The winner is off the forthcoming debut album of Aira Mitsuki, “COPY”, called Galaxy Boy.

It’s a happy, epic, club techno-pop song whose melody sticks to you like a skin-tight shirt on the hottest day of the year. Right out of the gates, the tune of the chorus infects and her signature voice dazzles. Instrument selection is nothing new but still manages to keep it all fresh. I’d have to say that the bass line (even with a low quality PV rip) makes me smile. I don’t know what it is with songs with this particular bass pattern, it just makes me happy.

My only beef with Aira Mitsuki is the quality of her PVs. None of them are very entertaining and Galaxy Boy is no exception. IT IS HORRID. She had a dance for Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 which sparked a controversy and I haven’t looked for lives for her other two singles but none of them make it to the PV. If my being a fan were based solely on PV quality, frankly, I wouldn’t be one. So in my case, you can say that her looks has nothing to do with her success. I like the sound of that.

If you’re wondering why love the world didn’t win song of the summer, to be honest, it had to grow on me a little. I’m in love with it now but I wanted something with a little more *unf* like what we have here with Galaxy Boy. But anyway, expect a full album review after the album releases on September 3rd. Until then, party on!

Buy from CDJapan
Copy [Limited Edition] Aira Mitsuki	Copy [Regular Edition] Aira Mitsuki

I don’t find a lot of MEG in the song but I do, kinda, see where the guy is coming from. If anything, a few of her strong notes ever so slightly remind me of misono, without the theatrics during the not so strong notes. So I surf over to theppn’s wiki and there’s nothing (as of August 20th) other than her birthday. I do enjoy the fact that she is my age. However, despite the lack of information on this lady, I think she’s gained a fan who happens to be quite fond of her vocal performance.

The sound of her voice sounds like someone spreading whipped cream on a cake: its sweet and light and airy in a good balance. I really want to hear other things from her. I already placed the order for the mini-album, COLORS, this song is on. It should be coming in the next week or two. Comments in the original post directed me to her myspace to hear her other songs but they’re all preview versions. Still, her voice is reminding me more and more of misono just through the previews. I wish I didn’t listen to those previews though…

As for the PV, she’ll break her wrist if she continues to handle disco bowling balls like that. The engrish is engrishtastic. That dress is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while. She wears it like owns the place. The stockings and heels are pretty sexy <3. She has a few moments that I can't get enough of. I mean, she's sexy all throughout the parts where she's just playing around as opposed to just looking sexy (see: 2:27 when she's shaking her arms, and 3:14 blowing her ball for good luck. shut up.) Yum.

Bottom line, she's definitely someone I'd like to see more of. Her vocal ability (based on this song) is only matched by her beauty. I just hope she succeeds. <3 I'm cheering for you SAWA!

Buy on CDJapan:

Colors

SAWA

Then, I saw the questions and was like… ooo survey ^_^.

Thus:

1. What was the first Japanese song that you ever listened to?
I can’t really remember. It was probably Sailor Moon related but outside of anime and video games, the first Japanese song I listened to was Boys & Girls by Ayumi Hamasaki

2. Did it inspire you to like that group/singer, or did it turn you away?
I became a pretty big Ayu fanboy, I won’t lie about that. Then, her songs started to get repetitive and I started liking other acts so my interest eventually waned. I recently reacquired the A BEST album which got me started into her music so I’m getting a bit nostalgic.

3. What is the one song that you have been listening to for the longest time?
As of Summer/Fall 2007, it’s been Suzuki Ami meets Nakata Yasutaka’s FREE FREE but I’ve had stints with other songs before… I’ll let you know when I remember.

4. What group/singer have you liked the longest?
m-flo. They were the second Japanese group I got into since I’ve been listening to Japanese music. Also, love comes and goes knocks my socks off.

5. What is the song with the most plays on your itunes/media player?
According to my last.fm/user/johpan, Perfume’s Perfect Star Perfect Style has the most plays.

6. Is that song your favorite?
It’s probably my third favourite Perfume song of all time.

7. If not, what is?
I’d have to say Secret Secret contrary to what it says in my album review. Second would be Baby cruising Love.

8. Is there any one group that you can listen to all/most of the songs by? If so, who?
Perfume, though I have a bit of beef with Foundation. A little with Elevator as well. A smidge with butterfly.

9. What is your favorite agency?
UP FRONT. For obvious and not so obvious reasons. Mostly obvious though.

10. What is your favorite group/singer?
Perfume.

* Why do you blog?
I blog for fun and as an outlet for my opinions on the things I experience in everyday life.

