[2016.11.23] Morning Musume '16 - Sexy Cat no Enzetsu / Mukidashi de Mukiatte / Sou Janai

[Anderei]

Debuted at 1 with 64,522 copies.

[GaleKakumei]

^with no real competition (at least at their level) but this is H!P fandom, so that doesn't matter. Congrats MM, you crushed Rock A Japonica.... From 3BJr.


...the songs still feel like 2010 SNSD or something.

[Anderei]

Well, releasing during weeks with no competition has basically been their gameplan since mid-2012 so it hardly bears mentioning at this point, lol. The past few times they have gone up against competition was only because those groups announced after MM did.

[Madara]

The only song I really like of the three is "Mukidashi de Mukiatte." But I'd still like to see all three in concert performances before making a final judgment.
 
When's the first concert in which we get to see all three songs performed?
 
Which one(s) is/are more likely to be performed at the H!P Winter 2017 concert?
 
Thanks.
 
 

[Shoujo Q]

Madara, do you not watch Hello!Station? They show concert performances all the time, a lot of which don't make it to the DVDs since they are shot at smaller venues. You should really start watching it if you haven't already. 


Anyway, since Morning Musume is in the middle of their My Vision tour, and the last one is on 12/12 at Budokan, I'm sure they'll perform all the songs there. And the DVD (with the newly minted 13th gen) will be out sometime next year. 
 
The only thing with Mukidashi, the version they perform for the music video is different than the live because they have their mics in the live. So their "jacket" move is kind of hindered because of it. 

[TicTacAnyone]

Mukidashi de Mukiatte live from their release event. Erina deserved her line... Nice to hear the crowd happy for her.
 
The chorus seems pretty muted, though. Like it's mostly backtrack...

[WonderBuono]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
The only thing with Mukidashi, the version they perform for the music video is different than the live because they have their mics in the live. So their "jacket" move is kind of hindered because of it. 
[/quote]
 
Slightly off-topic but since it was kinda brought up... does anyone know why headset mics aren't a thing for H!P (or most idol groups, I think)? It just seems like common sense that if you have a dance group they shouldn't be encumbered by a mic, at least on their major concert tours.

[Zoe]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="WonderBuono" data-cid="202524" data-time="1479963030">Slightly off-topic but since it was kinda brought up... does anyone know why headset mics aren't a thing for H!P (or most idol groups, I think)? It just seems like common sense that if you have a dance group they shouldn't be encumbered by a mic, at least on their major concert tours.</blockquote>

More control over what goes into the mic, in other words no worries about capturing huffing and puffing. They're rare even for non-idol dance artists.

[WonderBuono]

... I feel dumb for not considering that lol

[Shoujo Q]

I think anytime head mics were used it was automatically assumed in Hello!Project that they were lip syncing. I remember Minimoni and Baby Berryz being the few groups that ever used head mics. 

[Madara]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
Madara, do you not watch Hello!Station? They show concert performances all the time, a lot of which don't make it to the DVDs since they are shot at smaller venues. You should really start watching it if you haven't already. 

 
 
[/quote]
 

At the risk of sounding like I'm completely out of the loop (which I often am), how does one access Hello!Station?

[MejraThea]

The Hello!Station comes on this youtube channel every Wednesday morning! (EST)

[Meikochi]

Billboard reported 128,907 copies sold on first day.

[Anderei]

That number is actually over three days, if we're nitpicking. Billboard is actually reporting a lower number than Oricon for the guy who was at #2 yesterday.

[JPope]

[quote="Farrah"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
 
You can always build that personality up, but you can't rebuild a destroyed voice to be as good as it would've been if they sang properly.
</blockquote>
 
I can't help but fundamentally disagree with that to be honest.  I've been in so many lessons and classes with people who can hit all the notes but can't emote worth a flip no matter how hard they try.  Technical can usually be taught because that's what it is - technique, but performance is a born gift imo.  You have to genuinely have a feel for it.  Some people have both, some have one or the other.
 
Personally, I don't think Miki has either one LOL.  She is without a doubt the best in her generation but that's more indicative of how shitty everyone is than how good she is.  She seems dedicated to improving so I consider that a good sign!  But right now she's shouty rather than emotional and raw instead of smooth.  If she can learn to hone it, she may have a serviceable instrument on her hands.
 
[/quote]
 
Other than the part about Miki not having any feel for music -- I think there is something there to be built upon -- I agree with all of this. Ever hear a professional classical singer sing jazz or pop music? Did you cringe in embarrassment at the absolute dearth of feel for the genre? That's Technique vs Feel. 
 
I get a little bit of soul in Miki's singing, and if you've got a little bit, it's like a seed that can grow. Unfortunately, she's a part of an organization with a horrible track record of nurturing talent. What would a 15 year-old Aya Matsuura or Miki Fujimoto do if they were deciding where to audition today?

