If you have read Ai Yazawa’s manga Gokinjo Monogatari and you happen to love it, then probably you would also enjoy the semi-sequel of this work – Paradise Kiss.  Paradise Kiss, or ParaKiss, is an original 5-volume manga written by Yazawa, and has been adapted into a 12-episode anime produced by Aniplex and Studio Madhouse.  I’ve seen the anime in Animax, who broadcast the series and widely distributed it and it was so amazing.

The protagonist of the story is Yukari Hayazaka, also nicknamed Caroline, a highschool student who is already bored with her life driven by routines, thus, when she meets the Parakiss crew, she models for them and decides to stop her review for the university entrance examinations.  She matures little by little through her relationship with George Koizumi, a chic and handsome university student, and a fashion designer.  George designs Yukari’s outfit when she models for them, or for anybody else.  Along with the Parakiss crew are Miwako Sakarada a cute and childlike university student who fondly calls Yukari ‘Caroline’ a lot and Arashi Nagase, the punk, rock and hardcore guy who is a band member and Miwako’s girlfriend.  The mother figure of the Parakiss crew is none other than Daisuke “Isabella” Yamamoto, but she is actually a crossdresser.

But one character that I will not forget in this anime is Hiroyuki Tokumori, Yukari’s classmate – a handsome, appealing, silent and intelligent young man, who always looks out for Yukari and concern for her studies. In the first part of the anime, Hiroyuki is the object of Yukari’s affection, but her emotions shifts to George when she meets him.  I like Hiroyuki because his character reminds me of my highschool crush (and I still like that guy) – both are intelligent in the first place.  *giggles

Oh yeah, too much for digressions.

Not to forget the theme songs of the anime – Lonely in Gorgeous performed by Tommy February6 is the opening theme, and Do You Want To by Franz Ferdinand is the ending theme.

If you really love fashion, you’ll fall in love with this anime. J

AttenTion pLEasE
je t’aime ★ je t’aime
sEpia memory
Futari no Seaside
CAndY EyEs doLLS
ChOOSe mE or Die
daNCin’ bABY
SwEEt dREAM
ThE RoSe fraGranCe
MaGic in youR Eyes
I still love you boy
Love is forever

The album starts off with the intro AttenTion pLEasE. It just consists of Tommy I guess talking over the intercom on a plane, introducing everyone to the album, because we obviously hadn’t figured out we’re listening to it.

The next track on the album is the slow-paced je t’aime ★ je t’aime. I don’t know why I always go into this song thinking its going to be up-tempo, but there you go. This isn’t a song that particularly stands out, but it has a nice flow. The arrangement makes me think of sailing, which is a nice feeling and I thought Tommy gave a  good, yet straight-forward vocal performance. Its not the strongest start to an album, but its a decent one.

The next track on the album is the somewhat mid-tempo sEpia memory. This was a pretty surprising listen, because I don’t recall liking it when I first listened to this album. The arrangement is very pop oriented and I’m wondering if that was a xylophone? or keyboard twinkling in the background or if I’m going crazy. I’m guessing I’m thinking xylophone because the arrangement sounds so kiddy, bubblegum pop-ish. Tommy’s vocals were quite nice and though I can’t really recall the verses I thought the chorus was catchy.

The next track on the album is the refreshing Futari no Seaside. I love this song, I mean this is just one of those songs you never get tired of and every time I hear it I just have to smile, even when I’m in a bad mood. The arrangement is so quirky yet straightforward at the same time and made me think of driving down a long stretch of road with the sky overhead, blue and endless. I love Tommy’s vocals, she sounded pretty. The chorus is my favorite part, but the verses are definitely worth a mention as well. I also love how incredibly catchy and easy-going this song is, but it seems to carry a subtle note of sadness or maybe wistfulness. It could just be me though.

The next track on the album is the poppy CAndY EyEs doLLS. This song isn’t particularly stand-out, but its decent enough. The arrangement is very light pop, to the point that I kept thinking of innocence and very light colors while listening to it. Tommy’s vocals are just as light as the arrangement which is fitting, but pretty pass. The track is catchy in a very Tommy February6 like way, but at the same time, its pretty forgettable as well. I do like the chorus though.

The next track on the album is the unsettling ChOOSe mE or Die. This song is rather misleading. I mean the arrangement sounds very dated, keyboard-ish 80’s, that’s not a bad thing, because it works. Tommy’s vocals are pretty good, this song also sounds a bit serious. The choose me or I’ll kill you part was a bit random, but she certainly got the point across. This isn’t a bad song, but it falls into the same category as the previous, despite the whole ‘love me or die’ thing, this song is pretty forgettable.

The next track on the album is the infectious daNCin’ bABY. I really like this song, I do. The arrangement is so 80’s, such a blast from the past with the heavy use of synth and electronica. It was very catchy and definitely puts you in a dancing sort a mood. Tommy’s vocals were so Madonna in the early eighties, in fact that’s the vibe I got and I kept thinking of her songs ‘borderline’ and ‘lucky star’ this is one song I can see myself enjoying on every listen, seriously.

