Sanity Support Now

The beagles are driving me insane. And the Bruces called last night, saying that they were staying an extra day in Florida, meaning that the beagles are staying an extra day. And I receive this news while I'm in the middle of a really bad headache . . . and I mean bad. I actually got physically sick because of the headache, which rarely happens.

Oh, and my telenovela is in ultimas semanas. If I can find it, I'll post the "Lament to Telenovelas" here.

Over and out.

Albums

I said that this would be Sakurian Music Week, and believe it or not, I'm carrying through on it. So let's have a tour of my CD collection, shall we.

Favorite Songs

Note: Favorite songs are judged by it's likeliness to have a place on my 'repeat' cycle. Also emotional or memorial factors are also taken into consideration.

• Aikawa Nanase
  • ID: BAI BAI As the birthplace of one of my 'good bye tag lines' and also the world's best break-up song, this makes the list.
  • Purana: 'THE END' Rockin' nihilisim at it's best. What's not to like?
• Aube
  • Do As Infinity: We are So what if it's a Christmas song. It's catchy and joyful, and not glaringly obvious either.
• Chara
  • Caramel Milk: Tsuki to amai namida Perfect Chara. Wonderful airy mood combines perfectly with her childlike voice. Magic, I tell you.
• Cocco
  • Rapunzel: Shinayaka na ude no inori Sweet, caring, and very warm but someone who doesn't really have that sort of music M.O. Makes it all the more meaningful.
  • Sangoroosu: Yakenogahara Emotionally intense. Honestly, I've cried during this song because it reflects my state of mind sometimes.
• Every Little Thing
  • Favorite Song: Ambivalence from "Sasayaka na Inori" Too bad it's not on a CD. I literally got a rush while listening to this song. Upbeat, forceful, and shamelessly pop-rocky, this is ELT at it's best.
  • Time to Destination: True Colors Very rocklike, forceful. My type of music.
  • 4 Force: Good for Nothing Composed by Kaori Mochida herself, this song suits her voice particularly well. It's quite different from the rest of the tracks on this album, which makes it the one that truly stands out.
• Hattan Amika
  • Favorite Song: To the Light I knew from the first techno beats that this song would rock. And it does.
  • Grace: Check my Sign Okay, nothing really new to say. It's upbeat, forceful, and it stands out on a CD too full of slow songs.
• Hayashibara Megumi
  • Favorite Song: Question at Me from 'Fuwari' Again, everything that matches my style in music. Also one of my first romanizations and definitely one of my favorite translations that I've done.
  • Iravaati: Just be Conscious Despite the fact that I choreographed it for dance class, it's techno beat remains one of my favorites.
  • Vintage S: Going History Sweet, sweet innuendo, and a catch beat to boot.
• Kuraki Mai
  • Delicious Way: Happy Days It's nice, it's happy, and it's a very good song about friendship.
  • Perfect Crime: Perfect Crime One of those shiver up the spine songs. It's low, intense, and quite possibly Mai K's. best song. It properly stole the album. Great for late night insomniacs.
  MISIA
  • Kiss in the Sky: Kaze ni Fukarete I was prepared to hate this song because it's intro recalled every stereotype that non-J-pop fans think about Japanese music. It's the traditional opening. But I loved the twist that it added to the upbeat (for MISIA) song. Definitely a good wake up song. Fast, and it recalls a nice sunny morning.
• Okui Masami
  • Ma-KING: Niji no you ni Many different moods, and yet somehow they all work.
  • Her Day: IN THIS ARM Maybe it's the sense of urgency that the music conveys in this song, but I absolutely love it and I don't know why.
  • Neei: eternal promise This is one of those difficult ones. I chose this because 1) It's Inori's theme song and 2) The lyrics have true meaning for me.
• Onitsuka Chihiro
  • Insomnia: INOSENSU Starts out softly, but goes to a truly intense level in the chorus.
  • This Armor: Infection The track that makes this album hands down. Onitsuka level intensity, with a composition and drama worthy of a true masterpiece. Also a Kage image song.
  • Sugar High: BORDERLINE Again, starts out very unassuming, but the song ends with this very intense singing round type thing that I am (obviously) at a loss to describe.
• Shiina Hekiru
  • Baby Blue Eyes: Distance Complete rock song, and the inserted rap is fun without being overly corny. It's corny mind you, but not overly.
  • Face to Face: Kono yo de ichiban taisetsu na mono This is the song that started it all. Started the Hekiru obsession, started the J-pop obession even, and it's still one of my all time favorite songs. It's enjoyable on so many different levels, with the genkiness of the music and singing belying the true depth of the lyrics. I keep discovering something new about the song that makes me love it even more. It's the depth that allows it to be catchy and addicting without being annoying. It's a great song on a great album, and it's held up after all these years.
  • Right Beside You: Akai Hana ~ you're gonna change to the flower Pop, dancy, and yet sad in a very profound type way. This is a great song for anyone who just isn't satisfied with life.
  • Precious Garden: Still A very difficult choice. Still was one of the songs composed by Hekiru herself for this album. It's the rolling drum solo and the fact that she manages to go really high on this one that does it for me. I wish she had continued in this direction.
  • Sadistic Pink: Sadistic Pink Okay, the name of the song rocks, and the song is just catchy and venting. Polished rock. Also it's one of the only songs on this album that Hekiru wrote.
• Tange Sakura
  • Best Album: private link There's something about this soft song, and the way that Sakura's voice works with it that just makes it work. It's gentle, but it has this beat to it.
  • New Frontier: FREE This is just a very pure, very natural, very soothing song.
• TWO MIX
  • Favorite Song: Staying Alive Not their best composition wise, and not really classic TWO-MIX, but this song in both Japanese and English holds a lot of meaning for me.
  • Dream Tactix: Thousand Nights Very mysterious, very Arabian like. I love the mood of this song and Minami's voice works so well with it.
• Utada Hikaru
  • Favorite Song: DORAMA from 'Distance' It's almost a rock song, and the Shakespeare reference is very appreciated. Shows Hikki's versatility. Anyway, Hikari or Simple and Clean are too typical.
  • FIRST LOVE: IN MY ROOM It's the Japlish that really makes this song stand out from the rest of Hikki's debut album.
• Puffy (like the hated child in the family of my CDs)
  • Spike: BUGI UGI no. 5. The only Puffy song I will admit to liking. There's something about the swing, big band beat that actually seems to work with their voices. Also it seems to be background music for a lot of shows on MTV. It's fun trying to play 'Spot the Puffy'.

