rotation 31 [top 10 rock songs]
Saturday, May 2, 2009 posted at 9:24 PM
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Sorry this rotation got backtracked so much. Hopefully it’s worth the wait, I’ve tried to upload as many runners-up as possible. This theme does not include any pop-rock, alternative rock, soft rock, etc. - but it does include rock ballads. Like with all the top ten/twenty themes, these are only the top songs in my opinion. Unfortunately, ruling out alt rock, soft rock, and “rock-influenced” groups/songs also ruled out many Korean or Chinese/Taiwanese groups. This rotation is extremely Japanese-dominated, but since pop songs were mainly Korean/Chinese and ballads were mostly Korean, I think overall it’s pretty fair. I haven’t been following rock music as much lately, so most of these songs will be a little older.

This rotation took a tiring amount of time to prepare, especially my comments (which get progressively worse), so please take the time to comment/leave a rating. Anyways, on to the music. =)
- Haruhi

#10. DOLLS - Janne da Arc
I really like Janne da Arc. Dolls is a mid-tempo track - the opening verses are a bit of a bore featuring a sweet if somewhat repetitive melody, but the chorus is great. It’s a slightly formulaic track, which kept it from moving up on the chart.

#9. Black Cherry - acid black cherry
I just realized I’d uploaded this before, way back in my tenth rotation, so there’s two links for you. A seamless blend of rock and jazz - Black Cherry starts out slow and ambient with light guitar and percussion, putting Yasu’s unique voice into the spotlight. Wailing electric guitars kick in and the percussion steps it up into a fast-paced fusion track, complete with trumpet riffs. A fantastic song from a great group.

#8. Orange Dream - Antic Cafe
This song was uploaded in rotation 19. Since most of their songs are upbeat and happy (after all, they are an oshare kei group), I was surprised at the richness and maturity of this ballad. I love the piano part - I think it adds a lot of colour to the song. The opening is heartbreakingly sad, but as the song builds it grows more and more hopeful and optimistic. A beautiful rock ballad.

#7. Et cetera - ONE OK ROCK
An angsty rock song, leaning more towards the style of American rock than Japanese. I absolutely love the chorus and the contrast in volume between the chorus and other verses. The arrangement might not be the most original or innovative, but it all fits together perfectly to make a unique and memorable song.

#6. yozora ni saku hana - Clavier
Returning to ballads, yozora ni saku hana opens with a sad piano intro. The whole song just has a certain flavor that’s unique to Japanese music, I can’t explain it - you’ll know it when you hear it. Toshi, their lead singer, has an expressively vulnerable but steady voice that suits the song perfectly. This group is technically oshare kei, but even in their other songs they don’t have a really sugary, sweet sound - their material is just generally brighter than visual kei stuff.

#5. Kimi ni Negai wo - Miyavi
Being the first Japanese artist I listened to, Miyavi had to show up somewhere on this rotation. This was also one of the first songs I heard by him. It’s a fairly bright, midtempo track driven by piano and guitars - and later, strings. Miyavi’s voice is soft and crooning pretty much everywhere but the chorus, but can still be heard over the relatively light accompaniment.

#4. Close - Mot
The sole Korean band to make the list (actually the only non-Japanese band), Close definitely deserves its position. Some people call them alt rock, but whatever. It’s such a unique song, filled with dazed, dreamy synths. Overall the song has a very sad, longing atmosphere, but its emotional value is what makes it good. It can get a little repetitive, which actually kind of adds to the atmosphere of the song - definitely try them out.

#3. Isshunfuran - B'z
A polar opposite of the sad, longing atmosphere in Close, Isshunfuran is upbeat, bright, and irresistably catchy. You can’t help but move along to it - it’s confident and assured. Not convinced? This duo has been around since 1988, and are considered the most popular rock group in Japan. They were also the first artists from Asia to have their handprints and signatures put in in Hollywood’s Rock Walk, placing them right alongside American rock legends like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Les Paul, and Jimi Hendrix.

