More Hiroshi Nakamura

Here's some good news.

It looks as though possibly my favourite Halcali producer ever, i-dep's Hiroshi Nakamura, has written Clutch to go on the flip of It's Party Time.

Nakamura has provided the most constantly excellent Halcali material since the move from For Life (all relegated to b-side status though, sadly), and so I'm really looking forward to this. Despite some recent frowns on 2ch, this potentially killer FPM/Nakamura combo has raised my hopes even further.

Rhymester Complete Song for Third Album

Over the last couple of months or so, Rhymester's Utamaru (who has worked with Halcali before as a guest singer on the FPM produced Wakakusa Dance) has been mentioning working on a new song, but had been keeping it a secret as to what it was. After seeing this post in particular, I thought it might have been a new song with our girls, but decided that those hands looked a bit too, well, old to be Halcali.

Turns out I was wrong though! The song (featuring Utamaru, and produced by Arikikku) is called, believe it or not, Driver's Licence. In the song it seems to be the girl who takes the wheel, leaving the "stupid boy with no driver's licence" to fend for himself in the passenger seat on their late night date in the car. I'm sure their mothers wouldn't approve of that.

Anyway, as to the song itself, anyone (like me, to be honest) who was expecting another party choon like Wakakusa Dance might not want to get their hopes up- the song is a "180 degree turn away" from that, which means;

A languid, dreamy song, carrying all the cute mysteriousness of a picture book for adults.

I know that doesn't make too much sense, and in fact sounds like it might rest ominously in the Tip Taps Tip half of Halcali's back catalogue, but Utamaru mentions that they'll be rapping though, which is good news.

Like the new FPM single, I'm not entirely sure about this, but like that new single, I'm waiting with a quiet expectation that it'll be great.

Some New Single Impressions from 2ch

2ch is essentially an enormous (thought to be the biggest in the world in fact), anonymous message board on the Japanese internet, known for it's exceptionally heavy traffic and odd influential break into the mainstream media.

Naturally, there's a page devoted to you know who, and last night It's Party Time received it's début airing. Right after the comments started to come in, and after a bit of deliberation I've decided to post a few to give you a general idea about what they're talking about. Keep in mind that these messages come from a faceless message board and so it's of course up to you how much faith you place in what they say.

Anyway, you might want to prepare yourself for a second, because the comments aren't very encouraging.

449 ：2007/05/24(木) 22:44:54 ID:???

ラジオで新曲かかった
なかなか良い

They just played the new song on the radio. I thought it was pretty good.

450 ：2007/05/24(木) 22:50:46 ID:???

今パーティタイム流れた・・・けどどーなの？これ。全然キラーチューンじゃないじゃん。
なんか物凄くガッカリ。

They just played Party Time, but what the hell is it? It isn't a 'killer tune' at all. I'm really disappointed.

451 ：：2007/05/24(木) 22:58:16 ID:???

俺はすきだな うん

Well, I like it.

452 ：2007/05/24(木) 23:14:32 ID:???

LCA!が好きな奴はこれも受け入れられると思う。おれは駄目。全然駄目。
間延びした2人の歌が駄目駄目。なんだかもう虚脱感でいっぱいだよ。
まじで凹んだ。

I think those people who liked LCA will take to this. As for me, I hated it. I really hated it. They've just sound too slow and stupid. I'm just full of despondency about the whole thing now. My belief in them has been dented.

455 ：2007/05/24(木) 23:51:25 ID:???

カップリングも来た

They played the b-side too.

456 :2007/05/24(木) 23:57:58 ID:???

よき理解者であるはずのFPMが作った曲がこの出来だからな
期待が大きかったから余計にショックだわ
これが最後のシングル？
ずっとフォローしてきたファンにはあんまりな仕打ちだろ

I really expected more from FPM- he's a guy who's supposed to know what makes Halcali good and what people want to hear from them. I expected a lot and now I'm in shock. Will this be their last single? This is no way to treat the fans who've been with them from the start.

458 ：2007/05/25(金) 00:50:31 ID:???

まあまあよかった

It was alright.

460 ：2007/05/25(金) 07:57:02 ID:+xOVR7j5

ハルカたんハルカたんハルカたん
おぢさん魔法使いになったよお
魔法でお家をたててハルカたんと暮らすう

Haruka sweetie, Haruka sweetie, Haruka sweetie.

I've turned into a witch. I'm going to use my magic to build us a house where we can live together.

461 ：2007/05/25(金) 08:58:40 ID:???

