For me Aikawa Nanase's ballads are mediocre and unmemorable (though usually not actively cloying), but in her real rock mode she's a force. I think of DAI as similar in kind, but not as consistently extravagant. The new globe album, globe 2 pop/rock is very much in the DAI vein, as well. And the Tommy heavenly6 record from last year is fizzier than those three, but still part of the same deal. And the new Yaida Hitomi album is partly back in this camp, too, and I think shows signs of her re-focusing on interesting music after drifting towards generic pop-idol for an album or two.

I bought Aikawa Nanase's "ID2" a couple years ago, but I can't remember anything standing out to me other than "Heat of the Night," which sounded like some amazing lost 80s hit. I should go back and check her out again. I was also going through a big Do As Infinity phase for awhile, but at some point I think I overdosed on the glossiness and they went back on the shelf. Hopefully the Falco reissues I just bought will help me rebuild my pop-cheese tolerance!

Everything I read about her made me think I'd love her, but I really didn't. Actually, I went through the anticipation/ambivalence cycle twice, because even after not liking one album I thought from reading about the next that surely I'd like that. Nope. Maybe the Beckishness was part of it, as I've always hated Beck. But maybe it's just that I never loved her voice. She seems like a more interesting musician and composer than some of the people I do like, but that doesn't change my reactions.  

The top of my J-pop rotation at the moment, for example, is Aikawa Nanase's mini-album R.U.O.K?!, which is just cheerfully uncomplicated high-gloss pop-rock. Like imagine if Emm Gryner had an embarrassing-past version of Tori's Y Kant Tori Read.

Hi glenn, I've been a reader for a few years and felt it was finally time for a comment. I recently came across one of Ringo Shiina's videos online ("Honnou") and loved it so much that I purchased a couple of her albums, "Shouso Strip" and "Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana." I was curious about your take on her, since I imagine you must have come across her in your Japanese music travels. I love the way she flits across genres Beck-style, but I can see how that might also be off-putting to some listeners. Your thoughts? Or anyone else who's heard her?