#2. Libra - MUCC
MUCC is one of my favourite j-rock groups. I still follow their releases despite losing interest in heavier rock (I posted a recent single of theirs not long ago). Libra is definitely my favourite song by them - it’s dark and gritty, but then it leads into the chorus, which is just stunningly beautiful and pure. I absolutely love the PV and lyrics, too.

#1. over - 12012
I knew this song would be in the top two when I started this rotation. 12012 is one of the first j-rock bands I listened to, and one of the first Japanese bands in general. “Over” is a simple but gorgeous ballad. The haunting melody always gets stuck in my head and I never forget it, even if I haven’t listened to the song in a long time.

Runners-up:

Carnation - Janne da Arc
A simple but beautiful relaxing acoustic ballad. If it was a little more of a rock song, it definitely would have made the list.

ブランコ - kannivalism
I love these guys, but unfortunately I think they’ve disbanded. A fairly slow, relaxing song with refreshing clear vocals and a dreamy arrangement. I prefer their upbeat songs, but couldn’t find any on my computer.

Lost Reason - abingdon boys school
I love this song. It was definitely close to making the list. It transitions from gritty and aggressive to softer, melodic portions. I absolutely love the chorus. A great song.

風の鳥 - Matenrou Opera
I really like this band in general; I wasn’t sure what song to upload by them. In the end, I chose a piano-based ballad, which shows their impressive vocalist. The piano is just gorgeous.

My Heart Draws a Dream - L’arc~en~Ciel
I’m sure most of you know this song, I’ve followed Laruku for a while but have never really picked out any real “favourites” by them. My Heart Draws a Dream would definitely come close - a fresh, mid-tempo track with a great melody. Of course, Hyde’s voice is wonderful.

JEALOUS -Reverse- - Dir en grey
There’s quite a few ballads in this rotation, huh? JEALOUS -Reverse- is another one, also piano-based, but Kyo’s unique voice sets it apart. I’ve kind of grown apart from their harder material where he screams more than he sings, but he has quite a nice voice when he’s actually singing, although he sounds a bit strained at times. It’s sad but hopeful, and very emotional.

Aribai - SID
A light-hearted, jazzy track that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a breath of fresh air after listening to all these heavier rock songs or emotional ballads.

The Love From A Dead Orchestra - Versailles
This band’s whole image reflects splendor, royalty, etc. Their music, too, is extravagent - deep, thick vocals, a densely packed arrangement, many transitions. I love the slower, melodic verses of the song (eg. the one starting at 1:22), but unfortunately found the song to be on a whole too overdone. The slower portions where the different parts can actually be separated and viewed individually are the best. The transition about halfway through between the piano solo and the next, heavier portion of the song is roughly done - I would have thought it was going into a whole other track. A lot of great ideas and themes that got cramped together into one big song - personally, I think they could have been better and more fully explored, which kept this song from ranking higher.

Snow Flower - Plastic Tree
Ghost - Plastic Tree
Two great songs from another j-rock band that’s been around for a while: since 1993, to be exact. One of the first j-rock bands I really got into and one of few that I still loosely follow.

Night - Kazoku
I absolutely love the intro of this song. The transition into the actual song is brilliant and seamless. Faint jazz influences, a dark-ish, mysterious feel.

너 없인 행복할 수 없잖아 - Mary Story (I Can't Be Happy Without You)
I had to stick another Korean band in here somewhere. These guys are awesome, they were very close to making the list. A pretty light rock song that might even be considered soft-rock or pop-rock or whatever, but I love it. The melody is just extremely memorable to me, and even when I haven’t listened to this song for ages I can still recall it without any difficulty. Try them out if you haven’t, k-rock needs more attention - and these guys definitely deserve it.

Note: I ran out of tag characters, so I took the tag for Kazoku off because the song "Night" is already uploaded in a previous rotation, and they're tagged in that post.

I likely messed up at least one link, so if there's any mistakes with the links or anything else, please let me know!

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rotation 26 [valentine's day]
Saturday, February 14, 2009 posted at 7:04 PM
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Happy Valentine's Day! =) I think the theme of this rotation is pretty self-explanatory. My comments this week are kind of dead, sorry.

