The first full album from former 4th Generation Morning Musume and Hello! Project members Hitomi Yoshizawa (Hangry) and Rika Ishikawa (Angry) moves the duo up a notch from their Mini album, introducing the girls to a world of synths and more crazy vocals.

1. Mr Monkey
2. Top Secret
3. Sadistic Dance
4. Lady Madonna
5. Doubt
6. Angelia (crash berlin version)
7. Shake Me
8. Kill Me Kiss Me (crash berlin version)
9. GIZA GIZA (crash berlin version)
10. THE PEACE! (H&A Death Tracks)

I left off reviewing this album for a while, as the first listen through, for me, was slightly disappointing.  On reflection, this was mainly due to the initial shock a year ago, when we first heard Yossie and Rika perform as “HANGRY & ANGRY“, despite the music still essentially being manufactured pop, no Hello! Project member had really done anything that outrageous before (discounting Maki Goto and her fake boobs) - as their image had completely changed as well as their music style.  Maybe now, the novelty was fading, and their lack of anything being “shocking” compared to the last album was where my disappointment and subdued reception to the album stemmed from.

So, I gave it a few weeks, let the negativity fade, listened again - and loved it!  For what the album is, there’s relatively little fresh material, but, for what it does contain, is worth parting with the £8 with it – yes that’s right, we can actually buy this album in the UK for less than the usual Japanese RRP or 3000 yen.

If you’ve listened to their Kill Me Kiss Me mini album, this album is pushing toward a more electro or ”dance” style of music than before – the heavy guitars are still there, but now theres a lot more sampling (Shake Me), and a new found love of synths in all the tracks, especially Mr Monkey, Sadistic Dance and Top Secret - making the whole album feel a lot less rocky than before, but at the same time, it’s nothing you’d hear from a Japanese idol group.  The two previous released tracks, Top Secret and Sadistic Dance are also nothing short of exceptional - (if only H!P itself could produce such catchy tracks!) - both stick in your head for ages, and if you get a chance, check out the PV for Top Secret, which just sets the ”cool” image of the track off perfectly!  Tracks like Shake Me and Lady Madonna are also very brave step – the mix of chipmunk high vocals on Lady Madonna with the rocking chorus, and the way Shake Me suddenly explodes from what was almost a H!P acceptable song into a full blow electro attack: this shows what having someone other than tsunku writing and producing for you can do!  Also, I’ve heard many bands attempt half-assed H!P covers, but H&A’s cover of The Peace is probably the best H!P cover I’ve heard for a long time. 

The only track I have a little trouble with, other than the “crash berlin remixes” is Doubt.  Don’t get me wrong, Doubt is an ok filler track, it just seems to lack some kind of direction or crescendo within it.  The main disappointment of this album is the repackaging “mix”es of Kill Me Kiss Me, Giza Giza and Angelia.  They’re hardly changed in the way that “The Peace” is to warrant including them, and a better choice may have been to leave them in the original form, or downgrade to a mini album, rather than palming off these embarrassing remixes.

I think I set my expectations too high for a unit which is supposed to be a global brand gimmick.  For what they do, and for a side project, Yossie and Rika are doing everything right.  There are so many positives to pull from this album, and whining on about the lack of new material detracts from this.  I half think this album is more geared towards Europe, as it’s release conincided with the Chibi Japan Expo in Paris, and was maybe aiming at people who hadn’t yet heard their Kill Me Kiss Me album.

So what do I think of this album after all the complaining.  The truth is this is a very well produced album – it accentuates the image already built by the girls, and Yossie and Rika’s voices now seem to fit so well with the electro-rock-pop now we’ve grown accustomed to it.  The girls vocals are flawless in every track, and mix and contrast well with each other.  They’re still producing exciting music, it’s just a shame there’s such a lack of new material.  It might take a few listens, but there are some real gems on this album which are worth buying the album for alone – at least it proves one thing, Hangry & Angry are not dead yet, and there’s still a lot of potential in this group!

