Albums
Port Entropy, SHUGO TOKUMARU - SHUGO TOKUMARU was rated in the Straits Times as the best Asian artist to perform in Singapore in 2010, but that was in March, when I wasn't around and wasn't a fan yet. His latest album Port Entropy has songs with lots of instruments and items, all played by himself, woven into dense harmonies and soundscapes, albeit with less of the interesting cacophonies and folk melodies of his previous album.
SENSE, Mr.Children - Mr.Children is not the name of a pederast, but that of a Japanese pop band. This album has only 1 single, the song fanfare from the latest One Piece movie. However, the dearth of singles does not lead to lower quality of music, and throughout the album great songwriting and Sakurai's emotive vocals demonstrate why they are arguably Japan's favourite artist. SENSE has fewer ballads than my impression of Mr.Children had led me to expect, instead having a wide variety of styles. I am not sure where to place this album within Mr.Children's oeuvre, having not listened to most of their works yet, a problem I shall be quick to rectify.
COME ON!, TETSUYA - L'Arc~en~Ciel's bassist and leader, formerly known as TETSU69, had an amazing year of releases this year, beginning with the single ROULETTE and culminating in this album, affirming TETSUYA's status as a brilliant writer of melodies and one of the key drivers behind L'Arc~en~Ciel's success.