[Anderei]

Probably audition everywhere, because that's pretty much what most girls seem to do. Lots of very talented girls end up in nobody groups because at the end of the day it's more about becoming an idol than it is about making it into the best possible company or group. Sure, you get girls who try out for every MM audition or have failed AKB's auditions three or four times and keep trying but I think they're in the minority. Especially because UFP does seem to have a good track record for how they treat their artists (I think Reina talked about this before). These 12-15 year olds aren't looking for who is going to make them the best performer. 

[arcobaleno]

Mukidashi vocal recording pt. 2, featuring Ikuta Erina, Kudou Haruka, Iikubo Haruna (in a different place?) and Ishida Ayumi.
 
Should be a fun one for you, JPope. 
 
My thoughts:
Ikuta has improved, she surprised me, but needs a little more control; her vibrato is a nice sign of breathing, but it's not consistent.
Kudou sounds really bad when songs are too high for her, yikes. However, hearing her low, deeper parts was very nice and it really would be nice if she would get a chance to sing in that range.
Iikubo has improved, too, a very marked improvement from what I last saw of her... good job, Harunan. She seemed a bit in pain, which is understandable, sigh.
I enjoy Ishida's deeper voice but I keep see-sawing on what I think of her skill, so I'm just going to leave it at that. 

[Zoe]

Man, of all songs, I really want to see who really got the final harmonies in this one.


Kudou's harmonies sounded nice and surprisingly low.

Iikubo actually isn't bad. She doesn't have enough skill to lead a song, but she was able to stay in tune and not sound awful.

Ishida is following a different harmony during the chorus, going low in the second pass instead of higher than the first.

[JPope]

<div>Erina: Just graduate this hack already. She's literally worse than 3/4 of the 12th gen. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Kudo: Overall better than the last time we saw her in one of these, but her range is really limited. That flat long note made me cringe bad. But even with all that, I see this as encouraging based on the last time.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Haruna: She's improved a little. I detect a bit of character developing in her voice. If she could just sing in tune more consistently she could be almost passable.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Daaishi: She has slowly improved to the point of being decent. Either that, or so many other girls are just so bad that my perspective has changed on what constitutes "decent" lol. I seem to remember her being a train-wreck, though, and she's decent here.</div>

[WonderBuono]

Wow Harunan really surprised me! She did better than usual lol.

Duu on the other hand was disappointing. I really don't like her voice anymore. :/

[arcobaleno]

[quote="WonderBuono"]
I really don't like her voice anymore. :/
[/quote]
 
I'm the same...
 
In my attempt to get over MM, I went and looked the Utakata recording, and I was very shocked. I've not been able to really recover my opinion of her since.

[Anderei]

H!P wiki has Sakura credited for the chorus in Sexy Cat, the whole group for Mukidashi and Sakura/Mizuki for Sou Janai.

[smtmissin]

I'm horrified with this recording, I don't understand how people in H!O can "recover faith" in the group after hearing this. At least last recording there were Maa-chan and Miki who were decent.

[DonJuan]

It was less cringeworthy than expected. Not that any of them was great, but Erina, Haruna and Ayumi were better than I thought. Duu on the other hand...


Well, next should be Mizuki, Sakura and Maria, right?

[Anderei]

They usually just do two weeks worth and we don't see everyone. Next week I'd expect Kobushi recordings since their album will be out.

[Revangelis]

I'm really disappointed in Duu, she's constantly flat and does not sound pleasant at all. In addition to those her range is way too limited, she can't hit the high notes and her lower notes are nasal. It is such a pity, because I had hopes for her earlier, but now... She is just gradually getting worse. Honestly, listening to Harunan was more pleasing, and I don't think that's a good thing...

[GaleKakumei]

Her lower tones sound like a machine... which I guess kinda lends to the song? So, there is that, at least.

[DonJuan]

[quote="Anderei"]
They usually just do two weeks worth and we don't see everyone. Next week I'd expect Kobushi recordings since their album will be out.
[/quote]
 
Ah, too bad. I really would've liked to hear Sakura's lines, but well.

[Farrah]

Haruka can't even sing from her diaphragm anymore lmao.  It's astonishing how H!P sucks the potential right out of any halfway decent singer they get these days.  Even Sakura's voice has downgraded imo, she goes out of her way to do an affected cutesy voice now that grates on my nerves.
 
There are vocal nodules in Haruka's future.  Her voice is thin, unsupported and she's squeezing her throat tight as a rubber band because she's not breathing or placing her voice even halfway correctly. It's such a damn shame.  Her voice was actually fuller and smoother when she was kid than it is now that H!P has had its way with her.

[TicTacAnyone]

[quote="JPope"]
 
<div>Erina: Just graduate this hack already. She's literally worse than 3/4 of the 12th gen. </div>
 
[/quote]
 
You sure about that? I'd put it closer to 1/2, but I'd still like to pit her and Maria against each other to see who's better. 
 
Ikuta's had a nice vibrato since her birthday event Yowamushi... They're just finally putting it to use since Ima Sugu.
 
 
I think Haruna's tone has always been better than she's been given credit for. Her stamina is bad and she will go off key and all that, but her voice is very gentle. I feel like you don't often hear he straining really hard to go out of range. Plus she looks darn cute singing :)