Harsh...

[JimmyKoria]

Originally Posted by ayu_fan929

Meh. Article is based on a westerners POV and probably for Western audiences. What matters is Japanese POV. However, I do agree the middle singles were kind of boring. The beginning and the end were good. I would've given the album a B.

The article is for westerners. If it was written from a Japanese point of view it would be utterly useless to a westerner because of tastes and lifestyle and whatever might influence your view on music in society.

I don't know, oversexed isn't so bad. I don't like Koda but I don't see why her selling sex is so bad. Plus if her music was bad, it wouldn't sell. Sex can only sell to an extent.

[emi♡]

^^true though. If it were written by a japanese person...westerners would probably hardly glance at it, sadly enough.

i think the oversexed thing has something to do with her...ummm...pushing things up every chance she gets...

this is my favorite passage:
Still, BEST ~second session~ contains plenty of (aforementioned) treats that will no doubt be replayed in the bedrooms of schoolgirls for months to come. Miss Koda has secured her place amongst Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru in merely twelve weeks—and that’s certainly something to respect. She may have done it with processed, public-pleasing songs and many-a-pair of hot pants… but hey, she did it. And for that, she will be loved. At least for another year or so.

many a pair of hot pants...C+ for a best Album....not good. But you know, there are always more reviewers and critiques, their just educated opinions...haha

but they are still opinions, no matter how much t hey try not to be biased, everyone is a little, and this is just this reviewers thoughts. Her review isn't that bad though.

I like the other guys My Story review...i don't like ther first one about Ayu though

[JimmyKoria]

Originally Posted by Akurei

I also Read that persons comments about Namie Amuro. And I will Honestly say that their an a - -

Could you explain further? I thought they pretty much gave props to her.

It seems like the person who wrote the articles isn't being completely one sided (they bright up a lot of good and bad points in artist).

Her pointing out the flaws in Jpop is the same as everyone else who constantly complains about western audiences and how fake they are.

Anyway, the article just made Koda fan out of me :]

[truehappiness]

The guy who wrote one Ayu review was like.. high or something cause he's like badmouthing her.. and not...

Originally Posted by that Francis guy who wrote the column before the Teresa woman

In this series, clicks’n’cuts dilettante Francis Henville describes his descent into the netherworld of Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean commercial pop. Track by track, he navigates deeper into the genre, searching for ever-more-toothsome morsels with which to satiate his jaded appetite…


Ayumi Hamasaki
Moments (Acoustic Piano Version)


Is Ayumi Hamasaki even real? Plug her name into Google’s image search and her face will pop up. Surely human beings like her couldn’t have existed before the industrial revolution. In the cuteness category, she makes Bjork look like Meatloaf. I prefer to think of her as a calcification of caste, breeding and modern elitism, secreted by years of consumption and eventually congealed into the perfect delicacy.

Of course, beauty wouldn’t be beauty without an expiry date. But for now, Ayumi is one of the strongest marketing tools Japan has, and she is used to sell every species of clothing, cell phone, makeup, television program and food that can’t be sold without the blessing of flawless twenty-something estrogen. When I went to Taiwan in 2000, her first album had just come out, and I remember seeing enormous images of her in a gattopardo catsuit—pouting, flipping a limp wrist—plastered to the exteriors of multistory music retailers. (I’m sure that image fueled the disgusting imaginations of the furries that Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka always aims his diatribes at.)

I hated Ayumi’s music. Most of her biggest hits were moronic, glassy happy-hardcore songs that battered the tiny speaker-systems of street vendors and bulk candy stores. And since then she has recorded albums that have milked the enormous teats of the lowest common denominator, jumping from lifeless techno to impotent rock to insincere ballads. Despite Ayumi’s figure, her music seems inherently fattening, and full of bad cholesterol.

This year, her biggest single has been “Moments,” which I found impossible to keep down until I heard this version. Her vocals are accompanied by a single piano, playing a simple but carefully inflected arrangement. It’s a track that lets you put her voice under a microscope.

