Infinite Seasons

J-Pop Enthrallment: MoMusu Holds Fox Down, iTunes Applies Rope and Gag - Film at 11

2007-12-18T04:05:45Z

I like iTunes. I can't really explain why, since I've tried lo-fi media management alternatives such as foobar2000 and the ubiquitous Winamp; hell, when I'm lazy I'll just open the file or folder I want to listen to in Media Player Classic. It must be that consumer-friendly sheen on Apple's interface, or the neat Cover Flow view they've got going on. Whatever it is, iTunes has become my music player of choice. The iTunes Store, on the other paw, has largely been a superfluous element. I've checked it out, sure, but in the end I can't justify paying $10 for an album's worth of low-quality DRM-ridden audio files. People like to poo-poo those arguments, but DRM just sucks, and yes, I *can* hear that iTunes files are less than CD-quality. I understand that iTunes has recently started offering higher-quality, DRM-free files for the same price, calling it "iTunes Plus." This, I will admit, does tempt a bit, but one look at Amazon's own MP3 download service reveals I can get pretty much the same thing over there, except cheaper. So what it boils down to is that I have no reason to use the iTunes Store whatsoever. Nope. None at all.

Oh, wait, there is one thing. iTunes has this curious selection of music in its catalog. It's weird stuff, man, and it's in some funky foreign language. I think it's like Japanese or something! I know, seriously right? They're calling it "J-Pop." Hahaha, "J-Pop." ...

Allow me to now completely undermine whatever credibility I may have established in the first paragraph: the fact is that J-Pop on iTunes calls to me like sweet crack cocaine. I mean, look at the cost effectiveness: $3 for a three-track digital single, or $15 with shipping to buy the physical CD? Suddenly the audio quality argument becomes a hell of a lot less compelling, because I admittedly have to use headphones to discern it. And DRM? Well... I suppose owning an iPod doesn't afford me the right to complain too vehemently... but... but....!!

Well, I'm sure you can imagine how the internal argument went, so here it comes. I spent $23 a few weeks ago to get Morning Musume's new single, "mikan," as well as their complete singles collection. I now have 38 tracks of sugary Tsunku goodness in my iTunes' "Purchased" folder. I am, to be perfectly honest, pretty happy with my purchase, which I should note also marks the first MoMusu stuff I have actually purchased, instead of listening to it via the blogosphere or on message boards. Clearly, I've passed several points of no return in one spectacular shining leap. And now, dear readers, I've come to blog about my newly-acquired bits of digital joy. Indulge me as I cover releases that everyone else finished talking about months ago. (Hey, I'm not the most punctual critter in the world.)

Morning Musume - "mikan" single

I would like to start this review with a small statement. I've read the blogging back-and-forth on Ai Takahashi's relative worth to Morning Musume. I enjoyed it, and took the points on both sides to heart for some honest reflection. However, I have my own rebuttal, taken from the "mikan" PV, as to why I still love Ms. Takahashi to death no matter what else happens:

Not the most erudite of explanations, but come ON, people. How can you not love a smile like that?! Ah, shameless bias; it's so good to me.

Anyway, I don't know enough about why this single apparently did badly in Japan, so I'm not going to dwell on that. "mikan," for me personally, is a pretty solid if admittedly not memorable effort from the girls. The lyrics are in the typical upbeat, "live life to your best~ <3" vein, but do throw a bone to English speakers like me with the "Oh yeah, you'll get a chance!" refrain. One could say "You'll get a chance!" to sing along passably well to the chorus. (Argh. Bad fox! Bad! *whaps self with newspaper*) The backing instrumentation is also pretty typical with its bouncy percussion and synth sparkles, but I should note that the instrumental version of this song actually fares well as listening material: the removal of the vocals exposes a bass line that normally runs in harmony with the main vocal melody, but which is pleasant to hear on its own and keeps the song from feeling "empty" as some pop instrumentals occasionally do. Vocally, the girls are on point. The song is not nearly as Ai Takahashi-centered as "onna ni sachi are" was (though she does have a part in nearly every chorus in addition to her solo lines), which gives some of the other girls, Reina Tanaka mostly, a chance to shine. Reina does very well, and throws in a little extra punch near the end by shouting out her "Oh yeah, one time!" line (another cute moment in the video, thanks to Qian Lin who gestures excitedly at Reina while she performs it). For the most part, all the other girls are given occasional solo lines, mostly singing together in the chorus. For the next single, I want more Risa Niigaki, and damn it, I especially want to hear more from Aika Mitsui. Her "ooki na oto de kyoku kiita~" solo line (her only solo line, actually) is probably the cutest thing in the song. Incidentally, it's interesting how I can claim a song is "not memorable" and then write such a long-ass paragraph about it. Basically, "mikan" fades from memory fairly quickly, to be frank, but while you're listening everything works like it should. Moving on.

