Japanese Music pt.3

アリス九號
Alice Nine

One of my favorite too ... First time I heard them a month ago (August) ... I don't know them, I don't know about their music, and I don't know that they are exists hahahaha xD jk!, until I went home for a month and my young sister very love to play their music in the morning with a very loud sounds when I was still sleeping ... It makes me woke up (usually I wouldn't wake up haha :D), cuz' the music is very good and I love Tora-san! :") ... Now, I look like a freak fans of them xD lol ... No I'm just kidding, no that's true! xD lol ...

Profile

Alice nine (アリス九號.) is a Visual-Kei, Oshare-Kei band under PS Company that was formed by Shou(leader/vocalist) and Tora(guitarist) in 2004. Their music varies between soft alternative rock and harder rock. When bis was still with PS Company, they were often coupled as performers.

Shou and Tora were members of a band called Givuss. When they dissband in 2004 the two created Alice Nine. along with Hiroto, Saga and Nao.

Their first concert was held at the Ikebukuro Cyber on May 11, 2004. After a few concerts, they began to tour with other artists/bands such as Miyavi, Ayabie, Karen, Kagrra,, Kra, and bis. They completed their first solo (one-man) tour between August 8 and August 31, 2005. Their third solo tour hit 14 stops across Japan in August of 2006.In 2006 Alice Nine had two songs, "Akatsuki" and "Ikuoku no Chandelier", used as opening and closing themes in the second season of the anime series Meine Liebe.

Members
Shou (将) (Vocals)
Hiroto (ヒロト) (Guitar)
Tora (虎) (Guitar)
Saga (沙我) (Bass)
Nao (ナオ) (Drums)


They have now finished their one-man tour 'BLACK JEWEL, WHITE ROSE 2007' and are continuing to improve and develop new ways of making music.

Recently, they have produced a full length second album ALPHA which was released on November 28, 2007. The album contains a few tracks from previous albums and singles, such as Jewels, Number Six, White Prayer and Blue Planet. The album is ranked 9th on the Oricon Weekly for 2007 week 49.

The band will be holding a 2008 standing tour across Japan, 'A to U', starting from Zepp Sendai on January 10, 2008 until it ends on February 9, 2008.

Recently Guitarist Tora has been in critical condition with spinal disc hernia. He was numb from his head to his left hand and his entire left arm had gone cold. The rest of the band has postponed three stops on the tour until further notice of Tora's health. The tour has been resumed with Tora's persistence wanting to go on with the tour. The other members of alice nine has quoted on their blogs that Tora has gained his strength, However, he has not fully recovered. No further information was released after that.

creadit to: jpopasia.com

Japanese Music pt.2

Yuna Ito

About Yuna Ito
Yuna Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 由奈 Itō Yuna), is a half-Japanese- and half-Korean-American Japanese pop music singer, actress and a former Korean model. She was born on September 20, 1983, in Los Angeles and is a citizen of the United States.

Career and Personal Life
Yuna Ito was born to a Japanese father and a Korean mother in Los Angeles, California. Three months later, she and her family moved to Hawaii, United States, where she remained until the start of her singing career in Japan. She graduated from McKinley High School in 2001. When Ito was little, she used to sing to songs of both Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson and dreamt of becoming a singer.

In early 2005, Ito auditioned for the role of charismatic vocalist Reira from TRAPNEST and eventually was chosen for the role. To establish a mysterious image, SONY BMG JAPAN refused to release any information regarding Ito.

She debuted under the billing of "REIRA starring YUNA ITO" with her song Endless Story, which landed on number 2 of Oricon's single ranking. As Reira Serizawa from a very popular manga, NANA, Ito's identity was kept a secret until the end.

When NANA the movie finally released in Japan, people were going crazy about the wonderful, "high-pitched", voice of Ito and the movie song Endless Story ended its first day of sales on number 2 of Japan's Oricon charts. Ito was on magazine covers, posters and eventually had her first TV appearance on MUSIC STATION, performing Endless Story.

It was only in 2006 that her 2nd single, Faith / Pureyes, was put on the market. With Faith being the ending theme to the drama, Unfair, and Pureyes being a song for the Bioclen Zero commercial. This single sold about 50,000 copies which was a disappointment considering "Endless Story" had outsold Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" with over 450,000 copies.

Yuna's third single was perhaps the biggest hit after the NANA-era. Precious was announced as the theme song for the 2006 movie, "LIMIT OF LOVE ~Umizaru~". The single included two b-sides, I'm Free and Secrets, both co-written by Ito herself. Precious sold over 200,000 copies and was also the 2nd highest downloaded song in the first half of 2006 in Japan.

Sony later announced a 2-month Single Project. She covered These Boots Are Made For Walkin', for the Daihatsu "COO" commercial, featured on her 4th single stuck on you. She recently sang the Japanese ending theme song for TV show Lost. losin' will be her 5th single.

On August 4, 2006, Toho announced the role of Reira Serizawa in the sequel to NANA, NANA 2 will still be played by Ito. A 2nd single for REIRA starring YUNA ITO has been scheduled for December 6, 2006, with NANA 2 opening on December 9, 2006. Truth will be Ito's last single in 2006, and also rumoured last before her debut album comes out. Previews for the song were put on the net on November 8th, 2006, 3 weeks after it first aired on the radio.

