is a Japanese singer. She debuted on August 8, 2007 with "Colorful Tokyo Sounds No. 9" and released her debut album, ''

Copy Copy may refer to: *Copying or the product of copying (including the plural "copies"); the duplication of information or an artifact **Cut, copy and paste, a method of reproducing text or other data in computing **File copying **Photocopying, a pr ...

'' on September 3, 2008.Official website
/ref>

Musical background and releases

Aira was chosen as the winner of Mega Trance 2007 from 6,325 applicants. She released her debut single, "Colorful Tokyo Sounds No. 9", on August 8 of the same year. A song from the single was selected as the official theme for the Transformers Café, based on the ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' film, in

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

. Aira performed at an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

-sponsored event for the film on July 25. Her first album, ''

'', was released on September 3, 2008. It was released in two different versions: a 12-track album and a 16-track album. The albums differ in that track 8 on the 12 regular edition album is the original version of "High Bash", while the Yakenohara version appears on the extended edition, and the songs "Star Fruits Surf Rider", "Rock'n Roll Is Dead", and "Romantic Rope" are included in the extended version. Additionally, those who purchased the album through

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

also received an exclusive track, "Yakenohara Megamix", while those who bought the album through

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

received the track "L0ne1yBoy L0ne1yGirl" as a bonus track. Track 1 of the album, titled "Galaxy Boy", was used as the ending song to

Aichi Television is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture an ...

's programme ''Bonita!Bonita!!'' It was also used to promote the ''Dream car club of Tamoei Yakushiji''. The album reached a peak daily position of number 31 on the

Oricon chart , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nove ...

, and a peak weekly position of number 48 and sold 3,163 copies. Mitsuki's first major single was written as a tribute to China for the 2008 Olympics and released on March 5, 2008. She promoted it with a live performance in a Chinese nightclub, her first and to date only overseas show. Her second major (and fourth overall) single, "Robot Honey", was released on October 29, 2008 and followed by "Valentine Step" and "Sayonara Technopolis" in February 2009. She released her seventh single, "Barbie Barbie" on May 20, and an EP exclusive to the Village Vanguard chain of stores, "Aira's Science CD", on June 17, 2009. Aira released her second studio album, titled ''

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

'', on July 22, 2009 and her third album, '' ???'' on November 17, 2010. She released her final album with D-topia, ''I'll Be Back'' on August 21, 2013 and went on a hiatus. In 2015, Aira returned to music independent of a label, initially using the name "AIRA" and then settling on "アイラミツキ" in time for the release of her new song "LIGHTSAVER".

Musical style and influences

Aira's musical style has been compared to the popular

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese DJ and music producer. He formed the band Capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer when both were 17. The band debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

-produced acts Capsule and

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

. Aira has stated that she is a fan of Nakata's work and cites the

Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

Kahimi Karie , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and photographer. Her music is closely associated with the Shibuya-kei aesthetic. Karie sings in English, French and Japanese, among other languages. Karie began her music caree ...

, Yuki,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, Cornelius, and

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

as influences on her MySpace page,Official Myspace page
/ref> while she has covered songs by Cornelius, Kenji Ozawa, Kahimi Karie, Genki Rockets, Cascada, Lenny Kravitz, and her labelmate Saori@destiny. Aira's music usually carries themes of science fiction or

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

with ambient sound effects, heavy use of

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

and lyrics exploring concepts such as

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

s and technology. "Galaxy Boy", for example, is space-themed and written about a "prototypical galaxy boy" while "Sayonara Technopolis" and its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

s are written about issues such as human

apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and propose moving to the Moon. Aira has experimented with different genres of music; much of ''

'' had a dance sound while "Valentine Step" has strong Latin influences and "Sayonara Technopolis" was marketed as "electro meets big beat". She has also recorded several

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s and a heavy techno cover of

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

's "

Rock and Roll Is Dead "Rock and Roll Is Dead" is the first single released from the 1995 Lenny Kravitz album ''Circus''. The song reached the top 20 in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and Spain, but it underperformed in the United States, peaking at number 75 on the ...

