Whoa...I'm surprised, I didn't expect this to happen. Ayu part of an Utada cover... Although it would've been better had Ayaka take part of this as well...

I think it'll be "Prisoner of Love" as well, and it's a song I can imagine Ayu singing quite well. ^^

Easy Breezy doesnt...sound right for Ayu hahah

If ayu does boku wa kuma I will kill lol. But hikki has bigger hits than that thankfully.

It would be fun if she sings Colors. lol

Anyway, I'm hoping for Final Distance or one of KH's openings. :luv2

this is interesting :)

This is amazing!! I love them both and if it wasn't for Hikki I wouldn't have even got into Jpop.

So it'll be First Love or Prisoner of Love... I think it'll probably be Prisoner of Love, but it would be great to find out Ayu demanded First Love haha

I'm more excited for this than the new single now. <3

I'm really excited about this. I've been a big fan of both Ayu and Hikki since around 2002, and this is like, my dream come true. I hope Hikki does a cover of one of Ayu's songs eventually.

They both said that the "rivalry" never existed, and it was something that was hyped up by their labels and the media.

OH MY GOODNESS PLEASE DO PASSION. Its ethereal absurdity suits ayu very well.

Edit:
Is it confirmed that it's Easy Breezy? That's a weird choice :s

The day has finally come.
I KNEW IT.

Omg I can't wait. The cover is stunning :heart

Btw I didn't see anything about Easy Breezy on Facebook, neither on the official page :shrug

My body is ready. Also the Easy Breezy thing better be a joke/rumor. Even Boku wa Kuma is a better song lol

Ayu and Hikki's timbre are very different, I wonder how will it turn out! :)
Anyway in an episode of Music Station when Ayu and Hikki were the performers, Hikki said that she likes to sing Ayu's song at karaoke xD And when Ayu was asked if she'd sing Hikki's song at karaoke, she answered that Hikki's songs were difficult to sing

she will end up with Boku wa Kuma probably XD (but well, her voice fits that song lol)

I would love something diffrent from a ballad.
[edit] oh, it's easy brezzy then.
alrighty then.

STOP THE EASY BREEZY NONSENSE.

.

Prisoner of Love is my favourite song of Utada <3 so I hope Ayu sings it! I think Prisoner of Love is her style and she likes the lyrics.

I hope ayu has a song with very little English in it. Her voice is VERY unpleasant when singing in English. Hikki makes it sound cohesive but ayu doesn't switch from japanese to english so seamlessly.

I wonder though now that she is better with the english maybe this wont be a problem?

final distance please!

I'm really excited about this, I mean, Ringo and Ayu covering Utada's songs!! Could it be better?

I was just joking it's not Easy Breezy!! XD

Lol she couldn't have improved so drastically since the recording of songs like XOXO and especially Angel.

Hmm. I don't really think anyone should cover Hikki's songs. Her voice is the only one that really works for them imo. But I'm interested to hear how it sounds anyway.

you think she has problems in those songs? Hm, Ill have to go back and listen, but I never noticed anything before.

I'm probably the only one who couldn't care less about this. Never got the Utada hype. Just listened to "Prisoner of Love" and "FINAL DISTANCE" and I'm instantly reminded of why I like Ayu, truly some of the most boring melodies I've ever heard in pop music.

Angel for sure. It's not the fact that you can't UNDERSTAND her English (although angel is a little bit difficult) it's the fact that her voice is UNPLEASANT to listen to when she sings in English.

I agree with the fact that Prisonier of Love is extremely boring and generic. I like Utada but man, she is overlyvaluated most of times. I love her Deep River/Exodus/Ultra Blue/Singles Collection Vol. 2 but half of Heart Station is so lazy and First Love/Distance eras are nothing spectacular.

I really hope that Ayu won't do Prisonier Of Love.

I'm not too keen on prisoner of love but I LOOOVE DJ Amaya's remix of it. I think ayu could put her own spin on it and make it very enjoyable.

Uh oh
I told everyone under the sun when the forum told me this.
I kinda wish she did sing it though

I thought about Colors, too! That would awesome!!!!

Deep River would also be pretty! Or Letters...Now I'm gonna write a list of all the songs I could imagine! WEEEEEEEEE!!

