02. LOSER
03. ピースサイン
04. 砂の惑星（＋Hatsune Miku ）
05. orion
06. かいじゅうのマーチ
07. Moonlight
08. 春雷
09. fogbound（＋IKEDA ELAIZA ）
10. ナンバーナイン
11. 爱丽丝
12. Nighthawks
13. 打上花火
14. 灰色と青(＋Masaki Suda ）
Kenshi Youezu is a musician that came from an unusual background compared to other Japanese artists. The singer got his start uploading songs online after deciding to play around with the growing vocaloid trend in Japan. He had created songs using his original vocal but he didn't start gaining fame until he started performing under the stage name Haichi. As Haichi, he constantly released music that was well received along side popular Vocaloid singer, Hastune Miku. 2012 marked the year that Youezu came out on the music scene using his unedited voice again under his real name. His albums were met with huge success since he had made a name for myself as a producer that held online prominence. Bootleg is his fourth album to be released. The album features tracks used in popular anime such as March Comes In Like A Lion(See my post.).
I've been enjoying myself listening to Kenshi Youezu's newer releases. I listened to some of his music online and feel head over heels for the guy's craft. His music literally sounds like nothing else that's out on the radio in Japan right now. Well, I can say that about half of the songs that he has released. Bootleg became of interest to me after I saw the collaborations and the fact that I liked the previously released singles. People who decide to listen to this album should be fairly warned that this dude is a producer's dream. He writes and producers all his own music just like Utada Hikaru, so there's none to stop the album from being too experimental. I know that I always preach about being creative with your sound but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Bootleg begins to play utilizing tracks that remind me of the pop rock liveliness of one of his singles called Loser. The dynamics of the production of this style caught my attention instantly. There's a slight edge created by the guitar rifts attached to the aftermath of the pop beat. Much of the tracks have this fool proof prank musical style about them. Loser and a couple of other tracks approach listeners like they are rock until you take a closer look to the composition of the tracks. Which leads me to my kind of disagreement with Bootleg. The album is good. It just doesn't live up to the expectations placed on it by the headlining singles. Behind all the flashy production, Bootleg is nothing more than a simple J-pop album that could have been performed by any other artist. None can hands down take away Kenshi's unique penmanship or his uncontainable sound, as heard in tracks like Orion but that doesn't take away from the simple need of him taking his music a step further to me. I did enjoy the moments in the album that had Kenshi playing his own game of guitar hero since this is the style I believe fits his natural voice. Alternative rock ballads are also one of the music forms I'm a huge fan of. Kenshi takes his music down that road in artistic grace. The duet he did with Masaki Suda was my favorite track on the album. Masaki doesn't feel like a featured artist in my opinion. Instead the song feel like it was written for him. Now, Lets all do a sneaky wink to the side because Kenshi is a producer after all. Good track for some slow jam rock action! One last thing I noticed was how Kenshi adapts the old Japanese sound into his modern day style. This sound puts me in mind of Japanese festivals and living in the country side during the summer in Japan. Then the porch of a traditional Japanese styled house as the sunlight hits it's wooden floorboards at sunset. Signaling the end of the hot day.
Vocals on Bootleg don't sound any different from all the other male pop rock singers in Japan. I do enjoy his tone in his lower register though. Sometimes his voice gets on my nerves when he holds notes too long and this unstable vibrato comes out. Did I mention that this guy can draw pretty damn well?! Yeah… that was random… I know, take it as a fun fact.
Bootleg was a tiny bit of a disappointment to me. Thank god that there's some good material in the fourteen tracks that are on the album. What most keeps me hook on this guy's music is his artistry. I wish that he would(or his record label would) stop trying to sound so mainstream pop. It really cuts his uniqueness in half to me. He is meant to be a wild child looking at the talent he has.
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