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Maaya Sakamoto - Hopscotch
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I first really took notice of Maaya Sakamoto's music
with her brilliant opening them for RahXephon, "Hemispheres." She's
done other anime songs as well, but this was really the first one
that I noticed. Maaya has long been recognized for her work in
Japan, and now she finally has a release for the United States
entitled Hopscotch. But, Maaya doesn't always record catchy, heavy
bass filled songs.
For me, that's her undoing. Hopscotch is a collection of Maaya
Sakamoto's singles, and like many J-pop artists, she's released a
number of them. Most of the tracks on this CD are way too mellow and
cute sounding for my liking. There's too much up-tempo beats, too
much sugary musical lines, and I fear that maybe I'm starting to
come down with diabetes. This is just too sleep inducing for me, and
though I don't mind music that is a bit more calm and relaxed,
that's only in small amounts.
Many of the songs feel more like Maaya's vocals are the main focus,
and while that makes perfect sense since this is about her, having
some good music to go along with everything isn't necessarily the
wrong way to go. But, most of these songs don't really have the
types of writing that really reaches out and pulls you along with
the music. The fact that it's in Japanese, for me at least has no
bearing on things. You can have a song in any language and if
everything blends well together, I'm completely happy listening to
it. Maay's song though don't really have any of that (though there
is one track, but I'll get to that a bit later.)
Don't get me wrong, she's really a great vocalist, and the music is
very fitting for what she does, but this is more or less like
bubblegum J-pop. It's purely manufacture music from the record
company to appeal to fans of this style of music, and coming from a
musician's perspective, it's something that I find rather annoying.
Although I don't like most of the tracks, there are a few that are
very good. "Sea of Miracles," this has a very fantastically arranged
musical line that has a bit of a darker, sad feeling about it in
places, but also has an uplifting quality about it. The backing
vocals are great, but it's really the chorus that is the big
attraction her. I may not understand her, but it's utterly
beautiful.
This collection is going to give you a good example though on
Maaya's musical progression and besides the songs, you'll have a
collection of photos of her from 1996 and on. I suppose for fans of
hers, it's a good way to look back and see how she's changed, but
the problem is that I don't really feel that her music reflects that
in the least.
I really have a hard time recommending this disc. I know that there
are fans of Maaya Sakamoto that are going to love this, but don't
think that I'm saying that I dislike her either. She's great at what
she does, but what she does unfortunately doesn't catch my attention
too terribly much. If you have a growing curiosity about J-pop,
there are plenty of other releases that will impress you, but I have
to say that this isn't going to be one of them . . . . . though if I
have a hard night falling asleep, this might do the trick.
-mike-
Musicians:
Vocals: Maaya Sakamoto
Apf/Keyboards: Yoko Kanno
Drums: Yasuo Sano, Neal Wilkinson, Shigeo Miyata
Bass: Hitoshi Watanabe, Andy Pask
Guitar: Tsuneo Imahori, Huge Burns, Masayoshi Furukawa
Strings: Masatsugu Shinozaki Strings, Orchestra Leader Gavyn Wright,
Members of L'Orchestra dell 'unione musicisti Roma
Percussion: Yoichi Okabe
Backing Vocals: Maaya Sakamoto, Gabriela Robin, Junko Hirotani
Sound Architect: Keishi Urata, Syunsuke Sakamoto |
Track Listing:
01 - Yakusoku wa iranai (No Promises Necessary)
02 - Tomodachi (Friends)
03 - Bokura no Rekishi (Our History)
04 - Gift
05 - Kimi ni ai ni ikou (I Shall Go See You)
06 - Hikari no naka e (Into the Light)
07 - Light of Love
08 - Kiseki no umi (Sea of Miracles)
09 -Active Heart
10 - Pilot
11 - Platinum
12 - 24
13 - Koibito ni Tsuite (About My Lover)
14 - Pocket wo kara ni shite (Emtpy Our Pockets)
15 - Call Your NameRunning Time:
69 Minutes
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