saikin hamatteru j-pop

[tachikaze]

. . . the teen-pop group HALCALI. I really like their sound . . . either this is the post-modern age where anyone can sound good with enough tweaking in ProTools or they've got some real talent. [Many of] the producers behind them have a strong Shibuya-kei influence so their sound is pretty relaxed.

One strange thing is their recent B-sides are pretty good, better than most anything on the Oricon-100 to my ears.

They haven't been burning up the charts. . .

http://www.tbs.co.jp/cdtv/artistdb/artist2476-j.html

but that's OK. Check out "Strawberry Chips" on the video sharing site that can't be named for a sample.

Also thanks to the above video site, I'm kinda surprised at what happened to Kaori Mochida's voice ca. 2000. She really isn't able to sing any of the ELT 90s meikyokus any more. I think this might be why Igarashi left the band.

[nakoruru]

I loved ELT's old synth pop sound. Face the Change and many others were da bomb. I didn't really dig anything they released since Igarashi left. I find it pretty sad to see what happened to Kaori.

Out of the blue, I started to listen to Hikaru Utada! Many many years ago I got hooked up on Automatic so I rented her "First Love" album but I didn't like it. It sounded too R&B-ish. So the other day, I downloaded her latest concert and I loved it.

Alas, it's been a while - maybe years I haven't heard an album so impressive like "Ultra Blue". But I get the feeling that either you love or hate Utada. This new album of hers is worth checking out. And "Deep River" as well.

Mika Nakashima is great too. Her jazzy style is sooooo good. Too bad she drifted away with the whole Nana thing. But hopefully her new album will have her previous style.

[tachikaze]

being a kraftwerk fanatic you might like HALCALI's "Ni Fuku Hoshi", the B-side to the Strawberry Chips single. If the torrent isn't still active I can re-seed it for you. . .

sadly, youtube just purged the last guy who uploaded about 50 ELT vids, not for the first time.

[nakoruru]

being a kraftwerk fanatic you might like HALCALI's "Ni Fuku Hoshi", the B-side to the Strawberry Chips single. If the torrent isn't still active I can re-seed it for you. . .

I was able to download all their singles. Thanks for the seeding offer. I really really liked "Ni Fuku Hoshi", it sounds quite Kraftwerk-ish. For me, vocoder just will never get old! ^^;

I liked Strawberry Chips as well but I'm afraid I didn't quite into their other songs. Hip hop is simply not my cup of tea but I do think they are talent. I think you guys here on the forum should give them a try.

[tachikaze]

Some of UA's stuff and her recent Bokura TV appearance made it onto the jpop tracker . . . wow, I knew she had a couple of good songs in the mid-late 90s but I didn't know she could sing like that . . . a real rival to Miwa, almost . . .