Laid Back

アルバムレビュー

For his debut album as a solo artist (he was best known previously as half of the pop/reggae duo Def Tech), Micro put together a long series of stylistic formats and enlisted a number of artists from his Primary Colorz label with the aim of forming something of a tour de force. The album opens with Micro alone, pumping out a vocal delivery with strong elements of contemporary J-urban music (a softer rap delivery), that could equally well follow the concept of a "laid-back" album. A bit more beat gets introduced in the slightly syncopated "Cuz." The sound goes a little more beach-friendly with the third track, "Hana Uta," but swings toward the repetitive in "Natsu no Hana." By the "Dub Song of 16 Bars," Micro is finally back in his element, with a rocksteady riff in the background, an almost Snow-like vocal style, and a stronger chorus (in conjunction with PJ). With some more straightforward R&B in the following tracks (and a touch of traditional Japanese music in "Noena"), it takes a bit to get his proverbial groove back properly. By the time he hits "Mic Doesn't Lie," however, Micro's back in form. When he falls into the standardized structures of contemporary Japanese R&B, Micro can easily fall into a rut of normalcy, giving you nothing to appreciate beyond his ability to sound similar to Seamo and his ilk. When he gets into his own devised sounds though (reggae, funk), Micro has a good show to put on. One can only hope that he maintains his own sounds for future albums.