HALCALI day by day

Real life taking its toll!

2009-06-02T16:08:00.003+01:00

No one likes to read these "sorry for the lack of updates" posts, but here is one anyway.

I haven't, and will never abandon this blog, I've just been so busy, mostly with my work as a theatre director, that Halcali has had to take a back seat until next month.

Any new album, single, anything information you have about everyone's all time favourite Japanese band, please let us know!

According to an anonymous poster below, the album has been pushed back to autumn...any sources on that?

Halcali on new Scha Dara Parr album!

2009-03-10T13:56:00.002Z

Info from Chipple

Awesome! Halcali will appear as guest singers on old friends Scha Dara Parr's (of Halcali Sensation! fame) new album 11, due out on the 25th.

Their last album Con10po, and that collaboration they did with Denki Groove were both a lot of fun, and adding Halcali into the mix makes this a definite purchase.

Thanks to Patrick!

Halcali on Judy and Mary tribute album

2009-03-06T05:30:00.005Z

Halcali appearing on this album has been news for a few weeks now, but what's interesting here is the amount of exposure this release, and of course our girls, is looking likely to get. To give you some idea about this, according to Bark, when these songs were released as chaku uta downloads after a promotion spot on Music Station on the 27th of February, six of the chaku uta top 10 downloads for that week were tracks from this tribute album.

Judy and Mary 15th Anniversary Tribute Album will be released 18th of March.

Here's the original version of Lucky Pool that Halcali will cover

Valentine Gig Report

2009-02-16T08:45:00.004Z

Take a look at this thread over at Halcali Sensation, and gilgameHEARTS report of Halcali's invite only Valentine's Day gig.

Scroll a bit further for the setlist. Their sets are still as impressive as ever, with a good mix of singles, b-sides and album tracks thrown together. It certainly shows the appreciation they have for their own music, and also an interesting willingness to take risks in playing those songs that not everyone will be familiar with.

To top it all off, they closed with Continued!

Then there is, of course, this

HALCALIの2人は現在ニューアルバムを制作中。

The Halcali girls are currently at work on their new album

I can't deny it, I'm excited :)

If you haven't heard their Valentine song Giri Chocolate, have a click back through the day by day archives here to find an live mp3 of it.

Reviews (11) Re: Yasashi Kimochii

2009-02-16T07:58:00.003Z

Maybe "harmless elevator music" was a bit harsh.

Listening to it 5 times in a row (as I just have), does allow some of its charm to peep through, even if I can't escape the thought that, if this wasn't Halcali, I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, let alone listen.

Yet, as has been pointed out by fans of the song both here and over at Halcali Sensation, the sound does seem to have matured. I think this gets to the heart of what I have been struggling with for a while though. While no one expects, wants or needs them to keep making Halcali Bacons their entire career, I think they have been 'matured' on to a point where many of the rough edges that gave them a lot of their earlier charm have been ironed rather flat.

Multiple listens show that there is nothing wrong with this song at all, but there's nothing really interesting about it either, just another airy middle of the road pop ballad sitting just the right side of average. Just right for a bit of mid-album or mid-set filler perhaps. And if you're wondering why the b-side (Orange Sunset) is so forgettable, look no further than its composer, Yusuke Tanaka, who graced us with Halcali's career worst releases Tip Taps Tip and LOOK.

I know that the chances of them getting another regular producer seem a bit slim, so I'll take my schizophrenic Halcali, faults and all. I'll do this because I know, I absolutely know, that their next killer tune might be just one single away.

Yasashi Kimochi is, well....

2009-01-19T14:35:00.003Z

Here it is.

Like I said last month, this steady flow of releases is great. This song feels like 5 steps back after the excellent TLKG though.

This is exactly the kind of harmless elevator music I was hoping they left behind. Are there any audible traces of Halcali in this tune at all? To remain positive- what with the Chara sampling etc., perhaps a decent chart position lies in wait for this single. A bit more exposure would be something at least.

HALCALI - Re：やさしい気持ち
by mugen-pv

Listening to this song is certainly frustrating.

One of the distinctive things about following this band though, is that they are so unpredictable. Largely due to it being rather a free for all in terms of what producers they get to work with, you literally never know what's around the corner for these guys, both in terms of style and quality.

I think it must be the prospect that maybe the next one will grab me, maybe the next one will be another unique slice of pop genius, maybe the next one will be a song I can't wait to put onto that compilation I'm making for a friend's birthday etc. that keeps me hooked on Halcali.

Thanks to julia and Mr. Anonymous for the link!