I like a lot of her music too but agree she seems really overrated. idk, I've always felt like people wouldn't think she was SUCH a godly composer if she just composed for other people and wasn't the actual artist in the forefront. Because her songs are nice but they're really nothing super special?

And that's why I'm not excited about this at all lol. The only Utada song that I could see suiting Ayu is FINAL DISTANCE and I hate that song very very very very very much.

I've been a fan of hers for close to ten years and her album Heart Station is my favorite of hers! It's not lazy, it's just taking the style she had in Ultra Blue and perfecting it.

Everyone has different tastes, though. It's definitely my favorite album, though, and for me, that's saying a lot because I love every album of hers.

Her music is very special and intricately made. I will always love Ayu's music the most, but Utada has a skill level that far surpasses many modern musicians!

It's not popular, obviously, but I could picture ayu singing kairo.

omg, Kairo is gold

Count me in.
I don't care for Hikki, for me she's totally overrated as well.
I like her KH songs, but that's probably about it. Never got into the albums I listened to.
So this release is doing nothing for me, too.

I think you quoted the wrong person? I didn't mention anything being lazy. :P

But since you quoted me anyway... I don't think her music is special or intricate. I could get behind calling it "good" but it's not really special or intricate or unique in any way. With Utada, you know you're getting either a basic R&B pop song or a basic ethereal pop song. The only time she really experimented and did something out of the box was DEEP RIVER and EXODUS, and even then DEEP RIVER was really mainstream for jpop, just not totally in her safe R&B comfort zone. And I feel like if you took her as the artist performing it out of the equation, nothing would really change for the songs; she doesn't add much to them aside from the melody, lyrics, and a basic R&B/ethereal pop arrangement. Anyone could do what she does and make the music she does. That's why I don't get the (in my own opinion) mass overhype for Utada as a composer/artist. Because she's good at composing really consumable music, but I don't think it's very interesting or special as far as music and songwriting goes. idk I just don't get it personally.

Hikki has this supernatural ability to cultivate amazing and unique environments for her music. I'm speaking more-so about her work after and including ULTRA BLUE. She has this certain style that you just simply CANNOT get from anyone else. Her best songs are Keep Tryin', Take 5, BLUE, This Is Love. I'd say try those songs out if you haven't. Id even include Sakura Nagashi in there. For me, everything pre-ultra blue is severely overrated. If you haven't given the latter stuff a chance, you really should. It's vastly different.

I could see ayu doing BE MY LAST, simply because the environment of that song always seemed reminiscent of the environment that ayus song RAINBOW evokes. They are similar in that regard.

I hope she sing the remix of Boku wa Kuma
And change it to [Boku Wa Teddy Bear~ Real Queen Ver.~]
⊂((・x・))⊃

That Jolin Tsai performance was....yikes...:puke

maybe 'COLORS' because 'same name' with ayu's album 'COLOURS' :D

See, I don't agree with this AT ALL lol. I listen to ULTRA BLUE and all I hear is synths and generic ethereal-ness and someone singing. And HEART STATION just sounds like it was made in FL Studios and melodically mundane to boot. But most of all I think these albums would be REALLY easy to replicate if someone wanted to. They're just... a lot of synths lol.

Mind you, I LIKE both those albums. But I don't think they're anything special or more than really listenable synth-heavy albums.

or maybe... 'beautiful world' ?!!

aarghhh... can't wait this 'fantastic' album !!! very excited !!!

This argument is made a lot in art. "Is it art - I mean, anyone could do it?" but the defining factor is often, "yeah, but it's the fact that this person chose to do it."

I mean, synths have been around forever. Hikki didn't invent that. But, I have always had a huge love for synthesizers and the fact that Hikki was able to put it all together and produce something so different than anything that was being presented at the time (or rather, being presented in her element of Japanese pop music) really caught my attention.

Same here. Hikki has about 10 songs I really love. There are a lot I like. But I don't get the hype as well. I don't have a problem with her and she has talent for sure. Besides she seems to be a nice person. I guess I just can't stand the attitude of her fans... a lot of them are acting as if she is the only artist with talent out there.
And one thing she isn't good at at all: singing. She has a beautiful voice, but her vocals... When I think about it, that's what really bothers me: her fans always claim that she has the best vocals out there, when it's simply not true. Especially live her vocals are sometimes really bad.

