25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #8: Top AKB48

It's kind of fitting that AKB's day lands on the same day that they debuted their 16th gen! Congrats to all the new girls! I'm excited to see new faces in AKB & I can't wait to see who gets pushed. AKB itself has been somewhat interesting this year. Takamina FINALLY left after her way too long drug out graduation, Kojiharu is also finally leaving soon, and Paruru announced her graduation. I never really minded that Shimazaki didn't seem to be overly enthusiastic about AKB. Unlike Kojiharu who I feel should've left a long time ago, I like Paruru. I think it's for the best that she announced though. Not just for her health, but I think it's always better to leave at your peak than overstaying your welcome. Nana Owada's recent graduation announcement shocked me. I can't believe she's leaving already. I figured Nishino would be gone before any of the other newer pushed girls. As for next year, I'm hoping that more old gen girls start to leave. It's time for AKB to completely transition to Gen 9 and newer. As much as I love Miichan, I hope she also announces next year. It's time for first gen to go. I also have a feeling that Mayuyu will announce next year.

As for the music this year, it's been very up and down. Kimi wa Melody was pretty good to me, even though I saw a lot of people not really feeling the song. That single also featured two super awesome B-sides: Make Noise & Mazariau Mono. Tsubasa wa Iranai, both the song itself and the B-sides, were so bland. NGT's song on the theater edition is cool, but everything else was SO disappointing, especially for the summer single. Love Trip as a song is awesome, but I didn't think the other A-side or the B-sides were anything special at all. I never really care for the B-sides of the Sousenkyo single though. High Tension I think is on par with Kimi wa Melody as far as the total package. The A-side is great & there's two super great B-sides: Seijun Tired (best B-side this year from them) & Shunsuki (? I think I spelled that wrong...) Adrenaline. Overall though, I didn't feel like there was that great of music from AKB this year. Hoping for something different next year. Maybe another UZA-type A-side? That'd be nice instead of more slow songs or funky songs. Change it up please!

My ranking has drastically changed from last year. I finally got (almost, missing Pajama Drive, the Himawarigumi stages, Renai Kinshi & Saishuu Bell) all of the stage albums and I LOVE so many of the songs from them. Much better than their singles and normal albums tbh.

#10

Kibouteki Refrain (2014) (NEW)

#9

Nageki no Figure (2006; Team A 2nd Stage) (NEW)

#8

Dokugumo (2010; Team K 6th Stage) (NEW)

#7

How Come? (2013; Sayonara Crawl Type K) (-2)

#6

Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (2007) (-2)

#5

Ikiru Koto (2013; Sayonara Crawl Type A) (NEW)

#4

Beginner (2010) (-2)

#3

Hana to Chire! (2006; Team K 3rd Stage) (NEW)

#2

UZA (2012) (+1)

#1

Mokugekisha (2009; Team A 6th Stage) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #7: Top SKE48

I wish SKE hadn't only gotten two singles this year. As they're the second most senior group after AKB, they should get more releases tbh. And what happened to that album? Did management forget about it or something? SKE's really feeling pretty forgotten recently. Their first single this year, Chicken Line, was REALLY good. Now that's the type of song SKE pulls off the best. The music video was amazing too. The B-sides were largely forgettable, although Is That Your Secret was good. Kin no Ai the A-side was nice. The concept fit SKE even though the song was just ok. The B-sides though...is it just me or were they all the same song? Seriously, they all sounded so sameish and bland. The group also lost a lot of strong members in the past year. Aya Shibata leaving was certainly a downer. They really need to focus on the new girls and stop relying so much on Jurina cause the older established members are starting to drop like flies.

