Utada Hikaru ~ Top 10 Favourite Song part 2

Here are the remaining 5 songs that complete my top 10 list.



1. Beautiful World

Another great song from Utada. It was featured as a theme song for the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. I like the piano sound in the song, well I think it was the piano. Anyway, it was very relaxing listening to this song. There's another version called Beautiful World: Planitb Acoustica Mix that were released for the 2nd rebuild film, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. This version is pretty good too. You should definitely check it out.



2. Wait & See ~ Risk

This one is included in Utada's 2nd Japanese album, Distance. This song is kind of upbeat and fast compared to the other songs on the list. I love it very much and it's one of the songs that got me really interested in her music.



3. Be My Last

Another strong ballad from Utada Hikaru. Very slow, very emotional, and very touching. She played more with her vocal and sound of her voice than just singing the lyrics which might sound a bit strange at first. But take a listen carefully and you might appreciate the emotion that coming out from the song.



4. Hikari

Gamers may recognize this song as the theme song for Kingdom Hearts video game series. The English version for this song is called Simple and Clean. The song started out with no music intro, it was like you just switch on the radio and the song was already playing. I think it was creative for her to start the song that way. You should check out the music video for Hikari too, very simple and creative. I love it!



5. Heart Station

I love the beat to this song. It was really soothing and calm. Although this list of my top 10 favourite Utada Hikaru songs come in no particular order, I can assure you that Heart Station sits somewhere in the Top 3. I also love the music video which was mysterious and simple, which of course fits the song. Another great song from Utada that begs people to hear it over and over and over again.


So there you have it, my 10 most favourite songs from J-Pop sensation, Utada Hikaru. If you haven't listen to any of the songs yet, I recommend you to do so because these are, in my opinion, some of her great works of art. Enjoy her music!

Utada Hikaru ~ Top 10 Favourite Song part 1

Utada Hikaru is my favourite J-Pop artist. She's definitely one of the biggest music icon from Japan. Unfortunately she's taking a break now from releasing new music, so I guess we won't be hearing from her anytime soon. To somehow fill the void of missing her, I came out with a list of my favourite songs from her. However, I only count songs that were released as singles, easier to make my choices that way.



1. Exodus '04

The only English song in the list, Exodus '04 was taken from Utada's English album, Exodus. It has that unique sound that so common in Utada's other songs like Sakura Drops and Colors. It's such a great song, too bad it doesn't have its own music video.

2. Final Distance

A very sad song. Although I don't really know what the direct translation of the song, but I still could feel the emotions pouring out from the song. The song was actually rearranged from 'Distance', a song from Utada's 2nd album. She wrote it as a dedication (I think) to a young schoolgirl who was 6 years old when she was killed in a school stabbing rampage. Utada heard that she wrote an essay about how she wanted to become a singer just like her. Now you know why the song sound so sad.

3. Keep Tryin'

A very positive song that urge us to keep on trying in life. It was quite an energetic song and kind of playful too. It has an upbeat and cheerful tone that suit the message that it brings. The music video for the song was one of my favourite video from her too. You should check it out.

4. Sakura Drops

I think this song is one of the most played Utada Hikaru song on radio in my country. Well, I can't confirm this, but it was pretty popular back then. The song had a unique traditional touch that set it apart from other J-pop songs that I listened to. Very unique indeed. I love the song and I think other people that don't really listen to Japanese songs can find it very interesting too.

5. Prisoner of Love

It's not really a ballad but the theme for the song was quite...melancholic? Well, I don't know what the song was really about, yet again, but the music and tempo does sound like it was a sad song. The title also suggested the same right? But like I said, it was not really a ballad, it was kind of upbeat. I like the beat and the way the sings 'I'm a prisoner of love' and 'Stay with me' through the end of the song. It was rather touching.

This Is The One that I'm waiting for!!!

Utada Hikaru's 3rd English studio album, This Is The One had been released! Oh my god, how did I miss this? I remember checking the music store last week and I saw no new album from Utada. Weird. Well, according to Wikipedia, the album has been released in Japan on 14 March 2009 and in the US digitally on 24 March 2009. The physical CD would only come out in the US on 12 May 2009. It also stated the release dates for several other Asian countries like Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand though I'm not sure whether it was for digital release of physical CD release.

