Sawa (singer)
SAWA | |
---|---|
Born | November 6, 1983 |
Origin | Japan |
Genres | Pop, electropop, trance, intelligent dance |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 2003 – present |
Labels |
Stardust 2003-2004 Front Men Entertainment 2005-2006 Cyclops 2008-2009 Wint 2008-2009 Epic Records Japan 2009-2012 Bellwood Records 2012-present |
Associated acts | FreeTEMPO (Takeshi Hanzawa), Ram Rider, Ryukyudisko |
Website | http://www.sa-world.net/ |
Sawa Kouchi (河内 沙和 Kouchi Sawa, born November 6, 1983),[1] stylized as SAWA, is a Japanese techno-pop singer and songwriter who debuted in 2008 on the indies label Cyclops. In 2009, she signed onto Sony Music Entertainment Japan and joined its sublabel, Epic Records.[2] In 2012 she switched to Bellwood Records and released her 6th mini-album, ソプラノレイン (Soprano Rain).[3]
Biography
SAWA first appeared in 2003 as a member of the group Jack Knife under Stardust Management.[4] The group performed cover routines live[5] and disbanded in April 2004 without releasing any material.
In 2005 SAWA began working with Front Men Entertainment under the name SK-V. Through 2005-2006 this name changed from SK-V to SK5 and finally Kouchi. Although no tracks were released from this partnership, a clip of 坂道 (Slope) is still featured on the Kouchi website today.[6] Titles thought to have been recorded under this label are 坂道 (Slope), メリーゴーランド (Merry Go-Round), Talking, Happiness, and In The Music.[7]
In 2008 she debuted on the indies label Cyclops and released two mini-albums. The first mini-album, Colors, was produced by Takeshi Hanzawa from FreeTEMPO and was released on June 18, 2008. Her second mini-album, Time & Space, was produced by a number of musicians, including Ram Rider, A Hundred Birds, and Kentaro Takizawa. It was released on December 10, 2008 on CD and on iTunes, where it topped the iTunes Music Store's dance chart in Japan.[8]
The following year, Sawa made her major label debut on Sony Music Entertainment Japan's sublabel, Epic Records, releasing two mini-albums, I Can Fly and Swimming Dancing. I Can Fly was released on July 22, 2009 with commercial tie-ins to MBS TV fashion program "Dress" and a summer commercial for Honda. The mini-album peaked at #145 on the Oricon charts and charted for one week.[9] Swimming Dancing was released on November 25, 2009 and reached a peak position of #210 on the Oricon, charting for one week.[10] A new mini-album titled あいにいくよ (Ai ni Ikuyo) was released on April 7, 2010 and saw SAWA working with producers Nawata Hisashi, Jazzin'park, Junya Ookubo Zyun (ANA) and RAM RIDER.[11]
SAWAs first full album title Welcome to Sa-World was released on July 7, 2010. The album featured 7 tracks produced by SAWA herself. After 2 digital download only singles, Mysterious Zone in December, 2012 and Good day Sunshine in May, 2012, SAWA released her 6th mini-album titled ソプラノレイン (Soprano Rain) on December 19, 2012. The first 5 tracks were produced by SAWA herself. The title track was used in the NHK TV show Minna no Uta.
Discography
Full Albums
- Welcome to Sa-World (July 7, 2010)
- Opening Ceremony ~Sa-Worldへようこそ~(-Welcome to Sa-World-)
- MerryGoRound
- Stars
- NightBus
- Chocolate Zone ~野生のSAWA~(-Wild SAWA-)
- ManyColors
- I'm a president
- Throw him away!
- Danger Zone ~逃げろ!危うしSa-World!~(-Run away! Dangerous Sa-World!-)
- Swimming Dancing
- Planet-T
- Friday Night
- Eat It All ~Live in Sa-World~
- I Can Fly
- あいにいくよ(I will go meet you)
- Dream about...
- Thank you for visiting ~My name is...~
Mini-Albums
- COLORS (June 18, 2008)
- ManyColors
- Blue
- Yellow
- Pink
- Green
- Produced by Takeshi Hanzawa (FreeTEMPO)
- TIME&SPACE (December 10, 2008)
- Stars (Produced by RAM RIDER)
- Discovery (Produced by Yukihiro Fukutomi)
- Metropolitan Museum (Produced by Nakatsuka Takeshi)
- Are You Ready For Love (Produced by A Hundred Birds)
- Space Travel (Produced by Kentaro Takizawa)
- I Can Fly (July 22, 2009)
- I Can Fly (Produced by Sound Around)
- Sing It Back (Produced by Yukihiro Fukutomi)
- NightDesert (Produced by Haioka (BREMEN))
- I Love You Always Forever (Produced by Masayuki Ishii (TICA/gabby & lopez))
- My Sunny Days (Produced by note native)
- Sing It Back -Extended Club Mix- Japanese Ver.
