LDH, the company behind Exile, Sandaime J Soul Brothers and E-girls, seems to be on a mission to win the J-pop crown. Its latest salvo is themultimedia project High & Low, which consists of a drama, film, album and tour.
The album portion of the project, "High & Low Original Best Album," is just what you'd expect from LDH: EDM party jams. This two-disc set brings nothing new to the dance floor, reinforcing the company's reputation as musical regurgitators.
But not everything here is EDM. There are two songs by Ace Of Spades, the rock supergroup fronted by Exile's Takahiro, that sound surprisingly retro. There's also some hip-hop, courtesy of the Doberman Infinity unit, with one track sampling (covering?) U.S. rappers House of Pain's 1992 song "Jump Around" for "Jump Around ∞." Both discs end with awkward ballads, one by Ryuji Imaichi and the other by Sho Aoyagi. Perhaps this is an attempt to link the current LDH with the former one, one where they were not in a race to take the throne.