I'm happy that this album had somewhat some promotions in my country; the music video for the lead single, Come Back to Me, had been screened on TV. The song had also been played on local radio station (although I only heard it from 1 radio station). I wish there would be more promotion so that people will become aware of this new album. Utada Hikaru had been huge before in Malaysia when her 1st Japanese album hit stores, so I hope history will repeat itself.

Ganbatte Utada!

Ayumi Hamasaki Best 2 ~White~

My favourite Japanese singer is Utada Hikaru, and coming close in 2nd is Namie Amuro. So where does Ayumi fits in? Somewhere below the list of course. Although Ayumi Hamasaki is the "Empress of Pop" in Japan, she still didn't manage to capture my heart. Don't get me wrong, I like most of her songs but I love Utada and Namie's songs better.

So why did I bought this album? Two reasons; 1, my youngest sister is an Ayumi's avid fan, and 2, I want to give Ayumi Hamasaki a chance to prove that she's worth my money. Besides, some of the singles that I love are in this album, so I gave it a shot and bought it. It's quite cheap because you get 1 CD and 2 DVDs for only RM50. It's hard to find Japanese album with that value in Malaysia.

So is this album good? For hardcore Ayumi fans, this album would be great to add to the collection. For a not-so-hardcore fan like me, it was kinda good too. There are some of the songs that I like and some that I don't. Evolution, Real Me, Inspire and Step You are some of my fave while Greatful Days and Voyage are the songs that I didn't quite like. My top 2 favourite songs in this album are Ourselves and Moments, love them!

The 2 DVDs in this album are the promotional video for the singles and another one is the Countdown Live 2006-2007 concert. For the promotional videos DVD, not all of the songs are included. Songs that are left out are Independent, Unite! (only a short clip), July 1st and A Song Is Born. I think all of the songs that are not included in the DVD do not have their own promotional videos, that's why they are excluded.

The 2nd DVD, the Countdown concert, was AWESOME!!! I think this DVD alone is worth the money that I paid for the whole set. Although I did mention that I don't like some of her songs, but seeing her performed them, it made me suddenly fall in love with the songs! She's got a strong stage presence and her performances are great. I really love this DVD. I felt like I was there in her concert, I can almost taste the excitement from the crowd.

So even if you are not an Ayu fan but you do like Japanese songs, I think you should try this album. Afterall, there must be a reason why they call her the "Empress of Pop".

The urban mermaid, Yuna Ito

Talented and cute. That's all I need to say about Yuna Ito. She was born in the US, raised in Hawaii and built her career in Japan. She has a very sweet and strong voice.

I found her 2nd album, Wish, in music store near my house. I was kinda surprised since she was not quite popular here unlike Ayumi Hamasaki, Tohoshinki, Utada Hikaru or BoA. But I think she's getting there. I mean, she had nice songs and nice voice. With some promotion, she could be big.

Anyway, this album contains 4 of her singles, I'm Here (my favourite!), Mahaloha (collaboration with Micro from Def Tech), Urban Mermaid and A World to Believe In (duet with Celine Dion). I saw the video clip for A World to Believe In in Animax (Channel 715 Astro Malaysia) before, it was kinda nice.

I have here the MV for Urban Mermaid. Nice song. I hope you guys will enjoy it and support Yuna Ito. Like I said, she's a talented girl.

Next stop: Heart Station

OMG, I’m so in love with this album! Utada Hikaru’s Heart Station is really an awesome and solid album. Her fans will be delighted and I’m pretty sure people who don’t like her songs before would feel the same.

There are 13 tracks in this album including one interlude. Here is the list of the songs;

1. Fight The Blues
2. HEART STATION
3. Beautiful World
4. Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-
5. Stay Gold
6. Kiss & Cry
7. Gentle Beast Interlude
8. Celebrate
9. Prisoner Of Love
10. Take 5
11. Boku wa Kuma
12. Niji-iro Bus

-Bonus Track-
13. Flavor Of Life

I bought it for only RM39.90. I thought it was quite cheap compared to her previous album which cost me nearly RM50. And then I realized this CD was made in Malaysia. No wonder it’s cheap. Her Ultra Blue album was made in Taiwan.

