Musician Introduction: UA

Musician Introduction: UA 

Hello there!

I haven't done a musician introduction in a while so thought I might do one. Since basically all of the prior ones I've done have been from the Rock genre, this time around I've decided to do someone with another style of music. This someone, is UA.

UA is pronounced ウーア (oo-a), and means both 'flower' and 'death' in the African language of Swahili. She is renown for her husky voice and has dabbled with many different genres, including Dub, Jazz, R&B, Folk and Ethnic inspired music. If I was to compare her music to someone in Western music, I would have to say it's something similar to Bjork. There might be some better examples but I don't really listen to much Western music nowadays (-_-) so yeah....

But generally (actually ...maybe all of), her songs are gentle and slow, leaving you in a relaxed an peaceful state. She's not your pop diva or chirpy idol so you probably won't see her particularly high up in the music charts nowadays but she's had several hit tracks back in the good old nineties. The first big hit single came in 1996 with the single, 情熱 (Jounetsu) 'Passion', an R&B song with a more pop sound relative to her other works.It's a nice song but not particularly one of my favourites. She enjoyed great success for the rest of the nineties and the beginning of the 2000's but has seen a decline in sales after that, just as most artists would later in their careers.

There's some pretty funny history regarding UA. Apparently she used to be an  追っかけ 'Okkake' (groupie) of comedian Matsumoto Hitoshi (from Downtown) back before they were famous. Once they became huge in their native Kansai area though, she apparently started get turned off by them and stopped chasing him around. She was later cast in a role for 'Dainipponjin', the first movie directed by Matsumoto after he found out about this.

She has collaborated with Asai Kenichi, from the band Blankey Jet City, and released one album under the group name, Ajico. I highly recommend this album........

Some songs that I like:

Senkou 閃光 (Flash)- Single version

(Album: Dorobou)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p904cZ9lBw&feature=related
I couldn't embed it. This is the single version and is different from the one on the album. I couldn't find a dl link to it so you'll have to buy it.........or use Zamzar to rip it off youtube.

Moor

(Album: Golden Green)

Antonio no Uta 

-Antonio's song-

(Album: Ametora)

Strawberry Time

(Album: Turbo)

Solo Album Discography 
1996- 11
1998- Ametora
1999- Turbo
2002- 泥棒 Dorobou (Thief) 
2004- Sun
2005- Breathe
2007- Golden Green
2009- ATTA
Cure Jazz
Click on albums that you want if you dare!!
Theres several other albums that she's released, like cover albums and another one which is all traditional Japanese children songs. If you're interested I could have a look for those too. Just leave a comment about it.

また会うまでおさらばじゃ！