Music review: Do As Infinity - Get Yourself

Artist: Do As Infinity Members: Tomiko Van, Ryo Owatari, Dai Nagao Album: Deep Forest Release date: 9/19/01

English translation: Losing myself, I grope around in darkness... It's all reckless trial and error.

I wonder how everyone else is doing?

Let's get yourself -- Let it reverberate, your soul at its utmost limits. Try again -- Break that wall down again and again.

Getting what I deserve, being forsaken -- Changing myself now is better late than never.

Are we OK just being here?

Let's get yourself -- Scream until you break down and Change your way -- Head into the changing future from your past.

Let's get yourself -- Let it reverberate, your soul at its utmost limits. Try again -- Break that wall down again and again.

Let's get yourself -- Scream until you break down and Change you way -- Head into the changing future from your past. About the song: Definitely not one of my favorite DAI songs. It has a good sound but it's a bit strange. A lot of DAI's songs have this smoothness to them that is missing here. The song is a little on the jerky side which makes it difficult to get wrapped up it. This would be one of those songs that you put on when you don't really want to listen to the actual song but you need something upbeat to keep you going.

Music review: Madonna - You Must Love Me

Artist: MadonnaAlbum: Evita: Music From The Motion Picture Release date: 10/25/96 Video link: via YouTube

Lyrics: Where do we go from here? This isn't where we intended to be We had it all, you believed in me I believed in you

Certainties disappear What do we do for our dream to survive? How do we keep all our passions alive, As we used to do?

[Bridge:]

Deep in my heart I'm concealing Things that I'm longing to say Scared to confess what I'm feeling Frightened you'll slip away

[Chorus:]

You must love me You must love me

Why are you at my side? How can I be any use to you now? Give me a chance and I'll let you see how Nothing has changed

[bridge] [chorus]

You must love me About the song: Evita is a stage musical written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice about the life of Eva Peron. This song was specifically written for the movie version of the play. It had been thirteen years since Weber and Rice wrote anything together.

Lyrically, this is a heart-wrenching song. It comes at a point in the movie when Eva is at her lowest yet she finds out that her husband truly does love her. Throughout their entire relationship, Eva believed herself to be nothing more than a political tool to get her husband, Juan Peron, into the Argentinian presidency. It is only when she is on her deathbed that she realizes how wrong she has been.

You Must Love Me is a great emotional song but it's not something I'd recommend listening to if you are sad or depressed.

Music review: Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)

Artist: Lauryn Hill Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Release date: 8/25/98 Video link: on You Tube

Lyrics: It's been three weeks since you've been looking for your friend The one you let hit it and never called you again 'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamins You act like you ain't hear him then gave him a little trim To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend Like you wasn't down then you called him again Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even fooling him If you did it then, then you probably fuck again Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian A Muslim sleeping with the gin Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine Don't be a hardrock when you're really a gem Babygirl, respect is just a minimum Niggas fucked up and you still defending them Now Lauryn is only human Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn. It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans Fake nails done by Koreans Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Guys you know you better watch out Some girls, some girls are only about That thing, that thing, that thing

The second verse is dedicated to the men More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women Him and his men come in the club like hooligans Don't care who they offend popping yang like you got yen Let's not pretend, they wanna pack pistol by they waist men Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement The pretty face, men claiming that they did a bid men Need to take care of their three and four kids men They facing a court case when the child's support late Money taking, heart breaking now you wonder why women hate men The sneaky silent men the punk domestic violence men The quick to shoot the semen stop acting like boys and be men How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Girls you know you better watch out Some guys, some guys are only about That thing, that thing, that thing About the song: I love the video to this song. For those of you that don't remember, the entire video is a split screen of two concerts. One is 1968 Lauryn and one is 1998 Lauryn. It really goes well with the song's lyrics and overall sound.

This should probably be the theme song to Bill Cosby's "Don't Be Stupid Black People" rants. It's a warning to not sleep around and stop paying attention to trivial things like sneakers and bling and money. Take care of yourself and your family and be a good person. It's a message that needs to get out to more people. Too bad most of those people probably don't listen to Lauryn Hill songs, which is a shame.

