Ayu ~Anything Goes~ XVII

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

Am I the only one who thinks Ayu's collaborations have been almost 100% failures?

So far, with all Ayu's collaborations, it's been very apparent who she's collaborating with when you hear it, because there's not much Ayu in there at all aside from her voice & lyrics. You get the feeling like she doesn't want to be rude & suggest anything, or like she trusts them to just get it right, and the result is rather meh. Her DAISHI DANCE tracks just sound like DAISHI DANCE tracks with Ayu's vocals on them, not Ayu tracks where she said "this song could benefit from the DAISHI DANCE sound, that's the producer I should get for this... Hey my man DD, can you do a song that's kinda like haru haru but a bit rougher around the edges for this? Aw yeah, this sounds awesome! Hmmm, but it needs depth... maybe give the piano some reverb or something?"

It's like she forgets she's a boss who's hiring these people. Like, it's okay to have some input. But I feel like beyond the lyrics, she no longer does. Which kills me, because if she were a good boss, it's entirely possible she could stretch the limits of her collaborators' talents and help them discover more talents rather than letting them do what they always do. But since they're not part of HER team - HER band, HER dancers, HER usual songwriters, HER usual arrangers - it's like she doesn't feel comfortable with doing that.

Put simply, I don't think her collaborations bring out the best in her material, nor the best in the collaborators' abilities. I think she settles on the final product, trusting that "well, they probably know best, they're the professionals" without realizing that she's a professional too, and as an artist she has every right to be picky.

What about Connected? But yeah, I understand your point and agree. It's why I don't like Colours sans Lelio. But I know if Ayu had input many would say it would end up sounding not different enough for them.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Connected is the exception that proves the rule and is indeed one of two reasons I said "almost 100%" lol...

For one thing, Ayu did have more or less direct communication with Ferry Corsten when creating the song - they were actual professional buddies for a little bit, and he'd already composed the song ("The Love I Lost") and reworked it & sent it to her as a demo, INSISTING that she be the voice on the track. This wasn't ayu seeking out a collaborator, this was someone seeking HER out - and this is a producer, someone who personally only takes care of instrumentation and mixing, seeking out someone who he knew could legitimately contribute something to a framework he's already laid down. He had a track, and he could just hear Ayu's voice on top of it. THAT was his vision for the track. And then Ayu wrote lyrics based on how she felt about doing the collaboration... Being Japanese, writing lyrics as a message to a western person, she represented Japan by using wordplay in a unique way (a way that was unique even among Japanese lyricists - I have been listening to J-pop a long time and I haven't found another song that uses alliteration yet!) The best collaborations challenge and bring out more talents from both collaborators, and I think Connected was great for Ayu.

Ayu's more recent collaborations have been her seeking out producers that she thinks have an appealing sound, or who she thinks she should work with based on their success as pop producers. She said before "Colours" that living in LA, she wanted to take the opportunity to work with producers in LA. Who she worked with was probably based far more on how free their schedules were than what she wanted for the sound of each song. She doesn't appear to have "vision" for a good deal of this stuff... She seems to just trust that it'll all work out because these producers have been so successful, and make music that's enjoyable to listen to. On the other hand, you get collaborators like m-flo who deliberately looked for Ayu to help them with "My Way" and then she tapped them for "Merry-go-round." I do think "Merry-go-round" is the superior track between those two, but I think the potent message of My Way is made FAR better by the fact that it's Ayu delivering it, even if Taku's production isn't as beefy as I think it should have been, and the emotion that the piano loop creates is diluted a bit by the track's generally weak mixing... My point being, Ayu & m-flo had each other in mind for those tracks, and you can tell. Ayu's other collaborations, based more on convenience and availability than artistic intent, are much much much weaker and I think if Ayu sets out to just "do some collaborations" in general, it ends up falling incredibly flat... but if Ayu writes a lyrical concept and thinks "I need a melody from such-and-such, I wonder if they can help me out with this" it'll turn out much better.

But given her incredibly fastmoving schedule, I'm not thinking that'll ever happen.

