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Post by Joseph on Feb 17, 2006 5:51:02 GMT -5
I'm sorry I have not responded in so long. I just didn't know when you were going to respond. Glad to be back. I found an awesome new Eurodance pop artist called Bambee. She is totally awesome! Her songs are basically on level with Smile.dk. I just love her songs, they are so fun and happy and cool. I got her CD Fairytales (Japanese title "Fairy") from HMV Japan, and for the next 10 days I listened to her non-stop. Many of her songs are about going to a tropical island paradise, and the rest are about love and independence. My favorite song is "Red, Yellow, Green and Blue." It sounds kind of like Aqua, but it's really fun and cool. Bambee's lyrics are better than Toy-Box's, even better than Smile.dk's in some cases. One great thing about Bambee is she uses unique rhyming/verse techniques -- she likes to change it up. I jam to Bambee all the time. It's like this CD was made for me! Right now, Dream's new album "Boy Meets Girl" is my #1 recommendation on Amazon.co.jp. I heard the samples and it sounds pretty good! It's more dancey, not as good as the old days, but certainly better than the mediocre stuff they have been coming out with the last two years. I got Megumi Hayashibara's latest single "Makenaide Makenaide." It's not as exciting or edgy as her other singles -- it's just a normal pop song, really. Not something I'd go out of my way for. Globe 2 Pop/Rock is #16 on the list, m.o.v.e.'s Angel Eyes is #18, and Raimei -out of kontrol- is #23. Grid is #42. I don't know if I'm going to get Grid yet -- it's not as important of a priority. I'd be more likely to get "Boy Meets Girl" by Dream. I too have been looking at Lee Jung Hyun's CDs as well. They seem so interesting, so please let me know what you think of her. Have you ever heard of FictionJunction YUUKA? I ask because it's in my recommended list, and it has beautiful cover art, but I can't find any information about them. Like Nami Tamaki, they also do Gundam Seed songs. FictionJunction YUUKA is my #4, #22, and #50 on my Amazon recommendations. On my next YesAsia purchase, I'm going to finally get Globe 2 Pop/Rock, and Ami Suzuki's 'Around the World.' Ami Suzuki is totally awesome -- her songs are exciting. She's as good as Nami Tamaki and better, and she might just become my new favorite! I don't know if you know about Ami Suzuki, but here's her site link just in case. www.avexnet.or.jp/ami/ As you can tell from the URL, she's also an Avex artist.
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Post by molotov889 on Feb 17, 2006 11:56:47 GMT -5
It's cool. I know there was a long period where I just never got around to posting, too. So, is that Bambee the same one that sang Bumble Bee for DDR? (If so, I'm really starting to see a pattern developing here with the artists you like . Although, I guess it's not too surprising considering the focus of DDR music.) And I just have to say... wow, Aqua... that takes me back to like junior(?) year of high school, I think. Maybe earlier. LOL. I remember everyone was obsessed with that Barbie song for the longest time. When you say rhyming techniques, do you just mean the structure of the rhyme scheme, or that she plays around with rapping, etc...? It's good to see Globe 2 making its way up your list to buy. Prolly when you get it, the new album won't be too far behind, which may persuade you to look into getting that one too. If you haven't already, go check out globe's site and watch the short MV preview. I think you'll really like it. As for Grid, if you've been keeping up with the singles, you're prolly ok to hold out on buying it for a little bit. Now then, I think you'll really like Lee Jung Hyun as (most) of her music has a ver heavy dance influence. She's sometimes called Korea's Dance Queen, in fact. Anyway, she only has one album partially in Japanese right now (This Is Hyony), and 5 Korean releases. I personally would reccomend either I Love Natural or Magic To Go To My Star to start off with. Passion was something different for her because she tried to incorporate Latin beats and rhythms. (Although, more along the lines of flamenco and other more traditional Latin forms, not like the club/Latin sound on TropiTrops.) Still, though, some people liked it, some didn't. So I wouldn't reccomend that CD to start off with. You'll probably have a hard time finding her first CD, Let's Go To My Star, but if you've ever played DDR 3rdMix Korean, the songs Ba Kkwo and Wa are off that album. Japanese versions of those songs are on This Is Hyony, though, so you don't really have to miss out on them. One of the great things about Korean music is it's so cheap! Take a look on Yesasia, and you'll probably have a hard time finding any albums over $12.99. A lot are more like $9.99. I'm not really sure what she's going to do from this point. At one time I heard she was going to school to be a movie director, but maybe that fell through? And yeah, I had actually considered getting something of Ami Suzuki's. I think at the time I was looking, though, she didn't have an album yet or something. Now that she has one, I might add it to a Yesasia order sometime soon. I've never heard any of her music, really, but she gets godo reviews. Plus, after you compared her to Nami Tamaki (who I've been listening to a lot lately since I jsut got Make Progress), it seems like a pretty good use of my money.
