GET YOUR GENKI - VOLUME 1

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“Get Your Genki” is the first fully J-Music themed compilation ... born in Europe, but with the aim of bringing in Japanese music.

--REVIEW--

Lots of songs, lots of styles ... let's see the various songs that make up the album:

1 - BOY TROUBLES :  Darling, Darling
Great rock piece, with a "Ramones" aftertaste. I really like the singer's voice: scratchy and a bit awkward, it fits perfectly with the piece.

2 - Tsukune Dai Sensou (つくね大戦争): Kokudou ni Tsutsuma Retanara (国道につつまれたなら)

Excellent rock song, with quieter sounds than the previous one ... the classic song that you can find in the soundtrack of an anime. Even here, the singer is really very good.

3 - Nishioka Takuma to Kuruchi Waz (楽しんでいこうや西岡と狂ったチワワズ): Akubi (あくび)

Good rock piece, rather melodic and with that touch of acoustic that doesn't hurt. The part sung in my opinion is a bit the weak point of the piece: the vocal timbre is not very suited to the type of piece, and even the metric of words in some places does not suit me.

4 - Hinemosu Daijin (ひねもす大臣): Ore ga Rock'n Roll (俺がロックンロール)

Beautiful song with a rather country rock style, it almost feels like listening to a piece by Lynyrd Skynyrd. A lot of grit and rhythm, a beautiful incisive voice as in a punk rock piece.

5 - THE JUNGLES !!!: Rock'n'Roll Party
Punk that more punk you can’t, beautiful. A strong/aggressive female voice, a Joan Jett Japanese version.

6 - METAL HELIX: Eye of Balor
Hard and pure metal piece, and I don't get on very well with metal (so take my judgment as such). Trying to be as objective as possible, musically it doesn't seem too bad (pros and cons that every metal song has) while I found the voice a bit "muffled" compared to the type of music they want to do.

7 - Mizuiroaka (水色赤): Midoro Kaidan (みどろ怪談)

Particular is saying little. It has something hypnotic, but I dare say that it is almost unlistenable for the structure it has ... and it is a real shame because when they start playing for real, they are really good (even the female voice I like so much). Half song is pretty nice, the other half is a giant question mark.

8 - ST☆MAX: STRIKE FIGHTER
 Very very catchy rock piece, very fun to listen to ... and the vocal timbre of the singer is a real strong point.

9 - Lizards get tails: Kimi wa Bakadakedo (君は馬鹿だけど)
Beautiful rock piece, really punchy. The piece is rhythmic and pleasant to listen to, an absolutely magnificent sung part.

10 - Leonida (レオニダ): Keikou (蛍光)

More melodic song than the previous one, but very effective ... it seems to listen to a piece by The Cure. Really nice.

11 - Onna no Ko no March (女の子のマーチ): Manimani (まにまに)

Good rock song that combines the classic Japanese indie rock song with some punk element. The female voice is also very good.

12 - ASATO: Fake
Rock piece that makes a lot of use of music / electronic instruments ... I'm not a fan of the genre, but it lets you listen.

13 - THE TOKIO SS: See you never
Punk rock piece, rather rhythmic and gritty, pleasant to listen ... shame about the sound quality far from the top.

The songs "Awako paoz (泡子 paoz): 3-line" (number 14 of the compilation) and "Saled: Hallelujah (レ ル ヤ)" (number 15 of the compilation) are present only in the physical edition, which I do not have.

16 - Mai-kou: Tokyo (東京)
Fantastic acoustic track, really beautiful. I really liked the melody, but above all the singer's way of singing ... is immediately imprinted.

- Final judgment - RATING: 82/100
The beauty of a compilation is being able to listen to many different songs, each with its own style ... well, the first "Get Your Genki" compilation is a perfect example.
The goal of this collection is to represent, with a handful of songs, that immense and constantly evolving world that is Japanese indie music ... and I would say that the result is really very satisfying: there are more rhythmic and less rhythmic songs, songs with more familiar sounds (for those used to listening to this kind of music) to very experimental ones with atypical sounds. Even the audio quality, from the technical point of view, is an aspect to consider in a release of this type and it must be said that a couple of songs bring with them some problems ... but this is also the beauty of a release that speaks of "indie" music: there are no label behind and mega recording studios you can use.

When you go to analyze a compilation, never as in this case the judgment will result subjective: with all these songs and these different styles, it is practically impossible to say clearly what could be the best or the most original piece ... the one that for the my taste could be the best song, for another it could be the worst (and the other way around). For this, I will not express my Top 3 of the collection ... but reading the judgments made to each song, I would say that it is relatively easy to get an idea.

The variety and quality of the music, the originality of the project and the extremely low price make this collection something that cannot be missed by any J-Music fan.

phenom89