For anyone wanting 320 kbps of her b-sides, I think I have all of them in FLAC so I could convert them for you and upload. Just tell me which ones you guys need.

In the beginning, I thought the line in end and and was "lonely lovely"... but I even knew myself that it was a stretch. I tried listening really hard and all I could hear was "lonely ludlee", which...???? Maybe Ludlee is Lelio's cousin or something.

also, "slowly so goat"

I know it's a lot to ask and I feel like I'm taking advantage of your generous offer, but I'd love to hear all of them. :love I'm loving her post-hiatus releases so much, I feel like I really need to get into her earlier works too.

^ Don't worry about it, it might take a bit longer but it will not be a problem to convert and upload them all. I'll use the best mp3 quality to encode and they'll also include tags + covers. Just give me some time (but they should be done today).

cool story bro: I was struggling towards the end of my run this afternoon, and then I'm lonely came on my iPod...BOOM. choco's willpower: 1. the devil on my shoulder saying "it's okay to walk the rest of the way": 0.

Okay, the files are ready:

All Ai Otsuka b-sides in 320 kbps + correct tags + cover art

I also added the other versions of songs that were on the singles. It's possible I have missed something and if I have, just let me know.

Enjoy!

oh dear god, bless your soul

Thank you sooooo much!

Everybody seems pretty excited for this album so I might check it out. I tried one of her albums last year and I didn't like it at all.

LOVE FLOPTASTIC? yeah that was a flop.

I haven't listened to LOVE TRICKY, but LOVE FANTASTIC was OK, I loved the singles, even if they were old.

Thanks so much for sharing this! :luv2

Listened to the album because everyone seems exited with it, and I'm surprised I actually liked it. I don't usually like Ai's releases (mostly because her childish vocals bother me a bit), but this album is nice, not great (the songs sounded a bit to similar with each other imo), but I liked it, which in itself is an improvement for me.

My favorites are:
1. affair
2. I'm lonely
3. laugh

Honestly I'm not familiar with everything in her discography, which Ai songs are your favorites? Might as well try to find a few other songs from her that I really like :)

^If you don't like her childish vocal, then I'm confused what song should I recommend lol she sang like that generally, it's more like she had songs that sounds childish like Ramen Sanpun Cooking or Kataomoi Dial but those are fun xD

I tried to think of some of her songs that wouldn't sound childish or sort, these are some of that I like



Mostly are ballads or mid tempo, her cheerful songs might sounds a bit childish for you maybe

If you don't like her childish vocals, then you won't like her older upbeat works cause all she does is sing in a childish voice. However, the songs I recommend are

-Kingyo Hanabi
-Shashita (or something like that. It's off of her LOVE LETTER album)
-Cherish
-Planetarium

^You mean Shachihata xD

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll give them a try!

haha it's ok to recommend songs with her childish vocals, I already expect that from her. I usually don't quite like it, but if the song is good I don't mind it so much, like LOVE TRiCK that I actually enjoyed :)

Kingyo Hanabi and Planetarium are God-tier status, and then they got together and had a baby (Kurage, Nagareboshi) so The Holy Trinity is a good place to start. :mischief

To everyone who thanked me for the b-sides; you guys are more than welcome! I hope everything really is in there.

@pimenta

The one song that always stood out to me from Ai's discography was "Ningyo" off her LOVE LETTER album. She has a lot of good sad b-sides, too. Like many have mentioned the best two are Hoshikuzu and tears, in my opinion.

Other notable songs that I love by her but are not that popular:

Ai (sweet and heartwarming song, she doesn't sound too "childish" here)
Bye Bye (really fun and upbeat)
Pocket (lovely winter ballad, really heartwarming)
360 (probably one of her most unique songs)
LIFE - LOVE CiRCLE (a bit cheesy but really upbeat and just overall fun to listen to)
Mackerel's canned food (same as above)
Kumuriuta (another great sad song by her)
Hanikami Jane (I guess she does have childish vocals here, but it's an amazing song to me)
Haneari Tamago (another good sad song)
Ameiro Parasol (I find this song too crazily fun not to love, but might not be your thing)
Shabondama (another amazing sad song by her)
Sensu - (same as above)
Himawari - (I fell in love with the live version that sounds heartbreakingly sadder)

Just some I could think of.

Haha yes! I haven't listened to LOVE LETTER in so long.

I'm angry at myself for forgetting this song. Literally a heart-shattering song. SO good.

Yep, I think it's actually my favorite song by her.

Kingyo Hanabi
Planetarium
Cherish

^are the Holy Trinity for me! I remember really like Kingyo Hanabi's PV too. Really need to watch it again.

