My top 15 tracks of 2010

Now the calendar has flipped over to 2011, it's time for me to jump on the bandwagon that every other J-pop blogger seems to do, and put out an update where I tell you all my particular favourite songs of the past year, normally with YouTube links embedded for extra prettiness, and to point out just how awesome these tracks are.

Well, I better not disappoint (even though at least one of my tracks isn't a single track, but an album track, and so a live version may have to be found)

This has been a very interesting year, in my opinion, with good and, well, not so good tracks being brough out by several groups, and it has also seen a bit of a shuffle in my favourite groups, with one or two newcomers elbowing their way into my listings.

Before launching into my countdown, I will first give a few honorable mentions.

First honourable mention;

AKB48 - Heavy Rotation

This track is a typical release from the AKB stable (please, no horse jokes), combining a good song, with a saucy video. Even if you don't like the group, OR the song, it has to get a thumbs up for the pure quantity of lingerie clad ladies in the video!



Second honourable mention;

Morning Musume - Moonlight Night ~Tsukiyo no Ban da yo~

This is the first of my Album tracks to get into my list, and is a stunning, fast paced and fairly heavy track. I had to root around for a live performance of this, as there is no video for it - but it's great live (I saw it in Paris, so I know!), but this version from the Genki Piki Pika tour has much better production. Enjoy!



Third honourable mention;

Berryz Koubou - Shining Power

This was to be the last single by Berryz for 2010, and was a great end to the year for them. This song gave Yurina the chance to be the focus (and doesn't she look stunning!)



Right, now it's time for me to start my countdown in earnest.

Seriously, this was very hard for me to do, originally I intended to make this a top 10, but really couldn't leave out any of the tracks included, as I felt they needed to be there.
For those who know me, you may be a bit surprised at the outcome, but truly, this is how it ended up.

In 15th Place;

Mano Erina - Haru no Arashi

This is the first Mano song to really catch my attention. Before this, I thought she was an average soloist - albeit a very attractive one - but average, song wise.
Her stuff was always listenable, but ultimately, best for going to sleep listening to (and I did use it to put me to sleep for a while!).
This song, however, is relaxed, while also having the elusive spark her previous releases were missing, and probably made me into a bit of a fan.



In 14th Place;

Berryz Koubou - Maji Bomber

A truly rocking song from Berryz Koubou, and I was surprised it did as badly as it did in the Oricon. The only reason it didn't get higher on MY chart, was due to the high level of quality of releases it had to fight against. A good summer song, from my 2nd favourite group!



In 13th Place;

Momoiro Clover - Coco*Natsu

Momoiro Clover are a relatively new group to me, as I only really got into them while I was in Japan this autumn - yes, I will eventually get around to blogging about it here - but check out my YouTube page for my Video Blog about it.
Anyway, this is actually a B-side - but unlike Hello!Project, the creators of this group (Stardust Promotion Agency) go the extra mile, and have made PV's for all 3 of the tracks from the Pinky Jones single.
An extremely fun summer song, with a very silly video (with some fairly dodgy suggestiveness - a trait Momoclo are getting it seems), and so catchy!

co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co co natsu! woo!




In 12th Place;

C-ute - Shock

The first single of 2010 by my No.1 group - and it was basically an Airi solo, with some backing vocals by the other 4 members.
Because of this it got alot of slating by fans of the other members (I am actually primarily a Chisato fan - and was disappointed to see her once again pushed towards the back - and her solo version is not fun for me to watch, as she hardly sings anything, and looks unhappy), but it is actually, in my opinion, a very good song.
I can listen to it over and over (and did - 1485 plays on iTunes, in 2010), and so it lands in my list. Very good, but once again overshadowed.



In 11th Place;

Morning Musume - Onna to Okoto no Lullaby Game

This was to be Kamei Eri, Jun Jun and Lin Lin's final single with Morning Musume, and what a sending off they got!
The almost arabic sound to this song made it a very 'interesting' song at first, for me, but it soon grew on me, and the PV is very good too, the dance is, erm, interesting, with the "point at our nipples then do a very wierd body swing and head jerk" thing going on. Don't they look beautiful though?