#10

Darkness (2013; Choco no Dorei all versions except Type C) (-)

#9

Banzai Venus (2011) (-1)

#8

Coquettish Juutaichuu (2015) (+1)

#7

Kesanai Honoo (2014; 12gatsu no Kangaroo (Type A))(-)

#6

Tsyokimono yo (2009) (-2)

#5

Chicken Line (2016) (NEW)

#4

Bukiyou Taiyou (2014) (+1)

#3

Utsukushii Inazuma (2013) (-)

#2

Kataomoi Finally (2012) (-1)

#1

Escape (2013) (+1)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #2: Top J-Pop of All Time

So last year when I did this one, I didn't really know many J-pop songs outside of idol groups. This year I've gone more out of my way to find J-pop songs from soloists and bands. I still have a long way to go to get into other J-pop, but it's improving lol. Because of expanding my horizons, this list is much different than last year's. As with last year, this will not feature any songs from H!P or 48G (minus one) because the entire list would be from them otherwise.

#10

One Ok Rock - Mighty Long Fall (2014) (NEW)

Yeah blah blah this isn't technically J"pop" but I don't technically care. The only reason I checked this song out was because I saw their Taking Off video uploaded on the Fueled By Ramen YouTube & I was so confused because I knew they were a Japanese group and didn't know why they were being uploaded on an American YouTube channel. I'm glad I did decide to check it out though because it's such a great song. Reminds me a lot of Fall Out Boy who I love.

#9

Minako Honda - Dramatic Escape (1988) (NEW)

One thing I've really been trying to do over the past year is focus on 80s J-Pop. I really love the sound of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to check out too many CDs, but one that I have is Minako's Lips album. It's SO good. I'm a sucker for great 80s music and it really is awesome.

No YT video, sorry. But you can listen to it on my 8Tracks playlist! (<---Clicky Clicky)

#8

Galette - Brand New Style (2013) (-6)

I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT GUYS. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. I was devastated by the news of their disbanding. Well, at least as devastated as I can get with music. I don't get super attached to groups even if I love them so it's not like I was crying over it but I was still upset. They had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Wasted. Utterly wasted. To be honest I'm more pissed off at their company than upset that they disbanded. But ANYWAY. This song has slipped a lot for me recently. Probably because I overplayed it to death. Still an absolutely amazing song though.

#7

Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me (2002) (-4)

One of the very few non-English songs I enjoy primarily for its lyrics. Just a lovely song.

#6

Predia - Maboroshi wa Xanadu (2014) (NEW)

So. I feel as though I should be ashamed of myself for not knowing this song earlier. I actually owned it for a year before listening to it. I bought Predia's first album because I liked the singles and then never got around to actually listening to the album itself (which is absolutely fantastic by the way if you like dance pop & good vocals). I either like this or Yakou Chou best on the album but I couldn't decide which so I just went with which one I loved first lol.

No video

#5

Hangry & Angry - Top Secret (2009) (+1)

This really only has a placing because of nostalgia, but I remember this being my first real J-pop song addiction outside of Morning Musume.

#4

Momoiro Clover Z - Mouretsu Uchuu Koukyoukyoku Dainana Gakushou "Mugen no Ai"(2012) (-2)

Another song that's fallen because I played it completely to death. Still love the insane wackiness of the whole thing.

#3

Osaka Shunkashuto - Cameleon Shoujo (2015) (NEW)

When are they going to release a new single? Seriously they need to release something and not just perform all the time. I hate when I fall in love with a group and then they hardly ever release music (looking at you Coco Decoru. One release since 2014.) But at the same time Osaka Shunkashuto is one of the few groups that I actually have watched a couple live performances of, mainly because Maina is an absolute star and owns any stage she walks on.

#2

Galette - Air Summer (2015) (NEW)

Man I miss them. Their whole discography is flawless. They should've released one last single or an album before their end.

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan (2016) (NEW)

This is my one exception. I only put this here because it is my actual favorite J-pop song of all time. It only came out this year, but it's one of those genre defining songs for me. The music is absolutely gorgeous and everything is just wonderful about it. It's actually surprising to me how much I love it as Nogizaka is one of my least favorite groups in 48G. However, when they have good songs, those songs are incredible.

No video :(

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #12: Top Berryz Kobo Songs

Ah Berryz. One of the first J-pop groups I was ever introduced to and one of the first J-pop group disbandments I've witnessed. I've decided to include them in my countdown this year as they were still a group in the beginning of this year and I think it's only fair to mention them. The fact that it's been almost a year since their end is mindblowing.

