Kaori Oda solo + collabs (non-YK / non-Sound Horizon)

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Listening to Kaori on Spotify (The "Best-Replay" playlist; are these her best-selling tracks?) https://open.spotify.com/album/12mjJu2DTzZ3INwgdweKED?si=ph2oSAsrQkGz4F6LbCibrw and and this is my first intentional (though random jump through her discography). I have to say at least on this first concentrated listen-through she doesn't have a lot of standout artist songs, at least in my opinion. 🤔 Especially all the anisong ones with electric guitar and fast BPM.

Nothing really grabbed my attention, except one joint-composed by Haruka Shimotsuki that has her usual fantasy feel and key/mode changes, and one more in the electronic music realm ("Change") - it's is still generic, but different from the usual JPop/anisong fare. It has nice harmonies, and I wonder about the MV.

Still listening though (as I write the post).

(Additional points:)
This one is OK as a slower ballad. https://open.spotify.com/track/45Me5VgViNvXqsMiW7pcg7
This has a slight jazzy sprinkle: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mFtAXQ4KX5FQ5vUmJkFYP
This has a classic epic start. Cool track. https://open.spotify.com/track/2GAzUGy1AWoO5tL6DZT9IB

Maybe it's a mixing issue I'm experiencing but her voice feels lost/overwhelmed/misplaced at times in the music, to my ears. She needs music to be written with arrangement around her voice, not just given songs with lots of distracting instrumentation and action "energy", because that's her "vibe".

Maybe I would need to hear an entire album or EP from her earlier works, rather than this Best-Replay agglomeration. I first became a fan of her singing "Fake Wings" live in 2008 and thereafter. I really don't think JPop/anisong does her vocal style justice.
 
Last edited:
CloisteredFlame said:
Listening to Kaori on Spotify (The "Best-Replay" playlist; are these her best-selling tracks?) https://open.spotify.com/album/12mjJu2DTzZ3INwgdweKED?si=ph2oSAsrQkGz4F6LbCibrw and and this is my first intentional (though random jump through her discography). I have to say at least on this first concentrated listen-through she doesn't have a lot of standout artist songs, at least in my opinion. 🤔 Especially all the anisong ones with electric guitar and fast BPM.

Nothing really grabbed my attention, except one joint-composed by Haruka Shimotsuki that has her usual fantasy feel and key/mode changes, and one more in the electronic music realm ("Change") - it's is still generic, but different from the usual JPop/anisong fare. It has nice harmonies, and I wonder about the MV.

Still listening though (as I write the post).

(Additional points:)
This one is OK as a slower ballad. https://open.spotify.com/track/45Me5VgViNvXqsMiW7pcg7
This has a slight jazzy sprinkle: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mFtAXQ4KX5FQ5vUmJkFYP
This has a classic epic start. Cool track. https://open.spotify.com/track/2GAzUGy1AWoO5tL6DZT9IB

Maybe it's a mixing issue I'm experiencing but her voice feels lost/overwhelmed/misplaced at times in the music, to my ears. She needs music to be written with arrangement around her voice, not just given songs with lots of distracting instrumentation and action "energy", because that's her "vibe".

Maybe I would need to hear an entire album or EP from her earlier works, rather than this Best-Replay agglomeration. I first became a fan of her singing "Fake Wings" live in 2008 and thereafter. I really don't think JPop/anisong does her vocal style justice.
Click to expand...
the third one of your additional points is my absolute fav from her solo songs. Even if there are not many great songs of her, this one stays. Btw: I think i have shown you this song
 
CloisteredFlame said:
Listening to Kaori on Spotify (The "Best-Replay" playlist; are these her best-selling tracks?) https://open.spotify.com/album/12mjJu2DTzZ3INwgdweKED?si=ph2oSAsrQkGz4F6LbCibrw and and this is my first intentional (though random jump through her discography). I have to say at least on this first concentrated listen-through she doesn't have a lot of standout artist songs, at least in my opinion. 🤔 Especially all the anisong ones with electric guitar and fast BPM.

Nothing really grabbed my attention, except one joint-composed by Haruka Shimotsuki that has her usual fantasy feel and key/mode changes, and one more in the electronic music realm ("Change") - it's is still generic, but different from the usual JPop/anisong fare. It has nice harmonies, and I wonder about the MV.

Still listening though (as I write the post).

(Additional points:)
This one is OK as a slower ballad. https://open.spotify.com/track/45Me5VgViNvXqsMiW7pcg7
This has a slight jazzy sprinkle: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mFtAXQ4KX5FQ5vUmJkFYP
This has a classic epic start. Cool track. https://open.spotify.com/track/2GAzUGy1AWoO5tL6DZT9IB

Maybe it's a mixing issue I'm experiencing but her voice feels lost/overwhelmed/misplaced at times in the music, to my ears. She needs music to be written with arrangement around her voice, not just given songs with lots of distracting instrumentation and action "energy", because that's her "vibe".