The next track on the album is the misty SwEEt dREAM. This song really gives me that feeling, as it reflects the title as the atmosphere is somewhat hazy and dreamy. The arrangement was synth, but I liked the whole flow of it, even if it did confuse me at one point. Tommy’s vocals were good in this track as well, her voice sounding almost slurred and sweet, to give off that feeling of a sweet dream.

The next track on the album is ThE RoSe fraGranCe. This song went completely over my head and I really hate how it just ended. The arrangement was the typical 80’s synth, but so stale and uninteresting I wonder why they even bothered. Tommy’s vocals weren’t any better because she sounded like a robot and we all know they sound bored. This is by far the weakest track on the album.

The next track on the album is the stale MaGic in youR Eyes. This song is really annoying. I mean I’ve heard worse, but while listening to this I kept wondering when it was going to end. The arrangement is way synthed to death and so kid bop its amazing. I actually want to vomit because while listening to it I kept thinking of the color pink and the keyboard solo towards the middle of the song didn’t help either. Tommy’s vocals are forgettable, I really didn’t care for it, she sounded to wannabe cute for my tastes or uninterested in the track, either or.

The next track on the album is the heart-wrenching I still love you boy. Wow. I honestly didn’t think Tommy had it in her, but this is quite the poignant track. The arrangement is gorgeous, its so reminiscent of the 80’s. It made me think of ‘take my breathe away’ with how fluid and emotional it was, I mean for an arrangement. Tommy’s vocals were quite good, she sounded very different, if only because her vocal performance was so serious and emotionally charged. It made me think: ’she really will always love this guy…’ it gave me that kind of vibe.

The last track on the album is my personal favorite Love is forever. I love this song, its my favorite Tommy song, period. This is the song that got me interested in Tommy in the first place and its the reason why I like her February6 persona more. The arrangement is of course the synth, but its fun and innocent and definitely gives off this feeling of long-lasting love. Tommy’s vocal performance was quite adorable and I just love when she gets around to singing the chorus, you can tell she really enjoyed recording this. This song is just the love, I never get tired of hearing it.

-GRADE: B+
Rating: **1/2 stars

Tommy February6’s second album Tommy airline was a better listen this time around than it was the first time I gave this album a listen, because then I only cared for ‘futari no seaside’ and ‘love is forever’. I’m not a fan of the eighties, though that could be because I was born a year before the nineties. However, I’ll listen to anything once and I really found myself enjoying February’s overuse of the synth. I mean who new I could listen to it in succession and not lose my mind? February put a creative twist on the sound and made a slew of catchy, colorful and meaningful tracks (not to mention some top notch vocal performances): ‘i still love you boy’ really touched me, ‘futari no seaside’ is like the epitome of nostalgia, ‘dancing baby’ is all kinds of catchy love and I know my heart swells every time I hear ‘love is forever’ this was a really good and creative album from February6 and I believe my favorite album from her to date.

*This is an old review, this is the first of a slew of reviews I did before I decided to go on my hiatus. [March 18th, 2009]

Después de su dos álbum recopilatorios de sus dos alter ergos, Tomoko Kawase nos saca un nuevo álbum con el papel de TommyHeavenly6 donde tendrá como nombre I kill my heart y saldrá el 29 de Abril. Y algo que podemos destacar que este nuevo álbum no trae ninguna canción importante que le haga nombre al sencillo muy raro en el mundo de la música, así que sin mas os dejamos los detalles y un videoclip que contendrá este sencillo:

CD Tracklist

1. Wait For Me There
2. Leaving You
3. Do You Know My Heart?
4. Sad End To A Fairy Tale
5. Shut Up
6. Flower Crown
7. Surely
8. Gonna Change My Way Of Life
9. Playground
10. Things I Can Do
11. You Should Live In The Sunny Light

DVD Tracklist

1. Wait For Me There （heavenly6 Ver.)
2. Wait For Me There （february6 Ver.)
3. Leaving You （heavenly6 Ver.)
4. Leaving You （february6 Ver.)

Tommy Heavenly6 – Leaving You (heavenly6 Ver.)

Hahaha, es malévola mi entrada, lo sé. Tranquilos, que no canta del todo mal xD. La curiosidad me surgió porque su tono de voz igual se nota un poco complicado de cantarlo en vivo  sin meter por ahi un gallo, sobre todo los temas “heavenly” además de que no ha hecho ni un dvd live que yo sepa… por qué no los hará? no le darán los pulmones? probablemente … al cantar se nota que fuerza igual su voz, en fin, para mi un artista no es completo si no canta bien en vivo, vamos, hasta yo podría grabar un disco y sonaría excelente con todos los arreglines que le meten a la voz. No obstante en vivo es otra cosa. Asi que la pregunta está hecha, ¿Canta Tomoko Kawase, aka “Tommy”?, ¿o es puro falsete?, la respuesta, en éstos videos:

