Post by molotov889 on Feb 5, 2006 0:54:52 GMT -5
FPM- Les Plus/[/u]
Whereas Luxury was quite the quintessential album for lovers of Lounge tracks, Les Plus takes some of those tracks, morphs them into tracks for the club-goer and techno lover, and packages them with some great original and remixed tracks from other FPM works. This album seriously keeps you going, which is quite a creative feat in my opinion since so many of these tracks originated as lounge tunes. I really feel that this album is one with a wide range of mass appeal, no matter what style of music you normally enjoy listening to. (There are even parts where FPM borrows from country, and others based on ska- it really is quite an experience). You can’t help but find yourself getting caught up in the quasi-pop beats and the catchy little melodies. This album really can be described this simply- AWESOME! And that’s all that really needs to be said. The best tracks were, in my opinion, Take Me To The Disco –Malibu Mix-, There Must Be An Angel… (Tanimoody Mix), I Love FPM, and Honolulu, Calcutta –Sunahara Yoshinori Mix-.
Koda Kumi- Secret[/u]
To be honest, I’ve been having a hard time deciding how I feel about this album. There are a few songs on this album that I do really like and feel that KK’s actually done a very good job on, but on other tracks, and on the album overall, I feel a bit disappointed. In my opinion, Grow Into One has been KK’s best work, and this album just perpetuates that feeling. She seems to have lost something lately, especially in the feeling she expresses in her slower songs. Style-wise, this album is pretty much the standard music you’d expect from KK, with a few little gems of different sound. Tracks like Cutey Honey and Selfish (which sounds more like it belongs on Ayu’s latest album, (miss)understood) are good examples of this. They’re good steps out of KK’s normal “comfort zone” and I think she’s created some quality music in the different styles of these songs. There is also a motif that seems to recur on a few songs of this album; a few of the tracks have background instrumentals reminiscent of Arabic melodies. These touches seem to be pretty underplayed and don’t really take over the song, but sort of provide a little new sound to KK’s normal offerings. So, considering everything, I would say this album is alright, but if you want a GOOD KK album, buy one of her earlier ones, preferably Grow Into One. The Best tracks on this album were Cutey Honey, Selfish, Hands, and Love Holic.
Lisa- Only If ~Diamonds In The Snow E.P~[/u]
This single was only alright in my opinion. There certainly aren't any bad tracks here, but they just didn’t seem to have some of the signature sound that I’ve come to expect from Lisa. And, frankly, from Lisa’s covers of other pop and classic songs, I really expected more from her version of The Christmas Song. It was a nice sounding rendition, but she didn’t really make it her own. She kinda just sang it. Kissing A Fool, on the other hand, did have a good, uniquely “Lisa” sound to it. Overall, though, I think the SH Remix of Only If was probably the best track; it sounded a lot like what I expect from a Lisa original track.
K- Kirakira[/u]
This double album set is really something special. The two CDs are very different in style from each other and provide you with two completely different experiences. The first album, which is her new album out of this set is made up mostly of very dream-like tracks with some quite interesting melodies. In some ways, the concepts of the tracks reminded me of Globe’s Lights 2, though the style of the music was different, and the overall feeling was more subdued. (K is not a singer who’s really given to particularly powerful or energetic flights of melody). This entire CD was mostly created by K, Lori Fine, and Coldfeet, and this fact sets it far apart from the second CD. The second CD is almost exclusively created, written, and produced by Verbal and Taku of M-Flo. And it certainly shows (seriously, this was the first thought that popped in my head, and I later confirmed it in the lyrics booklet.) Because of this production influence, these tracks carry a pretty signature “M-Flo” sound, but more so the M-Flo of the Expo Expo time-period. There’s a lot of samba influence to the tracks on this album, as well as interesting combinations of various eclectic influences. So, the first album is what you would listen to if you’re looking for some really beautiful, unique music. The second is more for when you want to get into the beat and enjoy some more pop-standard sounds. The best tracks on these albums were Sunrise City 8509, We Can Find Another World, Green Fruits, Never Say…, The Love Hole, and Daybreak.
Two-Mix- BPM Dance Unlimited II[/u]
This remix album is made up of a collection of tracks that are remixes in many more dance styles than just trance. In fact, I would only really call the first two tracks and maybe the last one straight up trance. There’s some really good house and jungle included among these tracks, as well. On the whole, these remix tracks really are quite good, and very danceable. It probably helps that this album was released when remixes were more popular in Japan, and so they attracted better DJs to do the remixing. Although all the tracks are good, I sort of felt that the first two (the most “trancey” tracks) were a little lacking in the vocals. Minami’s voice really sounds great when matched up with these dance rhythms and melodies. In fact, I think her voice sounds better in combination with this music than with what Two-Mix normally creates. But you just didn’t get enough of that on the first two tracks. On the other hand, I really loved the remixes of Maximum Wave, In Your Eyes, and Gravity Zero. There were probably the best songs on the album.
