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 Day #1: Top K-Pop of All Time

I said I was going to do this again and I'm going to try my best to post on time for each day lol. The format will be exactly the same as last year except this year I'm going to the places each thing moved (or is new) from the past year. Mainly because I just want to see how my interests have changed over the year. So here we go, entry #1!

So I feel like last year's list was completely all over the place. 2015 was the first year since 2012 that I had had much interest in new K-pop and due to that, my list was so scatterbrained and I had forgotten about so much. This year I think I have a much more accurate idea of my top 10 K-pop songs of all time.

#10

Oh My Girl - Closer (2015) (-)

This song made the list last year even though it was practically brand new. Closer really reignited an interest in K-pop for me. It's just an incredible song by an incredible group. If the song continues to hold up in the future, it easily could be in my top three.

#9

Girl's Day - Expectation (2012) (NEW)

I really got back into this song this year. I loved it when it came out, but I finally picked up the album this year and have played it a lot since. This song in my opinion was Girl's Day's peak. They've had good songs since, but this was their peak musically for me.

#8

Girls' Generation - Into The New World (2007) (-4)

Out of all of SNSD's songs over the years, their debut remains my favorite. It's actually aged rather well as opposed to once great songs like The Boys or Run Devil Run that just sound like they should've stayed in 2011. It's just a fun & uplifting song.

#7

Chocolat - I Like It (2011) (-4)

I still miss them so much. Years ago this would've been number one for me, but quite frankly it just hasn't aged well at all. I still love the song and I still love them, but there's so many other songs that are sounding better than this.

#6

Wonder Girls - Loved (2015) (NEW)

So last year I had I Feel You pretty high up, which was only because I couldn't think of half the tracks that I should've featured. But as much as I love that song, after listening to the album over the past year, Loved is such a stand out track. In my opinion, it's probably the single greatest K-pop album tracks ever released. It's just 80s filled amazingness.

#5

After School - Dressing Room (2013) (+1)

I'm still upset at myself that I haven't purchased the First Love EP yet. I want to, but I keep feeling like I can't justify buying K-pop EPs anymore because they cost the same as full albums & none have come up for cheap on ebay that I've seen. Oh well, eventually. This is After School's greatest song and should've been a single. I couldn't decide if this & Loved should've been switched around so I just kept them in the order of release.

#4

2NE1 - Come Back Home (2014) (NEW)

Quite frankly the reason this is so dang high is because of their disbandment. However, this is an incredible song and unlike the vast majority of their other material, I feel like this will hold up over the years.

#3

Orange Caramel - Bangkok City (2011) (-2)

The beat in this song is still fresh 5 years later. The ultimate K-pop club track in my opinion. Orange Caramel needs to release something else like this.

#2

Swan.B - Be All Right (2011) (-)

Why does no one know this song?! WHY?! Yes, it's super duper indie & there's no clue what ever happened to the group that did it but it's just so good. Eurobeat is sadly not featured in K-pop ever.

#1

KARA - Step (2011) (NEW)

I don't think there will be anyone in K-pop who will ever release anything quite as amazing as Step. It's one of those songs you can never get tired of and sound like they could be released tomorrow and still smash. I didn't list it last year because I forgotI forgot about it when I when I made the list. Kinda upset that I did that lol

Dianna Sweet - Deep Snow

I can't believe how soon December is already. I've decided I'm going to do what I did last year, the "25 Days of Christmas" countdown throughout December. I thought it was fun. Don't know if anyone else enjoyed seeing it or not, but I liked it. It makes up for hardly ever posting otherwise lol.

I don't actually know a whole lot about Dianna Sweet other than they have a few cool songs. They formed in 2013 and currently have three members. They have released seven singles with their newest being "Superhero" which was released this year. "Deep Snow" is their fourth single and was released in three versions, each with a different track 2. I'm mainly going to be talking about Type A since that's the one I have.

Track #1: Deep Snow

I'm actually not a big fan of the title track itself. It starts out nice enough, and the music is catchy, but I don't like how they sing the song itself. Their vocals are very young sounding and a little annoying. It also sounds like the girls are off pitch of the song that they're trying to sing in certain places (in the verses in particular). It's unfortunate because I think with a different group the song would sound really cool. 3.5/5.

