A collaboration that will stand the test of time: ayaka and Kobukuro's WINDING ROAD
Written: Sep 19 '07 (Updated Sep 19 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nine minutes of pure, no-gimmicks music.
Cons: This is probably going to be a one-time thing. D:
The Bottom Line: I'd normally say to wait for an album, but this release is just too good to pass up. These three have talent to spare, and there's no question here.
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| shimatani87's Full Review: Winding Road - ayaka x Kobukuro |
Whether one's making music in the middle of the Midwest or on some tiny, uncharted island out in the middle of the ocean, collaborating with another person is a risky, chancy thing to do. Sure, not all collaborations worldwide have sucked, but a lot of the ones my ears have been privy to have, and it's not for lack of trying. There's just something incredibly hard, it seems, about bringing two or more people together and trying to mash their styles, however different they may be, together to try and create something palatable.
However, sometimes things turn out better than one would expect. WINDING ROAD, a collaboration single between twenty-year old ayaka -- one of a handful of artists who had a major breakthrough in 2006, with her debut album having sold over a million copies to date -- and fellow Warner label-mates Kobukuro, an acoustic-folk duo, is an example of something that went right in every way possible.
Although the single itself has a paltry two tracks, the music it contains highlights just what happens when three quite-talented people come together: musical genius. Written and composed by all three collaborators, WINDING ROAD is a slice of perfection in a market that, as of late, has been saturated by mediocrity. The song opens a cappella with the Kobukuro guys (Kentarou Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda (and no, although they have differently-pitched voices, I can't really tell them apart) and ayaka playing call-and-response, demonstrating the versatility of their voices by harmonizing in a number of different ways. The song then transforms into a track that combines traditional pop music with twinges of gospel and jazz, throwing a bluesy brass section, fabulously-played piano, drums and guitars together for a grand old time -- and oh, what a time these three have with this arrangement.
All three are competent, incredibly-talented vocalists, and their performances are top-notch throughout (with one of the men reaching notes that are impressively-high and managing not to crack doing so!). Emotional, versatile, and playfully flirtatious, ayaka and Kobukuro make the listener believe that they really mean what they're singing about -- loving one thing with all your heart, and believing enough in yourself to take life one step at a time to reach your goals, sometime in the future. It's not often that I find a performance that truly captivates me, but these three have managed to do so in the span of one five-minute song. A definite success, I'd say!
An instrumental of the song rounds out the disc, and while it cuts the first forty-or-so- seconds of the song (the a cappella bit), it's still worth a listen on its own, as the instruments are just fun to listen to (plus, some of the harmonies were left in -- no backup singers here, these three did all the work themselves!).
Sure, there's only two tracks here, but I'd highly, highly recommend picking this up if you're a fan of jazz or gospel or just want to hear three people who are making real music that comes from the heart. Highly, highly, highly recommended.
ayaka x Kobukuro: "WINDING ROAD"
[ CDS | WPCL-10392 | ¥555 | 2007.02.28 ]
01. WINDING ROAD [ 4:58 ]
02. WINDING ROAD (Instrumental) [ 4:06 ]
[ http://www.kobukuro.com/ ]
[ http://www.ayaka.tv/index.html ]
Related Review:
ayaka: First Message (2006)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
shimatani87
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Member: Zach Jones
Location: Urbana, IL
Reviews written: 117
Trusted by: 17 members
About Me:
St. Louis-bound graduate student with a passion for pop.
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