Thank you so much for that download!!

YES! I totally forgot about Ningyo and how it breaks my heart :(
And Ameiro Parasol is sooo underrated imo I love it to death, it's so much fun! Hanikami Jane is also awesome but it's not as underrated like Ameiro Parasol.

I finally found ROMANCE (DREAMS COME TRUE Cover Album), it's nice like a bit more upbeat version of HEART, so laidback and sweet. I put download link here along with Hikari and LOVER SOUL (Judy & Mary Cover Album), both piano ballad, which wasn't included in the b-side download in case someone wants them.
Link

No problem!

Oh, you also love Ameiro Parasol? I thought I was the only one who is absolutely in love with that song. I remember I was pretty obsessed about it a few years ago and thought it was one of the best things ever, haha.

And thanks for that download link, I'm curious so I'll check the covers out. I didn't include those because they are not on the singles (and are not b-sides in this case, too), and obviously don't have them!

^The song was so fun, it's rare for a song about Rain to be so cheerful, happy and cute!
And you're welcome :)

omg my love for Ai is revived with her new album

^ One of us! One of us!

We're basically a cult at this point.

I really love the new album! It's damn fucking great! ♡ Glad Ai tried something totally different this time. And am I the only one who thinks that her vocals on LOVE TRiCKY are soooo much better than before? I really enjoyed her vocals on the Rabbit album and was disappointed that she sounded on LOVE FANTASTIC like before her hiatus.

^^^ I 10000000000% agree with you; her vocals were fireeee. It was a change but a really, really nice and fantastic change. I have to listen to a song from this album on the daily now. I'm so addicted to it, I'm nervous I'm going to get tired of it hahaha.

Also, speaking of Ai songs, I'm a little surprised no one mentioned 5:09 am on here. That, paired with Cherish, is just uuf.

Totally agree with you guys. I'm honestly addicted to the album. I've been listening to the whole thing almost once every day :bshake

:laugh haha, glad I'm welcomed to the club :D

I love 5:09 am, it's one of the songs that got me into Ai. I haven't listened to the original in a while though, the AIO PUNCH version gives me so much life.

Omg 5:09 was my first song too! So much nostalgia.

5:09 is amaaaaaaazing. LOVE COOK was the first Ai album I preordered/waiting to listen to until I got my copy, and what an amazing opening track. :luv2

The opening 30 seconds of 360 were set as my alarm ringtone my sophomore year of college...to this day, I can't listen to the song without cringing lmaooooo

Ai composed all the tracks according to the booklet :)

anyone have a link to download the rabbit album? my love for Ai has definitely been revived with this new album

So, I've been a fan of Ai since her debut way back in the day and downloaded her new album the day it released on iTunes, and I've been freakin' LOVING it since then! I'm so glad to see other people feel the same! It is so different, but it's so fun and, I don't know, mature-sounding? It's the kind of music I want to hear right now anyways. Not all just cutesy-type songs, you know? I'm also surprised but happy to see she's doing well with it in regards of sales! (<---meaning at least she's on the chart and isn't #99 :laugh)

Does anyone else here have the Japan press (1st edition with the hanko stamp) of Ai am BEST? I played the CD today for the first time in ages and completely forgot that my CD is fucked up...no matter what stereo or CD player I use, it acts like the CD has 99 tracks (so forget about being able to put it on shuffle, because it'll go from track 1 to track 74 to track 50 and then to track 86) and it's ANNOYING AS SHIT. Anyone else experienced this?

^ The CD DOES have 99 tracks, doesn't it? The last one is a bonus/hidden track or something.

The CD indeed has 99 Track to cover up BABASHI in the end.
Maybe try not to shuffle it? idk lol

Yeah for some reason Ai's team put in 99 tracks with about 82 of them being complete silence for one second. Idk why they couldn't just put BABASHI no Theme in the last song like a regular hidden track lol

...omg???? It's been how many years and I never knew that? :laugh I'm torn between feeling dense and wanting to smack Ai/her people because who the fuck does that????? Clearly they didn't think that little idea all the way through.

Yeah, and the pay off is totally not worth it; BABASHI is a joke.

no, BABASHI is <3

BABASHI is indeed a joke, I mean the PV is a complete joke and it's supposed to be.
I found the way you access the PV in the DVD funny, I remember like Up 9 times, Right 9 Times, Down 9 Times, Left 9 Times and enter xD

ain't nobody got time for that. :shakehead

Well no shit it's like Pon Pon lol it's meant to be a joke.

^I actually kinda love LOVE FANTASTIC, I just don't like the Zoccondition/LUCKY STAR single there.
The rest is great, and LOVE FANTASTIC is just FANTASTIC!

