15TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE ALBUM

Hot off the presses, the Judy and Mary 15th Anniversary Tribute Album, released March 18, 2009, was pretty awesome. Just as I had hoped. I really need to go back over the Judy and Mary discography, as so far I’ve fund some pretty cool stuff. I’ll keep this brief, but there are a few tracks that I wanted to give specific mention too.

The album starts off with Ikimono Gakari covering Classic. Ikimono Gakar’s sound is all over this one including their signature harmonica. One spot actually plays a bit like Kimagure ROMANTIC, intentionally I’m sure. Those little bits, plus an ever so slightly updated sound make this cover a really enjoyable one.

mihimaru GT takes a stab at Over Drive, and they do a great job. Thing’s start off simple and pick up a few more interesting sounds as things go on. True to form, mihimaru GT mixes in a little bit of their Hip-Hop thing. mihimaru GT is a group that I’ve heard about for quite a while, but have never looked much into their music. I’ll definitely be checking them out in more detail in the future.

The third track I’d like to mention is Lucky Pool, covered by HALCALI. I like HALCALI’s style and this song is another one where the group takes the original and adds just enough to make it their own. HALCALI of course, interjects a lil rap. It’s the same old song, but different enough that it’s fresh and new. Well, both versions are fairly new to me, but you get the point.

Ai Otsuka, HALCALI, Ikimono Gakari, Kimura Kaela, Midori, mihimaru GT, Nakagawa Shouko, Okuda Tamio, PUFFY, SCANDAL, school food punishment, SHIGI, SUNEOHAIR, Takeshi Hanzawa… whether or not you’re familiar with any one of the artists, I really recommend you check out this album. There’s not one track on here that I didn’t like to some extent.

Reading up on their history and seeing some of the tunes they’ve produced, things did begin to click in my head and perhaps a few bits of familiarity as well. What I’ll say tho, is that I’m most excited about is the list of artists who are giving this a go.

• Ikimono Gakari – Classic
• Ai Otsuka – LOVER SOUL
• Okuda Tamio – Sanpomichi
• Kimura Kaela – Happy?
• SHIGI – KYOTO
• SCANDAL - DAYDREAM
• school food punishment – Brand New Wave Upper Ground
• SUNEOHAIR – Chiisa na Koro kara
• Nakagawa Shouko – Sobakasu
• PUFFY – motto
• HALCALI – Lucky Pool
• Takeshi Hanzawa (FreeTEMPO) – RADIO
• Magokoro Brothers – Doki Doki
• Midori – Music Fighter
• mihimaru GT – Over Drive
  

15 artists for 15 years; a great line up, ne? Nakagawa Shouko had previously covered an opening theme from Rurouni Kenshin with 1/2, which I loved. She’s at it again similarly with Sobakasu, which I’ll definitely be looking forward to. Being familiar with a big chunk of the artists on the list is what’s really got me anticipating this, plus from my limited listening, Judy and Mary’s overall sound is great.

Hmm, so far it doesn’t look like I’m going to get my wish of fewer cover songs this year. Ah well, at least they’re breaking the resolution early and who am I to complain.

Thanks for the tip Henkka; via Tokyograph and natalie news.