[WORLD GROOVE] Listening to Dakota Star - “Dakota Star”

August 29, 2007 by Dennis Amith · 1 Comment

BAND: Dakota Star / ALBUM: Dakota Star / CATALOG #: NFCT-27029 / DURATION: 57:14

LABEL: Avex Entertainment, Inc. / Website: http://www.dakotastar.net

T-13
Never Fall from Grace (album version)
Together Alone (album version)
So Real So Numb
Love Won’t Stand Still
I’ll Be There for You
Go (original mix)
Crash -instrumental-
Tremolo
Touch What’s Real
L.A.
Dessert Boots -instrumental
Stay featuring Glen Scott

bonus tracks

What to Believe (album version)
Soul Surfer (album version)

CD CONTENT:

MPEG videos of the actual promotional videos for “I’ll Be There for You” and “Stay featuring Glen Scott”.

The first full length self-titled album from Japan-based Dakota Star has been out and with their music creating interest in music listeners for their song “Break Down” (used on the PlayStation 2 video game “Gran Turismo 4″) but what is interesting about this band is that despite being based in Japan and part of the Avex Entertainment Inc. label, their music is very Western and sung completely in English.

Dakota Star consists of Alan Brey (bass and guitar), Chiaki (vocalist) and Tasuku (guitars). The band got its name from the state South Dakota where Chiaki studied English and with so many bands in Japan going the all-English route, I can safely say that “Dakota Star” is a band that does it right.

That is, you can understand what the vocalist is singing and very good pronunciation for the English words in the lyrics.

As for the music of “Dakota Star”, the music on the album is mainly rock. And if you were to ask how their music is like? That’s a tough one because listening to the music, the first impression was… hmm…similar to a Sheryl Crow, Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson with less angst.

Listening to the music of “Dakota Star”, the truth is that the music is a Western feel but the band is in Japan. The music is rock with melodic guitars but you sometimes get the record DJ scratching that I often felt was out of place, especially on the song “Never Fall from Grace”.

But the music of “Dakota Star” is not all rock because then you will encounter songs such as “Go” that throws in electronic beats and all of a sudden you get the Madonna (the current music from Madonna) type of feeling and then there are songs such as “L.A.” which incorporates a contemporary beat with buzzing electric guitars. And that’s not all, the instrumental track such as “Desert Boots” gets very electronic and you start to realize that perhaps Dakota Star is not a group that one can pigeon hole as an all-out rock band. Perhaps they embrace experimentation of their music and for me, I enjoy bands that can attempt such things on their album.

If one is truly more into their rock music, fortunately, the majority of the tracks are rock-based and the majority of the songs are sung by Chiaki but there is a track which are sung by Alan Frey or a combination of both Chiaki and Alan on vocals.

The album is packed with 15 tracks (two which are bonus tracks) and after giving both this album and their CD single “together alone” a chance, I actually enjoy it.

Unlike current Avex album releases which may have an accompanying DVD, for this album, their is a CD-EXTRA which features two mpeg videos of the actual promotional videos for “together alone” and “Stay” .

The CD insert features the lyrics (the English lyrics to the left and the Japanese lyrics to the right) while the CD booklet is yellow and Dakota Star is imprinted on the actual CD case.

I actually enjoyed the band’s first full-length album. I also enjoy that fact that for being a group that features a Western style of sound and songs that are mostly in English, it is good to see that it’s done well.

Now, whether or not Japanese music fans (outside of Japan) have interest in a Japanese band that sings in English, it’s a no-brainer that groups such as Cibo Matto, Shonen Knife and a few others have done quite well and have its good share of American fans. But with those bands, they target a certain niche demographic of people who enjoy Shibuya-Kei to a very Japanese style of rock music.

Dakota Star sounds very Western for a Japanese band and it’s really difficult for me to ascertain if music listeners in the US would appreciate that. The same situation with another popular band in Japan that sings both in English and Japanese but with their English songs with a North American feel to it is MONKEY MAJIK.

But from what I listened to, I have to say that Dakota Star is among one of top bands from Japan that sings all English. The music is well done, Chiaki’s English vocals are well pronounced and the album is jam-packed with a good variety of music and the CD+EXTRA. Unfortunately, the song “Break Down” (from “Gran Turismo 4″) is not on this album.

So, if you want to try something new, you may discover that Dakota Star is a band that may be to your liking.