眩暈-vertigo-

I absolutely adore Chihiro Onitsuka's song "Memai". It seriously is the warmest love song I've ever heard and I tried translating it, so I'd like to share it with you~.

Hey, is it possible for me to fake a smile,
When I get terrified by the nights I remember?
Hey, whilst I'm laid in your lap, praying the devil won't come,
Tell me everything is all right,

Because somehow you strongly, strongly believe in me.

Your arms, your voice, your back is all here as rain pours down on my parched earth.
I can't escape, because you'd come from anywhere
And just knowing that, I want to cry... just knowing that...

This road will cruelly continue and if I was turned into a stone...
With those hands, I'd want you to thrust me into the flame

So that anything that's in the way would disappear, let me remain rubbish.

Your arms, your voice, your back is all here, stirring up my dulled intentions.
I don't want to realize it, but... how far must I force myself to run

So that I may be able to catch up with the me who is shaking free from myself?

The pretty words I could make you hear can't even be found,
So before you cry out to me becoming subservient, don't be kind to me...

Your arms, your voice, your back is all here as rain pours down on my parched earth.
I can't escape, because you'd come from anywhere
And just knowing that, I want to cry... just knowing that...

Your arms, your voice, your back are all here...
Your arms, your voice and your back are all here.

Maybe it's time I blogged something!

Hey, so seeing as there has been a tremendous lag in my bloggin, I'll just keep it brief for now.

This weekend I'm looking into colleges for definite. Sound good to you? Sounds good to me. Other than that there's nothing new to update on. Haha.
I'm also going to actually attempt to get a job, so I plan on distancing myself from spending 458973498573249874298 hours on the internet. I'm going for it now at full speed, wish me the greatest luck please!

Thank you to those who've stuck by me, I'll repay you one day, somehow. ^o^

雪月花

The truth is, I've been so unproductive recently despite my previous convictions. It's not good at all.

Well, I've decided I've gotta make priorities. I've been moping thinking everything will come to me. It won't. We are the only people who can move ahead in our lives and we choose to either squander our time or live pro-actively. I have definitely been doing the former, but no more!

My first step is to look into colleges. That's the major one. I need my education regardless how hard it will be.

1. Education
2. Work

Doesn't that seem better? Haha. It's insane how quickly time flies when you're content with living miserably. I need to get myself sorted.

I've got everything in my hands,

If I don't move then I won't go anywhere

I've got everything in my hands,

But if I don't start it, it'll never start. 
-Fly high, Hamasaki Ayumi

I believe we aren't fully in control of our future, but we can do all we can for the present so we can achieve our goals, right? I can't go on feeling sorry for myself for the rest of my life. 

Music

Hi! Currently teaching myself how to play Don Mclean's American Pie. Please look it up! :D

Together translation

Hi! I just got done translating a song, it's still not perfect, but I think it's okay...

So, this song is called "Together" and it's really gorgeous, it was the first song alan composed and was on her debut album Voice of EARTH as a first press bonus (I think?).
I was listening to the song and I noticed I could pick out pieces of the song and understand them (much like her song Sakura Modern)... Soooo I looked up the lyrics and decided I'd try to translate the entire song and here it is:

Together - alan

Lyrics: Miki Matsui

Composition: alan

Arrangement: Yuta Nakano

To live with you, to sleep with you,
Everything that's here, I wrap it all up,
Love and dreams overflow and lead my way.

Of course, I've realized:
There has to be something important here.

We don't need such words,
When I only want to protect you,
Because, the past, the present and tomorrow,
Are certainly glowing in my breast.

The waves, the wind, the sky and even now...

This blessed rain is falling,
On the dry earth,

With you... 

Kanji:

君と生きる　君と眠る
ここにある　全てを包み込んで
愛と夢　溢れ導いて

大事なもの　あるはず
そう気づいた

言葉などいらない
君を守りたいだけさ
そう　過去も今も明日も　この胸で
輝くから

波よ風よ　空よ今も

乾いてく大地に
恵みの雨を降らして

君と…

If you notice all the errors, correct me! ;) 

錯乱 (Confusion)

When I titled this blog entry "錯乱" or "Confusion", it was purely due to it being the song currently playing, but it ties in quite well with this post.

Ringo Shiina. Alan. Ai Otsuka. Chihiro Onitsuka. Gackt. Shakira. Hikaru Utada. Regina Spektor.

What do all of these artist have in common? Other than them being singers, they're all also songwriters. I listen to so much music which is created by this type of person and it struck me as odd. I'm attracted to artists who create their own songs and play instruments, yet I'm currently not playing myself? So odd.

