the Shiina Ringo thread

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/photos/entertainments/entertainers/081201/tnr0812010841005-p2.jpg

from this weekend's 10th anniversary concerts at Saitama Super Arena

http://www.japan-zone.com/news/2008/12/01/shiina_ringo_celebrates_ten_years.shtml

Vegas Level

incredible

still kickin' it

a review of the new 6DVD box of her solo albums (in spanish, but with pictures)

http://eiko-moogles.livejournal.com/11806.html

Are these just DVDs for the audio remastering of the albums then? Or there's new video content or both?

I couldn't tell if those snapshots were just intro bits, or things that last for the entirety of each album.

96kHz / 24 bit remasters of the albums, introduced briefly by Ringo & then the songs are accompanied by abstract visuals.

the box is already sold out online, the copies in the stores are the last copies available. I already own every note, this is a new high in pointless temptation

Isn't it about time for a new Jihen album? I've heard no news of what's going on with them. Enough with these 10-year anniversary releases.

It was 18 months between the last two releases, so if there was one this spring it would make sense - but she's been busy with the solo shows and 10th anniversary stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if it took longer. Especially if she went back to writing most of the band's material.

(Man she's never gonna stick to a single English spelling of her name, is she?)

not too crazy about this but just so I can find it again in a few months, here's the song Shiina wrote for Puffy

PUFFY - 日和姫

she's mixing and matching from her old singles, it's almost maddening how at any one moment you can almost hear which of her songs she's directly referencing before she diverts to another. which is what Puffy always does, one referential song in each genre per album, only this time they commissioned the actual person to write the song for them instead of assembling a Beatles / ELO / Avril / rollerdisco / grunge pastiche... even the video is faux-Shiina.

I guess a collaboration was inevitable, and this is exactly what I thought it'd be like... more downtime

I'd like this if she were singing it herself. In hindsight this really underlines what she brought to 'Variety' -- other people's songs sound like hers if she's the one singing them.

just noticed frecklegirl updated her site with translations for Shiina's lyrics for Variety and they're pretty good. I think I prefer her hyper-literal, blocky translations, they're awkward to read but they seem more accurate to the concepts than some other people's attempts to force the lyrics to flow in the same way the originals do

Pretty spot on, Milton. (it really is a faux-Shiina video!) I am a little more annoyed because it sounds so obviously like a Shiina "remix", but it's really not suited for Puffy's singing style at all, while the aforementioned ELO/Beatles clones and such generally have. Compare that to Amagasa that she wrote for TOKIO:

Their vocal style suits this Killer-tune clone much better. Then again it's kind of weird, since she didn't compose Killer-tune in the first place... I wonder if her bandmate is okay with that!

Frecklegirl's translations are definitely preferable to the other stuff I've seen out there...

This is just a preference with me, I expect to be alone with it, etc. but I try to avoid english translations of the lyrics of Ringo songs.

I don't mind translations for the song titles, only for reference sake in conversation. But with Ringo, as opposed to other Japanese pop/rock artists, she's made the Japanese in her work a scavenger hunt even for more interested scholars in Japan, whereas almost any other Japanese artist hands you the English version, or names half their songs using the English/Roman alphabet. (Variety seems to be more a little more inclusive with English for the first time in forever, though, hmmm)

I've always wanted to learn Japanese, but Ringo has kinda forced to start learning parts of it on my own, so I don't really want to be given the meanings/translations of the lyrics, because it distracts me from my MISSION. (heh heh)

while i've now heard, played repeatedly and absorbed a lot of shiina ringo's material, i always feel behind the pace when i consult this thread, because i'm not quite at the point where i can effectively follow what she's doing in the present. for instance, i'm still playing KZK and adult fairly regularly, and not yet feeling compelled to move on. KZK is somehow an inherently steamy record. i think the power of the vocals on this one lie in their subtlety and the little nuances in the delivery that really get under your skin. and then of course the musical arrangements and production are really something to behold.

i'm still playing KZK and adult fairly regularly

These are the albums I go back to the most.

yeah, and i mean those two had much less immediacy, i thought when compared to much of her other stuff. i even had trouble telling some of the tracks apart for a while - took me some really involved listening and an ear for detail to appreciate the greatness of them.

