I noticed that there aren't really any Galette lyrics online (at least, that I can find. I don't know if Japanese sites have them or not), so I decided to try my hand at a little romanization. Just as a disclaimer: I DO NOT speak Japanese. I don't read Japanese very well. Coming up with the romanization for this was very hard and I have mad respect for those who do it on a regular basis and can actually understand the language. As I don't understand Japanese, I apologize if there are any errors in this romanization. If there are, please let me know so I can correct them!
This is just the romanization. I don't have the kanji lyrics (did this all with the CD insert + Google translate + my ears) & no translation (as I don't speak Japanese to be able to do that). Do I need a copyright disclaimer? No clue but here: I don't own this song or any of the lyrics. Copyright is owned by the company who managed the group/the record label/the actual songwriters. This is not done for any monetary gain & is just for non-Japanese speaking/reading fans to sing along. Enjoy!
GALETTe - G [Lyrics Romanization]
G! Te wo nobashite todoku sekai yori tooku e
G! Kakugo waii? Guzuguzu shite cha game is over.
Ima kara yo speed up. Okamai nashi ni iku wa
Noumakunaraba no thank you tsuite kite yo ne
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh oh girly! Hajimete no sensation
Kono mune no takanari wa…otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh oh give me! Gyutto kuru brand new days
Girls’ talk yori jikan wo wasureru youna mainichi wo kanjitai
G! Mitsumete ne? Harahara suru seventh sign
G! Hanarenai yo? Me ni yakitsuketara saigo atoda wa
Ari na no? Konna situation doki doki no renzokutte
Kiss yori mo takaburu passion matte iru yo ne
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh oh girly!
Kagayaki no timing Gloss mo kasanete miru….otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh Oh Give me!
Matenai yo Brand new style
Hoshii mo no bakari wagamama ni mo narukedo
Tsukamitai Shiny Dreams
Taikutsuna kinou ni Good bye
Hoshii no yo Special na trick
Saikou no mirai kara kitto
Mou soko ni aru
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh Oh Girly!
Hajimete no sensation
Kono mune no takanari wa…otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh oh give me!
Gyutto kuru brand new days
Girls' talk yori jikan wo wasureru youna
Mainichi wo kanjitai
Warning! Lots of embedded videos in this post so sorry for slow loading computers out there!
Combining these two from last year so I can catch up to the correct day lol. Essentially these are new groups that either released their first single this year, or were formed this year. They could also be more unknown groups that just came on my radar this year. Since I combined the two posts, I chose four groups from each of the two genres for a total of eight new groups to watch. They're in no particular order, just alternating between K & J.
Group #1: Dear Kiss (J-Pop)
Full disclosure: I'm not super impressed with the music they've put out so far. I only care about them cause Nonoko. Really hoping their first release with her will be super awesome to entice me to buy it! Dear Kiss is a new group that formed early this year around former Galette member Saki Shishima. They currently have 6 members and have released one single and one mini-album. Nonoko recently joined not long after the end of Galette. I wonder if the other three former Galette girls will migrate to this group. I'd really love to see Yui Komori join as I liked her as much as Nonoko. I feel like this is nothing about Dear Kiss and everything about Galette. Cause it is. I miss them D:
Group #2: Blackpink (K-Pop)
The new YG girl group that everyone had been begging for for year finally arrived and they were much better than expected. I was nervous that YG would attempt to make them the new 2NE1. I'd say that their styling is very much that way, but their music is very different. Boombayah was a bit of an attempt to stay 2NE1, but Whistle & Playing With Fire really stick out as good framework to build the group's sound around in a way that they won't get labeled "2NE1-lite". I realized a little after PWF was released that I had been screwing up Jisoo & Rose lol. I thought it was Rose I liked, but it was actually Jisoo. Jennie is my overall favorite though. She is such a standout of the group.
Group #3: FuwaFuwa (J-Pop)
Ok so I still hardly know anything about this group except that they're a subunit of Harajuku Ekimae Parties. Do you know how hard it is to Google the term "Fuwafuwa"? Yeah. Not easy. All you get is a bunch of other result that have nothing to do with the group. Then searching HEP gets you nowhere either. Guessing there's not a lot of info in English out there? So I had to resort to the Japanese J-idol wiki database thing I found a year or so back and my poor Japanese skills to find out some basics about them....and then I STILL couldn't find them in the lists. I'm guessing I'm blind cause they must be there lol. So here's my poor description of them: They have lots of members and sing cutesy idol songs that actually are pretty catchy and sung rather well for cutesy idol songs. Check 'em out lol.