That said, I like her and I think it's nice that Ayu will contribute to a cover album! Hikki achieved a lot and even if I find her overrated as hell I don't see a reason why I should begrudge Hikki her success. It's not like her music is bad in any way.

^my thought's exactly, there's artists way better in vocals and composing/arranging. She's not bad but.... i could never get into her music. I only have 5 songs from her that i enjoy the rest bores me to sleep lol i always thought she was a bit overrated in the pop scene, so i am really not hyped on this.

more auto sync blah :P, though Hikaru can sign amazingly good live. Here's a hit to anyone who's like 'its auto synced', ALL songs and albums gets this treatment. Its a standard procedure with the music industry to fine polish there music before release. Just enjoy the music.

I want to jump on the arguing bandwagon of ayu vs. hikki but I'll hold my peace. I'm not sure I can say what I want to say gently :laugh

OMG that would be lovely :luv2 I can figure ayu singing "it's only love-a-a-a-a-a *insert mega vibrato here*"

The entire thing reeks of a PR gimmick. They were considered "rivals" at one point and this is the one thing that would build hype for a tribute album that would have otherwise had a boring lineup of performers.

I hope Ayu knows what she's doing and doesn't make a fool out of herself. The part in the Sanspo article about her changing her vocal style concerns me. Part of Ayu's appeal is that she DOESN'T follow Western conventions of vocal stylings/technique.

This is not an Ayu VS Hikki ! This is just people who express what they think about Utada no one is speaking about Ayu so please don't make this thread another war XD ;)

It's not even an Ayu vs. Hikki debate! :weep

Oh yes I thought about it too ...

I guess her time in the US is changing her, she may try to release something in the west eventually, but she doesn't say with one style for long. We may get an album which sound more western but that will probably change with the one after that, like her other album. Like she said, she's always changing and evolving her music. The rivalry with ayu and hikaru was more for publicity by avex, and who knows, maybe hikaru asked ayu to do a cover

I wouldn't say Hikki "isn't good at all" ; it's called a "technique." Ayu has a technique as well, and has always been said as to 'not have the best vocals' but her style is distinct. That's what makes a good musician - you don't have to be a powerhouse belter, you just need to have something distinct about you - something that sets you apart and makes you recognizable. Hikki has that airy, soft, and breathiness about her which can lend itself really well toward the music she releases. I enjoy her technique (not so much in English, that stuff can get rather horrid) for the most part. In Sakura Nagashi, she does this faint and suttle "stuttering vibrato" when she holds the notes that just makes me melt.

Regarding the PR move, I don't necessarily view that as bad. They saw an opportunity and went for it.

AMEN! I agree with all of this 100%

Sorry, Tom Punks, if you felt like I called you out for the wrong thing, I only quoted you because you quoted another person...Which may seem like illogical reasoning... XD

Everyone's going to have different opinions and there's a lot of people who would never budge on theirs. I think Utada is magnificent in her ability to create music. Will everyone think that way? No, but whatever.

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/6403/0EKlFM.gif

The only "rivalry" I saw from hikki and ayu was when they released an album on the same
day but even so that wasn't even ayu's choice. Other than that I never hear anything that
they were rivals and how can they be? ayu does pop and ayu does more R&B.

I love both of them sometimes one more than the other when they release bad music.

Yeah they even had a conversation in MS back in 2004-2005, the rival thing was just made up from their labels

I wasn't talking about Hikki's style of singing. I never thought there is something wrong with that. But when singing live most of the time Hikki even isn't able to hit the right notes. She just isn't a good vocalist. It's not that I'm bothered by it that much. I just can't stand her fans claiming she has the best vocals ever, that's not true at all. She not even comes close to being a good vocalist. I have nothing against Hikki, but I truly hate most of her fans... xD

I don't keep up with Utada, did she retire or something? I'm wondering what warranted this release in the first place...

Well I won't deny that. I was never a fan of her lives. I downloaded utada United once and got bored even before I was halfway through.

Of course this is a PR gimmick, for both of them, or do you really think Ayu is taking part on it and being the focal promotional tool for it just because she was bored at home? :P Hikki is probably coming back and need some hype before the new material, and Ayu needs musical relevant buzz. They both are exploiting the rival thing to gain some spotlight.

