New Life for Jpop n' Kpop and the Archive

I decided to befriend Charisma today on livejournal to see the new Jpop n' Kpop. Her livejournal address is http://charisma2.livejournal.com. She's got quite the collection there already. I barely use Jpopsuki anymore (unless I want Oricon Top 30), since I'm so used to the convenience of sites like Jpop n' Kpop.

But how about all the hard work she put in her old posts? Well...although her blog and feed are unreachable, Google Reader has this neat feature of caching all RSS feeds. That means, you can access all her old posts. Basically, add this feed to Google Reader and tada!

http://jpopkpop.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Just a (scary) reminder that Google caches everything :)

...and so ends my once in a blue moon posting on Jpop Addict, as I've become a Hwang Mi Hee addict

The Status on Jpop n' Kpop

I just happen to check my blog today and noticed someone was asking about what happen to the blog Jpop n' Kpop.

Charisma's popular blog is private at the moment, here's what she had to say about it:

Today I have received a second warning from the DMCA today this one regarding Namie Amuro "Funky Town" music video. If I have one more warning then this blog is removed and so is my account. In the next couple of hours I'm going to turn this into a private blog so no more DMCA threats. Then I will be creating a new site (since it's in the lead right now) and will be easier for me. I really want to do a forum however I would need 5 committed people to help me and I don't want to burden people plus this is the internet that alone says enough. Check back on Saturday or Sunday to find out the link.

IN THE WORST CASE SCENRIO:
If my account is removed you can contact me at charisma2.livejournal.com where I will leave a link on Sunday telling everyone where they should go to or email me at Charisma_2001ca@yahoo.ca

Even though her site is made private, through the magic of Google caching you can still find out what's up.

What's Next for Jpop Addict ?

Hey everyone, you might have noticed Jpop Addict has been inactive for what seems to be forever. This site has gone into inactivity once another one of my blogs, Really Cute Asians (don't worry it isn't pr0n), started to take off. For both of these blogs I tried to find some niche market. For Jpop Addict, it was Monkey Majik and at one time, a place to download collections of songs I liked. My gamble on Hwang Mi Hee and Korean models at my other blog won...by a landslide.

However, with some of the monetary benefits from Really Cute Asians, I have decided to buy hosting and a domain name and start a new generic Asian blog (using the Wordpress blogging platform). This blog will include Jpop, so Jpop Addict will likely continue its life there. The new blog is still under construction, so when it's finally up I'll link it.

Monkey Majik's new album TIME is going to be released on September 9, 2008 so I'm going to buy that album and put the English lyrics up either here on my new site, depending on how things go. I wasn't particularly fanatic about their recent singles Together / Akari / Fall Back and Aitakute / MORNING-EVENING / goin' places. I really love certain songs, but I wouldn't buy the singles for it (the only single I have is Change, for the song Car Crash since it's a b-side).

Interesting Jpop in Anime

I recently became obsessed with Anime again after about one year of not watching anything (but still reading manga of course). I have Code Geass and Code Geass R2 to blame for getting me started.

First, the Macross Frontier opening features "Triangular" by Maaya Sakamoto. Maaya Sakamoto did an excellent ending for the Anime Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles with the song "Loop"

I didn't like this song too much at the beginning, but then I got addicted to it after 4 or 5 listens.

Second, it's FLOW's song "COLOR" as the opening to Code Geass


Third, it's Orange Range's song "O2" as the opening to Code Geass R2

I'm not a huge fan of Orange Range, but this song is particularly catchy

All Anime songs can be found on Gendou, so give it a try!

Blaise Plant - Call me (Appelez moi)

If you happen to listen to Blaise Plant's (from Monkey Majik) solo song Call me (Appelez moi), you might have been surprised that it's French Pop. Quite the deviation from his Jpop career, but it's an interesting listen if you've never heard French music before.

In my opinion, Blaise Plant should just stick with Monkey Majik, since Blaise Plant singing without good guitar just doesn't do it for me. If you want an example of good French music, I was recently introduced to Kyo. One of my favourite songs by them is Comment te Dire:

KYO - Comment Te Dire - DVD
Uploaded by odin062

Jpop Recommendations - Girls Be Ambitious

The Jpop album Girls Be Ambitious was released March 26, 2008 which featured a variety of popular and talented female artists. I was glad the female voices were typically lower pitched, but wasn't too happy about the rapping.