And a new world is revealed. Ayumi sings lead and backup on this track, but she’s most effective when replicating herself in unison. Rather than rerecording the song with a rubato pianist, it seems that her producers have simply replaced the original pathetic rocking backing tracks with a piano. This piano couldn’t possibly be what Ayumi heard as she laid down her parts.

Her voice is full of breathless anticipation: perhaps she is imagining the future heights of media penetration and profit that her career will reach. Although her phrasing is carefully contrived, her voice has none of the whininess of Christina Aguilera’s, and when you place her next to American Idols, they seem like soulless husks. What’s more, the piano arrangement allows the unquestionable professionalism of Ayumi’s songwriters to shine through.

Not understanding the words, I’ve come to conceive of this as a paean to marketing. Play this track on headphones and look up at the bald blue sky, and you’ll hear her negotiating the price of the clouds and the distant birds. It’s impossible to think of Ayumi addressing this song to any lover but capitalism.

Poor thing. I wonder if she can lust after anyone as much as they can lust after her? It’s not enough for her to be stunningly proud and weak. No matter how many mirrors she looks into, she’ll never be attracted to her own exquisite lines. She couldn’t possibly love herself enough. I believe she knows this, and as evidence I submit the desperately polished perfection of her performance on this track.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

The guy who wrote one Ayu review was like.. high or something cause he's like badmouthing her.. and not...

Yeah, I don't know if he likes it or not. The My Story review (B+) also featured contradicting (?) statements, so I don't know if it's liked or not.

Poor thing. I wonder if she can lust after anyone as much as they can lust after her? It’s not enough for her to be stunningly proud and weak. No matter how many mirrors she looks into, she’ll never be attracted to her own exquisite lines. She couldn’t possibly love herself enough. I believe she knows this, and as evidence I submit the desperately polished perfection of her performance on this track.

This paragraph is very puzzling. Good or bad? Perhaps that isn't the question after all.

[truehappiness]

The MY STORY reviewer seemed to love the album.

It's by a different guy, Josh Love.. not the usual Jpop reviewer.

Originally Posted by Josh Love

By now everyone knows the cultural stereotype—the Japanese are hopelessly, adorably behind the curve when it comes to Western music styles. Need I remind you how Full House’s Jesse Katsopolis and his band Jesse and the Rippers scored a number one hit in the land of the rising sun with the hairspray-damaged power ballad “Forever”—in 1992?

But seriously, how Japan’s sluggish echo chamber ever became pejorative is beyond me. One listen to multi-platinum princess Hamasaki Ayumi’s newest release, My Story, opens up a world of possibilities for pop-rock cross-pollination that our current slew of ingénues can barely imagine.

See, America’s rocker chick revival is fairly recent, which may explain why it still sounds so clean. Adding guitars marked a huge leap of faith in the post-Britney era, and the transition needed to sound as seamless as possible. The resultant Avrils and Ashlees may rock, but it’s tastefully, tamely done, the baby steps necessary after a forced derail from the dance-pop gravy train (more on the inherent silliness of such a split later).

On the other hand, like her fellow countrymen who’ve taken it upon themselves to sustain the careers of Night Ranger, Nelson, and Mr. Big, Ayu isn’t at all averse to pop-metal cheese, which we Yanks appreciate in a VH1-list kinda way but don’t actually want to hear on the radio anymore, despite the fact that it can still be brilliant when properly used. “Moments” seems like innocuous pop-rock fluff until the sweet-ass Guns ‘n’ Roses-styled solo comes out of nowhere and sends it into the stratosphere, never to return. “Liar” and “My Name’s Women” are also coated in the stuff, the former with a riff that exudes twice the sleaze and abandon of “La La” and “He Wasn’t” combined.

Of course, Ayu’s not just a momentary idol that happens to pack a few hot hard-rock licks. She’s arguably Japan’s biggest and most beloved pop star of this millennium, an industry standard that inspires messianic devotion from schoolgirls and salarymen alike.

Not only does Ayu hawk an array of products and set fashion trends as often as most folks do laundry, she delivers at the cash register as well, single-handedly accounting in 2002 for 42.6% of the revenues earned by Japan’s most lucrative record label, Avex.

