Terbaru dari Ayumi dan Utada



Kepada para peminat kepada dua penyanyi popular dari negara matahari terbit ini, anda boleh mendapatkan DVD konsert dan album terkini mereka sekarang.

Konsert Ayumi ARENA TOUR 2003-2004 telah diadakan sebanyak 31 kali di 12 bandar di seluruh Jepun. DVD Konsert ARENA TOUR 2003-2004 ini merakamkan konsert yang terakhir yang diadakan di Stadium Yooyogi di Tokyo dan kini sudah berada di pasaran maya(www.yesasia.com).

Sama ada versi asli sudah berada di kedai-kedai muzik di Malaysia terutama di Kuala Lumpur tidak dapat dipastikan. Jika membeli melalui yesasia.com, harga yang perlu dibayar adalah sebanyak RM220.36. Namun demikian, region code untuk DVD ini adalah DVD 2 yang bermakna ia hanya boleh dimainkan d Jepun, Eropah, Afrika Selatan, Greenland dan Timur Tengah termasuklah Mesir.

Tidak pasti sama ada teknologi pemain DVD yang ada di pasaran negara kita boleh memainkan DVD dari semua kod. Hal ini perlulah ditanya kepada mereka yang lebih pakar.

Tetapi jangan kecewa kerana saya baru sahaja mendapatkan versi cetak rompak di sebuah kedai di Plaza Low Yat dengan harga RM10. Untuk maklumat, kedai ini juga menawarkan pilihan DVD yang pelbagai dan menarik baik untuk penggemar filem dan muzik.

DVD Ayumi Complete Clip Box, Ayumi Hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2002 , Ayumi Hamasaki STADIUM TOUR 2002 juga boleh didapati di sini. Walaupun begitu ia amat bergantung kepada nasib kerana tauke kedai tersebut tidak menjual dalam kuantiti yang banyak. DVD Konsert Misha, Mika Nakashima, Aya Euto dan beberapa artis Korea seperti BoA dan Shinhwa juga terdapat di sini.

Kembali semula kepada DVD konsert ini, lagu-lagu yang dipersembahkan adalah daripada album terbaru beliau, Memorial Addres seperti Angel's Song, Because of You, Grateful Days, Ourselves dan lagu-lagu daripada album terdahulu seperti Surreal dan Real Me (lagu yang saya suka bangat).



Jadi, kepada peminat sejati, sila dapatkannya sekarang! dan jangan lupa untuk turut menadapatkan CD single terbaru beliau, Carols.

Exodus



Exodus adalah judul album terbaru Utada Hikaru yang sepenuhnya di dalam Bahasa English. Beliau yang lebih dikenali dengan nama panggilan Hikki di kalangan peminatnya di Jepun kali ini menggunakan nama Utada sebagai nama artis. Sehingga kini, saya amat meminati lagu Devil Insider dan Kremlin Dusk.

Album beliau ini boleh didapati kedai-kedai muzik utama di Malaysia selain daripada di beberapa penjual CD di kawasan Jalan Petaling.

Untuk maklumat lanjut tentang album ini dan Utada sendiri, sila klik di sini dan di sini.

Biodata Utada Hikaru

Daripada Kyodo News;

Utada to make U.S. debut
Hikaru Utada

TOKYO ‹ Popular female singer Hikaru Utada will make her debut in the United States on Tuesday with her album "Exodus," in what may determine whether J-pop can make a breakthrough in winning worldwide popularity.

In the album, Utada sings not only J-pop but also hip-hop and rock 'n' roll, all in English.

Steve McClure, chief of the Asian bureau of the U.S. magazine Billboard which compiles the U.S. charts, said Utada has no problem with English pronunciation, and that compared with other artists who have tried to break out overseas, her level is overwhelmingly high.

But he said that while she may be ranked 50th in the album charts, the arrangements are over-elaborated and the natural sounds of musical instruments cannot be heard.

Her music's width is too wide, and those who listen to her songs for the first time may wonder what she is actually good at, McClure added.

There are many Japanese musicians who have won popularity abroad after reaching their peak in Japan, but only five singers and singing groups,including the Pink Lady and YMO, have been in the top 100 in Billboard's singles charts.

"Many producers think songs in English produced with famous producers will become a hit, but nothing is that easy," said Naoto Sato, an official of the compact disk shop American Pie of Tokyo who is well versed in U.S. music.

The late Kyu Sakamoto's song "Let's walk in looking upward" debuted in the United States in 1963 in the original Japanese with the title changed to "Sukiyaki." It topped the charts for three weeks in a row.

"The 'Macarena,' which sold quite fast in the 1990s, is a song in Spanish. A really good song can be sold regardless of its language," Sato said.

There are moves to broaden the appeal of J-pop by leveraging popular Japanese animated cartoons.

TOFU Record, created in Los Angeles in July last year, has been churning out CDs of Japanese musicians related to animated cartoons, including T.M. Revolution and Nami Tamaki.

One CD has sold 8,000 copies, making TOFU Record a good fighter as an indie.

A U.S. cable TV channel specializing in animated cartoons with about 80 million households as viewers will begin a variety program by picking the Puffy, a two-member singing group which has broken into the United States, as animated cartoon characters in November.

Yaz Noya of TOFU Record said, "With animated cartoons, the number of young people interested in Japanese pop culture is increasing. We would like to sell the creativity of Japanese culture without flattering." (Kyodo News)