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Post by molotov889 on Feb 18, 2006 2:50:29 GMT -5
Holy crap! I just realized that the new Globe album will be two discs! I don't know how I overlooked that before. I'm a little unsure how to look at this now. As a 2-CD set, it sounds suspiciously like yet ANOTHER best-hits set. If it's that, then I'll be dissapointed. But if it's a double-CD original album, that would be TOTALLY SWEET. I guess I just have to wait to see how this works out. Wish there was more info available though.
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Post by Joseph on Feb 18, 2006 20:03:37 GMT -5
Yeah, Bambee is the artist who did "Bumble Bee." I've never heard that song. That song is available on her easier-to-find first album "On Ice." I have her rare second album "Fairytales." YesAsia has an out-of-stock item called "Dancemania presents J Paradise" which has Bambee's 'Seventeen' plus Smile.dk's rare 'Circuit Girl' song. Her song 'Seventeen' is on my album, but still, I wish I could get that CD! I was a huge fan of Aqua in their heyday too. They belong in the Scandinavian dance pop category, to which Smile.dk, Bambee, Toy-Box, Me & My, and others belong. Honestly, that's really my favorite genre. True, you can tell I really love DDR songs. Some of my favorite music has been in DDR playlists. When you buy Japanese Smile.dk, Bambee, and Me & My CDs, they come with a Japanese introduction pamphlet, and a Japanese translation of all the songs. Those inserts sometimes have more information than I'm able to find on the web! I like using Japanese search engines. Sometimes using American search engines gives me "Americanized" results. Too often when I search for Jpop, it takes me just to animelyrics.com. So that's why I like to use Japanese search engines. Infoseek.co.jp and excite.co.jp also have Japanese/English dictionaries. I cannot tell you how much I've relied on the Infoseek dictionary in the past year. I was finally able to check out FictionJunction YUUKA on jvcmusic.co.jp. They do a good job. It's not the best I've ever heard, but it's a strong work. I might buy their album one day, because my slow computer keeps cutting up the samples, but from what I hear, it's very pretty. When I looked at Globe's new album on HMV Japan, it said that it was planned to be a "studio live version." I don't know what that means, but I just thought I'd let you know that. I went to Globe's site, and I watched the little preview movie you were talking about. Keiko's voice is unmistakable, isn't it? The song sounds like their dancey stuff. It's cool! It's been forever since I've bought a Rina Aiuchi CD. She's coming out with a new single on March 29 called "Glorious/Precious Place" Once you buy a CD from an artist, isn't it hard to stop being a fan?? Here's something you might be interested in -- Ami Suzuki is coming out with a remix album on March 29 called "Amix World." I'm still gonna buy "Around the World" (Korean version) on YesAsia because the Korean version is the cheapest! As you might possibly know, I'm a cartoonist. And I just wanted to show you the cartoon I did for Chinese New Year. I received Editor's Pick for this cartoon on the freelance cartoonist website I'm on. www.amongwolves.com/archive/94-4.jpg My cartooning peers are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and it's hard to describe to older people what it's like to be into the Asian stuff. Lee Jung Hyun's "Magic to go to my star" sounds really great! I must say, I don't know one word of Korean, but that won't stop me. I was specifically looking at "This is Hyony" the other day too. With Japanese songs, I can understand the lyrics better. Speaking of language, don't you just love it when you tell a friend about an Overseas version of a Japanese CD you buy? It comes with the traditional Chinese translation. Other people say, "Well, isn't that helpful!" LOL. By the way, I would also be happy to communicate with you over email. The email address in my account is up-to-date in case we decide to email each other.
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Post by Joseph on Feb 19, 2006 10:14:31 GMT -5
And when it comes to Bambee's lyrics, there is no rapping in any of her songs, but there is a variety between the number of rhymes and the space between rhymes. Let me give you a few examples:
Dr. Doolittle: "I had a cold / He came to me, and he made me some tea, oh / My heart was sold / To a man in white, he's Mr. Right"
Online: "Cause I'm your cyber baby, if only we could maybe / Get together all night through / I hope you won't forget I'm your lover on the net / Boy I got a question for you"
And here's my personal favorite, Paradise: "Rumors say that near the bay the party island lays / In the blue lagoon they celebrate the moon, I hope to join them soon"
Her lyrics are interesting, and the variety of rhyming patterns keeps it interesting (as you know, not all dance pop groups have great lyrics). Not to mention the great music. You know how when you get an album, and you have those one or two bad songs? Bambee doesn't have that bad song. All her songs are great quality and full effort, there aren't even any ballads.
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