". She has, however, remained consistent in that she uses voice filters and synthesisers. Aira's videos make use of animation and CGI, with typically fashion-forward costumes. She has professed to being a fan of

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

such as

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

and has stated in interviews that she is inspired by science fiction and technology. She also bought a plot of land on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

for the release of "Sayonara Technopolis". Aira's EP ''Aira's Science CD'' contains two tracks, "Science Music" and "Senjō no Merry Christmas" which feature the

thereminvox The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

, played by Masami Takeuchi. The CD also contains a cover of

's "Mike Alway's Diary" and a remix by

I Am Robot and Proud Shaw-Han Liem, better known by the alias I Am Robot and Proud, is a Canadian indie electronic musician and video game designer from Toronto, Ontario. He has released albums under the labels Catmobile, Darla and & Records. He co-created the PlayS ...

, as well as versions of "Science Music" and "Senjō no Merry Christmas" sans theremin. While Aira is mostly a vocalist, she has incorporated instruments into many of her live performances, playing drums, various synthesizers, drum machines and samplers across her career.

Discography

Studio albums

* 008.09.08''

'' (5,010 copies sold, peak No. 48 in

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Weekly charts) * 009.07.22''

'' (4,195 copies sold, peak No. 33 in Oricon Weekly charts) * 010.11.17'' ??? (Three Questions)'' (2,758 copies sold, peak No. 45 in Oricon Weekly charts) * 011.12.07'' ×～PARK OF THE SAFARI'' (Aira Mitsuki×

Saori@destiny Saori@destiny (born June 10, 1986) is a Japanese singer-lyricist. She made her independent debut on December 5, 2007, with the single "My Boy", followed by her major-label debut single "Sakura" on March 26, 2008 under D-topia Entertainment. Duri ...

) (Collaboration album) (#210 in Oricon weekly Charts) * 013.08.21''I'll Be Back'' * 017.11.12''Pyramidal''

Mini-albums

* 010.06.02''

6 Force ''6 Force'' is the first mini album (third overall) of electronica singer-lyricist Aira Mitsuki. It was released on June 2, 2010 in Japan by D-topia Entertainment, and is her last release under the label. It reached #11 on the Oricon Daily charts ...

'' (3,391 copies sold, peak No. 34 on Oricon Weekly charts)

Indie singles

* 007.08.08

Major singles

* 008.03.05 * 008.10.29 * 009.01.21 * 009.05.20

Barbie Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli doll, Bild Li ...

Other singles

* 007.xx.xxEverytime We Touch * 007.xx.xxHeavenly Star * 008.05.07Darling Wondering Staring / Star Fruits Surf Rider * 009.01.21Valentine Step * 009.06.17Aira no Kagaku CD (Airaの科学CD; Aira's Science CD) * 010.01.31Out edit. vol.1 * 011.04.20Hound Dog (featuring Terukado)

Digital downloads

* 008.10.29Knee-high Girl (ニーハイガール) * 009.07.01Bad Trip (feat. Terukado) * 009.11.04Plastic Live From Tokyo * 010.04.21Heat My Love * 010.05.05Level 5 * 010.10.13Aishi Aisarete Ikiru no Sa * 010.10.20 Why Two? * 015.09.21LIGHTSAVER (c/w I'LL AGAIN..) * 016.03.23Days * 016.04.13Detective A

Vinyl

* 009.10.19Aira Mitsuki "5" mix

DVDs

* 009.05.20Aira Mitsuki Special Live "090319" in LiquidRoom * 011.04.20??? LiVE IN LIQUIDROOM (DVD+CD)

Compilations

* 007.08.08Mega Trance 08 (#2 Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 J U☆Hey? & Red Clavia Remix * 008.07.16Beautiful Techno (#2 China Discotica (Substance Remix)) * 008.12.17Teardrop (#5 Senjou no Merry Christmas, No. 8 Mike Alway's Diary) * 009.11.11for Winter Music Lovers Techno Pop Xmas (#2 Senjou no Merry Christmas)

References

http://topgear.bz/aira_official/

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsuki, Aira 1988 births Japanese electronic musicians Japanese women pop singers Japanese pop musicians Japanese women singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters Living people People from Saitama (city) Musicians from Saitama Prefecture Japanese women in electronic music 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers