2008
Soon, 2008 will be one year ago and we’ll all be writing 2009 on our papers, be they payment checks, blog post titles, or even in school. I’m really not ready to let 2008 go. It’s been my favorite year, filled with so much love, laughs and all the fun things that happen when we hang around with friends.
It’s also been the year of the first anniversary of HEART STATION! As a present from all you readers, HEART STATION recieved 10,000 hits up to the 12th of July of 2008, (The date that HEART STATION became one year old). Now that number is doubled to over 20,000 in only 6 months. This means so much to me, and to have so many amazing readers comment on my posts, to show me a piece of their minds and express their opinions about what I wrote, it’s just so rewarding, so good and refreshing! To have all of you, great people read my work, to share my life with you, it means the world to me and I’m so glad that so many of you appreciate it!
First of all, I need to thank my wonderful friend (And ex-7th grade teacher), Baby C for lighting that passion of mine for writing. She was my inspiration for blog-writing and I could have no better influence. She has always been so wonderful to me and to Sofy and Cary, especially when we were fledglings in the arts of managing a blog, back in On Our Way. We grew a lot since then and we have nobody but her to thank. Thank you Baby C for being our inspiration and such a wonderful teacher in school and in blog-writing!
Then, along with Baby C, I have to thank all of you. Other blog-writers like EmpressOfDrac, ReflectionsInLife that have been beyond words! They’re so great at what they do (And so passionate too!), and all their comments were always really dear to me. Not only have their comments been so dear to me, but I’m always thinking about my other wonderful readers! You’re all beyond words and I don’t see this love for writing without you! Of course I have many friends reading my blog, but when someone I don’t know shares a thought with me, that person basically made my day! I have all these readers from 2007 to 2008 to thanks!
Also another friend I’ve made while blogwriting is Lsn2aki, also an amazing blogwriter and that just like me, loves to review albums and favorite artists, Japanese or not Japanese. I’m very thankful to Lsn2aki for checking by every once in a while and making sure that I’m reviewing everything neatly and telling me how I’m going! Distant Kingdom is just an awesome review blog, with lots of interaction from the readers and full of amazing reveiws and recommendations!
I would also like to thank all of my beautiful, wonderful, amazing, beyond-words friends! Especially Christina, Sofy, Pamela, Carol, Carole, Cassandra, Lorraine and Victoria! Most of them are blog-writers and we support each other a lot, but if it weren’t for them, 2008 would never be half of what it is to me. I love them all and I hope we continue to be friends for a lifetime. Y’all are so precious to me!
2008 has also been the year that I joined UHb as a translator and the staff is just so awesome. They’re friendly, welcoming and they appreciate each other’s help. I can’t wait to see what 2009 brings me regarding UHb. I’m doing all the things I love there (Reading about Utada Hikaru and writing).
Even though all these wonderful things have happened, I can’t help but feel like 2008 will be just a passage of time and that there are many amazing things coming along!
I have a few plans for 2009! Here they are:
Anime Reviews:
- Chris presented me to a new anime show, Ojamajo Doremi, and I love it! It’s such a hilarious show and I’m sure that as soon as I’m done with the first season, I’ll be writing about it and as I watch, I’ll be writing about it more.
Artist Posts
- Kylie Minogue: I love her music and I think HEART STATION needs to be more Kylie. I’ve been her fan for around 2 years and even though I missed her stop in Brazil for the KylieX2008 tour, I’ll make up for it with another European artist recommendation.
- Madonna: Now that I’m getting really familiar with Madonna’s music and love her work, I’d also like to write about her more and Madonna is the queen of pop, so she is entitled to at least one post in HEART STATION!
- Some Brazilian Music (Vol. III): I’m also thinking about my next Brazilian artist recommendations for next time! I’ll be thinking really hard to please all of you and I already have one artist in mind, as soon as I figure out more, I’ll be writing about them soon.
- Utada Hikaru: With her next English release scheduled for 2009, I’m sure there will be many updates on Utada Hikaru!
I’ll be thinking about more updates as 2009 goes by, but I’ll always be thinking about improvement and I hope everyone loves them!
Thank you so much for the wonderful year that 2008 has been, and I hope that 2009 will be even better than any other year yet for all of you! Lets hope for really amazing posts in 2009!
A super happy, joyful and beyond words 2009 for everyone! Hope all your wishes and goals come true!