Music review: Mini Moni - Rock n Roll Kenchoushozaichi

Artist: Mini Moni Members: Mika Todd (family name last), Kago Ai, Nozomi Tsuji, Takahashi Ai Album: Minimoni Songs 2 Release date: 2/11/04 (single was released 4/9/03) Video link: on Veoh

Lyrics: (Sorry, no translation) "Baby ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi MINIMONI. oboechaina SHIRII~ZU! saa minasan harikitte ikimasu yo~!"

hokkaidou wa sapporo otsugi wa ( sapporo RAAMEN ) aomori akita ni iwate no morioka ( wankosoba wankosoba ) fukushima yamagata miyagi wa sendai ( sasakama sasakama )

ibaraki no mito ni tochigi wa utsunomiya ( shimotsukare shimotsukare) saitama saitama yamanashi wa koufu ( houtou houtou ) gunma no maebashi kanagawa no yokohama ( shuumai shuumai )

chiba ni toukyou nagano ni shizuoka niigata touyama ishikawa no kanazawa aichi wa nagoya gifu to fukui

"tokoro de anta kenchoushozaichi tte nanden non?" "AHO ya na anta,, kenchou no shozaichi ya ga na" "he~"

kenchoushozaichi...

mie wa tsu ni shiga wa ootsu ( funazushi funazushi ) wakayama kyoto ni nara ni oosaka ( takoyaki takoyaki ) hyougo wa kobe de okayama hiroshima ( nama GAKI nama GAKI )

shimane no matsue ni tottori yamaguchi ( fugusashi fugusashi ) kagawa no takamatsu ehime no matsuyama ( iyokan iyokan ) kagoshima kouchi ni fukuoka ooita ( shiroshita karei )

saga ni nagasaki kumamoto miyazaki soshite kagoshima okinawa no naha ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi About the song: Ah. Mini Moni! Mini Moni was a subgroup of Morning Musume. The original idea for the group was that all the members had to be under 4'11" tall. (Hence the mini part.) However, Takahashi Ai was slightly taller than that when she joined the group after Yaguchi Mari's departure. Mini Moni was mostly aimed at younger children in the beginning, though the group took on a more mature sound after Mari left.

While I don't have a translation for this song, I can tell you that it is about the capitals of the Japanese prefectures. Mostly it's about the food each area is famous for. The video plays along showing the girls in a classroom setting studying for an exam.

You'll notice in the video that poor Mika is singled out as different from the rest of the group. She is the only American-born member of the group. As such, she is always dressed differently from the other girls and, for some strange reason, she is always given random English phrases to say. I always felt bad for her since the Japanese girls get to wear cute little outfits and Mika is always in the ugliest costumes.

Anyway, the song is cute and educational. What more could you ask for?

Music review: Barenaked Ladies - Shoe Box

Artist: Barenaked Ladies Members: Steven Page (vocals), Ed Robertson (guitar), Tyler Stewart (drums), Jim Creegan (bass) Album: Born on a Pirate Ship Release date: 3/19/96 Video link: on YouTube

Lyrics: A key in the door, a step on the floor A note on the table, and a meal in the micro Note says "I'm in bed, please make sure that you're fed if you're taking a shower, you can borrow my bathrobe When I'm asleep I dream you move in next week" I crumple the note and save it to put inside

Chorus:

My shoe box Shoe box of lies Shoe box Shoe box of lies

it's under my bed, it's never been read it's in with my school stuff and my mom never cleans there From my first little fib, when I still wore a bib To my latest attempt at pretending I'm someone Who's not seventeen, doesn't know what you mean When talk turns to single malts, or stilton, or

Chorus

Did somebody tell you This is how it's supposed to be? Or did you just find it And you don't want any more from me?

Chorus

Was it something I said, or was it something you read That's making me think that I should never have come here I can offer you lies, I can tell you good-bye. I can tell you I'm sorry, But I can't tell you the truth, dear And what if I could -- would it do any good? You'll still never get to see the contents of

Chorus

You're so nineteen-ninety And it's nineteen-ninety-four Leave this world behind me 'Cause you don't want me anymore. About the song: Shoe Box was a track on the first soundtrack for the tv series Friends. As such, it was added to BoaPS at the last minute. It's a rather cute song about the secrets and lies we all have.

