Utada Hikaru's latest album Ultra Blue was one of the biggest sellers this year in Japan, and with good reason; three of its songs are in my top 15 of the year. The first is "Keep Tryin'", a great feel good song that is fun to sing along with, or just hum if you can't speak Japanese. Utada is definitely capable of breaking the western market, she just needs a song that isn't "Easy Breezy".
This was my #11 of 2005, but it does well this year too because it's such a beautifully crafted ballad that will never get old. It's my understanding that the song is about someone who just can't get over it that a certain relationship has come to an end, and she woefully begs for that painful situation to "be my last".
Another oldie, this song was released in 2004, it was my #2 of 2005, and now my #13 of 2006. Ayumi's best song, this breathtaking ballad remains one of my favorite songs ever, and I doubt she'll ever top it.
"Planetarium" was #9 last year, but also made enough waves this year to make the top 20 again. This is Ai Otsuka's best song, a heartwrenching ballad about the sky that never changes, unlike the world around us. Ai makes a wide variety of music, using a chipmunk-like voice for her happy songs and a more delicate vocal for ballads such as these. Truly a remarkable artist.
As I mentioned earlier, this year's main discovery for me was Tiziano Ferro. It all started with this song, an unofficial cover of Kelly Osbourne's "One Word". "Stop! Dimentica" was a huge hit in Italy, and deservedly so. A very cool song, although it's probably a bit higher than it should be because I played the entire album so often.