Group #4: Cosmic Girls (WJSN) (K-Pop)
They are currently an 11 member new group from Sistar's company. I didn't care for them one bit when they debuted. Both of their debut singles were awful honestly. Mo Mo Mo is the better of the two. I don't know what the heck they were trying to do with Catch Me because that song is absolutely tragic. Then Secret came out. The music video is the most stunning ones I think I've ever seen. The song was such a 180 from their first release. Really excited to see their comeback in January to see what they can do.
Group #5: Questy (J-Pop)
I debated adding them as I am not a huge fan of their first release as everyone else seems to be. However, they remind me of a new Fairies-type group more than a new Flower or E-Girls so I'm interested in what they will release in the future. They are a seven member group trained by LDH and debuted under Avex. Like with Fairies & other LDH groups, three of the girls are vocalists and the rest are performers (pretty much just back dancers to put it bluntly.)
Group #6: Sol-T (K-Pop)
These girls are from a super unknown company and they're also super unknown but their Bad Girls song is awesome. They have four members and have released two singles. They sound pretty great considering how unknown they are. I'm really hoping that they keep going down the Bad Girls path because that style suits them so well.
Group #7: Cherrsee (J-Pop)
I want to like these girls because their premise is interesting. A J-Pop group produced by a major K-Pop producer isn't probably a good idea for business, but it is super interesting for music in my opinion. I didn't care too much for their two A-sides this year, but their one B-side Surisuri Masuri sounds very promising. I hope they release something amazing in the new year.
Group #8: Matilda (K-Pop)
Surprisingly, this super unknown group has released THREE singles this year. For an "indie" K-pop group, they've actually done quite a lot. They've also gotten better with each single release. Their current one is their best in my opinion, although I don't think it quite fits their vocals (and the chorus is produced kinda badly. It's way too loud for the rest of the song.)
So I thought of another song for yesterday's post. Perfume's Flash. I was thinking it was 2015, but nope! Released this year. Oh well. This year I feel like I really expanded my horizons with J-idol music. However, I wouldn't say I necessarily expanded my interest in other groups. I've listened to a lot of stuff and for me, most of it is very meh. There's a lot of 48G music clones and then there's also a lot of the "anti-idol" scene out there recently which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I don't like rock or alternative music like I used to. Some stuff I can tolerate, but other than that I just don't care for it. I kind of want some H!P music clones. I like H!P's J-popxEDM style where it's not EDM like K-Pop's or like Western music but it's a very specific style to them that kind of blends idol pop & EDM. It's cool, I like it.
#10
Dianna Sweet - Super Hero
#9
Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome - Otome Gokoro
#8
Predia - Setsuna no Yoru no Naka de
#7
Galette - Sonic Fighter
#6
P.IDL - Hello! Halloween
#5
FuwaFuwa - Koi no Lesson
#4
Tokyo Performance Doll - GyakkoxRaisan
No good YT videos, but you can listen to it on my newest 8tracks playlist! Click me!
#3
Orange Port - Trigger
#2
Rev. from DVL - Ungaisouten Samurai Tamashii!
Like TPD, this isn't on YT, but it is on the 8tracks playlist. Clicky Clicky.
Am I allowed to do two posts in a day? I don't think I've ever done that lol. Well, I'm actually avoiding working on some things and was thinking how I haven't done anything like this recently, so why not! Since I haven't done it in so long, I'll just explain the purpose of this kind of post. Essentially, I love music and I can't stand how there's hardly any type of blogs out there that have just a list of songs to listen to. I'm lazy, just give me lists! So I figured why not do that sometimes on my blog? Unfortunately I haven't really been keeping up with that, but I still want to do it every once in a while. What I do is just list some songs, link their videos, and maybe give a little blurb about what the song is like. So...onward to music!
Park Ki Ryang - Hustle (ft. Mechilling) (2016)
This is such a bad song to start out with because no one's going to want to look at the rest because of my terrible music taste lol. Okay, this song is kinda bad, but it's a guilty pleasure type of song. Catchy, mindless, dancey. Great as a distraction in my opinion.
