Mano Erina – Love & Peace = Paradise (Selective Hearing)
Hangry & Angry – Top Secret
Hello! Project 2009 Winter Wonderful Hearts Koen – Kakumei Gannen
SCANDAL – Best Scandal

Greg over at Selective Hearing has a bunch of to-the-point reviews of recent releases, the first being Erina Mano’s new single. He appears to be among the many who haven’t really been feeling Mano’s solo output so to say — in a past post, he described most of her songs as being “different shades of boring.” Brutal! Greg says he’s mostly been put off by her lifeless vocals before, but finds that on “Love & Peace = Paradise” she seems to have improved greatly. I couldn’t agree with Greg more: there’s been an audible improvement in Mano’s vocals when compared to her indie singles for instance. Round it off with a song that Greg describes as being “light years ahead of her previous songs” and you’ve got one happy Greg (and Henkka!)

Next up is the recent HANGRY & ANGRY single, sliced from their album. Greg describes it as one with a great hook and catchy chorus, but adds that the real spectacle is the music video. Unlike with Mano, I never got into the whole HANGRY & ANGRY business. One reason behind that might be that I was always expecting another “Melodies” era GAM-like group, what with the hot promo pictures that had them nearly liplocking. Now, imagine my gleeful snicker when Greg describes the PV as being full of girl-on-girl fanservice, sexual tension and, hell, even “Yossie eye rape.” Alright, sounds like it might be time to give this group another shot…

Third up is the DVD of the H!P Wonderful Hearts show from this January. Highlights for Greg include Maimi’s intense solo song, Kanon Fukuda looking like Ai Kago and, well, Koharu’s magnificent legs. If that won’t persuade you to watch this concert, I’m not sure what will. In addition to that, it seems that surprisingly Koharu sang her songs live! I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that’s a good thing or not. Frankly, that’s something I’m a little apprehensive to hear…

Finishing off the bunch is SCANDAL’s album. You know, that “Most Powerful Japanese Girlie Pop Rock” group? That’s the one! Greg calls it a well-flowing debut album with little to fault, and while I can’t exactly call it a masterpiece… I think I have to agree. But what I want to know is, will they ever release what I still consider one of their strongest tracks, “PLAYBOY“?! Also, I must add I have a huge crush on Tomomi. I want to treat her to McDonald’s so I can see her stuffing her face with a Mega Mac. Just wanted to get that off my chest.