“Welcome to Tokyo” with Shanadoo
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01 King Kong
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April 9, 2007
Shanadoo is a dance pop group quite similar in style to Smile.dk (who is most well-known for producing "Butterfly" on Dance Dance Revolution). Like Smile.dk, Shanadoo uses a Eurodance style primarily, with Oriental-sounding instruments of secondary importance. One of Shanadoo’s great strengths is that its English lyrics are written by a English speaker, and their Japanese lyrics are written by a Japanese. As a result, the English lyrics and Japanese lyrics are both great and work well together. Quite a bit of English is used in their songs-- about 40%. The booklet features all of Shanadoo’s lyrics transliterated into romaji so that Westerners who aren’t too expert at reading Japanese can actually sing along. It also features a separate lyric booklet in original Japanese as well. The four girls who comprise the group, Manami, Chika, Junko, and Marina are typical Japanese girls with typical Japanese hobbies such as karaoke, yoga, dancing, singing, and shopping. I will be reviewing Shanadoo’s first album “Welcome to Tokyo.” The word Shanadoo seems to be an elocution of Xanadu. Xanadu, which is a legendary place in Manchuria, was the summer residence of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan lived during the 13th century. Today, Xanadu is known as an Asian fantasy place. Shanadoo was created on April 18, 2006 near the border of Switzerland and France, in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The next day, in a Weil studio, the group was formed of the four Japanese girls and they recorded "King Kong." As the producer for E-Rotic and Vanilla Ninja, David Brandes produced the Shanadoo's first single. Marina executes main vocals. Before Marina came around, the group was known as "Vivace," which had already been making some appearances in Japan. The oldest member of the group is Junko, whose forte is rapping. Being skillful with words, it's no wonder Junko does well at learning German. Chika is a hard worker who competed in dance competitions, according to audio enginner Gary Jones. Chika is also a food connoisseur. According to lyricist Miyabi Sudo, Manami has an indomitable sparkling smile. Her familial kindness comes from how she was raised in a town where not only her parents, but also her grandparents and aunt live. In June 2006, "King Kong" was released, which occurred at the same time as FIFA World Cup Soccer 2006 in Germany. When the soccer fans from around the globe came to Germany, they noticed this all-girl Japanese group. King Kong, which features real Para-para dancing style, debuted on Germany's music chart at #19. Shanadoo's lyrics were translated into German by Yam music magazine, and their music video was featured on Viva, a German music channel. After Shanadoo's website by Icezone Music debuted, Shanadoo received fan messages and love letters. After appearing on Japanese TV, Shanadoo set out quickly to produce their second single, My Samurai. The music video debuted on Viva. They also toured Germany at this time. In October, they started filming the music video for their third single, Guilty of Love. All three of their music videos (King Kong, My Samurai, Guilty of Love) can be found on VideoUncovered.com or YouTube. Fans sang along during one of their live events, where the girl unit really got noticed by Europe and America. More and more, fans have been recognizing the graceful charm of Shanadoo. Their first album “Welcome to Tokyo” is a must-have for those interested in Japanese dance/trance and also those interested in hearing traditional Oriental instruments in a pop format. With 17 tracks, I got a lot for my money. |
01 King Kong
At the very beginning of the song, one of the girls says in Japanese “We’re going to dance para-para together.” That’s true-- the song has learnable para-para dance steps. King Kong was Shanadoo’s first song. It is a cover of E-Rotic’s song King Kong (2000) and resonates with Eurodance style. It’s just a fun love song with a combination of conventional singing and rapping. What makes it unique is its para-para style dance and its use of the koto, a Japanese zither.
02 Passion In Your Eyes
If you don’t like loud, para-para dance music, hang in there because “Welcome to Tokyo” has a lot more to offer. Passion In Your Eyes is a more aesthetic trance song that includes tribal-sounding drums and gentle rap. Manami contributed to the rapping. Remember: Shanadoo features trance style as first importance, traditional Oriental instruments as secondary importance. Passion in Your Eyes is beautifully produced.
