Keiko's solo debut (after 2020)

ritarudandoo said:
Keiko is still the most listenable live performer between all 3 Kalafina girls. Idk if it's just me being extra sleepy but houseki is amazing imho
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I was supposed to not comment further but... Frankly, I'll take Wakana's TV live apperances for her first single/album over whatever this is.

All this talk about how amazing it is that Keiko landed a deal with Avex = lol.
 
I can't help but compare this live to any of Kaori's and well... Kaori gives a more entertaining concert experience even when she's wildly off-key. Maybe it's covid that's robbing the atmosphere. I dunno.

I'm certain she and her team can improve upon this.
 
Well then...

1.Be Yourself: Complete, utter mess. Keiko wtf?
2.始まりは: She was perfect, but the song is easy as fuark.
3.Ray: A bit shouty but, wasn't the recording like that too? Eh, other than that, she sounded good.
4. 溜め息の消える街: Pretty chill song, and I didn't really notice any problems with her singing. Looking forward to the album version~
5. 茜（新曲): Dramatic ballad. Pitchy at times, but when she wasn't she sounded pretty good.
6.宝石: It's been a while since I listened to old Houseki performances, but from what I can remember, I think she sounded better here than the previous ones.
7.風の街へ : Eh she sounds fine. Tbh, no live performance has surpassed or is as good as the original recording.
8. I Love You: Soft and lovely. No complaints here.
9.エンドロール: Crowd pleaser, I guess. Don't really like it.
10. Change The World‘s Color: Crowd pleaser deux. I really don't like it hue. Some nice head voice in the bridge tho.
11.命の花 : She was really good.
12. 七色のフィナーレ（新曲）: Eh, Keiko was a mess again, so the concert ended like it started hohoho. I'm going to wait for the recorded version to judge the song.

Band was kinda sucky. And sometimes Keiko and the band didn't really blend... not sure if it's them or the mixer. Overall, I'm glad I didn't pay for this hue. Hopefully kajiura live isn't like this.

grunty said:
All this talk about how amazing it is that Keiko landed a deal with Avex = lol.
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Maybe it's amazing if the artists wants to be mainstream as fuark.
 
Unfortunately, I feel that history will judge Kalafina to be the high point of each of these gals' careers. I think they work really well in ensembles where they're given very strictly defined roles, there's very little wiggle room, and there's a very strong taskmistress overseeing everything. But when they're singing solo and allowed to do anything they want, things start getting out of control (see Be Yourself and Kaze no Machi e for both fast/loud and soft/slow examples).

I wish someone would coach Keiko into focusing her great natural talent into a more dignified and restrained singing style. I'm not a fan of over-expression and over-emoting in singing. I think Remi and Joelle are guilty of this to some degree in their solo work too, and Barbara Streisand to me is the prime example (not to mention Joe Cocker at Woodstock).

The parts I liked best were the 2 new songs she sang early in the set (#4 & 5) that had a more sentimental sound, as well as Inochi no Hana, which I like best out of her early singles. The new YK song sounded kind of meh to OK, almost like a scrap that fell off her writing desk.

I'm also kind of surprised at how under-rehearsed it all sounded and how it wasn't properly mixed for recording or broadcast. Although that does have the benefit of allowing you hear something much closer to what the people in the hall were hearing. And I'm sure Keiko was nervous, and this was her first solo live, so I should cut her some slack.
 
grunty said:
I was supposed to not comment further but... Frankly, I'll take Wakana's TV live apperances for her first single/album over whatever this is.

All this talk about how amazing it is that Keiko landed a deal with Avex = lol.
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Oh i completely forgot about that Wakana live but it's like 1/10 chance where Wakana actually sounded good live lol meanwhile Keiko is mostly consistent and don't make want to laugh of offkeyness and/or honkyness. I mostly blame the band being lame for making the whole live experience kinda sucks because both Wakana and Hikaru have amazing band that makes their lives more enjoyable (Hikaru's band is even better than FBM imo). Add the fact that as a whole the setlist is also very mellow and not really exciting. Keiko should've performed te to te to me to me :/

Btw the horrible mixing I think is kinda standard for a live on a venue like that. The audio quality is kinda like some other live streaming I've watched before.
 
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I can understand Joelle since self-expression is kind of the main thing in jazz which she has done a lot of. Remi on the other hand is very restrained and focused on technique when it comes to singing so I fail to see how one could think of her as over-expressive.
 
Taldor said:
I can understand Joelle since self-expression is kind of the main thing in jazz which she has done a lot of. Remi on the other hand is very restrained and focused on technique when it comes to singing so I fail to see how one could think of her as over-expressive.
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Oh totally, but I wouldn't really consider anything she's done as "over-expressive/emotive". Agree on Remi.
 
Lorde-Kowz said:
I'm very curious about what you mean by this. Care to give some examples?
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I just spent some time revisiting some Remi and Joelle videos on YouTube. And I take back what I said about them. I was mixing up 2 totally different things. Keiko is being over-expressive with pop music that would be better with more restraint (or improved control and judgment), but Remi and Joelle are singing more delicate styles of music that require different kinds of singing.
 
Nightmare said:
I can't believe no one mentions Hikaru when talking about over-expression/emoting :XD:
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But with Hikaru the over-expression/emoting only shows in her facial expressions, while I believe Terry Tsurugi was talking about expression/emoting in singing and how it affects their voices. Agree on that point though because when Keiko found that "right" level of emoting and restraining she always sounded great.

Btw I've watched the whole live. Liked it just fine. Houseki is indeed amazing. Looking forward to Tameiki no Kieru Machi (this got a big yes from me) and Akane album version. Also Ray has grown on me a lot, I had the chorus stuck on my head this whole day. Also Keiko your band sux just use karaoke next time because I don't like the muted bgm on almost every songs.
 
ritarudandoo said:
But with Hikaru the over-expression/emoting only shows in her facial expressions, while I believe Terry Tsurugi was talking about expression/emoting in singing and how it affects their voices. Agree on that point though because when Keiko found that "right" level of emoting and restraining she always sounded great.
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Doesn't she overexpress too in singing? I always thought she stopping her long notes just to overemote or smth (Annoying for me). I think it's kinda minimal on studio version but it shows during their lives. Let's sayyy neverending, destination unknown, aria, sprinter to the point I can only hear airy voice. Tho I could be wrong lol

Lol I can almost feel our monthly cpm rant by our queen now I'm excited :ohoho:
 
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