Single to Listen to: Sadistic Dance
Album Track to Listen to: Shake Me
And for any H!P fan to listen to: THE PEACE! (H&A Death Tracks)

Now many have known for weeks about this, but everyone kept very, very quiet until they had their tickets on Friday.  UTADA is touring the US and UK early next year.  Tickets went on sale for her London gig at the Islington Academy for February 12th and sold out within hours (considering it’s only a 800 capacity venue and it’s her only European date, it’s not surprising however).  To be honest, I would have expected a slightly larger venue, but it’s a good venue at least, and even if it’s sold out you’ll still probably be able to get a good view, unlike the Camden Underworld, where I saw, or rather didn’t see, abingdon boys school play last Thursday.

I’m very curious on what the set list will be.  I’m a little bitter over the whole situation, as I can’t go for various reasons beyond my control, but I’m convincing myself I’m not too bothered as I expect she’ll mainly be performing from her US albums, which, as you may have previously read, aren’t my favourite things she’s done recently.  I’ve also read that the tour is to promote the single “Dirty Desire” from her album “This is the one“.  Okay, the album was a grower, but if I had one opportunity to see Hikki, I’d much rather see her perform her J-Pop style songs, which, I’m expecting will be few and far between, if any, at the concert.

End the bitterness, I hope everyone who goes has an amazing time.  Oh and if anyone wants to pick me up a t-shirt or any other kind of merchandise, feel free to! 

1. KinKi Kids – Swan Song(160,407)
2. UVERworld  – Kanashimi wa Kitto (51,743)
3. Nana Mizuki – Mugen (44,718)
4. Morning Musume – Kimagure Princess (36,274)
5. AKB48 – River (16,943)
6. Ken Hirai – Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (13,653)
7. Hilcrhyme – Shunkanshuuto (13,548)
8. BoA – BUMP BUMP! feat. VERBAL (m-flo) (10,805)
9. Kana Nishino – Motto… (10,460)
10. B’z – MY LONELY TOWN (9,987)
11. Plastic Tree – Sanatorium (7,672)
12. Aki Toyosaki – love your life (6,999)
13. Sheryl Nome starring May’n - pink monsoon  (6,601)
14. Kalafina – progressive (5,339)
15. JASMINE – No More (5,287)
16. Ikimonogakari – YELL / Joyfull (4,410)
17. Sukima Switch – Golden Time Lover (4,207)
18. JAM Project – Bouken Ou ~ Across the Legendary kingdom ~ (3,972)
19. Kra – bird (3,899)
20. AAA – Hide-away (3,726)

Kinki Kids easily grab themselves the top spot.  Great sales also for UVERworld and Nana Mizuki also.  Dissapointing sales for Morning Musume, as this is the second lowest selling single of the band’s career, as well as the last single featuring member Koharu Kusumi.  BoA is down in 8th this week (but she never was a strong single seller).  Lots of singles also still up there from last week (and weeks before in B’z’s case).

Due to a moment of boredom yesterday, you can now get here through www.tasukidaisuki.co.uk - maybe it’s because all my friends had domain names and I was jealous, maybe it was due to my retail therapy related afternoon, or maybe it was due to the fact that it is approaching, what would be, my beloved SSUK’s 9th Birthday – but that seems a life time ago!  It’s simple domain forwarding to be perfectly honest.  I can’t remember the last time I touched CSS, used photoshop with some level of decency or did anything other than use the very basic tools of word press.  It’s lack of time and effort as I’ve grown old and lazy.

Back on track, my HANGRY & ANGRY album arrived this morning, and although I’m going to listen a little more before I review, so far, I’m a little disappointed. Four tracks are remixes, albeit they sound better than the originals in some cases, and 2 tracks have been previewed / released previously – leaving just four tracks of fresh material. That being said, there are three tracks which have justified me buying this album.

So another week has come and gone, HANGRY & ANGRY apparently had an amazing performance at the Chibi Japan Expo, the Shibuya style crossing was opened at Oxford Circus by Boris Johnson… and cosplayers!  But most exultingly, for myself this week, is that HANGRY & ANGRY’s new album is finally listed on Amazon UK.

But more importantly, we now have an extremely large television to watch anime, CSI, Harry Hill and whatever else amuses us, as well as play games on – however this large TV isn’t as great for viewing as you would expect.  We had three DVDs to watch this weekend from LoveFilm – Gurren Laggan, Get Backers and Firefly.  While Get Backers and Firefly looked okay, Gurren Laggan (and maybe it’s because it was one of the first things we watched on the TV, and maybe because I’d previously watched it in HD) looked like utter crap – and considering it was the most recent of the three, was mildly disappointing.  If blu-ray wasn’t so slow, maybe we’d invest in one of those, but at the moment, I’ll have to put up with the DVD quality. 

