I’ve
been terribly absent from this blog, and, of course, I’m not proud of this.
I’ll seriously try to get my things together again and start writing with more
consistency.
Now,
let’s have a little fun with Arashi
(嵐).
I’ve
said before that Arashi is really great when they adopt a funk/disco sound.
Also, I think they probably know this, because many of their songs are disco-based.
Other thing I noticed after a while is how their b-sides are often better than
the a-sides.
Last
year, when Arashi released their “Daremo
Shiranai” (誰も知らない) single in May (2014), I was not very impressed with the title track. It was not
bad, but it lacked some “oomph” for me. However, like I said earlier, Arashi’s
b-sides are sometimes more interesting than their hit songs, so I waited until
the full single leaked just to listen to the other songs in it. I was happy to
find out how pleasant “Miracle Summer”
sounded.
“Miracle
Summer” is that typical positive-sounding summer
song with a light disco arrangement
composed of gorgeous strings and brass. If it wasn’t enough, the melody is
beautiful with all the variations, especially in the chorus. Even our boys are
sounding good here.
Other
than the song itself, what I like about “Miracle Summer” is how it stands for
that melancholic, yet good, vibe
which everyone who likes summer feels because they don’t want the season to
end. Based on this, “Miracle Summer” always reminds me of Morning Musume’s (モーニング娘) 1999 single “Manatsu no Kousen” (真夏の光線), as both songs shares this same feel.
In fact, I can’t listen to one without remembering the other. That’s really
strange, but whatever.
Endless
summer............
“Miracle
Summer” can be found in the regular edition of “Daremo Shiranai”. The single
reached #1 on the Oricon charts,
selling 524,111 copies. Lyrics were
written by macoto56, while music was composed by Christofer Erixon, Joakim
Bjornberg and Susumu Kawaguchi (川口進). As for the arrangement, it was done
by metropolitan digital clique.
Jun is very stylish in this cover.
Let me toast a glass of Orange Mimosa in this song's honour. Give me that disco/funk anytime. "Miracle Summer" not only has that feeling of the late 70s but also of some of the nice turn-of-the-century J-R&B that was coming out.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like summer is bursting out here. We've been around the 27 C mark for the past few weeks. Japan is certainly feeling the heat as well.
Hi, J-Canuck.
DeleteSome great Arashi songs are this mixture of disco/funk with the turn-of-the-century J-R&B you talked about. They are known for releasing cheesy drama songs, but they also release interesting songs as b-sides and album tracks. We just have to select carefully.
Well, winter is starting to show its claws here in the South Hemisphere. We're having cold temperatures like 17 C very often now. Everyone is starting to feel sick... I already had my cold a couple of weeks before.
Yeah, to be honest, I've heard some of their singles as tie-up songs for dramas, and I haven't been impressed. I think careful selection may be necessary for me as well.
DeleteI had a little sore throat earlier in the week although the weather has been quite steamy, but a little salt water rinse cleared that up. I hope you folks get better.