Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeke.
I have over 12,000 songs on my 120GB iPod. The music I am most passionate about is electronic dance music, most specifically trance, which is a very broad and extensive genre of music. But Ayu's music is just so easy to listen to. Although I listen to a lot of electronic music, it can become quite exhausting after a while. Ayu's music never makes me feel "tired".
For me, Ayu wasn't just an artist in a sea of artists - she basically became her own genre of music. To give up on an artist is one thing; to move on and find something new or similar in that genre... But to give up on a genre itself, to give up on the "Hamasaki Ayumi" sound, now that's something entirely different.
|
I understand the frustration.
If she had stopped making music tomorrow, however, this wouldn't be an issue. I'm sure you listen to her past songs that already bring you joy and solace, as do I. Honestly, I've learned to be content with having just those songs... Is it really worth investing so much thought into how "oh, she should do this, or she should do that, she should work with _____, I need another song like ______..."? It's not our job. It's her and her team's job.
IMO, most of the blame should be placed on her team of composers and arrangers, and not herself, ultimately. Ayu isn't a composer, arranger, or technical musician. Instead, she employs a team of people who have mastered the "Ayumi Hamasaki" sound. In fact, many of the same people who helped to create the "Ayumi Hamasaki" genre
still work with her. These producers may not be perfectly expressing what Ayu wants to accomplish with her music. I don't think she has the musical expertise needed to take initiative and say, "No, I want it to sound like this. I'm feeling this way, therefore it has to sound like that." It's hard to transform those intangible, visceral feelings into concrete art -
especially when you yourself do not have a hands-on process in the creation of your music, or the technical knowledge needed to create it. I think that's important to remember. If anything, it's likely a communication failure between her and her team.
Working with a new team of composers/arrangers is risky. She would need composers/arrangers who
have studied Ayu's sound and can bring about innovation without losing that "Ayumi Hamasaki" sound. That's easier said than done.
The circumstances currently surrounding Ayu certainly don't help. She is surrounded by an impenetrable inner circle of yes-men, all on top of a struggling music industry. This makes it all the more harder for her to "snap out of it" and lose that complacent feeling.