The second negative, and which we fully expected to be disappointing, was playing the Wii on such a large screen.  It was similar to the effect of when you really want to play a N64 game, plug-in the  N64, with all those great memories of Golden Eye or Mario 64 flooding back to you, and then realising that the game now looks so repulsive you don’t actually want to play it.  It’s just the way technology goes.  But still, it’s pretty disappointing from the Wii considering how both XboX 360 and PS3 have HD compatibility (don’t ask me about the technical side of it too much, as it’s my boyfriend who knows all the settings on how to make everything look lovely).

Back to the real world, outside of watching TV / DVDs all weekend and playing farmvile on face book, I’m attempting to use my google calendar a lot more effectively, and in the process, account for all the great – well I list them as – “J-Culture” events.  This isn’t just the bi-anual Expos and the big Summer cons, but more the small local events, the WOTA nights and the J-Pop Go’s.  Hopefully if it becomes conclusive enough I’ll make it a public calendar, and if I work out how to use it properly I’ll attempt to add people if they want to be added.

1. AKB48 – RIVER (178,579)
2. AAA – Hide-away (43,659)
3. Ken Hirai – Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (30,034)
4. B’z – MY LONELY TOWN (25,002)
5. Sheryl Nome starring May’n - pink monsoon (23,563)
6. Kana Nishino – Motto… (17,956)
7. Hilcrhyme – Shunkanshuuto (14,690)
8. K! ON Image Song: Ui Harasawa – Lovely Sister Love (13,202)
9. K! ON Image Song: Nodoka Manabe – Coolly Hotty Tension Hi!! (12,144)
10. KITAGAMI MIMI with MM GAKUEN GASSHOUBU – Daisuki ni Nare! / Kokoro Kimi ni Todoke (11,410)

Amazing results for AKB48 considering sales from hand-shake events are no longer counted.  AAA’s single was being sold as a tripple A-side (or an AAA side?… okay that’s not very funny), although the Oricon has only listed Hide Away, which is the ending to Inu Yasha: The Final Act.  More anime contributions from May’n (Macross F), 2 K!ON image songs and MM Gakuen Gasshoubu!

A new mini-album from former Morning Musume member Maki Goto, proving there is life after the Hello! Project!

1. Queen Bee with BIGGA RAIJI
2. Lady-Rise
3. Candy
4. TEAR DROPS with KG
5. Mine with KEN the 390
6. Fly Away
7. Plastic Lover
8. with…

For the past 18 months, Ms. Goto has certainly be teasing us with how her career would play out after the Hello! Project.  There was her blog, following her progress in LA which launched last summer, a performance at the Avex shareholders concert, and then – nothing.  Finally, this year, Maki has begun releasing songs again, under the SWEET BLACK project.  Although this is not, as seen by many, the start of her solo career, it has given her a chance to wipe the slate clean, not only of her former idol image, but also of the scandal involving her brother.

And credit due to Avex also.  They’ve handled Maki and the development of this mini album amazingly well.  Not only does it showcase Maki’s vocal skills, but it also has enabled her to create a variety of images for herself.  Not to say I had my doubts, especially with the PV for Lady-Rise, where they seemed almost content as selling Maki as a Kumi Koda double – doubts which have since been quashed.

Unlike her previous albums with Hello! Project, this album lends itself to an RnB style close to that of Kumi or Namie’s styles.  However, Maki holds her own.  Her voice has a more mature tone after her training, and copes well with the majority of these songs, although there are only a couple of tracks which really test the extent of her vocals.

But then again… I’m not entirely impressed with this album.  As expected, with most albums, there are tracks that have purpose, and tracks which pad out the album – well there’s only one track I would brand as a padding track, that being Candy, which sounds disappointing after the strong start of Queen Bee and Lady-Rise.  The other problem I have, which is more of a personal one, is simply that I could see Kumi Koda singing any of this tracks… I do wonder if Maki is a replacement due to her falling sales – but let’s not speculate too much – you know I always get it wrong! 