Love,
Alvy
Lets start with the right foot straight into 2009 with the song Give Me Just A Little More Time by the one and only Kylie Monogue!
Filed under: Pop Culture
Rita Lee
Rita Lee is the Madonna of Brazilian rock music, only Rita Lee has been around far longer, and is pretty much a hippie icon. Until today, no other Brazilian musician has equaled Rita Lee, for she is considered a musical genius. Marjorie Estiano, though, has been looked upon as a future Rita Lee. Maybe it comes from her craziness and how unique she is. She used to have a problem with drugs, but after she became a grandmother, she stopped.
Her music might be labeled as rock, but it’s a more soft, good to listen type of rock, more like Bossa Nova. Her lyrics contain mostly love, but they all have their little positive dose of originality. Be it through the overall vibe, the lyrics, the message. They usually contain sex in the middle, only it’s more descrete than that, of course. That’s why it’s always so good to listen to her! Her voice is always soothing, her lyrics are always lovely, so poetic and positive. Her greatest hits album, Perfil, is a great pick if the listeners wish to go on a ride with Rita Lee and cross all the decades of her carreer, from the beginning of her story as a solo musician, until today, with her contemporary music.
She started out as the lead singer for the band Os Mutantes. Then, she started her solo carreer and with her talent, it’s obvious that she was fated to become one of Brazil’s most accomplished artists. My mom is a huge fan of hers, so I basically grew up with her music. I think I love all songs from her album, Perfil. Doce Vampiro (Sweet Vampire, in English) was a song that my mom loved to sing in the karaoke, so it’s like an anthem for us!
Rita Lee’s big trademarks are her really bright red hair, her round glasses and her big lips, she’s pretty much a hippie! And this crazy, love-struck singer is just so easy to fall in love with!
Claudia Leitte
Claudia Leitte is completely different from Rita Lee, but displays a whole other side of Brazilian music. She is an axé/pop singer. Axé is a music genre from Bahia, and is music that is usually played in Carnaval, music that people usually dance samba to.
Claudia Leitte used to be the lead vocalist for the band Babado Novo. For years they were a successful group, and now she has recently moved on to a solo carreer and her first solo album was a live recording of her show in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. She’s pregnant now and won’t be releasing any new material for a while, but her record-breaking show (Now released in CD and DVD) will keep her fans busy until something new is released.
Even though her roots are from axé music, she seems to be turning to a more pop style after her latest single (And hit), Extravasa. This might make competition between her and Ivete Sangalo lighter. They are Brazil’s most successful axé singers and there’s lots of competition betweent them, for they both have really strong, beautiful voices. Ivete Sangalo even lost interest in a car she was dying to buy after she found out Claudia Leitte owned one just like she wanted.
I haven’t listened to her music a lot, but I think it’s really cheerful and I might start listening to it more. She has a really beautiful voice and is worth the listen! I recommend it to people who like that classic view of Brazil, with carnaval and samba or to people who love to dance and be happy. Claudia Leitte’s music is pretty upbeat!
Daniele Suzuki: Nipo-Brazilian beauty
I was born in a city called Piracicaba, in Brazil. When I was really young (Maybe 2 or 3 years old), I moved to Campinas, where I live in until today. First, we moved to a house near a university named Unicamp, so I was constantly exposed to different people, only I was too young to absorb all of it. Sometimes I’d take the bus when my babysitter brought me to school and shared it with students of Unicamp. I had a Japanese neighbor that I used to play a lot with, so I was exposed to their culture a lot. We’d go to little fairs around the city or just watch television, or even play with our pokémon toys. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I love Japan so much. I basically grew up with it.
One thing I love about Brazilian culture (My culture) is the fact that it’s not one culture, one community… Brazilian culture is many cultures brought to one. It’s African, Asian and native Brazilian, European, everything. It’s so amazing to watch such distinct people share one love: Brazil. It’s amazing how so many cultures can come together to create another, and I’m proud to be Brazilian.
I think that out of all Brazilian television personalities, my favorite is Daniele Suzuki. She has Japanese, Italian, German and indiginous ancestry. I don’t know what it is about her, but while she can look so exotic, a token of beauty in so many cultures, just watching her, you notice how Brazilian she is. It’s contagious. I remember watching her show, Tribos, in MultiShow (Brazilian television channel) once, and the episode was about modeling. She spent her day as a model and just before she worked the runway, the man responsible for the fashion show said that she is the Brazilian icon of Nipo-Brazilian culture! (Nipo-Brazilian is a term used for Brazilians with Japanese ancestry)
She is always fun, joyful, beautiful and such a pleasure to watch! She’s exactly what I mean when I say that it’s amazing how so many cultures can become one. I’m a huge fan of hers ever since I was little and watched the shows she was a part of, like Malhação or Sandy & Junior.
There’s a large population of Japanese decendents here in Brazil, especially in São Paulo (In Liberdade, especially, where the whole city is decorated in a Japanese fashion). I guess it brings me back sometimes when I’m exposed to this side of Brazil and that’s why it’s so familiar to me.
I love Daniele Suzuki! Her enthusiasm and energy is so contagious! It’s impossible not to love her! She is definitely an icon of our culture! Her show is always entertaining to watch for broacasting all the communities within Brazil, what better host than Daniele herself? Tribos is a great show to watch if you understand Portuguese!
After Christmas Eve
Things got better since our Christmas celebration that turned out to be a complete flop. After people were beyond the nice talk, we started to re-tie the bonds that were broken yesterday. I feel like we’re happier now and we can enjoy the coming days more! I still feel embarrassed and prefer to stay in my room when my cousin brings over some of her friends so that I won’t kill their party again… Besdies, it spares me of possible awkward conversations or moments, since my cousin is 25 years old. Today, though, my friends made my day.
First, there’s Victoria. She was a friend of mine in 2nd grade, before she moved to Sweden, and these days, Carol met up with her on FaceBook and they’ve been connecting ever since! We really miss her after these 7 years and she appears to be really eager to spend some time over here in Brazil. She was so sweet for making a special wallpaper for her new laptop that she got for Christmas. The theme is us! It’s really cute, and for anyone who would like to check it out or download it, feel free! It’s really colorful and cute!
I’ve been receiving really cute messages from my friends in FaceBook and I’m really happy! Some of these friends are old friends that I really care about, while some, I’ve barely had contact with, and they’re being really friendly to me! I know that Xy agrees with me on that! We’ve been sending “Merry Christmas” messages to our friends and I’m so happy I got replies from a few! Baby C is completely right when she says that words are powerful!
The mood here at the house has also lightened up. There have been music, singing, laughing and talking. It appears that everything from yesterday was forgotten, even though I still feel bad for everything.
For You
I’d like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! Full of joy, love and family. I hope that every day from today to New Year’s is special on its own and always really fun! That 2009 will be even better than 2008 in every aspect.
I would also like to thank all my readers for visiting every once in a while! It means the world to me, that we share this connection even if we haven’t met personally. I’m so happy (And lucky) to have such awesome readers! Thank you so much for these wonderful two years!
I hope that every post is as exciting for you to read as it was for me to write.
Love,
Alvy
I stand corrected: Christmas was not predictable, and it was the worst Christmas I have ever experienced. My father is spending his Christmas in São Paulo with his part of the family, so he isn’t here with us, and this really got to my sister. She got really moody and snappy, and I’m not fond of this attitude when everyone else is trying to be happy. When I was about to go up and take a shower, she threw herself on my laptop without asking and just started using it. I got really furious, for she didn’t want to leave or even ask if she could use it. Right when the fight began, the guests arrived (A couple that were friends of my cousin and that I’ve never seen before).
My sister was crying everywhere because she didn’t get to chat with my father on the webcam because the connection is so slow, and my mother was getting really, really mad at me. So, I was upset and angry, my sister was sad and my mother was lonely and really upset. I’m sure the guests felt really awkward, since my sister never smiled on pictures, she stood there, with her arms crossed, making a huge fuss. The air was really tense and I don’t even want to think about what the two guests thought about us.
After the air was cleared a little more, my sister and I took places at the table and tried recovering Christmas. Turns out one of the guests, Denise, was hilarious. We had a great time listening to her stories, but there was still that weird vibe around. At a certain point, I actually wanted to walk under the rain and maybe get sick so we could focus on something else and not on the flop that this Christmas was. All the running around after each other and the clear unhappiness is something to be ashamed of. I feel very sorry for everyone that I made them miss their Christmas for nothing.
