Carmen Maki & OZ: 閉ざされた町

Can't believe May is over....time goes by too fast and come June 19th I'll have been in Korea for 4 months! This month's most popular posts have been for Seiko Matsuda, Akiko Yano, Akeboshi, Perfume and Carmen Maki & OZ. So for popularity sake, here is Carmen Maki & OZ's 2nd album and Perfume's 2nd below! More Akeboshi and Akiko Yano will be posted soon as well! Enjoy!

閉ざされた町 (1976)

1. Introduction

2. 崩壊の前日

3. 振り子のない時計

4. 火の鳥

5. Lost Love

6. 閉ざされた町

7. Epilogue

Perfume: GAME

Their second, but technically first, album. This was their breakthrough album, going double platinum. Watch out for one more album and a single in the near future. Enjoy!

GAME (2008)

1. Polyrhythm

2. plastic smile

3. GAME

4. Baby cruising Love

5. Chocolate Disco

6. Macaroni

7. Ceramic Girl

8. Take me Take me

9. Secret Secret

10. Butterfly

11. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow

12. Puppy love

Yoo Young-Jin (유영진): 지애(之愛)

His last album before becoming a full time producer/arranger/songwriter. His voice is definitely at its best here and his productions are top notch. Great early 2000's pop album. Enjoy!

지애(之愛) (2001)

1. Dear My Family (feat. 문희준, 강타, S.E.S., 신화, Fly To The Sky, Boa)

2. ...之愛 (지애)

3. Unconditional Kismet

4. 그녀를 일으켜라 (Get Her Up) (feat. Shawn 'Rize' Kook)

5. Someday

6. 수호천사 (Guardian Angel)

7. 혼자 있으면 (Alone)

8. That'S The Way (feat. Coolio)

9. Crazy Love

10. Growing Up (feat. Justin Robinson Daniel Ie Blanc(logic) Shawn 'rize' Kook)

11. Mo` Jazzy

12. Obsession

13. One Moment (feat. Justin Robinson Daniel Ie Blanc(logic))

14. That`S The Way (Korean Version) (feat. Coolio)

15. 혼자있으면... 내영혼의 친구와 함께

EXTRA

Sorry Sorry (R&B Remix)

Beautiful Girls (Feat.유영진)

Lee Sun Hee (이선희) - 갈바람

Here's her second. Enjoy!

2집 - 갈바람 (1985)

1. 갈바람

2. 괜찮아

3. 연인의 눈물

4. 가난한 연인을 위하여

5. 후회

6. 사랑의 기회가 한 번 뿐이면

7. 그래요, 잘못은 내게 있어요

8. 서울의 밤

9. 눈물속에 피는 꽃

10. 바람 속에서

11. 못잊을 너의 이름은

12. 소망

Akiko Yano: いろはにこんぺいとう

This is Yano's second full length album. Another great listen courtesy of "The Vault". I love the album cover! Enjoy!

いろはにこんぺいとう (1977)

1. KAWAJI

2. いろはにこんぺいとう

3. 待ちくたびれて

4. ほうろう

5. 行け柳田

6. 相合傘

7. ぽつん

8. 昨日はもう

9. 家路

10. やませ(東風)

Request & Reposts: Sista & Megumi Hayashibara

I am making a conscious effort to stay away from posting any more western music however, I'm willing to make this exception for o'nate! Hope you enjoy the album, the link has been updated.

Sista: 4 All The Sistas Around Da World (1995)

In addition, I plan on posting several more albums by Megumi Hayashibara so...here is re-ups of the two I posted last year

Megumi Hayashibara: Half and, half & bertemu~ブルトゥム~

Dream: Perfect Girls / To The Top

Wish I would have discovered this one a few years ago but thats the beauty of the internet. Hard to come by on the web now, this fantastic dance single reminds me of the dance songs I grew up with but with a little more edge. Check out the new group E-Girls if you like want you hear, it features the current members of Dream. I'll be posting more randomness as much as I can and I'm also making judgements based off of download numbers. Enjoy!

Perfect Girls / To The Top (2009)

1. Perfect Girls

2. To The Top

3. Perfect Girls(Instrumental)

4. To The Top(Instrumental)

Perfume: Perfume ~Complete Best~

Guilty Pleasure time! If you want more...tell me! Enjoy!