#10: Jiriri Kiteru (2006)

#9: Love Together! (2015)

#8: Dakishimete Dakishimete (2009)

#7: Motto Zutto Issho ni Itakatta (2013)

#6: Koi no Jubaku (2004)

#5: Heroine ni Narou ka (2011)

#4: Rock Erotic (2013)

#3: 1oku 3senman Sou Diet Oukoku (2014)

#2: Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteru You Know? (2005)

#1: Ai no Dangan (2011)

Enjoy! What are your thoughts on Berryz?

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #7: Top AKB48 Songs

Like SKE, this actually wasn't as hard as I thought lol. I haven't listened to all of the stage albums yet (I actually just bought all of them for myself for Christmas lol) so I'm sure this would've been much more difficult if I knew all of the stages as the only one I've heard is A6 and it is their best release ever lol. There's no video for #7 as I can't find it. Sorry. :(

#10: Romance Irane (2008)

#9: Korogaru Ishi ni Nare (2006)

#8: Everyday, Katyusha (2011)

#7: Utsukushiki Mono (2009)

#6: Hate (2012)

#5: How Come? (2013)

#4: Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (2007)

#3: UZA (2012)

#2: Beginner (2010)

#1: Mokugekisha (2009)

Enjoy! What's your favorite AKB song?

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #6: Top SKE48 Songs

It actually wasn't as difficult to come up with the SKE list as I thought it would be lol. I didn't realize I had a pretty set top 10 with SKE. Like before, some videos are linked instead of embedded and some may need a proxy to view.

#10: Darkness (2013)

#9: Coquettish Juutaichuu (2015)

#8: Banzai Venus (2011)

#7: Kesenai Honoo (2014)

#6: Hanikami Lollipop (2012)

#5: Bukiyou Taiyou (2014)

#4: Tsuyokimono yo (2009)

#3: Utsukushii Inazuma (2013)

#2: Escape (2013)

#1: Kataomoi Finally (2012)

Enjoy! What's your favorite SKE song?

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #2: Top J-Pop Songs of All Time

Day #2 on my 25 Days of Christmas Countdown! Today is all about J-pop. I will be listing my top 10 J-pop songs of all time, excluding both Hello! Project & 48G (as I'm too big a fan of the groups lol). I'm sure some people will be surprised by my list, but please keep in mind that I only very recently began exploring J-pop beyond idol groups so I haven't really been impacted by other songs and such yet. In the future this will certainly change! Also, please note that some videos won't be full clips because they aren't on YouTube & for those in the USA, you might need to use a proxy to view some.

#10: Namie Amuro - Ballerina (2014)

#9: Dancing Dolls - Wangan Wonder Darling (2013)

#8: Perfume - Fake It (2010)

#7: Cupitron - Battery (2015)

#6: Hangry & Angry - Top Secret (2009)

#5: Team Syachihoko - Otome Juken Sensou (2012)

#4: Fairies - Beat Generation (2012)

#3: Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me (2002)

#2: Galette - Brand New Style (2014)

#1: Momoiro Clover Z - Mouretsu Uchuu Koukyoukyoku Dainana Gakushou "Mugen no Ai" (2012)

Enjoy! What's your favorite J-pop songs of all time?

Music Discovery Mondays (August 17, 2015)

Track #1: Swan.B - Be All Right

I really have no idea who this group is, or if they even still exist. All I know is they were a K-pop girl group and it's likely they are not a group anymore. You can tell that they weren't high budget in the slightest with their single cover. I found the group when I was mindlessly scrolling through the artists categorized as "K-pop" on iTunes (back when you could search like that) and I came across them. I was blown away by this song when I played the preview and immediately bought it. It remains one of my favorite songs of all time today. Not just in K-pop, but across all genres. The song sounds a lot like early 2000s eurodance/eurotrance. If I could choose only one K-pop song to play for a non-fan, this would be it.