Born on a Pirate Ship is an interesting album in the BNL library. When it was recorded, the band only had four members. Andy Creegan, who played a variety of instruments, left the band before the album was recorded. His replacement, Kevin Hearn, was invited to join them on the album's tour. This also makes the music video for Shoe Box a little weird. While Kevin isn't on the actual recording of the song, he is in the video for it.

Music review: They Might Be Giants - Hearing Aid

Artist: They Might Be Giants Members: John Linnell and John Flansburgh Album: Flood Release date: 1/5/90

Lyrics: Frosty the supervisor Lives by himself Sometimes I feel sorry for him Usually I can't

I've turned off my hearing aid Don't say the electric chair's not good enough For king-lazy-bones like myself

More coffee for me boss 'Cause I'm not as messed up as I want to be

I've turned off my hearing aid Don't say the electric chair's not good enough For king-lazy-bones like myself

Because Because About the song: Flood is one of my favorite albums. All of the songs on it are catchy and completely insane. So we have Hearing Aid. It's a very basic song about a worker (most likely an office worker) who hates his job and his boss so he just stops trying. The music for it is rather repetitive and the lyrics are sung in an almost bored voice. This isn't a great song. It isn't even the best song on the album but it is still an interesting song.

Music reviews: AZU and Takeuchi Denki

Last week I ordered two brand new singles from artists I've never heard of. One of them was JEWEL SKY by AZU and the other was knock!knock!!/do not disturb! by Takeuchi Denki. Both were released on October 3. JEWEL SKY is actually AZU's second single. (Her debut single was titled CHERISH.) The title song is up first. Sadly, this song is quite unremarkable. It's not particularly catchy and every time she sings "Jewel Sky," it sounds like she's saying "Cherry Sky." I found it to be rather disappointing since it's THE song for the single. Next up is SO WONDERFUL. While the music here is slightly more interesting than the previous song's, it is still a rather bland song. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't an early 90s pop song that sounds exactly the same. The last song on the single is Kimi ni Yomu Uta. This ballad is the worst song on the CD. There isn't a lot of variety in her boring vocals and the background music barely exists. Based on this single alone, AZU just doesn't have what it takes to be a pop star. Her voice is pretty but there doesn't seem to be any real talent backing that up. Almost anyone could have sang these songs and came out with the same results. She's going to need to push herself a bit more if she really wants to stand out from the crowd.

Luckily, I also purchased Takeuchi Denki's new single. We are treated to knock!knock!! first. With a semi-reggae feel to it, this song is completely different from any other Japanese artist I've heard. In the beginning, I wasn't sure how to feel about the song. However, after a few minutes, I fell in love. do not disturb! didn't let me down either. The all-English song keeps up with the feeling from the knock!knock!! but adds a little more funk to it. This is definitely something I can add to my musical library and not worry about growing tired of it. A mini-DVD was included with the two-song single. There is not only the PVs (promotional videos or music videos, as we call them in the US) for both songs but there are also the TV spots advertising the single as well as a documentary on how the single was produced. I haven't had the chance to watch the entire documentary yet but everything that I did watch was narrated in English by a Japanese woman. This was slightly distracting due to the mispronunciation of words. Hopefully I won't let that bug me so much when I finally get a chance to watch the entire thing. After hearing the music and watching parts of the DVD, I am really interested in hearing more of Takeuchi Denki's music. I'm going to pick up their mini-album as soon as I can and I'm dying for a full-length album to appear.