Today is that day after a very big fight, where everyone tries to pretend it’s okay and it’s past and we’re all talking nicely and trying not to remember the day that yesterday was, but I do, and this isn’t natural, I just want to redeem myself to others, but I can’t seem to do it to strangers. I’m glad they’re gone, but I can’t act normally to my cousin (Who’s trying hard not to focus on the bad things), since I ruined Christmas for her. That’s how I feel.
Christmas isn’t supposed to feel like this, like death. I just want to go home and forget about how I’m an awful guest, I would do anything to make up for this.
The Days That Remained The Same
The days here in Ubatuba seem to go by really quickly probably because they’re basically the same, but so far, we’ve done something different for each one somehow.
It was all said and done, the sky opened up and this is the second sunny day in a row since we arrived. If it was already hot when it was misty and rainy, it’s obvious that it will just get worse when it is sunny. Here, the weather is always sticky and hot, and for being here for a while, I got used to it.
I’ve also been checking on friends through FaceBook and it’s so surprising looking at old friends now and how they have changed! I never thought I’d like FaceBook that much! It’s really fun, actually.
Yesterday I went to the beach, but it was just too much. I don’t like how the sand sticks to everything, how it becomes mud when you come from the water, I hate seawater, I hate sweat and I hate being half-naked around everyone else. I gave up on the fact of peace at the beach and came back in after a long shower and relaxed in the beautiful house where we’ve been staying. It’s right in front of the beach, so I can do so as I please!
The Christmas That Never Was
Christmas is going pretty much forgotten. Ubatuba isn’t like all the big towns, where there are Christmas lights everywhere, lots of ads and everything, it’s pretty much just… beach. It wasn’t until yesterday that I notcied that today is Christmas eve… It basically counts as Christmas itself, and my cousin forgot the decorations (She loves holidays), so it doesn’t feel like Christmas either… I ordered my presents and they’ll arrive in Campinas and my father seems to have bought us awesome ones, but they’re at home too and he won’t tell us what they are, but I love surprises (Considering what happened last year, I’m yearning for a surprise). My Christmas basically won’t be here until January.
I think later we’ll be going to Paraty. This will certainly bring me some Dejá Vus, since our last middle school class trip was to Angra dos Reis and Paraty. It was really fun, and I wish I had all my friends here with me! But considering how large this beach house is, who knows if it won’t be a good idea for future holidays or spring break?
I’m trying to download some holiday tunes, but the internet isn’t cooperating, to contribute to this Christmas. I know we’ll be having a feast though, my mom is quite the cook and she loves making food, so I know that part of Christmas is guaranteed.
To Sum It Up
Christmas will be just like any other day in Ubatuba: predictable.
Yesterday I arrived in Ubatuba, a city a few hours form Campinas, but still in the state of São Paulo. My mother, sister and I picked up my aunt at another town and we were off to Ubatuba. It was a pleasant ride with my iPod, me myself and I. On the backseat of a huge car, just closing my eyes and listening to music. I loved listening to Madonna, though. These days, MultiShow (A Brazilian television program) had a Madonna special (Because of her return to Brazil for the Sticky and Sweet Tour after nearly 15 years [After the Girlie Tour]) and her music videos were displayed many times, lighting that flame of interest in her. I looked into my Madonna records collection and took the time in the car to take a listen. I can’t stop now! I fell absolutely in love with Love Don’t Live Here Anymore and La Isla Bonita, and more songs like What It Feels Like For A Girl, Deeper And Deeper and Cherish. Madonna truly is the Queen of Pop. I love her older music and also her music of the ’90s.
When I opened my eyes after a while, I woke up to a mist. The weather was beautiful, with a gray sky and rainy weather (Even though it wasn’t raining). It reminded me of our trip in 7th grade to Bertioga, when we were on the bus and a really dense mist (We didn’t see anything but the mist) covered our bus and the whole area. We had just watched The Grudge and we were pretty scared. We were driving down some hills that were shrouded in light white mist. The chill of the weather as we reached Ubatuba made me really comforted (Even though I had a pain in my back because we definitely broke the record of luggage possible to a Christmas trip. Even though the car was really big, some stuff had to come with me on the backseat later on). When we arrived, it was a completely different scenario. There was the feeling of the tides and the beach, though it was still misty, and it was pretty hot. The city didn’t seem too clean, but then again, we’re basically at the beach.
