Sakuretune needs your help for his Lego® Cuusoo project. He has designed key rings and mobile straps to commemorate Mr. Children’s 20th Anniversary. He needs 10,000 support in order for Lego® to review and consider it for production. How can you show your support?
This was requested by Ms Fara Noor Azman. I have compiled a playlist via Vodpod called The Best of J-Rock, a collection of 55 J-Rock songs that I feel best represent the vibrant and diversified rock scene in Japan.
If you would like to see them, follow the link here.
The songlist (in alphabetical order of featured singer/bands):
Ai Otsuka – Planetarium
Aqua Times – Sen No You Wo Koete (After A Thousand Nights)
Asian Kung-Fu Generation – Haruka Kanata (Far-Off Distance)
Ayaka – Mikazuki (Crescent Moon)
Ayumi Hamasaki – A Song For XX (Live)
Ayumi Hamasaki – Duty (Live)
Ayumi Hamasaki – Evolution
Boowy – B. Blue
Bump of Chicken – Karma
B’z – Konya Tsuki No Mieru Oka Ni (Tonight, On A Hill Where We Can See The Moon)
DEEN – Konomama Kimidake wo Ibaisaritai (I Want to Carry You Away Like This)
Dir en Grey – Obscure (Uncut version)
Field of View – Last Goodbye
FLOW – World End
Genki Sudo – World Order
Glay – All Standard Is You (Live)
Glay – However
Glay – Mermaid
GReeeeN – Unity
Janne Da Arc – Gekkouka (Moonlight Flower)
Judy and Mary – Sobakasu (Freckles) “Live”
L’Arc~en~ciel – Blurry Eyes
Luna Sea – Rosier
Malice Mizer – Kyomu No Naka De Yuugi (The Game of Nothingness)
Mr.Children‘s new album SENSE has been out for a couple of weeks now. I haven’t had the chance to listen to it, but here’s the CM released to promote the album. It seemed that they returned back to their earlier form and ditched the complicated, big sounds of Supermarket Fantasy (which was a very good album in my opinion, but very indulgent and “too rich” for my taste. I made a remark in my review that Mr. Children should support this album with a stripped-to-basic tour to counter the opulence that they displayed so liberally in the recording. Much to my amusement, the Supermarket Fantasy DOME tour featured only a 6-man line-up, giving their fans a completely different interpretation of the album as compared to the studio version. Brilliant).
Head to: Mr. Children (English Fansite) for more information about the album and three tracks that are currently available on Youtube (365 Nichi, fanfare and Forever).
All the nice comments that I get from the FF links are really tempting me into opening an FF blog; which is really something astoundingly stupid and time consuming for me to do since I would only be replicating the 76.5 million sites already existing on all things final fantasy. So unless I come up with a really cool and really unique angle, whatever that I have now stays and will stay sporadically updated as and when I have something new to look for and have trouble looking for them that when I find them I’ll link them in here.
My new Mr Children Fansite is now up and running, in a manner of speaking. I have uploaded several reviews and a handful of transliterations & romaji. These are in alphabetical order so if you are looking for something specific, drop me a note and I will post it pronto. With 100++ lyrics to wade through, it’s gonna be some time before I can complete this.
In meantime, If you googled “Namonaki Uta english lyrics” to get here, then go to my previous post: Namonaki Uta (Poem With No Name). The transliteration and song sample can be found in this page.
Til then.
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Today I got 2 very pleasant surprises.
First was an email from someone who visited my (long non-updated) Mr Children page on geocities to tell me that certain links are broken. I’m excited coz that means someone actually took the trouble to check the web’s links. Bagus sekali.
Secondly, my site, yes the same one that is virtually dead, is cited on Jpop Music Forum as one of the best English sites for Mr Children. Sweet! How nice. All the more reason why I need to quickly re-do it. Been neglecting it for too long anyway.
There are many really great English sites for Mr Children these days as opposed to as little as 2 years ago. So I will revamp the site to do more reviews, transliterations, vids and guitar chords. Other sites are doing an even better job with pics, discography, historical info et cetera.
This post is a piece of news that will be of no interest to most of you but I will post it anyway. Mr Children’s song ‘Gift’ due to be released on 30 July 2008 will be the official Beijing Olympic 2008 theme song on NHK. Very very cool. In case you haven’t noticed – saya sangat suka Mr Children. Totemo dai suki misuchiru, ne. Borders a little bit on obsession. I even did up a tribute website because it was so difficult to find English websites about them back then. Unfortunately, due to work etc it remains un-updated since 2005. But, I intend to re-do it all over again in the near future.
You can get transliteration of “Gift” from Brian & Takako of Utau Inu (formerly of centigrade j). Videos, romaji and more translations can be found at Jpop Asia.
I am listening to Namonaki Uta, the first Mr Children song that I ever listened to (full story here). And you know what, in my state right now, this song is perfect because it reminds me how I can fall in love in an instant without knowing what was going on. It happens to be Mr Children’s biggest selling single to-date; and ironically one of the easiest songs Sakurai ever written (he is said to be very surprised at its immense popularity because it hardly took any effort at all).
Apart from being a profilic songwriter with a very unique pronounciation and singing style, Sakurai is widely regarded as one of the best lyricists in the Japanese music industry. The opening lines of their song “Hero” taken off the superb Shifuku no Oto album is “Supposing that the world could be saved by one person giving their life in exchange, I would be the man who waits until someone else has volunteered”. Who would write lyrics like that? He’s crazy.
See the translation below courtesy of Megchan with minor editing for clarity. Video of the live performance of the song after the lyrics.
NAMONAKI UTA (POEM WITHOUT A NAME)
It doesn’t matter if it’s a little dirty
I’ll eat everything anyway
Oh darlin’, who are you?
Clutching tightly to the truth
If you doubt me
I’ll cut my throat for you
Oh darlin’, I’m a fool
I’ll give you something precious
Standing in the irritation-inducing streets
It feels like even my feelings are becoming less real
But in this incongruous life
Sometimes our emotions get unstable, right?
But, darlin’, I’ll worry with you
And offer you my life
In your heart there’s fear that you will not be able to live
But you soldier on, blaming it on someone else
If you are struggling
In the prison of self
That you’ve unknowingly built
Well I’m letting you know that it’s the same for me too
No matter how much we understand each other
There will always be lonely nights
Oh darlin’, no one can erase
This prejudice
I’ve stepped on a lot of things to get here
But I feel like I’ve finally found the one thing I don’t want to lose
The sillier your gestures
The tenderer I feel
Oh darlin’, every time we meet
Tell me the story of your dreams
Love is not something to steal or to give
It’s something you just notice is there one day
Walking through the streets, singing a song as the wind blows
Throw away that strange pride
And it will start from there
Hopelessness, despair (down)
Why are you faltering?
Love, freedom, hope, dreams (courage)
Look down at your feet, you’re gonna stumble
You fall in love without any thought of its consequences
And even if you hurt someone sometimes
At this day and age it doesn’t make your heart ache with guilt anymore
Cos sympathizing with someone else is futile
And just pierces your own heart
But
In your heart there’s fear that you will not be able to live
But you soldier on, blaming it on someone else
If you are struggling
In the prison of self
That you’ve unknowingly built
I’m telling you, it’s the same for everyone, even me
It’s always difficult to convey
Something intangible like love
So, darlin’, that is why
This poem without a name
Will always be dedicated to you.
