1. AKB48 – Uekara Mariko
2. Namie Amuro – Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story
3. Hokago Tea Time – Singing!
4. Hokago Tea Time – Unmei wa Endless!
5. flumpool – Present
6. SUPER JUNIOR – Mr. Simple
7. Rainbow – Mach
8. DGNA – Love Days
9. KAT-TUN – BIRTH
10. SHU-I – Nebagiva Yeah!

As for the #1 Indies release on the Oricon Indies Daily Charts, the #1 indie song in Japan goes to Golden Bomber for “酔わせてモヒート”.

ZONE Tribute -Kimiga kuretamono- [Regular Edition]

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1. tru blue b ClariS
2. 夢ノカケラ… by Tomato n’ Pine
3. 白い花 by 中川翔子 (Shoko Nakagawa)
4. secret base ～君がくれたもの～ by SCANDAL
5. 証 by ステレオポニー (Stereopony)
6. 卒業 by bump.y
7. 僕の手紙 by 東京女子流 (Tokyo Joshi Ryu – Tokyo’s Girl Style)
8. glory colors ～風のトビラ～ by sphere
9. 一雫 by やなぎなぎ (Yanaginagi)
10. GOOD DAYS by PEACEFUL

Back in 2001, a band consisting of four young teenage girls from Sapporo, Japan captured the attention of many listeners in Japan with their third CD single, “SECRET BASE ~Kimi ga kureta mono~ (those to which you give)”.

Granted, the young female band and idol stereotype is not rare with other current young female bands in Japan such as Whiteberry and Cheez. What this group has accomplished unlike the aforementioned groups is to have a #1 single which stayed in the top five of the Oricon Daily Ranking for several weeks.

At the time, the group consisted of Takayo (vocals and guitar), Mizuho (vocals and drums), Miyu (vocals and guitar) and Maiko (vocals and bass) and within four years later, the group decided to disband.

While the band was formed back in 1999, their official debut was in 2001 and with news that three of the members are reuniting once again, Sony Records has released the tribute album “Zone Tribute ～君がくれたもの～ ” which features the current female artists, bands and groups performing ZONE songs.

The good news is that each of these artists are performing it their own way, their own style.

From the otaku duo ClariS (who once sung covers of Vocaloid songs and submitted them on Nico Nico Douga before being signed to SME Records) singing the band’s 10th single “true blue” ala straight j-pop, Tomato n’ Pine known for their electronic musical style singing the band’s 6th single “Yume no Kakera” to solo artist Shoko Nakagawa performing her cover of ZONE’s ninth single “Shiroi Hana” and rock band SCANDAL (who is looked at as the current successor of ZONE) performing the group’s 4th single and top hit “Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono” and a faithful cover of the track.

Rock band Stereopony performs the track “Akashi” and giving an upbeat edge to the song, while idol group bump.y gives a more electronic/pop sound to the group’s 13th single “Sotsugyo” and seiyuu group Sphere performing the band’s 14th single “Glory colors ~Kaze no Tobira~”.

You also have non-Sony artists involved in the tribute such as Avex idol group Tokyo Joshi Ryu gives funky rendition of ZONE’s 12th single “Boku no Tegami”, artist Yanaginagi performing the group’s ballad “Hitoshizuku”and the album ends with female idol group PEACEFUL performing “GOOD DAYS”.

But when it comes to compilation albums.  It’s all subjective.  ZONE is a rock band but hearing electronic  or sugary J-Pop versions of their songs may not be for everyone.  Some may enjoy covers that are rock-based such as songs from SCANDAL and Stereopony.

But for the most part, you do get a wide range of covers for ZONE songs and different styles of music.  What you would expect from a tribute album.

As for the CD booklet, there are lyrics, photos and information about the artist/group/band.  Plus a mini flier for the return of ZONE and their live performance.

Overall, “Zone Tribute ～君がくれたもの～ ” was a pretty cool tribute album because I am familiar with the talent featured on the album and they come different music genres, so for them to sing covers of ZONE songs was quite interesting.  If there was anything I wished was on this album was that it had more songs than 10.  ZONE had released more than ten singles, so it would have been nice to have more songs.  And the fact that the three members are featured ala photograph in this tribute album, perhaps a new song would have been a nice inclusion to this album.

But still, if you are a big fan of ZONE, it’s a fun album, especially to hear SCANDAL cover “SECRET BASE ～君がくれたもの～”, Yaginagi doing a cover of “一雫”, as well as hearing Stereopony, ClariS and others on this album make it worth checking out!  If you are open to covers, then definitely give “Zone Tribute ～君がくれたもの～ ” a try!

BUY THIS ALBUM from CDJapan.com:

ZONE Tribute -Kimiga kuretamono- [Regular Edition]

V.A.

or YesAsia.com

1. The World is Mine (ワールドイズマイン)

Miku Hatsune is possibly the biggest virtual idol to come from Japan.

And with recent commercials for Toyota showcasing the long blue haired character and a recent announcement of a concert in July in Los Angeles, needless to say that people in America have been wondering who Miku is?

Miku Hatsune actually one of the characters (or mascots) of the singing synthesizer application known as “Vocaloid” developed by Crypton Future Media using Yamaha Corporaton’s “Vocaloid” technology.

And then those who had the software started making their own songs using Hatsune Miku and then came figurines, video games and sure enough Hatsune Miku and music soundtracks.

And when it comes to the music utilizing the Vocaloid software and Hatsune Miku character, the Japanese group Supercell is best to known to utilize it.

The group supercell consists of 11 members, 10 that are illustrators and support  (these members work on the vivid illustrations, animation, design, and photography for album booklets, CD cases and music videos) and Ryo who creates the music and lyrics for the group was born in 2007 and were the first to utilize the Japanese video sharing site, Nico Nico Douga to promote their music and weres signed by Sony in March 2009.

The group have released two albums and three CD singles.  The first album selling more than 150,000 copies.   And the group has performed at concerts with Hatsune Miku on stage via a 3D hologram.

And now the group has released their first single in the U.S. courtesy of Sony Music Direct (Japan) titled “The World is Mine feat. Hatsune Miku” which is available on Amazon.com and iTunes and it is the song that can be heard on the Toyota USA commercial featuring Hatsune Miku.

As for the music, while the music of Hatsune Miku and music using the vocaloid is popular among  many fans worldwide, it’s a style that may or many not appeal to people.  Because the software uses the Vocaloid software, the software enables users to synthesize singing by typing in teh lyrics and melody.  And the software uses technology with specially recorded vocaloids of voice actors or singers.

So, it may be an acquired taste for some people.  For me, the whole concept of virtual idols and also the Vocaloid Software has been quite intriguing for me and I have followed it for years now and I have to admit that I am also interested in Hatsune Miku and how the character has been marketed, especially via videogames, Figma figures and Nendoroids. So, it makes me quite biased.

So, rather than tell people it’s worth it listening to or not, I’ll have you decide.