JASMINE - My One...And Only

You guys, I love "ONE." This is a great song. The more I hear it, the more I love it. It's bassy, strong, bold, perfectly performed, gorgeously produced, and the lyrics are even good. Add to this incredible song the beautifully constructed PV - easily one of my very favorites of the year, and likely to become one of my favorite of all time - and... Well, I mean, god-DYAM. Listen to it. Listen to it now! Here: I'll pause the review so you can listen/watch/be impressed.

So now that you see what I mean, I have a question:

How?! How did this incredible song become the A-side to such an otherwise lame single? There's the Mighty Crown remix of "dear my friend" - it's a decent song, and the remix imbues it with a ska sort of vibe that's pretty "different" - and "DREAMIN'" is a good song, though I dislike the choice to include a live version rather than a studio version. Both are just mediocre songs that neither drag down nor pull up the single. But the "ONE" acoustic live version is a sin against the song. Let's not mince words. It would be better if this version of the song had never been born. I like the concept - a capella plus bongo. Ooh! Artsy! But instead of being avant-garde, it's bad in a "hipsters drinking cigarette-tasting coffee" way. The backup singers make Jasmine sound off-key half the time and force her off-key the other half. The drums doesn't suit the feeling of the song and are flatly performed, playing the same rhythm over and over with little variation that would contribute to a better performance. It's like the studio version somehow died and Jasmine tried to resurrect it from the far side of the Black Gate, foolishly thinking that Equivalent Trade and strong alchemy powers would be enough. Well guess what, Jasmine? IT'S NOT ENOUGH. Now you've turned the song into a freaking homunculus. Good going.

Sum up: this album would be so worth it...if the studio version of "ONE" was the only track. As it is, just don't look at those other tracks and maybe you'll be able to get away alive.

Day 20 - JASMINE - GOLD

I'm so much more impressed by the album selections than I was the singles selections! "GOLD" is wonderful, like no other hip hop I've ever heard. In his review of the album, Jaylee says that "'GOLD' really does everything it can to raise the bar not just for J-Urban music but for Japanese music overall." I read that and had a hard time believing it, or that I'd be able to tell. I mean, I'm a pretty plebeian when it comes to music; you've probably noticed that a lot of my reviews are "This is good because I like it!" and "This is bad because I don't like it!" I try to not to be facile about my choices, but I don't really know a lot about how music is created and produced, so my likes and dislikes are all that I have to go on. That said, this is definitely a different kind of hip hop than I'm used to. Good different. JASMINE works in so many different, interesting things - from uncommon instruments to melding in different genres - that the music is far from the boring sugar pop that you get from Nishino Kana or Koda Kumi. Every track has something to recommend it: "L.I.P.S." is a sexy song that doesn't go into the "gross" range like a lot of American music has been doing for two decades, and is a bad habit that Japanese music is picking up recently. "Bad Girl" mixes in a strong rock feeling, even using electric guitars, to give it a much harder sound than bass alone could. "dear my friend" uses all kinds of uncommon instruments like harpsichord and sitar. But even if none of that does anything for you, the vocal quality is unmatched. JASMINE sings so sincerely and passionately that she makes you sit up and listen. Even if you don't like hip hop - hell, especially if you don't like hip hop! - you'll probably love "GOLD."


JASMINE(ジャスミン)　「This Is Not A Game」 [PV]
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Gaijin Kanpai PV Play

Like I've said before, I do a certain amount of work for Gaijin Kanpai. This week it was a PV review! I took a look at:

JASMINE - ONE
Shimizu Shota - You & I
Tohoshinki - Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
NICO Touches The Walls - Diver
Alice Nine - Gemini

Jaylee says this is his favorite PV play so far. All the more reason to check it out!