Search - Various Artists :: Japan For Sale Vol. 2

Music cut from a different cloth

seb | Cincinnati, OH USA | 05/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"pop in America has recently gone down to the level of pig-fodder, taking talentless females vocals over other people's one-dimensional music. there's no variety. however, overseas in Friendly Japan, the pop scene (refered to as J-Pop) is much different. pop is such a broad term in Japan, much broader than that of the US, it could mean any number of stylings. rock, synth-pop, rap, techno, and downbeat elements are found in the fusion-stylings of J-Pop. This CD is a good view at the currnet J-Pop scene. There's synth-pop sensibilities on "Nakanaide"; electronica on "Iceblink", "Yume No Nakae", and "Yumegiwa Last Boy"; chillout rhythms on "Balance"; fresh rock on "Skirt" and "Atarashii Hibi"; and tracks that fuse multiple genres on "Soliloquy", "New Wave Jacket", and "Shinsei Romanticist". So, in short, there's lots of stuff on thia album. Almost every track has an electronic element to it and may reflect the technology-pervaded Japan. a nice cd, the only really bad track was "Spirit Dreams Inside". check it out if you're looking for new music you've never heard from artists you've never heard of."

J-pop fan

S. R. Peterson | Tacoma, WA United States | 06/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was suprised considering I went out on a limb to pick this up. It seemed risky as all sophomore albums are, even as compilaions go. Though the tracks may not seem to blend well at first on the first listen through the tracks that bring back interest hold their ground well. It does have some very "eruo-influenced" sound in it but you'll get over it. If your into j-pop you'll probably recognize the track "skirt" it's definetely got something to it very much a mix of a lot of different things but all good I assure you."

Not quite up to the same level as the first one...

S. R. Peterson | 04/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...but still pretty fun all the way through. What has been replaced does hurt the album's full score in the end, though. Unlike the volume 1's opening, which packed the eerie punch of the Boom Boom satellites' "Fogbound", this one starts with a much lighter, much happier "Nakanaide" by Mayu Kitaki, which is still charming and nice in it's own right. The next couple of songs are more like moving techno and DJ pieces, which are done well don't get me wrong, but they don't quite appeal to the nature of J-pop that I was expecting from this album. Then comes DJ Krush, doing "Candle Chant: A Tribue", which is a very boring, uninspired piece of work that has a nice backtrack but could have been so much more, instead of a rather simple, unchanging rap song. His work on Volume 1 is much better. Almost the same for "Balance", by Yoshinori Sunahara, which is another quite slow but moving techno song with some very interesting vocals and with everything together, the song has almost a meditative quality that the vocals suggest. Boom Boom Satellite's "SOLILOQUY" reminds me a lot of Fogbound from volume 1, except that it is much more rock oriented (but it still keeps that creepy feeling of the fist song). The second half of the cd adds more rock to the mix, with L'Arc-en-ciel's pure pop/rock that brings back memories of the first volume, Puffy Amiyumi's piece of work is another pop piece that sounds almost like the Beach Boys and is capable of cheering anyone up, and finally Chara's brilliant song "Skirt" that is almost a different kind of rock itself, very fun stuff indeed. Other noteworthy songs include the songs by Supercar and Polysics (who are pure genious, with catchy hummable lyrics and an insane, almost cartoon quality machine like sound effects, each time I hear them they get better). The album ends on quite a bad note with Aco, with annoying, whiney vocals. Overrall, the album isn't quite as good as the first one (which was mixed to begin with), but it is still fun while it lasts. Give it a try."