Actually, Adult was pretty immediate for me. KZK took a little longer.

In the library, listening to some Tokyo Jihen playlists on headphones, from youtube no less, and I continue to be impressed with how well-constructed a lot of this music is. Noticing new details here and there thanks to the headphones. Variety may be a flawed album, but extract a lot of the tracks, re-arrange them with some others, and they are pretty amazing. Also, say, the EP version of "Shuraba" is different enough from the album version to win them some more credit.

Adult - solid album, non-album tracks on EPs felt like leftovers
Variety - scattered album, some of the best tracks saved for b-sides & a non-album single.

review of 10th anniversary show while waiting for the DVD - http://www.jame-world.com/uk/article.php?id=6761

some good reviews here - http://www.jrawk.com/Content/etc/features/recommended-20-2008.html

I only just picked out the name "Pinocchio" in the words to that song, just now, listening with headphones, even though I've heard the songs dozens of time. (I guess my brain just normally turns off word parsing figuring it's all in Japanese anyway.)

RINGO EXPO 08 01 - I like how the video screen just stays zoomed in on the cobwebbed antlers instead of her face
RINGO EXPO 08 02
RINGO EXPO 08 03 - this version of 'gamble', straight to your grandma
RINGO EXPO 08 04

seems like one to pass on. spectacular like Vegas. instead of weird new arrangements of her hits, these versions are clones of the studio records, and Saito's orchestral arrangements are much more anonymous than his big band arrangements. kind of glad this endless 10th anniversary year is over.

this DVD w/ Saito's big band, much much better

Shiina Ringo's new single・'be superfluous wealth',
2009 May 27 release date TOCT-40255 / ￥ 1,000 (tax included)
Friday ★ TBS drama series "Smile" theme song

Does that mean a new solo record is coming out?

Does that mean a new solo record is coming out?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TOCT-26840

Nice!!!

Are you sure this is going to be new recordings, and preferably new songs, or is it possible this is another repackaging thing?

1. 流行 ryuukou / vogue
2. 労働者 roudousha / the laborer
3. 密偵物語 mittei monogatari / a spy's tale
4. ○地点から maru chiten kara / from point O
5. カリソメ乙女 karisome otome (death jazz version) / temporary virgin DEATH JAZZ version
6. 都合の好い身体　 tsugou no ii karada / a profitable body
7. 旬 shun / season
8. 二人ぼっち時間 futari bocchi jikan / time for the two of us
9. マヤカシ優男 mayakashi yasaotoko / the phony gentleman
10. 尖った手口 togatta teguchi / sharpened tricks
11. 色恋沙汰 irokoizata / love affair
12. 凡才肌 bonsai hada / mediocre skin
13. 余興 yokyou / sideshow

bonus
14. 丸の内サディスティック (EXPO Ver.) / marunouchi sadistic (EXPO Ver.)

(translations courtesy of kuro_neko, shoutouts to all at electric mole -- the thread on this release is already 11 pages long)

Shit, I need to re-register over there.

they're not saying much, half of them already have their knives out. the loudest, most active posters aren't really Jihen fans, they wish she stayed in 2000-2003, so the forum is usually too tough a read for me.

her symmetrical song titles are particularly locked in and conceptually mirrored this time around. I am not anything but psyched for this.

from point O <> sharpened tricks

emoticon

most active posters aren't really Jihen fans, they wish she stayed in 2000-2003, so the forum is usually too tough a read for me.

Oh yeah, I've read enough to gather that. (Except I thought there was a lot of love for the original Tokyo Jihen lineup.

(At least as manifested in live recordings.)

