I once heard Sting perform Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, back when he had a vanity record label in the late ’80s. (Pangaea, anyone?) It was a bad idea.
The worst part of it? That album may be the first Sting disc I’ve been interested in about 20 years. I still love … Nothing Like the Sun and The Dream of the Blue Turtles. But he started putting out some real duds starting with The Soul Cages.
Reader Kaworu tipped me to a listing on CDJapan yesterday, but now Speedstar Records confirms it — Cocco is releasing a new album on June 21.
Titled Zansaian, the new album contains 12 tracks and includes her most recent singles, "Onsoku Punch" and "Hi no Terinagara Ame no Furu". A special edition DVD includes videos for "Hi no Terinagara Ame no Furu" and "Swinging night", dance music video conceived and choreographed by Cocco herself.
It’s been quite a year for releases — Hajime Chitose, Hatakeyama Miyuki, Tokyo Jihen, Utada Hikaru and now Cocco.
With ICE magazine ceasing publication, I’ve slowly found myself out of the loop where release news is concerned. Japanese titles require my own research, but stateside stuff, I usually get from ICE.
Someone on the ICE forums pointed out Pause & Play, and I have to say I like what I see. So I’m pillaging the information from that site to cobble together a preview of upcoming releases. Supplemented, of course, by my own self-researched picks.
Visit the ICE magazine web site, and you know something is amiss. There’s a bunch of JavaScript code that isn’t being hidden. There’s an announcement about the March issue missing its deadline, and no hint of an April issue is in sight.
Production on the magazine has halted, and a announcement posted in the March issue calling for investors glossed over what is evidently an alarming situation.
I’ve been pretty lax about posting Bounce.com news regarding artists covered previously on this site. So I’m rounding these old news items up in a single post, more as a note to myself. I’m sure the plethora of other sites have already disseminated these items.
Cocco releases her second single of the year, titled "Hi no Terinagara Ame no Furu", on May 24, so says Bounce.com. Unlike the high energy of "Onsoku Punch", the new single is a mid-tempo ballad with a more hopeful, inspriational feel. That’s how the article reads. From that description, I’m guessing it probably sounds like "Hane ~lay down my arms~". A limited edition pressing includes a bonus 8-cm (3-inch) disc containing "blue bird", the ending theme to the film, Vital.
The track listing, according to Cocco’s label site:
I’ve always liked Janet Jackson. Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 projected such a sense of independence, it seemed she could stand apart from the pop machine while still reaping lots of cash from it.
Then she started to get fixated on sex. And since The Velvet Rope, she’s re-recorded the same album.
The whole wardrobe malfunction made me sorry for the country — an accident turned Puritan scandal! It may have cut into her album sales more than the fact that Damita Jo just wasn’t that great.
Janet is releasing another album this fall, so says Billboard.com. I’m still optimistic Janet may explore other parts of her being — I mean, c’mon, if Madonna can get all Kaballah on Ray of Light — but the number of albums exploring her freak far outnumber the albums exploring her independence.
Utada Hikaru releases her fourth Japanese language studio album, Ultra Blue, on June 14, Bounce.com reports. The 13-track album will include her last few singles, including "Colors", "Dare ka Negai wo Kanau Koro", "Be My Last", "Passion" and "Keep Tryin’". It’s been four years since Utada released Deep River, her previous Japanese language album.
I wasn’t impressed by Utada’s English-language debut. The experiments on Utada were too heavy-handed and obfuscated her writing. The more recent singles find her still experimenting but letting the songs come through a bit more.
I’m a big fan of "Be My Last", a song I had nearly on repeat last year. "Keep Tryin’" and "Passion" were also well done. I’m really looking forward to this album.
It’s been 2 1/2 years since Hajime Chitose released an album, and on May 10, the wait ends.
Hajime releases her third album, Hanadairo, on that date, according to the singer’s official web site. Guest appearances include Tokita Shintarou of Sukima Switch, Matsutoya Yumi, Matsutoya Masataka and Suga Shiako. Producers include Ueda Gen, Mamiya-e and COIL. Essentially, most of the Office Augusta roster.
(They couldn’t throw in Dr.StrangeLove while they were at it?)
"Hanadairo" is the Japanese term for "sapphire blue", a color symbolic to Hajime of peace and harmony. The album will be preceded by a single on May 3 including songs used in the films Hatsukoi and Ao no Requiem.
I can’t say the recent singles have thrilled me, but Hajime Chitose is one of those phone book singers — it doesn’t matter what she sings, just so long as she’s singing.
Roger Taylor wrote a postcard to Duran Duran’s official site with a progress report on the band’s new album.
Taylor said they’re working with producer Michael Patterson on 15 songs, which will be whittled down to 12 for the album. Mixing could start as early as April, with a first single heading to radio during the summer. It’s not too far-fetched to see the album this fall or next spring.
Whenever Duran Duran is about to release a new album, fans always make book on how far back the release date will be pushed. When I hear news about a new album coming out on a particular month, I always ask whether it means this year, next year or the year after that.
Taylor also mentions the album is a homage to the band’s roots, "a return to our dance and ‘new wave’ origins". I’m cynical enough to read between the lines — "our old sound is fashionable again, and if we sound like we did, we can score lots of money!"