Tommy heavenly6 – POPGIRL 05′

Hmm bueno, he aquí la primera demostración. Es bastante desafinadita… a ratos siento que le falta aire pero en algunas partes con empeño le suena bien… No sé si es idea mia, pero si esto es del año 2005, hace poco esta tipa fue a un programa y canto el tema “Hey my friend” siempre lo canta, es como al único que le tiene fe xD. Y bueno, dejando un poco la maldad… de todas las canciones que escuché “GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE!” es el que más salva y en el que más comodamente canta. Sin embargo… le falta “wataje” a su voz…

Pero veamos que pasa con su faceta más tranquila y grungesca? veamos que pasa en The Brilliant Green:

The Brilliant Green – Rock ‘N Roll

The Brillant Green – Ash like snow

The Brilliant Green – Stand by me

The Brilliant Green – There be love there

Bueno, aquí cambia la cosa, aunque sigo pensando que le falta algo a su canto, no sé, mas emocion que se yo, no obstante deja bien parado a The Brilliant Green, las canciones son de tono más bajo, lo que es mucho más cómodo que sus gritos tiritones -en todo caso no digo que porque una canción sea alta la cante desafinado, se manda sus gallos pero he visto videos en que a pesar de todo lo hace bien-. La de Rock ‘n roll me ha encantado :~

Y february6? bueno ni idea si esa canta o no, pero aquí encontré un videillo, todavía no lo veo… me da miedo escucharlo @0@…

February6 – Everyday at the bus stop

Dios, solo puedo decir que eso parece karaoke… encima la canción es tan “trinka trinka” XD

¿Conclusión? Se entiende porque no hace un live como la gente. Si lo intenta hacer, Brillant Green es su mejor chance, pero de sus alteregos aunque me gusten varias o muchas de sus canciones, quédense en la casa. Tommy no puede cantar en vivo. No al menos con la calidad *coff expo coff 08 coffc* que algunos hemos escuchado.

Continuamos con “la previa” al disco de Heavenly6, como había escrito antes, la heavenly sacó sus ambas versiones de Leaving You y Wait for me there. Ahora es el turno de la february, que es la misma mierda disfrazada de otro color xD. Aunque me encanta la película, odio ese traje de alicia en el país de las maravillas que lleva puesto. ¿Qué onda Kawase? ¿más marketing con reuso de imágenes? Los videos son igual de malos que los anteriores, salvo que ahora aparece UN OSO DE FELPA… y UNOS ANTEOJOS. Ni si quiera me he dignado de ver el de Leaving you, porque es una pérdida de tiempo en estos instantes. Asi que, ahí estánnn:

Tommy Heavenly6 – Wait For Me There (february6 ver.)

Tommy Heavenly6 – Leaving You (february6 ver.)

A todo esto, el otro día en una tarde de ocio me pregunté como cantaba esta tipa en vivo, y encontré varios videos interesantes para comentar xD… muajaja, los que realmente valen la pena son los que cantan a todo pulmón en el escenario… asi que, esta vez será tu turno chica  tripolar !!

Salu2.

♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥
Is this feeling love?
E-mail♥ more

Tommy February6’s 11th single starts off with the a-side ♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥. I always think this song is titled ‘lonely is gorgeous’ which I like better. Anyways, this is definitely in my top five favorite Tommy February6 tracks and if not for ‘love is forever’, ‘futari no seaside’ and ‘everyday at the bus stop’ this would be my favorite without a doubt. I love the arrangement, its so clever sounding and I always have this urge to laugh whenever I hear it for some odd reason. Its just very infectious. Tommy’s vocals are just the love in this track, I just cannot help but sing along with her, like I’m compelled or something. It also gives off a nice nostalgic vibe that is very subtle as well; I just love this song, especially the chorus. It never seems to get old.

The next track on the single is its first b-side Is this feeling love?. This is a really sweet song and what a contrast to ‘lonely in gorgeous’ because this song is just so soft, as where the previous was a bit more hard-hitting. The synth is very prominent in the arrangement, which gave it such an 80’s feel, I really like that, because it played so well and gave the song such a lovely and calm atmosphere. Tommy’s vocals were very nice, I just loved listening to her sing, especially the chorus. It seems almost bittersweet in a sense and I can just see her in a room with a whole bunch of light filtering in through the window and wondering if she is in love. I almost like this more than the a-side.

The last track on the single is its second b-side E-mail♥ more. I didn’t think this single could get any better, but it certainly does. I like ‘is this feeling love?’ a lot more, but this is definitely a good track as well. The arrangement is more 80’s prominent, with the synth and electonica sound. I’m also wondering if there was some electric keyboard thrown in there? Tommy’s vocals matched the beat perfectly, which is always nice. The chorus definitely stands out, I actually sang along at one point and had to stop myself from getting up and dancing.

-GRADE: A+
Rating: *** stars

Tommy February6’s 11th single Lonely in Gorgeous was such a good single, seriously. Its very rare that I like all the single tracks on a single, so this was a feat in itself, but Tommy certainly pulled it off with three great tracks. I’m really anxious for another Tommy February6 single, I like this persona of hers a lot more.

