Since my lit + misc blog kind of died, and I still really like the title of this blog, I just switched it so I can ramble and ramble about whatever I’m listening to at the moment. I mostly shove and listen to two albums on my way to and back school these days since I figured out how to turn my DS into a MP3 player, so yeah! 
Stuff I’ve been listening to:
Kalafina – Seventh Heaven (A+)
This was mostly before I did my detailed review on LW, and probably one of the reasons why I got a little bit tired of listening to it. Either way, it’s an amazing album, although a bit too much of an abundance of ballady tracks (although they’re all consistently good singers throughout the album). I have a new-found love for Wakana. She’s just an immensely skilled vocalist and she’s fantastic. My favourites include Natsu no Ringo, serenato and Kaze ga Tsuyokunatta. The cover for this album is also really spiffy. Something about the flourescent wires and designs over the black background work really well together.
Koda Kumi – TRICK (B)
After getting tired of listening to elegant, pretty music, I switched the album to Koda Kumi’s TRICK. I, unfortunately, didn’t find this was catchy as some reviewers have said it was and I wasn’t overly impressed with what I heard. Fortunately, I do seem to like it more than her previous album so far, which really isn’t have hard, really. I do like that she’s more consistently sounding interested in her tracks. I’m still not a fan of Kuu on ballads. She sings them with more conviction but there’s still a degree of musicality that she hasn’t reached with them. As a girl who adores really well-sung ballads, Kuu doesn’t do it for me. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved “DRIVING” though. The bridge is fantastic, and it’s really the only new track that I would choose to listen to again and again at this point. I’ll get a more detailed review up on LW later, so I’ll get a better chance to put the album through some close listening. Oh, and BLING BLING BLING isn’t quite as horrifying as the Live I first saw (read: she actually bothers to sing things), although not as amusing without the really ghetto dancing. And she says “Benus”, kids. There’s a very clear B sound. I understand that y’all like to pretend that it’s a P sound, but it doesn’t sound a bit like it. Oh, and listening to Kuu switch between Bling and Bring is really funny for some reason. Oh Japanese and your lack of difference between the two sounds.
Utada – This is the One (C)
This album actually never made it onto my DS, but I’ve heard it enough on my computer. Wow, Hikki. I can’t say I enjoy much of the music on this album. I find it rather bland all-in-all, and the singing is attrocious. Sorry, Hikki, but you really have to start writing within your limited singing range. It’s kind of painful to hear you constantly strain for notes everywhere. I guess if you’re used to her voice, it’s fine. However, as a long fan of Utada, I couldn’t stand her singing for most of the tracks on the album. Her voice is seriously shot. Her low range, however, is gorgeous, and she should really sing more there because it sounds really good in comparison to her constant strainfest. On the other hand, some of the melodies on this album are rather cute. Otherwise, ew. Favourites include: MCML – FYI, This Child, Dirty Desire (lawls, because it’s catchy). The rest will probably grow on me in some distant future.
BoA – BoA + a few BEST JAPAN comments (Best: C // BoA: A-)
This is technically part of the BEST & USA thingee that I’m supposed to review for LW (Tsuki is taking the actual US album), but in any case, both disks are currently on my DS, but I haven’t had the chance to listen to much of the Japan Best disk. UNIVERSE is really catchy despite the really bad engrish. Her and Crystal Kay sound fantastic together. One of the disappointments for me is LOSE YOUR MIND, because the song itself is ridiculously catchy, but BoA sounds so BLOODY BORED throughout. This is even more evident in Believe in Love. The VALENTI arrangement is horrendous (I adored the original!). BoA ballads are so-so. I don’t really like her ballads much either, but I might like them a bit more than Kuu’s… I don’t know. There’s still a bunch of tracks I didn’t pay attention to, or didn’t get a chance to listen to today.
The US disk is really catchy though. My comments on it WILL be more positive than what Tsuki will probably post in the next few days. I find I Did it for Love really annoying though, I don’t know. It might be because of the ridiculous leather outfit she has in the PV and the crazy arm waving she does in it. That, and the chorus is well… one line. In any case, even with the vocoder, BoA sounds like she enjoys herself a lot in this CD (although a few tracks I don’t bother listening to at all every time I listen to it because I find them boring). My favourites include “Did Ya”, which Bloodshy & Avant recycled the background for “Buddha’s Delight” from the movie “Music and Lyrics” (the soundtrack amuses me, so I picked up the similarity right away). Obsessed is another catchy one, although her accent is really obvious here, but her pronunciation is still really clear either way, so I won’t complain. The third one I really like is Hypnotic Dancefloor. This isn’t including the fact that I still really like “Look Who’s Talking” as well.
I think that’s all for now…
