Utada, The "Exodus" Era

LOL!!!

Kinda looks like him too!

wtf

That guy in the background looks like he wants to marry Utada! SIGH...

Ai-yah! So much good Press. This was posted on U-O.net's forum.

Guess Utada and Edf85 like the same type of exercise! Unfortunately, she does not like to do squats in a train like Edf. She probably didn't see the caliente cellulite that draws Edf there.



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Don't forget...
"Exodus" is in stores tomorrow, October 5!

I'll see u there with bells on!

Please post your thoughts after you do! Thank you.

I woke up early today and headed down to Target with hesitation because if they didn't have it, I would have to wait until 10 a.m. or so before Best Buy opened. Target opened at 8 a.m. but by the time I got there, it was 8:45 or so.

Like I suspected, Target didn't put out their new CDs yet but all the "Saved" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" DVDs were out. I had to ask the guy if the new "OO-TADA" CD came in he said "Who?" and I had to spell it out for him "U-T-A-D-A." Fortunately, he reached behind the counter and took a copy out of a box!

The CD sticker says "New Low Price" but my copy cost $11.99. I guess that's "Low" but not as low as Mikaila or Ashanti. The cover was darker than I imagined but when I put it in my car CD player and blasted it, I was shocked at how good it was!

I'm not done listening to it.. but the press releases don't lie! Utada does remind you of Bjork at times, especially in the "Intro" and "THE WORKOUT."

And lemme say this right now...... "THE WORKOUT" is the best thing to come since wet coochie! I couldn't contain myself when I heard it.. I knew it was racy from rumors, but I didn't know it was racy. If you have a dirty mind like me, you'll get off on "THE WORKOUT."

However, if you're not a pervert, "THE WORKOUT" is just a fun song about going to the gym and doing pilates with a bunch of people.

Already, standouts are "Exodus '04," "THE WORKOUT," "Hotel Lobby," "Animato," and "Kremlin Dusk." The interludes are even good!!!!!!!

All the tracks are distinctive and different than what's on the radio... they must've had a hard time deciding on the single. If I was in the position, I might've picked "Easy Breezy" too. It's a great track and it stands out.. really, who could foresee it could tank as bad as it did? The only semi-standard track is "Tippy Toe" and even the chorus for that is amazing.

The two Timbaland tracks "Wonder 'Bout" and "Let Me Give You My Love" are just alright.. I like "LMGYML" better.

I'm gonna post a more in-depth review when I've given the album a proper listen. Peace!

Pick up "Exodus".. you won't regret it!
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Also from the official site:

"evil Inside" Will Be #3 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play Charts This Week

I really have a buttload of homework to do.. but I didn't want ANY of you guys to miss the FULL (not the short clip I posted last time) MTV segment on Utada.

Thanks to U-O.net's forum for the News! :

CATCH UTADA ON MTV's "YOU HEAR IT FIRST" Today and Tomorrow! Check the NEWS section for airtimes!

Watch the report online: www.mtv.com/news/yhif/utada/

Utada on MTV's "Your Hear It First" Airtimes:
MTV
Tues 10/5: 850pm (premiere)
Wed 10/6: 450am, 550am, 650am, 750am, 850am, 1050am, 250pm (repeat)

MTV2
Tues 10/5: 1030pm (premiere)
Wed 10/6: 430am, 530am, 630am, 730am, 1230pm, 330pm, 630pm, 830pm (repeat)
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A scan from "American Magazine":
www4.islanddefjam.com/media/utada/images/utadaamerica.jpg
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Another Mercury News article:

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ALSO, if any of you are going to Best Buy to buy "Exodus," look under the Reggae section because they're misplacing it there. Similar to when Best Buy put Kaci's album under Country.

The shipment ordered varied from as many as about 40 copies a store to 10 copies to 1 copy to none. Good luck finding a copy! Not all Targets ordered them too.

SHOCKING current Amazon rankings:

Amazon.com: 42 (Top 50! @ the Utada-English-album hatas giving her a TWO star rating)
Amazon.ca: 2

It's a shame MTV will probably never play the "Easy Breezy" music video. To be fair, the song barely made a dent at radio.

I am very surprised from hearing Utada's album selling modestly despite virtually no airplay or video play at all. The internet marketing campaign is very successful; people liked what they heard and told their friends about it. Also, her fan base are very loyal and active at getting her name out there.

Her current Amazon.com sales rank is #24.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002ZYE3M/ref=ase_utada-20/103-3379502-3458200?v=glance&s=music

Many stores understocked the album. A fan at U-O.net forum received word that all 32 copies ordered at the NYC Tower Records in Lincoln Square were SOLD out in one day.

Additionally, "Exodus" is doing very well on ITunes. That last I heard it was #7 on the Vocals chart or something..

I have more faith now that "Exodus" sales will be better than anyone's expectations. If it does well, Island better make a move on it and rush the next single out -- with lots of support behind it. Her fanbase have done their part, now it's up to them to introduce "that Japanese girl you're going to be hearing a lot of."

I know my brother had the "First Love" release but I can't find it. He probably took it with him to Japan. Maybe I should buy the "Exodus" release for him.

You should! Brothas are doin' it for themselves!

A fan said Utada's album was reviewed on CNN Headline and the critic Chris Farley said something like Utada can wake up feeling good that she accomplished such an interesting album!

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I called KZOO radio last night and the man told me he wasn't aware of the 'Exodus' release. They are not allowed to play music from outside sources, just the releases that Hakubundo give them.

