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Jpop in January Top 6

Posted by Haruna Ogata (Real), 31 January 2012 · 686 views

So, my plan was initially to write one of them 2011 reviews, but I felt that I'm a little bit late out (and it'd just be filled with Mao Abe and NEGOTO anyway), so the idea bored me quickly. Instead, I figured - why not make a ranking out of the many Jpop releases from January? There were quite a few after all.

Well, it's not really complicated, I'm just planning to rank what I consider the best Japanese songs (not singles!) from January, and then comment on them... So without further unnecessary rambling:


6. Happy Happy - Tokyo Cheer2 Party

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So, I doubt most people have heard about this song, or group for that matter. It's a cute little funk idol pop song, where the charm lies in the chorus. It almost sounds like some popped up Minami Aoyama Shoujo Kagekidan song made cutesy. Of course, the group is not as good as MASK (who happen to be among my favorites), but a sweet song is a sweet song nonetheless, and it makes me happy so that's that!

5. Stay the Same - Mai Kuraki

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Let me just get it out here - I'm a big fan of Mai Kuraki, but her latest album was somewhat disappointing. The best song on the album was 1000 Mankai no Kisu, and that was a single from March last year. Granted, it is an ace song and one of my favorite singles from last year. The second-best song on the album was Love one another - a charity single for the victims of the Touhoku Earthquake of last year, also March. Third best song? Step by Step - B-side for the October single Your Best Friend.

Stay the Same lands at 6th spot for me, and 1st out of all the original album songs. All in all, it's a likable and cute R&B track. Her pitch is a bit high at times, but it doesn't bother me all that much, might be because it's the image song for a Sanrio character.

4. Kamoku na Tsuki - SKE48 (Selection 8)

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While it seems everyone and their mothers are in love with the A-side - Kataomoi Finally - the coupling track on the C-edition of the single was the true winner for me. A simple, but very pleasant song. It kind of reminds me of my favorite AKB single - Yuuhi wo Miteiruka - although far from as good. Shiori & Rena's voices are delicious, which lifts the song even more. All in all - a highly enjoyable idol song that grows more and more for each listen. ^_^

3. Kibun to Seishun no Hikari - THE Possible

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THE Possible - The joy of Tsunku. This release is as indie as it gets and was only released via TNX's web store as one of their "live singles," which means there is no studio version of this available for the people. It's quite obvious from the structure of the song that it was made for live performances though. Overall it's very different from the stuff H!P dishes out these days, though this is no shock at all as this has been the case for NGP acts for a long time. Last year -almost- nothing happened in terms of releases, but it appears the Lord is dishing out some more releases for them now, and by all means I'm not shocked at all if they turn out great.

Here's a short version of a performance of the song uploaded on TNXChannel:



2. Someday (House Version 2012)

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I'm cheating here, kinda. The original song was originally released in 2009, but this is a remix from the EXILE JAPAN album released in the beginning of this month. As for the mix... honestly it's not all that special - the melody of the song is all the same. They just changed some beats to make it more dancefloor viable or something. As far as the term house music goes - it's not Benny Benassi, but more like old school house from back when the movement started. Anyway, the remix not being all that impressive, and me actually preferring the arrangement of the original song - can't give it the 1st spot.

1. Kawatta Katachi no Ishi - KinKi Kids

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Sounds like any other Japanese ballad, but that's fine. I love Japanese ballads, and if it's KinKi Kids - voices that I've heard and liked for more than ten years - bonus points.
I can't come up with a good motivation as for why it got #1, because it is not revolutionary, nor groundbreaking. The instrumental isn't spectacular, even though it fits perfectly with the melody. The only thing I can say is that I liked it more than any other song from January, and therefore it deserves the rank.

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So, all in all, I found January to be a pretty mediocre month. While there were plenty of good releases, there was nothing that stood out and wowed me. Runner-ups for the month would be MAMORE!!! - Idoling and Koe ga Kazureru Kurai - SKE48 Akagumi, both songs I've found myself listening to a lot recently.

As for Morning Musume's 48th single Pyoco Pyoco Ultra, the release did not please me all that much, except for the highly catchy chorus of the A-side. I'm looking forward to their next song though!
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After the somwhat mellow first month of the year - February is going to rock, and I'll be doing a top 6 for it as well, or perhaps even a top 12 depending on how good the month is. As for songs that already stand a good chance in ranking we have:

Tasogare Kousaten by Erina Mano - A song I am head over heels in love with. Currently the best of the upcoming H!P songs I've heard.
Thermae Roman by Chatmonchy - Loving the short version I've heard, and Chatmonchy is the second-best active all-female rock band after NEGOTO after all.
Doryoku no Shizuku by NMB48 Shirogumi - Is another great song from the best freaking single unit to come out of the 48 family
Guruguru Curtain by Nogizaka46 - An Onyanko-esque song that's so catchy it won't grow tiring no matter how much I repeat it. 80's idol music made modern.
SAILING by AAA - It sounds like all their other songs, but all their others songs grow on me indefinitely. Why break a concept when it works?
Vidro Moyou by Nagi Yanagi - Fell in love with her after hearing her in KEY releases. The song is kinda soothing too!

Other than these six songs mentioned, we have a complete SUPER☆GiRLS album upcoming that I've bought like four versions of, and I'm almost certain that at least one of the tracks will land in the top 5, or else I'll be disappointed. There are also album releases by: Mika Nakashima; Do As Infinity; Berryz Koubou; Tokyo Jihen; C-ute; moumoon; Ayaka; and more important than anyone - Salyu, who in terms of releases was my second-most favorite artist last year. And that is not counting only Japanese artists.

Songs that for sure will not land in either top 6 or 12 are Give Me Five by AKB48 or Shining Butterfly by Dream Morning Musume. However, I have yet to hear the B-sides from those songs (nor any of the other songs I've mentioned that already have a chance to rank), which makes the possibilities even bigger! Oh, and when speaking of possible - The Possible is releasing another live single, and from the instrumental preview it sounds really good!

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That's all for me this time! :D

Feel free to comment if you agree, if you find my taste stupid, if you have any great songs from either January or February you can recommend... and more!

Baicha! <-- Copied from Miori Ichikawa (The LeMON in my username)


//SUPER☆LeMONAmoururu~!




This is January's best song:

^
That is a pretty damn good song, but it released in February, and therefore I can't add it to a January rank. :)

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