Tonight listening comes in the form of smooth jazz. Okay, to be honest, I’m not sure if I can label this artist as smooth jazz. You see, there are some songs that tend to have a…weird kind of composition (you’ll see that after the jump). Regardless, Toki Asako is something rare from the Land of the Rising Sun, home of ear piercing-pop music and candy-colored everything. Last semester, my playlist grew to include j-pop music, but down the line I wanted to add something more than just pop. Several weeks ago, I was introduced to Asako’s music (thanks sis!) and since then I’ve been addicted to the soft sounds of her music.

Toki Asako – 乱反謝ガール(Ranhansha Girl)

This is one of the first songs I listened to from Toki Asako. Almost immediately, you’ll notice the crystalline composition of this song. Never does it get annoying. In fact, it’s very relaxing. The song itself never gets obnoxiously loud, even around the chorus. Asako actually works around being loud by making her voice softer as she raises pitch, rather than outright trying to yell out the words. The video itself is beautifully produced, resonating that crystalline quality I talked about earlier with just the music. Asako herself looks pretty as well in this video. As for the title. I tried putting it through google translate, but the result still confuses me.

Toki Asako – ファンタジア (Fantasia)

Almost immediately you’ll notice how soft this song is compared to Ranhansha Girl. Her voice in this song is very pronounced in this song, with intermittent “Fu” and “hoh” sounds to enhance the rhythm. To me, this is a very good night time song. Personally, I really encourage anyone who hears this song to listen to it when going home, preferably at sunset or in the evening after school, work, party, or anything that makes you tired and wanna go home. The video is interesting too, with Asako playing a Taxi Driver and the different passengers coming in. Um, for the feint of heart, I recommend looking away from the vid from 1:15 to 1:50. Trust me, it’s pretty disturbing. I do like Asako’s expression around 2:11, when she moves the trombone away from her. But anyways, this song is great. You’ll find yourself nodding your head to this.

Toki Asako – Superstar

Here’s one more song from Toki Asako called Superstar. This is a more upbeat but still soft song. Has a bit of that Motown flair to it. I don;t really have much about it, but from the video, it sounds like some thing you can dance to. There some fun choreography in the video, and, dare I say, the inter metro in me is really loving the outfits that Asako and the backups are wearing. Seriously, you can’t help but smile while watching this.

Toki Asako’s website
YouTube Channel Through Avex
More Music From Asako.