New Single Out February 11th

2008-12-11T15:27:00.004Z

Now this is more like it! Two new singles 3 months apart, its how the pop charts are meant to be tackled.

Re: Yasashi Kimochi (b/w Orange Sunset) will be released on February 1 1th.

Your guess is as good as mine about this song "inspired" by (meaning heavily sampling) the Chara tune (scroll down for the YT video), but I like this steady flow of releases!

To help with promotion, the single will also be the 'image song' for the 34st charity radio broadcast Radio Musicthon which will be broadcast for 24 hours from 24th-25th of December.

Halcali and Rip Slyme back together!

2008-11-26T21:44:00.002Z

Just for a gig though :)

Still, how can a line up of Halcali, long time Halcali collaborators Schdaraparr and even longer time collaborators Rip Slyme (well, Ryo-Z and Fumiya) playing live together on Christmas Day no less not put an enormous smile on your face?!

Pre-booked reserved seats come with a free Christmas present!

Reviews (10) Long Kiss Good Bye/FLASH

2008-11-23T00:44:00.002Z

Reasons for the delay in writing this: 1) Unbelievably slammed with work 2) I actually had a fairly hard time finding it.

None of the regular chains I went to had it, and it eventually took a longer trip out to Tower in order to pick it up. My first reaction to this was to hope that this meant that people were buying up enough copies to see it into the higher reaches of the Oricon chart. Alas, it seems to have peaked at 53.

Not the shock to the system that Twinkle Star was, but it's worrying that even packaging Halcali with something as marketable as a popular anime show doesn't seem to get results. I hated the idea of them being tacked onto the popularity of something else in this way back in the TTT days and I hate it now. Again, taking a band as unique and exciting as Halcali and giving them constraints as bland as 'the ending theme for an anime' seems a horrible waste of their talents. Both TTT and LOOK were awful.

That said though, I think this single surprisingly, and thankfully bucks that trend and delivers a sweet, memorable pop song that at least has the decency to stick around in your head for a while after its finished. Like I said before, it does pretty much what you expect, but its the first time in a long time that a Halcali single came out with a chorus that made me sit up and pay attention the first time I heard it.

I think the b-side FLASH is good enough to make me wish this had been a double a-side, and both songs would have got PV's. Outside of the pressure and constraints of being the main song, Ram Rider (who wrote one of the highlights of Cyborg, Halcali Michi) come up with a catchy electro pop song reminiscent of Nifuku Hoshi from the Stawberry Chips single.

What I find most satisfying about this single though is that for the first time in a long time, if someone told me they wanted to listen to some recent Halcali stuff, I'd be more then happy to put this CD in their hands.

'New' song- Re: Yasashii Kimochi

2008-11-12T10:53:00.004Z

http://natalie.mu/en/news/show/id/10822

HALCALI made new tune "Re: Yasashii Kimochi (Re：やさしい気持ち)" that was boldly sampled Chara's famous piece "Yasashii Kimochi (やさしい気持ち)". The tune was selected as the image song of "RADIO CHARITY MUSICTHON" which will be broadcasted for 24 hours from noon on December 24th.

They also say that it will be released on CD next February. Seems like an odd choice for a single, so perhaps a b-side or an album track?

Here's the original tune for those who haven't heard it.

Long Kiss Good Bye PV

2008-10-28T07:52:00.003Z

Here it is!

While the video is a bit lacking in imagination, the song itself is wonderful, with the kind of instantly loveable chorus that makes you immediately want to listen to it again after its four minutes are up. How long has it been since I've said anything like that about one of their new singles? Far, far, far too long. Welcome back, Halcali!

Here's hoping this pop gem makes its presence felt in the charts!

LKGB cover art

2008-10-22T09:30:00.002+01:00

The Sony Shop has the new Halcali single available for pre-order, and has a picture of the cover too.

Impressions? It's a cute idea, but it's not exactly eye-catching.

A couple more things- as we knew, first pressings come with a sticker. As well as that, people who pre-order it from the Sony Shop will be entered into a raffle where 10 people will win a signed copy of the single and a poster.

Long Kiss Good Bye mp3

2008-09-13T04:26:00.005+01:00

Here's a rip of the live version of the upcoming Halcali single Long Kiss Good Bye taken from their performance of it at Girl Pop '08.

Long Kiss Good Bye

It's an mp3 rip of the live version (taken from this Naruto site), but the quality is terrific.

I'm saving my usual thoughts and impressions until a few more of us have had a chance to listen to it a few times and digest it. I'll tell you this though- it's NOT the weak Tip Taps Tip knock off we were expecting.

