Thread for METAFIVE (Yukihiro Takahasi, Cornelius, Towa Tei, Yoshinori Sunahara, Leo Imai, one other guy)

Because these guys are gonna rule, and I can't stop watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LBUEYGfisQ

first album coming 1/13, lets get excited!

wow

I'm in, I'm excited!

Great line-up, obviously, but I'm not feeling that song at all.

This makes me want to hear mid-'90s David Byrne cover "A View to a Kill"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkc5u9r5VF4

Lol @ YT's drum fill at 1:00

Good tune, way less schizoid than the first one, though I really wish they'd kept jamming at the end

Yeah it def gets better towards the middle/end, this is their 'Life In a Northern Town' to Don't Move's 'Hyperactive'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D4REZZtOOk

CD finally arrived, on first listen it's pretty good, offhand I'd say it's probably the best album any of these guys have been involved with in a long time. As much as I like YT I was a little worried at first that these guys might just be used as his backing band (like they were on the live disc), as it turns out Takahashi isn't any more involved than anyone else, check the credits here, it's about as evenly split as possible, and both of the songs Gondo writes the music for are kinda nuts, in a good way. The version of "Radio" on here is awesome by the way, so much crazier than the original, plus it eliminates that high-pitched noise that made the original hard to listen to. Downsides...every song is written like a single and it often feels like too many cooks, not necessarily a bad thing, just know that it's a pop album first. So yeah...definitely recommended

also wanted to point out, in hindsight, what a strange lineup this is. Gondo is the only one really known for playing an instrument (if he's known at all?) - YT and Imai are frontmen who (occasionally) play drums and guitar, the rest are DJ/producers. I can't think of another supergroup quite like it.

It's slowly growing on me, beyond the few that stuck out on first listen, like Gravetrippin' and the new version of Radio.

Have to laugh at YT's DGAF lyrics in Don't Move.

"thing thing about a thing.."

They even back-project the lyrics at concerts, cojones of steel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC1ywvkZtUA

yeah those are great, Albore and WGSF are definite highlights for me too. Luv U Tokio grew on me a lot, just one of those songs I can't stop from bouncing around in my head

new version of Radio is so incredibly good, kinda sad that the new Split Spirit doesn't quite live up to it, in fact it's missing the cymbal crash that made the original so great. I love that they kept the "Ghost..." part even though it doesn't make sense outside of the soundtrack

Funny how they project the little vocal inflections in the beginning as well. I remember Cornelius doing a remix of "Call Me Super Bad" which just deconstructed everything, then tried to put it back together piece by piece in other to emulate some sort of stiff funkiness. "Don't Move" reminds me a lot of that, I like how it's supposed to be this sort of loose funk jam that's really as tightly controlled as anything in the technopop genre.

Also - Imai is truly a strange singer, I checked out a couple of his solo albums and they're pretty good if all over the map. On one track he starts rapping like a dude who's never heard any hip-hop in his life. Kinda cool actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c54QV3p8U0

"Gravetrippin" from an upcoming live DVD. Yes I will be buying it. These guys are real fun to watch.

Wait, wtf, how did I never hear of this thing. Talk about putting the super back in supergroup.

new song from an upcoming EP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcNT3jyIehI

I really do marvel at how they sound like anything but a supergroup full of middle-aged guys

And I love how Yuki is still in such good voice, much prefer his style of singing these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91DqAOAx2tU

yeah that is pretty good. always thought he worked well in conjunction with other singers, part of why this band works so well for me

by the way, YT's facebook page is a lot of fun. mostly pictures of him having beers with dudes from this band or guys like Ryuichi Sakamoto

this is really cool :)

tt initially compared it to field music but now she's wearing the (cheap) virtual reality goggles i bought her for xmas and i think the music is suiting it quite well lol

The first track in this mix sounds like it might be a Sunahara track?

https://soundcloud.com/loaseries/loa-series-oo1-nika

I am so down for more M5 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTuNi8dsfto

Hell yes finally some good news

Those “studio live” videos they did are amazing, I still watch them pretty often

New vid, does it have vague Naughty Boys top-notes or am I projecting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3auu-E3srs

A lonely thread this, but what the hell, imma share this out on the Yuki thread too -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRQMwFS0ZU0

that's pretty good - gives me 90s Big Beat vibes. very different from the previous single. I went ahead and preordered the LP, as much as I hate importing stuff I missed out on the 1st one and now it's pretty much impossible to get.

given the degree to which Leo Imai has taken over the group I've started watching some of his solo stuff - he doesn't have a consistent style, everything he does is different, occasionally he hits on something ridiculous like this uhh nu-metal song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2rrwE87Qug

Oh it just occurred to me that “New Roses” is the name of a song on Neuromantic

"The 2nd ALBUM "META ATEM" (hereinafter referred to as 2 product numbers), which was scheduled to be released on August 11, will be discontinued.

Along with this, the release commemorative talk event scheduled at Tower Records Shibuya will also be cancelled. Please.

In addition, the regular radio program "METAFM" broadcast on InterFM897 will be discontinued due to band activities."

Well uh…..that’s a hell of a reaction

I mean that pretty much just means it’s coming out in November right?

so get this, Metafive IS playing at Fuji Rock. but they're doing it without Cornelius, Towa Tei, Takahashi AND Gondo. Cornelius out for obvious reasons, Takahashi still recovering from surgery, no idea on the other two. instead it's Leo Imai, Sunahara, and two session dudes. actually very curious how that's gonna sound!!

That is fucking odd (apart from Cornelius being let go, that makes sense)

?

https://www.change.org/p/%E3%83%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-metafive%E3%81%AE2nd-album-metaatem-%E7%99%BA%E5%A3%B2%E5%86%8D%E9%96%8B%E3%82%92%E6%B1%82%E3%82%81%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=09d1ace0-fdbb-11eb-a863-09096a895e24

do these petitions ever accomplish anything? I remember a similar one for Denki Groove a year back...

Fuji Rock set was pretty good! seems clear that Leo Imai is the main dude now so it still felt true to the band somehow. not having the horns or Cornelius sound effects declutters their sound quite a bit which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I missed YTs backup vocals & drumming but overall pretty impressed

Damn...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNEsz8a6AaQ

ok the new record finally leaked. it's quite good but kind of awkward because Leo Imai seems to be very much the main dude now. so when you hear one of the other guys singing its weird, especially since their voices are so much thinner. the songs are kind of cluttered but you don't really get the "supergroup" vibe from them. anyway, I think the plan is to transition to the 4-piece that did Fuji Rock, possibly under the name TESTSET. hopefully this record still comes out though, I'd totally buy it.

actually I've really come around to digging the 2nd album, thought it was a little overly busy and I still don't think "Environmental" fits in very well, but I think that's what you get with a band like this; "Communicator" also sticks out in a way that's at odds with the rest of the album. but the songs are very good! "Wife" and "Ain't No Fun" especially, real funky stuff. Leo Imai is a hilariously bad lyricist sometimes but he's got the confidence to pull it off!