El que faltaba, segundo promotional video de la bipolar rebelde titulado Leaving You. Uhm, que video más parecido y fome que el anterior. Canción pajera ever. Sin duda las canciones que hace para los monos chinos son mejores. O es eso o es el apuro de sacar pvs nuevos, disco nuevo, etc etc luego de sacar tantos singles. Así que lo mejor es que se tome unas vacaciones.  Que pifia, ya van dos canciones malísimas, aun le tengo fe a las 8 canciones que faltan, porque está claro que estos no han sido los mejores temas para promocionarlo -.-. Recuerden que el disco con las ya canciones aburridas sale el 29 de abril.

“Wait For Me There” is a Pormotional Video for Tommy Heavenly6’s new album titled “I Kill My Heart” which will drop on April 29th.  More details are forthecoming.

Uhm, yeah, another Music Fair episode This time with only female guests.

Guest & Song List:
Perfume – One Room Disco
Koda Kumi x misono – It’s All Love
Tommy february6 – Everyday At The Bus Stop
Sowelu – Rainbow
Tommy heavenly6 – Hey my friend

To download the files, click on the screenshots.

Do not post these links elsewhere.

If you download any of these vids, at least leave a simple “thanks”.

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El pasado sábado 28 de marzo se retransmitió como de costumbre de 18.00 a 18.30 (hora local xD) el Music Fair 21, que me pareció especialmente interesante por tener como invitada a Kawase Tomoko personificada en sus dos personajes -los que la conozcan supongo que ya me habrán entendido xD- Así que lo bajé y recorte su parte. Pero además, como auto-penitencia por no haber hablado de sus 2 recientes recopilatorios también recorté la actuación de Koda Kumi con misono

Koda Kumi y misono como es obvio cantaron It’s all love! canción que en un principio me gustó mucho pero que me ha aburrido soberanamente y ya casi me he olvidado de ella -y eso que oficialmente el single no ha salido lol- pero bueno, la actuación está bastante bien ;D

Kawase Tomoko por su parte escogió EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP con Tommy february6 y Hey my friend con Tommy heavenly6, lo que me ha decepcionado bastante Coño! ya que es tu única promoción en televisión para tus BEST canta algo más reciente como Unlimited Sky, PAPERMOON y ○Strawberry●Cream○Soda●Pop○; un poco de originalidad tía! El caso es que Tommy february6 no lo hizo mal aunque flojeó un poquito más como Tommy heavenly6 -me estoy empezando a liar hasta yo con los nombres xD-

La verdad que los rips han perdido un montón de calidad al subirlos a dailymotion, pero se dejan ver, aquí los tenéis ;D

Tommy february6 – EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP @ Music Fair 21

Tommy heavenly6 – Hey my friend @ Music Fair 21

Koda Kumi x misono – It’s all love! @ Music Fair 21

PD: Woooops! Me han rechazado el vídeo de las hermanitas los hijos de satanás de dailymotion, luego lo re-subo y edito el post que ahora estoy en la maravillosa Universidad de La Rioja

EDIT: Ya está subido a youtube el de kumi x misono y la calidad parece mejor

EDIT2: Me he dado cuenta de que si le das a HQ en los de dailymotion se ve bien, que lerdo soy a veces :$ Antes no se ponía solo lo de hq? tendré que investigar xD

Gackt is one of the most known name among those who are into the Japanese Music culture. It’s not that they’re fans, it’s just he has so much talent, does so many things and has shaped the music industry in certain ways that only Gackt could do. He has performed in English, French, Korean, Cantonese, and Mandarin on top of his native language Japanese. He was once in a band (Malice Mizer) with a member named “Kami” who had died due to subarachnoid hemorrhage (simply his brain bled, killing him) however, he was on tour at the time and found out a week later. He wrote two songs in memory of Kami “Emu ~for my dear~” and “U+K” He has released countless albums and singles in various bands and solo. He’s a vocalist mainly, but he plays other instruments as well. Of all of my favorite songs, “Orenji no Taiyou” by Gackt featuring Hyde from Gackt’s Creasant Album was definitely a powerful one. They had appeared in the movie Moonchild together, and while some people didn’t like it. I thought it was pretty good considering it was mostly famous people-not necessarily actors. It was a little disjointed, but it was a sweet plot and I loved the ending and opening, which this song was featuring at the opening of the movie and the ending, but the song is powerful and the scenes they play it in is just amazing. After you watch the movie it just sticks with you and you remember parts of what happened, and what otherwise might just be a good song, then becomes a song with meaning.

Mana is the creator of Elegant Gothic Lolita, people try to mimic the look, but the fact is it’s more of a brand name, so if it’s not from the Elegant Gothic Lolita brand, it might be in the style, but technically it’s not Elegant Gothic Lolita, not that I or the majority seem to really care, but I just wanted to point that out. No one actually knows what year he was really born in, I find that hilarious. He pretty much picks up whatever he wants and drops it when he feels like it. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t a bad person, he’s a great person, which is exactly why he can do that. For the most part he doesn’t talk, he whispers in a band members ear and they talk for him. He claims that his voice is music and therefore he shouldn’t destroy it be continuously talking. Some bands he’s worked on are Girl’e, Matenrou, Malice Mizer, he found his own indie music label Midi:Nette then Mana founded his solo project Moi dix Mois, he created his own fashion lines “Moi-memê-Moitié which features Elegant Gothic Lolita and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat. He’s worked with Schwarz Stein. Currently he’s working with Kanon Wakeshima, who’s ending for Vampire Knight ’still doll’ is not only quite haunting, but so beautifully done. She is a cellist and a vocalist.