>>460
オメデト

>>460

Congratulations.

462 ：2007/05/25(金) 12:00:30 ID:???

HALCALIみてるか？新曲よかったよー

Are you reading this, Halcali? I liked the new song!

463 ：2007/05/25(金) 12:18:41 ID:???

１度聴いただけじゃ分からないな。何度か聴くうちに印象が変わるかもしれない。

You can't know after just one listen. If listen to it over and over, your opinion of it might change.

466 ：2007/05/25(金) 17:56:45 ID:???

三枚くらい買ってあげようかな

I'm buying three copies of it.

So, there it is. I cut a few out here and there, but apart from a couple, most of the comments were in the ho-hum to hostile range. 463's advice about needing to listen multiple times seems sound though. Again, keep in mind that these are just a few peoples opinions, and opinions on a message board on the internet at that. I'm still keeping faith that they can give us something great.

HA-RU-KA-RI

Changing the image on the main page to the new one for It's Party Time (which I like, hopefully the design will be featured in the video in some way) isn't the only thing that's different. They've added an English language section too!

Go take a look, the discography section is fairly comprehensive (although it stops at Tip Taps Tip and the label change for some reason).

I wonder what prompted this? Whatever the reason behind it, It's a great (if surprising) addition to the site, and just the pre-third-album-release thing that's needed to hopefully drag in a few more western fans.

Jacket

Here's the jacket for It's Party Time (B-side Clutch). What do you make of it? It kind of reminds me of a Yuki sleeve for some reason.

What on earth are they up to?

Space Shower 2004/Xmas Live

I'm not sure if just posting links to You Tube is something that could be comfortably classified as 'blogging', but you should take a look at this Halcali clip from the May 2004 Space Shower TV 15th Anniversary concert. Here's (still) hoping for that new album promo tour announcement soon.

In the meantime, here's Peek-A-Boo, Giri Giri and Marching March.



It gets better! Here's the same poster posting the first video (of a promised three) of Halcali doing their 'girls only' gig from way back in December 2003. Fantastic. Since MTV quickly pulled the Halcali gig I posted, watch this while you can.

A full house, people cheering and clapping, and decent chart placements. Come on Sony, what happened?



The second...



Finally (love this version of Peek-A-Boo)

It's Party Time

If ever there was a title that wore it's intentions right on it's sleeve, it's this one from Halcali's Fantastic Plastic Machine produced new single, due out June 20th.

Since writing and speculating a bit about their new collaboration a while ago, I've been anxious to hear it, but just read the descriptions. This song sounds like it's going to be excellent.

From CD Japan:

New single release from Halcali featuring a dance-floor rocking sound thanks to production from Fantastic Plastic Machine. Features a four-to-the-floor beat with samples from The High-Lows' song "Nichiyoubi yori no Shisha."

From Neowing:

Fantastic Plastic Machineプロデュースによるフロアー対応な超キラーチューン! FPMが最も得意とするアゲアゲ4つ打ちトラックに、何とTHE HIGH-LOWSの「日曜日よりの使者」のサビ部分を大胆にサンプリング!! 一度聞いたら忘れられない楽曲になる事間違いなし!
From producer Fantastic Plastic Machine comes this new floor filling killer tune that has him doing what he does best- a stomping 4 time beat with a daring sample from the "sad" part of The High-Lows Nichiyoubi Yori No Shisha (A Messenger From Sunday). Hear this tune once, and we guarantee you'll never forget it!

Excited yet? FPM's own records aside, look no further than the contributions he's made to Halcali's back catalogue already (Bacon's Otsukare Summer and Nosusume's Wakakusa Dance and Baby Blue!) to remind yourself that FPM is one producer (unlike others in their recent past) who knows exactly how to handle them and deliver that part of Halcali that makes Halcali Halcali. I always thought that Wakakusa Dance was a song that belonged in the charts, and now a song that sounds like it's been cut from the same cloth hopefully will.

And I'm thankful it isn't another stock song like Tougenkyo, or even worse, another dreary anime tie-up.

Thanks to Risa!

Here we go. A live version of Nichiyoubi from YouTube. As it turns out, I had heard this song in a few shopping centres and clothes shops in the past. If the sample doesn't end up being from the "sha-na-na" chorus I'll buy the new Do-nuts single.

UPDATE

The b-side of the "maxi single" is called Clutch (info from HMV), which will hopefully be a song about learning to drive. I hope this is another turn by regular Halcali b-side producer Hiroshi Nakamura. It might be worth noting that he released an album called Clutch himself.