In 10th Place;

Ogawa Mana - Hitoribocchi no Watashi

Nudging into the top 10 of this last year, is what may be one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Ogamana is an extremely talented singer with Nice Girl Project (for those who don't know), being both a member of Canary Club, and a soloist, and doing Anime songs as well.
This song leaves me speechless everytime I listen, as well as leaving a tear in my eye too. If you only watch one of these clips - make it this one!



In 9th Place;

Mano Erina - Genkimono de Ikou!

I earlier mentioned that Haru no Arashi was the song that made me notice Mano as a decent artist.
This was the song that proved it to me. A really upbeat song, with a video that is 100% insanity, and a complete change from your everyday H!P video make this a firm favourite of the year.



In 8th Place;

S/mileage - Onaji Jikyuu de Hataraku Tomodachi no Bijin mama

The (at this time) latest single by S/mileage, and hopefully the last of the insanely long - and impossible to remember - titles, is a fast paced, rock song, with the trademark cuteness of S/mileage, and the added touch of a cameo appearance of ex-Morning Musume & W member, Nozomi Tsuji.
S/mileage have fast become one of my favourite groups, and I can also report they are awesome live!!!



In 7th Place;

C-ute - Aitai Lonely Christmas

My favourite group once again pulled a blinder, by finally giving me a Christmas song I love to listen to over and over, complete with a video that is just purely perfect for the song (Chisato looks especially stunning in it too!)
A sad song, but it certainly made the grade as far as I'm concerned!



In 6th Place;

Sugaya Risako - Elegant Girl

This is a song made for the Anime "Mecha Mote Iincho", and Risako voices the part of Himuru Ibu, and this is her song.
From the second I heard it, I knew it'd be awesome - I love the sound of a Spinet or Harpsichord, and the music is based around that sound (I expect as they are an elegant sounding instrument, and Ibu-sama is meant to be an elegant, if snooty, girl (hence the title))
A really catchy song, and Risako looks mind blowingly beautiful in the video - if a little pouty.



In 5th Place;

Berryz Koubou - Tomodachi wa, Tomodachi Nanda

One of my all time favourites by Berryz, this is a happy, summer song, and I really love the video - Captain looks particularly magnificent in it, possibly at her best!
I like the cheerfulness of the song, and like that all the girls get solo lines in it.



In 4th Place;

Morning Musume - Ooki Hitomi

Oddly, apart from one, all my Morning Musume favourites have been album tracks, rather than singles, and this is my highest ranking song by Morning Musume this year.
I love the autotuned style of Sayumi's voice, and how it rivals the pure singing talents of Eri and Reina (I don't mean Sayumi can't sing, so don't get all bitchy on comments, lol, she's my 2nd favourite Musume after all!)
The song is massively catchy, and has a great disco style, and I can (and often do) play it on repeat for several plays.
As it didn't have an official video, I had to find another concert version, but again, it's a good one! Genki Pika Pika was a good show!



We now reach the top 3 songs of 2010, and for me, these 3 were the only easy part of the list. They stand head and shoulders above the others (like Yurina, standing with Momo, Captain, Chisa and Karin)

In 3rd Place;

C-ute - Dance de Bakoon

Ahh, I love the smell of Bakoon in the morning! I also love the sound of C-ute in the morning, so what better way to start my top 3, than with C-ute's dance song of the year, Dance de Bakoon!
Awesome song, and an even better dance! Who can resist Chisabutt! not I :P
Also, this was the song that heralded a strong change in Chisato's standing within the H!P community, her solo 'home dancing' version of the video is the most viewed H!P video by a huge ammount - having just under 900,000 views (at time of writing).
This huge viewing figure has now paved the way for more videos for her, and two solo concerts. Finally, people are waking up to this girls amazing talents!