X-Japan was originally called “X” but they reached international popularity and ended up renaming themselves “X-Japan” in 1992 in order to make sure people didn’t get confused with the American punk band also called “X”  they disbanded in 1997. Though one song really stuck with me, even though it was way before my time, I had bumped into one of their songs and I just loved it. It’s called “Forever Love” and the song seems like forever, but it’s rather quite pretty. I was introduced to it via a fan made music video featuring “X” a series from CLAMP, but it also had Trigun and a couple other series in it, but I just loved the song. I felt it was placed with the animation so nicely. It’s funny how I react different ways to music depending on how I’m introduced to it. The song is 8 minutes and 41 seconds. The song was reissued in 1997, 1998, and 2001. The group disbanded after Hide’s death, which will be explained by wiki

Hideto Matsumoto died on May 2, 1998. After a night out drinking, he was found hanged with a towel tied to a doorknob in his Tokyo apartment. Three fans died in copycat suicides, of the 50,000 people who attended his funeral in Tsukiji Hongan-ji, nearly 60 were hospitalized and about 200 received medical treatment in first aid tents. While authorities deemed Matsumoto’s death a suicide, several of Hide’s friends and colleagues stated that they believed it to be an accident, among them X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi and former X Japan bassist Taiji Sawada. This notion is supported by the fact that no suicide note was left and Sawada theorizes in his autobiography, that at the night of his death, Hide may have been practicing a technique to relieve upper back and neck pains which guitarists can suffer from continuous use of a shoulder strap. The technique involved was practiced by the X Japan members during their touring days and required the use of a towel and a door knob or handle. According to Sawada, Matsumoto may have fallen asleep in his intoxicated state, becoming caught and strangling himself (wiki)

Morning Musume is an all girl group under the Hello! Project name. It’s quite strict and by strict, I mean ridiculous. The girls could get fired if they’re caught with another boy, and I’m just talking about holding hands down the street, or being seen with one. It originally started with Tsunku who created the idea for an all girl group. Originally they had come from a contest and there was only one winner, Michiyo Heike, who went on to be a solo artist, despite her being the originally winner of the contest, she didn’t do well at all. Meanwhile Morning Musume is still going along, having gotten less strong in the past few years due to the declining fad of Idols. The five girls who didn’t win had to sell a certain amount of copies of their single in so many days. They completed the challenge in a shorter amount of time than expected and Tsunku picked them up. All 5 members, Natsumi Abe, Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Fukuda Asuka, and Nakazawa Yuko. Through the years they’ve shifted members, none of the originally members are in the group. The only two still under the Hello! Project name were Natsumi Abe, Iida Kaori, and Nakazawa Yuko, however, as of March 31, 2009 the following members are going to be graduating, which is another word H!P pretty much uses for being fired, I only included previous Morning Musume members for the sake of trying to stay on topic.Nakazawa Yuuko, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari, Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Tsuji Nozomi, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto, Fujimoto Miki. That’s 11 people. Morning Musume currently has 9 members: Koharu Kusumi, Reina Tanaka, Eri Kamei, Ai Takahashi, JunJun, LinLin, Sayumi Michishige, Aika Mitsui, and Risa Niigaki. Their latest single is Naichau Kamo (I might cry)

Utada Hikaru, I adore her, she’s so incredibly talented and I have no idea just where to begin. She did the openings for Kingdom Hearts if you’ve played that “Simple & Clean” and  “Sanctuary ” the Japanese versions being “Hikari” and “Passion” they’re both really great songs. Not too long ago she tried to make it in the American market with her album “Exodus” but the fact was she got pretty much no promotion and the CNN news people compared her to Britney Spears? Really? Is that really supposed to be a comparison? Only in popularity, Britney has just a slutty image and Utada has such a clean image. It’s like comparing Mother Teresa to a homicidal prostitute, you just. don’t. do it! and I’m not calling Utada the perfect person and I’m certainly not calling Britney a homicidal prostitute, don’t get me wrong. Though if you rally listen to the music and realize what they’re saying and then look at their music videos and how they express themselves through wardrobe choices, you’ll see it’s like comparing night and day and that Utada never had to rely on such risque actions in order to keep a crowd, she’s talented on so many levels. It’s just so ridiculous to hear these terribly inaccurate things about her, she’s so nice. She’s coming out with another album in the US soon, why? Because she’s so talented and famous to the rest of the world she can try again. She’s bilingual (English & Japanese) she has virtually no accent when she speaks in English and her Japanese in flawless. She has such a strong, powerful, amazing voice. She started in 1993 and in Japan alone she has sold more than 36 million singles & albums, think about that, just think about that, in one country, that’s how many singles she’s sold. 36,000,000 the numbers… it’s impossible to really grasp it, and she’s not just known in Japan, she’s incredibly famous all across Asia. “First Love” “Automatic” “Movin’ On Without You” “ASAP” “Sakura Drops” and “Can You Keep A Secret?” are just a few of my favorites from her. I highly recommend her, and if you look on YouTube I’m sure you’ll find it, she does a rendition of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.