The b-side, "Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! Bomb Girl," (click the link to listen via YouTube) is much more invigorating. Bopping along with a swinging mixture of horns, drums on the off beat, and a jazzy bass line, the girls trade fast-paced lines, interject with extremely cute "Yeah!"s at various points, and get together to shout the title of the song over and over as a refrain. The song is quite short at 3:16, but it's a tight three minutes and change that really kicks for the entirety of its length. I'll listen to it twice when it comes up in my playlist, and it's got more plays than "mikan" does if iTunes is to be believed. I'm not versed on the historical quality of Morning Musume b-sides, but in my opinion this one is pretty damn good and makes the single worth checking out even if you're not a fan of "mikan" itself.

In the end, as good as "Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! Bomb Girl" is, nothing on this single has the singular attraction for me that "onna ni sachi are" by itself exhibited. I had that song in my head for weeks, and "mikan" assuredly will not last nearly as long. But as I said, I'm not dissatisfied with the $2.97 I spent for this single - you really can't beat that price for what would otherwise be an import item. I continue to look forward to the group's next album release, which I will definitely be purchasing, physically or otherwise.

Morning Musume - Morning Musume All Singles Complete ~10th Anniversary~

I'll keep this short, despite the fact that there are 35 tracks on this beast of a collection. (Or maybe because there are 35 tracks, and I've already written a substantial amount.) I can think of no more succinct way to express myself than to say that I am enthralled by this collection. Man, the music I've been missing over these past years. I don't mean to oversell the group (heh, look what kind of audience I'm writing for), but as a person who has not-so-secretly treasured what I term "shiny pop music" for many years now, this collection pretty much hits me in all my weak spots at once. I've already taken a look at Morning Musume's earliest singles off their First Time album, but hearing everything between that and "onna ni sachi are" is like a really cool and completely engrossing history lesson. Within the span of two hours, one can hear the various vocalists of the group enter, grow up, and make their departures, sometimes all in the space of a few tracks. Just hearing how many different girls sing on these tracks makes the group's longevity all the more incredible. And I haven't even touched on the actual quality of the tracks themselves. Suffice it to say that almost all of these tracks are clever, catchy, and memorable. Several are genuine achievements in pop music. I am proud to own all of them.

I mentioned the whole "point of no return" thing either, right? Well, one of those points I zoomed by was the idea that I can hold back on buying more of this group's music. Clearly this is not the case, and I expect to be hunting down and purchasing the physical albums very soon. Music this good deserves to be heard in its full splendor.

(This blog post is a little lo-fi and doesn't really make use of, well, any markup features of Vox. I apologize for this, but I had the urge to write, and I felt that getting my thoughts down was better than stalling and putting off the blog for yet another three months. I do have the intention of writing more frequently, since I think a few people actually read this aside from myself when I post something!)

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That Was Then, This Is Now

2007-09-14T23:29:50Z

Over the past weeks, as I've kept up with my daily reading of various j-pop and H!P related blogs, it's been hard to avoid the announcement of Morning Musume's new single collection. As a new ~~sacrificial lamb to Tsunku's unholy altar~~ MM fan, thanks to recent single "onna ni sachi are" which I briefly wrote about last month, this new compilation has me interested. Of course, with the announcement also comes the much-discussed cover photo. In case you haven't seen it:

*GLARE*

I've heard all the comments, rumors, hatred, adulation, and most other things in between with regards to this cover, so I'll keep my own observations brief (plus, you know, I have a real entry to start at some point):
1) Yes, it's just like the "LOVE MACHINE" cover. I don't really mind.
2) Risa Niigaki (top row, second from left) does not look happy. Not that I can blame her, with that hair. Woof.