We got to the house and turned on the music while we set everything up and had really positive energies while listening to Rita Lee, Sixpence None The Richer and Maroon 5. The weather still wan’t sunny, and we got to see the gray sky turn into a rainy one. We stayed home cleaning everything up and then watching television. As soon as I got in, I tested the internet. It’s still really slow, but it’s workable.
Later at night, we went out to buy the groceries and food we’d need for the days we’d spend here. I think later we’ll be going to the beach, the weather is still clearing up, so I might not be heading there until tomorrow.
Hikki’s new single appears to be called Come Back To Me, as declared by FMQB. It’s a new English song and it will be receiving airplay on February 2009! In 3 months, all of Utada Hikaru’s fans will be enoying yet one more of her English songs! Hopefully it will be properly advertised, and judging from the categories it was placed in (Mainstream and Rhythm/Crossover), it has a large possibility that it will be an R&B song! Utada seems to be coming back to her roots with the title of the song, and maybe introducing a more natural Hikki for this new American album. There has been no official announcements about the upcoming single and album by Utada or her record label.
Hikki has stated a few times in her blog that she’s been losing a lot of weight because of summer and she looks really different. She’s been testing for a few diseases because of the weight loss, but everything is fine.
I’m loving my work at UHb as the translator of Hikki’s posts in Hikki Texts from English to Portuguese and I find it to be such an awesome way to keep myself informed in Hikki’s announcements as well as doing something I love (Writing)!
I know that Hikki’s new album will be a great one, and I certainly love the title of her new song. There is something about its simplicity that makes me assume that it’ll be an awesome new beginning for Utada! If songs like You Make Me Want To Be A Man, Exodus ‘04, Devil Inside and Easy Breezy didn’t make her as known to the western market, I have a feeling that the highly anticipated Come Back To Me single will. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Today, though, was a pre-Christmas celebration party with the whole family and I really had lots of fun. One thing I picked up on was how I’m having a more mature relationship with my older sisters (Marcela and Ligia) and other family members (Nanda). I felt really comfortable with them and had really nice conversations. The morning and the afternoon went by quickly with so much talking and laughter.
Marcela: Marcela is my half-sister and everyone loves her at first sight for her personality. She has some tattoos (and until a certain point, a tongue piercing), and she’s a lot like me. She loves changing her image and loves bringing back the past. Some people say how much we look alike too. I really like being near her because she’s so much fun, so polite and sensitive. She always welcomes us anywhere and is always there to help! I love having a sister like her.
Ligia: My other half-sister. While Marcela is sweet and very much like me, Ligia is always funny and cute. She always makes the most of situations and makes the fondest memories when we’re near her! I could probably write a book about every funny situation we went through with her. She values family a lot, and this makes her a very welcoming person as well. She lives in Chile (Far from Brazil), so we’re really glad when we get to see her.
Nanda: My father’s sister, and therefore, my aunt. Nanda is the youngest of 7 siblings (She’s the only girl), and she is really jovial, modern and young, part of why I love spending time with her! She’s been taking singing lessons and from what I heard, she’s basically a professional. I loved talking about music with her and listening to her anecdotes about life. We have a lot in common (Including an uncommon fear of bugs) and it was great sharing stories with her! She has a really young voice when she speaks, always so good to hear and mellow (It sounds weird talking about another person speaking)! She truly made my day!
I got to see other family members that I hadn’t seen in a long time and some of them were perplexed by how my younger sister and I have changed over the years, and even though that made the conversations a little awkward sometimes, some people loved talking to us and seeing how things changed.
I certainly enjoyed spending the day with my family, but I was glad to get home and continue my work at UHb (Utada Hikaru Brasil) ever since I started to work as their translator (Yesterday)! I was really eager to begin and my job is to translate messages from Hikki Texts from English to Portuguese, and I might get ambicious later on and do some translating of her songs. It’ll be another addition to the blogroll, and feel free to check my work on UHb! If you understand portuguese, feel free to comment on my work!
Today is the day that completes the 10 years of Utada Hikaru’s music! 
