ULTRA SLACKER

[Pucchi-Mo]

Takui and Tomotaka "IMASA" Imamichi + band worked on a ton of songs in May, and the results became a project called ULTRA SLACKER.



The first release was in September and the second will be released on Wednesday.

They are both 9 track albums. They'll be released on iTunes (USA) too! Here's my thoughts on the first set.



It's ULTRA SLACKER, therefore the review will be short, sweet and laid back, just like the album.

The whole first album clocks in at just under 30 minutes.



1．ゲルニカ [Guernica]

2．虜セクシィ [Toriko SEXY]

3．わかってるよ [Wakatteru yo]

4．カフェオレ [Café au lait]

5．ムーンライト シャイニン ラヴ [Moonlight Shining Love]

6．ひとりぼっちの愛2 [Hitori Bocchi no Ai2]

7．愛の意外な副作用 [Ai no Igai na Fukusayou]

8．フェイマス イン チャイナ [Famous in China]

9．ジーナコリンズは交換留学生 [Gina Collins wa Koukanryu Gakusei]





1.Guernica: Standard rock track, good energy and signature Takui wailing.

Nice start, what's next?



2.Toriko SEXY: This one speeds up a bit and has a cool attitude. I love the lead guitar part. Interesting rhyme scheme.

3.Wakatteru yo: Even faster, even louder. Keeps up the cool attitude, and pounds harder with the percussion.



Now for a new direction.

4.Café au lait: Funky, sexy, so damn catchy. Wow, the verses are so tricky, nearly impossible to sing along. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... owdown.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

5.Moonlight Shining Love: Sung like a group song, but it's just Takui. Very sweet, 60ish, but in a basic way.

6.Hitori Bocchi no Ai2: Nice background effects, it feels like slowly drifting in space. Gentle overall but has very prominent percussion.

7.Ai no Igai na Fukusayou: Vocally focused, but with catchy strumming. I love the guitar part at the "dakedo shiritai" line. Good buildup.



Now for the grand finale..

8.Famous in China: The 2 note back & forth bounce is very "H!P", it just needs UH HA lines. Love the light, spacey disco-ish shift. #1 track <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':drunk:' />

9.Gina Collins wa Koukanryu Gakusei: Closing with a silly song, filled with rhyming & goofing off/clapping, chatter in the background. You can tell they had fun with it.



Top tracks: Famous in China, Café au lait, & Gina Collins wa Koukanryu Gakusei. Tracks 2 & 3 are also really good, but they don't quite have that unique appeal of the 3 I mentioned.





Takui's website just added a preview of Shouchuu GAL, it's interesting, he sings very quickly.

He's on the toilet for part of the PV, and then in a club, with a cigar in hand. This from the guy who avoids certain foods during tour season to keep vocal strength at 100% amazing?

[Pucchi-Mo]

PETIT, where are you?



ULTRA SLACKER II review:



more slacking, quick comments. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />



1.Emiko Chan: Fun with a dramatic & absurd falsetto! Sort of 50s or 60s inspired.

2.nNabaana: love the 2 vocals in each sound channel. Very cool attitude, almost like the stuff he wrote for SERIAL NUMBER.

3.Shochu GAL: Really fast until the chorus, I like his tone. Wow that's a crazy bass sound.

4.BE WITH YOU: very 70s, more audio channel play, main vocals from the right only.

5.Zuru Yasumi: Sounds like a waltz at a 50s prom, more falsetto, sweeter this time.

6.Plug in Baby: It has a fast, fun Latin sound with clapping, but then it transforms. Perfect & only 2min.

7.Ai ・Wana ・Illusion: Very dreamy. the background sounds travel from L to R. Love the main guitar.

8.Kimi no Mei wo: Nice acoustic sound, and then a screaming electric guitar at the end.

9.Shabon: Reggae inspired. I like the "Nante happy lucky nan deshou~uwowowow" line



Ultra Slacker II seems to use either past decades of music as main inspiration or specific cultures (because of the Latin & Reggae sounds). Also the lyric patterns are much trickier to sing. The 1st album just had really fast lines in Cafe au Lait. This one has Plug in Baby, Shochu GAL & Emiko Chan. The songs in the 2nd offered more surprises, like tempo or style changes. The 1st album seemed like a teaser for the 2nd, but still provided enough for it to stand on its own.



Now here's a total ranking and the album number responsible.



-BEST

01. Famous in China [1]

02. Cafe au lait [1]

03. Plug in Baby [2]

04. Shochu GAL [2]

05. GENA COLLINS wa Koukanryu Gakusei [1]

06. Ai ・Wana ・Illusion [2]

07. Emiko Chan [2]

08. Nnabaana [2]

09. BE WITH YOU [2]

10. Wakatteru Yo [1]

11. Zuru Yasumi [2]

12. Shabon [2]

13. Toriko SEXY [1]

14. Kimi no Mei wo [2]

15. Moonlight Shining Love [1]

16. Ai no Igai na Fukusayou [1]

17. Guernica [1]

18. Hitori Bocchi no Ai2 [1]

-EHH It's ok.



So, 2 is more solid overall, but 1 has a few tracks that left a huge impression.

