Music Reviews

Predia is a Japanese girl group created in 2010 by the agency Platinum Passport. Their name means "diamond in the rough." They are the sister group of Passpo☆. They originally had 12 members but now have 11. This is not the first time they've had a line up change, however, as the group already has six former members, five of which have been replaced. "Crazy Cat" is their fourth single and their first release since last December's mini-album Escort Me?

Kyary has been collaborating with Capsule's mastermind Yasutaka Nakata since she started her music career. He's produced and written or co-written every song that she's released thus far. And that might have had some of her fans wishing she'd work with somebody new, to see what she might sound like with a different producer or other songwriters. Well, those fans will have to wait because she's collaborated with Yasutaka once again on her new single, "Invader Invader." That said, "Invader Invader" does not sound like any of the other songs they've done together.

It's only been a couple of months since Shiina Ringo's band Tokyo Jihen parted ways, but she's apparently feeling just as creative as ever and is now back with one of her most insanely catchy songs ever, "いろはにほへと" (Google translate: "And to the holding in ABC"). I tried very hard to find a translation of the lyrics to this one but apparently it's too soon, the song having just been released digitally on April 30th. But all you really need to know about it is that it's highly contagious and once you've heard it for the first time you're sure to be hooked.

Naoto Inti Raymi is the stage name of Japanese singer/songwriter Naoto Nakamura. He began his career using his real name in 2000 after signing with Sony, though none of his Sony releases would end up charting on Oricon's charts. After parting ways with Sony, he released two independent singles in 2005 and 2006, which is when he first used the stage name Naoto Inti Raymi. Those songs performed better than his Sony recordings and ultimately lead to his signing with Universal Records.

Annabel is an Argentine-Japanese singer who started her career in Japan in 2005. In 2006 she formed the duo Binaria; (sic) with Nagi Yanagi and they have released an impressive 13 albums to date. She's also released anime theme song singles as a duo with Bermei.inazawa (sic) called anNina. In 2009 she began her solo career, though her first solo single, "Anamnesis," which was used as the ending theme to the 2012 anime TV series Another, wasn't released until February of 2012.

Asami's last solo release was her album Precious Sounds, which was released on November 28, 2012. "Dear Darling" is her first solo release since. And I do believe the last Artery Vein release -- Artery Vein being the duo of Asami and Eri Kitamura -- was "Kagerou" last August. During the time she's been away, it would seem that Asami has been sharpening her songwriting and producing skills, having co-wrote and produced the single "Hanabi" for Yumi Hara. But for some odd reason Asami didn't contribute to the writing of any of the three songs on this single.

MiChi is a Japanese-British pop singer who was born Michiko Sellars in 1985. She began her career with a much-loved independent album called MiChi MadNesS, which lead to her signing with Sony Music Entertainment. She is widely-known for her covers, which usually involve her completely rearranging the tracks. For example, she re-envisioned Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as a J-pop song. Other songs she's covered include Queen's "We Will Rock You," Avril Lavigne's "SK8ER Boi" and The Spice Girls' "Wannabe."

Pop/rock duo Every Little Thing has released over 45 singles since their first, "Feel My Heart," was released on August 7, 1996. But the quantity of their singles isn't nearly as awe-inspiring as the quality of them. The fact of the matter is that Every Little Thing has never released a bad single. Not in my opinion. And the Oricon charts would seem to agree with me with most of their singles breaking the top 10 on their Top 200 Weekly chart.

Japanese singer/songwriter Saito Kazuyoshi debuted in 1993 with the single "Boku no Mita Beatles wa TV no Naka." In addition to continuing to release music of his own, he soon found himself writing music for television commercials and songs for artists like Puffy and Isa Koutarou. To date, he's released roughly 50 singles and over 13 original studio albums, plus a half dozen best of type compilations. Suffice to say that he's quite accomplished and has a massive fanbase. He will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his career this August.