In 2nd Place;

Momoiro Clover - Pinky Jones

Sadly, the full on awesomeness of this video is unavailable, as I cannot find a version with the 2 minute introduction included, but those who have the CD (limited A) will agree, the extra bit makes it even better!
The acting ability of Momoclo is awful - which makes it even better (and Momoka - my favourite, in green - is awful at sports) - and the whole scenario is silly, but the song is completely addictive, and I will think nothing of repeating this song for an hour or more, it never fails to bring a smile to my face.
I can see this group being a serious contender to H!P groups (and they did battle against Berryz Koubou's 'Shining Power' with this track - and it was very close indeed.

Chappa Chappa!



So, we come to the final spot. Will it be held by C-ute, My favourite group? Will it be some obscure group no one has heard of? or will my visit to the AKB Theatre, along with the live rendition of Beginner by ALL OF Team A have finally swayed me that way?

No, is the answer. My favourite group have been beaten into third place this year, and all it took, is a bunch of young upstarts to do it.

With just under 1200 plays since it was released on 26th May, averaging 5.4 plays every day.... this years song of the year, is.....

S/mileage - Yume Miru 15 Sai

This song blew me away the day it was released, being a very different song style to the previous 4 S/mileage songs.
It was their Major Debut song, and before its release, I didn't think anything could knock aMa no Jaku off the pedastal of No.1 S/mileage track. Then this came out, and did just that.
I love everything about this song, from the outfits, to the twinkly, dangly things. They all fit the song perfectly.
It is still my No.1 S/mileage song, and also my Number 1 song of 2010!




There you go, I guess you didn't expect C-ute to be No.3... or for Momoiro Clover to get anywhere, lol, but hey - if it's a good song, I listen to it.
I wish I had more space and time, to make an even bigger selection of songs, there was Lilpri too, that should have got in there, and the C-ute Musical theme song, gah, so much good stuff in one year!

Lets hope that 2011 brings an even better selection, and that my choices next year are even harder.

Happy New year everyone! Feel free to comment on my choices.

MM in Paris, part three

Well, while I was queueing up overnight for a 'first come first served' autograph session, I started to do the 3rd in my Paris Japan Expo blog updates, but ran out of internet access before I could finish it, but I did save it, so here it is, unedited...;


"Well, today was the day of the concert, and it was fucking awesome.

I'll get to that later, first, a bit of the run up to it.

I set off from my fathers house at midnight, to get to the FNAC signing, for around 4am, which should have been enough time to guarantee a spot for myself at the very first signing session in Europe.
As it was, after a fun night of queueing, meeting many friends like Dran, Laa'Kea, .Brian and Chibilolli - all from H!O, It finally came time to go in for the signing.

I got down into the shop, and bought my CD (A copy of Kimagure Princess - for 11€), and was then told that the signing tickets had run out! I was understandably livid!!!

Anyway, I didn't get to the Expo yesterday, so today was my next chance for a signature...and yep, I failed again, ffs.

For the first time, I met Blu-Cherri outside the H!P stall, who had been frantically looking for other H!O members, and so she tagged along with us for the rest of the day, and we headed over to the signing first - to see our good friend GinaRAWR get her first signature (she was the only one of out intepid band to get a winning ticket) and so, during the signing, a gap in the queue for Aika appeared, so I shouted Aika's name out, as she was right infront of me, and doing nothing, so I blew her a kiss, and she made a gesture of snatching it out the air, and putting it to her lips, so I pretended to faint, which made her laugh.

I hope to do a repeat of the event, today but while actually being signed - she will remember me!

So after the signing event, we headed over to queue up for the concert, after gathering up Maoh-san, our good friend from Japan, who came to Eurowota, and there we sat in the boiling sun for a good hour or two....but it turned to rain and thunder, which was actually a blessed relief, as the heat was very opressive!

The security guard opened the door to the concert hall a couple of times, which drove the crowd wild, as Momusu were warming up in there, and other in-queue stuff happened, including a couple of Japanese Wota who were selling photocards in the queue - I couldn't resist a couple of Chisato, a couple of Miyabi, and a Momo card...

Also, Blu-Cherri showed off her dancing skills, to Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, and Jankenpyon - she rocks at the dancing!!"

That's as far as I got - so I'll briefly sum up the concert again, then get on to a bit more about that & the following day.

