YUI

I was listening to some online radio last night and they were spinning stuff off anime soundtracks. Apparently, BLEACH (anime + manga that involves lots of brawls and supernatural nastiness) has a new theme by this girl YUI. Listened to said theme song and I was like, "Hey, her style is much like Michelle Branch."

I was interested...






I then went about and grabbed more of her stuff off a few mp3 rotation sites and I've decided that I really like her music. Some of her stuff are very indie while others are heavily philosophical. Those of her stuff are reflections on where she has been and what she has experienced.

Then she has her typical manufactured (read as forced~) poppy and catchy stuff.








... and have I mentioned that she is rather pretty?

She has that sleepy~eyed~girl look that is just so cute. She has that tidak apa attitude that typifies low maintenance females. It helps too that she is a natural beauty. Can't really identify her with cosmetics and beauty regimes.






sigh...

I've seen a few of her live performance vids and her personality comes across as rather shy. She even fell asleep while they were interviewing other artistes ahead of her. Why? I'd like to speculate that she doesn't sleep much 'cause of the effort she puts into her music.






Who am I to complain if she is cute and that she can sing?

“Although I’m perplexed, I would like to move forward…”

So... Who is YUI?

an excerpt from wikipedia - YUI.

"YUI is a Japanese J-Pop artist, born March 26, 1987 in Fukuoka, Japan. She sings and plays acoustic guitar, and writes her own songs. She is still relatively unknown outside of Japan, but her song "LIFE", from her single by the same name, was the 5th ending theme for BLEACH, a popular Japanese anime series, which has brought her some international fame.

Her first full album, From Me To You, was released February 22, 2006, to great acclaim. Among it's 13 tracks, 9 of them were brand new, and these have been well received from her fans. The album has already sold quite well, reaching as high as the weekly 9th most sold album in Japan, and the main track, TOKYO, has reached the number 4 spot on the MTV Japan song charts. She is currently on a nationwide Japanese tour for the album From Me To You.

YUI began writing poems already in ninth grade. At an age of 16, by recommendation of a friend, she began studying song, songwriting, and guitar at a private music school in her native Fukuoka. Aspiring to become professional, she carried her guitar around and sang at local places such as the seashore of Shingu and in the middle of the rice fields of Kaminofu.

In March 2003, at an audition hosted by Sony Music Japan, all judges evaluated her with the highest score, which caused a fierce scramble among labels. At this audition, she sang three songs - her first song Why Me, which was later coupled with her debut single, as well as It's happy line and I know, which was included on her indie single - as opposed to the audition rule that a participant could only sing two songs. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she strummed her guitar and sang. The judges and the others present claimed that "the performance created a tremendous aura from her heavenly voice, and captured the hearts of the whole audience".

Upon leaving her home of Fukuoka for Tokyo, YUI wrote the song feel my soul. She was planning release on an indie label as a tribute to her hometown, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer, Mr. Yamaguchi, who happened to see the demo video clip. He claimed YUI's voice haunted him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio himself. He even made his channel's prime-time drama an extraordinary tie-in with YUI's debut track.

Although she is not the most comfortable when it comes to talking to people, she enjoys communicating with her audience at street performances in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka.

YUI will soon be honing her acting and singing skills in a new movie that will be released in April called Taiyo no Uta (Sun's Song)."





Discography

Albums
From Me To You (February 22, 2006)

Singles
"It's Happy Line" (Independent, released December 24, 2004)
"feel my soul" (Released February 23, 2005)
"Tomorrow's Way" (Released June 22, 2005)
"LIFE" (Released November 9, 2005)
"TOKYO" (Released January 18, 2006)