“ARIA returns with a mini-album featuring six tracks with collaborations with ANTY the kunoichi, COMA-CHI, RUMI and LUNA. The music featured on this mini-album is upbeat, dance tracks that fans of the singer will definitely enjoy!”
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ARTIST: ARIA
ALBUM: PHEROMONE
LABEL: RhythmZone
CATALOG #:RZCD-45931/B
DURATION: 27:22
- BURNIN’ LOVE
- TOKYO TOKYO
- SPOT LIGHT
- MAD ‘BOUT YOU
- STAR CHILD
- CANDY NIGHT – DJ MAYUMI Remix-
DVD: Region 2, 4:3 for the music video, 16:9 for the live performance, Duration: 8 minutes
- BURNIN’ LOVE feat. ANTY the Kunoichi
- NOT OVER feat. HOKT & BIG RON -LIVE at Rhythm Nation 2007-
Rhythm Zone pop diva ARIA is back with her first mini-album titled “PHEROMONE”.
The artist who debuted with the monicker ASUKA back in 2003 is one of the few solo artists in the Rhythm Zone label that is actually true to the type of music she does and one of the few hapa (ARIA is half Japanese, a quarter Filipino and a quarter Puerto Rican) solo artist’s in Japan.
If there is anything that I love about ARIA is the fact that she’s an artist that creates her own music, a talented songwriter and respected for being responsible for her work. This latest mini-album features does not feature any CD singles released this year (although a live version of “Not Over” is featured on the CD+DVD version).
The first track “BURNIN’ LOVE” is a very cool upbeat, dance track with PENTATONIC/MADD CAT music artist ANTY the Kunoichi. The collaboration is just what I expect when you get two pop divas together and you get a catchy, sexy dance track, cool beats and rap. A very energetic, fun track!
The second track “TOKYO TOKYO” features a collaboration with Jazzy Sport Productions artist COMA-CHI. This is another awesome collaboration since COMA-CHI is currently one of the more influential Japanese female MC’s right now.
The track is an upbeat, dance track featuring cool rhymes by COMA-CHI. Another awesome track on the album!
The third track “SPOT LIGHT” is an upbeat track featuring lyricss and music by ARIA. Of the dance tracks on this album, “SPOT LIGHT” has a more mellow groove and more synth-driven.
The fourth track “MAD ‘BOUT YOU” is a slow-jam produced by BACHLOGIC.
Sample is from “Summer Madness” by EMI and features ARIA’s smooth singing vocals.
Overall, a smooth track! The fifth track “STAR CHILD” features a collaboration with POP GROUP’s RUMI and was produced by DJ BAKU.
The track is a low-tempo track with an underlying groove and percussion but another smoothly sung track! The sixth track “CANDY NIGHT” featuring a collaboration with soul R&B artist LUNA and remix by DJ MAYUMI & Yusuke Sasaki.
My previous knowledge of LUNA was pretty much from her MySpace page earlier this year but what you get is a track spotlighting on the ladies vocals and a drum track in the back.
I felt the vocals of the women to be well done but the drums in the overall track took away from the vocals. Granted, I’ve never listened to the original track from ARIA’s 2007 album “The Jukebox” (note: in my rotation to review soon), but dig the vocals, drum beats in the back…not as much.
The DVD features the music video “BURNIN’ LOVE” and is set in a traditional Japanese setting with ANTY the Kunoichi and ARIA in traditional Japanese outfits. A very cool music video directed by Ippei Morita and glad to see cool production value in the overall video.
The second video “NOT OVER” features a live performance from “Rhythm Nation 2007″ and features an awesome performance by ARIA and cool rhymes from HOKT & BIG RON”.
I was very impressed with ARIA’s vocals in a live setting and for those who enjoy her smooth vocals from her albums or CD singles, this woman is the real deal because she sounds as fabulous live as well.
Also, the energy brought by the rhymes courtesy of HOKT and BIG RON were pretty cool. Nice to see the audience get into the performance as well.
The CD insert booklet is a five fold piece with lyrics and production credits on one end and images of ARIA on the other side.
Overall, this mini-album is well-produced, smooth vocals, cool collaborations and for fans of ARIA, a mini-album definitely worth checking out. For those wondering which artist is her music comparable to, I would have to say that if you enjoy Rihanna’s music and you want to hear it ala J-Pop, then definitely “PHEROMONE” will have music that you’ll definitely dig!
Definitely recommend the CD+DVD version as the few extra bucks for the DVD is worth it in my opinion.
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