Brah LOVE FANTASTIC was the only good song off that album (and I Love xxx lol)

LMAO STOP. Clearly I've been missing out on laughs in this thread!
I never knew that about AI AM BEST either, and I own the CD! haha

I know I'm really late with this, but a HUGE thanks for all the links to choco, terra, and especially Chiharo! :heart I love discovering some hidden gems from her non-studio-album material, I've already found some songs I really love (Natsuzora and Ame no Tsubu, Waltz).

Also, I finally received my copy of LOVE TRiCKY!! Only took a full month, I hate having to get the cheap shipping. The cover looks way cooler with the slipcase than I expected! The booklet has way more pictures than I expected! I'm hearing some new things when playing the album with my radio! I'm so happy to have the poster though I'm having a hard time thinking where to put it! So good to finally have the album. :love

Gotta thank everyone commenting so much here about her new album, I had to check it out! I've been loving "I'm lonely" so much, I can't seem to listen to anything else on the album. I'm sure it's nice and I'll check out the rest someday but at the moment I am too into "I'm lonely", I can't seem to care for any other song.

This is a very important Public Service Announcement!!!!!!!

CDJ has a few more copies of the first-press CD+DVD version of LOVE TRiCKY with the lenticular packaging (4 to be exact, since I just ordered one). The poster is gone but this is probably the last of the first press packaging we'll see on CDJ so run, don't walk!

(I cancelled my _genic preorder to get this instead and I regret absolutely nothing, oop)

You canceled your genic preorder? :O
Damn
Maybe I should cancel it or just add this cd to my existing order.

LOVE TRiCKY's first press might be gone before _genic is ready to ship, so take care grasshopper.

idk of all the leaked tracks from _genic I'm not impressed, and the previews of songs that have yet to leak are just painful for me to listen to. So yeah, I cancelled it. I might pick up the CD only when I'm in Tokyo in a few weeks but it just didn't seem worth it to me to order it right now. :shrug

^I love the album but I don't know if I'd buy it right now.
When I pre ordered genic I was going through a splurge phase. Now I'm in my stingy phase LOL.

You gotta edit the love tricky download thread to album of the year btw.

I tried editing it after the previews for _genic came out but the thread title didn't change :no /weeping

(I am also in my stingy phase and someone should probably take my wallet away from me)

Is this a new song for the tour?!?!?

I thought it's something for her LOVE discography

EDIT
Checked her discography wiki, and found MOONLIGHT as a track from LOVE.IT
So there is a chance that she'll perform LOVE's song in LOVE TRiCKY tour!

I'm so confused. Why is it that if I move my phone, it's like moving the camera around the room to see what's going on in the band at any time? Is that what the "360" thing means.

I didn't even know my YouTube app did this
Am I that unaware of technology?

Edit: I guess this was a thing since march and I just never stumbled upon any videos with it.
But anyway she sounds great, I enjoyed it.

^ Please watch Waiting for Love by Avicii on your YouTube app. That was my first 360 video and it blew my mind omg the future is here

Also, I've come to a conclusion that affair is my least favorite of TRiCKY :( the beat is fire but idk

Will do.

And affair is also my least favorite track. It's the only one I really skip. It's just awkward and not in the good way.

I'm listening to "laugh" right now and jfc this song is still FIRE. I need a dancefloor and a cocktail in my hand ahora mismo.

busy lady reminds me of Mario Kart music lol! and Parallel World is like cute idk lmao

laugh is one of my faves, so perfect.

What of her other albums would you guys recommend? I've never been a fan but I love Love Tricky so much that I'd like to start listening to her.

I recommend LOVE COOK. That was my first Ai Otsuka album but the first song made me a fan immediately. She sure does know how to open an album. The upbeat songs are great without being annoying (Cooking 3 Minute Ramen is one of my faves of her annoying cute songs lol) and the ballads are superb! But 5:09am changed my life such a flawless song.

Do you guys want booklet scans? I'm about to go scan the TA version of A ONE and figured...might as well ask and go on a scanning rampage, lol

Thanks for the recommendations guys! :)

I do, until I get my own copy of the album later this month :p
thanks!

If you can post scans for love tricky i would be very greatful. :)

anyone has AIO PUNCH? i just heard 5:09am-TONIC- and omg im blown away

Went to the Utsonomiya live today. Small venue of roughly 350 people, was so packed and hot inside, very fun atmosphere, I was only few meters away from Ai the entire night, it was amazing, her live vocals are amazing post-hiatus, she is hitting those high notes without hurting your ears. Here's the setlist. All the non-LOVE TRiCKY songs were remixed to fit the electronic style. She opened with the best song from the new album. It was amazing and I am so so glad I decided to go, this trip was decided somewhat hastily for me, I rescheduled a holiday to America for Ai and Ayu!


