Hikaru Utada is NOT "beautiful" by Japanese standards.
I learned that the hard way.....

My Japanese friend (a guy) told me a few minutes before "Don't ever tell a girl that she looks like Utada Hikaru", but I thought he was crazy and didn't believe him. A few minutes later, I told a Japanese girl (my friend was sitting next to me) that she looks like Hikaru Utada. She gave me this weird look and then said "Is that a good or bad thing?". He laughed so hard when he heard that....

Anyway, I was wondering if you might like Van Tomiko. At least for this one song.
It's from the J-Drama "Slow Dance". The song is called "Hold me". (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaumUepNxRY)

For singing, breathy voice is often not recommend, since it is often indicative of bad technique.

Btw, the singer sounded off-rhythm in so many places. Or is that how the song is supposed to sound like? Jazz rhythms can often be very tricky.

IMHO, her voice sounded terrible.
Not even that autotune (which was too much in the song) could save her.

Last edited by chamcham (2012 July 05, 10:51 pm)

For singing, breathy voice is often not recommend, since it is often indicative of bad technique.

Btw, the singer sounded off-rhythm in so many places. Or is that how the song is supposed to sound like? Jazz rhythms can often be very tricky.

IMHO, her voice sounded terrible.
Not even that autotune (which was too much in the song) could save her.

Hehe, I guess we don't share the same music tastes... but very interesting story about Hikaru being a beauty model (or not) ;P Thanks for the link too, it's good. Is Slow Dance good? I just started watching J-Dramas and I can't get enough of it hehe.

I'd love the song even better if she were just a little more out of tune/rhythm/air

comeauch wrote:

For singing, breathy voice is often not recommend, since it is often indicative of bad technique.

Btw, the singer sounded off-rhythm in so many places. Or is that how the song is supposed to sound like? Jazz rhythms can often be very tricky.

IMHO, her voice sounded terrible.
Not even that autotune (which was too much in the song) could save her.

Hehe, I guess we don't share the same music tastes... but very interesting story about Hikaru being a beauty model (or not) ;P Thanks for the link too, it's good. Is Slow Dance good? I just started watching J-Dramas and I can't get enough of it hehe.

I'd love the song even better if she were just a little more out of tune/rhythm/air

"Slow Dance" was one of my favorite dramas.
I can't guarantee that you'll like it. But it was really good IMHO.

If you finish "Slow Dance", also watch "Orange Days". It has the
same lead male actor (Tsumabaki Satoshi).

comeauch wrote:

I've been searching the Internet for a specific kind of music... although it's not all that specific, actually. Here's a video clip first.

Love that clip. It really shows the quietness of life under the apparent drama that seems to cover it all the time.

Oooh, thanks! It was so refreshing to listen to those artists, howtwosavealif3! I'll link some of my favorites out of them:

倉橋ヨエコ 's voice is awesome! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPzK_ce1fgg)

熊木杏里 is such a 美人 lol. Sings well too! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAnBxv8hJU0).

I love ズータンズ's clips XD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuFvU04KLVA) Such a smile! Makes up for totally not mastering that "going down the escalator/stairs" move hahaha!

I wasn't expecting something like Shiina Ringo. What a pleasant surprise! Jazz/tango... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KghkO5nYG0) As you say, she seems to have many other good ones too!

if you know 森田童子 then you're probably aware of 佐井好子. a bit more jazzy and psychedelic, but she's also from the seventies.

also these two:

tenkousei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwocmih4UlM

ichiko aoba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-__OVKVL8

Not sure if its the genre the OP is looking for, but seems a ballad to me :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5_caM3FeE