Concert:

When we finally got in to the concert, I managed to get a spot around 7 rows back, with Dran, Maoh, Blu-Cherri and -Kitsune-, and we got all glow-sticked up, and the girls came on.

They sang alot, danced alot, and to be honest, I can't remember what songs they did - except that they started off with Moonlight Night. The rest of the concert was a blur of beautiful faces, chants, glowstick waving, jumping up and down, and sweating alot - all while feeling very light-headed and euphoric.

If this is what it's to be like at an H!P concert, then it's a drug I was instantly addicted to! God knows how the REAL events in Japan will take me!


It's funny, looking back to that night of queueing, how excited I was about getting an autograph, and how that excitement was to be dashed, as the full night of queueing was screwed over by badly timed bad weather, and the inability of people to have a scrap of courtesy.

The rain came down while we queued, and came down hard. Several people left the line to stand under the canopy at the entrance to the Expo hall, and these people weren't the first to have arrived, but the security people let them in, in front of us, and it went downhill from there. The VIP ticket holders had got in 1/2 an hour before us, and virtually cleared out all of the 150 tickets for the signing, and so I had no chance, as I'm English. So I queue. I'm good at it, I'm even bred for it, some would say.

I'm not bred to be rude, pushy and aggressive - sometime I wish I was, but anyway, water under the bridge, etc.... I don't really care that I didn't get a signature, as I actually managed (along with Dran, Nimrod, -Kitsune- and Mnhuik from H!O) to bump into Morning Musume, just outside the Trocadero Metro Station, overlooking the Eiffel Tower

Yep, I know these pics have been bandied about a bit already, but they were from MY camera, so I'm going to put them up for myself - two not very well taken pics of some of the MM girls as I saw them...





We stayed well back, and tried to not interfere too much with their visit, but when Reina noticed Nimrod's tattoo of herself on his arm, she got excited, and took a photo of it (which later appeared on her blog - the lucky fella!), and a few of the other girls took pics of us with their phones, sadly none of these have yet come to light.

I got to catch Aika's attention again, and once more blew her a kiss, which she caught, and ate, then she blew one back! She blew it in a slightly different direction though, so I ran after it, and caught it, and ate it myself - before joke fainting again :D

As they were leaving, the staff came over to us, and asked us if we wanted to be in a photograph with the girls (like we'd refuse!!) and so we lined up with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, and the girls in a line infront of us, and we all gave peace signs to the camera, while they took a couple of pictures - and they also videoed it, so I am hoping against hope for a DVD to come out - even if it's only a FC DVD (I have friends in the FC - I'll get a copy if it comes into existence!!)

Nimrod snapped this awesome pic of me blowing my kiss to Aika, as she spots me doing it, and waves. So sweet!!



Well, there may be a 4th update, there may not - I've pretty much said it all, apart from complaints about certain aspects, but I really don't want to spoil my memories by remembering the bad things.

I'll sign off by thanking all my friends for making it a memorable event - that's friends both old & new - you all rock my world!

peace out!

MM in Paris, part two.

I finally got to my fathers house, and spent a couple of days recuperating, and getting ready for my night time trip to Paris, to get to the FNAC store, as early as possible, so I can queue up for the autograph session there.

Well, tonight is THAT night, and so I have packed, and it's time for the 3rd of my 4 different transports of delight, that are to take me to see the glorious Morning Musume in the flesh for the first time.

Here is my next mode of transport, loaded up, apart from my huge rucksack, that will complete the ensemble.



It's gonna take me around 4 hours to get to Paris, I think, and I hope all goes well - strange country, wrong side of the road, night time etc...

And the worst thing happened, one of my headphones broke, so I will only have music in one ear - nooooo!!!!!!

Hey ho, I'll update again soon (maybe from the queue if there is WI-FI available outside the store, but i doubt it.

MM in Paris, part one.

Ok, I know MM aren't even in Paris yet, so why am I blogging about it already?

Do I have some kind of amazing time machine I used to skip ahead and tell you how the concert went?

Maybe.

