the Shiina Ringo thread

hard to gauge since everything's selling less -- these days you can hit #1 there with 150-200,000 apparently? I don't know of a compiled list, I just remember the posts to EM in the weeks after each album & the discussions from the posters who lived in Japan discussing the campaigns / media reception to each album

& as for hunting down the CD, actually I'd say it's the opposite, people who have the CD should track down the mp3's.

also, most modest & underthought CD packaging for a Jihen album -ever-. one halfway funny picture of them in track suits, another one of them with their backs to the camera, even the font for the lyrics is kind of plain looking. usually the booklets / first-presses are worth $30 to me, but not this time around

except who am I kidding, like I'm going to stop buying them now. I should seperately insure the 'sh' section of my CD shelving rack

each of them have had at least 3 or 4 utterly addictive songs I can't stop playing so not only does it feel shallow to complain about her direction, it feels like missing the point.

How is it "shallow" to complain about her current direction?! Just because the past few albums have had three or four really good songs that hook you in? I don't get that. I agree that there have still been some really good songs on recent albums, but I expect more from SR. I don't want an album with three or four strong songs mixed with "Sweet Spot" and a bunch of other mediocrity.

As far as this phase of her career re-consolidating her position in j-pop, that's interesting, but it doesn't particularly matter to me (although I guess it could indirectly be a positive if it allows her to eventually put out better material or just keep on putting out a cluster of good tracks here and there).

Just because she's Japanese doesn't mean we all have to be completely loyal to the corporation forever.

It's worth noting that J-pop on the whole was also probably more interesting during the days of her early solo career. At the time I could even think of her as part of a field where other similarly accomplished (i.e. fun, slightly alternative) music was being made. Then it made less sense to think of her that way as she was clearly up to something else.

Even though TJ is popular & their sound is growing more accessible, I still can't really think of them as J-pop next to the likes of Koda Kumi or whatever. I sort of get the suspicion that she just really loves pop music (in the general sense) & is more assured & less bothered than before w/ approaching that material head-on. So maybe that comes across as misguided chutzpah w/ straight rock & jazz & r&b whereas before there was possibly some tortured internal art-slant on making tunes.

hey sir -- wasn't actually thinking of your posts as much as how unreadable Electric Mole forum became after Variety came out -- and shallow's not the right word for them either, it was almost shocking the degree to which those kids felt betrayed, they really turned on her, endless bile and outrage. but they're all still at the forum.

one of the main reasons I like her is because of the scale she's always worked on, not just getting to open concerts with an insane chorus of children assembled for just the first 1.5 songs but getting to do it for 20,000 at Budokan. so yeah while I am mildly unnerved by how easily the Vegas stuff comes to her (I skipped the 'Expo 08' DVD), it's not like I can watch those unbelievably magic Budokan clips and then turn my back when the coin flips over

xpost -- yeah me calling them j-pop, that is relative, and good point about how scary their mainstream's gotten in the last 10 years

I didn't think you were necessarily aiming those comments at me, but since I too complain, to some extent, about her direction, I figured I was included. I know what you mean about the level of vitriol on Electric Mole (and I don't hate Variety the way most of those folks do, though I do think it's very weak and problematic), and I don't have the same sense of betrayal, so maybe I don't need to defend myself here after all. (I was actually trying to stay off this thread for this latest round of comments, but the "superficial" thing got to me.)

(I know what you mean about the level of vitriol on Electric Mole

Not to mention the adolescent "Uki is gay" type comments from certain posters.)

I only visited the Electric Mole forums once, in lieu of Sanmon Gossip's release. As a young Smashing Pumpkins-head who frequented related message boards, resplendent with polls and disputes, which were all heat and nothing, I found a great deal of comparable matter in Electric Mole, particularly the restless and antithetical attitude of the betrayed, how they engage and immediately make necessary distance, and how they stand in rabid opposition to the remaining factions of unreasoned fandom.

Okay so it was like every fan message board ever. But regardless of how it resembles the whole, it is a bad scene.

Meanwhile, everytime I hear "OSCA" or "Killer Tune" (I sometimes am blinded by how much the song lives up to its title), I remember Variety in warm and glowing tones which don't actually exist. It's really a record that exhausts you with all its nothing by the halfway point. But those singles!

Man, sometimes Kameda's bass playing just jumps out at me, and it's happening as I listen once again to Adult. Not anything to add, but I don't normally tend to flip out that much over bass players.

Sports is not terrible, just very...light and I wish it was less poppy. It seems set to me that she's definitely changed direction now with the band set-up. I wouldn't be surprised to see one more solo album from her, at least before she officially retires. Or maybe not, because she already 'officially' retired. Considering how random she is, I wonder where she will be in ten years' time, if Tokyo Jihen will still be around then

Allaboutjazz likes teh Pe'z"

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36320

I think I'd be happy if Sports were just differently poppy. If anything, it seems too muso/prog/fusion-y for me, though I liked precisely those things as they were put together on Adult, so I don't know.