Certainly savvy marketing plays an estimable role here, but listening to Ayu’s music makes it abundantly clear how she’s able to fill the girl-for-all-seasons role. For one, she pens all of her own lyrics, and while I know you’re already rolling your eyes cuz the authenticity defense is always Dullsville, you have to admit that Ayu’s poetic inclinations lend another fascinating element to her music, and in fact her verses account for a large part of her appeal in her native country (the translations are definitely worth a Google, especially “My Name’s Women,” the most sonically derivative and ridiculously artificial track on the album, which also happens to be a fiercely pro-feminist tirade against sexual exploitation—“Me Against the Music” indeed).

More importantly, however, while American chart pop remains highly compartmentalized (Brit and Jojo’s dance-pop here, Ashlee and Avril’s rock moves there, the more introspective and “serious” Vanessa Carltons somewhere else), Hamasaki gladly salts her club-ready hits with power-chord propulsion and spices up her unrepentant rock with credible beat science. Maybe “About You” sounds like a cut from Under My Skin superimposed with Japanese lyrics, but “Game” is on some next-level ****, initially a New Age red herring that quickly blows up into pure dance-rock madness. Hell, “Inspire” actually sounds sorta Latin even, the kind of groove Paulina Rubio could easily own, but a Japanese girl with a fondness for mall-punk guitars? Muchas gracias, Mr. Roboto.

IMHO, he presents really valid statements and seems to have researched..

[sxesven]

To once more emphasize how professional and well-researched these people are, check out the J-Pop Will Eat Itself column on Shiina Ringo. It's an excellent column, stating things exactly how they are. It almost presents her as some sort of musical genius - so to state that these people don't know anything about J-Pop and whatever isn't exactly true. They just have good taste and don't dig mediocre pop music that sells on image rather than music.

[walking proud]

I believe that the person that wrote this article was very accurate. I'm not going to comment on the oversexed comment, but I will say something about the whole, "She's managed to make it into the spotlight through a clever marketing campaign" thing. A lot of Jpop artists have more talent than her and have been working hard to get their name out but only get barely any CD sales because they don't have marketing campaigns- and it only takes Koda Kumi 3 months to get herself in the limelight.. That's kind of disappointing.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by walking proud

A lot of Jpop artists have more talent than her and have been working hard to get their name out but only get barely any CD sales because they don't have marketing campaigns- and it only takes Koda Kumi 3 months to get herself in the limelight.. That's kind of disappointing.

*cough eri nobuchika cough angela aki cough*

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

*cough eri nobuchika cough angela aki cough*

That's just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, that's just the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Or actually, it's just the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg.

I always find it baffling to see that completely amazing and accomplished artists get so much less attention than mediocre ones just because the latter have good marketing. Where's the mass audience that UA deserves? Why does Tujiko Noriko only get released on relatively small labels? And of course, this transcends the J-pop market and actually applies to every music market everywhere. Why is Britney Spears a big (commercial) success, and why isn't Joanna Newsom? Why do people fall en masse for Juanes but don't pay attention in the least to Devendra Banhart? Etcetera, etcetera. Music, it's a funny thing.

[Kikaru]

I find it nice to really hear from someone who isn't a Koda fan. I personally think had the few songs in the middle didn't sound so rushed, it would have gotten a B. Still, it's nice to hear a review that isn't going "OMGTHIZALBUMROCKS!1111!".

Except for the oversex comment, I don't find this article harsh at all. I actually agree with a lot of what the person is saying. Throughout the twelve singles, "You" was a great song, Candy was nice...but after the later few was just mediocre. Wind and Someday was good, but that's about it.

Also, this article is intended for westerners, and obviously is from a western POV. on a side note, I found it ironic that we (fans of asian music) are getting worked up over their criticism of westerners of Jpop music while we seem to be able to bash Western music senselessly. If you're going to criticize Western music, expect the the same happen to Asian music too.

