the Shiina Ringo thread

=P track 7 is sounding hot so far

Best 22 bucks you've spent yet?? :)

Am I the only one who wasn't turned off from their first viewing of OSCA?? Some of the instrumentation stood out to me as well as Shiina's vocals. I've only seen it once so far, but I liked it.

no i think this is finally the Jihen song that could get them noticed stateside, this kind of fun translates much more directly than what they've been going for on their last few singles

it feels strange to say that when she didn't write the song, but Tokyo Jihen is increasingly its own project and I love Tokyo Jihen.

I need to listen again (at work now). Doesn't seem to have much of a hook to it, which seems like kind of a big drawback for a single, but then I guess a lot of popular indie songs don't have much of a hook. I could see this thing appealing even more to prog. fans than some of their other songs. It definitely continues to work in prog-like ways.

much like prog, it's got dozens of things that would be hooks if they repeated. reminds me a bit of Tsumiki Asobi.

Shiina Ringo - Tsumiki Asobi
Description: Geisha, ninjas, chicken dancing, foam cube fighting and Bo Jackson, wind god

Nah, that's much more of a real pop song.

Well okay, maybe they are a bit similar. I'm glad the new track at least goes for some kind of hard-edged sound (as compared to more Papaya Mango type things).

Surmounter, I just want to say, don't feel bad if you don't get into the whole album immediately. I found it improved over repeated plays. I'd avoid making a snap judgment (especially a negative one, obviously). I still sometimes am baffled as to what she is going for in certain tracks, or at least passages. It's sometimes really hard to tell where she is playing off pop and where she is simply making pop (as if that could be a clear-cut thing, but it still seems really fuzzy in this case). There are some moments that just seem sublime, and then there are others where there might be something going on that I'm a little uncomfortable with, but then there are two other layers of sound that somehow making that less acceptable layer tolerable. (Usually it's a matter of something just super-sweet undercut by distortion or dissonance or just plain odd timbres.)

for me it was the distortion that made some of the ballads tolerable, but then I grew to love the ballads, and I'm now even fine with the ballads when she does them straight

STEM is the only single from Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana, and is
presented with the same symmetry (being the reason why Kuki (STEM) appears as track two of the three track single). Meisai and Ishiki also both have track lengths of 3:13, and Kuki (STEM) at 4:23.
Each version is slightly different from it's KSK counterpart, with Kuki (STEM) being in English.

'Sengo Saidaikyuu no Boufuuu Kennai Kashou' translates to 'The
Greatest Song After WWII Within the Sphere of the Storm', referring to the drastic change in style because of the American influence evident after WWII. 'Daimyou Asobi Hen' translates to 'A Daimyou at Play Version'. ...link

Daimyou = ancient fuedal lord. watched Shiina's short film Hyakuiro Megane again last week, which supposedly illustrates some of the themes of KZK. though most of the lyrics focus on an obsessively doomed relationship, there's a strong subtext concerning national identity, the ghosts of old Japan hiding within the modern-day world, the lover might be floating Japan itself. and it's in the music, the ancient Japanese instruments filtered into Osaka J-noise music, all in the service of jazz and rock songs (the infiltrating music of the enemy / doppelganger lover)... there's a lot going on with that record

linked many times on this thread but here they are one more time: http://freckle.tenkeimedia.com/nl/ringo/kalksamen.html

blog in the middle of three part comprehensive career overview w/ samples from april/may 2007. focusing on the pop rather than the weird. which is good, I know I probably frighten people off talking about otomo yoshihide & faust alla time

http://heartonastick.blog-city.com/shiinaringo01.htm
http://heartonastick.blog-city.com/shiinaringo02.htm

Here's some old footage I don't think I've seen before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcQtKh5BzYE

(I always live that song title.)

shoso strip is a fantastic release.

once the individual songs take shape after a few listens, the album is really hard to stop listening to. as mentioned waaay upthread, 'honnou' is stunning

once the individual songs take shape after a few listens

There's something oddly dense about the album. I know it took me a few listens to, as you say, sort out the outline of each song (even though I had a head start by virtue of having heard some songs previously).

Have you heard KZK?

third Tokyo Jihen album title is 'Variety' and is out September 26. Killer Tune single cover. 'Osca' single released tomorrow.

(w/ shouts to Orenji and all at Ringo Catalogue)

Looking forward to that new Tokyo Jihen album. [said in tone of TV new anchor banter.]

One thing about KZK that I'm not sure I've ever noted here is the use of offkilter rhythms in some songs. I need to sit down and focus as much as possible on the rhythms some time. It's often somewhat subtle, or if not subtle, overshadowed by other things going on.

Specifically, sometimes there will be overlapping rhythms that kind of pull in different directions but still work together. That's my non-technical description anyway.

rocket scientist,

i only have the first two solo records. the first one is very, very good. it has more immediacy than shoso, but is not as mature or rich.

i have heard a couple of tracks from kzk. sounds like she's doing something entirely different on that one, though i'm sure it's thoroughly rewarding. is next on the shopping list.

Okay. I don't want to detract from Shouso Strip, I just have nothing to say about it at the moment and am feeling KZK more.

that's cool :)

so it's 'shouso' not 'shoso'. my records only have the kanji on them...makes it very difficult for me to identify song titles and what not.

I usually see it as Shouso.

Since you are a fresh pair of ears (wrt Shouso Strip), I will ask what I asked earlier:

is "Byoushou Public" off Shouso Strip her tribute to the Butthole Surfers?

(Not thematically, but in some of the sounds.)

Is she really known as a Butthole Surfers fan???

I shouldn't really be surprised though, there's that story of her showing her label or whatever a list of her influences that was ten pages long.

Either way that tune is one of my favorites on that album.

