When Love Takes Over

When Love Takes Over feat. Kelly Rowland
April 21, 2009
Virgin / EMI
Written by: Kelly Rowland, Miriam Nervo, Olivia Nervo, Fred Rister
Produced by: David Guetta, Fred Rister

Kelly Rowland may have been in Beyoncé’s shadow these past years, but, really, shadow isn’t a strong enough word. Beyoncé has more eclipsed Kelly and even more so Michelle, given credence by the fact that you are probably asking who Michelle is… But with her new pairing with David Guetta, a French electric musician of some fame, she is beginning to carve her own niche in the music industry apart from the mid-tempo R&B of her debut album Miss Kelly. [When Love Takes Over] is a mix of Coldplay’s [Clocks] (with rapid piano scaling and building 808 to a very disco-esque vibe, if it wasn’t Guetta’s intention to begin with) and Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown’s duet [No Air]. Some of the intervallic relationships in the chorus and surrounding melody feel very similar to [No Air], if not almost exactly the same. There are some moments of soul in Kelly’s voice towards the bridge and ending as the backdrop of electronica backs down and lets her voice shine, but overall it is a very pop-y performance, liken to a Donna Summer disco record but [When Love Takes Over] is definitely a good song, regardless of its pedigree. I expect it be very well received by radio and from the few moments of the music video I saw, it should have a beautiful vision tied to it as well.

4 and a Half Stars
A

Songs I’m Loving Right Now

Ego
Beyoncé
I Am… Sasha Fierce

Benoncé’s dumbass would release a song like this. It’s fierce as f*** and catchy to boot! Really, the chorus is all this song needs to explain itself: “It’s too big / it’s too wide / it’s too strong / it won’t fit”… yep, she went there…

Me Muero
Utada
This Is The One

Utada’s album may have been bad but there were some glimmery moments of good songwriting. You see, I know she has it in her because I listen to her Japanese releases, but for some reason when she gets around to writing in English she hits a wall of dumb, but [Me Muero] is a shining bastion of good writing and musicallity from her panned second album. Funky 60s era groove, modern hip-hop beat and you’ve got yourself a great back drop to scenes with her sitting in her pajamas, eating Godiva, and reading old emails. “Me Muero” literally means “I die”… 

Untouchable
Girls Aloud
Out of Control

Grade-A British girl group gives us an electronic future of synthesizer and soaring vocals. The world rejoices, so should you.

Key to My Heart
Danity Kane
Welcome to the DollhouseEven though they’re broke up, Danity Kane still has a good single in that sophomore / last album of theirs. [Key to My Heart] is a beautiful ode to a cheating boyfriend with broken music boxes and stunning harmonies. 

 

Waking Up in Vegas
Katy Perry
One of the Boys

Another rock / pop/ dance track from Katy Perry in the vein of [Hot N Cold] and [I Kissed a Girl] but, the miracle of it is that it stands apart while still feeling cohesive. And whatever those other critics might say, One of the Boys is an excellent album, well worth your money.

1st & Love
Brandy
Human

Perfect Pop & B from Brandy. This song is beautifully produced and sang. It deserves to be a single and another one of 13 excellent reasons to by the album.

Paparazzi*
Lady GaGa
The Fame

You caught me, I love GaGa… for real. She’s classically trained, talented, and crazy all of which make her to most exciting thing to hit pop culture since… uh… I’m not sure, but it’s a good thing, for sure. [Paparazzi], the fourth single (more than likely) off her debut album has a great hook and a stomping hip-hop beat. And the music video is a masterpeice. Pus Pus… (which is Swedish by the way)
 

You Belong With Me
Taylor Swift
Fearless

Taylor is great, and I know she can’t sing live, but I love her anyway. [You Belong With Me] is another great pop song by a country artist and it’s so catchy you just have to sing along…