Ice Creamusume, this is a very recent event. They’re going to basically be, and I do mean on a very basic level, be Taiwan’s version of Morning Musume. They’ve already released a mini album, they sing in Japanese and Mandarin, since Mandarin is their native language. I can’t say their contest to find them was practical, some didn’t even have to sing during the whole process! How ridiculous, if you’re going to be a singer at least sing! But I must say I’m really happy with the people they’ve chosen, simply on appearances at the moment, but it seems like the one they call Guu-chan is incredibly adorable and seems to have a bit of a flirty attitude, but she can really dance. Here were the tracks on their first mini album released Jan. 9th of this year
01. 戀愛登場 (Love Debut)
02. 早安咖啡 (Morning Coffee)
03. 在沒有雨水滋潤的星球上是無法付出愛的吧? (In The Absence Of Rain Moisten The Planet Is Unable To Pay The Love, Right?)
04. 戀愛革命21 (Love Revolution 21)
05. Go Girl～戀愛勝利～ (Go Girl~Love Victory~)
06. Debut！～戀愛的轉角會有好運降臨～(日文版) [Debut! ~The Corner Of Love Will Bring The Best Luck~ (Japanese Version)]
07. 早安咖啡(日文版) [Morning Coffee (Japanese Version)]

They redid Morning Musume’s Morning Coffee, Renai Revolution 21, and Go Girl! Koi no victory in mandarin and the rest were the original Japanese songs from Momusu. They do have their own song, the “In the Absence Of” song (I have no idea if that’s the real translation, I know some of the characters, I should figure it out some day) and the “Love Debut” song. From what I’ve heard, I must say I like the voices a alot. I’m impressed, especially for a Hello! Project group, I hope they keep and do more songs, I’m excited to see what they’ll bring to the table.

Tsuchiya Anna played the character Ichiko in Shimotsuma Monogatari (AKA Kamikaze Girls) I loved that movie, and I thought it was awesome. It’s where I first heard of Tommy Heavenly6 with their ending theme. Though I one day looked in the extras section and realized that Anna Tsuchiya had a music video, this was all news to me. I had no idea that she was a singer, but I must say it was one hell of a song. I loved it, after that I searched for more of her songs and was never disappointed, her music has this strange aura surrounding it that I can’t really explain. It’s really cool though, such as “Kuroi Namida” “frozen rose” “Imitation Night” and “Crazy World” which features AI

Tommy Heavenly6, she also goes under the name of Tommy February6, but that’s quite a different sound than Heavenly6, there’s alot of synth and what no in Feb6. She says her two names help to separate her personality. While Feb6 is more of a “I look like a good girl, but I’m really bad” while Heavenly6 is more of a “I look like a mean person, but I’m really not” not that I could really tell the difference, I’ve only listened to Heavenly6, it just sounds so much better to me. It has a darker sound to it, and they’re just good songs in general. She sings the song “Hey My Friend” for the popular movie “Kamikaze Girls” also known as “Shimotsuma Monogatari’ by those who recognize the Japanese title better than the American title. She tends to have ‘melancholy versions’ of her music, just off hand I know she has “+gothic pink+” and “Lost my Pieces” with their original versions along with their “melancholic guitar versions” which are just more relaxed, but at the same time a little darker, they’re still really good versions, just different. She also has a song called “Melancholy Power + +” I’m not really sure if she knows what the word means, likes or word or isn’t sure what else to use, but it appears she enjoys using it regardless of the real reason-if any. Her real name is Tomoko Kawase, Tommy comes from her nickname and February would be from her birthday. Her song “Pray” was used on and opening theme for Gintama (an anime series) “Papermoon” was used as the second opening for Soul Eater (an anime series) She has a song dedicated to PIkachu it’s called “L・O・V・E・L・Y ～夢見るLOVELY BOY～” It was also featuring on the ending of the 7th pokémon movie Destiny Deoxys. at the J-Wave 2000+2 music festival, she and the other Brilliant Green members dressed up in Hogwarts Uniforms due to her being a fan of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

OLIVIA Lufkin is one of the coolest musicians I’ve ever heard. I just love the ay she experiments with sounds and vocals and her timing is just so amazing. This is what being is music is all about- or rather, should be all about. She takes her music to the next level and doesn’t think “Is this going to be popular?” she thinks “How can I test the boundaries” not that there appear to be with her. It’s so amazing how someone could stay for as long as her while doing so much experimental music, because one would think it wouldn’t sell, right? Wrong. At least, with OLIVIA. She’s bilingual. she has released 3 albums, one of them being inspired by TRAPNEST the band from the Manga NANA, she has released six mini albums, “Trinka Trinka” being the most recent piece of work (and a mini album) she has released ten singles. She used to be in the group D&D which was a really pop sound, but then continued onto her own as a solo after 2 years of D&D going under the name OLIVIA. D&D continued after Olivia left but with the name “Aya & Chika from D&D”. she’s currently on the Avex Trax label under their “cutting edge” sub-label and writes most of her singles. I highly suggest ‘a little pain’ I do believe it was inspired by Nana and I recommend “Space Halo”. Not to mention “Trinka Trinka” is a really fun song.

