Utamaro
Utamaro is a healing folk Duo which consists of two 20-year-old men, Kazuteru Kato and Tsutomu Kobori, living in Tsu-shi. They sing to their own acoustic guitars, like Yuzu or Kobukuro. “Utamaro” means “a singing (uta) man (maro)”. It also refers to Utamaro Kitagawa. As the printmaker became famous for his pictures, the band’s name includes a wish to become famous for their music. The other day, they had a major debut that released the third piece single Itsuka ha waratte utaeru kanasi uta (sad song to be able to sing laughingly someday). They are supported very much by female high school students. I think that they are the most famous artists and certainly the most famous 20-year olds in Mie.
I first met them in October 2004 at Tsu Festival, where I went with my friend. At the time, we didn’t know Utamaro. I went to see them just because Kazu is an older brother of a certain person that I and my friend were fans of. But the moment when I heard their performance, I became a fan of theirs. The singing voice of Kobo was very transparent, and the guitar which Kazu played affected the heart. Then I went to live broadcasts after school. I went to visit the underpass of Tsu Station and Yokkaichi Station with a friend to listen to them. They think of fans very much, and they are good friends with their fans. I like not only their performance but also their personality. Both of them are tender and are interesting.
Though it is very nice that Utamaro had a major debut, I feel a bit lonely when I think that they won’t be doing any more street live broadcasts as before. There were a few people who gathered in those days, but a lot of people will come now. But I want a lot more people to hear Utamaro and hope they will come to like them. I believe that the band will become absolutely famous. They have many songs of sad lost love, but there are also songs of happy love, a chocolate song, etc. As well as this single, two singles were released so far, too. I recommend all of them. Please try to listen to them by all means. If you are interested in Utamaro, look here. I’m sure you’ll like them.
Comment [4]
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My favorite artist is Kenichi Asai
I used to listen to hide, Shena Ringo and Chihiro Onitsuka. But today my favorite artist is Kenichi Asai.
Kenichi Asai debuted as a member of Blankey Jet City in 1991. He sang and played the guitar, wrote all lyrics and most of the music as well. Then he started Sherbet as his solo project in 1996, which became the group Sherbets in 1999. Then Blankey Jet City broke up in 2000, and he started Ajico in 2000.
Ajico’s main vocalist was UA, a famous Japanese female singer. Also there were songs Asai sings mainly and UA sings with chorus. Asai wrote almost all of Ajico’s music, but most of the lyrics were written by UA rather than by Asai. Now Ajico is not performing any longer. Then he stopped all activity of the Sherbets in 2002. He called it “winter sleep”. And he started Jude (the pronounciation is yuda) in 2002, and then reactivated Sherbets in 2005. Now he is a member of two bands, Jude and Sherbets. All lyrics and music of Jude and Sherbets are written by Asai. You can see the latest photos of Jude and Sherbets in the gallery of SexyStones.com. Now you can see the photos of Sherbets there. You can learn about the latest activities of Jude and Sherbets from those photos.
Why does Asai form bands with various musicians? He says, “I can make different songs by playing with various artists.” In fact there are many powerful songs by Blankey Jet City, sensitive songs by Sherbets, deep songs by Ajico, free-form songs by Jude. If you want to know his band members, biography and discography in detail, please look at Siberia. I often look at this site, especially the message board.
Kenichi Asai is one of the most appealing artists. His voice is sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter. It is sometimes boyish and sometimes feminine. He has many voices. He sometimes whispers and sometimes shouts. In his early years in Blankey Jet City he was chanting words over a melody as if he were talking. Today in Sherbets he often sings in falsetto.
He is called “Benzie” by the members of his bands, his fans, etc. because he is similar to a hero of the movie Growing Up. (As far as I know, the hero of Growing Up is “Benjie,” but Asai seems to prefer “Benzie”.) Growing Up is a youth movie which describes high school students whose emotion waves in friendship, love, etc. It seems that the bassist of Blankey Jet City, Toshiyuki Terui, started to call Asai “Benzie”.
His lyrics are sometimes sentimental and sometimes wild. They grip my heart. His favorite words are love, dream, pure, beautiful, clear. I introduce my favorite lyrics and titles of songs in English: “If you love someone, tell her of your devotion / Because it is the reason for which you were born into this world” (“Water”), and: “Hey God, do you have a pure heart? If I ask such a question, will you punish me? What on earth is believing? I believe nothing. I want you baby. Only stay with me until I die. I love you” (“I want you”).