I can honestly say that there is not a single bad song in this album. I like them all! And of course I have my favorites like Heart Station (so addictive!), Beautiful World, Prisoner Of Love and Take 5.

As you can see, the album cover is simple so don’t expect much of the booklet too. All the pics in it are simple but nice. All the lyrics of the songs are in it too but I cannot read them since they were not written in romaji. If only I can read Japanese characters…. :-(

Here’s the MV for her song Heart Station. If you enjoy it, go buy her CD afterwards okay.

Thanx to Candy for the album cover.

Back to 60s, 70s & 80s

I love Namie! This girl can sing and dance really well. And her PVs are phenomenal! This is her latest single, 60s70s80s. This single contains 3 songs (original), the instrumental version of the songs, and also the 3 music videos for the songs.

Each of the songs are inspired from the 60s, 70s and 80s. The 60s song is A New Look, the 70s is Rock Steady (my favourite!), and What A Feeling for the 80s.

At first I want to upload the MV for Rock Steady, but then I found out that the PVs (yes, all 3 of them) had been deleted from Veoh because of copyright reason. So I change my mind.

If you are truly Namie's fan, then you should buy this single. It's a little bit expensive though since it was imported, around RM69...I think.

I admit I haven't buy it yet. I'm not that rich to buy 3 songs + 3 MVs for RM69. It's too expensive for me. So if I can get my hand on extra cash, maybe I will buy it. If not, maybe I'll go for Blake Lewis' Audio Day Dream. Sorry Namie! Still love you though!

I hope she'll forgive me. :-(

Shines in 'Light'

I need a smooth relaxing song to release the stress from the result show of AI7. What could be better than Utada Hikaru songs.

I love this one, Hikari (Light). The track was included in her Deep River album, my personally favourite album from Hikki. The concept for the MV is cool too, it's simple and nice. The track was also included in her Vol. 1 Collection. I feel so relax when I hear the songs from this album. Certainly one of the best song collection ever!

I already bought her latest album, Heart Station. It was an awesome album! I need to give it a couple more spins before I write the review for the album. I hope you guys looking forward to it!

Almost forgot. Thanks to J-pop CD Art for the album cover.

Here's the simple-&-nice MV of Hikari. Enjoy!

Love Namie!

I'm so frustrated! It's so hard to find Namie Amuro albums in my area. All I could find were her singles. Actually, I did found her album, but it's her older album, Queen of Hip Pop. I want to buy her latest album, Play!

She's currently busy promoting her triple A-side single, 60s 70s 80s. She's collaborating with Vidal Sassoon for their 'Fashion x Music x VS' campaign. Check out her videos at Veoh, they are so cool!

I tried to post her single Baby Don't Cry music video but I can't upload it. Weird. It's one of the singles that she included in her Play album. I like this song a lot. Sad that I can't share it with you guys. Why don't you guys check the MV out at Veoh. Just type Namie Amuro Baby Don't Cry at the search bar and you'll find it. Sorry I can't upload it. I tried...

One more thing. I found this CD cover of this single (pic above) in the Internet but it is not the same with the one I found in my area. I'm pretty sure the CD I found in Music Gallery (while I was browsing for her album) had her eyes closed on the cover, but this one she is wide awake! Why the different cover?!? I prefer this one (eyes open). ;-)

Anyway, if you like the song, go buy the single...or her album Play (if you could find them in your area of course).

Go Namie!

Go Hikki!

I'm a J-pop fan. I don't know why. The songs just 'click' with me. One of my fave J-pop star is Utada Hikaru, or better known as Hikki to her fans.

Utada Hikaru certainly got talent. She sings well and she writes her own songs. For me, her song are quite different from the other J-pop artiste...not too much influence of the modern pop music but more traditional sound. One of my fave album from her is Deep River.

She's recently released her fifth Japanese album titled Heart Station. But the video I uploaded is from her old albums. It's called Colors and I'm sure you've heard of it somewhere. Utada Hikaru was big here in Malaysia when she released her album First Love but somehow after that she just slipped under the radar. But she's still great!

Enjoy the PV. The track can be found in her Single Collection Vol. 1 album and Ultra Blue album.