[Admin N] My Top 25 Albums of 2012 (gifset collection)
I’m sorry for delaying this for so long. I know I promised to post the link way earlier but I was too busy -.-
I’m also sorry that this blog is kind of neglected right now but we, both admins, are very busy these days with our university carreers -.-
Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs (MV Review)
This review deals with the music video for Two Black Cadillacs by country singer Carrie Underwood, released on January 23, 2013. The song is part of Underwood’s album Blown Away released back in 2012.
The song tells the story of a wife who discovers her husband’s having an affair. After “confronting” the other woman with this matter, both decide that they won’t take it. The husband/lover has even gifted both with identical cars – the two black Cadillacs. Therefore, they plot the murder of the man who’s lied to both of them. Their plan succeeds and at the funeral they meet for the last time. Since no one knows the truth about the man, it is highly likely that they will get away with murder.
The music video tells the stories of the lyrics, just in a more mystified way. Here, the Cadillac, with which the man is murdered, repairs itself in a magical way.
Furthermore, the car also drives the two women away from the grave, but without any sign of a driver.
Apart from these scenes, the video also portraits the killing of the man that is committed by both women and their meeting at the funeral, where one of them also places the car keys on the coffin.
Throughout the whole video we only see the face of one of the women clearly, and this is the woman whom the husband had the affair with, played by Carrie Underwood. Additionally, the video shows scenes of Underwood driving the car while singing.
Personally, I love this music video and its dark and gloomy style which fits the revenge-like lyrics perfectly. Right from the first time I listened to the song, I hoped that there would be a music video for it. And for once I wasn’t disappointed at all (you need to know, usually I’m extremely disappointed by music videos for my favorite tracks). I really love the way the director included the story of the lyrics into the video. Furthermore, the magical killer-Cadillac was a pleasant surprise, since I really appreciate magical or mystic aspects in videos. So, in the end I can only say: a wonderful music video by an awesome artist! This song is one of my favorites among last year’s, by my all-time favorite country singer.
Koda Kumi / Color the Cover (album review)
Artist: Koda Kumi
Album: Color the Cover
Released: 27 February 2013
Genre: Electronic, Pop, Dance, Pop-Rock, Big Band, Ballad
Rating: 4.0/5
Color the Cover is the second cover album (twelfth overall) by Japanese singer Koda Kumi. It contains 11 songs (11th is credited as a bonus track). Like its predecessor – ETERNITY ~Love & Songs~ - there are covers of songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s; but unlike ETERNITY it’s released in CD and CD+DVD formats. I won’t describe what the songs are about but I’ll try to compare them to the original versions.
The first track – Pink Spider – is the cover of a solo song by Japanese rockstar hide. It is too difficult to compare both versions because hide’s version is a pure rock song, and Koda’s… well, it’s too much electronic-based. Even Kuu’s voice is computerized. I don’t like that kind of songs but I have to admit, it’s catchy. I thought this song would be more rocky than dancey.
The second song off Color the Cover is my personal favorite. Shake Hip! is a cover of a song by Japanese group Kome Kome Club. So catchy, so powerful. The song is kept in a dance style but that’s good. It fits the song perfectly. It’s hard to say but Koda’s version is better than the original. Anyway, I have one question – what the hell is this “Hip”?
The third song is titled Lovely, originally sung by Kenji Ozawa. This song was released digitally two weeks earlier to promote the album. Koda did a good job with it; after hearing the original song, I expected that Koda would prepare a similar sound, but she amazed me. Only one word is able to describe the sound of this song – Lovely. Even the music video for that song is representing the sweetness of this song. Really, it’s lovely.
The next song – Jounetsu (lit. Passion) – is a cover by Japanese singer UA. Here I can only say that both versions are similar, kept in big band style. I don’t like that kind of style, but it doesn’t mean this song is not good.
The fifth track is my second favorite song off the album. One more time, One more chance is a cover by Japanese singer Masayoshi Yamazaki. The original version is played on an acoustic guitar; Koda’s cover is made on the synth, but it’s as good as original. I could even say that song is kept in a style called Eternal Wave, typical for Hikaru Utada. The song is very slow and very beautiful. I love it.
Alone – the next song off the album – is a cover of Mayo Okamoto’s song. It was released earlier as a b-side on her latest single – Koishikute (released 26th December 2012). It’s another good ballad but not as good as the original version. I prefer the sound of Mayo’s version to Kuu’s.
The seventh song titled Blue Velvet is a cover of the song by Shizuka Kudo. It was an ending theme for the anime Dragon Ball GT (now I remember my childhood without J-pop, it was awful), so comparing these two songs was very difficult. After thinking it over a lot – Kuu is the winner. Shizuka’s voice fits great, but it’s strange. I prefer even the melody in Kumi’s version. Great job. Another favorite track.
