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