Song Saturday: Olivia Lufkin Block

How's it going lurkers? Hopefully everyone survived Friday The 13th. Next month in case you didn't already know, we have another Friday The 13th. Ugh! I did NOT  watch Friday The 13th. Although, I did watch Child's Play and the original My Bloody Valentine. Yes, I know. What a morbid way to celebrate both Valentine's Eve and Valentine's Day.

Luckily for me, I'm not getting any ANY attention-seeking Facebook notifcations from friends bragging about how much they love their boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses. Whether it's on Valentine's Day or not, being forced to constantly read it in our news feeds is enough to make any single OR married person want to gag. 

Regardless if it's the beginning or the end of the day, those same relationships are NOT  as "cozy" as these couples pretend for the public.

Today we all have to survive Valentine's Day. While couples are celebrating it, I will be sleeping in, after sharing this Song Saturday blog. 

For a little while, I have not shared any J-Pop. You may recall that I published a Song Saturday blog about Anna Tsuchiya last year.

Since it's Valentine's Day and today is mostly about couples in America, I thought I would share some Olivia Lufkin.

She and Anna Tsuchiya were both featured singers on NANA. Much like Tsuchiya's, Lufkin's voice was dubbed into the Anime series for the character Layla Serizawa.

Olivia Lufkin's voice is beautiful as well as phenomenal. Her music should have more global exposure. It's been nearly a decade, since the time I discovered her. Olivia Lufkin is a Japanese Pop-Rock singer, who is mostly known for her contribution to the Josei Anime compilation, Nana Best. 

In addition to Olivia's music being featured in NANA and Nana Best, her song "Dream Catcher" was used as the ending theme song for the J-Horror Drama, Hell Girl.

It felt somewhat odd that the Hell Girl franchise chose to use her song "Dream Catcher" as the ending theme song for the Hell Girl J-Drama. 

Normally, the Hell Girl franchise used singer/voice actress Mamiko Noto's songs for the Hell Girl Anime.

Choosing an Olivia Lufkin song over Mamiko Noto's songs was a different approach for the Hell Girl J-Drama'

Mamiko's vocals have a low, soft, and ominous sound compared to Olivia's beautiful and angelic voice.

In Ai Yazawa's Josei Anime and Manga NANA, Layla Serizawa was named after Eric Clapton's song, "Layla." This character voiced by Olivia is the lead singer of the band called Trapnest. 

Olivia Lufkin also produced a lot of her own songs for NANA under the alias "Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest)."

"Starless Night," "Shadow Of Love," "Winter Sleep," and "Alone In Our Castle" are some of my favorite songs from the Nana Best compilation by Olivia Lufkin. 

I really enjoy her songs "Alone In Our Castle" and "Recorded Butterflies." Rather than going the usual route, here's a block of Olivia Lufkin's songs followed by a bonus music video.

1) Olivia Lufkin "Alone In Our Castle" The Lost Lolli (2004)

2) Olivia Lufkin "Starless Night" Nana Best (2006)

3) Olivia Lufkin "Shadow Of Love" Nana Best (2006)

4) Olivia Lufkin "Winter Sleep" Nana Best (2006)

5) Olivia Lufkin "Recorded Butterflies" Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) (2007)

6) Olivia Lufkin "Dream Catcher" Hell Girl (2006); The Cloudy Dreamer (2007)

 

[BONUS]

Olivia Lufkin "SpiderSpins" Merry & Hell Go Round (2003); The Lost Lolli (2004)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, LURKERS!!!