More Info on TOKYO CONNECTION w/ CD Jacket

Some more info on this release that I was able to piece together:

Roman Hikou” features YOUR SONG IS GOOD as the backing band. YOUR SONG’s original vocalist was a rapper and they have worked with the girls a few times before, including “Fes de Uissu!” from “Cyborg Oretachi”, and the remix of “BABY BLUE! -BABY BLUE IS GOOD-” found on “HALCALIMIX”.

Girl!Girl!Girl!” is produced by Takeshi Nakatsuka with lyrics by Nomiya Maki. Takeshi Nakatsuka is a veteran to the music producing scene, having written countless songs for tons of artists and commercials. Nomiya Maki was the vocalist of the history-making band PIZZICATO FIVE. Read more about them on their wiki

Giri Choco” was written and produced by HALCALI & Yosuke@HOME. Yosuke@HOME has worked and collaborated with HALCALI numerous times and has accompanied HALCALI to many cities throughout Japan as a band member, and even played as a special collab guest at their Valentine’s Day live in 2009. HALCALI were also featured on Yosuke@HOME’s song, “Toko Nuts”, as backing vocals.
“Giri Choco” is the Valentine’s Day song that the three of them played in 2008 & 2009 at the Secret Valentine’s Day Live.

SUPERSTITIONS” is produced by Yusuke Tanaka, a veteran producer for artists like Ikimono-gakari, Koda Kumi, Nakashima Mika, MEG, YUKI and more. He is also of “LOOK” and “Tip Taps Tip” fame. The lyrics are by Ishiwatari Junji, who is a former member of SUPERCAR, one of Japan’s most critically acclaimed rock bands. He also worked with the girls on the “Ongaku no Susume” track “OBOROGE COPY VIEW”.

Hey My Melody” is produced by Nakamura Hiroshi (i-dep), who also worked with the girls on “halcali’n’bass” , “pisudori” , “check!! check!! it!!” , “Sister Ship” and “clutch”. YUCALI also described the song as being “quite possibly HALCALI’s most chill song to date!”
And judging from YUCALI’s tweets, the lyrics are written by the girls.

Strawberry Chips (Sweet Blue Beat ver.)” is described as a self-cover and… sadly, that’s all we know at this point. Really looking forward to this one. 99% chance of rerecorded vocals since it’s described as a self-cover.

Marching March (80kidz Remix)” will be used as the CM song for the upcoming release of Nissan Motors’ new line of “MARCH” automobiles. HALCA & YUCALI also do the narration in the CM as well. It is currently running on TV, and many fans have been responding positively to it on HALCALI’s ameblog. source, natalie.
80kidz have made a big name for themselves in the past 2 years or so, and have already paved the way for themselves as electrorock veterans in the Japanese scene.

And YUCALI tweeted the CD Jacket for “TOKYO CONNECTIONhere.

What are your thoughts on everything?

New Mini-Album, TOKYO CONNECTION w/ tracklist

As confirmed by HALCALI’s official site just a bit ago, TOKYO CONNECTION is a go!! It is a Valentine’s Day concept mini-album.
Here’s a translation from the post:
—————————————
The new mini-album “TOKYO CONNECTION” will be released as the sequel to “TOKYO GROOVE”.
Check out these wonderful artists collaborating to create that HALCALI style of TOKYO POP!

【Album Info】
2011.2.09 Release !!
HALCALI new mini album 『TOKYO CONNECTION』
ESCL-3567/¥1,835(tax in)


01.浪漫飛行/YOUR SONG IS GOOD参加 | (Roman Hikou)
02.Girl!Girl!Girl!/ Produced by Takeshi Nakatsuka/ Lyrics by 野宮真貴 | (Maki Nomiya)
03.ギリチョコ/ Produced by ヨースケ@HOME&HALCALI | (GIRI CHOCO / Produced by Yosuke@HOME & HALCALI)
04.SUPERSTITIONS/ Produced by Yusuke Tanaka/Lyrics by いしわたり淳治 | (Ishiwatari Junji)
05.Hey My Melody/Produced by ナカムラヒロシ(i-dep) | (Nakamura Hiroshi)
06.ストロベリーチップス(Sweet Blue Beat ver.)/あの人気ナンバーのセルフカバー! | (Strawberry Chips / A self-cover of that hit song)
07.マーチングマーチ(80KIDZ Remix) | (Marching March)
—————————————

“Giri Choco” is a song which they’ve played twice (to my knowledge), only at their secret valentine’s day lives. Many Japanese fans have been awaiting this release because of its sweet melody and relatable lyrics about Valentine’s Day and the initial feelings of falling in love. I had the pleasure of hearing it live in 2009, and it is acoustic hip-hop fabulous.

“Hey My Melody” is very likely the song YUCALI tweeted about and posted about by me here.

The new “Strawberry Chips” track sounds like they rerecorded it, which is quite exciting.

And I’m very excited about “Marching March”‘s remix by 80kidz. If you haven’t heard any of their stuff, check em out. They’re kinda Daft Punk-esque.

Looking like a pretty solid release to me (I’ll be honest, I was a bit worried early on…) at a very fair price. Looks like Epic Records is moving these girls in a better direction since last year’s big success of Boogie Back and the success of TOKYO GROOVE.
So, what are your opinions?

Edit// January 02 – So, a TBA titled CD of HALCALI’s at amazon shows this picture. Could this possibly be the cover of TOKYO CONNECTION?

Merry Christmas☆ & a Happy New… ALBUM?

A belated Merry Christmas to all HALCALI SENSATION followers and HALCALI fans!
Thank you for supporting us; we had a great year in HALCALI news.
Please look forward to our posts next year and HALCALI’s activities, as well.

Here’s a tidbit of HALCALI rumors going around on the 2ch forums.
HALCA will become a regular on Shin Domoto Kyoudai alongside YUCALI, who has been a regular for about 4 years. source

Also, there are seedlings of a new release on February 9th. A new album titled, TOKYO CONNECTION. source, oricon Judging from the price of ¥1,835 it will be a mini-album. Two songs have already been announced: 浪漫飛行 (Roman Hikou) and the elusive gem “Girl! Girl! Girl!” from three years ago as download only for a limited time. The lyrics were written by Maki Nomiya, the former vocalist of Pizzicato Five, and a true pioneer of the 90s Shibuya-kei movement. The track was also produced by Takeshi Nakatsuka, who has written songs for SMAP, Sakamoto Maaya, SAWA among others.

We’ll keep you informed. In the meantime, let’s keep our winter filled HALCALI!

“Boy Meat Girl” Full PV Out

Maybe their next album could be a two disc set with original material and collaboration songs.

Preview of “Boy Meat Girl”

A preview of the PV for Boy Meat Girl has appeared on Youtube.

And the girls are looking mighty fine. And the dance is looking pretty cute, too.
And the song is growing on me. How about the rest of you?