Everyday Valentine - Winter Garden
language Korean
genre rock
rating
comments Like most Korean rock, this isn't really "heavy" rock. But I liked it - their vocalist has a mature, rich voice and the chorus is memorable.

Valentine STEP - Aira Mitsuki
language Japanese
genre pop
rating
comments A cute, poppy, happy song. The vocals are a little too chipmunk-y and synthesized for my taste, but I like the melody and summer-y acoustic guitar chords. Overall, a pretty good song.

Love will live forever - A-lin
language Mandarin
genre rock
rating
comments I really like her voice - strong, powerful, but not overwhelming. A fairly straightforward rock track - it's a bit generic in form and execution, but decent female rock in Mandarin is just so hard to find.

爱我 (Love Me) - Danson Tang
language Mandarin
genre pop
rating
comments I love the acoustic feel that this song starts off on. A rock-influenced song with a great acoustic guitar accompaniment and catchy melody. It feels dark in sections, then much lighter in others, providing a nice contrast.

So Fall In Love - DNT
language Korean
genre pop/dance
rating
comments Fun, light-hearted and bright. The little trumpet/brass riffs are a nice touch. I like the harmonizing.

Sea of Love - Fly to the Sky
language Korean
genre R&B/pop
rating
comments I love Fly to the Sky. This is one of their older releases, I believe it was the title track of their third album. As always, their voices are just in perfect contrast. It's a fairly simple track, but I love it.

Love Song - Khalil Fong
language Mandarin
genre R&B
rating
comments I've uploaded a couple songs by him before, this is a slightly older but very popular song of his. His voice is just so pretty, laid back but emotional at the same time. The accompaniment is stripped down except in the chorus, giving the song a bare, stark feel.

L O V E - JiSun
language Korean
genre soft rock
rating
comments Former vocalist of Loveholic, JiSun has recently released her solo album! While I was disappointed to see her leave the group, I also really liked this album. L O V E is hopeful and powerful.

We love you~世界は君を愛してる~ - Miyavi
language Japanese
genre rock
rating
comments Miyavi was the first Japanese artist I ever listened to. His voice is soft, almost a whisper, but intense. As expected, the guitar work is great. One of my favourite songs by him.

I Love You - 8eight ft. Jessica (SNSD)
language Korean
genre pop
rating
comments A fairly typical pop song. I love 8eight, their vocalists are quite good, which brings this song to another level. The chorus is really catchy - a fun, light-hearted listen.

Left My Hearts - Yiruma
language none
genre instrumental (piano)
rating
comments I love Yiruma. <3 This song is quite downtempo, I guess it suits the title. Although it seems fairly sad, there are notes of hope in it. Beautiful and expressive.

This Time - John Legend
language English
genre r&b
rating
comments I put R&B as the genre simply because that's John Legend's typical fare, but this song is far from his typical upbeat tracks - a gorgeous slow song. The lyrics are beautiful, as is the accompaniment. John Legend's voice is flawless - emotional and unique. Simply a beautiful song.

愛與希望 (Love and Hope) - JJ Lin
language Mandarin
genre pop/ballad
rating
comments I really like the piano in this song. JJ Lin's voice is lovely - soft and expressive, but still steady, suiting this ballad perfectly. Those two things, the rich, full piano accompaniment and JJ Lin's voice, really made this otherwise bland ballad stand out.

Longing for Romance - Joanna Wang
language English
genre jazz
rating
comments I've uploaded quite a lot of her songs - her entire debut album and one track from her second album. She's been hailed as "Taiwan's Norah Jones", if that gives you any insight as to her style and voice. This song isn't one of my favourites by her - it has a kind of weird, lurching feel to it that I can't explain. But definitely try her out.

Sarang sarang sarang - Park Hyo Shin
langauge Korean
genre pop
rating
comments Until this song, all the songs I'd heard from him were ballads. Not that that's a bad thing, because his ballads are gorgeous. I love his voice - deep and slightly husky. Who knew he would be just as good as upbeat tracks? This song has a faint rock/jazz vibe to it. I think it's actually a cover, but I don't know who the original was by. Recommended. <3

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