I'm lonely
Parallel world
Smily
Yumekui
Busy lady
Shooting star
Laugh
Affair
Haneari tamago
Reach for the moon
Moonlight

MC

Summer lovely days
Fufufu
Is
Ramen 3 pun cooking + band introduction
5 : 09am
Sakuranbo
Mirai taxi
Time machine

Encore
MC
End and and ~10000~hearts (2.5 minute piano solo ver, then full song with band)


START: 5:00pm
END: 7:15pm

Ai-chin visited Nikko earlier today before the live, she tweeted a pic of Shinkyo bridge in Nikko, I was there yesterday and left at 8am today to go to Utsonomiya, if I knew Ai was going to Nikko I would have stayed back, but oh well!

I got to Utsonomiya around 9.30am and went to my hotel and did some work on my laptop to get it out of the way so I wouldn't have to think about it again all day. Utsunomiya is known for gyoza (Ai tweeted about this too Smile ) and so I had a late breakfast/early lunch of gyoza. Explored a bit and saw the local sights, and then headed back to the hotel at 3pm for check-in. After I had a shower and was ready to leave to go to the venue at 3.15pm, the immense excitement and realisation that I was going to see Ai live really really kicked in. As you can probably guess my interest in Ai (and jpop overall) has undeniably waned in the last few years ever since she went on hiatus, but I still kept up with her activities and new releases,　somewhat, LittleBigHeart has been a great source filling me in, hahhahaha!

Anyhow, I walk the 20-30 minutes to the concert venue, and there are already people gathering outside. I go and get a drink and a snack and just sit and chill for a bit, texting LittleBigHeart actually, and just dealing with the realisation I am finally seeing Ai after all these years. I was meant to go to Ai's tour last year, even had a ticket which LittleBigHeart helped me buy, but had to cancel the trip last minute. I couldn't believe this was going to happen soon.

Before the show I went to buy the tour goods. The wristband glow light was all sold out, I bought both tour T-shirts, and won a LOVE TRiCKY coaster for buying the tour goods. I also picked up LOVE FANTASTIC CD only and LOVE TRiCKY CD+DVD first press, and for that I was given two badges which are given away when you buy Ai's albums at the concert venue.

Though the venue was standing room only, they let people in in groups of 10 as each ticket is numbered. I was roughly in the third quarter from the stage, a mere few meters away from the stage the entire night. It was very crowded inside, there was a taller guy standing behind me and I could feel him exhaling from his nostrils onto my head the whole night hahahha.

The lights dimmed pretty much exactly at 5pm, and the opening to I'm lonely starts.　I am losing my shit as this is my favourite track from LOVE TRiCKY! There is a hand motion to do during the chorus which is pretty easy, other forum members who are going, you will catch on very quickly. Almost half the songs had some hand/finger motions during some parts of the songs.
Anyway! First impressions were just, WOW I am actually seeing Ai in concert, she's meters from me, and holy crap she is so thin, rocking a tight fitting black dress with gold necklace, she looked like she was going to the opera or a wedding, and it was my favourite track from the album, needless to say I went nuts.

Afterwards was parallel world which flowed on very well. I suppose the entire show flowed on extremely well as even the non-LOVE TRiCKY songs were remixed or there were cocktail versions (I don't know the ins and outs or proper titles for these rearrangements) but SMILY was slightly faster tempo, and Yumekui was AMAZING, one of my favourite Ai songs, top 5 for sure, so I was extremely happy to hear this live.

laugh and affair were very fun live as well. affair starts off with Ai starting off a clap which the band encourages the crowd to keep up the entire song, this song worked so well live, I was surprised.

The show takes a ever so slightly slower pace with Hanaeri tamago, Reach for the moon and Moonlight. Moonlight was amazing, the light show was probably the best in this song, was surprised to see this included in the setlist, I really enjoyed it.

Then Ai-chin did a super long MC, she told everyone she went to Nikko earlier in the day and visited the famous shrines there. In Japanese shrines and temples, a cultural practice is to pray and obtain a charm which 'predicts' your future in all aspects of life such as love, marriage, work, money, health etc. Ai-chin decided she would save herself from reading the charm the entire day and decided to read out the charm to the entire crowd. My Japanese is extremely limited but I did make out that when it came to the 'Health' section of the charm, it predicted that the person would come into bad health soon, Ai-chin then joked that this was going to be the last stop for the LOVE TRiCKY tour! The MC must've gone on for around 15 minutes, Ai-chin commented on the large number of fanclub members in the crowd, and also acknowledged someone in the crowd who had come all the way from Shanghai, at this point I shouted I was from Australia but I don't think she heard haha.

