Oricon Charts This Week
If you’re looking to for information on J-pop and the Oricon Charts, visit my new site devoted to J-pop and J-rock: Pops-Rocks.net .
As usual, I’ve gotten bored with the Japanese music I was listening to and hit up the Oricon Charts to see what’s new and cool to download on the various Internets.
Don’t know what the heck the Oricon Charts are? Then just tell me your favorite band in the comments.
If you are a fan of Japanese music that gets on the Oricon Charts, then read on.
Some awesome singles have been out so far in September (and late August. Heh, I’m more than a little behind the times.)
Here’s the link to this week’s hot singles. Link. Don’t worry, it’s the English version.
I must agree entirely with the number one selling-single. Taiyou no uta by Sawajiri Erika singing as her character Kaoru Amane in the TV drama is a beautiful song. Wow! If you have a chance to listen to this one, jump at it.
TOKIO - Sorafune/Do! Do! Do!, the number three single, is pretty good. I’m not a fan of TOKIO, so I was quite surprised that I actually liked Sorafune and Do! Do! Do!. They’re really poppy, but not so much that they annoy me. Props to TOKIO, especially considering they’ve been up there in the charts for a few weeks in a row.
Heh, I have yet to listen to the number four single, but I know this about GYM via oriconstyle @ lj:
[They are] a Johnny’s group featuring Yamashita Tomohisa. If the single seems a little strange to you, it isn’t just YamaP’s naturally strange charm. The song is for a volleyball promotion that I’m told is usually handled by a Johnny’s group. The torch (Heh. Torch.) this year would have been carried by NEWS, but those silly boys and their scandals are on hiatus, so frontman Yama has teamed up with the Thai brothers Golf and Mike (The G and M in the group name, Y for Yamashita.) for this special production. You cannot make this stuff up people. Golf and Mike speak the English so I suggest you seek out their blog for some stalking if you like their work.
Single number five, Boogiewoogie66 by w-inds. is decent. Didn’t really impress me, but I have a feeling it’ll grow on me.
I lovelovelove Kaela Kimura’s single Tree Climbers. Want to kotori kind of drives me nuts, but I do like it, just not as much as Tree Climbers. It’s been up in the charts for some time too, so take a listen at it.
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight by Beat Crusaders is a song I wouldn’t put on repeat in Winamp or iTunes. It’s okay one or two times in a playlist, but it may just drive you insane if you dislike repetition. Trust me you will hear a LOT of “tonight” in the lyrics.
If you don’t know of song eleven, shame on you as a L’arc-en-ciel fan! It’s just a re-release. In fact, Laruku singles have been being re-released by the truckload recently. And Japan is eating them up.
Garana by Sukima Switch is fun. It’s another song I really like, but probably because I like Sukima Switch.
Aya Hirano’s Asu no Prism has been on the charts for what seems like forever. It’s a good song, but I’ve played it too many times already, haha!
Un Rock Star by Orange Range just isn’t as…Orange Range-y as their songs used to be. Possibly because, as Oriconstyle @ lj put it, “I still can’t quite get into Orange Range since Katchan left.”
Move On by Rain is a song I like for a reason I can’t really pin down. I just like it.
Seamo. Seamo. I really like Seamo. It’s funny, because I hate rap in my own language. Mata Aimasho is a different song. A rap-ballad, if you will. (I guess this correlates to how I love m-flo, as well.)
Losin’ by Yuna Ito is nice. It didn’t really grab my attention, so I’ll listen to it some more. I bet I’ll end up liking it.
Ellegarden - Salamander is something I like, but probably only because I like Ellegarden. It seems that Ellegarden would be something English-speaking hipster teens could dig, too, mostly because every Ellegarden song I’ve ever heard was in really good English.
Southern All Stars’s Dirty Old Man ~Saraba Natsu Yo~ amuses the crap out of me. If not only because of the cover, but because of the song itself.
I still love 4 Hot Wave by Koda Kumi. Ningyo-hime has to be my favorite, but I love all the songs. This was a real blockbuster single, as far as I’m concerned.
Seamo again. Lupin the Firewire was okay, not great. Lupin the Third wasn’t bad, but I don’t really like anime anymore. It’s just like Koda Kumi’s cover of the Cutie Honey opening. It’s an okay song.
Tackey & Tsubasa! Ho! Summer is fun. I didn’t really like Tackey & Tsubasa before, so this kinda gave me a wider appreciation of them.
Otsuka Ai - Yumekui has to be one of my favorite songs on the list. It was from”Tokyo Friends”, and is really typical of her. It’s something cute and soprano that you can whine along to and make police dogs’ hair stand on end.
That’s my Oricon review for now. I’ll post again in a few days after I’ve really had a chance to listen to all the music.