[//ABEST]

I've noticed that I don't listen to ayu's music that much nowadays i come here everyday to check the news and when we get something, i'll surely listen to it right away but i feel kinda disconnected to her music at the moment. I have not watched CDL15-16, AT16 nor latest a-nation performance, I've only watched some clips here and there. Usually I watch whole concerts almost right away

I don't know why but I don't get that much satisfaction from her newest songs like I use to until Colours

[oaristos]

Originally Posted by //ABEST

I've noticed that I don't listen to ayu's music that much nowadays

I listened to her music a lot when MADE IN JAPAN came out, but I think it's just natural that we all have moments when we don't really listen to her that often. Usually Step by step appears on my shuffle when I'm running, so that's nice

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by //ABEST

I've noticed that I don't listen to ayu's music that much nowadays i come here everyday to check the news and when we get something, i'll surely listen to it right away but i feel kinda disconnected to her music at the moment. I have not watched CDL15-16, AT16 nor latest a-nation performance, I've only watched some clips here and there. Usually I watch whole concerts almost right away

I don't know why but I don't get that much satisfaction from her newest songs like I use to until Colours

MIJ felt like a huge step down to me for Ayu. The whole album, while really reflecting her the absolute best of any record since FIVE, seems unfinished and cobbled together. And that was a depressing moment for me -- realizing the days of intros and interludes and epic ballads (like Dearest, Days, JEWEL) and exciting songs (like Startin', GAME, and About You) is over and done. She simply doesn't want to make that, can't make that, or doesn't have the energy to carry her name and career forward with the same zest she had even 6 years ago.

Colours was a fun album. I listened to A ONE a lot. But I've watched her scale back a lot since 2010. First the singles, then the promo appearances, then the CDLs and tours became the same show with minor changes, then the albums became shorter and more like mixtapes. Not working with the same producers she usually worked with for even one song. Not calling in producers fans were begging her to work with again. It's still the same Ayu, just not the same Ayu.

I think she's been ready to move on, but didn't want to seem like a liar because she assured us so many times that her career was the most important thing to her. I think that's changed. And I've changed from it too, if only because I wish we weren't the best friend Ayu rarely checks in with now that she has a shiny husband to spend all her time with.

[channy]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

And that was a depressing moment for me -- realizing the days of intros and interludes and epic ballads (like Dearest, Days, JEWEL) and exciting songs (like Startin', GAME, and About You) is over and done.

I still wonder to this day why they decided to stop providing the albums with these iconic interludes. I feel that Ayu's interludes usually work as very fitting addition to the entire appearance of an album, granting it an even richer over-all-sound. Especially "Colours" badly suffered from the lack of proper interludes.

Three to four nicely composed, electronic and not too short interludes would have made it a blast. Leaving out the ballads and adding lengthy instrumental EDM tracks would have been another choice that adds to this thought.

A lot of forfeited potential. Which counts for all her albums ever since the beginning of short tracklists back in 2014.

[truehappiness]

It happens eventually. I usually take breaks every so often during long periods of when we don't get much "new" from her.

[pedronekoi]

Yeah. It happened with me during 2012. The intensity of my passion for Ayu is like a rollercoaster, some periods I listen to her everyday for months and other times I don't really listen to anything.

[indigochild]

So I was looking on youtube for the nicely nice remix of M and the description in the video when I found it had me gagging

A rare ayumi hamasaki winter tuned remixed song i had since back in 2007

well, it used to be rare for a while until i've been seeing some people start uploading links for it as of this day. what has the world come to? its like people upload things like they were free candy. I don't mean to offend anyone, I'm just stating the truth.

Anyways,
i did not make this song.. ayumi hamasaki sung this.

So who's the uptight pressed member here that uploaded this You gave me a good laugh! Anyways that's all lol

[xLuna&1LOVE]

^ well, didn't you guys enjoy tasky? There are not completely gone. I just think there is not one interlude after GUILTY/NEXT LEVEL era which is - well, good. From Love songs onwards, they have been disappeared into nothingness or they are not memorable. But tasky was a great effort. Well, I don't mind. I am not a big fan of the interludes, so I can do without. Colours sounded fine, even without intro's.

