Judge Jules AKA who needs clubs?

Judge Jules' show was excellent last week, but dang, off the hook this week!

Judge Jules has a House techno (do they still call it techno?) radio show on BBC's Radio 1; you can catch the past week's show on their web player. Along with many other excellent shows. I usually listen to him and Trevor Nelson (R&B/Hip Hop, etc.)

En Vogue - Free Your Mind

Still a perfect video. Great stuff. Is it me or are a lot of the pop videos today really simplistic?

The Fugees are still one of the best groups ever. And Lauryn Hill is the bomb.
Lucy Pearl was pretty cool too. I love Dawn Robinson's vocals.

A top artists list would have to include:
Prince
Michael Jackson
The Beatles

Listening to one of Prince's older songs is fascinating because it's just a level of complexity and depth above a lot of the popular stuff today.

I have an ongoing theory that the very best, transcendent musicians are a little weird. They have to be, in order to make music that cuts through all the polite facades of the "normal" world. Popular music works with and/or maintains the niceties of popular culture, but music that remains listen-able over time holds a bit of truth that never gets old.

talib kweli

When's the last time you heard "Reaganomics" in a song? Talib Kweli rocks. Listen to the song "Say Something" (the second song on the player).

Gotsta Go

I'm really enjoying Kelly Rowland's song Gotsta Go from her new album. Her live performance at MTV Japan sounds much better than the album version, which apparently isn't on the U.S. version.

as old as my tongue

A curiously poetic title for a documentary about Bi Kidude, a Zanzibar singer perhaps 100 years old. Afrobella has the coolest info.

outstanding music albums

I mean albums that are perfection in their entirety. They're still as strong and original today as when I first heard them years ago. I started making a list. It's a personal list, as I've only heard a fraction of the music out there (I wonder what fraction, heh).

Of the top of my head:

• Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - At first, I didn't really like many of the songs on this album, although I could tell that it was good. 10 years or so later I've realized that there is no flaw on this album. Magnificent.
  
• Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes - a beautiful album that still resonates with me today.
  
• The Cranberries: No Need to Argue - this captured my college angst (although it was much lighter than angst). I still love it. Speaking of which, I need to check out O'Riordan's new album.
  

I'm not sure about these albums:

• U2 - the Joshua Tree - I actually don't own this one so I can't judge it.
  
• Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy - I loved this album, but it doesn't hold much for me now.

edit: I changed the title of this post because I was misusing the word "seminal."

life passing us by: children are the smartest

I posted on my regular blog about a fascinating experiment by The Washington Post and violinist Joshua Bell.

It's a bit of a sad commentary on the daily grind, but very interesting nonetheless. And the music is stunning. Even the jerky video feed takes my breath away. ドキドキしてしまいました！

I have to see Joshua Bell in concert sometime.

On the perfume front, I gave away those samples and bottles of stuff that I never touched. One step closer to minimal! My new policy is to only buy a new sample/bottle if I use up a sample/bottle, so it's going to be a while before I can make a sample order. YSL In Love might be the first to get used up; there're only a couple spritzes left. It'll be hard to throw away the cute little sample atomizer though. I really like the top notes: it's a very authentic burst of grapefruit to me. Unfortunately I don't detect much after the top notes evaporate.

I will wear Ungaro's Desnuda tomorrow. It's been a while since I've touched it; looking forward to it!

I am not my hair

Loving India.Arie's song "I Am Not My Hair"! I also caught a bit of her duet with Anthony David called "Words." That is music. Great duet. Yes, yes, I am way behind on music news, but some of this stuff just doesn't come here. We get Beyonce and Paris Hilton and Posh Spice.

Perfume and Rap

No actual correllation between the two in my post, but the title does neatly sum up this entry.

Rapper/singer Akon doesn't always say what I would like to hear, but he has some catchy songs.

15 minutes into Trevor Nelson's show, you can hear his new song. Although if you go directly to his website, you can hear "Smack That" immediately. "Mr. Lonely" and "Locked up" are other classics. Apparently his native language is French. It'd be cool if he used French lyrics sometime. He already has, for all I know.

For catchy but less edgy music, you can check out Cassie.

Perfume Posse poses an interesting question: what 3 perfumes you would get if money were no object?

My choices:
Hermes Hermessence Discovery Set
Frederic Malle Test Kit
Shiseido White Rose

I've only tested White Rose and Hermessence Ambre Narguile once, so these aren't purchases I would actually make, but if I had money to burn, I'd want them.

aol lacks proofreaders

Or people who can spell. On their music videos site, in the "Hear New Songs First" category, they spelled Nelly Furtado's song "Promiscuous" as "Permiscuous," although it is correctly spelled in the "Top 100 Music Videos" listing.

Modest Needs

I read about Modest Needs at Perfume Posse today. It seems like a nice way to help a little bit. I really should donate my time too, but since I'm not doing that at the moment...

On a far more frivolous note, remember Raven-Simone from The Cosby Show? She's apparently a singer now. She seems like quite a technically skilled singer, but I don't like her songs themselves too much. Feel rather Disney-like and lacking depth.

I need to pick up Tori Amos's more recent albums. She's a little strange as a person, but I love her music. I probably still like her album Little Earthquakes the best though. She has a series of bootlegs out; maybe I'll pick up a few.

pop music

I think I'm a new Rihanna fan. Fun music!

