Small Fish, Big Pond

I hate to say it but it’s been apparent for a year or so and it’s getting worse, Kaori Mochida’s voice is dying. I mentioned it in a previous post but it’s becoming more widely noticed now.

As linked on FG recent performances are nothing like they were in their hey-day. Her vocals are flat now.

And Then:

I used to like ELT but you could tell back then that from the way she sings, even though it creates and interesting and unique sound it’s killing her vocal chords and has been all along. The comparison to then and now is about the same as listening to hear somebody sing before and after they go through puberty. And even though you can force your voice to reach pitches it did before you really have to strain to do so.

It’s not really known generally among many music listeners but singing is a lot like any other workout, if you don’t have good form it puts you through more stress. Stress that can eventually wear you down before your time.

Kaori is was a huge pop singer and should have been exposed to many professional voice trainers that could help her maintain her singing in a way that is less destructive to her vocal chords. But being one of the main draws for the label she was likely pushed to keep straining to keep albums sales high without worrying about the long term effects. A prime example of a label riding their talent hard to bleed them dry.

And considering ELT is part of Avex that’s hardly a surprise; they have been riding the Ayumi train so long they’ve let a lot of good talent fall under the wheels. Talent that could have stepped up to take the reign now that Ayumi and Kaori are fading stars.

Recently Every Little Thing has been less prolific than they used to be, the only time they get air time is for 1 or two songs during A-Nation and the occasional TV appearance. I’m not sure if it’s because Kaori knew her vocals were going and is fading out or if Avex has seen ELT’s sales drop and are shuffling her off to pasture but lack of practice and a high strain method of singing has taken it’s toll. It’s too bad to see somebody who had a lot of talent get used up and discarded due to burnout.
I’m guessing Avex’s cash cow Ayumi will be next, she’s already lost hearing in one ear due to the “Rock and Roll” lifestyle of constant performance with no break. I hope they can both get good gigs as TV tarento where they can reminisce with viewers back to the new millennium when they dominated Japanese music.

I was more of a fan of the more upbeat songs rather than the ballads.
4Force was the album that first got me interested.
But I like the Super Eurobeat remixes the best.
Or just hedge your bets and get the Best Singles compilation.

I’ve been listening to the last few singles and album of the new Avex artist “Girl Next Door” at first they really seem similar to the upbeat (non ballad) songs and remixes by “Every Little Thing” that I like with an upbeat dance pop sound. These dance/eurobeat style songs are the easiest Japanese pop music to get into since you can still tap your foot to the beat even if you can’t understand all (or any) of the words.

The problem is that beat is horribly repetitive with these guys. I’m not sure who arranges the music but the walking dance beat is identical for 90% of their songs. 1 song at a time it’s not bad at all but listening to their whole album all together is mindlessly repetitive.

So why am I talking about them. They are a produced pop group, they’re basically guaranteed placing on the Oricon just because they’re hand held to the top by big name producers, remixers, and arrangers. So it seems their first few songs have bee kind of a warm-up to get a feel for where they should be positioned musically. Their last single would arguably be considered their breakout single by hitting the #1 slot in the charts (it’s an anime intro, that gives a bigger “bump” than anything in Japan), but I still wasn’t impressed and was about to write them off and quit listening. The latest single on the other hand finally has some variety to it and may be a sign that they’ve found a niche and may be able to carve out a corner of their own in the Avex roster.

Check it out, it’s pretty good stuff. Again it really reminds me of the “Every Little Thing” except the singer Chisa has a more natural sound to her voice unlike Kaori who sounds like she’s doing damage to her vocal chords everytime the performs. Maybe that will a lot Girl Next Door to continue on now that ELT is slowing down.