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发表于 2005-5-23 11:06:36
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<TABLE height=1667 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=706 border=0><TR><TD width=704 background=body2.gif colSpan=2><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center><img src="http://www.projectj.net/chara/chara1.jpg">Before the <B><a href="http://www.projectj.net/shena.htm" target="_blank" >Shiina</A></B>s, the <B><a href="http://www.projectj.net/cocco.htm" target="_blank" >Cocco</A></B>s and the <B><a href="http://www.projectj.net/bonnie.htm" target="_blank" >Bonnie</A></B>s, a sweet whispering voice was furthering music and breaking clichйs in Japan. If you are a fan of any of the abovementioned composers/vocalists, realizing for yourself how she has heavily influenced most independent and multi-talented female artists of the nineties and new millennium should be your next priority. Yet, <B>Chara</B> is a name that comes up so often when talking about good music coming from the East that you may already be familiar with her eclectic style and uplifting personality.</P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center>The best part of it all is that instead of taking her turn in the limelight to then concentrate on raising a family and nurturing her private life, her marriage and child-bearing has but strengthen her will to make music. Twelve years after her official debut and countless years after the beginning of her musical journey, <B>Chara</B>'s passion for music has never dimmed and her fans return the favour by never getting over how amazing this artist is.</P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center> </P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center><img src="http://www.projectj.net/chara/chara2.jpg">A first glance, <B>Chara</B> may appear odd-looking and odd-sounding but the incredible charisma this artist exudes on camera, in her music and most likely in person, slowly shifts the oddness into beauty the more you see and hear her perform her emotional pieces. As always, genres fail to help in the description of this artist's music because of the diversity involved. She doesn't usually go from one extreme to the other in minutes, normally sticking to comforting and heartening music, but always experiments with new sounds and approaches. </P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center> There is nothing quite like <B>Chara</B>'s voice: Soft as a child's but so sincere, no one could ever believe she is pretending to be someone else and that its cuteness is staged. The love and compassion emitted by that said voice can make you hope, dream, cry... but after the final word has been uttered, there's always this "feel good" emotion present. </P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center><B>Chara</B> sings like an angel and also dances like a one. Her songs being the essence of her life, she can get very emotional singing them. Also, as distinctive as her voice may be, she sees herself as a musician first and foremost. It is very hard to separately evaluate the music and vocals in her songs because of how they harmoniously converge into a whole. Among her credited instruments are the piano, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, tambourine and all sorts of little personal touches to add depth to her songs. It is those little details, blatant effort and sweet emotions that put <B>Chara</B> in a league of her own.</P><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center> </P><DIV align=center><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px"><img src="http://www.projectj.net/chara/chara3.jpg"><B>Chara</B> started to show interest for music at age four, begging her parents to take piano lessons. At elementary school, she had already composed two songs and was an excellent pianist. At fourteen years old, she formed her own band and, after going solo realizing she could do most of the work herself, scored a record deal with Sony music in the year 1990. </P></DIV><DIV align=center><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px">A major turning point in her career was the movie Swallowtail Butterfly produced in 1996 by internationally acclaimed director Iwai Shunji, in which she starred as an optimistic prostitute in a shanty-town. Singing her message of hope in this grim setting gave a shot of positive energy to an entire generation. The world of cinema also gave <B>Chara</B> the love of her live. She married the king of underground movies, actor Tadanobu Asano, in 1994, whom she met during the filming of PiCNiC, another movie she participated in. They now have two children, Sumire and Himi, and live a relatively private life together. </P></DIV><DIV align=center><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px">For a long time <B>Chara </B>seemed to have disappeared or at least secluded herself away from the spotlight. Fans were fearing the worst until a reassuring compilation surfaced. Thankfully, it is not the kind of mix album that any record company can produce without the artist present. <B>Chara</B> is said to have overlooked every remix and has re-recorded all the tracks as if doing covers of her own songs. The end result are songs that ring a bell but are completely different. </P></DIV><P 60px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 30px" align=center> </P></TD></TR><CENTER><TR><TD vAlign=top width=362 background=body2.gif><BLOCKQUOTE><P 55px" align=center><FONT size=+1>Favourite Album:</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE><P 55px" align=center><b><U>Strange Fruits</U></b></P><P 55px" align=center><a href="http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=ESCB-1960" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.projectj.net/chara/albums/strange.jpg"></A></P><P 55px" align=center>With songs like 70% -- Yuugure no Uta and Hikari to Watashi, you cannot go wrong with <U>Strange Fruits</U>. Another sure shot is <U>Junior Sweet</U> and <U>Madrigal</U>, in which participated Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha. Not to forget her latest album, <U>Yoake Mae</U>. Come to think of it, they're <I>all </I>superb works. Draw a name out of a hat.</P></TD><TD vAlign=top width=340 background=faq/faqbody2b.gif><BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><P align=left><FONT size=+1>Favourite Songs:</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE><OL><LI><P align=left><a href="ftp://209.242.56.133/chara%20-%2070%25%20--%20Yuugure%20no%20Uta.mp3" target="_blank" >70% -- Yuugure no Uta</A> </P><LI><P align=left>Swallowtail Butterfly </P><LI><P align=left>Kawaii Hito to Iwaretai </P><LI><P align=left>Yasashii Kimochi </P><LI><P align=left>Hikari to Watashi </P><LI><P align=left>Hatsukoi </P><LI><P align=left>Mieru wa </P><LI><P align=left>Lemon Candy </P><LI><P align=left>Taisetsu wo Kizuku Mono </P><LI><P 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px" align=left>Break These Chains </P></LI></OL></BLOCKQUOTE><CENTER></CENTER><P 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px" align=center><B>Why 70% -- Yuugure no Uta?</B> <CENTER><P 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 20px" align=center> <P 0px 30px 0px 10px" align=center>It sounds a bit weird at first, but the chorus is <B>Chara</B> at her best. Her vocals in this song communicate a powerful nostalgic feeling I just can't get over. Even if it was not made in conjunction with her movie Swallowtail Butterfly, I can definitely picture her singing this song in a junkyard, longing for better days yet hanging on to her joie de vivre.</P></CENTER></TD></TR></CENTER></TABLE> |
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发表于 2005-5-23 09:58:34
发表于 2005-5-23 10:04:37
发表于 2005-5-23 13:20:20