I have to admit I was a tad disappointed by her last "solo" album but still got major love for everything she's done, recent Jihen included.

yeah they liked Hirama. his noise guitar solos & stage energy was the one thing in the band that bridged the new cabaret direction of Jihen with her older rock albums, and when she axed him in favor of Uki's fusion guitar and Jihen went full on classical jazz-pop... you seldom see fans that outraged, they really felt betrayed. But that's where the band was going the whole time, Hirama already seemed kind of anachronistic on that first record

I think Jihen Phase 2 made better albums, but Phase 1 live circa Dynamite Out DVD = the force

xpost
the DVDs that show the big band playing Saito's arrangements live are amazing -- you can sort of see why she said OK to doing an album of polished studio versions, but as a studio album it sounds like too much of a retread. But the Dai Ikkai Ringohan Taikai no Moyo DVD >>> Heisei Fuuzoku CD

I wish "Karisome Otome (DEATH JAZZ ver.)" weren't on this, because (a) I don't like it much and (b) it's a rehash. Maybe a studio version will be better than the crazy Japanese TV show live version.

i prefer tokyo jihen phase ii and cannot wait for this

I really liked the Death Jazz version over the one that went on the album, myself. Plus it was a digital only single, so I can understand why that did this rehash (though yeah I would probably prefer a new track over it, too).

Anyone know what happened to the Freckle site? It seems to be down.

This is okay on first listen. Okay, not more than that for now.

(And is it or isn't it on the new album? Does anyone here know?)

However, perhaps feminist forcefulness is what mainstream Japanese pop needs. Strong female acts like Shiina Ringo and Yuki have enjoyed huge commercial success and represent a more substantial appreciation of womanhood by Japan's pop-loving masses. What's clear is that, with female-fronted bands continuing to reign supreme, Japan's gender roles are slowly changing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/05/turning-japanese-rock-chick

I hope her name isn't going to become so widely mentioned in the English language music press that I won't be able to complain about the lack of mentions any more.

I agree, it's just okay. Surprising choice, pretty low-key song (and video as well, no Ringo in it at all).

single is not on the album (happily) -- it's the theme song to a new japanese prime time soap opera / drama show called 'smile' which is primed to be a huge hit. the song did grow on me a bit, I like how the last three minutes of the song are basically one long guitar solo that starts out george harrison and then gradually turns david gilmour (a user on EM noted that the video's basically a reference to the pink floyd collage at the end of Zabriskie Point)

album cover art up: http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/3586298

we knew the b-side would be weirder

'superficial gossip' (non-album title track b-side)

we knew the b-side would be weirder

I thought I saw her showing off her scars on one of those Japanese interview shows posted on youtube recently, so that makes more sense now.

And the single is. . . hmmm. I can live with this, but don't have any strong reaction, except I kind of like it best at the end when it's more instrumental. Sounds very international pop if you know what I mean.

Yeah, I kind of follow you there, with the style of that track. I like the B-side, though... and the back image, and how the barcode is just slightly placed underneath the fingertip in that image. That back scar is a provocative image, but I wonder if there's any meaning to it or if it was just time to get around to using it. Thanks for the info, Milton.

Also realizing obviously that the front of the single really prominently features the asymmetrical collarbone, too..

which makes it more like the packaging "Ringo No Uta" than anything else she's done that I've seen, which makes sense if this is a resumption of her solo career. That's more or less what I thought of the scars too, they are part of the SR mystique, part of her identity, so it's almost like "This is not Tokyo Jihen.

It's not looking good:

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

(Okay maybe I should wait until I've heard more than a minute and a half, but I am not excited by this sound at all.)

yeah I'd be amazed if I learn to like that one. and the production for the video is so low key. one other song has leaked, and it's another theme song, this time for a kids show. it's better than 'shun', but similar, so at this point I'm just waiting for the record

listening to Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana for the first time in a while, it's one of the pinnacles of the 00s imho. what a fucking album

No argument here.

and i haven't heard many other albums this decade that work so well in a classic album sense; it never feels too long, all of the songs seem of a piece, as if a lot of time an effort when in the sequencing. not that this counts for anything, but i will still be listening in 10, 20, 30 years time.

total time = 50:05

lol @ flesh-colored guitar