Download a video of Utada performing "evil Inside" LIVE on Hey Hey Hey!: www.utada-online.net/

Rocky alternative-dance!

News from the U-O.net camp:

Billboard debut: #160 (7,120 copies)
Good job on her first charting with virtually no airplay or video play. I wonder how many copies IDJ shipped and how much of it sold. One cannot look at the sales and say it did poorly because what if IDJ only shipped 10,000 copies or so? She can't make the Top 50 even if she sold out.

Fifth week "Exodus" Japan sales:
This week: 61,235
Total sales: 940,026

Here's a really long but strange article from the Washington Post.

Who knows if they are shades of the real Utada? Or it was her on a depressing day? Or it was the reporter who twisted words around to shape a different picture?

If there are fragments of true, I hope whatever she does, even if it's not entirely in music, she's happy.

It's not a typical "from Japan to America" article. Read it if you guys get the chance!
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Leaving the Girl Behind
Japan's Pop Star Has Made Her 'Exodus' to Adulthood
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31175-2004Oct13.html

By Sean Daly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2004; Page C01

NEW YORK -- Utada Hikaru doesn't do cleavage. She doesn't tend to flash acres of golden abs, as do divettes Britney and Jessica and Christina when the cameras are ogling them. And only rarely does Utada, Japan's reigning pop princess since she was a wee 15, take her bare legs for a stroll.

"When I dress girlie in New York, I always feel like I look like a hooker just because I'm Asian," says the tiny 21-year-old, sitting in the posh lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel and clad in jeans, ratty sneakers and a tan corduroy jacket pulled snug over a pink Minnie Mouse sweatshirt. "I look in the Village Voice, and there's three pages devoted to 'Asian Girls' ads."

The singer-songwriter-producer has sold more than 17 million albums in Japan in just five years without tarting herself up à la MTV's wailers gone wild. (Her 1999 debut, "First Love," is the best-selling album in Japanese history.) She's affectionately known as "Hikki" on the oodles of Internet fan sites that thrill over her good-girl likes (literature, "The Three Amigos") and tsk-tsk dislikes (partying, a dirty house). She also has a clothing line, a calendar and a self-drawn cartoon pet named Chuichi that catfights with merchandising juggernaut Hello Kitty.

Utada's English-language debut, "Exodus," was released this month on the Island/Def Jam label. But that doesn't mean Japan's version of Hilary Duff is all happiness and light these days.

Unlike the go-girl "J-pop" music that helped make Utada the No. 1 target of the feverish Japanese paparazzi, her new sound can be chilly, lonely, sad -- an utterly inventive melange of techno bleeps and blips, intricate rhythms and a voice that sounds a little like Madonna back when the Material Girl was trying to bring the ballads. The only times Utada sounds like she's having fun is on the silly first single, "Easy Breezy," and on three collaborations with hip-hop superproducer Timbaland, the one-man hit machine who's sent Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake to the top of the charts.

The truth is, Utada -- who was born in New York City and, as the only child of musician parents, has spent most of her life whiplashing between Manhattan and Tokyo -- isn't sure who she wants to be these days. It isn't an anonymous college student: She dropped out of Columbia University after half a semester a couple of years ago because "it wasn't as difficult as I was hoping it would be." That said, she's also questioning whether she wants to remain a gossip-fodder pop star -- in Japan or America. The fame game, Utada has found out at a rather inopportune time, can be a big metaphysical bummer.

"I've been forced to think about what I'm trying to be or what I'm supposed to be or what I am," sighs the bilingual Utada. "People in the record company have a hard time categorizing me and pitching me to the radio, because they look at me, and obviously I'm this young girl. No matter what my music is like, I'm still competing with all the other young girls in the market . . . Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, blah blah blah." Utada, who brags about sharing a birthday with Edgar Allan Poe and who seeks comfort in Leo Tolstoy (" 'cause he actually deals with a lot of family drama" -- remember that clue, folks), admits that it's all starting to make her a little sick.

"I just went to the doctor's this morning to get a general checkup. After checking me out, the doctor asked, 'Are you under a lot of stress?' She didn't even know what job I do," says Utada, parting the long black hair that routinely threatens to swallow her face. "I have had health problems with stress. I guess I keep it all inside."

That visit to the doctor, however, also inspired this revelation: "I like getting blood drawn. I like getting shots. It's stimulating. I don't see why pain is that bad. I'm not like a crazy S&M person, don't get me wrong. I'm just really good with pain. I just enter a zone, and tell my brain, 'Okay, I'm going to feel pain, but it's not bad. Let's see how it feels.' "

Nope: Utada, who lists Radiohead, Bjork and Nine Inch Nails as faves, isn't like American pop stars at all.

(Okay, okay, maybe just a little. Utada did do the questionable early-marriage thing, at age 19, to music-video director Kaz Kiriya. But much to the dismay of the tabloids, the two have stayed happily hitched. "When I first got married, everyone said, 'You're too young' and 'Why don't you wait?' I figured a lot of marriages fail, right? . . . If I waited until I was 35, I wouldn't be better equipped or more prepared to be married than I am now."

(Oh, and despite how much she says she enjoys being a nobody in New York, she does kinda dig the sobbing-fans phenomenon. "I always tell them, 'Oh, don't cry! It's just me!' I don't know what they see in me that is that special and idolizable. But when someone's moved that much, it moves you.")

"I don't think 12-year-old girls are going to hitch to my new music," says Utada. "I think my audience is much older than that."