There's obviously been quite a number of comparisons drawn to the "golden age" of Morning Musume, both in the composition of the photo and with regards to the actual group members. I've been reading them all with interest, but the fact is that I have next to no knowledge when it comes to MoMusu of days gone by. I've heard "LOVE MACHINE," as well as a couple other songs from that general period such as "koi no DANCE SITE" and "renai REVOLUTION 21," but I only know them out of context; the best comment I've been able to make about those songs has been "wow, they sure sounded different back then!" I've decided to be a good little wota-in-training and go about changing that, by rolling up my sleeves and starting from the beginning. Enter First Time, the group's debut album, released waaaay back in 1998.

First Time

Morning Musume
First Time
zetima
Released July 8, 1998

01. Good Morning
02. Summer Night Town
03. dou ni ka shite doyoubi
04. Morning Coffee
05. yume no naka
06. ai no tane
07. wagamama
08. mirai no tobira
09. usotsuki anta
10. samishii hi

My immediate reaction as I put on my headphones and started listening was pretty much "WTF?" Obviously I was expecting the general sound to be removed from the group's present-day one, but not by quite this much. On my first playthrough of the album I thought it sounded more like MAX than Morning Musume in places. I gave it time, though, and I'm growing to like it more and more, even as I listen while writing this.

The ten songs collected on First Time are very, very far removed from the no-nonsense electronic production of the group's later works; instead, the sound is based on acoustic instruments and is generally much quieter, even laid-back in places. Most of all, the album feels surprisingly open, accessible, with songs that have space to breathe. As comparison, I love "onna ni sachi are," for example, but that song is encased head-to-toe in Tsunku's slick production values: I can listen but I can't touch, if that makes any sense. But on First Time, I can hear someone strumming a guitar under the main melody of "Morning Coffee." This is revolutionary! That said, though, there are a number of little sonic elements in these songs that I can only assume to be Tsunku's magical(?) touch: listen to the weird little cackle that pops up in one of the tracks, or the exotic synth touches in "wagamama," or the way "Good Morning" opens the album with a sampled voice saying "oh yeah?" followed by an enthusiastic "YAY!" from the Musumes themselves. These little flourishes don't define the songs like they would later efforts such as "LOVE MACHINE;" instead they stay in the background and help to keep things interesting.

Contributing to the accessibility are the vocalists. Just five members at the group's inception, with three more added on shortly afterward, none of the members on this album are with the group anymore. Thus I'm hearing many of these voices and forming impressions - and yes, attachments - for the first time. Yuko Nakazawa, wow, she was my age when this album came out. Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Kei Yasuda I know vaguely, thanks to YouTube and a healthy dose of Ayaka's Surprise English Lessons (watch these, they are hilarious!), but never like this. Asuka Fukuda, Sayaka Ichii, and Aya Ishiguro are completely new to me. Natsumi Abe, well, even I knew who she was beforehand, but I've paid so little attention to her solo work that she might as well be new. The vocal performances are uneven in places - even Nacchi, who doesn't sound like she's fully developed vocally, has some off parts - and to be perfectly honest, even at their best, these girls don't really rise above, say, the level of a really good karaoke performance. But the ultimate charm of this album is that the vocals work together. Highlights for me include the breezy "usotsuki anta" with its relaxed two-person harmonies, the wonderful call-and-response in "yume no naka," and the infectious "daikirai, daikirai, daikirai, daisuki!" in the chorus of "Summer Night Town." These eight girls sound like a cohesive group, and that's an achievement: it takes them a step away from being simple throwaway pop and helps to give the album a more lasting appeal. It's also not something I can confidently say applies to the present-day group, either, although I would need to hear more to really make a solid judgement.

Bottom line? Color me impressed - very impressed - by this debut. It has me entertaining thoughts of buying the group's discography (albums, anyway) in one fell swoop, were it not for my wallet and the fact that the older stuff may well be out of print now (I have no idea). I'm extra excited for the singles collection, and I can't wait to delve further into the group's back catalog, now that I've heard them at their start. I feel like I know the basics, but there's still more ground to cover that I might better understand just how Morning Musume arrived at "LOVE MACHINE" - and where they chose to go afterward.

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