I've been wanting to blog for quite some time, but I've had nothing to talk about until now.

Well, my topic for today is music and instruments! Until a few years ago, I used to play guitar, but due to lack of interest and lack of willpower I stopped, but listening to the music I do made me think. I can't sing, my lyrics aren't good and I can't compose. So, before you start thinking that I want to be a songwriter, that's not an option!

You could say I've been "inspired" finally. Sometime this week I'm going to resume the guitar and aim for proficiency. So, wish me luck!

This leads me to another subject. Currently I'm half-heartedly searching for a job, but this week is going to be my last week of laziness! I'm going to start job-searching in earnest.

I'm going to end it there with these lyrics:

If you only look,

It will never be in reach,

If you only look,

It will never be yours

-Catcher In The Light, Ayumi Hamasaki

alan's first concert -voice of you-

alan is relatively new to the Japanese music scene, debuting in 2007 with the powerful ballad 明日への賛歌 (Ashita e no Sanka/A Hymn for Tomorrow) and recently had a three night concert tour. She's known for her traditional Tibetan wailing and her vocals are some of the best Japan has had in a long time.

I just watched the TV version of her concert, which aired on WOWOW yesterday an it was fantastic!

01 天女～interlude～ (Goddess～Interlude～)

02 群青の谷 (Ultramarine Valley)

03 Swear

04 BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～ (BALLAD ～Nameless Love Song～)

05 明日への賛歌 (A Hymn for Tomorrow)

06 幸せの鐘 (Bells of Happiness)

07 久遠の河 (River of Eternity)

08 心・戦 ～RED CLIFF～ (Heart-War ～RED CLIFF～)

09 絆 [ehru] (Bonds)

10 恵みの雨 (Blessed Rain)

11 Together 

12 Diamond

(DVD track listing is much longer)

The first part of the concert is just a video which introduces her singles which in order are:

明日への賛歌 (A Hymn for Tomorrow)

ひとつ (One)

懐かしい未来 ～longing future～ (Longing Future)

空唄 (Sky Song)

風の手紙 (The Wind's Letter)

RED CLIFF ～心・線～ (Heart-War)

恵みの雨 (Blessed Rain)

群青の谷 (Ultramarine Valley)

久遠の河 (River of Eternity)

BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～ (Nameless Love Song)

Swear

Diamond 

The first song, tennyo opens with alan singing Tibetan behind a curtain which has stuff projected onto it, her singing is great and tennyo, being the first song on her debut album, is the ideal song to start off the concert. When the screen lifts we can see that she's wearing a white frilly dress (I would include pictures, but I'm incredibly lazy). :\

After tennyo she sings the fan favourite Gunjou. In the middle of the song, she throws off the white dress coat (which is quite awkward, but oh well) to reveal a sparkly outfit. Reminds me of a rock star. ;)

In this she also sings Swear and BALLAD. She nailed BALLAD and Swear is a perfect crowd warmer.

The next outfit is a traditional Tibetan outfit and is gorgeous. Her vocals for Ashita are flawless (to me at least) and her wailing is strong! Shiawase was great and for once didn't bore me, in fact it sent shivers down my spine. XD

When the lights come back up, we hear the epic sounds of the orchestra playing Kuon, which is in fact her best selling song in Japan. She sung it well and the outfit was a fuschia dress with a pink flower in her hair. XD

Her next song was the Chinese version of RED CLIFF. Her wail in the middle was quite good actually. :D

She sat for the next song as it was her playing her ehru. I love to see alan play the ehru. :)

Megumi is next and alan actually comes close to crying, which in turn made me come close to crying! Her voice is so gorgeous even when crying. DX

The encore songs are next and she performs in a white outfit with fluffy boots and a beanie hat. XD

She sung her self-composed masterpiece "Together" and her most recent song Diamond. Diamond was great live, far better than the TV performances. :D

That was...my speedy review! XD

Hopefully I'll be able to get the DVD soon! :D

No news yet

For once, the title of this blog is quite true. I have absolutely nothing to report! On Monday, I'm going to start in earnest looking for a job.
As I'm no longer in college for the time being, I guess this means I'll be able to search for jobs in a wider region! Wish me luck, kay?

Maybe I should post something interesting to read, huh. I have nothing! Haha. Damn, this sucks. Normally I can talk and talk forever.

Recently, one of my friends, Sarah, sent me a package! ^^
I'm actually amazed at how juvenile that sentence sounds...how can I sound so matureeeee?! Okay, this blog isn't even making any sense to me either.