This will be the only video linked since the others aren't on YouTube/Spotify.

Track #2: The Twin Tail!

This song is the reason that I bought the single in the first place. Now I'll be the first to admit (and I've even already said it) that I can't really stand the super high pitched cutesy voices that are present in this song. The reason I do like the song though is because of the music itself. It's a "metal" idol pop song that is super catchy and fun. It's like really early Babymetal, except without Suzuka's good vocals. 4.5/5.

Track #3: Hatsukoi Revolution 2015

This is the third track across all three versions of the single. It is an updated version of their first single, Hatsukoi Revolution. I don't like remakes and remixes personally. It bugs me when I end up having 3 different versions of the same song so I always end up deleting the non-originals. However, I have never heard the original of this song so I can't really compare. This version of the song is really idol poppy, but not annoyingly so. It's catchy, but definitely my least favorite on the CD. 3/5.

Type B Track #2 & Type C Track #2: Lucifer & Always

I can't really say too much about either of these two tracks as I've only heard previews of both. From the previews that I've heard, Lucifer is my favorite of the two. Lucifer is a dance pop track with pretty good sounding vocals. Always is a ballad track and doesn't really do anything for their vocals in my opinion. I can't rate either though as I haven't heard either in full.

All in all, it's not a great single, but it's fun and catchy. I much prefer their two newer singles to this though. Although Dianna Sweet isn't that well known, you can buy some of their music on US iTunes! If you'd like to check out more of their material. 4/5.

J-Pop Girls Mix (Vol. 2)

I made another 8tracks playlist! It's only been like a year since the last one lol. This one is just like the last one, except it's all solo singers instead of groups. Enjoy!

J-Pop Girls Mix (Vol. 2) from danceordie9173 on 8tracks Radio.

The tracklist is...

#1: Tomomi Itano - Dear J

#2: Ayami Muto - Parallel World

#3: Namie Amuro - Ballerina

#4: Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me

#5: Maki Goto - Ai no Bakayarou

#6: Minako Honda - Dramatic Escape

#7: Seiko Matsuda - Ringoshu no Hibi

#8: Miyuki Watanabe - Yasashiku Suru Yori Kiss wo Shite

#9: Ai Otsuka - Laugh

#10: Kumi Koda - At The Weekend

Girls' Generation - The Boys

It actually freaks me out how long ago this was released. It's been five years already since this album. I remember being so excited that SNSD was releasing an English version of the song and releasing the album in the States. Thinking about it now, I actually cringe a bit at the over excitement over K-pop stuff. I'm thinking that every teen fan of K-pop goes through that phase. Personally, I'm just glad that I was older in high school before K-pop began to become a thing so I avoided most of the middle school-esque insane fangirling. Beyond that, this was the first SNSD album I owned. It was also the first SNSD comeback I had seen in K-pop. I had listened to some of SNSD's songs before, like Run Devil Run and Hoot, but I hadn't been a fan during an actual comeback period before. It was crazy seeing all the hype of the release. As for the album itself, I remember thinking it was awesome and how much I wanted it. Nowadays, I don't think it's aged super well. Most K-pop albums never do.

Track #1, The Boys

The big title track. I remember it being absolutely huge. I was obsessed with the song. It seemed like the biggest thing ever to come out of K-pop at the time. Now, I think this is their worst aged title track. I don't know if it's because I listened to it so much back then, or if it just truly has fallen apart with age, but I'd rather not listen to it again. The only lead singles I think are worse are their newest stuff. It just kinda has that sound where you can tell it was released a certain year in K-pop, much like 2NE1's older material feels. I guess that happens with genre defining groups and singles, they become representative of the time they were released and sound odd outside of that scope. 3.5/5.

Track #2, Telepathy

I think this is one of songs on the album that has held up the best. The music is lighthearted and not that kind of heavy, noisy K-pop sound from 2009-2011. It fact, I could see a group like DIA or Oh My Girl releasing this now. 4/5.

