Hello! Project Official Website Updates

Coconuts Musume Ayaka’s artist page has been taken down and Ongaku Gatas group image reflects the new 8nin lineup.

Ayaka Graduates from Hello! Project

One of Hello! Project’s longest serving members Coconuts Musume Ayaka graduates from Hello! Project today. I’m really quite sad about this as Ayaka is most definitely one of my favorite Hello! Project members and at one time was my favorite. She’s not had the best of luck in Hello! Project – being part of a group for 8 years that stopped releasing singles in 2001and has had only one member since 2004. She’s had various other small projects and has recently been in several plays. She plans to follow her dreams to become an actress, I wish her the best of luck and do hope we still see her around, hopefully in dramas or something!

I think she’s been one of the most underused and undervalued Hello! Project members and if she had stayed until next year she’d have been a 10-year member.

Morning Musume 36th Single Titled

The title of Morning Musume’s 36th title has been revealed as リゾナント ブルー (Resonant Blue). The title has a mature sound to it, though you can never be sure what to expect with Hello! Project. The single will be released on April 16th in three editions, two limited with DVDs and one regular.

On an unrelated note today it is four past and present Hello! Project members’ birthdays;

• C-ute’s Hagiwari Mai turns 12
• C-ute’s Yajima Maimi turns 16
• Former W member Kago Ai turns 20!
• Former Coconuts Musume member Lehua turns 25

Some New Downloads

I’ve been neglecting the downloads section lately though today I’ve uploaded some new tracks to it, all from my own CD collection. I’ve uploaded Morning Musume’s Morning Coffee & Memory Seishun no Hikari, these are both from the Morning Musume EARLY SINGLE BOX so the extra tracks have been uploaded as well. I also ripped Coconuts Musume’s Tokonatsu Musume single. Although there was already a download available for the title track of Tokonatsu Musume it wasn’t of great quality so I’ve replaced it. Expect more downloads very soon.

Coconuts Musume Discography Review

Click to Enlarge

As I just recently managed to get a copy of each Coconuts Musume single I’ve finally had a chance to listen to each full single, previously I hadn’t heard most of the c/w tracks and so I’ve decided to do a mini-review for each, even although the singles are old I thought it might be informative.

Single 1 – Halation Summer / Summer Night Town (English Version) (1999-07-23)

1. Halation Summer
2. Summer Night Town (English Version)
   
3. Halation Summer (Instrumental)

Some people forget that Coconuts Musume’s first single was indeed a “double A-side” featuring their first original song; Halation Summer and a cover of the Morning Musume single Summer Night Town in English. Halation Summer, as the title implies has a “sunshine mood” and is a very upbeat song with nice vocals, Chelsea has a majority of the main lines with the other girls getting fewer solo lines. The song has never been concert performed as far as I am aware of. Summer Night Town (English Version) sounds quite different from Morning Musume’s in terms of vocals, Coconuts Musume sound more high pitched and the English lyrics are quite suggestive and at times a little odd.

Single 2 – DANCE&CHANCE (1999–08-25)

1. DANCE&CHANCE
2. Zurui Onna (English Version)
3. DANCE&CHANCE (English Version)
4. DANCE&CHANCE (Instrumental)
   

Coconuts Musume’s second single contains four tracks and is the first of their singles to be released on the now standard 12cm CD. DANCE&CHANCE is a pretty decent song though it took some getting used to for me. The Japanese version is far better than the English version in my opinion as the lyrics of the English version have clearly been tailored to suit the rhythm of the original composition. Zurui Onna (English Version) is a cover of a SharanQ song and isn’t too bad. Mika’s American accent at the start is quite humorous. I find it odd that it is a direct translation Zurui Onna as the song is about being in love with a girl. Like Halation Summer, DANCE&CHANCE features Chelsea as the main vocalist and in the PV she takes center position.

Single 3 – Tokonatsu Musume (2000-05-17)

1. Tokonatsu Musume
2. Tokonatsu Musume (Reggae Version)
3. Tokonatsu Musume (Instrumental)

This is where I think Tsunku began to get lazy. Although the a-side of this single is a very fun track and somewhat like Haltion Summer, the c/w is a poorly remixed version of it and I myself don’t class a remix as a proper coupling track.  As for Tokonatsu Musume, it’s Lehua Sandbo’s debut single with Coconuts Musume and although she’s not quite as good a singer as Chelsea her voice is pretty cute. You get some Coconuts Musume stickers with this CD which is a nice surprise.

Single 4 – Watashi mo “I LOVE YOU” (2000-07-26)

1. Watashi mo “I LOVE YOU”
2. Watashi mo “I LOVE YOU” (SAMBA DE CoCo Remix)
3. Watashi mo “I LOVE YOU” (Instrumental)

Again instead of a proper coupling track this single has another pretty awful remix of the a-side which in all fairness is a rather good song. Watashi mo “I LOVE YOU” is a very fun song continuing the feel from Tokonatsu Musume. Each girl has a balanced number of lines in this song and all of them sound pretty good, Lehua’s inexperience in Japanese is notable however, though she manages to make it sound alright. The remix isn’t as bad as the Reggae Tokonatsu Musume, but it’s still not very good and sounds quite strange.

Single 5 – Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen (2001-08-22)

1. Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen
2. Koibito Boogie-Woogie
3. Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen (Instrumental)

In a change of style from the last two singles Jounestu Yuki Miraisen is a more serious song though still fast paced and fun to listen to. Ayaka, Mika & Lehua all sound very good in this single and it’s possibly their best single in terms of musical arrangement and vocals. What’s more, the single includes a completly original coupling track, not an English cover or a shoddy remix. Koibito Boogie-Woogie is a great song and the “Oh Yeah!”  line which is repeated throughout the song seems to fit very well.

Latest Purchase – Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen

Well Coconuts Musume’s Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen arrived today and I was pleasantly surprised by the good quality of the single, the front cover and inside cover are very nice as is the disc. I’d heard the single before from one of the Pucchi Best compilations and I was really buying it for the c/w, Koibito Boogie-Woogie. It’s a really fun song I don’t really know how to describe it but I think it could have been good enough to be their sixth single to be honest. This single isn’t too rare just now so I advise if you get the chance buy it!

Sorry the picture quality is rather poor.

First Hello! Project Purchase

I’ve never before had the chance to purchase any Hello! Project goods as I was not yet 18 and couldn’t join certain websites to do so. Since I’ve been 18 for a few weeks now I decided it was time to start buying the songs, so my first purchase is Coconuts Musume’s Jounetsu Yuki Miraisen. As Coconuts Musume are (retrospectively) my favourite Hello! Project group this was the clear choice for me. Getting their older singles will be more challenging. It’s always annoyed me that the Hello! Project page doesn’t even have pictures of singles prior to the one I just bought.