Give it a few listens, then let us know what you think!

Thanks to julia for the Naruto link and many thanks to gilgamehearts for the rip.

UPDATE:

It's out! Here it is (albeit heavily edited) on Naruto.

Can't wait for this! Seriously, I haven't been this into a Halcali single for ages. The chorus sticks like bubblegum. OK, so it's has a bit of that anime theme tune predictability to it, and progresses pretty much as you'd expect, but I found myself listening to this over and over again, and because I like it this time, not because (as with Look and a few others) I was trying to like it.

By all accounts, the Ram Rider produced b-side is quality too.

Even those of you who aren't as impressed, would you place this over TTT and Look as Halcali's best anime tie in number?

New Halcali song Long Kiss Good Bye

2008-09-03T05:59:00.011+01:00

According to the official site, Halcali’s new single will be, as you might have suspected, Long Kiss Good Bye and will feature as the ending theme song to the popular anime Naruto.

The song will play out the show every Wednesday on TV Tokyo from 7:30 to 7:57pm starting October.

The single will be released on November 12th.

The b-side, FLASH will be a collaboration with Ram Rider, who produced the final track on Cyborg Oretachi, Halcali Michi.

Although I’m hoping that this one won’t be the same watery and inoffensive elevator music Look etc. was it’s really difficult not to get a bit excited about this. It’s a NEW HALCALI SONG! for one, and those are becoming a rare thing indeed. Naruto’s audience is massive, which will open them up to new ears and give them great promotion, and, oh go on then, I think this song is going to be their best single since ____________ (you can fill that blank in yourself. I’m sticking with Twinkle Star for the time being).

Actually, any chance of this being a re-titled version of that awesome song they played in Chicago, Zig Zag Saturday Night? Probably not. That song sounded good enough to stand on it's own two feet anyway.

Two fingers tightly crossed that Long Kiss Good Bye is going to be a good one.

Thanks to sora-kara!

UPDATE: According to CD Japan, it's a "love ballad", and first pressings come with stickers.

Hang on a second...

Love ballad (CHECK), first pressings come with stickers (CHECK), being used as the ending theme tune to an anime (CHECK).

Are we absolutely sure they aren't just re-releasing Tip Taps Tip? I mean, seriously girls, didn't we go over all this three years ago?

To tell you the truth, once again I'm more excited about the b-side than the main event. Halcali Michi has grown on me a lot over the last few months, and hopefully FLASH will be something special too.

Halcali on the cover of Marquee!

2008-08-27T12:34:00.003+01:00

http://www.marquee-mag.com/

Well, the back cover anyway!

I'll pick up the magazine with the feature (they're part of an article called The Next Generation of Electro Pop) ASAP.

Halcali on Fujio Akatsuka tribute album

2008-08-16T09:22:00.002+01:00

Halcali will appear on a tribute album for pioneering manga artist Fujio Akatsuka. This album is being released to coincide with the 41st anniversary of the publication of his popular manga Tensai Bakabon.

Since the announcement of this album however, Akatsuka passed away earlier this month as a result of pneumonia, making the album a tribute to his life as well as his work.

Halcali will sing Sukisuki Song in a collaboration with Kaji Hideki sound-alikes Nona Reeves.

The album will be released on September 24th.

Halcali to play Kyoto Music Festival 2008

2008-08-16T02:35:00.002+01:00

Taking place in three clubs in Kyoto, the 4th Kyoto Music Festival runs for 3 days and features a raft of artists from the club music scene like Fantastic Plastic Machine, Kuchiroro, Halfby, and our very own Halcali.

All those guys have collaborated with Halcali at some point in the past, so I'm sure they'll have plenty to talk about should they bump into each other in the corridor (remember when FPM said he can't wait for Halcali to turn 20 so he could take them out for a drink? I'm really not sure about that guy)

It's great to see Halcali in the midst of so much popular talent! Tickets go on sale today (16th).

Hi-prix

2008-08-09T16:02:00.002+01:00

An anonymous poster gave me a link to this new Sony music signing, Hi-prix, a couple of female high school rappers who passed an audition and are now making hip hop flavoured pop music on the label.

Sound familiar? Well, it looks familiar too- their videos are so eerily similar to Halcali's old work that you start to wonder how the label could be so shameless. Yes, this is a label directly ripping off their own band. No one is going to claim that Halcali are the first female pop duo with hip hop leanings of course, we can go back decades and still see examples of that, but the image, the style, the promos, the dancing- it's like a bad photocopy.