It makes sense that they released them this way. A couple songs to make you want more, then a solid follow up album.

[Melon]

[center]SUPER MEGA BUMP OF SUPREME JUSTICE A.K.A. WHY THE FUCK HAVEN'T ANY OF YOU ASSHOLES LISTENED TO THESE KICKASS ALBUMS IT'S ONLY 18 SONGS FOR FUCK'S SAKE AND EVERY SONG IS BADASS BUT SINCE I KNOW WHAT YOU BITCHES LIKE I'M GOING TO DO A SPECIAL REVIEW. NO EXCUSES, MONINGU MUSUME BEEBEEESSS.

[/center]



-Ahem- Now that THAT is out of the way.... Here's mah special "i lost the damn text file with my real review" copout.



ULTRA SLACKER NUMERO UNO

01.



02.



03.







04.





05.



06.







07.



08.







09.







ULTRA SLACKER REVIEW 2 TO COME LATER BECAUSE I'M FUCKING TIRED.

[ShinUkyo]

*is still laughing quite hard*



Even better, I knew just what to expect from this thread. My reasoning, upon viewing the main Music forum, was this. "Oh, there's a thread started by Poochy. There's only two replies to it. Must have something to do with TAKUI." And damned if I wasn't right! More people need to respect THE TAKMAN. Are these albums up on the trackers or something? Once I move back out to my own place, at which point I'm getting a new computer, I might hafta break down and start using Bittorrent (after all these years). Seeing as I'll have no means by which to return to music buying anytime in the near future. I was always opposed to downloading music myself, as long as the material could still be purchased new. But after spending literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on music in my life so far, I feel the karmic balance is pretty well shifted in the right direction for me.

[EmEl]

Petit, I hope you know that I now refuse to listen to track 7 because of its review.



[quote name='ShinUkyo' post='72856' date='Dec 9 2009, 02:51 PM']Are these albums up on the trackers or something?[/quote]

If they are, they are probably Petit's own rips which are in the download section: http://mm-bbs.org/index.php?showtopic=2900

[Melon]

So the coolest member of the BBS sent me links to ULTRA SLACKER live on the tube of yous.

So here's my review:



First off, the sound quality isn't that great, which makes me cry, but Takui's voice can still shine through. Sounds like the acoustics of the makeshift venue were bad, and the recording isn't that strong, like we're listening to the mics off the camera instead of the source. BUT FUCK IT, I CAN WATCH IT WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE FANCLUB! Because of his outfit I'm calling him Captain Perry from now on. 8D Wanna know the song titles? LISTEN TO THE DAMN ALBUM SO YOU KNOW THEM. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' /> The only people that care know the song titles anyway.



01. Great performance, as usual. It starts off a bit slow to me, and I hate how the crappy quality ruins the richness of his voice, but eh, what can you say.

02. This is a song that always gets stuck in my head. I liked the energy a ton.

03. Oh yeah, he got out his guitar! Three songs in and you can already see the sweat falling off his face. That's so awesome. I liked his little vocal variations he did for this song. Slight things, it's mostly a straight performance, but it made it so sweet.

04. Oh god, the intro into this song was so awesome. I love it when artists don't stop and go straight into the next number.

05. YESSS my favorite song!!!!! What can I say, I love the song and I loved the performance even more. God his voice is liquid chocolate. I just want to hook it up to my veins like a damn addict. And his crazy dancing is so damn adorable. <3 Ah, I'm spent now.

06. These songs sound so much better live. I like quick drum solo.

07. Oh snap, he be breaking out the tambourine! :3 His little dance with it was so cute! This song makes me think of Sailor Moon. Great vocals on this song, but I don't think I've ever heard him fudge a song in my life.

08. After all that energy I'm surprised it took him this long to wind down. I love it when he goes into falsetto, but gosh dangit the crappy recording makes me cry bitter tears. This song is so sweet.

09. Noooo we're almost over <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> MOAR, I wanted MOAR! He's like a damn energizer bunny. Each performance gets more and more energetic. And oh fuck, the splits! This is a great performance, my number two for the night.

10. And he's letting it go out with a bang with the fastest song on the cd. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> God I love him so much. :3 Where the hell does that power come from? He's so tiny!



How I wanted more, how I wanted more. Especially after those rocking last numbers.

[Pucchi-Mo]

I'm ashamed that I found these after 2 weeks of them being uploaded.



Part 1: Emiko Chan & Shochuu GAL. Fun songs with fast lyrics, performed effortlessly.

Damn, the crowd left him hanging on the "Yappa -IMO IMO!" line.

Part 2: Guernica & nNabana. The 2 mysteriously titled cool rock songs.

Part 3: Funky section. Yes! I'm so glad he did Cafe Au Lait. Be With You goes well with it. Love the drum solo.

Part 4: Yay tambourine. The more mellow section, sweet, but I can think of one better song.

Damn it, I ・Wanted ・Illusion to be performed instead, they did too much U-S-1 and not enough U-S-2.

Part 5: Takui does a split! Crowd goes mad. The End



Also, there were digest videos from the band's YT account that showed bits of a few more songs.



clips 1 clips 2