Exactly 10 years ago, Hikki was a 15-year old girl starting out in the music industry with her smash single debut, Automatic/time will tell! For this great day, it has been revealed that two books will be released celebrating these really important 10 years! They will be called Ten and Sen. Ten will contain an essay written by Utada Hikaru herself about her marriage and divorce plus everything for these 10 years of her career! Sen will contain all of her official blog posts plus photographs taken by the same photographer of the First Love album. Each book is said to be approximately 400 pages long! 800 pages of pure Hikki! It can’t get better than this! I also signed up for a contest in her website in which her fans submit their favorite song(s) and tell a story of why. I had a bunch of favorite songs and a long story tying them all together. The winners get a free poster of Utada Hikaru through her 10 years of music! I hope I get one and I’ll keep writing because they’ll pick it in a random winners fashion, but there’s a special website where the responses are being posted! They’re all in Japanese, though! I have also added a new widget that I named HEART CO(NNECTION) and from there, you can download some of my favorite songs off each of her six studio albums! There is one song per album. Enjoy!
First Love
First Love is Utada Hikaru’s debut album, released in 1999 and that included a few singles that are anthems for her fans until today, songs such as Automatic, time will tell, Movin’ on without you and First Love. This album marked a new genre in the history of Japanese music, and beat records all over Japan. First Love is currently the bestselling album in the whole Japan, with 8 million copies sold only within the country. 2 million more copies sold outside of the country. Fans were amazeed by the R&B influence that the album contained, and it was a completely original style of music.
To promote the album, Utada Hikaru went on the Bohemian Summer 2000 tour and won over the heart of her fans all over again with her personality, humor and beautiful voice, even at such a tender age. At the time, she was still unsure of what she wished to do in the future because her parents were musicians and she grew up thinking about the unstable income and problems that musicians face. She really wanted to be a scientist in a white coat, but her incredible talent for music spoke otherwise. Still in high school when the album was released, Hikki wanted to wait for her graduation to continue on with her sophomore album, Distance, released in 2001.
The style present in First Love is still present in her contemporary work, maybe not as much as before, but with her experimental music, it shows up every once in a while. Some of her fans prefer the R&B style to the synth pop that took place. First Love was an incredible debut that broke records and showed amazing talent, but Utada Hikaru wished to become more personal with her music and started arranging some of her songs other than writing all her lyrics (All of the First Love songs were written by Utada Hikaru herself).
Distance
Another JPop singer that was rising to fame at the time was Ayumi Hamasaki, and Utada Hikaru and Ayumi shared a rivalry that wasn’t personal, but considered by the media for the fact that they were Japan’s bestselling singers. Hikki was famous for her talent and record sales, while Ayu was bringing herself to the top with her talent and publicity for releasing many albums per year. In 2002, Utada Hikaru was going to release Distance, her highly anticipated sophomore album, and at the same year, Ayumi was releasing A Best, her first compilation album. avex, Ayumi’s record label changed the release date of Ayumi’s album for the same day that Hikki’s album was due. This caused a major rivalry between them both and their fans.
In sales, Distance topped A Best and was a success, also winning lots of awards and 3 million copies sold. Utada Hikaru presented new genres, like rock, techno, pop and R&B with Distance, and some fans distanced themselves from her because of this experimental work, because she was brought so much popularity for her popular R&B roots.
Despite that, Distance spawned popular singles like Wait & See ～リスク～, Can You Keep A Secret? and Addicted To You, some which were also advertised during her Bohemian Summer 2000 tour. The album reinforced the thought that Utada Hikaru was a young talent that was taking shape to become one of Japan’s most accomplished artists.
Currently, the song Eternally by Hikki is being used for the drama Innocent Love with a remake.
DEEP RIVER
Utada’s popularity was reaching new heights after the single 光 was released for the promotion of the game Kingdom Hearts. Her first official English release was for the song Simple And Clean, released along with the North American version of the soundtrack and present in the North American version of the soundtrack. This was bringing more ideas to her reguarding the North American market.
In Japan, though, this was one of her fans’ favorite albums for containing so much personality and style, again with an experimental vibe. Many popular singles were released through this album as well, singles like SAKURAドロップス, traveling and FINAL DISTANCE. FINAL DISTANCE was released as a single in the name of the Osaka school massacre in which one of the victims of the murder was a fan of Utada Hikaru’s. Utada re-made her song Distance (Off her Distance album) in the name of the girl that was murdered. A very sentimental ballad and with a really beautiful music video.
Many songs of the DEEP RIVER albums are fan favorites, be it because they were singles or not because of the wide range of genres and styles present in the album. It’s a beautiful album that was promoted with two tour dates in the Budokan stadium with many hits along with new tracks that didn’t become as popular.