Artist	Song	Details
Crystal Kay	Tears	Slower paced song with excellent vocals
ARIA	I Love You	Pop, the song's hook is the excellent piano instrumental
MINMI	Aisuru Toiu Koto	Pop/Soca, excellent vocals from my favourite Soca Jpop artist
DOUBLE	SPRING LOVE	Pop
Leah Dizon	Koi Shiyou	Pop, I like this song minus the chorus
Orion	Once More	Pop, I'm a sucker for piano yet again

Of the 26 tracks, only 5 songs matched the Jpop I enjoy. I was slightly disappointed, but then again, the percentage of songs I enjoy in the Oricon SINGLE WEEKLY TOP 30 is usually just as bad.

Highly Recommended Jpop - January to April 2008

2008 has started with an incredible amount of releases from some of my favourite Jpop Artists as well as some who I've recently discovered.

There were a lot of albums containing older songs, such as Ken Hirai's Pop Star or any song from the brilliant's green single collection. However, if you've missed them before, it's a good opportunity to get them now.

Albums/Singles

• ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - World World World
• Ben Arashino - Chapter One ~Complete Collection~
• CHEMISTRY - Face to Face
• EXILE - Pure / You're my sunshine
• GLORY HILL - DAYBREAK e.p.
• Hikari - Naked
• Ken Hirai - FAKIN' POP
• Koda Kumi - Kingdom
• KOKIA - Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi
• Leah Dizon - Love Paradox
• melody. - Lei Aloha
  
• mihimaru GT - diverge
• Monkey Majik - Together/Akari/Fall Back
• Nami Tamki - Don't Stay
• Namie Amuro - 60s 70s 80s
• Rimi Natsukawa - Ano Hana No Youni
• the brilliant green - complete single collection '97-'08
• Utada Hikaru - HEART STATION
• YUI - I LOVED YESTERDAY
• Yuna Ito - WISH
• ZEEBRA - BUSHIDO
  

I decided to summarize my favourite Jpop songs in a tabular format, so you can quickly scan for songs that interest you.

Artist	Song	Details
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	After Dark	Rock, the popular song used in the opening for the anime Bleach
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	Korogaru Iwa, Kimi ni Asa ga Furu	Rock
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	Travelog	Rock
Beni Arashino	Cherish	Pop, an old favourite of mine
Beni Arashino	FLASH FLASH (feat. KOHEI JAPAN)	Pop, rapping
Beni Arashino	Goal	Pop, an old favourite of mine
CHEMISTRY	Kagayaku yoru	Pop, song supported by Monkey Majik, which means amazing guitar
EXILE	Pure	Pop, on the slower side but excellent male vocals
GLORY HILL	DAYBREAK e.p.	Punk/rock, sounds like ELLEGARDEN (including unintelligible English)
Hikari	Sowelu	Pop
Hikari	Still lovin' you	Pop
Ken Hirai	Pain	Pop
Ken Hirai	Pop Star	Pop, if you haven't heard this song before you should!
Koda Kumi	anytime	Pop
Koda Kumi	Under	Pop
KOKIA	Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi	Pop
Leah Dizon	Love Paradox	Pop, surprisingly good for a Leah Dizon song
melody.	Haruka -Eternal Version-	Slow song
mihimaru GT	diverge	Pop
Monkey Majik	Akari	Pop
Monkey Majik	Fall Back	Pop, the rap sucks but the rest of the song is good
Monkey Majik	One More Chance	Pop, the surprisingly good b-side
Nami Tamaki	visualize	Dance, reminds me of her song "Believe"
Nami Tamaki	Promise	Slow song
Namie Amuro	NEW LOOK	Pop
Namie Amuro	ROCK STEADY	Pop
Namie Amuro	WHAT A FEELING	Pop
Rimi Natsukawa	Ano Hana No Youni	Slow song
the brilliant green	Ai no Heart Ai no Hoshi	Rock
the brilliant green	Rainy Days Never Stays	Rock, one of my favourite tbg songs ever
the brilliant green	I'm So Sorry Baby	Rock
the brilliant green	Stand By Me	Pop, another one of my favourite tbg songs
Utada Hikaru	Beautiful World	Pop
Utada Hikaru	Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version	Slow song, my absolute favourite song from this album
Utada Hikaru	Stay Gold
YUI	My Generation	Pop
YUI	Namidario	Pop
Yuna Ito	Mahaloha	Pop
ZEEBRA	BUSHIDO	Rap, this is what Japanese rapping should be like