Make no mistake though, Hi-prix are the Halcali that Sony wished Halcali was from the start- faceless, bland, easily marketable, and horribly, horribly safe. It's tempting to think Hi-prix is Sony taking Halcali back to the drawing board- how can we take out those interesting rough edges that having been making us much money domestically, make them more magazine and market ready?

Check out the videos for the result. The songs are utterly dire. Don't be surprised to see these girls storm the Oricon charts in the near future though. Come back Do-nuts, all is forgiven!

Girl Pop Factory 08 Setlist (with new song?)

2008-08-05T02:00:00.003+01:00

Halcali performed at the Girl Pop Factory 08 event in Tokyo last Sunday (3rd), and someone posted the set list up on the Halcali thread over at the Japanese BBS 2ch (Beware of 2ch by the way, there is a lot of very not safe for work content floating around).

Assuming this is correct (1. no source is provided 2. 2ch is a notorious troll-fest) this set was a classic, again mixing crowd pleasers with obscurer, high quality old material including my much loved 80's synth pop tribute Ni Fuku Sei from the limited edition Strawberry Chips single.

You probably couldn't help but notice a new song in the midst that isn't Zig Zag Saturday Night. As recent diary entries have hinted, they seem to be hard at work on new material and I love the idea that they're taking them out and giving them a road test in front of these types of crowds. Let's assume it's true for now- why not? The Twinkle Star rumour from ages ago turned out be to accurate at least.

ギリギリ・サーフライダー (Giri Giri Surf Rider)
二福星 (Ni Fuku Sei)
若草DANCE (Wakakusa Dance)
スタイリースタイリー(Stylee Stylee)
Long Kiss Goodbye
春狩道～19の夜～(Halcali Michi)

UPDATE:

Setlist confirmed

Halcali's Yosuke@Home collaboration

2008-08-02T04:37:00.005+01:00

Here's Tokonattsu, the b-side of Panorama, the début single from Yosuke@Home which features Halcali on the chorus.

It's a decent enough summer tune, and definitely worth a listen for Halcali fans!

Tokonattsu.mp3

Halcali in PREPRODUCTION mode!

2008-07-26T14:12:00.002+01:00

They're kinda sneaky the way they drop the smallest of hints about what they're up to here and there- usually on the last two lines of a diary entry where it's easily missed.

Source

さて明日は(日付が変わったから、もう今日かぁ。)スタジオでプリプロという作業です。素敵な曲になるように、楽しんで来まーす。

So, tomorrow (or is it already today?), we'll be doing preproduction work in the studio. I'm excited about turning out some great songs!

Yikes! New single just around the corner? Fingers are still crossed for Zig Zag Saturday Night...

Halcali on Yosuke@Home single

2008-07-26T13:56:00.004+01:00

Regularly joining Halcali on stage at gigs, Yosuke@Home has collaborated with them again, this time in the studio as Halcali sing the chorus to トコナッツ (Tokonattsu), the b-side of his single debut パノラマ (Panorama).

I'll try to get hold of the song as soon as possible, but in the meantime here's Panorama, a fairly harmless bit of karaoke-ready pop, but pleasant enough none the less. Here's hoping Halcali have kicked a bit more colour into their b-side contribution!

Happy birthday Yukari!

2008-07-18T10:54:00.001+01:00

Twenty-one today!!

Spoon Market

2008-07-14T16:19:00.003+01:00

This is a bit of minor-ish news perhaps, but it's worth a mention, not least because it has an interesting twist.

Halcali will join the line-up of the Spoon Market DU/O8S event being held at Tokyo's Daikanyama UNIT on September 21st. The twist being that this is an all girl-band event, with Nirgilis, 80 pan and Flip-Flap currently filling out the roster, although more girl bands are set to join the line-up in the near future.

To be honest, part of me wishes Halcali would stop doing these kind of play a 20 minute set at the bottom of the bill kind of gigs and get on with putting together the type of shows in Japan they recently put on in France and elsewhere. Publicity is publicity I guess, and it is good to see these kind of female dominated shows going out, but it still feels a bit limiting for them to still be playing second fiddle to the 80 pan's and Flip-Flap's of the world.

Halcali Sensation!

2008-07-08T08:57:00.002+01:00

This was way, way overdue, but finally we have a dedicated Halcali forum! It's called Halcali Sensation and is being run by BroBroBear, Doubledown11 and America's (official?!) #1 Halcali fan (and regular Day By Day commenter) Novaforever. I'll be helping out where I can with the moderation.

There will be an accompanying fansite, which I believe is set to go active July 18th.

For now though, get over there, sign up and introduce yourself!

http://www.halcalisensation.com/forum/