Track #2: Taryn Manning - Spotlight

I believe that Taryn is more of an actress recently than a musician. You might know her from Orange Is The New Black or the other things Wikipedia says she's in. I don't watch TV or movies often so none of the things Wiki says she's in are familiar to me. But anyway, back to the music. Taryn was in a group called Boomkat with her brother in the early 2000s and in 2009 decided to go solo and released this song. It's a catchy dance pop tune.

Wikipedia page

Track #3: EvoL - We're A Bit Different

I realize that this track isn't really unknown, but as they recently disbanded, I feel like I really need to post something on their songs. They never did reach any sort of popularity, but I remember when they debuted very well. Everyone seemed to be so excited to get a girl group like Block B. The hype was still there when they released this, their first single. I also remember that people were disappointed in the choice of lead track because the group was portrayed as a hip hop group, yet released a very poppy song in contrast to the other songs on their mini album.

Enjoy!

KARA - Revolution

Have I done a post on a K-pop album yet? I don't remember. Well, if I haven't, I think KARA's a good place to start as they're one of the few K-pop groups I still care about listening to.

Revolution is KARA's second album, and their first to features new members Jiyoung and Hara.

Track #1, Mister: When I think of KARA, this is one of the first songs that pop into my mind. I would even go so far as to call it their signature song. It's an extremely catchy pop track reminiscent of early Britney or Spice Girls that had been updated for the music style of 2009. One of the best K-pop songs ever, in my opinion. 5/5.

Track #2, Wanna: This song brings back so many memories for me. It was among the first K-pop songs I discovered. Because of what it means to me, it's probably my favorite KARA track. There's not a whole lot of stylistic difference between this and Mister at all. Both are extremely catchy pop tunes and good examples of 2009 K-pop. 5/5.

Track #3, Magic: It's disappointing that this song comes after two fantastic ones. It's not a bad song, it just can't hold up against the first two tracks. It's a ballad, but unlike most ballads, there's something really soft and sweet about it's sound that makes it good to listen to. The strings are very pretty. 3.5/5.

Track #4, Secretly Secretly: Ah. The quintessential late 2000s K-pop album track. The one that sounds like every other one. This is it. I find this song very lifeless and bland. It's like a slower Into The New World, except not good. 3/5.

Track #5, Let It Go: I think this song is a good indication of where KARA was going to go with their future songs. It sounds a lot like what you'd expect a mix of Lupin and Mister to be, skirting the line between a "cute" pop song and a "dark" pop song. After Mister & Wanna, this is the best song on the album. It could've made a wonderful promo track. 5/5.

Track #6, Take A Bow: I can't really pin down my opinion of this song. It's not bad and it's a good catchy song to listen to, but I always forget about it's existence. I also can't think of any song with this title besides the Rihanna song. That might be what's blocking it in my head lol. The song is in the vein of Wanna and sounds like something off of SNSD's first album. 4/5.

Track #7, Aha: This song has a lot of the same issues that plague Take A Bow. It's catchy, danceable, has that typical late 2000s K-pop sound, yet it's so unmemorable. I think by the end of the album, you just start getting sick of the sugary sweet pop tunes since the album is full of them. Or at least I do. I like pure pop a lot, but it's one of the few pop styles that I have a limit on listening to before wanting something a lot more powerful. It just gets too sweet. 4/5.

Track #8, Same Heart: Again with the sugary sweet pop songs. I now remember why I don't listen to most K-pop album tracks often. These type of tracks really are a dime a dozen in this era of K-pop (much like the sexy songs today). 3.5/5.

Tracks #9 & #10, Instrumental versions of Wanna & Mister: Just instrumentals. Nothing to see here.

For being a K-pop album from a girl group in 2009, the album holds up surprisingly well. Sure, it's filled to the brim with sugary sweet pop tracks, but I can also easily imagine Mister or Let It Go being released today. 4/5.