Caroline, this her Olivia Lufkin’s sister. I found her on Amazon.com I searched Lufkin and this is what came up. I bought her CD Murmurs, and it’s actually really good, my favorite song being “I’ll Leave My Heart Behind” it’s a very pretty, calm, relaxing kind of song. She clearly has the same genes that Olivia did when it comes to being a musician. After she graduated she moved to Tokyo where she began working on a Japanese Album, however she didn’t like what they were trying to do to her music and quit. “they kept on telling me to change things and I didn’t want to change them… They were trying to make the music super-pop, and I couldn’t quite deal with it.” She was impressed with the label “Temporary Residence Limited” and sent them a demo and was signed on. she has a Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/caroline) This is how they describe her: “With an incredible gift for writing gripping songs from the most minimal elements – not to mention a voice that could make angels weep – Caroline’s music seizes the rare opportunity to hypnotize everything and everyone around it. And really, who in this world doesn’t want to succumb to a music-induced weightlessness every once in a while?” I think they summarized her quite efficiently.

Last week I received a huge parcel from YesAsia: my Tommy boxsets!

Strawberry Cream Soda Pop and Gothic Melting Ice Cream. ドちらがいい？

I’ve been a huge fan of Tommy ever since Lonely in Gorgeous was used as the OP for the Paradise Kiss anime. Around the same time I fell for a song called Sayonara Summer is Over by a band called the Brilliant Green. Little did I know Tomoko Kawase was the voice behind both.

Here’s Lonely in Gorgeous.

So, Tommy just released two best of albums, one for the disco-pop Tommy February6 and one for the goth-rock-pop Tommy Heavenly6 (though surprisingly not on 6 February, Tomoko’s birthday). Both boast a hell of an album title: Strawberry Cream’s Soda Pop Daydream and Gothic Melting Ice Cream’s Darkness Nightmare.

Being a sucker for Japanese merchandise gimmicks, I ordered the deluxe boxset blu-spec CD and DVD versions of both.

The box sets are a mirror image of each other: one goth and one pop depending on your taste (I love both, but definitely swing more toward pop Tommy ^^). The goodies include: the best of album featuring a couple of new bonus tracks (like Unlimited Sky, the recent Gundam 00 insert song), the DVD with all the singles’ music videos, a set of clear plastic sleeves with the single covers printed on them, a school-themed photobook, a sheet of stickers and the standard booklet of lyrics and credits. Best of all is a lovely ring binder with a metal embossed plate, in keeping with the whole high-school student theme. And there’s a big box to put everything in.

God knows what I’m actually going to do with all this stuff (keep it in the box on a shelf NRFB no doubt ^^;) but it’s nice to have and a must for any Tomoko Kawase fan.

The albums themselves are great. As a best of, it’s obviously all been heard before but it’s great to hear all the singles in a big long playlist (even the full ten minute Hallowe’en weirdo version of Lollipop Candy Bad Girl).

Gallery after the jump.

]]> http://puresoundpuremusic.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/tommy-february6-lonely-in-gorgeous/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:53:47 +0000 AzureGothBunny http://puresoundpuremusic.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/tommy-february6-lonely-in-gorgeous/

This is the awesomely-awesome opening theme to Paradise Kiss, one of my favorite anime of all time. Tommy’s vocals are great in this song, and it has a great dance music beat. It just makes you want to get up and move!!

1. Lonely in Gorgeous

Así me acabo de enterar en cool like plastic (ajá! Orenji, pensaste que no te daría los créditos XD) y terminando de confirmar en Jpopmusic.com. Que luego de los aburridos recopilatorios de los 2 alteregos. Tommy heavrily6 ganó nuevamente y se adelanta con su tercer album para el 29 de abril. Éste contendrá 12 pistas, supueeeeeeeeeestamente no debería haber temas repetidos, asi que por lo menos dan mas ganas de esperar el disco.  Existirá además una versión dvd,  asi que es posible que salga algún PV por ahí antes (weno, lo mas probable es que venga con el PV de Ulimited Sky ya que no salió como single, y que esta misma canción sea la única candidata a repetirse en el album pero me tinca que será la versión acústica).

Y hablando de Unlimited Sky acústica, si algún japonés que esté en japón me lee o alguien que sepa hacer trucos con los proxys, que me baje la versión acúsica desde esta web! xD.