And Ayu using a different vocal aproach doesn't mean "western vocals" nor does it mean it's something her fandom never heard before... Between studio recordings, live performances and the covers she performed before, Ayu has several different ways of using her voice.

Hikki is my favorite pop musician of all time, but I'm with Chibi-chan on this one... She can't sing to save her life out of the studio. Ayumi is no Celine Dion either, but she has a far more solid singing technique than Hikki does.

I hate her timbre/tone (like, it literally grosses me out, and I'm not sure why) but personal bias aside, I think her biggest problem with singing is she writes songs just out of range or right at the top of her range. It really doesn't sound pleasant when she's struggling for "high" notes that aren't really that high. I'm not a singing expert, but she sounds like she has breath control issues too maybe? Plus she has goat vibrato lol.

I feel like there are so few technically good singers in jpop though, the only thing really separating her from Ayumi and the like is personal preference.

I'm not a Hikki fan though I'm not opposed to listening to her discography. From the beginning, I've had issues with the way she sings. It's a bit too light and soft for my taste. I prefer singers with more weight and power in their vocals. However I am always intrigued when singers cover each other's work. I am definitely excited to see which song Ayu will sing.

I think that's the point. A lot of her songs are out of her range. And I get what you're saying about her timbre/tone. It's strange with Hikki for me... sometimes I think her timbre/tone is so beautiful and then there are songs which I just can't stand because of her timbre/tone...

As stated,
I could give two shits about Hikki's live vocals anyway. She rarely performs live. She's not a performer, she's an artist. Ayu is a jack-of-all-trades. Hikki certainly is not.

not really excited about this piece of news as it's more about Hikki and not really about ayu. but still yay! lol

Hope she sings Hikari.

I bet she sings Movin' on Without you.

I would only be happy if it was one of these, COLORS, traveling, Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro, Final Distance, 光, Passion, Prisoner of Love, SAKURA Drops or 桜流し.
I wonder if its going to be just a copy cover or will the artists add their own flare to the songs

Those who mention songs other than First Love, FINAL DISTANCE and Prisoner of Love DO realize that it was said that it was from a RECUT single, don't you?
===========================================
As for Hikki, I love many of her songs, I reckon the weakest point of her songs is her lyrics. And I also think that she was overrated because A) she has musician parents and B) she was raised in the States.

I became Ayu and Utada fan simultaneously about 11 years ago, so it's such a pleasant surprise for me.
Utada can't be overrated since her music has always been one of the best Japan has to offer and audience reception proves it. Yes, she sucks at singing live, she has terrible sense of fashion, her concerts are boring, but her music is of highest quality.
Despite I think First love is a really nice ballad, I'm sick of it, so I hope it's not the one Ayu chose.

For all you people saying Hikki sucks live.... Lol.
Girl has had her share of bad perfroamnces but she does NOT suck live. Her Hikaru no 5 and UTADA UNITED concerts (except for Be My Last) are awesome! UU has one of the coolest stages I've ever seen and the visuals were fantastic too.

I've been to many concerts over the years and her Devil Inside-Kremlin Dusk-YMMWTBAM performance at her In The Flesh tour was the best 15 minutes of all my concert experiences. :heart

Did someone use google translate and get recut...? I didn't see the text myself. But I think it's possible that the meaning is just "a single" she released that ended up being on an album.

I've always loved her live performances. I do think she has some that aren't superb but she has plenty that are just great!

I like that there's nothing cookie-cutter about her. She is very unique and interesting. I think that's one of the reasons I feel she deserves a lot of respect as an artist.

As excited as I am that Ayu will be in on this, I realized that I am either just as if not more excited that Shiina Ringo is going to be adding in on the tribute album, but since Utada and Shiina Ringo have done music together, it's not too much of a surprise! ^_^ I would love it if Shiina Ringo added her own flare to whatever song she does. I would love for her to do Kiss & Cry but add her really jazzy, classy sound to it.

it's also a matter of opinion, utada stan...
I'm not hating because I love hikki, but I do always get bored watching her concerts...

^^I like that every time she makes a ballad version of a song (Flavor of life (Ballad Version), Prisoner of love (Quiet Version), Passion ~after the battle~, Final Distance, etc.) she re-records the vocals to the song and doesn't just slap a vocal track on to an orchestra instrumental.