(By the way, the surprise guest was Tsunku, and he even danced on stage with MM, and did some of his backing vocals live, and an old Sharan Q number, can't remember which one, but refused all requests for autographs.
Also, if Chibilolli EVER does that to Gaki again, I think she'll be getting a restraining order :P )

Seriously, I'm blogging now, because my journey to Paris is an epic quest ranging across half of England, and half of France, using 4 different forms of transport, all very (well, a bit) different, all for the chance of seeing Morning Musume live!

It all started the day the tickets were to be sold online, I had stayed up all night, to guarantee I could get one for myself, and shortly before buying it, I booked my flight with EasyJet (only £70 return from Liverpool), and had organised hotels, and then the tickets became available, and I leapt on them like, erm, like, well, like a wota after a Morning Musume ticket.

Only about an hour after I got my ticket, my father came online, so I spoke to him in MSN (He lives in France) and he said he'd been trying to get hold of me, because he was bidding on a van on eBay, and could I bring it down to him, and he'd pay all my costs.

Yeah, you guessed, I didn't realise until the next day, that my airline ticket wsn't refundable after 24hrs, so I was left with a flight that wasn't needed, and a wasted £80 inc insurance.

So, to cut a long story short (too late!!) I am now driving this van for him, still all expenses paid, and it now has my motorbike in the back, for me to go to Paris on, and my ferry out is a Fast Ferry, and it's a normal one back (or maybe the Channel Tunnel, I haven't bought my return ticket yet)

Anyway, here is the battle bus in all it's glory, on the carpark of the Cathedral of despair I am writing this from;



Yes, I am mad....yes that is a 16 year old Window Licker bus, converted into a motorhome....and yes, I am driving it all the way to Flers in France.

BUT IT'S ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

I'll update when I get to my Fathers house - sayonara!!

it's good news week!

Firstly, this morning, it was confirmed on Ogawa Saki's blog, that there will be at least one show of their upcoming debut tour, in Tokyo, while I am there later this year!

I had been dreading for weeks, that they would have their shows in early October, before I hit the country, so I am so relieved that I will get to see them - hopefully twice (early show, and late show - well, as late as they can perform anyway!)

Also, to complete the week of good news, it was announced yesterday, that Arihara Kanna, ex-C-ute member, and good friend of Umeda Erika, has her own blog at last, so I need never lose contact with her again (she was my 2nd favourite in C-ute, before leaving)
It also appears she is off for a photoshoot today, and the rumor-mill is grinding out stories that she has signed with some Idol Agency - no one seems to know which - so I'm hoping her career is about to take off again. Please gods, let it be true!

Anyway, if you are sensible enough to want to watch her blog for yourself, either go there thru my Blogroll, or check it out here

A little trip to London and one last thing....

This week, I took a few days out of my hectic work schedule, to go down to the big smoke, and see Hangry & Angry perform in a dingy little box of a venue, called the Camden Underworld.

Travelling down with my good friend Pete (sswishbone from H!O) on National Express, was made somewhat easier by the cunning use of a Laptop to watch We Are Buono 2010 winter show, followed by C-ute's Cutie Circuit 2008 - 9gatsu 10ka wa c-ute no hi, followed by the Hello Project 'Huge Battle in Hawaii' TV programme, filmed way back when Kago Ai had recently joined in 2000, where they took Morning Musume, Coconuts Musume, Melon Kinen-bi, T&C Bomber and Heike Michiyo to Hawaii and ritually humiliated them! A good vid, well worth watching.

We dropped our stuff off in our hotel, and went off to meet up with as many people as possible (turned out to be only 2 others, lol, X5-2000 from Norway, and Cdevil4, but we eventually became 5, when we met up with Caradoc from H!O in the Trocadero.

It became time to go home shortly afterwards, but the next morning - after a fantastic fry-up breakfast at the local cafe (full of builders, of course) - the day of the gig, we headed straight off to the venue - to see if anyone had started queueing yet.

Lo and behold, even at 11am, there were 2 girls sitting on the steps, who we later spoke to, and found to be a decent bunch - and only 2 of a larger group (I think).