Maybe I would need to hear an entire album or EP from her earlier works, rather than this Best-Replay agglomeration. I first became a fan of her singing "Fake Wings" live in 2008 and thereafter. I really don't think JPop/anisong does her vocal style justice.
Click to expand...
I forgot for both songs there is no MV: Kaori had only for the following songs MVS: 4 for Colors and Make it and 1 for Gift. Place and Flowers do not have any MVs. The MVs are for True COlors, Reverberation, Akatsuki no Butterfly, Hana wa Utsutsu ni, Futari Ayatori, Make it real, Zero Tokei, Tsuisou Kanon and Give it to you. So in 16 years she only got 9 MVs. The songs you listed which somehwo grabbed your attention were Chikai no Hanataba, the aforementioned Change which is the B-Side of Zero Tokei together with "With you" (a nice lullaby), Zero Tokei itself, suibi and savanna no hayate (sadly I have never heard her performing the last one)
 
In comparison, I immediately switched to Wakana after skipping the last Kaori track, and Wakana had some bangers! "Flag" came up first, then "Princess Mononoke", and they were good representative songs with arrangements that highlighted and supported her singing.

It sounded like Wakana the artist. Of course there were other less flattering tracks but the first two were as I said earlier.. Bangers!
 
CloisteredFlame said:
Listening to Kaori on Spotify (The "Best-Replay" playlist; are these her best-selling tracks?) https://open.spotify.com/album/12mjJu2DTzZ3INwgdweKED?si=ph2oSAsrQkGz4F6LbCibrw and and this is my first intentional (though random jump through her discography). I have to say at least on this first concentrated listen-through she doesn't have a lot of standout artist songs, at least in my opinion. 🤔 Especially all the anisong ones with electric guitar and fast BPM.

Nothing really grabbed my attention, except one joint-composed by Haruka Shimotsuki that has her usual fantasy feel and key/mode changes, and one more in the electronic music realm ("Change") - it's is still generic, but different from the usual JPop/anisong fare. It has nice harmonies, and I wonder about the MV.

Still listening though (as I write the post).

(Additional points:)
This one is OK as a slower ballad. https://open.spotify.com/track/45Me5VgViNvXqsMiW7pcg7
This has a slight jazzy sprinkle: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mFtAXQ4KX5FQ5vUmJkFYP
This has a classic epic start. Cool track. https://open.spotify.com/track/2GAzUGy1AWoO5tL6DZT9IB

Maybe it's a mixing issue I'm experiencing but her voice feels lost/overwhelmed/misplaced at times in the music, to my ears. She needs music to be written with arrangement around her voice, not just given songs with lots of distracting instrumentation and action "energy", because that's her "vibe".

Maybe I would need to hear an entire album or EP from her earlier works, rather than this Best-Replay agglomeration. I first became a fan of her singing "Fake Wings" live in 2008 and thereafter. I really don't think JPop/anisong does her vocal style justice.
Click to expand...
For Albums I would recommend Gift or Colors. I dunno about Flowers. I would not recommend Place and Make it. Colors was slightly better than those and I for myself enjoyed Addicted, Grasps and Escape. I also think that True Colors was nice, albeit a bit generic (the only difference is the pseudo-talk with her mirror self in the PV). Gift is in my opinion the best album and you got nearly everything in it. Jazzy music, ballads, some rock songs. Flowers is more jazzy and if you are fond of it, this could be your album, if not, than not. Make it has some tracks which are nice like 2 songs from Haruka but they are not that much of my tea and others like Change or TRAP which is by far my fav from the album. The first album Place has sadly nothing outstanding. the three songs that came out before are nice, but nothing more and the title song has a great beginning but is weak in the chorus.
So thats all I can say to you about the albums.
 
Birthday Live announced for 5th May 2025:

https://x.com/odakaori_0511/status/1898682239694848240

5/11復帰イベント開催
🙌
織田かおりが帰ってきますよ
🎤

Day 14時〜、Night 17:30〜
宮野弦士 @GentoMiyano さんをお迎えして2人で音楽やっちゃいます
🎵

#かおりホールディングス 会員先行（株主会員）は明日から！
※一般発売4/5(土)予定
✨
質問やリクエストも受付予定なのでまたお知らせしますね
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From: https://x.com/Odakaori_info/status/1898678901355987220
会場：ESP GROOVE LOUNGE TOKYO
 
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