Jmusic review: Gackt - Farewell

Artist: Gackt Album: Diabolos Release date: 9/21/05 Video link: Gackt performing Farewell and Future on the televised version of his Diabolos tour

English translation by Mina-P: A silver crescent moon flutters down into my parched heart In this night without any moonlight, you tell me "you can walk even alone" Those words you gave to me, with kindness and warmth Turned the tears back into a smile on my face that was hung in dispair

When I'm sad, if I close my eyes, You're by my side

You refused to show your tears as you bid farewell And you gave me your same kind smile I will never forget that warmth

I smile even as the tears flow Even if this road comes to an end I'll unfurl my wings for you

The broad back that disappears into the fallen drops of the moon Teach me once more why I keep walking

I can keep walking without turning back Because you are always by my side

May my tears never spill over again Because I have decided not to go back Because that is the promise that we made that day

Even if the tears gather, the rain will wash them away Because if I ever get to see you again I want to be able to tell you that I surpassed you About the song: Gackt always has at least one song on every album that has very strong orchestrations. Farewell is one of those songs. Both the music and the lyrics give the impression of growing strong. The verses of the song give a feeling of sadness and loss but when the chorus kicks in, Gackt's voice gains strength and you can almost feel the forcefulness of the lyrics. In the background, the drums and guitar back this emotion up. During the verses, the guitar is almost nonexistent while the drums build up to the chorus where the guitar really takes over, giving the lyrics the wings they need to fly forth. This really is quite a powerful song.

Jmusic Review: OLIVIA - Wish

Artist: OLIVIA Album: OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST) Release date: 2/28/07 Video link: Via Veoh

English translation: The twinkling of the stars calls to the wind Your smile erases the noise The angel in your eyes is whispering That everything is starting now

Can you feel it now Can you feel it now Like being swallowed up by a wave Pulling on my heart Pulling on my heart I hold my breath and reach out your hand

Baby, this world is different From yesterday I can't see anyone but you Baby my wish on a wing Tears through the sky In one overwhelming word

My eyes follow the light Running without hesitation to you My petrified heart breathes a sigh It’s like a long journey

Can you feel it now Can you feel it now The time goes by mercilessly Pulling on my heart Pulling on my heart I set my love free

Baby, I don't need a future Or promises As long as you're here Baby my wish on a wing Send out this voice And let it break through the flickering stars

Do you feel me? Do you feel me now?

Baby, this world is different From yesterday I can't see anyone but you Baby my wish on a wing Tears through the sky In one overwhelming word

Baby, I don't need a future Or promises As long as you're here Baby my wish on a wing Send out this voice And let it break through the flickering stars About the song: Wish was the second opening theme for the anime NANA. OLIVIA provides the singing voice for Osaki Nana's rival, Serizawa Reira. (Reira's actual name is Layla, after the Eric Clapton song.) The song starts out with a hard guitar riff, which Olivia's higher vocal range compliments nicely.

Lyrically the song decribes a lot of Reira's emotions. I won't go into it too much since it would spoil anyone who hasn't seen the series. Needless to say, it's mostly about an unrequited love that Reira holds close to her heart. I think she knows deep down that her love for this man can never be returned but as long as he is by her side, she is OK with that. It's a sad story because Reira is surrounded by people that want to love her if she would only let them into her heart.

Music Review: L'arc~en~Ciel - Driver's High

Artist:L'arc~en~CielMembers: Hyde (vocals, guitar), Tetsu (background vocals, bass), Ken (guitar), Yukihiro (drums) Album: Ark Release date: 7/1/99 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: A silver metallic heart that's gotten hot I'll light the fuse A mysterious feeling of a high Let's kick up a cloud of sand

A reckless heartbeat that stirs a scream Before my eyes is rain drops like missiles

Keeping adrenaline forever flowing I feel ready to overheat Even if I explode and become ashes I'll probably still be just like this, laughing

Outrunning the town, until the ends of the earth Let's let if fly and die together, so give me your hand!

To reach the horizon Let's cut loose until we reach our limit Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high Towards the best finale! Yeah!

As far as I can count Disappearing, a pitch black morning will come Those clothes that you're fond of After you change into them, let's get going!

Let's raise our voices impossibly high And break through the atmosphere Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high With steel wings

Let's keep racing, until time limit expires The speed is insane Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high Let's meet again in the next world, Yeah! About the song: When you think of great songs about cars, you generally think about songs from the 60s by the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean. L'arc~en~Ciel's Driver's High starts out with a revving engine and it only gets better. The only bad thing about this song is the difficulty you may have staying under the speed limit if you happen to be driving when it comes on.