이발소 집 딸 (A Barbershop’s Daughter)
Hyori Lee
It’s Hyorish

Hyori Lee must have known that the title of her album sounds like whorish, right? And Kuu knew about TRICK, too, right? Anyway, this song features a group of the cutest sounds bunch of young Korean kids singing with Hyori who sounds almost as cute. It’s a great song that most people in the JPop / KPop community have no idea about… now you do… (that is, if you read my blog…)
 

*Okay, so the reason that isn’t [LoveGame] isn’t on this list is because I’ve been obsessed with [LoveGame] since I got the album in November. It’s superfluously amazing. If you haven’t heard it, call you radio and request it. It’s pop perfection…

BoA: The First Album

BoA: The First Album
March 17, 2009
Billboard 200: #127
SM Entertainment USA / Arsenal

After a very long haitus for such things as Company shows and finals, I’m back with a very overdue review of BoA’s BoA: The First Album.

Most of my readers, if I have any (lol), know about BoA but if you don’t I’ll fill you in. At age 13 she was discovered by South Korean music jaggernaut SM Entertainment. Under the wing of Lee Soo Man, the head of SM, she bridged South Korea and Japan in a fan of music and dancing for the last decade with such huge hits as VALENTI, BEST of SOUL, and [Meri Kuri]. She began to crossover into Chinese territory when she apparently put her foot down and decided to come to America. This is her debut album. The girl can dance, sing, and act while being stunningly beautiful and lacking the sluttiness of Western artists (and Eastern artists for that point, ahem, Kuu). Anyway, BoA’s kind of the shit and if you like dance music, you’ll like her.

BoA doesn’t kid around with the dance music. It’s straight and never lets up with the heavily synthesized vocals or beats. BoA is dominated by producers like Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback, and Sean Garrett which give the album an interesting sound; blending hip-hop, dance pop, and electonica (if this sounds familiar, that’s because Namie Amuro’s been doing it for five years but without the slick production of the Swedish or the Americans). But what Amuro lacks is BoA’s vocals even if as of late they seem more strained and nasal, perhaps because of the foreigns sounds of English, but she is definitely getting better with her third language.

Track-wise, BoA gives us four exciting dance tracks that stand out from the seven other dance tracks. Firstly, [I Did It for Love] is a post-modern electronic bash of synthesizer and drum machine. The song centers around a girl who has changed everything about herself for a guy and realizes she’s lost herself in the love and it’s hurting her. Sean Garrett, who’s featured on the track (and produced it, for that matter) gives an apologetic voice to the man, but BoA’s delivery helps keep the focus. [Eat You Up], the lead single from the album, is a dark club banger with penetrating synth and a killer chorus. The double entendre of the titular phrase the song gave it the boost it needed, the song was #6 on Billboard’s Club Airplay chart.

GaGa-ish [Obsessed] features, wait for it, more synth; but the song has that thumping beat that makes it perfect for hip swaying, so dance-able it is. A perfect mid-track for the album that leads into perhaps the most credible beat on the album. [Touched] features heavy 808 and music box sounds that throw such a hard hip-hop curve at the album it almost comes from left field. Her accent here is more controlled and she sounds like a stronger voiced Keri Hilson and pulls off excellently what should be the next single off this album.

Other good songs include [Did Ya] a great throwback track with great lyrics and hook, Britney Spears’ throwaway [Look Who's Talking], and another club hit [Dress Off]. The album ends with an electonric art song called [Hypnotic Dancefloor] which features dizzying synth and more 808.

The good thing about synth and 808 is that those two things can be so completely different from song to song and I thankfully never feel as if BoA is repeating itself. Each track is separate but cohesive and completely lacking any music challenge (unless you count the accent), but if you are looking to dance this is the album of the year.

A-
Four Stars

hellcat

Meisa Kuroki
hellcat
April 8, 2009
Oricon Weekly: #9
SWEET POWER

Meisa Kuroki, as broke to me on MinnaStar, is the next Namie Amuro. Naturally, I was a bit worried about this because who could ever do the Amuro-thing without actually being… well… Namie…

The first single, [Like This], is definitely STYLE-era Namie. Pseudo hip-hop beats, lyrics like “Baby gimme a stroke!” (quite obviously a nod to [WANT ME, WANT ME] and the sort of production you could slide across a room on. The song carries itself well. The vocals are strained during the chorus and the dancing a bit stiff when compared to Namie’s but overall a good start, it should only go up from here.

