The NZA Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Utada Hikaru, or Hikki, is Japan's premier pop star; comparable in popularity to, say, Madonna. While initially, this - as well as the genre of J-pop- doesnt appeal to everyone, there are some distinctions to be made. 1) The lyrics, while poppish and lovey-dovey, are in japanese, so they sound cool without you actually understanding much of them 2) More importantly, she's creative. Her vidoes are cool shit... "Wait and See" is a futuristic ride, while "Travelling" is the kind of colorful madness many of us dont see outside of Bjork videos. 3) The girl can sing. Granted, if you dont like pop, its not for you, out right. Nonetheless, she's done minor American work - like the theme song to Kingdom Hearts ("Hikari", or "Simple & Clean"), a song with Foxy Brown for the Rush Hour 2 OST, etc. One of my favorite performances is her MTV Japan unplugged stuff, although for the final piece, "Final Distance" (a beautiful piano piece) this orchestra comes outta nowhere, which isnt very unplugged-like, but its really good nonetheless. The english counterpart of her site is here, and if you're interested, i recommend "Travelling", "Distance", "Kettobase", "Can you keep a secret?", "In my room", or if you want english, go for "Simple & Clean", espeically the Kingdom Hearts mix. Ive got some videos on a bootleg DVD if any locals wanna see. Finally, she's easy on the eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oppai-Seijin Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 I must say that her lateast CD, which is the American album Exodus, is not as good as her other albums. However, I like this one song on that album called "Kremlin Dust." It's so bad-ass, but I think that's because it includes the drummer of Mars Volta. And Mars Volta makes me cum in my pants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Yeah, ive heard that too....i just found a torrent of her full discography, includes a lotta remixes (like the themes for Kingdom Hearts I & II) and b-sides i didnt know about), as well as the japanese MTV unplugged set, with her orchestral rendition of "Final Distance", which i think is amazing. I figure she's bound to catch on here eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorelei Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 hideous girl but makes alright pop music. vocal range is pretty awful, draws mainly of western influences. shame she can't get a decent album together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 huh, not sure how i missed lor's reply - really, hideous? damn man. kinda agree on the whole album thing though; her singles/greatest hits is great but most albums are a mismatch. anyway, replying here for lack of a proper j-pop thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Back in '02 I was all about me some Utada Hikaru! I disagree about her not having "any" solid albums though. Deep River is a great album. It was the first album of hers I bought, and by far her best. Although I do agree her greatest hits CD would be a better purchase for casual/new fans, especially considering import prices. Exodus, her English "crossover" album was fail though. Maybe 2 or 3 decent songs on the whole thing. Ultra Blue was meh. And I've yet to hear her last album, Heart Station--which if anyone knows of a good quality torrent I'd be obliged for linkage. She's got a new all English album called This Is The One in the works. However, based on the single called "Come Back To me," it sounds like fans can expect another Exodus rather than Deep River. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 huh, just found this cover of Green Day's "Boulevard of broken dreams" she did. also? she'd apparently whup my ass in some Tetris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Watching Repo at the moment, so I'll watch those later, but they seem awesome!! Fuck man.... I miss Coley. I'm going to try to track her down soon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Those clips were awesome. Nick! I'd like to see her record that song w/ a slightly better mix--keep just the piano and guitar though. And that woman is a fiend at Tetris. She beat 26 out of 30 people. I don't think I could stand to play 30 games in a row let alone wine almost all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 if you want, i found a link with an mp3 ripped from that performance, though youre right that its a shame she couldnt get a proper recording out of it. i had no idea she was this tetris monster. that only makes her cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 if you want, i found a link with an mp3 ripped from that performance, though youre right that its a shame she couldnt get a proper recording out of it.i had no idea she was this tetris monster. that only makes her cooler. hells yeah. i'll put it into rotation on ye olde iPod. you've got the U2 cover she did from her MTV unPlugged, right? it's from like 6 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 got that one, thank ye sir. and a here you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Strolling back through the music forums and came across this. Sadly, I never saw your response, Nick; so the Feds got to it before I could. Anyway, this thread made me wiki her to get an update. Apparently she hasn't put anything out since a DVD of a live show she did back in 2010. and she's on an "indefinite hiatus." The guitar mix isn't the best on this, but the vocal chops are still there... http://youtu.be/0CpUo76Gcxk Edited July 24, 2012 by Mr. Hakujin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Visitant Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Love me some Utada. If you're looking for something equally amazing I'd suggest Ayumi Hamasaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 oh yeah? post some of your favorite tracks of hers then, man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Love me some Utada. If you're looking for something equally amazing I'd suggest Ayumi Hamasaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Visitant Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I forgot how much of a nightmare it is to hunt down her videos. Alright, I will start you off with one of her more poppy videos. Fun song but not her best in term of videos. http://vimeo.com/16299427 With that wrapped up I will move you guys on to two of her videos which are on my list of favorite music videos of all time. The music is great in both of these but the video sells them. Please to enjoy: http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x1pnvf"><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1pnvf_ayumi-hamazaki-free-easy_creation" target="_blank">Ayumi Hamazaki - Free & Easy</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/LeStefSaint" target="_blank">LeStefSaint</a></i> O.k here's the last video I'll post for now. This might be my favorite music video ever. It's beautiful, brilliant and moving. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. <embed src="http://www.tudou.com/v/sdGPMUAve8I/&resourceId=0_05_02_99/v.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="opaque" width="480" height="400"></embed> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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