Domo's Music Domain #5: The Used - Blue & Yellow (song)

The song I've been listening to a lot lately has been "Blue and Yellow" preformed by The Used. The Used is a band I've been listening to for a about four years now. What I like most about this song is the lyrics, they just seem to really make me appreciate my best friend.

To me "Blue and Yellow" perfectly explains the friendship I have with two of my closest friends. We're close, can tell each other anything, and won't find anyone else as supportive and understanding as we are with each other. This level of friendship is rare and beautiful, just like the lyrics of this song.

When you examine the lyrics, you can instantly tell that the artist (Bert) has strong feelings towards the person or people he's singing about. He knows his friendship can outlast any "bad blood" because this friendship is so intense and loving and rare. The emotion in the recording is enough to make it my favorite song; the meaningful lyrics are an added bonus for me.

I wanted embed the official music video, but it is no longer on The Used OfficialYouTube Channel.

I hope you enjoyed this short post.

Until next time friends, peace, love, and green tea <3

~ Domo ~

Domo's Music Domain #4: Jason Mraz - Mr. A-Z

I've decided to review this album because it's my favorite album from an English speaking artist. Jason Mraz's album, Mr. A-Z, was released in July 2005 and had two singles, "Wordplay" and "Geek in the Pink" with corresponding music videos.

Wordplay

Geek in the Pink

The track listing for this album is:

1. Life is Wonderful
2. Wordplay
3. Geek in the Pink
4. Did You Get My Message (feat. Rachael Yamagata)
5. Mr. Curiosity
6. Clockwatching
7. Bella Luna
8. Plane
9. O. Lover
10. Please Don't Tell Her
11. The Forecast
12. Song for a Friend

When I listen to an album for the first time, I listen to each song at least three times. First for 30 seconds to get a "feel" of the song, second to listen to the song in its entirety, and then thoroughly to analyze the meaning of the lyrics. When that is said and done, I add my favorites to a playlist on my smartphone.

When I first listened to this album I could already tell that I was in love with "Geek in the Pink", "Did You Get My Message?", "Clockwatching", "Bella Luna", "Plane", and "Song for a Friend". The other songs took many more listens for me to warm up to them, but I ultimately love the album, because each track is beautifully composed and showcases Jason Mraz's voice.

Plane (Track 8) is probably my favorite song off of the album because of the lyrics, the emotion in the vocals, and background spoken word. To me, the meaning behind "Plane" seems to be about the stresses that traveling for work has on a relationship and that even if his job ultimately caused him to be taken away from his lover, due to the plane crashing, he would always remember the love they shared.

If you're interested in buying this album, you can find it here on Jason Mraz's Official Website.

Thank you so much for taking time to read this review.

Until next time friends, peace, love, and green tea <3

~ Domo ~

Domo's Music Domain #2 - ℃-ute Releases Another Remixed Favorite!

℃-ute has released a second remixed video this week. This time it's 『都会っ子 純情』 (2012 神聖なるVer.) or Tokaikko Junjou (2012 Shinseinaru Version). I personally love the hearing the updated vocals because once again as the group lost members and their voices matured, the song didn't seem to fit anymore with their new image.

Now, as much as I love the updated vocals, I cannot stand the choreography nor the cheaply produced set in the background. Mai Hagiwara, the youngest member of  ℃-ute dances awkwardly in the beginning of the video and also speaks the first few lines of the song, previously spoken by Maimi Yajima. Mai Mai's voice is still too soft to get the reaction that Maimi's voice always had with those lines. Sometimes change is good, this time, I wished they'd left that part of the song alone.

Here are both the old single and new remixed version for your comparison. Let me know what you think in the comments down below.

『都会っ子 純情』 (MV)

『都会っ子 純情』 (2012 神聖なるVer.)

Until next time friends, peace, love, and green tea <3

~ Domo ~

Domo's Music Domain #1 - ℃-ute Is At It Again! Old Single, New Remix!

℃-ute has released their 2012 version of Massara Blue Jeans (まっさらブルージーンズ(2012神聖なるVer.)) and I am very excited to hear the updated vocals.! I've seen every ℃-ute Concert and it was becoming evident that as the girls matured physically and vocally, they were no longer able to sing the notes as beautifully as they did when they were children. Losing three members of the original group has changed the line distribution in the song as well.

I think the best idea H!P has had in a while in terms of CD releases is a compilation CD of re-releases that have been remixed and this new remix of my favorite song is awesome. The vocals are on point and their newest CD,②℃-ute神聖なるベストアルバム is full of new vocals over remixed songs of classics their fans love.

I recommend that you give these songs a listen if you get the chance. You will not be disappointed by the crisp, mature voices of the members or the updated dance routines and line redistribution to accommodate for a much smaller group.


Here is a comparison of the newer remix and older release:

まっさらブルージーンズ(2012神聖なるVer.)

『まっさらブルージーンズ』 (MV)

And now a word of advice to Tsunku & the management team of Hello! Project:

Please market your groups towards foreign audiences as well as domestic. You have many fans that want to purchase merchandise from your groups but cannot because navigating your site is not "English friendly," nor can we purchase items because we live outside of Japan. Please begin cater to your very diverse fan base. We will not disappoint you with our enthusiasm towards all members of the Hello! Project family.

That is all. :)

Peace, love, and green tea <3

~ Domo ~

Random Stuff: A New Book and Themed Posts for this Blog!

My Newest Book

Recently I purchased a book from Amazon.com titled Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho. You can find this book by clinking the link above.

I have been reading it when my son is sleeping or playing quietly and I really like how informative it is. It's taking a while for me to finish this book because I have Adult ADHD. When words are closely spaced, like they are in this book, I'm unable to focus on just one line of text and all the lines begin to blend together. Eventually I will finish the book and post a review here.

Weekly Themed Posts

Since I've started reading Blog Inc. I've decided to follow some of the advice to make this blog authentic to me. I'm going to start posting three series about topics important to me and hopefully you will find them interesting.

• Little Eli Guy (Wednesday) - Posts about parenting, children's products and clothing, and balancing Motherhood with college and gaming.
  
• Domo's Music Domain (Friday) - Reviews of my favorite artist or song of the moment. The artists and songs are from different time periods, geographic locations, and speak different languages. I will also post links to where you can find their music and occasionally I will post a video, like I did with the Intro to JPOP post below.
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• Soul Searching Saturdays (Saturday) - Posts about life lessons I've learned so far and my views on the world because of that. Sometimes I'll have a guest post by or with my best friend.

I hope that you'll enjoy this blog and the topics I post. Remember, I can only post great original content if I have constructive criticism from my readers, so don't hesitate to leave a comment. (You have to be signed in to your Google Account to post. No Anon posts here. And yes, I know you can make a dummy account. I worked in IT.)

Peace, love, and green tea <3

~ Domo ~