Track #3, Say Yes

This song pretty much typifies the K-pop album of this era. In my opinion, most K-pop albums from my earlier years knowing K-pop outside of 2-3 songs are pretty bad or boring. Like all of the effort was put on the title track and they just randomly chose some songs from a vault to stick on the rest of the CD. It's probably just me though. I've never been a fan of the overly flowery cutesy track sound like here. 3/5.

Track #4, Trick

This song really sounds like a remix of Hoot in the chorus. It has that sound that I was talking about with The Boys, but not as noisy. The verses are the main culprit of the noisiness but the chorus is still really nice today. 4/5.

Track #5, How Great Is Your Love

Yawn. Oh, sorry. I mean, this song is one of those slow, boring, K-pop ballads that are a dime a dozen. Listen to pretty much every K-pop album ever released and you'll find one. I guess it's well sung. I can say that. 2.5/5.

Track #6, My J

I'm resisting the urge to talk about Tomomi Itano's Dear J in this lol. This song is like How Great Is Your Love except in a different way. Just like the boring ballad, there's also almost always one of those "quirky" tracks that are weirdly sung that don't sound like they were supposed to be done that way but the were. That's this song. 2.5/5.

Track #7, Oscar

My absolutely favorite song on the album when I was in high school. I just thought it was so catchy and awesome. It hasn't held up as well as I wish it did, but I get really nostalgic listening to it. To me, it feels like a sister song of Super Junior's Opera. They have that same sound to them. 4/5.

Track #8, Top Secret

To be honest, I'm uncertain if I liked this one a lot after Oscar or if that was Telepathy. It's been a while since I've listened to this album. It's another Hoot sounding song, with the whole James Bond thing going on. Whether or not I liked this a lot years ago, it's certainly held up better than Oscar. 4/5.

Track #9, Lazy Girl (Dolce Far Niente)

I hated this song then, still hate it now. It's another My J situation with the way it's sung but worse. The way the very beginning of the song annoys me so much. It sounds like the voice you make when you're mocking someone. The rest of the song is so sugary sweet it's terrible. 2.5/5.

Track #10, Sunflower

Here's where the album has really started to fall off. Before the song started, I couldn't even remember anything about it either good or bad. When it started, I still couldn't remember it. It's just a extremely generic K-Pop ballad. Bland and boring. 3/5.

Track #11, Vitamin

This is another track that was also just sort of there when I was younger. Now, it's kind of catchy to me. It's not like "how did I miss this?!" but more like "hey this is better than I remember" is a cutesy song but not an annoying one. Kind of catchy. 3.5/5.

Track #12, Mr. Taxi (Korean Ver.)

So that's my thoughts on one of the albums that defined my last year of high school. If it seems I was hard on it, it's because I was. I tend to review things I find very nostalgic with a sharper edge than things that don't have that nostalgia factor for me. I believe I do it that way because I want to remember it the way it was five years ago, but it's not and never will be the same again. Wishful thinking I guess is a big part of it. 3.5/5.

Japanese Groups to Watch [September 2016]

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.

The end! Enjoy!

Melon Kinenbi - 1st Anniversary

Well, it hasn't been TOO long since my last post lol. I had been going through my albums on iTunes and came across Melon Kinenbi's first album and realized I had ripped it, but never listened to it. I figured this would be a great album to do a "first impression" post on. Of course I have heard some of the songs on the album before, but I haven't heard all of them. I'm looking forward to doing this because I don't quite care for Melon's singles so I'm interested in hearing the full album.

I'd say Melon Kinenbi is probably pretty well known among Hello! Project fans who have been part of the fandom for a bit, but since they're an older group I'll just give a little background on them. Melon Kinenbi officially debuted in Hello Project in 2000 with four members: Hitomi Saito, Megumi Murata, Masae Ohtani, & Ayumi Shibata. They were one of the early groups of H!P, and they are also one of the longest lasting groups in H!P. I believe they're also the longest lasting H!P group with no member changes. Towards the end of their run, they weren't really idols in the sense that Berryz Kobo were when they ended. They had been kind of off doing their own thing under UFP before their disbandment in 2010.