Second single [Bad Girl] doesn’t entirely follow this Namie train. While obviously sexually themed, it follows the Koda archetype. If [Like This] was slippery, [Bad Girl] is K-Y Jelly. The song is excellent club/bedroom music and almost begs for some kind of pole dance or thrashing around provocatively on a bed, which she does very deftly I must say.

Her first mini-album, entitled hellcat is a dissertation on sexuality. She’s isn’t playing around with it either (forgive the pun, or take it… wait… you know what? NVM…) The album is first class, slinky, all-the-good-tracks-on-a-Koda-Kumi-album affair. Opening track, [Hear the Alarm?] is fun and electronic, bordering on the 80s. Criminal is forgettable and the next track is far superior and should be her next single; [No, no, no] a tropical, dance-y tune with a catchy hook and chorus. It follows in the same vein as [Like This] but much more refined and finds Meisa softly lifting the chorus instead of blasting through it like with its predecessor. At this point, I have to agree with MinnaStar, her vocals tend to be on the Yuu Yamada side, but less strong, more sexual. [SEX] is about international crisis… ha! Gotcha… it’s about doing it and one of the album’s best lines “Goin’ crazy ‘cause I’m thinkin’ ‘bout sex” entirely encompasses the mini-album. The album slows down (but not much) with [Lost] a piano, 808-driven R&B number that shows a bit Meisa’s vocal abilities, but they aren’t entirely there. Her high notes are very tense and probably altered with pitch-correcting software. This song reminds me strongly of an updated version of Koda Kumi’s feel my mind-era half-ballads. The mini-album comes full circle with another electronic bash called [THIS IS CRAZY]. Heavy vocoder accompanies her voice and catchy chorus. A good note to end hellcat on.

Overall, good song selection but Meisa’s lack of vocal prowess drag down a wonderful party album. I look forward to some vocal training and where she continues to take her image. She’s absolutely stunning and a great dancer, I wish her only the best and a great debut album.

B-
Three and Half Stars

Rule / Sparkle

浜崎あゆみ
Ayumi Hamasaki
Rule / Sparkle
February 25, 2009
avex trax

For me, the only thing I had ever listened to prior to [Startin'] of Hamasaki’s was [Dearest], and that is the only thing. After the electronic heaven of [Startin'] I began to think of picking up Hamasaki as a counterpart to Amuro, but sadly, her voice was, on most things, lethal. Certain tracks came around that I enjoyed like [talkin' 2 myself], [decision], and [glitter] and slowly my view of Hamasaki began to turn from hatred and digust to mild interest with the release of the albums Secret and GUILTY. Finally, my like for her reached an all time high at the release of Mirrorcle World which made my Top 10 singles of 2008. Her next single, GREEN / Days was mediocre and not really worth my time, but I do plan on reviewing that single sometime in the next week.

And now, she releases Rule / Sparkle, the theme song to the new live action motion picture of the (in)famous Dragonball series, Dragonball Evolution. [Rule] is a pseudo-rock pop track that doesn’t begin to touch the perfection attained by [Mirrorcle World] or [talkin' 2 myself]. The rock elements seem less spirited and inspired. The song just rumbles through heavy electric guitar at break-neck speeds while Ayumi yells “RULE!” at the top of her lungs. The entire song is very forgettable and nothing less that a bad anime opening song. The second A-side is entitled [Sparkle] and it sounds so much like the first song that I hadn’t released it had switched over. It sounds like an extremely long bridge from [Rule] and it just continues the trend of mediocrity set by [Rule]. The entire single isn’t saved by the two remixes, but they don’t hurt. In short, the single is not even close to a favorite or even close to good. It is just mediocre in all it’s facets, like cubic zirconia next to diamonds.

70%
C-
Two Stars