What Was The Best J-Pop Album Of 2009?

It’s time to look back at what was the best J-pop album released in 2009. For me, these are the pick of the bunch:

SWEET BLACK feat Maki Goto. It was a fantastic return for Gocchin and this album really rocks.

Stereopony – A Hydrangea Blooms. Debutants Stereopony burst onto the J-pop scene with a couple of great singles and the album delivered too.

Nana Mizuki – Ultimate Diamond

Miliyah Kato – Ring

Ayumi Hamasaki – Next Level. Ayu’s new album continued her fine tradition of producing  a solid album full of top tunes.

Koda Kumi – Trick. Kumi came out with a brilliant new album. Actually this nearly came to be the best album of the year but as you’ll see somebody else pipped her to the title.

Aira Mitsuki – Plastic

Ayaka Ikio – Gossip. I was browsing through HMV in Center Gai, Shibuya during my holiday there in the Summer when I discovered this young woman.

Scandal – Best Scandal. Scandal just keeps getting better in my opinion. 2009 saw them releasing some great songs.

Hitomi – Love Life 2

Michi – Up To You. British born Michi debuted in 2008 with Promise and in 2009 came out with the superb Change The World single. Her 2nd album came out in September which contained the singles Kiss Kiss xxx and You.

Namie Amuro – Past < Future. As 2009 came to an end, Namie came out with her new album mid December which had some excellent tracks on it such as her single Wild.

So if none of them came out on top, which album was my favorite of the year?

Perfume – Triangle. The 3rd and much anticipated album from Perfume has to be the best one for me as it contains my favorite song Dream Fighter plus Love The World, Edge and One Room Disco.

This is a live version of the song Night Flight which is also on the Triangle album.

My Top 100 J-Pop Songs Of All Time

Having watched Kngdmhrts55′s Top 200 J-pop PV’s (Part 2 of the Youtube videos coming up soon) I thought I’d make my own favorite Top 100 J-pop song countdown. Some of the songs are album tracks only (I’ll put an asterisk by the song title to differentiate from those that have been released as singles). It’s quite a varied list with idol groups, boybands, rock groups and so forth all featuring in it. So here we go with my all time fav J-pop songs starting with:

100: Morning Musume – Kanashimi Twilight
99: Yousui Inoue – Shonen Jidai
98: Yamashita Tomohisa – Daite Senorita
97: Aimmy – Blue Vibration
96: AKB48 – Iiwake Maybe
95: Sawa – Stars
94: L’arc En Ciel – Forbidden Lover
93: Thyme – Hello
92: Perfume – GAME
91: Mai Kuraki – Never Gonna Give You Up
90: Southern All Stars – I Am Your Singer
89: Exile – Fly Away
88: Yui – Cherry
87: Stereopony – Namida no Mukou
86: Exile – Fireworks
85: Wink – Ai Ga Tomaranai
84: SweetS – Sky
83: L’arc En Ciel – Driver’s High
82: X-Japan – Tears
81: Miho Fukuhara – Love!Winter Song
80: KAT-TUN – Keep The Faith
79: Dreams Come True – Sono Sake E
78: Perfume – Electro World
77: Rina Aiuchi – Navy Blue
76: L’arc En Ciel – My Heart Draws A Dream
75: Namie Amuro – Do Me More *
74: Hyde – The Cape Of Storms
73: Ami Suzuki – Potential Break Up Song
72: Meisa Kuroki – Shock ~Unmei~
71: UVERworld – Shamrock
70: RSP – A Street Story
69: Rie Tanaka – Fields Of Hope
68: angela – Dear My Best Friend *
67: Momoi Haruka – Mail Me
66: The Possible – Shiawase no Katachi
65: Perfume – Polyrhythm
64: NEWS – Bambina
63: My Little Lover – Otono nai Sekai
62: Hitomi Shimatani – Camellia
61: Olivia – Starless Night
60: NEWS – Summer Time
59: Dreams Come True – Goodbye My School Days
58: alan – Sora Uta
57: Buck Tick – Heaven
56: Perfume – Take Me Take Me *
55: Ai Otsuka – Yumekui
54: marino – Flavor
53: Maki Goto ft Sweet Black – Lady Rise
52: Ayumi Hamasaki – Fairyland
51: Koda Kumi – Taboo
50: Aiko – Kabutomushi
49: Hikaru Utada – Take 5 *
48: Shuuchushin – Yowamushi Santa
47: M.O.V.E – Romancing Train
46: Chihiro Onitsuka – Memai
45: Angela Aki – Tegami
44: Tokio – Sorafune
43: Lindberg – Believe In Love
42: Yui – My Generation
41: The Brilliant Green – Kuroi Tsubasa *
40: Namie Amuro – Rock Steady
39: Koda Kumi – No Tricks *
38: Jasmine – Sad To Say
37: Miki Fujimoto – Okitegami
36: M.O.V.E – Dogfight
35: MiCHi – Promise
34: Takashi Sorimachi – Poison
33: AKB48 – River
32: K – Almost Human
31: Erika Sawajiri – Free
30: Ayumi Hamasaki – Days
29: Yui – Tomorrow’s Way *
28: Kotoko – We Survive
27: Hikaru Utada – Passion
26: Scandal – Space Ranger
25: Namie Amuro/Double – Black Diamond
24: Hikaru Utada – Prisoner Of Love
23: Mr Children – Hanabi
22: Dream – I Love Dream World
21: Koda Kumi – Freaky
20: Nana Mizuki – Heaven Knows
19: MiCHi – Change The World
18: AKB48 – Sakura no Hanabiratachi
17: Perfume – Secret Secret
16: Acid Black Cherry – Nemure Hime
15: Mika Nakashima – Glamorous Sky
14: Perfume x Momoi Haruko – Akihabalove *
13: Ami Suzuki – True *
12: D.D.D – Heart
11: Zone – Secret Base
10: Namie Amuro – Baby Don’t Cry
9: Erika Sawajiri – Destination Nowhere
8: Yuna Ito – Brand New World
7: hitomi – Wish
6: Yumi Matsutoya – Hello My Friend
5: Hikaru Utada – Flavor Of Life
4: Lindberg – Mine *
3: Soulja feat Thelma Aoyoma – Koko ni Iruya
2: Hikaru Utada – Heart Station
1: Perfume – Dream Fighter