Track #1: Melon Kinenbi no Theme (OP)

Track #2: Akai Freesia

Although I don't know a whole lot about Melon Kinenbi, I believe that this is their most well known song. It seems like everyone in H!P sings this song at some point. I personally have never really cared too much about the track. It's a pretty generic J-pop track really and doesn't have the "Tsunku feel" like other H!P songs. It's also a not very upbeat, upbeat song. If that makes any sense. Like there's not a whole lot of life in it. 3/5.

Track #3: Kousui

This is such an early 2000s midtempo H!P track. It's got that faux "hip hop" feel that Minimoni & early Berryz were trying to do. It's not a bad song, and they certainly pull it off better than Minimoni, but it's not really my cup of tea. 3/5.

Track #4: Anniversary

Ah the first song that sounds somewhat lively so far. I believe this is an album track as I haven't heard it before. It still has that "yo yo yo" in the background with the fake hip hop sound. But where Kousui fails, I think this song prevails. It's uptempo and doesn't rely on the fake hip hop sound to carry it. 3.5/5.

Track #5: This Is Unmei

I think this is another track that people think of when they think of Kinenbi. I personally don't like it. I do really enjoy the verses and the use of classical music, but the chorus is awful and ruins everything. I just picture those terrible pop rock groups when it starts. 3.5/5.

Track #6: Kokuhaku Kinenbi

I swear I just want to write Kenobi when I try to write Kinenbi. I remember watching the music video for this when I was first trying to dig deeper into H!P's past and wondering why it was so bright and why they were wearing blond wigs. As with most early H!P songs, I don't like this or hate this, but I'd rather not listen to it a lot. The very early 2000s (like 2000-2002) songs in H!P, outside of a few songs, are incredibly dated. More dated than Britney Spears' Baby One More Time & THAT song is dated. What I do like about it is that like other songs from that period, it's not trying to take itself too seriously. It's fun, it's catchy, and it's not trying to be mature fake hip hop. 3.5/5.

Track #7: Nemuranai Yoru

Now this song really sounds like Minimoni's Crazy About You. It's not as good as it though. I enjoy the slower, more dramatic verses; but the chorus is just too upbeat and screechy sounding. It's also weirdly sandwiched inbetween two completely different sounding songs. 3.5/5.

Track #8: Saa! Koibito ni Narou

Wow is this ever a mix between Koi no Dance Site & Hyoutanjima. With a splash of rock thrown in. It's so weird. It's not one of Tsunku's better weird tracks, but it's interesting enough to hold your attention. 3.5/5.

Track #9: Denwa Matteimasu

I had to look up what date this song was released again because I was surprised that it's a 2001 track. H!P music tends to have very distinct sounds for different years and this reminds me a lot of 2005-ish with Berryz & Osaka Koi no Uta. However, I guess that it's also like Maki Goto's albums during this time. I'd have to say that this is probably my favorite song on the album. It's more the style that I like. A dance track that's more of a mature sound. 4/5.

Track #10: Natsu no Yoru wa Danger!

The opening is another H!P song. I know it is but what is it I can't think of it. I can't bring myself to think of anything to say about this song. It's essentially a completely forgettable song with nothing memorable about it. 3/5.

Track #11: Amai Anata no Aji

Their first single. It's also the best song on the album. Sure it's incredible outdated, but it's one of the few tracks that doesn't sound like a Morning Musume/Minimoni reject. It has a character that is the group itself and not someone else. 4.5/5.

Track #12: Endless Youth

I like the traditional sounding opening and feeling through the verses. One of the biggest downfalls of Kinenbi's music are how the choruses are mainly let downs. Everything starts out so promising and then falls flat in the generic "peppy" verses. Disappointing. 3/5.

Track #13: Melon Kinenbi no Theme (ED)

Includes all songs except for Nemuranai Yoru

This album really represents to me the problem of companies not releasing albums every year or two for their acts. To me, this isn't an album, it's a compilation. The songs styles are all over the place and you can tell very distinctly in most of the tracks what year they were released in. Because of how all over the place this is, it's really difficult to listen to it as one package. It also doesn't help that the songs sound like Kinenbi just got all of the throwaway tracks from each era that weren't good enough for Musume. It's just not a very interesting album to me. It's nice to own for collection purposes, but it's not something I'd actually listen to. 3/5.