Jonas Brothers - Lines, Vines and Trying Times

So this release is a little weird for me to talk about. I used to be a HUGE Jonas Brothers fan. They were my One Direction really. It's probably a good thing that I have bad anxiety over posting things on the internet because if I hadn't been, back then I'm sure I would have been a crazy rabid fan bashing & defending (I was in like 7-8th grade xD). One really cool thing was that I actually got the opportunity to meet them before a concert one time. Even though I'm not really into them now, that was a neat memory. It saddens me a little that I don't care for anything they've done since the breakup, but I guess we all grow up and move on at some point.

This is their fourth and final album. Also the point where I was starting to fall out of love with them.

Track #1, World War III: Before I start, I should probably say that this is my least favorite album of theirs. In fact, I don't care for it much at all. Most of the songs are average at best. This song is one of the few exceptions on the album. I think it's sung well and the composition is stellar. It's such a deceiving song because one of the best tracks is first which makes you think the rest of the album will be the same. 5/5.

Track #2, Paranoid: This was a terrible idea for a single. I know that with this album they were trying to "mature" or whatever, but this song is so so average. I don't really know why I used to like them as much as I did. Nick's voice is really grating. It's a little better now, but then, yikes. With this song, it really sounds flat. There's hardly any change in tone between the verses and the chorus. If they were to pick up the chorus a little more, it might not be such a boring song. 3/5.

Track #3, Fly With Me: This was the song in the second Night At The Museum right? Great movie, super unnecessary cameo by them. I remember my dad teasing me about them being in the movie. It was right when I was starting to grow out of them so I pretended to be excited for the cameo even though I didn't really care. This song is one of the more "Disney"-esque songs on the album. More like their older stuff. For that reason, it is a more enjoyable listen; but it's not something I'd listen to anymore. 3.5/5.

Track #4, Poison Ivy: And this one sounds like a "rockier" country song. I really don't like country music. At least Joe's voice is less annoying than Nick's. The only good thing I can say about the song is the keyboard in the bridge. That would have been cool to hear through the whole song. I finished playing Lego Batman 3 recently (It was really fun actually xD) and when they sing Poison Ivy I can't stop thinking about the one character in the game called that. 3/5.

Track #5, Hey Baby: I almost feel bad not caring for this album. I appreciate that they were attempting to create more mature music, but to me, it just feels like too large of a departure from their previous albums too fast. Not everything that they did was lackluster, as parts of this song prove. The prechorus was really well done, but I just can't take them seriously with the "darker" tone of the song. Which is weird because I like World War III. I don't know. Relistening to this album is really causing mixed emotions about them. 3.5/5.

Track #6, Before The Storm (ft. Miley Cyrus): Full confession time. I used to hate Miley for about a year when I found out she was dating Nick xD Keep in mind I was in middle school when that happened though lol. I feel stupid for thinking like that now. It was ridiculous. When this album was released, I actually liked her, so I was super excited that she was appearing on the album. I don't remember what I thought about the song then, but now I think it's kind of boring. It's trying to be too serious. Miley really does have a wonderful voice here though. She can really sing. Nick's voice also isn't completely annoying here. To be honest, I'd probably love it more if it was a Miley solo. 3.5/5.

Track #7, What Did I Do To Your Heart: Argh again with the country influences. Also, is it just me or are the bulk of these songs sounding the same to anyone else? Now I remember why I never really took any songs away from this album. Being completely biased here, but I don't like this song because of it sounding like a country song. Country is the genre I like the least. There are VERY few country songs/acts that I can stand and this just sounds like one of those painfully awful generic male country singer tracks except without the southern twang. Bleck. 2.5/5.

Track #8, Much Better: Any song that says you *want* to fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend is stupid to me. I don't understand why so many songs talk about that. Shouldn't the goal be to NOT fight with your significant other? I know it says about making up later, but why fight at all? Just....stupid. Joe's voice sounds pretty good in this song. It seems to me that when they sing more restrained their vocals are good but attempting to belt anything out just makes them annoying. 3/5.

Track #9, Black Keys: I vaguely remember counting this song as one of the better ones on the album. I don't know why I thought that way because it's a ballad (and Nick led), but it's not bad. Nick should have always sung with his voice restrained like this because he sounds nice. What I do appreciate about the ballads of this album, is that there is discernible emotion in them. 3.5/5.