* What long-term goals do you hope to accomplish, if any at all?
I just want a blog that doesn’t end up dying. I’ve had two die on me so far.

* Where does your blog fail to meet your goals?
So far, my newly dubbed personal blog was failing due to lack of entries but now that I’ve declared it to be personal, I think it’ll get posted in more often. Here at boylikesmusic (and everywhere else), I’ve been kinda slow recently because of my newly acquired full time job and I’ve been adjusting the biological clock to my work schedule. It’s been really tough on me…

* If you do have goals, what will accomplishing them do for yourself?
Having blogs that don’t die makes for a stronger online presence.

* What do you want to gain out of blogging? A creative outlet? Praise from others? Personal satisfaction? Money?
I secretly want to be an internet celebrity that isn’t just a one trick pony in the spotlight for 15 minutes. I don’t want to be that [insert stupid action here]-guy. I want to be johpan. Or if I ever do end up going legit online, being known by my real name would be awesome. I don’t think I’m ready for the real name thing though.

* Do you feel that your blog should meet a requirement for amount of entries? Do you feel any particular entry should be a certain length?
I think I should do at least one decently sized post a week with little posts here and there. As for lengths, it’s quality, not quantity. Tee hee.

* For any particular entry, what motivates you to start and finish blog posts?
Raw emotion. When doing album reviews, I always listen to the album while writing. Same goes for watching concert DVDs. Live events have to be blogged about later, of course. Writing about what you feel and how you’re feeling at that precise moment is motivation enough and usually gives me a paragraph or two or three of useful content.

* Do you actively consider long term goals for each individual post?
Never. I’ve never really thought about goals prior to this survey.

Subject Material:

* What do you blog about?
On thoughts and rants, I’ll be posting about anything and everything. Before I wanted it to be mostly reviews and of stuff without too much of myself in it, or at least the stuff no one wants to know about myself. But now, I think keeping the blog like that is hindering performance. I’m ready to cross that threshold.

Here on boylikesmusic, I do anything music related. tar used to cover the music stuff too but when I heard of IW, I thought it would be best to separate so then I could get an article or two up there. lol >_<. I try not to be a TOTAL fanboy on my blm but that sometimes fails… *sigh*

Bananas for JunJun is my worship blog for JunJun where I can unleash the fanboy beast within. I think I’d die if I couldn’t let it out every now and a while, right? Yeah, thought so.

* Would you be keep a blog even if it wasn’t about the subjects you tend to cover?
No. I need to blog about things I enjoy.

* Do you write about the material to promote it to others?
Mostly yes, but that may change soon in tar’s case. blm is a review/music blog so it’s mostly there to promote. Bananas isn’t meant to promote per se. It does but I just write in Bananas for the lulz and because JunJun is so darn adorable. I want to pinch her thighs and rub her inner cheeks. Whoops. Wrong order. And wrong blog.

… sigh.

Readership:

* How much do you care about readership?
It’s cool to have readers and fans but the more you have, the more is expected from you, in a way. Casual fans make for a good casual blog.

* Does it satisfy you to know people are reading, even if they don’t comment?
Yes and no. I like that people are reading but I don’t know if they leave thinking, “Wow, that article was garbage.” I wouldn’t want that to happen. I also don’t want people to start flame wars.

* What effect does receiving a comment have on you?
It depends on if the comment content is accurate or way off. If it’s correcting an error, I’d thank them. If they’re gonna be a jerk about my mistake, I unleash the internet hate machine. If the comment is way off but in a nice way, then I correct them nicely. If they’re wrong and jerkish, I shoot them down as best I can.

* Do you write with a particular audience in mind or an unspecified general audience? Why?
If I write about music, I tend to write hoping people can understand basic musical concepts and include different musical terms. Same with gaming and technology. Other than that, I write for no audience in particular. Maybe if I had to choose, a semi-informed audience would be most appropriate.

* If you write for a particular audience, is it International Wota? If yes, why?
If I have something that would interest the community, I would direct it towards IW but generally, I just write to make myself happy and to get my opinions across.

Community: (The International Wota section)

* If International Wota didn’t exist, would you blog?
Probably not so much about Japanese Music as specifically as I do now but I’d still be doing CD reviews and such since I did (not in as much detail as I do here) in my previous blogs.

* When IW covers an entry of yours, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
More, though I don’t blog just to get on IW.

* When IW does not cover an entry, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
Neither, I just blog for me and if I happen to get on, yay. If not, oh well XD

* How often do you read other blogs?
I browse IW headlines and if it intrigues me, then I go to the blog itself.

