I would agree that her voice, and also her singing, are not as unimpeachable as her songwriting (and production--if she's involved with that a lot--I don't know).
What do you think of her voice on the Tokyo Jihen Dynamite Out! version of "Sounan"? It doesn't have the littlegirlishness of some pop singers, but also she isn't doing a lot of weird effects (like on her version of "The Lady is a Tramp").
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 27 April 2006 23:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dominique (dleone), Thursday, 27 April 2006 23:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 27 April 2006 23:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 28 April 2006 00:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― ryan (ryan), Friday, 28 April 2006 00:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 28 April 2006 00:42 (eighteen years ago) link
the only record she's done that's full on art rock is KZK... most of her releases are actually very much within the Jpop continuum, though the most extreme example. that's why I think she's the one that's going to make it here. that, and the fact that she is a mainstream artist in Japan: plays Budokan, stadium tours, a double platinum record, etc.
I did not like Jihen at first, the first record is a mixed bag. But the jump from the first one to Adult is so huge, I don't think we've seen the last of weird-Shiina.
Also, "Kurumaya-san" is a cover of an old Enka hit, so the melody is much more traditionally eastern. That song, though, it's amazing.
about her voice not grabbing you, well that's always an obstacle to listening, though Shiina's voice is one of the best things about the music for me, strung out between studied hit-the-abstract-jazz-note precision and total unhinged dementia. She's got more than a few personas.
― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 28 April 2006 01:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 28 April 2006 01:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 28 April 2006 01:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 28 April 2006 06:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 5 May 2006 20:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 5 May 2006 21:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 5 May 2006 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 5 May 2006 21:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 6 May 2006 13:05 (eighteen years ago) link
if you had to pick ONE shiina/jihen song to sell someone on her magic, what would it be?
― petra, Saturday, 6 May 2006 16:00 (eighteen years ago) link
Playing a video might speed up the process of winning over a new listener. It worked that way for me in this case, and I'm not usually that big on music videos (but I think she generally has good videos). If you go the video route, "Ringo No Uta" strikes me as a very good starting point. (Isn't this all going to depend on someone's tolerance for a little tweeness or occasional Beatlesesque orchestral segments, or just pleasant melodies.) "Instinct" also seems very immediately catchy to me, but the video will be a plus for some, a minus for others. "Yamini Furu Ame" is catchy, though a friend complained that the video was going to give her nightmares. It seems like fairly mild stuff to me, however. Tokyo Jihen's "Himitsu FOR DJ" was the first one I watched, I think, and I immediately became interested (but what would someone with a high resistance to slicked out cabaret pop jazz funk disco think?).
My pick for most perfect song at the moment is the Dynamite Out! version of Tokyo Jihen doing "Sounan." But it's a little more conventional than some of her other material (basically very melodic classic rock imo).
If none of this works, by them a spicy tuna roll and some iced green tea and then try again.
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 6 May 2006 18:18 (eighteen years ago) link
but any of those three would probably be enough to get you interested in the others
― milton parker (Jon L), Saturday, 6 May 2006 18:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― milton parker (Jon L), Saturday, 6 May 2006 19:03 (eighteen years ago) link
Rockist_Scientist OTM about the Beatlesque orchestrations - Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite was the first thing that came to mind when I first heard Poltergeist.
Karuki zamen kuru no hana was the most immediate album for me, although I think Shosu Strip is more obviously mainstream.
― Guilty Boksen (Bro_Danielson), Saturday, 6 May 2006 20:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 6 May 2006 22:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― petra, Saturday, 6 May 2006 22:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 6 May 2006 22:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 11:50 (eighteen years ago) link
Despite all of this, I still like it a lot, but I can't help wondering if I am not going to like Shoso Strip better overall. I will say that KZK works well as an album, as a whole, so that is probably part of its reputation as well.
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 16:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 16:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 17:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 17:15 (eighteen years ago) link
― ryan (ryan), Sunday, 7 May 2006 18:59 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.thetokyoincidents.com/archives/2006/01/adult_impressio.html
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 7 May 2006 20:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 11:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 22 May 2006 13:05 (eighteen years ago) link
almost woke this thread up last night -- I bought that bootlegged Hibari Misora DVD of her NHK special from Barbara's Enka site. Misora's really something, and the original version of "Kurumaya-san" is mindblowing. Planning to transfer the audio from the disc, I'll post an mp3 when I get back.
Enka's very interesting stuff; coming right out of WWII, the instrumentation is straight up big band & western derived, but all the vocal styles sung on top are still pure pentatonic classic japanese vocal lines, dramatic recitationals w/ beautifully ornamented melodies, much more of a striking hybrid than what j-pop has become for the last 15 years or so.
Enka is song of resignation. Resignation must be sweet so that it is endurable.
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 22 May 2006 17:27 (eighteen years ago) link
note symmetrical min:sec values of album length
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Sprad/KZK.png
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 22 May 2006 17:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Hal! Jordan! HAL! JORDAN! (Barima), Monday, 22 May 2006 21:01 (eighteen years ago) link
I would have to agree that "Torikoshi Gurou" is a weak point, although I like "Okonomi de" (which frankly reminds me of one of those 70s Todd Rundgren hits--not exactly, of course).
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 22 May 2006 21:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 22 May 2006 22:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 22 May 2006 22:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― Lingbertt, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 00:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― Lingbertt, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 00:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― BARMS, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 07:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 10:11 (eighteen years ago) link
anyway here's the hisari mibora version of 'kurumaya-san', transferred from that TV special -- I doubt the studio version is this dramatic: http://www.sendspace.com/file/d66t45
― milton parker (Jon L), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 03:52 (eighteen years ago) link
― A. Lingbert (A. Lingbert), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 04:49 (eighteen years ago) link
http://seitekihealing3.tripod.com/1/PDVD_042.JPG
― milton parker (Jon L), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 04:56 (eighteen years ago) link
might as well just link the whole site, it's a bizarre html simulation of the 'seiteki healing 3' DVD menu w/ screen captures
http://seitekihealing3.tripod.com/
― milton parker (Jon L), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 05:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― BARMS, Wednesday, 24 May 2006 13:06 (eighteen years ago) link
Hisari Mibora's "Kurumaya-san" is great. Any idea when the TV special was recorded? How long did it take for them to get such a workable fusion of western big band music and traditional Japanese music, after WWII? (Was it maybe already in the works, despite the war?)
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:02 (eighteen years ago) link