trax – ravex (Radiant Dawn)
BARBiE BARBiE – Aira Mitsuki

Ethan/Rad/RadiantDawn from Radiant Dawn has been doing quite a few reviews this week, with two of these reviews being of two well-known (in the techno community, at least) techno artists, ravex (which features Shinichi Osawa/Mondo Grosso, Taku Takahashi and Fantastic Plastic Machine) and Aira Mitsuki.

In his review of ravex’s debut album, trax, he goes on to say that most every song on the album is enjoyable, with the exception of I RAVE U, a collaboration with DJ OZMA; Bangalicious, which featured Anna Tsuchiya; and ROCK U, the slightly flawed track with Namie Amuro. It is cited as a fun and creative album, as well as a project that Ethan would like to see continue beyond this album, which many fans have speculated will be their last due to the collaborative nature of the group itself. There are, of course, many avex artists for them to go through, so only time will tell what the fate of this particular unit will be.

His review for Aira Mitsuki’s new single, BARBiE BARBiE, isn’t exactly as glowing. He cites the a-side as being run-of-the-mill, yet still catchy and enjoyable. However, the only other good track on the single is a remix of Happiness Land, a song from her debut album C.O.P.Y, while the rest fall flat and don’t garner much love or attention at all. Apparently this is the flop of her career so far, though since it’s the first, Ethan seems to think it should be forgiven at the current time.