[WORLD GROOVE] Currently listening to alan – Ashita e no Sanka

November 3, 2007 by Dennis Amith 

ARTIST: alan

CD SINGLE: Ashita e no Sanka

LABEL: avex trax

CATALOG #: AVCD-31328

RELEASE DATE: November 21, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Please note – We are reviewing a special press only version of alan’s “Ashita e no Sanka”

1. Ashita e no Sanka
2. Sakura Modern

DVD Tracklist:

1. Ashita e no Sanka PV

In Japan, I have seen several music artists from China which similar to artist BoA have left their country and continued their livelihood of building their Japanese career.

The latest singer that avex trax is promoting is alan, a Tibetan/Chinese singer who is singing in Japanese but incorporates a Tibetan style to her music (some people may look at it is very “enka-like”) that gives her a unique approach to Japanese music among the many female solo singers from Avex.

alan grew up in a musical family and started singing as a child, learning Chinese instruments and also appearing on a Chinese television drama.

Having attended prestigious music schools in China, alan was selected by Avex during auditions held in Beijing and that leads us to her debut CD single “Ashita e no Sanka” which comes out on November 17th.

“Ashita e no Sanka” is a beautiful ballad that showcases alan singing in Japanese. She can definitely sing and I like the incorporation of Chinese instruments to her debut song but the coolest part about the song is when she gets to the main chorus and starts incorporating a Tibetan style of singing which is very enka-like (for those familiar with enka) and is done very well.

The coupling track “Sakura Modern” is a mid-tempo song that incorporates traditional Chinese music and fuses it with pop music and unlike “Ashita e no Sanka”, no enka-like style but still sung very well.

As for her music video for “Ashita e no Sanka”, for her first music video, the video is actually well filmed and more artistic. I’ve seen a lot of first videos for Avex music artists and this one is quite professional (and possibly bigger budget) than many other artists first.

What I found interesting with the press CD single is that it was packaged quite similar to a Chinese or Korean music releases in a vertical booklet that contains photos and a personal message from the artist, lyrics, bio and information on the new singer.

I can’t really comment on what contents the actual CD single insert since I’m just looking at the promotional press kit for alan.

All in all, when it comes to foreign artists, it all comes down to how the artist is marketed in Japan. BoA and Mink have done quite well for Avex and there is an effort for marketing and promotion for alan which is very cool.

I like the potential of alan’s vocals as it manages to incorporate the traditional Chinese instruments into her music and how its fused with contemporary music is nice and unique and manages to put her in a unique category different from other current Avex female solo artists.

But where BoA was able to be incorporated into Avex’s special projects with other big name Avex artists and manage to share the same front stage, it remains to be seen where Avex Trax will take alan to.

But I really dig her music, it’s fresh, vibrant and manages to peak your curiosity and making me want to listen to more.