Whereas Luxury was quite the quintessential album for lovers of Lounge tracks, Les Plus takes some of those tracks, morphs them into tracks for the club-goer and techno lover, and packages them with some great original and remixed tracks from other FPM works. This album seriously keeps you going, which is quite a creative feat in my opinion since so many of these tracks originated as lounge tunes. I really feel that this album is one with a wide range of mass appeal, no matter what style of music you normally enjoy listening to. (There are even parts where FPM borrows from country, and others based on ska- it really is quite an experience). You can’t help but find yourself getting caught up in the quasi-pop beats and the catchy little melodies. This album really can be described this simply- AWESOME! And that’s all that really needs to be said. The best tracks were, in my opinion, Take Me To The Disco –Malibu Mix-, There Must Be An Angel… (Tanimoody Mix), I Love FPM, and Honolulu, Calcutta –Sunahara Yoshinori Mix-.
Koda Kumi- Secret[/u]
To be honest, I’ve been having a hard time deciding how I feel about this album. There are a few songs on this album that I do really like and feel that KK’s actually done a very good job on, but on other tracks, and on the album overall, I feel a bit disappointed. In my opinion, Grow Into One has been KK’s best work, and this album just perpetuates that feeling. She seems to have lost something lately, especially in the feeling she expresses in her slower songs. Style-wise, this album is pretty much the standard music you’d expect from KK, with a few little gems of different sound. Tracks like Cutey Honey and Selfish (which sounds more like it belongs on Ayu’s latest album, (miss)understood) are good examples of this. They’re good steps out of KK’s normal “comfort zone” and I think she’s created some quality music in the different styles of these songs. There is also a motif that seems to recur on a few songs of this album; a few of the tracks have background instrumentals reminiscent of Arabic melodies. These touches seem to be pretty underplayed and don’t really take over the song, but sort of provide a little new sound to KK’s normal offerings. So, considering everything, I would say this album is alright, but if you want a GOOD KK album, buy one of her earlier ones, preferably Grow Into One. The Best tracks on this album were Cutey Honey, Selfish, Hands, and Love Holic.
Lisa- Only If ~Diamonds In The Snow E.P~[/u]
This single was only alright in my opinion. There certainly aren't any bad tracks here, but they just didn’t seem to have some of the signature sound that I’ve come to expect from Lisa. And, frankly, from Lisa’s covers of other pop and classic songs, I really expected more from her version of The Christmas Song. It was a nice sounding rendition, but she didn’t really make it her own. She kinda just sang it. Kissing A Fool, on the other hand, did have a good, uniquely “Lisa” sound to it. Overall, though, I think the SH Remix of Only If was probably the best track; it sounded a lot like what I expect from a Lisa original track.
K- Kirakira[/u]
This double album set is really something special. The two CDs are very different in style from each other and provide you with two completely different experiences. The first album, which is her new album out of this set is made up mostly of very dream-like tracks with some quite interesting melodies. In some ways, the concepts of the tracks reminded me of Globe’s Lights 2, though the style of the music was different, and the overall feeling was more subdued. (K is not a singer who’s really given to particularly powerful or energetic flights of melody). This entire CD was mostly created by K, Lori Fine, and Coldfeet, and this fact sets it far apart from the second CD. The second CD is almost exclusively created, written, and produced by Verbal and Taku of M-Flo. And it certainly shows (seriously, this was the first thought that popped in my head, and I later confirmed it in the lyrics booklet.) Because of this production influence, these tracks carry a pretty signature “M-Flo” sound, but more so the M-Flo of the Expo Expo time-period. There’s a lot of samba influence to the tracks on this album, as well as interesting combinations of various eclectic influences. So, the first album is what you would listen to if you’re looking for some really beautiful, unique music. The second is more for when you want to get into the beat and enjoy some more pop-standard sounds. The best tracks on these albums were Sunrise City 8509, We Can Find Another World, Green Fruits, Never Say…, The Love Hole, and Daybreak.
Two-Mix- BPM Dance Unlimited II[/u]
This remix album is made up of a collection of tracks that are remixes in many more dance styles than just trance. In fact, I would only really call the first two tracks and maybe the last one straight up trance. There’s some really good house and jungle included among these tracks, as well. On the whole, these remix tracks really are quite good, and very danceable. It probably helps that this album was released when remixes were more popular in Japan, and so they attracted better DJs to do the remixing. Although all the tracks are good, I sort of felt that the first two (the most “trancey” tracks) were a little lacking in the vocals. Minami’s voice really sounds great when matched up with these dance rhythms and melodies. In fact, I think her voice sounds better in combination with this music than with what Two-Mix normally creates. But you just didn’t get enough of that on the first two tracks. On the other hand, I really loved the remixes of Maximum Wave, In Your Eyes, and Gravity Zero. There were probably the best songs on the album.