Track #10, Don't Charge Me For The Crime (ft. Common): This one has always really confused me. They were going for a more rocky mature image...and they have a pseudo-hip hop/rock song with a rapper on it on the album. Even more confusing, this is one of the better songs on the album. I wonder if a more urban route like Joe & Nick chose to pursue would have worked for the whole group. The problem with the song is the lyrics. I'm not talking about the lyrics themselves, I'm talking about the fact that they sound so silly singing them because they had such a clean cut good guy image. Common's parts are awesome though. 4/5.

Track #11, Turn Right: Again, their vocals in the slow songs are actually good and not annoying. It's too bad that the songs are boring though. This is the kind of song that has been done to death (and better) by others. 3/5.

Track #12, Don't Speak: I was actually hoping this was a cover of the No Doubt song. Would've been a great way to end this mixed bag of an album. As I listen to this, I keep thinking that this would be an incredible song if someone else was singing it. They just don't have the vocals to carry a song like this. 3.5/5.

Track #13, Keep It Real: Ah yes. The song that was in that ill fated Disney show. I still like some Disney/Nick tween shows, but this one was just dire. The fact that I didn't care for it back then when I still kinda liked the group speaks volumes about the show. Of course this song is like their earlier material so it's not so weird for me to listen to. Still not a big fan of it. Give me Burnin' Up over this any day. 4/5.

Spotify Link

It might seem that I'm being overly harsh on this album as it does show a growth in their music and they were trying to be serious about growing as a group. The issue for me is my connection to the earlier Jonas Brothers. Call it bias, nostalgia, or whatever, but this album will never be able to live up to the rest of their discography to me. However, if you're looking for a slightly rocky more mature type of boy band album, this is for you. 3/5.

AKB48 - River

Just looking at the cover of this single, you can see how much things have changed since 2009. Out of the 16 in the Senbatsu, half of them have either graduated or announced their graduation, and I'm positive that the majority of the other 8 (besides maybe Jurina and Mayu) will be gone within the next two years. I might sound mean, but I can't wait until the older gen girls all graduate. I'm really excited to see what future Senbatsus are going to look like without members that have been there for years.

This song is probably the song that really snared me into the 48G fandom. Before listening to it in full, I did keep up with the 48s, just not like I do now. I mainly only checked title tracks and since the majority of 48G title tracks are boring, I didn't find anything really special with them. When I first attempted to listen to some of AKB's older songs and came across this, I hated it. I couldn't get past the spoken/shouted/drill sargent-y introduction. It just annoyed me SO MUCH. Then one day I was on YouTube bored and just clicked on the video for no reason. I obviously wasn't expecting anything, but listening through the whole song it just clicked. It was another Beginner/UZA type song! It's the song that caused me to go on a buying spree of AKB singles on ebay.....and when I got smarter (as in not wasting money on a billion singles when all of the songs on a single are on some albums....), I started buying the albums they had released. So I kind of credit River with really helping me to dig into their back catalog. There's still A LOT I haven't heard, but I'm working through it. The video is fantastic. I like the military theme of it. Fits the song perfectly. 5/5.

River MV

The first B-side is Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara. I do not know why, but every time I read that song title I sort of do a little sing-song in my head to it....even though the tune of it has nothing to do with the actual song. This is sung by the Under Girls for the single and is very typical idol pop. I don't dislike the song, it's just nothing special. Especially when compared to River. The video isn't anything special either....although it's REALLY weird seeing Rena & Rino in an Under Girls video instead of in Senbatsu. 3.5/5.

Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara MV

The final song on the single is Hikoukigumo, sung by the Theater Girls. The chorus is very catchy, but like with Kimi no Koto, there is nothing special about the song in their discography. The video is just a video of a theater performance of the song. 3.5/5.

Hikoukigumo MV

I do really wish that a single like River had more dynamic B-sides, but I guess if you're going to go different on the A-side (at least at this point in their career) you should have B-sides that are more like the music that you regularly put out. 4/5.