03 Guilty of Love
Guilty of Love is a much slower song, a ballad, providing musical balance for the first half of the album. The music video for this song features the girls in conventional Japanese kimonos. It takes place at a wonderful temple stage, but it’s a little bit unusual that the girls turn into dogs near the end of the song. Overall, the song has a great melody, and engages mystery and romantic fantasy of Asia.
04 Ninja Tattoo
Ninja Tattoo is another upbeat trance number that uses traditional Oriental instruments, most noticeably a traditional flute. The girls are asking to get a glance of one’s ninja tattoo. Remember that Shanadoo is produced in such a way that it reflects Westerners’ romantic ideas of Japan.
05 My Samurai
My Samurai has an irresistable trance beat. The music video is absolutely stunning with a mysterious katana-swinging samurai actor and fire effects. People who like Ami Suzuki’s J-trance style should really like this type of song.
06 One Tear Ago
One Tear Ago, seemingly a spinoff of the phrase “One year ago,” is about lost love. It is a slower, gentler pop song with a strong emphasis on traditional, plucky strings. Marina calls it a ballad, but it has a bit more percussion beat than Guilty of Love. It’s quite a dreamy song.
07 Just a Little Flirt
As the title suggests, this is a playful love song, and it is underlied by a trance bass. Apparently, it was the first “album” song they recorded for Welcome to Tokyo. The entire album was produced by the same creative team, so you'll notice the album has a lot of consistency, but not monotony.
08 Give a Little Love
Give a Little Love has the best rap portion on the album. It’s a wonderful rap and a little bit tense. If you compare it with the other songs, you will recognize this as the song that has all the Nanana nananana’s.
09 Konnichiwa
Shanadoo is great for Westerners interested in Japan in a popularized format. Junko wants us to remember that “Konnichiwa” is a Japanese greeting meaning hello. The emphasis on this simple Japanese vocabulary word is the basis for this trance song. Unlike most of the other songs, Konnichiwa features only conventional singing-- no rapping. During the cadenza, the music contrasts by slowing down with a few snaring drums and gongs, and she says in English, “Hello? Do you remember me?” which is a translation of the first line in the song. Konnichiwa is my personal favorite because it’s stylish and has an exciting, unique chorus and great harmony.
10 It's Like an Anime
It's Like an Anime is a trance song that’s sure to get anime fans energized. Like the other songs, it features snappy rap lyrics in the verses and also has cool bell percussion. The chorus is a full trance pop theme. Its mixture of English and Japanese is quite skillful. Undoubtedly, you will want to watch anime after hearing this song.
11 Wake Me
Wake Me is a great pop song with piano, guitar-like sound, funk, and plucky strings. This a great break from the loud, thumping trance. The vocals seem particularly excellent in this number. Like Konnichiwa, this song does not feature rapping.
12 Listen to the Rhythm
Listen to the Rhythm sounds quite a bit like My Samurai. Marina says this song starts out sexy, with the words “Catch my whole body... dance with me.” It’s another fast dance song, but I don’t think it sounds quite as good as My Samurai because the rap verse portion is a little bit devoid of aesthetic instrumentation. This song is only for those who like fast, titillating dance songs like King Kong.
13 Closer to Heaven
This is a slow ballad just like Guilty of Love. It’s a thoughtful song which again has both good English lyrics and good Japanese lyrics. It has a nice pace and showcases a decidedly tribal flute. Shanadoo’s pronunciation of English is fairly good-- it’s not excellent, but could be worse.
14 My Samurai (Extended ver)
15 King Kong (Extended ver)
16 Guilty of Love (Extended ver)
Shanadoo has included extended versions of its first three singles for people like me who are more accustomed to Japanese-style songs that are longer than three minutes. However, My Samurai and King Kong sound like extended trance versions that you might hear on European trance singles. These extended versions are about 6-7 minutes long each. Guilty of Love, as a ballad (not trance), is a version that fully explores the beautiful instrumentation of the original song.
17 Hypnotized
Hypnotized is a bonus track which could be practically considered a full-fledged Oriental song because it sounds very Chinese with its masterful use of woodwinds and strings. Most people should really like this song. The melodies are sweet and the rhyming is great. Do not forget to listen to this awesome track!
© 2007 AudioAsia