UU06 was my favorite concert by her. It's too bad that half the time it sounds like she has a stuffy nose.

That reminds me...Was it just a rumor or was it true that she was allergic to the wood used on the stage?

That's always a possibility, I suppose. The literal Japanese text used in the Sponichi article was シングルカットされた代表曲.

From the Japanese wiki for the term シングルカット:

Basically, the term is often used for songs that previously appeared on an album and were then later released as a single and can be interchangeably used with the term 'recut single'.

I wish they would just give us the damn tracklist already, lol.

I love Hikki, not as much as Ayu but she's comes close. Actually I discovered jpop thanks to these two wonderful ladies. So I'm super happy even if the news it's more about Hikki than Ayu.

To be honest, the only thing I really dislike it's how much she's praised. You can't really say anything bad about her without making her fanbase going crazy. Except for Boku wa kuma, even her stans don't like that... whatever song it is.
I think it's the opposite of AHS fanbase lol.

OK well it definitely does say recut. I wasn't doubting anyone I was just curious is maybe someone who doesn't really know japanese relied on a translating site. hm...that's kinda disappointing lol

Lol Deep River - Ultra Blue Hikki is still the best Hikki to me. All of the compositions and arrangements of the songs on those albums are so beautiful and I appreciate most the intricacies that still blow my mind many years later. So I still only want Final Distance since that's the only option. First love and Prisoner of Love would be fine, but disappointing because the quality of those songs overall is so beneath Final Distance.

Anyways, a lot of Utada criticism here. Some of it is...interesting. She's fine live. Not a disaster. I like the emotion she puts into a lot of her lives. Her voice isn't always great. She clearly struggles sometimes. Her concerts are more simplistic. The few that she actually has. But I've never considered her awful live. And she does have great performances.

Am I the only one who enjoys this song?

I enjoy it as well. People here calling it a 'Teletubbies' or 'Barney' song, but they just don't get it... :rolleyes

It's a cute children song. I don't have any reason to hate it lol

I think it's just like, people didn't understand it. And to release it as a single? Everyone waiting for next single and then we get that...? Lol. I let it play wen it comes up while listening to the album. But, the concept was just bizarre and out of left field.

I loooooove Boku wa Kuma so much that it became the theme song to mine and my sister's made up holiday- Bear Day, which is this weekend, by the way! ;D

What's not to get? It sucks lol

I actually love the soft arrangement. It has this warm innocent feeling about it.

We have to remember that ayu did lots of cover songs in the past.

I hope I could see ayu cover these songs.

Keep Tryin'
Traveling
Hikari

I love Hikki, I got all her cds even before than Ayu. Ultra blue is just pure magic, Be my Last is so beautiful, is like magic to my ears. I agree her voice isn´t like an angel or something, but I love how she make music and all that sorround her. But I don´t like distance album of her, I would love if ayu cover passion or colours, for me this songs are the magic of utada.

Ayu DID have an angel voice, but alcohol + ear problem killed her voice.

"I agree. 85% of Zeke's post are about how he doesn't like something or he doesn't agree with something... or just complaining about things."

you really can't agree, can you? haha i like the arrangement as well. it's just such a weird song. niji iro bus and boku wa kuma remind me of the magic school bus...haha the songs would make sense if she had a child ...but even that to me is very cliche.

Haha, I stand by my word and my opinions.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful for the hard work put in, I don't really trust the translation given. We'll see later on.

I've always thought Hikki's voice is... well... not very good but she still managed to capture me with DEEP RIVER. It's a great album. I'd love Ayu to cover Hikari, Deep River, PLAY BALL or traveling.

I just want the track list *sigh*

I don't think single cut always means recut. It can mean recut, but it can also mean a song that was included in a single. It's quite vague.

I can't believe people are actually coming for boku wa kuma's weave. A real mess. It takes real skill to sing songs like that without sounding weird like Pamyu.

Oh so it did say "single cut". All right then. I hope it's Final Distance (is it a recut single though? It's basically a remix of Distance, but I guess technically it is recut? Blah). The Utada United performance was so good, much better than the CD version. First Love has been overdone like crazy.

Ayu should cover Hymne A Lamour. Imagine the train wreck that would come out of her singing in French. I gotta hear that.