[tobygirl2020]

Originally Posted by walking proud

I believe that the person that wrote this article was very accurate. I'm not going to comment on the oversexed comment, but I will say something about the whole, "She's managed to make it into the spotlight through a clever marketing campaign" thing. A lot of Jpop artists have more talent than her and have been working hard to get their name out but only get barely any CD sales because they don't have marketing campaigns- and it only takes Koda Kumi 3 months to get herself in the limelight.. That's kind of disappointing.

Right. And the very same thing can be said about Ayumi Hamasaki. You don't think that there were other artists who could sing better and who had better songs when Ayu debuted with weak vocals and bad songs on her first album? That there were other artists who were sturggling to make it big, who weren't discovered in a karaoke bar, who were going from label to label trying to get signed? And yet Ayu made it big with what? Oh yeah clever marketing as well. The girl who could write lyrics, face was everywhere, put out tons of material for fans to gobble up. Koda Kumi and Ayu may have different images, but their promotional techniques really weren't that different.

And why compare Koda Kumi to artists like Angela Aki or Eri? They are totally different breeds of artists. Kumi is not out there to produce thought provoking material, she said that she wants to make songs that people will sing in karaoke bars and that will be liked by a lot of people. That does not make her worse than those artists. I bet you watch TV shows and read books that hold no thought provoking material, that you read for pleasure, and yet I don't see you complaining about why writers with "more talent" don't have their shows on TV or books on shelves . . .

Let this be a lesson to the thread creator--at AHO, keep all Koda Kumi discussions in her thread, unless you want it to turn into a bash-fest.

[*Petit*]

Originally Posted by tobygirl2020

Right. And the very same thing can be said about Ayumi Hamasaki. You don't think that there were other artists who could sing better and who had better songs when Ayu debuted with weak vocals and bad songs on her first album? That there were other artists who were sturggling to make it big, who weren't discovered in a karaoke bar, who were going from label to label trying to get signed? And yet Ayu made it big with what? Oh yeah clever marketing as well. The girl who could write lyrics, face was everywhere, put out tons of material for fans to gobble up. Koda Kumi and Ayu may have different images, but their promotional techniques really weren't that different.

And why compare Koda Kumi to artists like Angela Aki or Eri? They are totally different breeds of artists. Kumi is not out there to produce thought provoking material, she said that she wants to make songs that people will sing in karaoke bars and that will be liked by a lot of people. That does not make her worse than those artists. I bet you watch TV shows and read books that hold no thought provoking material, that you read for pleasure, and yet I don't see you complaining about why writers with "more talent" don't have their shows on TV or books on shelves . . .

Let this be a lesson to the thread creator--at AHO, keep all Koda Kumi discussions in her thread, unless you want it to turn into a bash-fest.

I think the main difference between koda and ayu is that ayu was growing from the start, kind of like ai otsuka. Koda suddenly turned kekkoi and boom! allthough most people can't seem to hear difference in her music (other than the fact that there's a lot more of it). In addition, like in that english documentary, ayumi's fans felt that her words were touching them like nothing else they've heard. She somehow had one of these deep produce thought provoking artists qualities combined with extremely catchy pop that in the end made her so extremely popular in the end, she had two sides of her that made her appeal to people demanding everyhitn from cute pop to critiques of society.

But you're right when you compare ayumi to koda vs other artists. No artist "deserves" to be more popular or sell more than any other artist simply because of some quality. People listen to whatever they want for whatever reasons they want. This argument "this artist doesen't deserve" this or that leads to nowhere and is senseless, because there's no objective measurement on quality of a pop musician. In addition Koda, ayumi, angela aki, britney spears, are only responsible for a small part of what they do, they're surrounded by a lot of very talented people, photographers, musicians, other singers, designers.. In the end it's the sum of all that talent that makes up the entertainment object that is Ayumi hamasaki, koda kumi, angela aki and virtually all pop "musicians".

Music, it's a funny thing.

