itself, but to have all 4 of your releases sell in excess of 370K is ... WOW! The boys already have a single scheduled for 09 and no doubt it will be as much of a success as 08.

REVIEWS: We're so close to the end of the year! I actually think this is the final week for the Oricon Rankings for 2008 (the weeks ending and beginning the new year are combined for 2 week rankings/sales). I don't think it will be my final reviews for the year, I'll hopefully find time to review next week. This week I'm reviewing Ayu's new single, Manoeri's latest offering and a really odd DJ OZMA track.

Days/GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi

It seems like a millennia since Ayu’s last single Mirrorcle World, released in April. It’s certainly been quiet 10th Anniversary for Ayu on the release front, granted she has spent a lot of the year touring around Asia. Anyway, to make up for the wait we get a double A-side but has it been worth the wait?


When I first heard Days I honestly wasn’t too impressed, but I blame that on it being a tiny little clip and I probably wasn’t really paying attention lol. It ended up being a very good track. It’s a beautiful, sweet ballad and Ayu sounds really good on it. The track grows really well and the chorus is particularly nice. While I’ve heard people rave about this track I beg to differ, it’s sweet but it’s not a knock out.

Now the next track is more my style. GREEN is another mid-tempo sort of song and its unusual instrumental wins me over this time. It has a really beautiful musical arrangement with some wonderful sort of Chinese highland type sound. I suck at explaining the intricacies of instrumentals so just give it a listen and call it what you will. The song itself is really nice, the chorus has a wonderful sound to it. Ayu’s vocals go vibrato crazy on this track which bothered me at first but I got used to it very quickly.

This whole release has a bit of a different sound for Ayu, she’s sort of dabbled in these styles before but it’s nice to get a single with 2 really nice, unique tracks – it makes for a refreshing single. I wonder if Ayu is moving away from the rock sound she’s been hooked on for the past few years. That’s one thing I do enjoy about Ayu, her genre and style is ever changing as she grows as an artist from pop, techno, dance, rock etc. I welcome anything new that Ayu wishes to bring to the table and thus, this single is great.

Rating: 8/10 and 9/10

Lalala Sososo Mano Erina

Oh hai Manoeri! Is it release time again already? I’ve been watching more Manoeri stuff lately and I’ve realised she’s not the devil-spawn demon child I thought she was. She’s pretty cool but that doesn’t mean I have to like her music and I don’t, sorry Manoeri.

Lalala Sososo isn’t as slow as ManoPiano and it’s not as fast as LUCKY AURA, it’s sort of a cross in between. Let’s talk about the song itself – it’s pretty much ‘meh’ to be honest. It’s not horrible but it’s not even close to being good. It reminds me of an early 90s British children’s show theme song. I can just see some horrible claymation characters strolling down the street XD Manoeri’s voice – erm. I’ve heard people saying “wow she’s improved” – I honestly don’t hear it; perhaps a very slight improvement. I still think she sounded yards better in Ongaku Gatas which defies all logic. It’s almost as if they told her to start sounding crap … although knowing UFA that’s a possibility. It’s not really Mano’s fault and I don’t blame her, UFA need to just get her some vocal training, which is something ALL H!P members should be receiving ALL THE TIME … even Takahashi.

The whole piano gimmick is stupid. Unless she goes out there and does some Alicia Keys piano work then there is no real point. Any person and his dog could be taught to play the routines Mano performs and I have no doubt that she can probably do much more difficult stuff. All in all Mano falls victim to UFA pushing her in the wrong direction. She needs to be doing fun, upbeat, dance tracks that suit her voice, instead she’s stuck doing … well this. Bland and boring.

Rating: 6/10

I RAVE U ravex feat. DJ OZMA

Ok so I have no idea what ravex is… I assume it’s some sort of rave themed project from avex? I RAVE U features DJ OZMA and his band of merry men and topless ladies (see infamous Kohaku performance).

I’ve heard DJ OZMA songs before and I know going in it’s gonna be a little over the top and unusual … but I wasn’t expecting this at all. It took me a while to even figure out what to make of it. To make things worse I heard the song for the first time while watching the PV (oh god lol). I’d hate to ruin such an experience for anyone else so check it out! >.<

This is one of those songs where I don’t know what to say about it, you kind of have to make up your own mind on it. You’ll either love it or hate it. I think I’m leaning towards love, it has spread throughout me like some awful plague. It's quite addictive.

Rating: 8.5/10

NEWS: Berryz Koubou had the privilege of performing at the 41st Nippon Yuusen Taishou Ongaku Shoujushou Award show last night and were also nominated for the Wired music prize.

The performance was really great with some cute new costumes. There seemed to be some audio problems: Risako's mic was booming while some of the others were hardly audible, but that may have been intentional XD

Fujimoto Miki also performed at the awards which was a nice, little surprise. She sang a duet with Takao Horiuchi.

Unfortunately I don't think Berryz won the award they were nominated in - at least I haven't heard anything about it and if they had, I'm sure I would have. The nice thing is that everyone gets an award. C-ute was nominated for the best new artist last year at these awards and despite not winning they still got little medals. Yay for Berryz.

C-ute will appear later this month at the 50th Japan Record Awards where they won the Best New Artist award last year. This year they are nominated for the Excellence Award for their hit Edo no Temari Uta II.

...my true love gave to me a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

alan burst on to the Jpop scene late last year with the wonderful Ashita e no Sanka and despite being pushed as Avex's new girl over the past year, has had pretty disappointing sales, far less than I think she deserves. This year alan embarked on her 5 elements campaign and got herself a moderate hit with the wonderful RED CLIFF ~Shin·Sen~ The song, representing the fire element, has been her best selling single yet.

Now, those who know me know that I'm a sucker for big, sweeping ballads. That's what this is. I've actually heard quite a bit of varied opinions on this song but I personally adore it! alan has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard and her Tibetan wailing is incredibly beautiful. RED CLIFF has so many layers and the growth is amazing, it sends chills up my spine!

I have to wonder why she isn't as successful as she probably should be. The poor girl is being pushed so much by Avex and yet this single sold less than 15K, her best sales yet. Poor alan - or maybe not. Lackluster sales won't hold back Avex alan who already has 3 more singles and an album scheduled for early 2009. Go get em, alan!

ORICON ROUNDUP

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 152,260
02 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 81,907
03 White Xmas KAT-TUN 19,962
04 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 17,550
05 Heart of Winter Yamazaki Masayoshi 14,206
06 Eien no Ashita DEEN 13,898
07 Tobira GReeeeN 13,235
08 CROSS GAME alice nine. 12,703
09 Minna no Tamago Shugo Chara Egg! 12,587
10 PAPERMOON Tommy heavenly6 11,838

Albums:

01 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 707,763
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 257,760
03 VOICE Nakashima Mika 33,920
04 Enka Meikyoku Collection 9 - Aishu no Mizuumi - Hikawa Kiyoshi 28,765
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 28,125

40 Abe Natsumi Best Selection 15 Shoku no Nigaoe Tachi Abe Natsumi 5,206
66 Pucchi Best 9 Various Artists 3,354
122 MEGA MELON Melon Kinenbi 1,477
132 Hello! Project Special Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,349
148 Taiyo to Ciscomoon (T&C BOMBER) MEGA Best T&C Bomber 1,172
164 Hello! Project Shuffle Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,102
168 Tanpopo / Pucchimoni MEGA Best Tanpopo / Pucchimoni 1,084
171 Country Musume MEGA Best Country Musume 1,073
182 Legend Nakazawa Yuko 1,020