Perfume ~Complete Best~ (2006)

1. Perfect Star Perfect Style

2. Linear Motor Girl

3. Computer City

4. Electro World (Album Version)

5. Gravity

6. Monochrome Effect

7. Vitamin Drop

8. Sweet Donuts

9. Foundation

10. Computer Driving

11. Perfume

12. Wonder2

Kalafina: Seventh Heaven

Historically, Anime has been known to feature songs from an array of popular artists or songs recorded by the voice actors themselves. However, when Yuki Kaijura began scoring on the Kara no Kyōkai (空の境界) series, a new idea was born and Kalafina is one of those rare examples of a group created for "promotional" purposes actually working. This is probably due to the fact, that composer Yuki Kaijura took it seriously and worked the group independently in addition to scoring the film. When I heard the first single, oblivious, back in 2008, I was blown away by the vocal work and orchestration. Don't get me wrong, I love J-Pop, but many groups and idols have never struck me as power house vocalists but Kalafina demonstrates the opposite. The album features both album only tracks and the songs recorded for the films all composed by Yuki Kaijura. If this does well I will post their other works and the Kara no Kyōkai (空の境界) OSTs. Enjoy!

Seventh Heaven (2009)

1. overture

2. oblivious

3. love come down

4. Natsu no Ringo (夏の林檎)

5. fairytale

6. ARIA

7. Mata Kaze ga Tsuyokunatta (また風が強くなった)

8. Kizuato (傷跡)

9. serenato

10. Ongaku (音楽)

11. Ashita no Keshiki (明日の景色)

12. sprinter

13. Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku (君が光に変えて行く)

14. seventh heaven

Carmen Maki & OZ: Carmen Maki & OZ

Back from a two day workshop and ready to enjoy my three day weekend. Judging by whats been popular recently, I thought this one would follow suit. Carmen Maki is a great Japanese songstress starting her career in the mid 60's and she is still recording today. After a string of solo albums and a single effort with the established group "BLUES CREATION", Maki help form a new group in a progressive rock vein named "OZ". The group released 3 albums and one live album and were fairly successfully despite Carmen Maki reportedly having a diminishing status in the music world around the time of their debut. I find their music to be fairly enjoyable and I was glad to have discovered this album (along with the second) on "The Vault". Enjoy!

Carmen Maki & OZ (1975)

1. 六月の詩

2. 朝の風景

3. Image Song

4. 午前1時のスケッチ

5. きのう酒場で見た女

6. 私は風

Akeboshi: Akeboshi

Today's been a pretty awful day....but I'm sure it will get better. I'm posting this a little ahead of the schedule I drew up, but I felt it is a nice change of pace and is the kind of music the helps sooth those rough days. Akeboshi is a fantastic singer/songwriter from Japan and I absolutely fell in love with his sound after hearing "Wind" as one of the ending themes for "Naruto" a few years back. Akeboshi has a distinct pop-folk sound with odd time signatures but he also unique due to the fact that he frequently uses English. In fact his second album (which I will post as well) is completely in English. This is a great listen and your are robbing your ears of great music if you don't listen. I also included extra tracks from his ep's prior to the release of this s/t debut. Enjoy!

Akeboshi (2005)

1. Wind (Album Version)

2. Night and Day

3. Hey There (Album Version)

4. no wish (Album Version)

5. 秋風のうた

6. 廃墟のソファ (Album Version)

7. A Nine Days' Wonder

8. White reply (Album Version)

9. Faerie Punks

10. Morning high (Album Version)

11. Tall boy

12. The Audience

13. 神様の舌打ち / 時の舟

EXTRA

Stoned Twon (2002)

Wind

no wish

廃墟のソファ

White Reply(2003)

Morning high

White Reply

MONEY

Faerie Punks (2004)

Hey There

Akiko Yano: Japanese Girl

Here's Yano's debut. Great album and courtesy of "The Vault" Enjoy!

Japanese Girl (1976)

1. 気球にのって

2. クマ

3. 電話線

4. 津軽ツアー

5. ふなまち唄パート2

6. 大いなる椎ノ木

7. へりこぷたぁ

8. 風太

9. 丘を越えて

10. ふなまち唄パート1

Lee Sun Hee (이선희) - 1집 - 아! 옛날이여

As promised, here begins the Lee Sun Hee albums. Hopefully more people will check her out! Enjoy!

1집 - 아! 옛날이여 (1985)

1. 아! 옛날이여

2. 다시필 사랑 위해

3. 갈등

4. 혼자된 사랑

5. 남들은 몰라

6. 빛의 자손들

7. 소녀의 기도

8. 나는 사랑에 빠졌어요

9. 누가 나를 알까요

10. 사랑의 약속

11. 이 말을 하고 싶어요

K-Pop Selections: S.E.S. (에스.이.에스) - Sea & Eugene & Shoo / Baby V.O.X (베이비복스) - Why

School ended a little earlier today so I thought I'd work on some postings. I've got a lot of things planned and I hope everyone will enjoy them. I thought I return back to some K-pop and post two great albums that have grown on me recently, particularly the one from S.E.S. I found these files earlier this year from an old k-pop blog, pre-meagupload raid. They aren't the best quality but they still sound great. While the music is relatively new to me, it is rich with nostalgia. Particularly the first two tracks on S.E.S's second album. Both produced by Yoo Young-Jin , they capture both his signature styles and the feeling of the late 90's and early 2000's. Baby V.O.x's 4th effort is their first of the 2000's and in my opinion their best album.배신 is an great pop song and is complimented by the albums title track and "Bad Boy". Unfortunately, record/CD stores are scarce in Korea and when I do find some old cd's they are overly priced. So, if anyone happens to be a fan of K-pop from this era or older, please let me know and send me your files! I wouldn't even be at this stage though if it were not for FEN and his always impressive selections. Thank you FEN! Enjoy!