[greggerz189]

I don't think the author was harsh at all. She was pretty on point with most of her comments IMO. She didn't say anything too offensive. I especially liked her comment about Ima Sugu Hoshii. XD

[greggerz189]

Originally Posted by tobygirl2020

Right. And the very same thing can be said about Ayumi Hamasaki. You don't think that there were other artists who could sing better and who had better songs when Ayu debuted with weak vocals and bad songs on her first album?

Yeah but this is like Kuu's fifth album. Took her forever to make it big, but now that she's showing more skin, of course she's going to get more attention. More power to her. Sex sells.

[Dreamland]

its not a bad review

except for the the parts about being "oversexed" and "even Bryson sounds off-putting here."

I think the article was pretty decent

[qwerty]

I think the reason why I thought this compilation deserved at least a B+ is because I'm fairly new to Koda's music. I didn't like "Real Emotion" and didn't really give Koda another chance until I heard "Birthday Eve." I was blown away by the song and started downloading the other 11 singles. I loved them all and didn't pay too much attention to her older stuff (which I now realize is better than her newer songs).

Now that I read your feedback, I realize that the article wasn't so harsh. I'm sorry for creating such a riot and "bash-fest," as tobygirl2020 calls it. Teresa Nieman is a much better columnist than that Francis dude, and I don't see her as so harsh anymore.

[cybermoomba]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Oh, it's not just because of her dressing sexy...

I know where you're going with this. Let’s look at some things here... This woman obviously misused "oversexed" in her little review there. Lets see:

Ok so Kuu dresses sexy sometimes Does that make her "oversexed"? The answer is NO

Kuu makes some sexy videos where she does a little "dry humping" here and there Does that make her "oversexed"? The answer is NO

Kuu has some sexy dance moves in her concerts and live performances Does that make her "oversexed"? The answer is NO

They make it seem like Kumi is some nympho or something. She's not some random ho to be called "oversexed". That I have a problem with.

I do all of those things when I'm at the club. Does that make me "oversexed"? No it doesn't. It’s called performing and having fun and being sexy. It doesn't mean that I'm doing everybody just because we're dancing provocatively.

The same goes for Kumi. It's easy for them to pick on her sexy image. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, Kumi is tame compared to some of those random hos in the music business.

[truehappiness]

....ew. O_O; XD

A little too much information, hm?

And she's 'said' that she really doesn't like doing the sexy image LOL.. whether that's true.. /shrug

Certainly though, if you ask a normal individual what this



and this



looked like to them.. I'm sure they'd be a bit.. '..O_O' XD Again, I know that she has her 'omg i'm so cute' side, but.. yeah at first glance she looks 'oversexed' O-o;

[Rurutia]

well, in regards to the oversexed part, i'd have to agree with that because i watched some of her music vidoes and was like okay, so she uses provacative stuff in her vids, no big deal. HOWEVER, when i watched the ima suga hoshii vid and read the lyrics, it was then i started to dislike Kuu, i just couldn't believe she would sing trashy lyrics like that, even if she didn't produce the song nor wrote the lyrics.

and how people say "sex sells," i take that as a negative thing honestly. a singer shouln't have to resort to selling the look of their body to sell their music. She has a nice body and i believe its okay for her to show it off, but....sometimes she goes a little too far. ( Especially during her concerts where they suggest.........um.......suggestive things...)And by no means am i bashing her for being sexy, its just part of who she is, but when i watch some of her vids, its really hard not think this way, she just goes too far. But then again its selling because sex does indeed sell, but when an artist does that, my respect for them declines dramatically. (I've talked to some people who bought Kuu's CD JUST because she looked sexy, and when they listened to the CD, they thought the music was "okay.") Sex does sell.....unfortunately...............

As for 12 singles in 12 weeks, the critic dude was right. some songs were really good yet some were just....... blah. But like he said "no one seemed to notice."

LIke a lot of people said , you cant really compare her to Ayu, they are just so dynamic in their own way. But one thing i luv about Ayu is that, even though her voice isnt the "BEST", even though her dancing isn't the greatest, and her body isn't as "developed' as kumi's, she STILL is one of the most influential people in the world of music, and she did that through her music, (and also good promotion), which is what i think is true artist.