Gabriel & Dresden

Addictive song of the week: Gabriel & Dresden - 'Tracking Treasures Down' [Club Mix] (Organized Nature). A rather hypnotic song. The lyrics are a little nonsensical at times, but eh. It's all good.

Forward to 10:20 on Judge Jules's program (only the most recent week's show is available though, so it is probably gone now). The forward 5 minutes and forward 15 minutes buttons are very convenient. You do need RealPlayer though.

I'm kind of sick of Amber's song "Sexual." Old and overplayed, although the recent remix is bearable.

Montien, Chicane and Tom Jones

I picked up "Montien I," the Japanese group Montien's first mini-album. One of my favorite singers Tina is a member of the group, and the samples I found on hmv.jp sounded pretty good.

The mini album is pretty fun and rocking hip-hop/R&B. I like it a lot. Tina's got a great voice. She seems to have a good vocal range; her voice gets pretty deep on some of the songs.

Apparently they have just released their first album, creatively called Montien III. Think I'll pick it up. It's 3000 yen, a little less than $30. Japanese CDs need to get more inexpensive. Still, I like HMV, where I can pick up fine U.K. collections like "Laydeez with Attitude" for a mere 1000 yen. Sure, there's crap like J.Lo's "I'm real" on it, but I've been wanting Sugababes' "Hole in the Head" for a couple years now. It's a total pop song but it's fun anyway.

A random and inconsequential opinion: I prefer Britney's songs to J.Lo's (as they currently stand - I did like J.Lo's debut, but it went downhill from there). I wouldn't pay money for either of their CDs though.

I have no idea who Chicane and Tom Jones are, but their song 'Stoned In Love' (Globe Records/Universal) is brilliant. It's about 12 minutes into Pete Tong's radio show from March 10th.

music

Some musicians that I like:
OLIVIA (japanese)
Tina (japanese)
東京事変 (japanese)
UA (english and japanese)
伊藤油奈 (english and japanese)
Jamelia (english)

fasio lipstick RD 481, and vicious cycles

Fasio is a Japanese brand with BoA as the image model. Since I'm not a big fan of BoA's music, I have avoided the cosmetics until now.

Today, I bought the Shine Star Rouge lipstick RD 481, which is a pinkish red, semi-sheer lipstick. It's actually a little darker than is probably suitable for daily use, but would be fun for night time. Or I could use less lipstick during the day. It suits me fairly well. At 672 yen, it's fun to sample (smaller than normal size so cheaper). I like the consistency and the scent is light and discreet.

Now I want to try a different color. Ugh! No good!

I have got to stop reading all these blogs. The more I read, the more products I want to try. Yesterday I investigated Lush's body creams, searching for the Japanese equivalent of "Smitten." There is a product called "肌の愛情" which roughly translates as "affection for the skin." It contains almond, so I gave it a sniff. A faint almond scent; pleasant but not enough to make me want to buy it. At 1800 yen, it's a little expensive considering I have absolutely no need for body moisturizer. I'll wait for the popular "Snowcake" soap to appear (Nov. 29?) and give that a try. Soap is a little more useful, and much cheaper.

I wonder if Lush has gone public. They have a killer business model. I need to find a cosmetics index fund.

jamelia at hmv japan

I guess it makes sense. British (I think) music store carries British artist! Woohoo! Cheaper than the U.S. import price, naturally. Yay, I'm going to buy Jamelia's Thank You album (2004 Japanese release). Kinda curious about her live DVD, but eh. I don't think I need to watch her perform, even though I'm sure she's good.

I never realized that there are HMV stores in Shinjuku alone. They're hidden in the MyCity and Takashimaya department stores. I only knew about the huge HMV in Shibuya. Maybe I'll check them out today.

tm revolution

Some days, I just feel like chattering.

I think TM Revolution is so-so. He's got some catchy music, and he seems to be quite a performer, but it's all just fluffy entertainment in the end.

Gackt is really cute, but I find his persona strange. I guess it's funny, and it's cretainly unique. As far as I can tell, his persona is supposed to be really really stupid. I thought he was just trying to be blase and cool. I hear differing accounts about whether he's just acting or he really is extremely stupid. I think he's just acting though.

In terms of real musicians, so far I can only think of UA.

Ayumi Hamasaki seems a little too plastic to me. She's a Japanese Barbie doll. You know? Ever striving to be cool and have all the latest fashions. Her music isn't terribly exciting either, although it's not bad.

Amuro Namie seems to be the hip hop flavored Japanese Barbie doll. No message in her music either.

Is it me, or is the black-haired Kinki Kid dressing really nasty these days? His hair and clothes are absolutely horrific? That's the one thing I like about Gackt - he looks sharp in those suits.

Fumiya Fuji is a little weird. I think he's trying a little hard to be hip too. That long hair is a bit jarring. It's like Jackie Chan and his long hair. ぜんぜん似合わないよ。 Doesn't suit them at all.

want to buy mp3s

But the Island Music site is styming me.

I want to buy "Hole in the Head" by The Sugababes (pure pop fluff, but really catchy). However, it doesn't look like the Island site has implemented https properly. Of course, even implemented properly, there is no guarantee of security, but that's an easy first level check.

Other songs I want to buy:
Melody's "Believe me" (again, fluffy pop)

Albums:
Jamelia's 2004 re-release. "See It In a Boys Eyes" is ludicrously addictive.
Olivia's (Olivia Lufkin) most recent album. Some really pretty songs on it. And rock is always good.

This song rocks: Mousse T feat. Emma Lanford - "Is It Cos I'm Cool"