JPOP X CAFE

平井堅 Ken Hirai - FAKIN’ POP album

Ken Hirai - Fakin’ Pop album

Album : Fakin’ Pop
Singer : 平井堅 Ken Hirai

1. 「POP STAR」(23th singleドラマ「危険なアネキ」主题歌)
2. 「君はス・テ・キ」(新リプトンリモーネ TV CMソング)
3. 「君のすきなとこ」(26th single:ドラマ「演歌の女王」主题歌)
4. 「キャンバス」(28th single:ドラマ「ハチミツとクローバー」主题歌)
5. 「Pain」(新録曲)
6. 「fake star」(27th single:明治製菓「Fran」TV CMソング)
7. 「UPSET」(新録曲)
8. 「美しい人」(26th single C/W:资生堂「エリクシールシュヘ゜リエル」TV CMソング)
9. 「哀歌(エレジー)」(25th single:映画「爱の流刑地」主题歌)
10. 「Twenty!Twenty!Twenty!」(アルバム初収録:J-WAVE开局20周年ソング)
11. 「バイマイメロディー」(24th single:au by KDDI 「LISMO MUSIC」テレビCMソング)
12. 「いつか离れる日が来ても」(新録曲)(アルバム初収録:映画「あの空をおぼえてる」主题歌)
13. 「写真」(新録曲)(JRA2008イメージソング)
My review:

A very strong album, containing 5 singles (+ some SIDE Bs).

The last track, 「写真」 was performed on Musicstation last Friday, and it sings about Ken Hirai’s memories with his dad (who has passed away). A very sweet song. I quite like the cover which is quite creative =)

Another recommendation would be Track 12 : 「いつか离れる日が来ても」.

Overall, a definite worthwhile album to buy!

2008, Enka, JPOP, JPOP Single, 演歌

ジェロ Jero - 演歌 enka singer

03.07.08 | No Comments

ジェロ Jero - Enka singer

This is an interesting phenomena.

Jero is an African American, whose grandmother is a japanese.

Under the influence of his grandmother, he started to like 演歌(Japanese traditional music) and started to participate in Karaoke contests while he was in Japan.

I watched the recent うたばん and he commented that he was talent-scouted at a Karaoke contest in 大阪 Osaka.

He also performed his debut single @ うたばん - 「海雪」.

I find his vocals pretty good for 演歌 enka singing - the vibrato and the low vocals for guys. The only thing I find it difficult to accept now is the hip-hop dancing that he does in the intro music of the song. Somehow, it is a difficult start to imagine hip-hop dancing together with 演歌. But, nevertheless, it is a very good try and I would look forward to see if he will release a cover album of some famous enka songs.

Here’s 「海雪」Music Video :

Flashback, JPOP, Japanese drama theme song

Flashback #1 -Every Little Thing

03.02.08 | No Comments

Since the recent 「サクラビト」, I have been revisiting some of Every Little Thing’s old hits since I first got to know them thru this album:

Every Little Thing - Time to Destination

2nd Album : Time to Destination

It contains some of Every Little Thing’s most classic hits, including Shapes of Love, 出会った頃のように、Time goes by.

Every Little Thing debut in 1996 with their first single 「Feel My Heart」. They rose to fame quickly in 1997 and performed in the 1997 紅白歌合戦 for the first time with 「Shapes of Love」、which was a Japanese drama theme song.「イタズラなKiss」（柏原崇、佐藤藍子).

Recently, I watched their performance in a NHK program, SONGS.持田香織 (vocalist) was interviewed and she spoke about the departure of 五十嵐充 (the leader of the group when they debut and was responsible for majority of the song compositions) in 2000 from the group. She mentioned the worries, uncertainty and the decision to move forward as a duo (in the name of Every Little Thing).

In 2001, as a duo, they released 「fragile」（single), which was very well-received by the fans and also, depicted on their 決心（determination) in moving forward as a duo. Since the duo re-started their journey, I observed that 持田’s singing style took a change and she was also writing the lyrics for most of their music. This marks another era of ELT’s music since the duo started. Again, many wonderful hits came along such as 恋文、愛のカケラ、UNSPEAKABLE and even the recent サクラビト.

Also, in the show, 持田 revealed her feelings for their most representative work 「Time goes by」. In 1998 when this single was released and became a hit, she could not fully appreciate the song and its lyrics, but more concentrated in producing a good sound in her vocals. As the group went thru changes and over the years of experience and growth, she can now appreciate the lyrics much more and perform the song with even more feelings. To her, this is definitely a very important song which I believe most fans will also agree on.