Music Collection Stats
before the recent order comes in

30 1-volume J-pop CDs. 1 Various artists, 29 One artist
27 J-pop Singles. 3 Mini, 24 Maxi.
1 5 CD Oricon set.
5 Japanese Anime CDs.
4 English Albums I can't bear to part with.
3 Burned Mix albums.
1 Concert VCD.
1 CD with Anime Music Videos.
2 Music Video VHS
34 Cassette Mix Tapes
Song I wish I had on CD: Dame Yo! Dame Yo! Dame Yo! -- Shiina Hekiru.

Romanization/Translations Stats

Romanization Total: 326.
No. of Volumes: 2 Complete volumes, 1 Nearly complete.
First Romanization: Question at me -- Hayashibara Megumi.
50th Romanization: The Rain -- Shiina Hekiru.
100th Romanization: Chance! -- Shiina Hekiru.
150th Romanization: CHAOS -- Okui Masami.
200th Romanization: Saudade -- P. Graffitti (No, I am not interested in getting this page filtered out where I need to see it the most).
250th Romanization: Yakenogahara -- Cocco.
300th Romanization: Ambivalence -- Every Little Thing.
326th Romanization: Kaze ni Fukarete -- MISIA.
Translation Total: *shrugs* Maybe 11.
Keepable Translation Total: *shrugs* Maybe one.

Artist Stats

21 Artists: 20 female, 1 male. 5 groups, 16 solo.

Top Three Artists CD wise:

1. Shiina Hekiru: 5 Albums, 9 Singles.
2. Every Little Thing: 2 Albums, 5 Singles.
3. (tie)Onitsuka Chihiro & Okui Masami: 3 Albums each.

My hands are getting tired.

Over and out.