In all honesty, I'm not completely pleased with this list. Firstly it's because I've not been paying as much attention as I'd like to Jpop as I did in previous years (which was really fanatic, in retrospect) and secondly it's because most of the stuff I DID hear ended up being really lame.

Hence I cut the list short, with only 20 songs this time around. But you already had 15 songs in the previous post to try out so that should more or less compensate for the lack of songs.


Sadly this is the only H!P song that made the list. Everything else this year was just plain boring to me. Probably best described as a power ballad, the vocals are decent and not sickeningly cutesy for once (with the exception of Koharu, epic nasal fail).


DISCO! What's not to love?


How surprising, the main song of this single is not even in the top 20! The typical feel good Johnny's song where all the fans hold hands and wave while the Arashi boys go around the stadium on their silly floats. Good fun.


This one's for the pedophiles. But we all know we secretly want to bang them underaged boys. Slurp. Anyways, as with all the younger Johnny's groups' songs, it would be safe to assume full-on sugary pop. Steer clear, those who do not like the bubblegum.


I think I've mentioned on my blog before (I can't seem to find the post) that if she had went on do full-on rock and not half-ass it like what she's doing now, I would still be liking her.

This song is a perfect example of how epic Ayumi can be when she wants to be. Full of power and drama and her queenliness, this song will get anyone's adrenaline running. So use this at the gym. Or when murdering someone, if that is your thing. In which case please do not read my blog anymore. I said please, don't kill me.


It's loud, sparkly and crazy. Add in big band and you get Kanjani 8 doing their best thing. THEY'RE CRAZY. Which is what makes this song so unbelievably fun. It's kind of like orchestrated chaos, so be prepared. Did I mention big band yet? Brass! Drums! Loud music!


You can always count on Tegomasu to sing well, and this single is sort of a good display of that. A more traditional tune ensures that this song stands out from the rest of Jpop this year. The brisk cheerful tune has a kind of childish innocent quality to it, and that makes me smile. You will smile too! If you have a bit of kiddy innocence left in you that is.


Yes ignore the creepy cover. As much as I bash her and talk a lot of shit about her, this song is really really well done. Old school rock and roll (I'm just guessing genres here) with her eccentric voice combines for a really strange retro song. And we all know she has the weird attitude to carry it off too.


Another typical feel-good Arashi pop tune that's not spectacular, but does the trick. The bridge between Ohno and someone I can't remember (Matsujun?) added a nice bit of variety to an otherwise very very generic song. The bridge was my favorite part of the song to be honest, but well, the other parts of the song are pretty decent too.


And what would Jpop be without Kuu's sluttiness. This is not one of her best slutty songs, but it does well enough to reign over many many other Jpop songs this year (a sad indication of how weak Jpop is in 2009). Typical sexy dance tune that's just downright dirty and suggestive and is pheromones in aural form. Go listen and touch yourself inappropriately!

As per last week, I've uploaded all the songs on this list to Mediafire for you guys, let me know what you think in the comments!


Just in case you can't get enough, here are some songs (according to rank) that NEARLY made the list but got cut in the last selection. These are songs that I think are acceptable upon listening to it, but couldn't really get into it in the end:

• 31. mihimaru GT - Switch
• 30. V6 - Spirit
• 29. Koda Kumi - Joyful
• 28. Tohoshinki - Survivor
• 27. Koda Kumi - Driving
• 26. ikimonogakari - Hotaru no Hikari
• 25. Koda Kumi - Lick Me
• 24. Do as Infinity - Umareyuku Monotachi e
• 23. Yano Kenta starring Satoshi Ohno - Kumori Nochi Kaisei
• 22. Arashi - Believe
• 21. BoA feat. VERBAL (m-flo) - Bump Bump

Labels: Arashi, Hamasaki Ayumi, Kanjani 8, Koda Kumi, Morning Musume, Nakashima Mika, NEWS, NYC, Tegomasu