Released: Utada - This Is The One

Tuesday, March 24, 2009



So you know I was going to pick this up and listen to it non-stop and it's almost exactly what I expected - straight up everything I love about Utada - depth, soul, pop, r&b, hot beats, and that vibe that only Hikki can bring with her music.

You definitely want to pick it up (get it down at Amazon or from iTunes where you get the album plus the "Come Back To Me" video as well as a digital booklet).

Hot Tracks

  • Come Back To Me: Loved the slow r&b/pop vibes when it first came out and still loving it now (and it's definitely cool that you get the video as well with the album).
  • Me Muero: Leave it up to Utada to put this track on because there aren't a lot of artists who could pull this off and while at first I thought it was a little out of place it's seriously grown on me and I think has some of the best lyrics and vocals on the album. Loving this track.
  • Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI: One of my favorite tracks hands down because it's just a slick slick vibe.
  • Apple and Cinnamon: Strong deep mid-tempo gooey beats and an infectious hook. What more do I want? One of my favorite tracks.

  • This One (Crying Like a Child): Its just got a good r&b pop feel to it that I just can't help but like.
  • Automatic, Pt. II: Automatic is always going to be a classic (and who doesn't love the Unplugged acoustic version?), but Pt. II is kind of like when Batman Begins came out - it made you rethink the franchise.
  • On and On: Certifiable pop with the Utada stamp and that's the only way I can explain it.
All the other tracks are pretty solid as well and I'm sure are going to grow on me the more I listen to them.

$7.99 for the latest Utada?

Can't be beat.

And On Dirty Desire

I guess I have to post at least a little something on this right?

Far be it from me as someone who has a blog named "Slant Eye For The Round Eye" and who signs correspondence with "Slanty" from saying what a musician, artist, and Asian woman meant when she has the line "Love You Long Time" in her song - especially when she's already said the verses in the song are tongue-in-cheek and she's already talked about how people say she speaks great English - not gonna happen.

At the same time I'm going to point you to David Henry Hwang and Margaret Cho who said this in an MTV article last year:
" 'Love you long time' comes out of a fairly stereotypical situation, and it's recycled itself back into the culture," said playwright David Henry Hwang. "Now it's being used as an empowerment phrase, like to deny it — 'I won't love you long time' — or women who take the phrase and use it to assert themselves."

[...]

"It's so many different kinds of slurs in one," comedian Margaret Cho said. "It's instantly putting you in the position of being a foreigner, an outsider and a sexual stereotype. It's an all-in-one combo."

[...]

"I was walking down the street and this guy yells from his car, 'Love you long time, me love you long time,' " Cho related. "And I was so horrified. Of course he's talking to me, to the Asian woman walking down the street. And he left.

"I don't mind it when it's used in songs, like when women use it," Cho continued. "Fergie uses it, that doesn't bother me. But when it's shouted in the street and they don't wait to hear the response? What if I was actually going to go, 'Oh, OK'? They never stick around to hear the answer."

All I know is this.

Leave it up to Utada to push the boundaries on her "mainstream" album - because if you do a search on "Utada+love you long time" the conversations are already out there.

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