Ongaku Cafe (The 2000s): moumoon – moumoon (November 2008)

The first album from moumoon is fantastic and for those who have been curious about their music will definitely want to pick this album up.   Just make sure you get the CD+DVD version because the DVD comes with the music videos and content that is worth watching.  Highly recommended!

GROUP: moumoon

ALBUM: moumoon

LABEL: avex trax

CATALOG #: AVCD-23681/B

DURATION: 1:05:40

RELEASE DATE: November 12, 2008

Reviewed back in November 2008

In 2004, singer/songwriter YUKA and musician/composer Kousuke Masaki were introduced by a mutual friend.    Eventually, the two appreciated each other’s music and in 2005, the two would form the rock unit, moumoon.

The group based their name from the French world “mou” and the English word “moon” which literally translates to “soft moon”.  Two words that would describe the two individuals of the group.

YUKA who was born on Dec. 3, 1985 in Tokyo is a big fan of Michelle Branch and Des’ree. Although, known for her vocals, YUKA is actually an accomplished violinist and played for an orchestra.  She learned English while living in America where she lived in Michigan and Illinois.  Kousuke Masaki was born on June 22nd, 1977 in the Ishikawa Prefecture and is a big fan of The Neptunes and Alanis Morissette.  Kousuke is an accomplished musician who grew up learning the piano and at the age of 13, learned to play guitar and at 15, started playing the synthesizer.

The group has managed to capture my attention with their Japanese and English releases and have felt that this band has a good presence to perform outside of Japan based on the releases and live work they have done thus far.  In Nov. 2008, the duo released their first self-titled, full-length album with lyrics written by YUKA and music by K. Masaki.

The album kicks off with the duo’s first single “Do you remember?”. A song that I just absolutely loved when it was first released and whether in Japanese or in English, the song features a wonderful, whimsical melody and beautiful vocals.

The second track “don’t wanna be” is a mid-tempo rock track that has a pretty cool chorus.  The song revolves around not wanting to be part of a group…not wanting to be ordinary, preppy or the smartest one.

The third track “PINKY RING” is a beautiful rock ballad and features a hybrid Japanese and English track and is a song about after a breakup and how a relationship could have gone strong but it’s too late.

The fourth track “more than love” is the third single from moumoon.  A more pop-driven ballad but another wonderful track that I have listened to over and over because it’s so beautiful.  Great vocals from YUKA!

The fifth track “Philia”.  In this song, YUKA writes about a friend she met in 1985 named Philia who told her to stand up to the crazy world and how that voice and those words stayed with her since.

The sixth track “Ai no Oto” (sound of love) is a slow, piano-driven ballad that is gentle and beautiful.  The lyrics are well-written and poetic.  A song about not being with the person you once loved during the Winter.

The seventh track “3 days magic” is a more pop driven track and is another hybrid Japanese and English track.  Featuring more English lyrics and an experimental track as it’s more synth-based and a touch of vocoder for YUKA’s vocals.

The eighth track “Myself” is a slow, acoustic guitar driven ballad.  Nearly an all English track, a track that showcases the band’s ability to play English tracks (and it helps that YUKA is quite perfect with her pronunciations), so the song comes along quite well and a more positive track about wanting to be a better person.

The ninth track “Cinderella” is an upbeat track with a nice touch of strings to the background.  The tenth track “Stars are bright” is a happy, acoustic guitar track driven, pop track.  The eleventh track “Sunrise” features an elegant mid-tempo pop track with a good touch of piano and strings in the background.

The 12th track “SWEET HEART ~acoustic ver.~ is a hybrid English/Japanese track that is just awesome.  The original song was from their 2007 Indies release but it was great to hear an acoustic version of the song included on this album.

The 13th track “Tiny Star” is the duo’s second single.  Their second CD single “Tiny Star” features a mid-tempo rock ballad that really reminded me of music by SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER.  YUKA has beautiful, sweet vocals and I was very impressed with her vocals.  I was immediately won over by the unique balance with her vocals and the acoustic guitar and as it transitions to a rock ballad.  Well done!

The 14th and final track is “Forever” and is a rock track.  A pretty cool track and how YUKA is able to hum along to the song ala “Cranberries” style.  But a pretty solid track on the album.

As for the DVD portion of the album, the DVD kicks off with an intro from both members of moumoon who provide insight on the making of each video featured on the DVD.

The first music video featured is “Sweet Heart”which was the duo’s first music video before they were signed with Avex and features two mannequins in front of a store which become real and showcase the duo performing in front of a shop window.  The video is directed by Yusuke Tanaka.

The second music video “Do you remember?” and utilizes stop motion when showcasing YUKA and Kousuke Masaki but also showcasing an artistic sense with the animation portion of the video.  The music video is directed by Ryosuke Yamaguchi of (Lyric-GL) and Naoya Miyazaki (of aterlier mo) and features motion graphics by Unno Yuuki.

The third music is for “Tiny Star”.  But the music video features the a woman who is moving out of her apartment (or dorm) and remembers the good times she shared with her friends and discovers a photo of her and her friends together and starts tearing.  Meanwhile, during the moumoon portions of the music video, we see the two going through the room and performing.  The video is directed by Daisuke Shimada.

The fourth music video is for “more than love”.  A pretty cool video as moumoon are performing inside a house and we see a girl at a hospital looking at a person she loves who seems to have gotten hurt and is injured and she waits by his side.   Then you see clips of the girlfriend and her boyfriend in the past as he is recording video of her and the girl carries his video camera and realizing how much she loves him.  The video is directed by Daisuke Shimada (of Qotori film) and is the deepest music video for the duo yet.

The final clip titled “A Documentary Film ‘[Tiny Star] beside FULLMOON’ Part 2” features the duo and musicians recording in the studio and behind-the-scenes footage of them rehearsing for their live concert and clips of the duo performing live in concert.

As for the CD insert, the booklet contains the lyrics and production credits.  Also, photos of the duo.  Also include is a promotional flier promoting their first concert tour and their upcoming single “Evergreen”.