Just now, Ito is busy shooting NANA2 and will be promoting the film alongsider her co-stars in December. Toho has stated that this time, the role of REIRA will have a more relevant part.

As of November 8th, Ito is under STUDIO SEVEN Recordings, a sub-label to Sony Music Japan.

credit to: jpopasia.com

Japanese Music pt.1

<-- Y U I -->

Yui is one of my fav. Japanese J-pop/J-rock artist ... (sstt~.. now, on the top of my favorite Japanese J-pop/J-rock artist list haha =D) ... Great music, great lyrics (if you have translated it :D) ... Finally have all of her albums and singles! yayy~ ...

Artistic Name: YUI[1]
Birthdate: March 26, 1987
Height: 5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
Weight: 99 lbs (45 kg)
Blood Type: AB
Status: Unknown
Horoscope: Aries
Zodiac: Rabbit
Hobbies: Movies, reading, acoustic guitar, and badminton
Favorite place: Shingu beach, Niimiya sea

Yui's albums:
From Me to You (February 22, 2006)
Can't Buy My Love (April 4, 2007)
I loved Yesterday (April 8, 2008)

Singles:
Single indie - It's Happy Line/I Know (December 24, 2004)
Feel My Soul (February 23, 2005)
Tomorrow's Way (June 22, 2005)
Life (November 9, 2005)
Tokyo (January 18, 2006)
Good-bye Days (June 14, 2006)
I Remember You (September 20, 2006)
Rolling Star (January 17, 2007)
CHE.R.RY (March 07, 2007)
My Generation/Understand (June 13, 2007)
LOVE & TRUTH (September 29, 2007)
Namidairo (February 27, 2008)

About YUI
YUI is a Japanese J-pop/J-rock artist, born March 26, 1987 in Fukuoka, Japan. She sings, plays the acoustic guitar, and writes her own songs. Two of her songs are featured in Bleach, a Japanese anime series, which has brought her some international attention. The two songs are "LIFE" and "Rolling star", the fifth ending and fifth opening themes, respectively.

Her first full album, From Me to You, was released February 22, 2006. Among its thirteen tracks, nine of them were previously unreleased, and have been well received from her fans. The album has already reached as high as the weekly ninth most sold album in Japan, with the main track, "TOKYO", reaching the number four spot on the MTV Japan's song charts.

Biography
YUI began writing poems in ninth grade. At the age of sixteen, by recommendation of her mother, she began studying song, songwriting, and guitar at a private music school in her native Fukuoka. Aspiring to become a professional, she carried her guitar around and sang at local places such as the seashore of Shingu, and in the middle of the rice fields of Kaminofu.

In March 2003, she sang three songs at an audition hosted by Sony Music Japan, as opposed to the audition rule that a participant could only sing two songs. All judges evaluated her with the highest score, which caused a fierce scramble among labels. She first sang "Why Me", which was later coupled with her debut single, followed by "It's happy line" and "I know", the latter of which was included on her indie single. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she strummed her guitar and sang. The judges and the others present claimed that "the performance created a tremendous aura from her heavenly voice, and captured the hearts of the whole audience".

Upon leaving her home of Fukuoka for Tokyo, YUI wrote the song "feel my soul". She was planning its release on an indie label as a tribute to her hometown, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer Mr. Yamaguchi, who happened to see the demo video clip. He claimed YUI's voice haunted him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio himself. He even made his channel's prime time drama an extraordinary tie-in with YUI's debut track.

Although she is uncomfortable talking to people, she enjoys communicating with her audience at street performances in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka.

YUI starred in a movie released on June 17, 2006, titled Midnight Sun (in Japanese Taiyō no Uta (タイヨウのうた, song of the sun), which was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

credit to: jpopasia.com

A couple days ago, I found news about YUI ... She will release a new album?? ... I've got this information from here ... But this is still just like a rumor??? ... enjoy...

『MY SHORT STORIES』
YUI
☆発売日：2008/11/12
☆情報公開日：2008/10/15
☆価格：★3750円（税込）【初回盤】
★3059円（税込）【通常盤】

☆規格番号：★SRCL-6899（初回盤）
★SRCL-6901（通常盤）
レーベル：スタジオセブンレコーディングス

1.Why me
2.Free Bird
3.Last Train
4.crossroad
5.HELP
6.Skyline
7.It's happy line
8Cloudy
9.Winter Hot Music
10.Driving today
11.Understand
12.Jam
13.I wanna be...
14.Oh My God 　
15.I'll be (新曲)

この次のシングルにはSUMMER SONGのアコverをどれかに入れて欲しいです！
ショップに貼ってあった新譜情報を見た人の情報によると、、、
初回盤にはPV3曲とライブ映像がつくらしい
「I'll be」は大型ＣＭのタイアップが決まってるとも書かれてたそうです。
CMタイアップは前にもあるって出てましたが、ほぼ確実ですね～。
あと、今回の新曲についてのプロモーション活動は一切ないというようなことも・・・

EDIT:
『MY SHORT STORIES』 の初回生産限定盤のPVは予約票見た人によると次のPVが入るみたいです。

1.It's happy line
2.Understand
3.Jam
bonustruck.新曲