Lindsey Stirling - Hold My Heart (ft. ZZ Ward) (2016; from the album Brave Enough)
Violins & dance music? Yes please! Best song on her new album from the singles I've heard so far. I love when she teams up with vocalists.
Playback - Playback (Areia Remix) (2016)
Is a remix cheating? I actually disliked the original, but I heard this two days ago and I'm just obsessed with that instrumental. Props to the remixer because wow it's one of the best pieces of pop music ever.
JoJo - FAB. (ft. Remy Ma) (2016; from the album Mad Love)
If you're not big into songs with a lot of swearing, don't listen to this one. This type of song isn't usually my thing, but it's just so catchy and attitude filled. Love it! The rap is slowing growing on me too (not a rap fan at all).
Predia - Kindan no Masquerade (2017)
Predia's newest single! I'd say that if you're mainly a K-pop/Western pop person, this is probably a good group to get started on if you want to look into J-pop. They have amazing vocals and their music is modern dance pop.
Peter Possession - Have You Here (ft. Matt Pardus) (2016)
It's probably pretty clear what type of music I prefer huh? The instrumental is so awesome.
Sabina Ddumba - Not Too Young (2016)
Discovered this from YouTube a couple of days ago. Pure pop perfection. Love it.
Dear Kiss - Shiny Shy Girl (2016)
Okay final one. I semi-like this. It's an okay J-Pop song. BUT I just found out that Nonoko from Galette recently joined this group!!! AHHH *Excited dancing* I love her & I'm looking forward to following Dear Kiss. Saki Shishima who left Galette early this year is also in this group. Hoping Yui Komori will come along too because she & Nonoko were my favorite Galette girls and I'd love to see them stick together.
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.
Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick not really informative but more music recommending post. I've been toying with this thought for a while about Japanese groups that I feel don't have nearly enough exposure in the Western J-Pop fanbase. As someone who really could care less about group dynamics and knowing the members or the history behind the groups, this is really going to be mainly music based, as I just don't know much about the groups themselves to give any details. Think of this as an introduction to the music, not the group.
Group #1: Osaka Shunkashuto
I've written about these girls before but I feel compelled to do it again. They're an idol/performance group that really is just bursting with talent. The lead singer, Maina, is one of the most talented Japanese idol vocalists I've ever heard. They don't have a huge discography, but they have released a few singles and one mini album. The mini album, Early Season, has some of their earlier singles on the tracklist. My introduction to Shunkashuto was through their MV "C'mon!". I was very impressed by the vocalist and looked for more of their music. I'm glad I did because they are quite good.
Group #2: FuwaFuwa
All I really know about these girls is that they are a subgroup of Ekimae Harajuku Parties and they're managed by Avex. Beyond that, I know nothing but the center's name. This is another group I came across on YouTube. Usually this type of group wouldn't appeal to me at all. They sing the typical fluffy idol songs, but they're so super catchy and not bland. I discovered them through their second single Koi no Lesson and became addicted to the track. They have two singles so far.
Group #3: LinkStar's
Well, the video I'm gonna link is from when they were called just Links. I haven't heard any of their music after the name change but it's something I have to do. On this list so far, their pretty much the most indie from what I understand. Well, they sound it at least. Objectively, I understand that their Love Soldiers song is nothing special and is actually pretty bad vocally and the vocals don't fit well with the music and all that; but I absolutely ADORE this song. I don't know why. I'll never know why. The music itself has an epic adventure feel to it and I love it so much.
Group #3: Mirai Skirt
As this list goes on, I know less and less about the groups. But I discovered Mirai Skirt through a CDJapan sale. I have an addiction to buying CDs and CDJapan feeds that addiction with their quarterly sales. I always try to pick up discounted idol pop CDs that I wouldn't buy usually to try out new music. They had their CosmosSplash CD on sale and I grabbed it. The song is super catchy and is a nice blend of idol pop and electro.
Group #4: Orange Port
It upsets me that there's no full MV of this group's song on the internet as of right now. But yet their single is on iTunes and Spotify. Go figure. I had heard of Orange Port about a year ago but didn't really care about them until I saw the short MV for "Trigger". Holy crap is the song ever good. If you love darker electro spiked music, this is certainly something you'd love.
Group #5: Galette
Yes I realize I've said many things about them many times. I also realize that they have a couple dedicated vocal fans that spam their stuff a lot. I still don't care. Love them. They are good.
