PUSHIM "Rainbow".

ANNA TSUCHIYA Featuring AI "Crazy World" (PV).

Over the last few days I've read a surprising amount of negative feedback to this track, the second big-star J-pop collaboration to be released in as many weeks. Tsuchiya Anna, the half-Japanese, half-Russian pop rocker is well-known for her alternative rock sound and striking avant garde visual style delivers the type of track and video her fans have come to love and expect from her. At least in my opinion.

I do consider myself to be one of her fans and I think the song is very consistent with her last two releases, Cocoon & Bubble Trip. Although those tracks are not as hard as the releases that preceded them, Crazy World represents, as I am fond of saying, a natural progression for this updated version of musical chameleon. More and more she is reminding me of Gwen Stefani & Christina Aquilera, two American artists who also frequently tweak their images and sounds. The Aquilera connection is further underscored by when Anna and Ai engage in an Aquilera/Madonna-like lip lock at the end of the Crazy World PV.

MISIA "約束の翼" (PV).

Misia's beautiful theme song for the movie 僕の彼女はシボルグ, My Girlfriend, The Cyborg is her newest single and 20th overall, and it will be released on May 28th.

Misia's Official Website.

MIHIMARU GT "Giri Giri Hero" (PV).

This is one of my favorite videos to come out this year. It think it is side-splitting, fall down funny. The type of harmless, silly fun to make you forget about a less than perfect day. Enjoy.

GREEEEN "キセキ" (PV).

西のかな "Glowly Days" (PV).

This is a really sweet song that just keeps growing on me. The video, is equally sweet, so sweet there are a heap of butterflies in it. Kana Nishino even turns into butterflies in one sequence. Like I said, it's really cute stuff, and while I really don't go for a lot of cutesy stuff, I find this song and video to be very sweet and very charming. Check it out.

DOUBLE Featuring 安室奈美恵 "BLACK DIAMOND" (PV).

Well, the spring semester is finally over. Finals, lab reports, papers and research projects have been submitted and the grades are in the books. Overall, although the end results weren't pretty, I received my credits and pulled one semester closer to my degree. Anyway, with the free time I have between now and the summer semester I can get back to two things I enjoy, practicing my nihongo and posting music and fashion tidbits on ikinoii. Last night I was able to get a copy of this much anticipated video via one of my favorite torrents.

Talk about hot! My love of all things electro is not much of a secret, so no one should be surprised that I am completely ga-ga over this song and video. Throw in two of the sexiest women over thirty on the J-pop/J-urban landscape and we have a straight to ipod video selection. But don't take my word for it, see it for yourself. My one quibble: Namie might need to seek out a new choreographer, she's got some recycled dance moves in there. That aside, this is one dope dance track. I predict it will be H-U-G-E on MTV, radio and dance floors alike and ring up some big, big sales.

SWEEP "Connect".

MISIA "Yes Forever" (PV).

Both Ikue and I adore Misia. Yes Forever is an excellent choice for a single. The new single is in stores April 30th ad also features remixes of two tracks from her last full-length CD, Eighth World and three versions of Yes Forever. The track list for the single is included below.

1. Yes Forever.
2. Yes Forever (Piano Version)
3. 太陽の地図 (Gomi's Vajra Mix)
4. 以心伝心 (Mega Raiders Remix)
5. Yes Forever (Piano Version Instrumental)

Source: Misia .jp

PERFUME "The Game".

I had planned on writing a full review for this but the demands of my course load really isn't helping out as far as blogging goes. This is the last two weeks of classes here at UGA and I have several exams, papers and lab projects to deal with as I prep for finals which (sadly) begin in two weeks. Ugh. Suffice it to say, I really like this CD. I really don't go for cute, which is why I NEVER blog about Morning Musume or the H!P/Berryz/C-ute J-Pop stuff.

However, Perfume is undeniable cute and they back it up with well-produced, well-written, energetic and enjoyable dance music that even the most serious music aficionado would find difficult to marginalize and snobby grown-ups like myself can appreciate. Pick any track, you'll love them all. Anyway, as always, I am providing the CD in it's entirety for you to judge it for yourselves before you pick it up for yourself. This Weekend I will give a full review of Mariah Carey's E=MC^2, and the new CDs from Rize and Sweep. Damn... I buy a lot of music.

Track list:

1.ポリリズム
2.plastic smile
3.Game
4.Baby cruising Love
5.チョコレイト・ディスコ
6.マカロニ
7.セラミックガール
8.Take me Take me
9.シークレット シークレット
10.Butterfly
11.Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow
12.Puppy love

Kamiki Aya "君去りし誘惑" (PV).

The hottie, twenty-two year old rocker from Hokkaido is back with her seventh single and a companion PV. I wonder how do you say "hot-diggity" in Japanese?

Perfume On The Cover of May Issue of Bomb.

This is a little bit of hype for their upcoming CD, I guess. It's a nice picture of the young trio of cuties and a feature article as well. The new CD, Game, hits stores on Tuesday and features the two singles, Baby Cruising Love and シークレットシクテット (Secret Secret), the video for which I've posted here.

IMMI "Klaxon" E.P.

This E.P. is terrific. I picked it up on my aforementioned iTunes Japan shopping expedition. If you like electro-pop you're definitely going to dig it, whether or not you can understand Japanese. However, the cover of the Cure's classic, Lovesong is in english. So, bonus. Give it a shot. I think you'll be glad you did.

久保田利伸 Featuring MISIA "Flying Easy, Loving Crazy" (PV).

LEAD - "Stand Up!" (PV).

Just the other day while I was logged into iTunes Japan purchasing this video and a whole bunch of other goodies (including a pre-order of Mariah's new CD), I started thinking about exactly how much money I spend via apple. Between iTunes Japan, iTunes U.S. and the apple store, over the last three years, I've been good for about $3300 per year. That's a hell of a lot of downloads, hardware, software, iThis & iThat. I gotta curb that a bit, I think. In any case... I think this is a really funny video. I'm not too sure what the people running around dressed up like cobs of corn is all about, but it's definitely amusing. Sit back and enjoy the video while I figure out how to scale back my spending.

PERFUME "Secret, Secret" (PV).

TOHOSHINKI (DBSK) "Beautiful You" (PV).

MIKA NAKASHIMA "Sakura".

NANA KITADE "Siren" (PV).

KATO MIRIYA "Tokyo Star".

Although I just got this, I really haven't had time to listen to it, not with a chemistry exam, pre-calculus quiz and a psychology experiment staring me in the face. Still what I've heard so far seems likable enough. Ikue gives Futurechecka a thumbs up. I've been acquiring a lot of J-urban stuff lately. I posted Aoyama Thelma's new CD here and the new Satomi' here. I waited patiently until those arrived last week courtesy of amazon.co.jp, not the usually iTunes method. Enjoy.