Contents
1. Amazing Grace (live)
2. cocoro ~demo version~
3. Futa Koba Rakuda
4. Chouwa Oto ~a capella~
5. Tsukimi (radio cut)
6. Dandelion (PV version)
7. Kotou (radio cut)
8. Remember the kiss ~extended world version~ (live)
9. Les couleurs de Paris (live)
10. ROMU no Aoi Hibiki
11. EVE
12. Wasurena Gusa’s song ~compilation~
13. Bombom!! Doraibu de kimeyou
14. Sparkling Christmas
15. Mou Aisenai
16. g o e s o n f o r e v e r
17. why do I sing
Yes, I can hear you thinking right now: “what is this? KOKIA has never produced an album called ’A Vein of Gold’!” True. It was me. Or at least, I created a playlist and a cover for this imaginary album, which contains rare songs of KOKIA – either live versions or songs she’s only sung in radio shows or lives. It’s my personal choice, please keep that in mind while reading this review.
Amazing Grace is quite a known song of course. KOKIA sings it live, and in English, so no translation whatsoever. She sings it with a lot of feelings put in it, and especially in the beginning, her voice is really tender. But as the strength of the lyrics climbs, her voice gets more powerful as well. She really goes with the song, and it’s a beautiful result.
Next, there’s the demo version of cocoro, as used in the radio show KOKIkyoku. It was used to promote the album Aigakikoeru, which has the final version of this song. I personally like this demo version a lot, because it has a rather dreamy atmosphere (without getting as creepy as Princess EHIME). It sounds as if there’s a sea in the background sometimes, really relaxing.
Futa Koba Rakuda goes into the same category as Pinku no zou to me, maybe because they both deal with exotic animals: in this case, a camel. They’re not really much alike, really. This is a merry, cute song with a nice beat to it. It’s pretty short when you know KOKIA, only three minutes.
Chouwa Oto ~a capella~ is… wow. It’s a short version of the full version of Chouwa~Oto~: no numbers are called, and she only sings ‘rurekuteshieka (…) nirimonoko’ twice before the song ends. But her voice is as powerful as with the full instrumental version, and really sweeps you off your feet.
The next song is a radio cut, and unfortunately, it’s interrupted by KOKIA’s talking half way. Tsukimi sounds rather traditional, especially in the beginning, enka style. But the bridge is surprisingly happy, making it a nice varied piece.
Dandelion has a different version in the Promotion Video, PV in short. In this, KOKIA is solely accompanied by percussion. You should actually see the video, so that you can how she gets into the song and gets really energetic near the end. Her voice is really pure in this, almost a capella, version of the song. She can show her talent in this, because the song has several long tones she sings completely, and really well too.
Kotou is another radio cut. It’s a slower song, with a bit of similarities with songs as I believe ~Umi no soko kara~. Her voice ‘trembles’ in the refrain, which gives it a rather oriental feeling. I really like the refrain because of it. The ending is very sudden, followed by soft piano tones to end it completely.
Next is a live recording of Remember the kiss ~world edition~. The English lyrics, but in the end, she stuffs in two extra Japanese lines: ”uta wo utau, dare ka wo tame ni”. She gives the audience a hand in singing along, by saying the words before she actually sings them. In the end, the audience starts clapping, but she isn’t done yet and hushes them up to sing ‘Remember the kiss’ one more time. Very cute. The entire recording is almost ten minutes, but definitely worth it, like all KOKIA’s lives.
Les couleurs de Paris is also a live, and a recording of KOKIA’s only French song up to date. And she’s pretty good! No need for her to apologize for her pronounciation, as she does in the beginning. The funny, ‘hurried’ piano tones from the beginning are constantly repeated, and add to the atmosphere which I, a Dutchie, would describe as ‘French’ indeed. It’s a very nice song, easy to listen to.
The next song isn’t really my favourite: ROMU no aoi hibiki. This is due to the constantly repeated ’soli-lo-li-lo’, which eventually got on my nerves. A bit more variation in lyrics would have cleared that up. But the song is still pretty, due to the anthem singing. There are no instruments, only in the middle of the song, when a specific instrument plays a solo. I have no idea what it is; maybe a bassoon, but that’s a wild guess. It gives the song a special atmosphere.
Next is a wonderful Christmas song: EVE. But really, if it hadn’t have been for the christmas bells, you wouldn’t have been able to say it’s a Christmas song. It feels a bit like time to say goodbye in the beginning, slow and with feeling. The refrain gave me shivers. It’s a wonderful, beautiful song in my opinion.
Then, we have something special. In her radio show KOKIkyoku, KOKIA has lyrics by Wasurena Gusa (I think it’s a username of someone, since it’d translate as ‘forget-me-not’, the flower). She then shows how differently one can sing the same lyrics, and accompanied by piano, she plays a ’sad’ version, a ‘joyful’ version and a ‘rhythmical’ version. It’s really funny to hear three entirely different versions of the same lyrics, so I therefore included them.
Bombom!! Doraibu de kimeyou is a song specially made for people who bought Toyota cars, I believe. The single is called ‘Smile & Heart’. The song only reaches the really merry level suggested by the title in the refrain, although it’s a pretty upbeat song to begin with. I’d consider it a ‘feel good’ song.
Sparkling Christmas was on the same single as EVE, but has a completely different atmosphere. This is most certainly a Christmas song, but I found it too funny to exclude it. It’s only just under two minutes, but it has a lot of joy in it, even though it isn’t extremely hyper active.
The next track is Mou Aisenai, which was the B-side of the Ningen tte sonna mono ne single. Not really rare, but it’s so beautiful… I find it a rather odd track next to Ningen tte sonna mono ne, which is about forgiving, while Mou Aisenai means ‘I can’t let you love me again’. And it sounds like that. It’s a really soft song, that gives off the melancholic feeling of ‘I want to be with you, but we can’t be together’ or something among those lines. KOKIA sings it with a lot of feelings in her voice, very frail. It really gets to me.
G o e s o n f o r e v e r is a single project together with ЯK STANDARD. I thought it’d fit, since I truly hope KOKIA’s music will go on forever. That aside, it’s a catchy song from KOKIA’s earlier years and certainly worth listening to. It’s a bit faster than the previous track, with more instruments and a faster tempo rate. The refrain is pretty high, but not painful for the ears.
The last one is a track from her album Aigakikoeru, so not exactly ‘rare’. Yet, I thought it’d be nice to conclude this ‘album’ with why do I sing. KOKIA wonders why she’s been gifted with her voice, and she eventually concludes in this English song that she sings to ’spread the message of love’. Her voice is very clear in this slow, but sweet song. There are only a piano and a violin used as instruments together with KOKIA’s voice. It has a classical feeling to it.
Well, with this, I conclude my review of the songs I picked out. I hope you agree with me that there are quite some KOKIA songs that are like veins of gold, hidden in mountains but real treasures. Spread the love that is KOKIA!