But, don’t write this album off, no, not at all.  Queen Bee, the opening track, is an absolute master piece, and I’ve been deathlooping it for the past few weeks.  Equally, with… and Fly Away are great pieces of music, with… probably sticks out to me because it’s the only real “slow” track on the album and really sticks out from everything else, and Fly Away due to the vocal performance (especially during the chorus).  Plastic Lover is also another track to listen out for if you want something a bit different from Maki (and it’s a great dance track).   Although there’s a lot of generic-RnB going on here, there’s also room for some individuality from Maki – which helps with the want to get in the mainstream, but also give your own take on things.

In short, like most albums, this one works really well as a whole and plays through brilliantly.  Although a couple of tracks may find it hard to stand-alone, the good on here outweighs the bad, and hopefully, when Maki starts her solo career with Avex next year, we’ll hear a lot more of what she has to offer.

Single to listen to: Fly Away
Album track to listen to: Queen Bee

I know, I know, it’s been a very long time since my last update.  I wont go into boring reasons why this is – I’m sure anyone who ventures here would much rather hear about J-Pop / Anime etc.  So, on the eve on the release of Kimagure Princess, Koharu’s very last single with Morning Musume, and with all boring real life business out-of-the-way, I will resume.  Watch this space – I’ll be posting the Oricon some time tomorrow morning (with good news for AKB48 fans) along with some H!P and misc. J-Pop stuff… and let’s not forget anime!

Not in my wildest dreams would I have predicted this graduation – in fact, in an early post, I was dead sure that Koharu would be the least likely person to graduate next from Morning Musume, let alone the Hello! Project.  I thought she would have a Mini Moni type career in H!P after her success with Kirarin Revolution, but instead, they seem to have decided that Koharu is next to graduate.

As much as I love speculation, here I will reserve my judgement a little.  A lot of people have got very upset with the news, and things are being mistranslated left, right and centre.  I think as all the girls grow up, both the pros and cons of staying within Morning Musume build up, as they know it’s not forever Getting out now and embarking on a modeling career may be a good step for Koharu – I just hope she doesn’t fade into non-existence, and that some of these decisions really were her own to make.

I think a lot of things have changed in Hello! Project since the Elder Club graduated – it mainly made me think that Ai and Risa would be next to go to bring the average age of the new Hello! Project down – instead two members of C-ute have gone!  It seems the new Hello! Project has given more focus to promoting the girls as individuals, as well as packaged bands – Sayu on London Hearts and Yurina in the Base Ball Bear album advert are both good examples of this.  The girls are being pushed out of the “idol” circle into a bigger audience.

Koharu is still young – she’ll be 18 when she graduates.  Tsunku has also hinted at wanting to work with her in the future, and it sounds like her busy schedule in Morning Musume will be dropped so she can concentrate on developing her skills – which reminds me a little of what happened to Maki Goto when she joined avex.  Hopefully, this time next year, we’ll be discussing Koharu’s come back, but in the mean time, the best of luck to the charismatic Koharu!

Today, for the first time in 5 years – I pre-ordered a single.  As much as I love J-Pop, I have very little incentive to pay £15 a go for 3 tracks - one usually below par and another a karaoke track, wait an extra week or so from release for it to show up, when I can buy the main track from iTunes for 79p.  However, there were two things that tipped me this time.

The first was the “Limited Edition type C”.  Anyone who knows me, knows my H!P collection is mainly composed of CDs, with 1 Reina T-shirt / picture / wrist band set.  I like these “free” prizes you get every now and then from 1st edition type CDs, my Reina photo in Platinum 9 Disc being one of them.  So a CD single with 10 pictures in it ~ absolutly up my street.

Secondly, was the song itself.  I haven’t been a fan of the previous few singles.  Nothing’s stuck out that much for me since Resonant Blue – and I haven’t been able to loop anything months past it’s release since Mikan.  All Morning Musume’s current songs have been moody and samey (especially SYO and NR).  So having a refreshing track like Kimagure Princess, which sounds borderline golden era, is right up my street.  I’m actually excited about this - unlike Nanchatte Renai – and can’t wait to see the PV – although I feel I’m not going to get much more than the bog-standard dance-shot + pouting close-ups.  Okay, the beginning does sound a bit like the opening to a Borat sketch, but we’ll ignore that now: it’s fun, and a side of MM that’s been lacking in their mainstream image lately!