Source: Bounce.com
m-flo will release a new album on Aug. 24. Once again collaborating with a rotating roster of guest artists, the still untitled album features performances by Kahimi Karie, Sowelu and Katou Miriya. The album is also expected to include collaborations with Emyli, Yoshika, Wada Akiko, Monday Michiru and Diggy-Mo’, which were released as singles. On July 13, m-flo releases a double A-side single, “Loop in My Heart/Hey!”, featuring Wada Akiko on “Loop in My Heart” and Emyli and Yoshika on “Hey!”.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo releases a new single with singers Emyli and Yoshika on July 13. The single will also feature “Hey!”, the duo’s collaboration with Wada Akiko, which served as the theme for a TV program. The Emyli and Yoshika track has been described as featuring m-flo’s signature sound, but for its collaboration with Wada, the band sampled one of her own tunes. m-flo also released a limited edition vinyl single, “A.D.D.P.”, with singer Monday Michiru.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo announced it will feature Akiko Wada and Monday Michiru on its next release. Continuing its open-door policy with vocalists, m-flo recorded the theme song to the TBS program Hey! with Wada. The title and release date for this collaboration has not been set. The duo’s collaboration with Monday Michiru, titled “A.D.D.P.”, is set for release as a 12-inch single on April 30. m-flo announced these collaborations on its radio show, Global Astro Radio.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo will release a new single and DVD on March 23, 2004. The DVD contains a myriad of content, ranging from promotion clips from the group’s latest studio albums, Astromantic and Astromantic Charm School, plus live footage from the “m-flo Live 2004 ‘Astromantic'” tour.
On the other hand, the still-untitled new single features Emily going by the name Sister E and Diggy Mo’ from Soul’d Out. m-flo’s previous single included a cover of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “The Other Side of Love” and featured Yoshika on vocals.
Verbal and Taku are smart.
The remaining members of m-flo knew singer Lisa was a commodity, and they knew any replacement would have a high bar to surpass.
When Lisa announced her departure from m-flo in 2002, a lot of people — myself included — thought the space-age R&B/hip-hop trio was done. (Because let’s face it — Verbal isn’t that strong of an MC to carry it by himself.)
And instead of rushing in, trying to prove themselves, Verbal and Taku worked on their own things, never ruling out m-flo’s continuation.
The time off did the pair some real good.
m-flo 2004 is now a collaborative unit, allowing guest musicians to build upon the duo’s beat-heavy foundation. Astromantic, the group’s first album without Lisa, is m-flo’s most expansive but most focused work yet.
The album features a who’s who of Japanese pop: Crystal Kay, Chemistry, melody., BoA, Yamamoto Ryouhei. It features some eye brow-raising guests as well: composer Sakamoto Ryuichi, rap-rockers Dragon Ash, Pizzicato Five chanteuse Nomiya Maki.
For the most part, m-flo sticks to the dance floor pop that brought them success. melody. (yes, that period is part of her name) and Yamamoto offer a nice interplay on “miss you”, and both anchor the song when Verbal injects his part.
BoA holds her own on “The love bug”, a track that combines acoustic guitar with a driving beat. Taku does an incredible job manipulating the vocal samples of Chemistry on “Astrosexy”, while Crystal Kay delivers one of the band’s most enduring choruses on “Reeewind!”
“I really, really like it,” Kay sings. Amen.
Astromantic gets really interesting when the non-dance collaborators weigh in. “Way U Move” starts off as the kind of rock ballad Dragon Ash masters, but it then morphs into a four-on-the-floor fantasia.
“Vanessa”, featuring the Bloodest Saxophone, is pure swing — Taku was wise to just get out of the way. Nomiya shines on the lounge number, “Cosmic Night Run”, and even the ska conclusion, “Uchuu no Woah Woah” featuring Boy Ken and Bottom Brass Band, is exuberent.
“Don’t call it a comeback,” Verbal asserts on “Reeewind!”, and it’s a forceful statement. m-flo never considered itself gone when Lisa left, but Verbal and Taku certainly knew they had to prove some assumptions were just plain wrong.
Astromantic is the sound of a band embracing an unknown — and rather daunting — paradigm shift, and it does a superlative job of establishing m-flo as something bigger than its individual members.
It isn’t a comeback at all. It’s a new start.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo will release a new single on Nov. 17 titled “let go”. The single’s coupling track, “The Other Side of Love”, is a Ryuichi Sakamoto cover featuring singer Sakamoto Miu. The vocalist for the title track has yet to be announced.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo will release a remix album based on its recent studio album, Astromantic, on Sept. 15. Remixers from within and outside of Japan will contribute to the album, including freetempo, Half By, Como Esta Haegashi, Tomita Lab, Ugly Duckling and Space Cowboy. Released in early summer, Astromantic featured collaborations with BoA, Dragon Ash and Crystal Kay.
Source: Bounce.com
m-flo is set to release its first new album in three years on May 26. After the departure of vocalist Lisa in 2001, m-flo recruited a number of guest vocalists to collaborate on new singles. The first of these collaborations was released in 2003, with Crystal Kay providing vocals on “Reeewind!” The new album titled Astromantic features contributions from melody., Yamamoto Ryouhei, Chemistry, Bloodset Saxophone, Dragon Ash, Crazy Ken Band, Nomiya Maki, BoA, Boy-Ken, Heartsdale, Double, Hinouchi Emi and Sakamoto Ryuichi.
Souce: Bounce.com
m-flo announced its next collaborative single will feature Korean singer BoA. Details of the release have not yet been determined, but March 17 has been set as the release date. Continuing in the pattern of previous releases, the single will be billed under the name “m-flo Loves BoA”, and in return, Verbal makes an appearance on “Someday One Day”, a track off of the singer’s latest single, “Love and Honesty”.
Source: Bounce.com
For it’s next single, m-flo is colalborating with two new singers.
The R&B duo announced melody and Yamamoto Ryouhei will be its newest guest singers. Earlier this year, Crystal Kay became the first singer to collaborate with m-flo since the departure of the band’s in-house vocalist Lisa.
melody, who debuted in February 2003, has been described as having a “platinum voice”, clear and brimming with emotion. Yamamoto, on the other hand, collaborated with Fantastic Plastic Machine on last year’s Why not?. Described as having an original style, Yamamoto’s June 2003 debut was also highly anticipated.
A coupling track will also feature pop duo Chemistry and will be released on Oct. 22, 2003.