Also, visitors please check out my friend corwyn's freshly started blog. With the recent announcement from JJ and the force retirement of many blogs, I hope the few of us remaining can keep the spirit alive. I know I don't always have the most popular of post choices, infrequent postings and varying audio quality, but I do this for the chance to get the word out about the music I love and I've met some great people along the way!

2집 - Sea & Eugene & Shoo (1998)

1. Shy Boy

2. Dreams Come True

3. Snow. X-mas

4. 너를 사랑해

5. 느낌

6. 비가

7. 애인 찾기

8. 너에게

9. Kiss

10. Eternal Love

4집 - Why (2000)

1. Why

2. 배신

3. 회상

4. 허락

5. Overlap

6. Lux (별)

7. 슬픈 별에서

8. Bad Boy

9. 올가미

10. Before Sunrise

11. Patron (만화 건드레스)

12. Why (MR)

Hideo Shiraki: In Fiesta (祭りの幻想) & さくら さくら

Fantastic Jazz albums from the legendary drummer, Hideo Shiraki. Brought to you by the now defunct "The Vault", these two works are both phenomenal and a great treat for fans of jazz, japanese classical and those who love it all. His early death robbed the genre of a great talent but that's what makes the internet great, his memory can live on. Highly recommended. Enjoy!

In Fiesta (祭りの幻想) (1961)

1. In Fiesta (祭りの幻想)

2. Five Spot After Dark

3. Just One Or Eight

4. Cherokee

5. Blue Romeo

6. Etude No.1

7. You Dont Know What Love Is

さくら さくら (1965)

1. さくら さくら

2. よさこい節

3. 山中節

4. 祭りの幻想

5. アローン、アローン・アンド・アローン

6. 諏訪

Seiko Matsuda: SEIKO STORY 80's HITS COLLECTION

To be honest, for the longest time, I never got the appeal of Matsuda Seiko. This bias may largely be due to my grand love of Akina Nakamori. Nevertheless, Seiko has been growing on me over the years and while I still would never put her on my of top idol lists, her impact is undeniable and she is still remotely relevant (last year in Japan I saw quite a few ads featuring her). This is a recent best of collection of some her top 80's hits, chronologically, and I am sure many of you will enjoy this! While I know I have been away for awhile, I hope to continue blogging until the completely shut down the internet! Enjoy! By the way, I am not looking forward to the new blogger interface!

SEIKO STORY 80's HITS COLLECTION (2011)

Disc 1

1. 裸足の季節

2. 青い珊瑚礁

3. SQUALL

4. 風は秋色

5. Eighteen

6. Only My Love

7. チェリーブラッサム

8. 夏の扉

9. 白いパラソル

10. 風立ちぬ

11. 赤いスイートピー

12. 制服

13. 渚のバルコニー

14. 小麦色のマーメイド

15. 野ばらのエチュード

16. 未来の花嫁

17. 真冬の恋人たち

18. 秘密の花園

19. マイアミ午前5時

20. セイシェルの夕陽

Disc 2

1. 天国のキッス

2. ガラスの林檎

3. SWEET MEMORIES

4. 瞳はダイアモンド

5. 蒼いフォトグラフ

6. Rock'n Rouge

7. 時間の国のアリス

8. ピンクのモーツァルト

9. ハートのイアリング

10. 天使のウィンク

11. ボーイの季節

12. 瑠璃色の地球

13. Strawberry Time

14. Pearl-White Eve

15. Marrakech

16. 抱いて…

17. 旅立ちはフリージア

18. Precious Heart

BONUS

あなたに 逢いたくて～ Missing you～

Chikuzen Satou: Cornerstones

Sing Like Talking frontman solo effort. Great listen, great cover tracks, highly recommended! Thanks to the seemingly defunct ongaku-poland blog! Enjoy!

Cornerstones (1995)

1. No One There

2. Whatcha' Gonna Do For Me

3. What You Won't Do For Love

4. I. O. U. Me

5. Promises Promises

6. Something Sad

7. You Need A Hero

8. O. C. O. E. (Official Cat Of The Eighties)

9. Desperado

10. Stardust

11. Something Sad (Japanese Version)

Great Version of a Chaka Khan classic