- Sing It Back -Extended Club Mix- English Ver.
- Sing It Back -Extended Club Instrumental-
- Tracks 6, 7 and 8 only included on Limited Edition copies
- Swimming Dancing (November 25, 2009)
- Swimming Dancing
- World-Wide Tea Party
- Swimming Dancing -RYUKYUDISKO Remix-
- World-Wide Tea Party -Kentaro Takizawa BIG ROOM Remix-
- ManyColors -Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix-
- Stars -Jazzin'park 31 good night Remix-
- Swimming Dancing -Extended Club Mix-
- Stars -Jazzin'park 31 good morning Remix-
- Tracks 7 and 8 only included on Limited Edition copies
- Produced by Taku Takahashi (M-Flo)
- あいにいくよ (Ai ni Ikuyo;I will go see you) (April 7, 2010)
- あいにいくよ (Ai ni Ikuyo) (Produced by Nawata Hisashi)
- Jet Coaster (Produced by Jazzin'park)
- サイダー (Cider) (Produced by Junya Ookubo Zyun (ANA)
- SuperLooper (Produced by RAM RIDER)
- Samba de Mar -Nakatsuka Takeshi Remix-
- Track 5 only included on Limited Edition copies
- ソプラノレイン (Soprano Rain) (December 19, 2012)
- Good day Sunshine
- Mysterious Zone
- Try Again!
- ハッピーバースデイ (Happy Birthday)
- NoLimit
- ソプラノレイン (Soprano Rain)
- 心の瞳 (The Eye of the Heart)
Recordings featured in
- Gekkan Probowler's fourth album eRETRO
- 2. SUMMER OF LOVE
- WIRED CAFE Music Recommendation Precious
- 8. Lovefool
- Suneohair's sixth album Birthday
- 9. Yuganda Futari (歪んだ二人; Distorded Us)
- Juicy Fruits
- 2. Raspberry Dream
- Judy and Mary 15th Anniversary Tribute Album
- 5. RADIO
- Sound Around's second album Every With You
- 4. Every With You feat.SAWA
- GUNDAM 30th CUSTOM
- 8. Ima wa Oyasumi (いまはおやすみ; It's time to say good night now)
- Seaside Town
- 1. Samba De Mar
- RYUKYUDISKO's fourth album Pleasure
- 4. SPLASH☆ feat.SAWA
- Kentaro Takizawa's fourth album Big Room
- 9. Another Landscape feat. SAWA
- 11. Keep Love Together feat. The Big Room Family a.k.a. Mika Arisaka and Ryohei with Sawa, Mika Sawabe
- Anan Ryoko's debut album Another Beginning
- 12. Dreaming feat. SAWA
- 16. Dreaming feat. SAWA -Japanese Ver.-
- House Nation 3rd Anniversary
- 19. Swimming Dancing
References
- ↑ http://www.frontmen.net/sk5.html
- ↑ ""immi and SAWA make their major debut on the same day" on Mikan Music Network". mimu-net.net. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ ((cite web | title = "Bellwood Records Release Index" on Bellwood Records | work = kingrecords.co.jp | url = http://cnt.kingrecords.co.jp/bellwood/release/index.php | accessdate = 2012-12-19 ))
- ↑ "Jack Knife Archived Website". http://www.stardust.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2003-05-24. Retrieved 2010-04-15. External link in
|work=
(help) - ↑ "Jack Knife Live Report". http://itopix.jp/. Retrieved 2010-04-15. External link in
|work=
(help) - ↑ "Kouchi Website". http://www.frontmen.net/. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-14. External link in
|work=
(help) - ↑ "Kouchi Track Titles". myspace.com. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
- ↑ "Sawa official biography". sa-world.net. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ "I Can Fly Oricon information". oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ "Swimming Dancing Oricon information". oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ "あいにいくよ (Ai ni Ikuyo) Release information". sa-world.net. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
External links
- Official Site (Japanese)
- Official MySpace (Japanese)
- Sawa Blog 「SAWABURO」 (Japanese)
- PlanetSAWA Fan Blog