The following track is titled Otoko (lit. The Man). It’s a cover of the song by Ruriko Kubo. Koda made another great and catchy rock-influenced song. It’s not a masterpiece but it’s not a tragedy either.
The ninth track is a cover of the song by Linda Yamamoto. Dou ni mo Tomeranai (lit. I Just Can’t Stop) is following the electronic style of Pink Spider. Like in PS Kumi’s voice is electronized. Even if much use of electronic beats made that song catchy and good to dance to, personally, I think it’s crap. I prefer the original version sung by Linda only because of her voice. Big minus for Kumi is the length of the song – 2 minutes and 25 seconds is too less to make this song good.
Next, the tenth song – Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni (lit. This Evening of the Month). It’s a pop-rock song and I can’t say that it’s a typical ballad. We can hear here the piano, drums and the guitar. Maybe if Kuu would have tried to make this song sound more like the original sung by Elephant Kashimashi, it would be a very beautiful song.
The last track, credited as bonus track, is Uta wa Waga Inochi (lit. The Song is My Life), originally sung by Hibari Misora. I don’t like this song in both versions. It’s too boring for me and really, big band songs are not in my style. Sometimes Kuu’s voice is very awful, I felt like I had mistaken the artist and I’m listening to a man’s song, not Kumi’s.
Color the Cover is a good album, but I feel like something is missing here. Maybe it’s the style of Pink Spider and Dou ni mo Tomeranai; maybe it’s because there are only covers. After the singles Go to the top and Koishikute, I was expecting something new. Anyway, that album is worthy listening to and it fulfills the waiting for Kumi’s 11th album.
The Saturdays - What About Us (MV Review)
This week’s review is dealing with The Saturdays’ music video for What About Us (the version without Sean Paul), released on January 11, 2013. The song is featured on the group’s US debut release Chasing The Saturdays.
What About Us is an electro-pop/dance track which lyrically deals with a relationship, or better with the current state of a relationship, since the speaker is wondering “what about us”. She’s not sure anymore if the guy’s changed his mind or why their relationship isn’t moving forward anymore.
The music video shows the girls in the streets of L.A. where they are simply having a good time; shopping for new clothes, hanging out by the pool, playing billiard and dancing on a baseball field by night.
Therefore the music video is rather connected to the rhythm of the song than to the lyrics.
The video also features a small part of a choreography which is not particularly demanding but nevertheless fitting the party theme of the baseball field scene where the only dancing takes place.
Usually I do not criticize the lyrics if the artist is a native English speaker but I really need to highlight one particular line that makes me feel quite uncomfortable: “oh why are we are waiting so long, I’m suffocating.” Does anyone else actually feel like this one additional are is kind of disturbing?
Overall What About Us sounds different compared to most other The Saturdays songs but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Personally, I really like the song a lot. Especially the na na na-parts are extremely addictive and I always need to hold myself back from shouting along to these lines. The music video is furthermore well-shot and follows along to its have-a-good-time theme pretty coherently. I’m not sure, though, if this song will bring The Saturdays the success on the US market that they are wishing for, since it’s not really what everyone else in the world connects to their name. But time will show if their concept works out and I really hope it will.
JeA - While You’re Sleeping (MV Review)
This music video review is going to deal with While You’re Sleeping by JeA of Brown Eyed Girls, released on January 3, 2013. This song is part of her mini album Just JeA.
While You’re Sleeping tells the story of an unfulfilled love. In it JeA sings about someone (probably this person’s female) who’s secretly in love with a guy who’s her friend. But this guy is already in love with another girl. Therefore she has to keep on pretending and cannot tell the guy about her true feelings. Whenever his girlfriend is around she acts friendly towards her because she is afraid that her friendship with the guy will end once his girlfriend finds out about her true feelings. At night when she’s awake she wonders if the guy might love her as well and if other people also cannot sleep because they are secretly in love.
The music video is kept rather simple to not distract the viewer from the lyrics and JeA’s incredible voice. It shows her performing the song in partly darkish (but prettily lit) rooms as well as her being alone in one room.
Especially the room in which JeA sits alone is oddly arranged. It features chairs as well as rubble placed around her in some distance. The music video also features some artistic elements like falling snow indoors, an explosion, flying violinists, a guitarist standing on a mountain of chairs and a moving piano (partly moving together with the pianist and partly moving away from him).
Even though this music video is kept quite simple, I still find it extremely pretty and watchable (which is of course the reason why I am reviewing it). JeA’s extraordinarily strong voice gave me goose bumps the first time I listened to the song. And even if it is not my favorite song off Just JeA, I can nevertheless only recommend this awesome ballad to anyone out there. JeA is so horribly underrated and it was really on time for her to release a solo album to showcase her vocal talent.
(Source: reviewme-music)
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