EXODUS
EXODUS was Utada Hikaru’s second attempt in the American market, the first being when she was 13 and under the pseudonym Cubic U. EXODUS was a real shock to her Japanese fans for the single Easy Breezy, that contained footage of her in a bathing suit in the music video for the song. It wasn’t very popular in the United States, but sold many copies in Japan and lukewarm feelings between her fans. Personally, I love the album. I’ve listen to all the tracks and love them.
The album showed a different side of Utada Hikaru, a side named UTADA. The album contained really beautiful, yet strong lyrics. Hotel Lobby, for instance, seems to talk about prostitution. Tippy Toe talks about a love affair between a family man and a mistress and Let Me Give You My Love talks about… well, sex. Very different from her Japanese works, but nontheless fun, with great quality and beautiful.
The album was arranged by UTADA and Timbaland in 2004, and now she’s preparing her second English album, and has recorded a single with famous R&B singer, Ne-Yo, called Do You. It’s really good, I love it. It really shows her talent and his! It is rumored that one of the tracks for the new English album will be called Apple And Cinnamon, and it will be probably be released sometime in 2009, even though the plan was to release it in 2008.
EXODUS did spawn certain singles like You Make Me Want To Be A Man, Devil Inside, Exodus ‘04 and Easy Breezy. Devil Inside was a big club hit, though, and even appeared in an American drama. EXODUS was a huge hit for me!
ULTRA BLUE
ULTRA BLUE is Utada’s next Japanese album (Released in 2006), with the smash hit, Passion. Passion was also used for the game Kingdom Hearts II, and once again, recording the song Sanctuary for the North American version of the game, she gained lots of attention, even after releasing an English album just 2 years ago and not gaining that much popularity. Utada now started defining her style, a more electro-pop style. ULTRA BLUE didn’t have as much high sales as her previous albums, but contained great songs and really popular singles with great responses. Between those singles were Keep Tryin’, COLORS, Passion, 誰かの願いが叶うころ, and Be My Last.
ULTRA BLUE was yet another face to Utada Hikaru, that revealed a more mature piece of work, with a narrower variety of genres, definining her work more, and paying lots of attention to her lyrics, like always. She was also taking a major role in the production of her albums, and she did reveal that ULTRA BLUE was her favorite album. The title came from one of the tracks, BLUE, but she revealed that the word “blue” was quite sad, and added “ultra” to the beginning of it for a less depressing interpretation.
She’s back to the Japanese market and defining herself as a pop artist with her trusty fans right behind her. Even more fans were made with the release of her 2008 hit album, HEART STATION.
HEART STATION
HEART STATION is Utada Hikaru’s most heart-warming album, according to Rolling Stone magazine and has gained a lot of love and attention from new and old fans. A big part of the album was already previously released, and two of the singles gained a lot of fans. These are the singles Flavor Of Life and Prisoner Of Love. Both these singles were themes for Japanese dramas and this helped promoting HEART STATION merchandise.
HEART STATION followed the trend set by ULTRA BLUE, with a more techno vibe, but the lyrics are definitely more uplifting and positive. Take 5 (テイク 5), on the other hand, is a song basically about death, with an abrupt ending (That in the release of the album, was though of as an error in the song) to further show the vibe present in the song. Showing Utada Hikaru’s evolution as a musician and how original her music can be.
Utada presents herself differently, with a really short haircut and with a cuter appearance, she says that it’s due to the fact that she’s feeling more feminine with her divorce and marriage, that she’s happy for being a woman, and this is expressed in her later work. The track listing includes songs entitled Fight The Blues, Beautiful World and Stay Gold, showing how the album can be optimistic and showing how Rolling Stone magazine had a point.
HEART STATION is a muscial evolution, with great reviews, and if the sales remain steady for while, will complete 1 million copies sold! Of course it can’t be compared to First Love, but what can? It’s the top selling album in the whole Japan.
Celebrate
Fansites like Utada United, U.Blog, between other websites, will have little celebrations for Hikki and her fans. U.Blog has rare radio interviews in English between her and other people that are really awesome and I recommend a visit! I’d like to wish Hikki a happy 10th anniversary full of happiness and record sales and that there are many more years to come of her wonderful music so full of poetry, love and originality!