His melody is different from any other artist’s. I can’t always calculate it and I am always excited. Representative songs of Blankey Jet City, “Punkey Bad Hip,” “Go to the dance hall in No. 3104 town,” “Romeo” feature his fast, talk-like vocals and his sharp guitar sound. These songs have an originality that immediately makes us recognize they’re by Asai when we listen to them. Minor chords are also characteristic.
He has an enormous stage presence. Especially in the early period, audiences were overpowered by his performance. He does little talking during his shows. At most he says “Hello” and “Thank you.” In his shows there are moments to listen to silently and to dance to wildly. I went to Jude’s gig at Zepp Nagoya on July 15 in 2005. This was the first of Asai’s concerts I’ve been to. When the lights went out in the whole live-house and the opening background music started, he appeared on the stage without saying anything and he started to play the first song, “The Poisonous Apple Seller.” He had a very big presence. He played the guitar very well and the guitar sound was very cool. The vocals and chorus were also very good—as good as on CD. I remember I was very excited when I listened to his music at a loud volume while watching his figure before my eyes. There were many hard songs and it was a very heady show.
I like reading his interviews because he’s very attractive as a human being. He has his own firm opinions; I think his philosophy would be living naturally and honestly. His talks in a simple, positive and pure way.
Hearing him talk is different from hearing him sing. You may not be able to imagine from his singing, but he is very humorous and he likes a gag too. But in the case of a gag it seems to me that he thinks that a gag which everyone feels commonplace is funny. And he takes a deep interest in war, racial discrimination, environmental destruction, and social problems. I like both the way he sings and the way he talks.
He has written many songs and those are full of variety. Why can he write so many songs? He often says in his interviews: “I like
singing,” “I play the guitar and sing, and then I can make a song
naturally,” “I just like music,” and “I have nothing I want to do except play music.”
He and his songs are appealing in many ways, but the main reason that I am attracted to him and his songs is the purity of his feelings.
Comment [9]
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I love the electone!
I began to play the electone at the age of two. But I cannot play it well, even though I love playing it. When I was a child, I used to practice every day. I received some prizes.
My childhood’s dream was to become an electone player, but I gave up this dream because I’m poor at memorizing things, tense in front of people, and because I know that there are many people who play the instrument better than I do. Above all, I could’nt go to the college of music because my father opposed the idea. He thought that succeeding in the music world is very difficult and expensive. I understood, but it was painful anyway.
Yet I want to work to engage in music so, I go to Mie University. Now I practice to learn the piano, clarinet, singing, violin … and more. I want to play the piano very well. I like playing the piano, but my playing isn’t good at all, because I began to play the instrument only three years ago. There are quite some differences between the piano and the electone.
First, electone uses electricity. Then, hundreds of timbres can come out of it. Second, the electone has three keyboards, one for the right hand, the left hand, and the left foot! There is’nt so much similarity with the piano, so I have much trouble.
Now I have to practice the piano, but I enjoy playing the electone at the electone club which I belong to. The club’s name is “23-two-three,” which refers to its birthday; it formed on February 3rd. In the beginning, there were only two members, but there are twelve active members now. We are all good friends. We have the first weekly meeting at the musical instrument store near Mie University. We play our favorite tunes with some members. I mean that we play some ensemble. We give two concerts a year, one in spring and one at the university festival in fall. Then we perfom at some joint concerts that many universities participate in (the West Joint Concert: Kyoto University, Ritsumeikann University, Kinnki University, and Kansai-gakuinn University. The Tokai Joint Concert: Gifu University and the Nagoya College of Music. The East Joint concert: Waseda University, Tokyo University, the Kunitachi College of Music… and more!).
Therefore, I have many friends who love the electone! And we have many happy times.
I love the electone! I love these happy times with good friends!
Comment [5]
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Music Life
I belong to the Light Music Club in Mie University and form a band. My band is composed of four members (guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums). As all of our songs are instrumental, there are no vocals.
I took piano lessons from 3 years old till 15. I make the most use of the experience now that I play the keyboard, but the keyboard is quite different from the piano. The piano has only one tone, but the keyboard has many tones and many sound effects. I have to use those tones suitably and be careful with the volume. It is most important that we keep a balanced sound and adjust to each other’s volume.
My keyboard is made by Yamaha. Maybe Yamaha is the most famous musical instrument manufacturer. In terms of sound quality, the keyboards made by them are superior to other keyboards, but they’re also heavier than other keyboards.
Now my band is making new songs to play at the university festival. We will play five songs at the festival. Of course all songs are our originals! We play at room 1111 in Jyuujikousha.
I look forward to playing our songs in front of many people!
Comment [6]
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