LOOK cover/round up

I kinda likes it.

It feels like it has more continuity with older Halcali single jackets than Twinkle Star did, at least. A double KO though? I always imagined Haruka to come out on top if it ever came to blows between the two, somehow.

Elsewhere, Halcali are out and about playing two shows and, yes you guessed it, decorating a Christmas tree in Tokyo.

The first gig is at Tokyo's two day "biggest indoor music festival" Rhythm Nation 2006 (12/16 & 17). They're only listed as "guest artists" though, and those guys are worryingly listed seperately from the "perfoming artists". Whatever it is they'll be doing, Halcali are pencilled in for the 16th.

The second is a gig at Osaka FM's F.O.B. '06 event on the 4th of November. That being a Saturday, I could have gone. However as opposed to simply being able to walk into a local Lawson and buy a ticket, it's another hidious system of having to listen to a specific programme then call a specific number as they give it out to get one of the limited quantity tickets blah blah blah. Wishful thinking perhaps, but the day when Halcali get in a proper tourbus for a proper tour is hopefully not too far away.

Seriously, where did 2006 go? Blink and it's Christmas again. This year I think I'll treat myself to failing to find a Nintendo Wii to buy and going to this event in Tokyo. As well as releasing a Christmas single (of sorts), Halcali will be decorating the Christmas tree at Tokyo, Odaiba's shopping centre/20th century clean living air-conditioned wonderland Mediage. The lights will go on at the tad unseasonably early date of the 10th of November. Naturally, Halcali will be there to switch on their creation and do a little gig. The chances of them turning up in those cute xmas tree outfits from the Strawberry Chips PV do seem a bit remote though.

LOOK on PPGZ

Here's LOOK running over the end credits of Powerpuff Girls Z.



The credits cite Yusuke Tanaka as the composer, and Halcali for the lyrics. Tanaka also wrote Halcali's Eureka 7 song Tip Taps Tip.

Thoughts?

Tanaka's second Halcali song seems to share all the same problems with his first. It doesn't sound like Halcali. It doesn't particularly sound like anyone. It has that same flat, processed feel that 95% of modern pop music has. Neither here nor there, it starts, plods along predictably and eventually ends, leaving you shrugging your shoulders neither better or worse off than you were before you listened. It makes absolutely no attempt to make even basic use of fact that the group is comprised of two rappers to it's advantage- it only wastes talent in having the girls lamely double up throughout. Let's salvage something from it though. There's a moment around the one minute mark where a harder bass beat kicks in that's vaguely interesting, and could the chorus be a grower? Perhaps not. Perhaps this is me wanting myself to like it in some way, but that's something I'll probably have to wait for the full release for to find out.

There are some other things the song has going for it too. Although this preview is fairly dull overall, I don't think that it sound be taken as a reflection of what Halcali might have in store for us for album three. It is, after all, a song written with a specific goal in mind, that is to play unobtrusively over the end credits of an anime made for young teenage girls. While that might not excuse Tanaka for wasting two opportunities in a row (Tandem was also featured on an anime in a similar way remember), he was lumbered with the kind of baggage that Nakamura, Fantastic Plastic Machine and whoever else turns up to produce on the next album won't be.

So while I'm undoubtedly disappointed, I'm tentatively going to just shrug it off for now. This is simply Halcali paying their dues to Sony and fulfilling the requirements of their contract.
On a genuinely positive note though, it's good to see them taking a more creative role in that they wrote the lyrics to the song. Based on interviews where they talked about how much they enjoyed it in the past (they started writing with Wakakusa Dance), I think it's a trend that's going to continue.

All that said, I'm still going to pick it up on release day. These anime cash-ins tend to promote and sell themselves, but after the commercial disaster of Twinkle Star, I'll be interested to see how Sony handles this one.

Two messages from You Tube

Dear Member:
This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by TV- Asahi Corp. claiming that this material is infringing: Halcali on Music Station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7llNeC0ERyI

Dear Member:
This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by TV- Asahi Corp. claiming that this material is infringing:
Halcali sing Twinkle Star on Music Station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R4IMf20Upc

These were depressing e-mails to say the least, if not entirely unexpected.

Fully expect all my other videos to go down the same shoot in the not too distant future, so if you're not one of the few thousand to have looked already (and how many of became Halcali fans as a result?), the clocks ticking.

I have to wonder why it took them so long though. Those videos have been up for nearly a year.
If the likes of TV Asahi kill the best chance people have outside of Japan to experience Halcali, what do we have left?