Journey
Shota Shimizu

In the pop culture sweepstakes, Korea has edged ahead of Japan in the past few years with its slick music groups and idol TV dramas.
But as all things Korean seem ever more manufactured and overwrought, it is Japanese singer-songwriter Shota Shimizu who blows in like a breath of fresh air with his second album Journey.
You can practically feel the wind on your back in the breezy titular track as the 21-year-old likens life’s journey to hitting the road.
As metaphors go, this is as old as they come, but he makes it sound earnest and affecting when he croons: “Journey, even though I’m tired/It’s okay if I can sing along with someone by my side.”
The folksy vibe to his R&B is a most welcome touch here though some of the other songs, such as Cream, tend to be cast in a more conventional mould.
The album hit No. 1 on the Japanese Oricon weekly chart and also includes Forever Love, a hit duet with urban artist Kato Miliyah.
It would be a pity if the record fails to find a wider audience simply because it happens to be in Japanese and not Korean.

Shock Of The New Era
B2ST

Leap For Detonation
ZE:A

Where’s the shock? Where’s the animal ferocity for a band also known as Beast?
The six-member B2ST dons leather threads and eyeliner for that goth-rock look but really, they are just another Korean boyband playing dress-up.
This Asian version release collects all 10 tracks from their first two EPs Beast Is The B2ST and Shock Of The New Era.
At least the synthesizer- propelled Special has silly lyrics: “Atom bomb is coming/Oh oh oh/Bounce me oh oh oh” and the group could do with more of such moments.
ZE:A served up one such instance with Mazeltov on their recently released debut EP.
Tinkering with the dance vibe of that first effort, they go for more of an R&B sound here and the follow-up offers two new tracks, All Day Long and Man 2 Man.The CD, however, almost feels like an afterthought tucked away at the back of the photo booklet which thoughtfully includes individual poses by all nine members.
The disc includes the music video for All Day Long, which plays like a Korean version of the high-school-is-a-battlefield Japanese series Crows Zero, with prettier boys getting prettily bruised.
For all the glossy sound and fury, there is nothing explosive here.
(ST)