Ayu's album STILL hasn't been announced! What the hell are Avex trying to pull? I'm glad she's not rushing, but, like everyone else, I'm getting impatient for the slightest bit of news. Isn't it strange to announce a tour before an album? I'm so anxious! D:
It was nice of her to send Mao a signed copy of Yw/B...

I'm listening to Tokyo Incidents' new album: Sports! It's quite good. It's a step up from their last album~!

All right, I'm really running out of things to say...so I guess I'll leave it at that. ;)

An important announcement...

I know that this will eventually be posted to facebook, which is the reason I'm making the announcement here in hopes that people will be able to see it.

I feel that an explanation of my actions is in order. I make no excuses, these past few months have been rough due to my own stupidity and I am finally taking my life into my own hands. Anyone who knows me in real life should know what I am like and how I think and I sincerely hope that they will take that into consideration as I do my best to explain myself.

Firstly, the situation with college. So far I have only informed a handful of people on my decision and by posting this I am making an effort to combat any rumours which may have cropped up. As a temporary measure, until I can steady myself I have withdrawn from college. Please do not misunderstand, I am not giving up. I will be resuming college in the autumn when I have had time to centre my thoughts.
This is definitely not a rash move. I have thought it over in great detail and I have spoken with my parents several times regarding my dissatisfaction with my studies.
During the time between now and September I am going to do my utmost to get a job so that I am not stuck doing nothing at all.

Now, I understand how some people will react to this, but I have to reinforce that I have thought about this in depth and there is no persuading my otherwise. This is not a permanent move at all.
I realize this is going to make things a little harder for me, but I am treating this as a clean slate and I am definitely not taking things for granted. To tell the truth, at first I was very ashamed of myself for making this move, but I have realized it is in the best interests of my mental health to take some time out to ground myself.

If you have any questions then I really would rather you come to me first instead of relying on hearsay and rumours and although I know this will affect certain relationships, I sincerely hope that it does not damage them beyond repair.

Thank you for reading and I am truly sorry for any complications the situation may have caused.

BoA - IDENTITY review

BoA's seventh original Japanese album leaked a while ago, so I'm going to review it. Initially I was impressed that BoA had produced this album herself, but as only a casual listener I was left sorely disappointed.
It's sad to say, but this album has little if any replay value. I enjoyed less than half the songs.

01. This Is Who I Am
lyrics & music: BoA
There's not much to say, starts off okay and then the repetitiveness at the end really ruins it and annoys me.

02. EASY
lyrics & music: BoA
This starts annoying, but the melody is quite good. This song could have been great if she wasn't singing as if she was dead. Nice tune, bad vocals. People said about alan's my life that her vocals made it sound as they were bored. They need to check out this track. It IS a shame though because it could have been so nice to listen to.

03. BUMP BUMP! feat.VERBAL
lyrics & music: VERBAL
Despite this being released as a single, I still haven't heard it. So far this is the first decent song, but it gets old quite fast. The saxophone is quite pleasing to the ear, but it isn't enough to make me want to listen to the end.

04. LAZER
lyrics & music: VERBAL
The second VERBAL track of this album! It sounds quite good and the laser effects are pretty neat. Her vocals in this song are nice and the chorus is okay. This is the second good song of the album and the first of the album tracks. Although my one complaint about this song is her English isn't as good as it should be considering she debuted in the States not long ago. The song is overall pretty sick!

05. interlude #1
A newcomer to the interlude bandwagon it seems. This one features footsteps and then the slamming of a door. Uninteresting although it's something you'd expect to find on Namie Amuro's Sweet Nineteen Blues. Lame.

06. is this love
lyrics & music: 川口大輔
A ballad! Her vocals are okay if not a little on the bored song. I HATE the percussion in this song. This track made me lose hope for the album a little.The chorus isn't redeeming the song and there is no hook. Her vocals aren't enough to keep me interested.

07. まもりたい ～White Wishes～
lyrics: MIZUE music: 山口広尾
Finally! A song that is worthy enough. I've loved White Wishes ever since its release and it is the song which got me listening to BoA again. The music is good, the vocals are good, the hook is there. This song is fantastic, her best song for a long time. It's sad to say that this is the only song so far I've fallen in love with.

08. interlude #2
Camera sounds. Boring.

09. ネコラブ
lyrics BoA music: U-key zone
Another good track! The repetition of B O A is catchy rather than being annoying and her vocals are quite good. I'm not sure it has playback value, but in terms of this album it's great. I bet it's fun to sing karaoke to!

10. THE END そして and... (album ver.)
lyrics & music: BoA
So, this was on White Wishes' single and I didn't pay attention to it then. I'm not going to pay much attention to it now either. Whilst her vocals are quite nice the song itself is boring and bland like a lot of the tracks on this album so far. Her English is okay but there's nothing that is keeping me listening.

