AZU - AZyoU - *love* *hug*

Thanks to Jaylee from Gaijin Kanpai for the recommendation today!

I didn't realize it when I first started listening to this album, but I actually have listened to AZU before. I even reviewed one of her singles. ...Yeah...

Of course, it only took hearing the opening for "Broken Heart" and I just about jumped out of my seat with excitement. It's been over a month and that songs is still good.

I was surprised, but I really liked this ablum. Although it's not a pop revolution like ICONIQ's "Change Myself" or JASMINE's "GOLD," it's as easy to listen to as warm water is to slip into. The tracks range between quiet and slightly sad to quiet and slightly upbeat - only "AKS99" breaks the trance midway through the album with a much more energetic, refreshing sound. AZU's voice is beautiful, and the collaborations - with Yunhak from Choushinsei, SEAMO and K&G, and Hinouchi Emi - work with her voice and into the style of the album to compliment it. Unlike a some collaborations that stick out like awkward hairy moles that ruin an otherwise good face, these collaborations a more like cute Shiina Ringo moles that make a good album just a little better.

AZU's collaborations	BENNIE BECCA

Still, the album wasn't perfect. It takes a bit of a downturn with "Tashika na Koto," which isn't really bad so much as it's "meh." The album stays just inside "meh" territory until "AKS99" comes in and shakes things up and gets them back on track. But even with that minor downtun the sound is fairly homogenous but with just enough variation to keep it from being boring, each track leading easily into the next and making for a relaxing overall experience. This solid balance is something that most artists blatantly fail at, so this no small achievement on AZU's part.

Also, as if in answer to my prayers, AZU used precious little in the way of chimes in this album. The first time I listened to it I didn't notice them at all, and even when I went back specifically to find them they were so few and so subtle that most were still pretty hard to notice. I was delighted. GOOD JOB, AZU! you win a cookie!

POLYSICS - Oh! No! It's Heavy POLYSICK! - Oh! Yes!

POLYSICS is a band that, even if you've never heard their music before, you'll recognize them if you know much of anything about Japanese music. The music industry landscape is about as bland in Japan as it is in America, with little done to brand bands and distinguish them visually (or aurally, unfortunately). In a sea of faces, most artist just disappear. But not POLYSICS - Oh! No! - whose visual style stands out like vivid color against the black and white Japanese industry in the same way that Lady Gaga's does in America.

And their music is just as distinctive as their visual style. With heavy use of electronic elements and enough 8-bit sound that they should have appeared on the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack, they stand out from the crowd already. But they don't just settle into the electropop outcast group. Instead, they refuse to join that crowd either, playing music so energetic that it toes the line of being difficult to listen to...without crossing the line. POLYSICS is what would happen if Perfume got hit with Joker gas. Or, alternately, what would happen if if Tsushimamire went electric. The quality of the performance is also very high - Hayashi has almost superhuman control over his voice, the instrumentation is totally solid, and it's clear that the band worked really hard on their English pronunciation, which is always a plus in my book.

I like every track on this album - they'd all be great for dancing to, great for listening to while driving too fast, great for music-fighting your neighbors who keep their damn sub against the shared wall, great for nerdy moshing and head-banging. I'm especially fond of "Let's Daba Daba" and "Don't Cry" which are catchy as hell but, unlike other catchy songs, don't stick in your mind like dog crap to the bottom of a shoe. "Jump Up and Clash" is nice for being closer to normal - something to play if you want to prove to friends that Japanese music can be both bizarre and awesome. "Cough Cough" and "Heavy POLYSICK" are great instrumentals, and "Subliminal CHA-CHA-CHA" has a great off-kilter beat that keeps up the tension with some speaking between verses that's cute and quirky. (*nerd squee start* These mini conversations also remind me a lot of "Ieru Ka Na, Baby?" by Suzukisan of "Pokemon" fame. They even have the 2-Guys-1-Girl combo like Suzukisan! *nerd squee end*)

My one complaint is that the album feels slightly flat in places, like they're missing something from their instrumentation. It's nothing huge, but it does take a little away from an otherwise amazing musical experience. I'm hoping that this is just because they recently lost a member and are still trying to balance the music between three people. But even if it's not, I still plan on getting all their subsequent music. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it sure as hell is mine.

Well dammit

Look what I went and did, you guys.

I told everyone on GK about this blog today.

DAMMIT.

Now I'm going to actually be held accountable for producing content on a regular basis. No excuses anymore. And I don't even know what I'm going to review for tonight.

...

Wish me luck!

I suck, but it's okay

So I didn't post the day after that last post. Or the day after. Or the day after.

Gotcha!

Hahahahahahahaha!

....

Anyway, I do have an excuse. I had been planning to do a review of Sakanaction's single, "Rookie," that was released on 3/16. I even had the thing 95% written! But then I got word from my friends at Gaijin Kanpai that Zer0 will be on hiatus for a little while and I'll be filling in for her next week, and also that our planned single review (move - "Overtakers feat. KAWAMURA RYUICHIxSUGIZO") fell through, so we'll instead be reviewing Sakanaction's "Rookie."

So, woot me! Come listen to me on Wednesday on the uStream if you really want to know what I have to say about "Rookie" and/or you want to hear me trip over my tongue like Gene Simmons with a fleshy jump rope and back-pedal faster than Lance Armstrong moving backwards through time at light speed. If nothing else, I know it'll be amusing.

(UPDATE: Here's the show I was on! It was awesome!

*GASP*

*splutter*

*gasp*

*hack hack cough*

*violent, spasmodic coughs*

*collapse on newfound beach*

Oh my god. I'm back. I'm here again.

*fearful giggles*

(You wouldn't believe what I've seen, the things I've... washed off my hands.)

(My chainsaw. Where's my chainsaw?)

It's been 17 days since we were separated by the tides of time, and in that time the tides of the ocean have been doing naughty things to Japan. I can't say that I would have been here if Japan hadn't been hit by the Earthquake-Tsunami One-Two Punch-Kick In The Face From Nature, so I won't. But I will say that my thoughts and prayers and love and fear and dread and hope go out to everyone over there, as well as to anyone in the world who has someone that was affected.

I'll also say that I'm planning to start writing my reviews again. "Oh no!" you say? Oh yes. OH YES.

I'm sure that many of you are upset, nonplussed, or possibly excited by this news. Good for you, wherever you may be emotionally. I'll be picking up with a new selection of albums and singles rather than trying to go back and cover what I missed. I may double up one some days if I have a little free time, but we'll see how it goes. In the mean time, I apologize for the disruption of service; we'll be back up and running tomorrow.