She then eased into the second half of the show with summer lovely days, I am a bit meh on this song but it was nice live. Next was Fufufu, which I am going to admit I have not heard in full until tonight, but I really liked it!

Then the last 5 songs of the mainset were just AMAZING!!! I personally love Ramen 3 pun cooking, and the remix is just as fun as the original, lots of audience involvement with the MISO and SHOYU parts of the song! 5 : 09am was remixed but still just as strong and powerful as the original studio version, I was happy to hear this being performed. Sakuranbo always riles up the crowd and this was no exception, although nothing beats the original version, this was fun too. Mirai Taxi is a　MEGA FUN song and I really really got into it, as I knew the end was coming. Mirai Taxi is a song I often skip listening to the CD but it is definitely a great experience live. Time machine started, and I knew it was the last song of the main set. Very fun song and awesome catchy chorus.

Ai-chin said thanks and left the stage, before she was even fully off the stage, the MOU IKKAI chants already started! This kept going on and on until Ai finally appeared in just the big tour T-shirt and did another long MC. Had no idea what she was talking about beyond saying thank you. Of course I knew the next and last song was going to be end and and ~10000 hearts~ Ai sang a half version by herself with just her piano, then 2-3 seconds of silence, then Ai and the band launch into the full song from the beginning. Oh man, it was such a great way to end the show, really really felt the music reverberating through my body, just the sudden realisation that I had just experienced an Ai concert and I really really got into this song.

Ai then bowed with her band members and said goodbye and walked off stage. What a night!

After the show, I waited around the venue with around 50 other fans at the stage door and waited for Ai-chin to come out. I was planning to take a selfie with her as she walked out the door, however when she was ready to come out, the staff told everyone to put their phones and cameras away, and a handful of people immediately darted their eyes towards me. Laughing She came out at roughly 8pm, said thanks to everyone, waved and quickly hopped into her van and she was driven off! What a night!!!!! I am so glad I made it!!!!!!

Petition for a remix album of Ai's old songs kthx

omg I was too hungover to make it to Utsunomiya for the concert yesterday ＿|￣|○ My life! My choices! My wasted ticket! oh well. Glad you had fun, it sounds like it was awesome!!!

^ I'm so sorry for that. I know exactly what it's like to miss a concert you've wanted to go to for quite some time. Lol it requires more drinking. A real spiral which is basically the song 'I'm lonely'.

actually affair has been the soundtrack to my trip thus far but HEY WHO'S KEEPING TRACK

Ayu should be able to sober me up this afternoon, at least......oy vey :tired

YOU MISSED OUT ON AI OTSUKA I AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOU

I AM GOMEN

OMFG YOU DID WHAT?!?! IF WE WERE FRIENDS WE WOULDN'T BE FRIENDS ANYMORE

On my way to Yokohama Arena now. Am ready for the strings in Duty to slay my soul.

Where LOVE TRiCKY 2 at

I finally have LOVE TRICKY a listen and I absolutely loved Affair, Laught, and I'm Lonely :) all the tracks are good but those were my favorites.

^ one of us! one of us!

Also, I tried to scan the booklet like six weeks ago and they didn't come out well AT ALL. I think it's something to do with the paper it's printed on. :<

Yeah "laugh" is definitely an amazing song. I LOVE the second half because the instrumentation starts changing up and it just sounds SO good.

Love Tricky is probably just going to be the best album this year. I still listen to it. It is really fun for working out too.

That's when I start jamming lol

I need the tour bluray already!!!!! LOVE TRiCKY FTW!

I was totally obsessed with love tricky some months ago. Then I stopped listen as new things came out. Today I went back to it and I was absolutely blown out for how perfect it still is! As if I hadn't listened to it over 100 times last year lol. Truly one of the albums i've listened to the most in my life

I keep seeing LOVE TRiCKY's tour info on my newsfeed. Is anything going to be released?

They filmed the final show in Tokyo and a one-hour digest is airing today (Sat) on J:COM TV.

She's doing another round of her AIO piano shows and the one in Tokyo is on my birthdaaaaaay /weep

edit // Also, she drew a set of LINE stickers and they're hilarious: https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1182459/en

^ those are really adorable! I wish any of my friends used LINE just so I could use the stickers :D

just discovered the album *^* omg its pure bliss

YAAAAS ANOTHER CONVERT!!!!!!