[article] black or white, it’s still ayumi

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

Total Hotness, well not really.

J-Pop fans probably think Ayumi Hamasaki can do no wrong, concedes SYIDA LIZTA AMIRUL IHSAN, who tries to make out her music.



WHO is Ayumi Hamasaki?

I don’t know ... well, at least that was my answer when my colleague handed me the double CDs to review. My knowledge of Japanese songs stopped at Sukiyaki, which I learned in my school’s Japanese class.

So I Googled Ayumi and found that she has an entry in Wikipedia. And a long one at that, complete with her background and an extensive article on her albums and even the interpretations of different symbols of A for Ayumi.

She’s this hot-shot Japanese singer, also known as the Empress of J-Pop, who has sold more than 50 million records. So that’s why I don’t know her. I’m not into J-Pop.
Anyway, her compilation album, A Best 2-White- is full of funky J-Pop songs which, I assume, are danced to in Tokyo clubs and hummed by Japanese schoolgirls in pleated skirts.

With a mix of pop and rock and dance music, her songs sound like they should be staples among clubbers... and that’s not my cup of music. Too young, too loud and too fast for my liking.

Even one of the CD’s songs, which starts out slow, builds into a super-fast number. It makes me dizzy just listening to her songs, but her legions of followers must have found them amazing.

The songs sound so happy and jolly like there’s no worry in the world but to dance to your heart’s content, for as long as your body can take it.

Plus, there isn’t depth to her voice. But that goes for all J-Pop singers, I suppose. The thrill is in the package — the looks, the music, the dressing.

So through my brief introduction to Ayumi, I think she is like early stage Britney Spears, circa Sometimes. And that said, Britney Spears was huge then ... so you can understand the appeal that Ayumi has among her fans. She writes the lyrics to all the songs in the album too.

Towards the end of the White album, the songs get slower, as if to prepare for A Best 2 -Black- album later. I like Voyage. It has a classical music feel to it, the sound of strings is a clever touch, which I find pleasant to the ears.

The Black album opens with Dearest, a slow number. In fact, the whole album is made up mostly of slow numbers, but it severely lacks the angst and emotions I expected since the White album was totally jovial.

I don’t know how the songs are categorised as black or white... or maybe that’s because I don’t know what they mean. The second album supposedly contains sadder songs.

I think if you’re already a fan, then, you would consider buying these albums. To convert a non J-Pop listener into a fan would be too much to ask.