いよかん (iyokan) is a female singer who started posting songs she sang on niconico since November 2008. Her most favourited/Mylisted work is a cover of mathru’s Dancing Samurai with a (now famous) tegaki PV made by her friend. iyokan’s name comes from a Japanese citrus fruit.
iyokan’s voice is best described as relatively low, harmonized, and choral-like. She’s also capable of singing in either a female or male voice, and seems to like singing seperate parts in different voices by herself, like in her lone cover of 人柱アリス (Hitobashita Alice / Human Sacrifice Alice), a song with both male and female parts, and also in her “faux chorus” version of 桜ノ雨 (Sakura no Ame / Rain of Sakura). I’m assuming that she has had some experience of some sort singing in a chorus or in an a cappella style (or maybe even in opera), which shows since she sings her songs in that style akin to the level of a professional. iyokan’s style is not common at all among the singers at niconico, and most people probably like the regular pop or rock type of singers the best, but iyokan definitely deserves a lot more recognition for her extremely high quality work. (Her cover of Lilium is less a cover than a near-perfect copy. It’s about 90% close to the original rendition.)
As usual, you have to really listen to understand what I’m talking about, because it’s impossible for me to put music into words accurately. Please give her works a listen!
Essential Works:
1. メルト、来い (MELT, koi / MELT, come) (niconico link) **Highly Recommended**
2. 紡唄 -つむぎうた- (Tsunagi Uta / Spinning Song) (niconico link)
3. Lilium (From Elfen Lied) (niconico link)
iyokan’s Mylist: http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/9266510
Article at Niconico singers wiki: http://www41.atwiki.jp/niconico_singer/?page=いよかん (Japanese)
polymetrica 