So unlike yesterday's list which was J-pop acts in general, this list is all Japanese idol groups. This year I really found myself digging deeper in the Japanese girl group scene. I had been content for years with just 48G & H!P and a couple other songs here and there, but over the years I've become more and more curious about other groups that are out there. I have to say that the idol scene in Japan is quite overwhelming because of the sheer number of groups that exist. It's also interesting to me how many of these local idol groups have YouTube channels and allow overseas viewers to see videos and such. YouTube has really been an awesome way for me to discover new groups.
For this list, 48G & H!P are excluded like always.
#10: Linda III Sei - Ruby Monogatari
#9: Fairies - Kiss Me Babe
#8: Osaka Syunkasyuto - C'Mon!
#7: X21 - Shoujo X
#6: Ayami Muto - Parallel World
#5: Dianna Sweet - Fire Girl
#4: Yuu Kikkawa - Wild Strawberry
#3: Up Up Girls - Bijo no Yajuu
#2: Cupitron - Battery
#1: Galette - Air Summer
Enjoy! What are your favorite songs from Japanese idols this year?
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?
GALETTe has recently announced the release of their 5th single, "Air Summer/Shijou no Ai"! It will be released on July 22. I don't know a whole lot of Japanese so I hope Google Translate is right on the romanization of the second A-side. According to the website (again, from Google Translate, might not be 100% accurate). The first A-side "Air Summer" will be a summery pop tune and the second A-side "Shijou no Ai" will be a ballad.
Personally not a huge fan of ballads, but I love GALETTe and I hope they blow me away with it. I'll be posting links to buy the single and more information as it becomes available!
No better way to start off a new blog than with one of my favorite groups! GALETTe is a Japanese girl group that began in 2013. I discovered them through their 'G' video shortly before they released their second single. They currently have four members: Saki Shishima, Ayano Hosaka, NONOKO, and Yui Komori (who is formerly from HKT48). To date they have released four singles: G, Jajauma to Yobanaide/Candy Pop, Brand-New Style, and She Is Wannabe. Their newest single, She Is Wannabe, charted at #11 on Oricon and sold over 10,000 copies, which is pretty fantastic considering their 3rd single only reached #21 and sold over 3,000 copies. So I'm really glad that they are gaining fans because they're really awesome!
The title track, She Is Wannabe! is a track that goes along with their other singles in terms of sound. As a song, I personally like it. It certainly is not as good as Brand New Style, which is probably my favorite single of the year, but after playing it a few times I was hooked. If you enjoy their other main singles, you should enjoy this song as well. The video reminds me a lot of a Hello! Project video, mainly because of the curtain lol. The outfits are a massive step up from the Brand New Style ones though.
Honestly I'm pretty bad when it comes to figuring out HTML and whatever else these things take, so I cannot figure out for the life of me how to embed this music video. If it was on YouTube it'd be simple but it's not. Oh well, sorry. Just click the link & it'll take you to the site. If the link clicking works....if not just highlight & paste into the website bar. The preview of the post wouldn't show it working so.....yeah. Obviously I'm very blog illiterate xD I'll figure it out eventually and fix it I swear...I used to know how to do it....
This is their first single to have more than one coupling track. This time there is three: Natural Sweet na Kuki, Dress Code wa GLT, and Beautiful Love World. When I found out they were having multiple B-sides this time around, I was both excited and upset. Excited because it meant more new GALETTe music and upset because it meant I had to spend a lot more money to get all of the songs (as I don't collect CD types, just the music). Even though I'm glad that I bought the three types, at the same time I'm disappointed. I enjoy the coupling tracks, but none of them are really anything special. Beautiful Love World is my favorite at this point and Natural Sweet na Kuki my least favorite. I believe that none of the B-side really stand out because they are all in the same musical style. That's probably going to sound really hypocritical in the future when I talk about Hello! Project, because I am an EDM lover and every song can sound the same from them and I'll love it, but these three songs just run together for me. Perhaps after listening to them more I'll not be so disappointed.
Natural Sweet na Kuki:
Dress Code wa GLT:
Beautiful Love World:
For just the title track, I give the song a 4.5/5. It's catchy and enjoyable, but it just can't reach Brand New Style. For the release as a whole, I give it a 3.5/5. The B-side tracks are ok, but they just don't stand out. Enjoy checking out the tracks!