I am still convinched that all those songs orbitalaspect wrote in his comment, will somehow come back. Songs like Last minute and Mad World remind me of Ayu's 'good old days.' I am sure she will find the spark back. Then again, I actually thought she was on a good track with Made in Japan compared to A ONE. Maybe I am too easily intrigued by her new music.

[truehappiness]

I think she has just shifted how she views albums much like how she has changed the way she does lives, opting for live performance interludes instead of prerecorded videos.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by channy

I still wonder to this day why they decided to stop providing the albums with these iconic interludes. I feel that Ayu's interludes usually work as very fitting addition to the entire appearance of an album, granting it an even richer over-all-sound. Especially "Colours" badly suffered from the lack of proper interludes.

Three to four nicely composed, electronic and not too short interludes would have made it a blast. Leaving out the ballads and adding lengthy instrumental EDM tracks would have been another choice that adds to this thought.

A lot of forfeited potential. Which counts for all her albums ever since the beginning of short tracklists back in 2014.

Secret, GUILTY, NEXT LEVEL, and even RnRC, Ls, PQ, and La would feel incomplete without the interludes to bookend different areas of the album. The interludes are a refreshing break, but they also make every minute between seem much more than just another verse or bridge to another Ayu song. I think they offered a lot of structure to Ayu's albums, much like they offer a lot on Kuu's singles.

Originally Posted by xLuna&1LOVE

^ well, didn't you guys enjoy tasky? There are not completely gone. I just think there is not one interlude after GUILTY/NEXT LEVEL era which is - well, good. From Love songs onwards, they have been disappeared into nothingness or they are not memorable. But tasky was a great effort. Well, I don't mind. I am not a big fan of the interludes, so I can do without. Colours sounded fine, even without intro's.

I am still convinched that all those songs orbitalaspect wrote in his comment, will somehow come back. Songs like Last minute and Mad World remind me of Ayu's 'good old days.' I am sure she will find the spark back. Then again, I actually thought she was on a good track with Made in Japan compared to A ONE. Maybe I am too easily intrigued by her new music.

I loved tasky. I just think the other eight tracks were cobbled together. a Bell was also wonderful, but the rest of A ONE still feels cobbled together. There are some amazing songs between those albums, just as there are on Colours, but with some really great tracks should be some really great interludes. I wouldn't have been so disappointed if Ayu added another two interludes to MIJ, especially if they were up to par with tasky.

Edit: I have to agree that Mad World is such a beautiful recall for Ayu. I wish she would have gone all out for the PV just that once. I could easily see this song with a PV like Endless Sorrow, walking proud or Ourselves, which would fit the narrative of this song so much better than Ayu standing before a screen for 3/4ths of the song.

[truehappiness]

This is Ayu related only slightly but... does anyone get 1998 Ayu vibes from the latest Utada album cover and promo shots? The shots with the dress feel like early Ayu singles and the cover has an ASFXX vibe to it.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

^ the red dress is very 90s in general. Simple slip dresses were super trendy, especially thin straps haha. The atmosphere reminded me of Depend on You's video though.

[mi|kshake]

Now that you mention it the black & white with orange font of Fantome does remind me of ASFXX! I never noticed it before.

[Cahz-]

I'm OBSESSED with FLOWER. I could listen to it the whole day I've never been this obsessed with an Ayu song since Last angel. FLOWER is amazing, full of anger, and the video just makes everything more perfect.

[ExodusUK]

If Ayu was in Game of Thrones..she would be Cersei or Khalessi?

[ohsixthirty]

So does anyone remember the impressions Naomi Watanabe did of Ayu? I'm trying to find them but all the links are dead.

[LONJJONG]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

So does anyone remember the impressions Naomi Watanabe did of Ayu? I'm trying to find them but all the links are dead.

http://www.bilibili.com/mobile/video/av4210243.html

[ohsixthirty]

Originally Posted by LONJJONG

http://www.bilibili.com/mobile/video/av4210243.html

You are amazing! Thanks!