Yes, Perfume are at no.1 with Dream Fighter. I adore the song, listened to it so many times and I don’t think Perfume will ever top that song with whatever they release in the future.

Feel free to tell me what you think about the countdown.

This Week’s Selection of J-Pop PV’s – 12/05/09

MiCHi – Kiss Kiss xxx (the new single from MiCHi is so catchy)

Yu Yamada – Free (great new song from Yu Yamada)

Hitomi Shimatani – Camellia (LIVE)

Takashi Sorimachi – Poison (from the 1999 J-dorama Great Teacher Onizuka)

The Brilliant Green – Hello Another Way (LIVE)

A Selection Of Recent PV’s I Like

1. Sowelu – Material World

Blimey, just how much has Sowelu changed since we saw her last!! There’s been a gap of 11 months since her last single Wish and during that time she’s gone and reinvented herself with a new music style plus a change of image. She looks totally different and I really like Material World a lot. Is she going to stick with this new image and music – I certainly hope so.

2. Ami Suzuki – Reincarnation

Having finished her collaboration with producer Nakata for the time being at least, Ami teams up with m-flo’s Taku for her latest single Reincarnation. Another catchy dance track by her and I simply love the imaginative PV.

3. Stereo Pony – Namida no Mukou

I’ve never heard of this group before until I checked this song out because it’s been in the Oricon Top 10. I’m really glad I did as I love this song which is the 2nd opening to the anime Gundam 00. They’ve also provided the ED song to Bleach as well. Big things are expected from this group if the comments I read about them are true. Stereo Pony are three 18 year old girls from Okinawa. Can’t wait for their next release.

4. MiCHi – Change The World

MiCHi follows up her superb debut single Promise with a similar sounding track Change The World. Comparing both tracks I have to admit liking Promise even more but this is still a fantastic song and the PV is quite good too involving paint!

and finally a track from 2002:

5. Momoi Halko – Mail Me

This song was used in the movie Suicide Circle by a fictional idol group Dessert that was influencing some people to do nasty things. I love this dance track even though Momoi’s voice does sound like that of a 12 year old. The PV has her prancing around her favorite haunt – Akihabara as she’s an otaku! Can’t say I’m a fan of her two Famicom 8-bit albums but maybe some of you out there will enjoy it.