* How often do you comment on other blogs?
Only when I have something constructive to say or when someone shares something I enjoy.

* If another blog covers a topic that you wanted or wished to cover, do you still blog about that specific topic? Why or why not?
Yes, because everyone has their own opinions and each opinion is just as “interesting” as the next.

Commitment:

* How serious is your attitude towards blogging? Do you consider it just as something to do for fun?
I tried to take a semi-professional approach but it just takes the fun out of it. I do it for fun now and will always.

* How often do you blog? How often would you like to blog?
I used to do a decent sized entry a week, now I’m lucky to get 2 a month in. I’d like to blog like how I used to but with this full-time job, it takes a lot out of you.

* What prioritie
s do you or have you put aside in order to blog? Why?
School because blogging > school in terms of personal enjoyment.

* Do you see yourself blogging in 6 months? Why or why not
Yes, music, gaming, tech, and life, and JunJun will still be around in 6 months, and as long as I have an opinion on something, I’ll post something, even if it is just a paragraph.

Personal:

* Would you say you blog for yourself?
I have at least twice already.

* What is your feeling after posting an entry? Is it relative to the time and effort you put in an entry?
I usually have a smile on my face as I click Publish. Then just as quickly, I click edit and go over all the mistakes. The bigger the entry, the bigger the smile.

* What needs does blogging fulfill?
It gets my opinion out there even if no one’s really reading it.

* Do you consider yourself a writer?
No.

* Do you consider yourself good at writing? Good at blogging?
Writing, no. Blogging, I’m alright but I could be better. Depends on what your definitions of good are. In terms of insight and descriptions, I think I’m good. In terms of frequency, my posts have been sorta few and far between, which is bad.

* How much of your personal life do you share on your blog? If none, why do you leave this out?
I don’t really want to involve my personal life into some of my blogging but sometimes, it can’t be helped and sometimes, you just need to let the personal stuff out… just, you have to be careful about letting too much out and/or try not to look like a whiny bitch. I hate reading about them and, thus, don’t want to appear as one either.

Fast forward 2 minutes in. Does anything look familiar? I don’t think so. It’s like saying two hip-hop songs are ripping each other off except that they aren’t. Aira and Perfume are both in the same genre of music. Moves are going to be similar. Deal with it. Some others are saying that her producer Oonishi Terukado is ripping off Nakata Yasutaka. I wonder if they ever listen to electronic music in general.

I’m a decent fan of electronic music (mostly Drum and Bass and Hardcore/Trancecore) and I’ll be honest, it all sound the same without a trained ear. Most Drum and Bass songs used the exact same drum pattern unless they’re diving into a more breakbeat kinda sound. The basic formula for Happy Hardcore is kick and splash on the quarter, bass and hi-hats on the eighths, snare every second kick, piano melodies with chipmunkish vocals, all at 170-190 BPM. But I digress.

What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think Aira is making any sort of attempt to mimic Perfume nor her producer to Nakata. Aira’s just another artist in a genre that is currently being dominated by Nakata and his crew in Japan.

Personally, I love Aira’s sound. Her vocals, however, kinda have the same effect on me as MEG does - both aren’t anything particularly spectacular but I just can’t get enough of them. I still haven’t been able to put my finger on it.

Anyway, onto the videos:

I adore this song but seriously, what is up with the 32 beats of absolutely nothing at the start? (0:27-0:42)This video is far too artistic for me. I like watching girls dance. Especially when the songs they make are dance type songs. If they’re trying to sell her music on looks alone, I don’t know if it’d work that well. She claims to be 20 but if I were a bouncer in a club somewhere, I wouldn’t as her for ID. If I were to pit her against Perfume looks-wise, she’d get destroyed. Perfume confidence also radiates more than Aira’s. Anyway, needs more dancing and less of someone puking all over flash.

Yes, you look cute from the eyes down and have better teeth than a lot of other famous Japanese people. Random panda holding a singing sign. The panda should dance like how the nekos dance in MEGs PVs. Then, we’d have a rivalry. Were you a witness in a crime and want your identity to remain a secret? I don’t know about you but that eye visor is a lot better than basic black, also better than that dude from Star Trek as well. Random martial artist. Coloured plastic, fantastic sheets. She doesn’t even dance though she’s on a “dance floor” with a “disco ball” hovering behind her. What must one do to make this girl dance in her PVs?

Oh well. There’s some proof that she’s not trying to mimic Perfume. Perfume would NEVER release a song like that without an equally cute dance.

Buy from CDJapan:

China Discotica

Aira Mitsuki