Interesting Tidbit 
20 September 2006, 03:59
4 hot wave, asu no prism, beat crusaders, boogiewoogi66, dirty old man ~saraba natsu yo~, do!do!do!, ellegarden, fever to future, first person, garana, gym, hirano aya, ho! summer, ito yuna, j-pop, japanese music, kimura kaela, koda kumi, l'arc-en-ciel, losin', lupin the firewire, mata aimashou, move on, orange range, oricon charts, oricon september 20 2006, oricon style, otsuka ai, rain, salamander, sawajiri erika, seamo, sorafune, southern all stars, sukima switch, tackey & tsubasa, taiyou no uta, tokio, tonight tonight tonight, tree climbers, un rock star, w-inds., yumekuiYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
I’m not really into Japanese music, I will def. try it out though because of this review.
Lovely header
L’Arc~en~Ciel
I like Japanese music, but I’ve never heard of this Oricon Chart before. I’ll have to look into it. And a bunch of these artists I’ve never heard before. I recognize a few, like Orange Range and L’Arc~en~Ciel. But I guess I am shamed, because I didn’t know about that song! Thanks for this review. I have a lot of music to check out.
Favorite band: the pillows.
Haha nope I’ve never heard of the Oricon Chart. O_O My favourite band is currently a 3-way tie between The Libertines, The Killers, and Maximo Park. So yah.
I only listen to music that I understand, so unfortunately I don’t listen to Japanese or asian music in general hahaha. I hear it’s very good though.
Never listened to Japanese music - I love non-English music, but have yet to hear any Japanese, I love songs that are sung in French, it sounds so much more… smooth? I guess? I don’t know!
Hm, sounds like Japanese music is pretty cool. I might listen to it sometime
I don’t really listen to Japanese music, but I heard a Japanese song once and it was pretty good.
Ally, I love your bull****. I say the same thing on blogs, too, and then never actually do it.
Kitten…you ought to know a comment is more than one word. That’s dissappointing.
Josh, yeah, a LOT of people who like Japanese music NEVER hear of the Oricon charts, because they learn what bands are good through what they can download and what their friends like.
The Oricon Charts are like Billboard for the US, only, anyone can view them, and they’re more accurate, because of how Japan sells singles more than albums.
Lmao, Jen, I’d put a straw hat on you and call you a sheltered hick, but I understand where you come from. Sometimes I can’t understand Japanese music in English, and usually I end up not liking the song.
I also can speak entirely from a non-Japanese speaking standpoint and say the music is just BETTER. I got into Japanese music originally because I was absolutely sick of the crap on the radio. There’s a wider range of mainstream music, and they don’t have any emo as far as I have seen. Emo music makes me want to rip my hair out.
Haha, Emz, FRENCH music makes me want to poke my eardrums out. Je parle francais un peu, mais j’haine leur musique. (I bet that was all wrong. Lmao, it’s been forever since I’ve practiced French.) To me Japanese music is smoother. At least it’s not like English where you can have a word that’s 12 characters long and only has one vowel.
Haha, Logan, you and Ally are both on the bull**** train, but at least you’re just kinda hanging on the caboose, instead of up front shoveling the coal.
Zalette, at least you’re honest (I think). Maybe you could try to get more into it. Or not. Whatever works for you.
Ah, it was supposed to say ‘L’Arc~en~Ciel’ then have a heart..but it cut off the heart…
HYDE is love too~
As for other Oricon artists, I can’t really say I’m a ‘fan’ of any of them. I like them on a song-by-song basis~
Thanks for the more-detailed comment, Kitten. Hyde is good solo, but of course, I like him better in Laruku.
Yeah, I used to be like that. In fact, mostly I still am. I can’t stand anything else that Tackey & Tsubasa have done, but I like just one song of theirs (Ho!Summer). There are only a very few bands that I almost always like. Laruku being one, YUI being one (so far), and MYV being the last at the moment. Everything else is really a rollercoaster with each passing single and album.
Nah, never really listened to it. But Id like to. I dont think Id like japanese pop music or anything, but more of like a classical sound- more traditional. If you know anything like this, be sure to reference me?
never listened to any of that.. I dont know if I’d like it, probably not. but I have heard “japanese screamo” its crazy lol. I’m just stopping in to say hi and I can’t belive I missed talk like a pirate day!
I have no idea what Oricon charts are. but my favorite band is either P!ATD or Christina Aguileria (If that even counts). I’m taking a Japanese class right now! WHat a coincidence. Ganbatte! Well I must part with thee.
Konbanwa,
Risa
Wassup? Er… I like listening to Yui, Namie Amuro, and Hiki (Utada Hikaru). My favorite is Morning Musume. Any of them on the chart???