Addicted to Utada Hikaru

Ok, so I’m a little ashamed to be writing this post. But, whats the point of a blog if you can’t spill your guts every now and then?

I’m currently feeding a juvenile addiction by being absolutely hooked on a Japanese Pop artist named Utada Hikaru.
I look at that sentence and think to myself “How the heck did I ever even hear about that chick”?

Well, since I lived in Europe (Barcelona) for a semester back in my college days, I was introduced and really opened up to international music. It was there that I found a love for certain forms of guitar as well as techno (vocal trance) and other forms of ‘electronica’. Barcelona had a great following, with Ibiza so close by – ground zero for enthusiasts worldwide.
Anyway, when I came back to the States with my new found love, I started listening to more and more of it via ShoutCast streams. My favorite one is the Digitally Imported Vocal Trance station.

So, I’m listening to Digitally Imported one day, and I heard this techno remix of some Japanese song. It was freaking awesome – a nice blend of vocals over a killer beat track touching on the minor scale while resolving cleanly to the major. It was awesome. As the song came to a close, I quickly jotted the name down and noticed it was a remix of a song by some artist named Utada Hikaru.

Although I can’t remember the name of the song now (It was probably a mix of ‘Simple and Clean’, which is the most popular for dance mixes), that song led me to good ‘ol Google.

So, I googled away and found some of her stuff. I listened to it. I was then sucked in. I now feed my addiction with songs and videos.

Here are my favorites so far (watch out, you might get sucked in too!):

#1. Keep Tryin’:

#2. Passion – a really great song for a potential trance mix, beautiful imagery in the video:

#3. Passion (Live performance, but watch #2 first)

There’s an abstractly seductive yet elegant quality about her; I can’t really put my finger on it.

Maybe introducing you to these songs will broaden your musical horizon just like it did mine, even if you don’t agree with my juvenile addiction Enjoy!