I like Chara, but I’m not as big a fan of hers as I am of ACO or Shiina Ringo. That said, I’ve really liked the last three singles she’s released, and I’ve been looking forward to the album on which they’ll be included.
I won’t have to wait long.
Union, Chara’s newest album of original material in four years, is being released on Feb. 28, so says Bounce.com. In addition to "Fantasy", "Sekai" and "Crazy for You", the album includes the ending theme to the film Freesia, "Niji wo Wataru Heiwa ga Kita".
Chara is also one of the many guest collaborators on m-flo’s upcoming album, which also includes performances Bonnie Pink, Doping Panda and Suzuki Ami. (Also said by Bounce.com.)
Release news started to trickle in around the holidays, and afterward, it started to pour. Said holidays make me hibernate when it comes to compiling this column, but now that February is around corner, I’d better wake up.
The first quarter of 2007 looks like it’s going to be pretty busy until the summer touring season. Highlights yonder …
Utada Hikaru is really being productive. She’s set to release a new single in February, so says Bounce.com. I wish I knew that before I placed my order for Shiina Ringo’s Heisei Fuuzoku — I could have killed two birds with one pre-order. No details have been published about the single.
I wonder when she’ll start working on another English-language album. I was definitely critical of her US debut, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t welcome another English album from her. If anything, it would be terrific if she could parlay the maturity of Ultra Blue into it.
Cocco is set to publish a new book titled 8.15 OKINAWA Cocco on Dec. 21, so says Bounce.com. Unlike Cocco’s first forays into publishing, this picture book is a photo album of her Aug. 15, 2006 concert in Okinawa. The performance was the fourth installment of her Okinawa GOMI ZERO Taisaku Ikusa campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the litter problem plaguing the island’s beaches.
Photographer nanaco took photos the performance, a preview of which can be found on her website. Cocco provides poetry to accompany the images.
Cocco and nanaco collaborated previously on a CD/book combination titled The Bird. Cocco wrote lyrics for nanaco, who worked with Dr.StrangeLove’s Takamune Negishi and Osada Susumu on the musical portion for the book.
A track from Thorn’s forthcoming album can be heard on her MySpace page. Amazon UK lists the release of the album for March 5, 2007. I don’t see a US date anywhere.
Wainwright’s new album, Release the Stars, is expected in May 2007, and the executive producer on board is Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. How gay.
[UPDATE, 12/20/2006, 23:08] Pause & Play lists Thorn’s album for a US release on March 20, 2007.
Not that she’s actually gone away or anything, but back in 2004, she put her solo career on the back burner to form Tokyo Jihen.
Two readers have brought to my attention some new announcements on her fan web site — Shiina Ringo is releasing a new single and a new album under her name in 2007.
The Tokyo Incidents web log has a detailed account of the releases, so head over there. Kronekodow also has a special page for the new project, which is tied to a new film titled Sakuran. I will just mention the new single, "Konoyo no Kagiri", hits the streets on Jan. 17, and the new album comes out on Feb. 21, 2007.
There’s also a digital-only single of the film’s theme song being released on Nov. 11. There’s little chance of someone outside of Japan legitimately purchasing this download, since online services such as iTunes require a credit card issued from the country of origin. (Bittorrent *cough* *cough*.)
The new release season is winding down for the Christmas break, and it won’t pick up again till the spring. So there isn’t much to preview this time around.
I’m very cranky these days. Is this what happens to aging music fans? I like to think it is.