Beat Laments The World

A metal-infused take on Asian music & other stuff

Yeah man. Hello! Project 2009 Winter Kettei! Hello! Pro Award ’09, Elder Club graduation special. I’ll tell you the truth right now: I still haven’t watched this one even though it came out all the way in… early April was it? I dunno, I just never got the proper chance to. Hell, I tried! It just… I always got distractred and did something else. I know, I know, I’m a bad fan. So be it. However, today, my faithful sneaky little bastard readers, today is the day.

As today is going to be my virgin viewing of this concert (and hey, also probably my last — I rarely go and rewatch anything), it means I’m definitely going to make the most of it. And just how do you think I “make the most” out of anything? Come on, do I really have to spell this out for you? Alcohol! So much alcohol, my liver would explode if I wasn’t Finnish. I think I read on Wikipedia once that Finnish people consist of 20% vodka anyway, meaning we handle our booze a little better than others. Granted, I may or may not have added that bit in there myself. It should still be there though, it’s the truth.

In essence, this means this review will get worse with every passing song. Hahaha, typing that out now, I realize what an utterly ridiculous idea this is. God I love myself. I won’t tomorrow though. Tomorrow I’ll wake up, read this and go “You’re kidding me, right? I wasted all this vodka just to write this?” and then proceed to cry a little bit. And then drink more. The circle of life, friends.

Alright. I’ve already had a bit of a headstart in the alcohol department as should be obvious from the arrogant post so far. I dunno… When I drink, I don’t become a violent person at all, but I do become exceedingly obnoxious and arrogant, like I’m on the top of the world. Which is understandable because well, I mean, I am the coolest person on Earth after all. Still, I should watch out for that. My friends, this concert is going to be pretty damned epic I hope.

*a couple of drinks later*

Fuckin’ A! I’m feeling great, let’s watch some Japanese chicks sing and dance and cry while holding bouquets of flowers awkwardly.

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Ongaku Gatas – Come Together

Release date: 2008/09/10

Tracklisting:

1. Come Together
2. Aisaretai Aisaretai
3. Come Together (instrumental)

Ongaku Gatas should be consistently great stuff. They have an awesome line-up, including one of my current favorites Rika, the lovely underrated Country Musume Mai, my first ever Momusu fave Yossie, the not-so-cheeky-anymore Konno, and last but not least, the great bunch of cute and energetic H!P Eggs. And Korenaga.

Thing with Ongaku Gatas though is that they’re largely hit and miss for me. More specifically, the singles are the hits and the full-length a miss. I was left sorely disappointed after the promising first two singles when I heard the debut album which was… well, shit. Now, unfortunately while this single is not by any means awful, there is no way it isn’t their worst single so far.

But it’s not all bad. Come Together, the somewhat Beatles-y A-side (click) is rockin’. A little generic to be honest, I personally wish they would’ve done even a better job of paying homage to The Beatles. Strip off all those bullshit electronic beeps and bleeps, add more guitar hooks, more vocal harmonization and there you go. The more I listen to Yossie though, the more I’m reminded she’s just not that great of a singer. Never was. Rika on the other hand is sounding more and more bearable as time goes on, which is nice. Satoda is solid as always, albeit she does have a tendency to sound samey. Konno… not really mindblowing, but you can certainly hear the improvement since she debuted. The Eggs? Who knows, I can barely even put the names to their faces.

The B-side Aisaretai Aisaretai is a definite hark back to the sound of the first single with the obvious disco elements, but it’s peppered with some GAM sound too, think something along the lines of Thanks!. It’s funky and catchy and all, but ultimately forgettable. I guess it sticks to my head but I’m just like “Bleh. Head, next song please.” It’s no fun.

So, the single doesn’t reach the awesomeness of either Narihajimeta Koi no BELL or Yattarouze!. Doesn’t even come close. But hey, better luck next time, OG! Oh, and just kidding with the Korenaga comment, she’s my favorite of the Eggs here. I mean, she does look like someone poured sulfuric acid on her before smashing her face in with a sledgehammer and calling her mother a whore, but who cares? I like her, she’s cute! Cute in an ugly way.

Rating: 6 / 10

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Alright, I’ll just do this now even though Koharu‘s new album hasn’t been released yet. Let’s hope it won’t have anything awesome enough that could’ve made it to this list.
I’m just gonna skip all the obligatory “this was so hard to do I almost killed myself blah blah blah” stuff since you already know, and start right off with the track at the 15th place. However, before I do, I’d just like to share this screencap of Sayumi with you that I found over at Your Opinion Doesn’t Count. Why? Because it, uh, motivated me to keep writing this list; maybe it’ll motivate you to read it, too? Hell, it might even be fake for all I know, but I’d like to stay under the belief that it isn’t.

Alright, after clicking that and taking a close look, get some tissues for that nosebleed of yours (or for any other needs dealing with other bodily fluids) and I’ll get started.

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