En fin, esperemos a ver que saca la avril lavigne de los chinos xD, creo que february está en reabilitación por cirrosis xD…

Yatta! acá está el de Heavenly6,  cero emoción las canciones huh!, bueno al menos está Ulimited Sky en calidad 320, este album si que no tiene ni un brillo xD. Por cierto, ambos discos no los he subido yo, el de Beat Crusaders tampoco, asi que considerenlo una facilidad de encontrarles el link .

[2009.02.25] Album 『Gothic Melting Ice cream’s Darkness Nightmare”』

01. Wait till I can dream
02. Hey my friend
03. Ready?
04. I'm Gonna SCREAM+
05. Pray
06. Lollipop Candy BAD girl
07. I love XMAS
08. Heavy Starry Chain
09. PAPERMOON
10. LCDD
11. Roller coaster ride?
12. fell in love with you
13. GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE!!
14. GOING 2 MY WAY!
15. Wanna be your idol
16. Lucky me
17. +gothic Pink+
18. 2Bfree
19. Unlimited Sky

Bueno, ahi estan los dos, ojala Unlimited Sky sea acústica como salio en Gundam ._. (lo dudo xD). Saludos .

Kawase Tomoko no es solamente conocida por ser la voz principal del grupo the brilliant green, sino también por su fructiféra carrera musical en solitario; personalizada en sus 2 alter egos Tommy heavenly6 y Tommy february6, que es lo que nos ocupa hoy. El tema es que se dispone a lanzar sendos recopilatorios el próximo miércoles 25 de febrero, los cuales comento a continuación brevemente -porque la resaca me puede xD-

Tommy heavenly6 – Gothic Melting Ice Cream’s Darkness “Nightmare”

cd+dvd (limited edition)

cd+dvd

cd

CD

01. Wait till I can dream
02. Hey my friend
03. Ready?
04. I’m Gonna SCREAM+
05. Pray
06. Lollipop Candy♥BAD♥Girl
07. I love XMAS
08. Heavy Starry Chain
09. PAPERMOON
10. LCDD
11. Roller coaster ride→
12. fell in love with you
13. GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE!!
14. GOING 2 MY WAY !
15. Wanna be your idol
16. Lucky me
17. +gothic Pink+
18. 2Bfree
19. Unlimited Sky

DVD

01. Wait till I can dream
02. Swear
03. Hey my friend
04. Ready?
05. Tommy heavenly6 Making
06. I’m Gonna SCREAM+
07. pray
08. Lollipop Candy＿BAD＿GIRL
09. I LOVE XMAS
10. Heavy Starry Chain
11. Heavy Starry Heavenly Making
12. PAPERMOON
13. Unlimited Sky

Tommy february6 – Strawberry Cream Soda Pop “Daydream”

cd+dvd (limited edition)

cd+dvd

cd

CD

01 T.O.M.M.Y
02 EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP
03 ♡KISS♡ ONE MORE TIME
04 Bloomin’!
05 je t’aime ☆ je t’aime
06 Love is forever
07 MaGic in youR Eyes
08 L・O・V・E・L・Y ～yumemiru LOVELY BOY～
09 ♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥
10 I still love you boy
11 Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
12 futari no SEASIDE
13 TOMMY FEBRURATTE, MACARON。
14 Is this feeling love?
15 I’LL BE YOUR ANGEL
16 ★Candy Pop In Love★
17 SwEEt dREAM
18 ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯

DVD

01 EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP

02 −Making Digest 01−(EVERYDAY AT THE BUS STOP)

03 ♡KISS♡ ONE MORE TIME

04 Bloomin’ !

05 −Making Digest 02−(♡KISS♡ ONE MORE TIME・Bloomin’!)

06 je t’aime ★ je t’aime

07 Love is forever

08 MaGic in youR Eyes

09 −Making Digest 03− (MaGic in youR Eyes)

10 L・O・V・E・L・Y ～yumemiru LOVELY BOY～

11 ♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥

12 ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯

13 ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯ (“Pon Pon”Music ver.)

14 ♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥ (Choreograph ver.A)

15 ♥Lonely in Gorgeous♥ (Choreograph ver.B)

Como podemos ver, ambos recopilatorios serán lanzados en versión cd, cd+dvd y cd+dvd limited edition. La edición especial además de incluir todos los contenidos del cd y dvd regular, incluye un photobook, stickers, un librillo especial para lyrics y vienen en formato digipak alargado; por otra parte, la first press de la edición cd+dvd regular incluye un photobook exclusivo. En lo que a la música respecta sendos álbumes hacen un buen repaso a la carrera de Tomoko, incluyendo singles, álbum tracks, b-sides y una nueva canción. ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯ en el caso de february6 y Unlimited Sky para heavenly6. Se han grabado vídeos para estas dos canciones y han sido las elegidas para promocionar los recopilatorios, ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯ ha sido estrenado más recientemente así que os lo dejo a continuación

Tommy february6 – ◯Strawberry●Cream◯Soda●Pop◯

El vídeo es muy lol -es decir, muy tommy xD- pero aún con todo la canción me gusta bastante… eso sí, la versión cd no repite 132421 veces el estribillo al final gracias a Dios xD