Anyway, we wandered round Camden for a bit, and went for a coffee in the same Starbucks as Rika had been photo'd in, the previous day, before going back to the venue, where more people had appeared (CDevil 4, Chronik & X5-2000 included) and being true northerners, me & sswishbone persuaded them all to give up queueing and get into the pub next door, where we downed a couple of pints before going off to meet up with KRV, MarkRAWR & GinaRAWR, along with associated others - who included the infamous Chibilolli and Shirow.

I got my lovely Autographed Koharu Kusumi poster off MarkRAWR (which will have pride of place on my bedroom wall, when I can get a frame) and an A4 pic of Umeda Erika from GinaRAWR, which will also need framing ASAP, before Pete went off with KRV to collect Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!, then we all set off for the concert (well, we may have stopped off for food on the way, in Tokyo)

The concert its self was the next location, and we got there, with plenty of time to spare, and crashed 1/2 the queue, meeting back up with all the people mentioned earlier, along with Madlandyman and his lovely wife, and we finally got into the gig.

Right, from this point on, for the next hour and a half, it was all a blur, I can't remember the playlist, I can't remember the temperature or anything else, except the fact that the gig was totally awesome.

Yossie and Rika (or should that be Hangry and Angry) we utterly divine - even better in the flesh than in any photo, and they really rocked the joint.

I spent a good 10% of the gig not in contact with the floor at all, as I got the urge to jump in the air as high as possible, as many times as I could, whenever one or another of the girls looked my way, while thrusting the correctly coloured glowsticks in the air as high as they would reach, while chanting 'hai hai hai', or 'hey hey hey', or even just shouting their name - it was like a fever overtook me, I just couldn't stop!!



As this was my first proper H!P (or loosely based) event, I don't think I was really prepared for the full impact of my Idols being so near, and the frenzy it would send me into. I guess this is what it is to be wota - and after this event I can say that I am at last at home!

The gig ended much to soon for me (mentally that is - I wanted to carry on being hyper, but I was physically exhausted by the end, and was glad of the chance to stop before I keeled over dead), and then the chanting of 'encoru' started - I think I was one of the ones to start it - or I like to think so, anyway - and they came back on, and did The Peace - and I was at it again!! Boing Boing Boing lol.

After the song, came the Q&A session, and the chance for some lucky bastards to get a 3-shot, or a signed poster. I'm not a lucky bastard, it seems.

Finally it was all over, and everyone headed to the pub, and there we chatted for another couple of hours, people from just about everywhere in the UK, and a few fans from Japan all met up for what should have been the real Eurowota 2010 meet!

The whole evening was a triumph, I made new friends, and met old ones, and had a bloody good time, and I really can't wait for the Morning Musume concert in Paris, and especially can't wait for my trip to Japan in october. The whole thing is going to be a revelation for me.

Anyway, the next morning, several of us met up again, and hit London for a spot of shopping at the Japan Centre, then we wandered to Tokyo Toys (again walking in the footsteps of Yossie & Rika), and then off to our seperate destinations, which meant Victoria Bus Station for me & Pete, and another long bus ride home (ending up being 7 hours, due to traffic problems) once again made easier by concerts, and PV's on my Laptop (thank Maasa the battery lasted all 7 hours on my Laptop!)

I expect my next update will be in a month, when I come back from Paris.

One last thing - S/mileage released their Major Debut Single this week, titled 夢見る15歳 - and I must say, it's bleedin' amazing.
These girls are going to go a long way!! They hit No5 on their first days sales, and sold out in many places, which sadly affected their 2nd days placement I expect, but for a first non-indie single, it has done well.



Thanks to GauBan2501 for the video of Hangry & Angry, and smileages for the PV of S/mileage - Yumemiru 15 Sai

slight change of schedule

I said my next update would be another serious one, about Wota & Kimoi, but I interrupt my regular schedule, to just say that today, Umeda Erika, who left my favourite group, C-ute, last October, today published a picture on her blog, of her and my favourite ex-member, Arihara Kanna (of whom no one had heard a peep, in over a year, since she went on hitaus because of a bunyon, then her departure was announced a few months later).



This makes me very very happy - especially coming as it does, on Suzuki Airi & Yossie's birthday! Today has been a triple whammy of fantasticness!