I guess there really should be a Tokyo Jihen thread. Kind of ridiculous putting Pe'z references under Shiina Ringo. (Kind of, but then again I would not have heard of the band otherwise, most likely.)

It was originally a Shiina Ringo fan's claims that Janelle Monae was the closest thing to an American Shiina Ringo that initially got me to listen to the Metropolis EP. I wasn't really into it, and didn't quite see the connection. Now that the ArchAndroid is out, I see much more similarity. (I do think Janelle Monae is far more reliable as a vocalist.) This seems like the sort of album Shiina Ringo wants to be making now, or should be making. To get really specific, "Faster and Faster" sounds like a song Tokyo Jihen wanted to write for their latest album. And as someone on Electric Mole pointed out, it even has a sound in the bridge that is very close to the beginning of "Noudouteki Sanpunkan."

Not that Tokyo Jihen could do anything as funky as the funkier songs here, but that's not really the comparison I'm making anyway. (Kameda could probably hold his own in a funk/R&B context, competing with African-American musicians working in that music. Not sure about the rest.)

Funny you should mention that, I was thinking similar things - waiting for Metropolis from my local library.

I hadn't made an explicit Monae/Ringo connection, but I did post something on Twitter about how people who like Janelle Monae who aren't listening to current J-pop are missing out.

What other J-pop do you think it similar to Monae?

I wouldn't point to anyone who's doing exactly what she's doing, but if you like Monae's stylistic jumpiness you're likely to enjoy Ayumi Hamasaki, whose albums are much more multifaceted than might be expected. Her new one, Rock 'n' Roll Circus, is pretty damn crazy.

Not that Tokyo Jihen could do anything as funky as the funkier songs here

Their bassist (or rather, Ringo's bassist for her entire recording career) is funky as hell!

That's who the Kameda I mentioned is.

There I go, not reading someone's whole post.

New Tokyo Jihen TV theme song can be heard faintly in the background of this trailer:

http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/atami/news/

Sounds pretty typical of her sound. Words in English, unfortunately. But it's too soon to judge, obviously.

Bump because I just noticed Milton Parker online and haven't seen him around lately.

hey it's the Shiina Ringo thread. thanks for posting trace of new song, it sounds like them

I've mostly been listening to field recordings of animals & other choral music recently (david hykes remaster of 'hearing solar winds' is worth hearing even if you think the original is unbeatable), but planning a road trip soon and I'm bringing KZK. and that hideous Perfume song that someone posted the video for on the other J-Pop thread, the one where they're shopping... truly horrifying but I downloaded it and I play it

Oh yeah, that one. Somehow I haven't fallen for its charms yet.

(i.e., I think you are all crazy)

it's less charming than usefully symptomatic

I think this is pretty bad (and I wish the Japanese weren't so infatuated with their singers singing in English):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBMH_Q5MiUQ

The band sounds okay and everything, but not much of a song really and her vocals are annoying.

Doing theme music for a TV detective show might just be the one thing that could bring out the absolute worst in SR and Tokyo Jihen.

Sometimes it feels as though she has intentionally embraced mediocrity.

I hadn't heard this live version of "Kimaru" (my favorite track on Sports that hadn't been previously released). Pretty nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJsWRXH2HIE

For all my complaining, I would pay a lot of money to see them live. And if anything, the ridiculous amount of talent in the band is what makes me frustrated when they don't live up to what I think is their potential. (I'm all TJ-reactivated since one of my nieces responded well to some videos I sent her.)

OSCA is an all time great vid, read that there's a new TJ live DVD out, is this from it?

Possibly. I only just found it while doing a youtube search for Kimaru videos. I haven't been following their story very closely after Sports left a bad taste in my mouth, but I guess I have to keep paying attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoGZIwLWvt0

"I want to become a pizza delivery man's girlfriend." Hahaha.

I'm not even sure what that's supposed to connote, if anything.

Also, Uki seems to be jamming more than usual on this live OSCA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoGZIwLWvt0

That was meant to be this:

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

Even her count-ins have symmetry.

Worst Tokyo Jihen costumes ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVatwqiw7ds

Phase II has touched the sacred "Sounan" and it doesn't sound bad, though Dynamite Out! still owns this one, I think:

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

"Zettaizetumei" from Sports sounds pretty good here too, I have to admit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lERlAzuc1qU&NR=1

Ultra C (which has the above Kimaru, Zettai Zetsumei, the alt. Sounan, etc.) might be their best DVD, end to end. The only real low point is Sweet Spot, but that song's hopeless. It got me to revisit Sports at least, which is something.

Oh cool, that's good to hear, might get on EBay and grab a copy.

I think I might have mentioned it upthread, there are some Sports track performed live on 'Music Japan' which are downloadable from the Sadistic Gossip blog. Watching them somehow made me turn a corner wrt my low opinion of Sports, now I'm digging it. You are right about Sweet Spot though.

Oh fuck, this is a great OSCA:

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

Seriously, does anyone understand the rationale behind these awful outfits? And I hate it when Shiina Ringo changes her beautiful hair color. Really strong performances though.