It's Ayu Day!
 

Today is the day we all remember that Ayumi Hamasaki is a thing, and that she did things, and all that.


To celebrate, I recreated my favorite album cover:


So enjoy that!


Also it wouldn't be right without a link to July 1st so here you go

updated lyric video


alt link to the live version

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Utsukushisugiru mono bakari
Atsumete narabete nagamete
Kirei na yume bakari mite wa
Genjitsu wo tada nageita

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

yes

may we never forget the otherworldly fusion of two of the best things ever... AYUROMIX



this video is bringing back nostalgic and slightly traumatic memories of learning para para routines before HD video was a thing

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A lot of those songs are forever burned into my memory -- they were really helpful back in the days when I was trying to learn the language.

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This isn't a song from Rainbow.....lol


Holy shit it has been a solid decade since I've seen any dances to these mixes.

The Euro mixes of Evolution and Independence are very, very nostalgic for me and instrumental to why I got into Jpop past what was in DDR. The actual songs are also worth the time.

Also, even though it's more about shit I can't relate to half the time, I f*cking love Rainbow as an album. July 1st and Dolls are the shit. I've had the actual CD since 2008.

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Neither are a lot of the songs in the video -- who cares? Naturally is still a great song (prob. my favorite of hers -- I always associate it with the early days of Stepmania / DWI):



Always loved these as well

Evolution (Goldenscan remix):



M (Above and Beyond remix) -- this was my introduction to her music altogether (and now that I think about it, Above and Beyond's music, too), via some random simfile that has probably been lost to time:



As for Rainbow though, I always found Taskinillusion to be a really interesting and unusual track -- I've only ever usually heard it as an instrumental.

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I always used to play MonsterJoe's M Above & Beyond file on ITG. could never pass it now. such a fun file though

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It doesn't have any words as far as I know, unless you mean it has the backing vocal taken out in another compilation or something.

Which is.......odd of them to do.

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Instead of a new thread I'll bump this one

Today (in it's last 2 hours) make it a point to listen to all of Ayu Trance 2 it's still fucking good.

Also still upset that no one really got the joke in post 1. Like I'm honored y'all are supporting in my fandom but you didn't have to look at that horrible photo and be like "yeah we're just gonna be nice to Lar on this one" lol.

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

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Ayu aaaaayu Ayu

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I wonder if she's ever going to retire like Namie Amuro just did

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HOLY SHIT NYOKOU LONG TIME NO SEE It has been forever lol

I don't even try to keep up with the amount of content that Ayu pumps out, her and her producers are machines. I will be surprised if she's still at this pace in 10 years. At that point it'll probably be one last Best Of collection and tours.

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this killed me you're my new favorite person on the forums

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Instead of doing my own cover for July 1st (look man, June sucked lol) I'm posting this waaaaay talented cover instead



Basically I still love Ayu's older stuff and if you don't listen to it you should....or at least scroll up and listen to the Euromixes that Raeko linked.

Maybe if I find the time today I'll sing karaoke and para dance....wouldbt be the craziest thing I've done for July 1st lmao

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

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HAPPY AYU DAY EVERYONE!


UGUU

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UGUU

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UGUU

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It’s a-me?

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Boo

boooo

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HAPPY AYU DAY

TO ALL OF YOU AND TO THE MF QUEEN

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this thread rules

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Knew Raeko had my back on this lol.

From the same EP as July 1st:

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

After MixMasterLar got a AAA in the tournament, I decided to listen to one Ayu song as a fun little nod of appreciation. I went on Youtube and watched the music video for Dearest, going in cold, knowing nothing about Ayumi Hamasaki or the rest of her work:



Before listening I thought I would just leave a quick wall comment afterwards like "I listened to [song], it was [brief description]!" But an honest reaction to Dearest demands a much longer response.

We're shown an opulent mansion, where Ayu is surrounded by nameless servants and bodyguards, while studio executives are having a meeting discussing how big a deal she is. I braced myself. Was this going to be yet another narcissistic pop song about how great it is to have fame and wealth, or how hard it is to have fame and wealth? Either way, centering the powerful while ignoring the struggles of all the working people whose exploited labor made that wealth and fame possible? Are the servants in this mansion paid a living wage? Do they have a pension and other benefits? Can they unionize without fear of retaliation? How's their work-life balance? We don't know, and I've yet to hear a pop song that will tell us.

Then there's an ominous rumble of thunder and a downbeat piano tune starts in as Ayu reaches for a glass of water. Just a simple everyday action fulfilling a basic human survival need. And yet she's interrupted by the servants, who pick up the glass and hand it to her instead of allowing her to simply pick it up herself. It becomes clear that the servants aren't actually in her employ, they're doing the bidding of the studio executives and owners, and with forced, upbeat-seeming smiles. Ayu, although extremely well-paid, is ultimately also working for the studio and its owners. And like all working people, she too is alienated from basic human experiences under capitalism.