11. Possibility duet with 三浦大知
lyrics & music: nao'ymt
Another duet! The music has an oriental edge to it which I like.  Her vocals are interesting here and the song is a good ballad! When you see the composer, you realize why this track is so nice.

12. Fallin'
lyrics & music: BoA
This song initially reminds me of White Wishes, but it makes me wonder "Does it share the greatness?"
The song is actually quite good! I love the electronic theme mixed with organic instruments. Her English gets better with each track.

13. my all
lyrics: BoA music: 川口大輔
The final track is yet another ballad. Not surprisingly it manages to be just as boring as most of the other ballads on this album. Her vocals are quite good as the music allows us to focus on them. I'm disappointed though.

Final opinion:
This album is okay the most. I was left feeling disappointed by the poorly made tracks which were, in my opinion, not good enough to be album tracks and come across as fillers. Whilst BoA worked hard on this album, it makes me sad that her effort didn't pay off. I hope that if she produces her next album that she improves dramatically.

Highlights:
- The album artist is good.
- I enjoyed ネコラブ, まもりたい ～White Wishes～, Possibility and Fallin'.

Lowlights:
- Poor use of interludes, they came across as redundant.
- Poor track quality.

Best ballad: まもりたい ～White Wishes～
Best upbeat: ネコラブ

chatmonchy and mental update

I was drawn back to blogging by some mysterious force actually that isn't far off from the truth.
A few weeks ago I wrote an entry which is still in my drafts full of my usual self-deprecating babble, but as soon as I got close to finishing it I gave up.

Who wants to read such nonsense when there's already enough unhappiness in this world? I don't know about it, but I'm finally sick of being sick (do you like what I did there? ^_-)

I've recently been trying to discover new music and I've been so far successful!

By far my favourite is チャットモンチー (chatmonchy) who are a Japanese rock band. It's actually kinda cool because all their members are female. ^o^
The genre, I guess, is rock and it's very good. Sure there's the typical cute voice, but it's actually carried of VERY well in this band.
In addition to chatmonchy, I've also been listening to the Chinese rock-band Cherry Boom and folk Sa Dingding. Both are quite good.

I'm still hung up on Chihiro Onitsuka though!

For the quick mental update...well, I've decided suddenly that it's not necessary. I find my state of mind incredibly mundane, so I have no reason to believe you guys are any more interested. All that needs to be known is that I'm doing good!

I hope you all are too. :)

Lyrics of the now:

私とワルツを - 鬼束ちひろ
(atashi to waltz o - onitsuka chihiro)

"Don't dance your own,
Just because you're afraid to hurt someone,
Please, waltz with me."

Even though they aren't my words, Onichii is definitely saying them for me and many others. ^^

Take care everybody! I'm glad to be blogging again. ^_-

The Opening of a New Year

We've survived another year and more importantly another decade.
I've thought long and hard about myself, who I am, what I need to do and I've still not come to clear conclusions. The only thing I've realized is that it's fruitless to carry on traditions that never worked in the past. I won't promise myself things I can't achieve. I won't promise my friends things I can't give.
This year, 2010, it's time for me to be completely honest with myself.

Honestly, what I want the most from this year is the happiness of my friends. Last year I joined a forum and since joining I've met so many great people who I've come to be friends with, who I've come to trust. It's crazy how quickly people gain your confidence and love, isn't it?
But I digress. This happiness I'm wishing isn't just for my friends. I've been friends with people I've hurt in ways I'll never do again. I've been friends with people who've hurt me in a way I'll never allow again. But even then, I'm wishing for a future not where I can join these people again in friendship, but one without conflict. I have a good feeling from this year and I'll do my utmost to help.

2009 was a terrible year for me, there's no denying it but I'm not the Joel from January 2009, I'm not the Joel from March 2009, I'm not even the Joel from December 2009. Being human means we have to change for better, or for worse.

I'm going to keep changing, and so are my friends. Who knows what this year will hold. I know for a fact it won't be easy. I know for a fact there'll be times we want to give up. I know for a fact there'll be times when we're hurt. I know for a fact there's always a tomorrow.

I'm not wanting you to quit smoking. I'm not wanting you to lose 5 lbs, I'm not wanting you to start working out.
All I want is for you to be happy. All I want is for you to be true to yourself, that's all that's important. You can lie to me, but as long as you know the truth then I don't care.

Here's to not a year free from pain, but a year filled with happiness.

I love you all! Thanks for reading such a random blog.