With the aid of her bodyguards, Ayu avoids the paparazzi and escapes from both while her clothing changes to a cowgirl outfit and then to streetwear. These are symbols of the rural and urban proletariat, much the same as the sickle and hammer. Even if she hasn't yet bridged the divides of status, power, and geography among the workers of the world, we see that Ayu recognizes the importance of doing so.

Then she's on her own in a dim dreary street in the rain while gloomy-looking passers-by are barely staying dry under their umbrellas, representing the precarity constantly faced by the common people. Ayu sees a girl wearing the same bright pink colors as her own streetwear, who approaches and gives Ayu a handful of candies. Wouldn't we expect wealthy Ayu to give something to the girl instead? There are multiple facets to the symbolism in this scene. It may be a demonstration that mutual aid is more powerful than charity. The pink colors are an acknowledgement that feminisim is a key part of any truly liberatory struggle. And the transaction itself represents her connection to her fans, like kids saving up hard-earned chore money to buy an album.

Perhaps in this moment of human connection Ayu recognizes that all her wealth and power ultimately comes from her fans and their labor, and labor is entitled to all it creates, so her music rightly belongs to the fans and not the studio owners. With this revolutionary epiphany, the rain lightens along with the moods of the passers-by who look up from their own struggles and finally begin to notice each other as class conciousness begins to form. Even the lowliest of workers rise up the steps from their dirty basement apartment, now on the same level as everyone else.

Then Ayu is chased by the bodyguards, who seek to bring her back under studio control. Aren't the bodyguards members of the working class too? The video's message is clear: by subjugating others under the dominion of the capitalist class, the bodyguards are functioning as cops, and cops are not anyone's comrade. Fans trip the bodyguards to let Ayu run to freedom, showing how we can work together to abolish policing as a necessary step towards our collective liberation.

In the closing scene, Ayu sings alone in a landscape of windmill-covered hills. Does this represent a vision for an ecosocialist future, reminding us that the struggle against capitalism is essential for our very survival as a species? Or is she still trapped in the capitalist present, in which there's a constant churn of economic machinery but people are atomized and isolated? The ending is left open to interpretation by the viewers, because we get to decide how it will turn out in the real world as well.

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lolwut

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That is a Travis Flesher level read right there

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Whoever directs her videos absolutely seems lile he wants to do movies instead, for sure.

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Aaawwwww shit you guys it's Ayu Day 2021!

Don't have anything special this year (Did have something planned but it'll have to wait for 2022), but this new MV dropped pretty recently and if the gods favor us maybe HBar will review this one too



I am...not use to her singing Japanese in her English voice, but I can dig this.

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

happy Ayu Day

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HAPPY AYU DAY

QUEEN OF Y2K

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Does the Photobucket Watermark enhance the OP? We may never want to admit such a thing. But anyway

IT'S AYU DAY AGAIN

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the song July 1st as well as the full album it was added to, Rainbow. You can listen to Rainbow in it's entirety below



It's really nostalgic for me because it's one of my earliest imported albums.

But as lately I'm not gonna lie I've been humming this diddy for a week straight:



I originally imported Rock and Roll circus in 2012 and I ain't gonna lie I remember only liking half the set list, but going back I think I like it way more. I also miss the aesthetic and crazy ass energy of the videos.

But of course, least I get in another loop of only sharing pre-2010 Ayu, here's what I think is her current album



As always, post your favs.

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Also ayyyyyyyyy we have been blessed with a new single and MV this day!

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Guys I'm not going to lie I'm in much better shape now then when I took that picture. I feel sexier, anyway

Perhaps if Photobucket really does nuke my photos like they keep threatening to I'll do a reshoot.

Anyway this thread could use MORE AYU SINCE IT IS ONCE AGAIN AYU DAY



also

That song is still a bop

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Have we reached out for permission yet?

EDIT: After much paperwork scrutiny and almost setting Google Translate on fire multiple times, I've found that asking for permissions would require Avex Music Publishing (AMP) to contact JASRAC & NexTone for rights & usage guideline referrals of which I dug (for some time) to find their royalty documents and found us ineligible for usage without us paying royalties in some form to one of the two music rights groups.
Document for NexTone: https://www.nex-tone.co.jp/files/royalty_table.pdf
Document for JASRAC: https://www.jasrac.or.jp/info/networ...mi.html#anc-01

Hope it means something knowing I genuinely tried :( Happy Ayu Day though! :mrgreen:

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Yo gold, that is legitimately awesome that you tried!! <3

Thanks for looking into it! Ayu songs can make for some great files

Re: It's Ayu Day!
 

Yoooo thanks Gold, that was super cool of you to look into it

But yeah Avex isn't cool with the music on YouTube so I ain't surprised