Oh, I don't know if she is. It wouldn't surprise me though, especially given that particular song. I'd love to get my hands on her infamous multi-page list of influences.

Yeah, I wonder if Hanatarash is on it! :)

byoushou public... track 11 right?

fantastic song. excellent muffled vocal effect. nice spasms of guitar feedback. butthole surfers-esque? maybe just :)

damn there's a lot going on in these songs.

'Killer Tune' PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxwmK133lmg

well I mean I love this. once again I can't believe that I love this but there's no way around it. another psychotically cheery broadway musical number played way, way too fast, written by Izawa.

the 'OSCA' EP's second b-side, 'Crosswalk' is also by Izawa with lyrics by Ringo, and it's a perfect song. I agree with the Ringo Catalogue posters calling the new b-sides Beatles-via-Cardigans ballads, but there are weird production quirks that come out on headphones, her vocals run through delay and shortwave static, or gated distortion on the drums. with songs this great I'm feeling less uneasy about Ringo having turned over all the tunewritiing to the other band members, though that still hurts a bit

Can not wait for Sept 26

Why didn't I see this on my dinner break? Now I have to wait almost four hours to hear it.

The Electric Mole version of Kuki is back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEjxrBcd_U

still exploring 'shousou'

a record with seemingly limitless depth

Finally checking out the OSCA EP. I know it's not the best thing to say to promote her music, but her music catches up a lot of strands of classic rock and 70s pop/rock that seem to have mostly gone missing from current music. (Either that or they generally aren't used to shape anything I like.) Not thinking of "OSCA" itself.

I think I like this "Kaban no Nakami" song.

On first and a half listen, "Pinnochio" sounds a little too much like solo HZM and Hirama. Who wrote it?

I like Uki's noodling at around 2:20-2:30. I don't remember noticing that when listening on youtube.

I don't know about this new stuff, but I will repeat--Adult is a masterpiece. I remain a little baffled by the way it goes largely unnoticed.

cannot get enough. can't think of another rock band that even comes close to tokyo jihen in 2007. reminds me of queen circa sheer heart attack/night of the opera

come on now. What little I've heard I've liked, and the production is to die for, but queen circa SHA is kind of unbeatable.

I've got all these things packed in my bag
And what's inside here is a secret I won't share

They'd embarrass me so please don't ask
If I were dying, they'd be personal effects

This cracks me up somehow. It's an odd off-rhyme and bringing death into the issue seems strange, though unsurprising coming from Shiina Ringo. Also, as I keep saying in various ways, the music is like some pure sun-drenched 70s pop/rock that she's channeling.

Incidentally, creme1, if you are a long-time ILX poster under a new name, would you be willing to disclose past your past name(s)? I have no idea who you are.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Sprad/crosswalk.gif

love this song so much. Izawa tune, Shiina lyric. Pinocchio & Killer Tune are Izawa as well.

bars 5 & 6 of 'Pinocchio' are a straight lift of the 'You'll be older too" modulation from Paul's "When I'm 64"

rofl at Dominque getting testy at the mere concept of Shiina's albums competing w/ 30 year old Queen records. though I absolutely agree that TJ's kind of peerless right now

'crosswalk' is the english title, original title 'Kaban no Nakami (鞄の中身)' translates more precisely as 'the contents of my bag'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFuAIZ2PWU&mode=related&search=

after admiring her for a few years via videos i just splurged on a cdjapan order. got the 2 tj albums (new one on order) plus shouso strip and karuki zamen etc. i'm listening my way through but i love the melodic depth, the weird turns toward swing, jazz, showtunes, squealing hard rock. and the tokyo jihen rhythm section is totally great.

Tokyo Jihen's Adult sounds so good.

Still my favorite of '06.

first listen through was pretty terrifying, this is really not a Shiina album. anyone with Jpop allergies will run away from the cheer, Shiina's not writing the songs and the drama and darkness is gone, this is all sugar rush Pop (i.e. the kind of sound that gives many US listeners auto-headaches). perhaps once frecklegirl's translations show up we'll how completely twisted her lyrics are, but more than ever before she's really just another member of the band -- her vocal lines are mixed at an equal level to the instruments & she even shares lead vocals on a few tracks. as a fan of the earlier records where her voice / direction was the whole point, it's hard not to miss her and impatiently wait for a return

in the meantime there are so many catchy, addictive pop songs on this record they are all competing to get caught in my head at once -- I probably should have started a new thread with this because it's really not a Shiina Ringo album, but I totally love it

"Princess Monthly" probably my favorite one track but that's just now

http://ringoran.wordpress.com/

ringoran has two tracks up including 'Princess Monthly'

I haven't heard it all yet, although I've been checking out bits and pieces of it. I find it disappointing that what I've heard does basically sound like other J-pop/J-rock in general, more than most other material I've heard by SR (certainly) and even by Tokyo Jihen as a group. I also don't like something I can't really put my finger on exactly, but there's a prog. rock whimsy, let's say, in TJ's playing that is starting to get to me. I love the fact that they have a lot of skill as instrumentalists, but I don't care for the ironic-show-offy vibe I'm getting. Maybe this impression is coming from the videos? I was thinking that she always seems to have liked a rigid looking, almost robotic, band. Think "Meisai." It's as if Tokyo Jihen has become the pretend band in the "Meisai" video, if that makes any sense at all. Of course, this assumes that SR has much to do with the videos. I'm not sure.

(I'm not buying CDs right now, or this is one I would buy.)

Does Perpetua still visit ilx? I'm trying to remember the Shiina Ringo song he posted on Fluxblog 2 or 3 years ago.

I don't read fluxblog but I found out about Ringo when Said The Gramophone posted the KZK version of "Stem" in mid-2004

I hear what you're saying Rockist but the weird thing is, I think this is their first album where they've actually _retired_ the ironic distance. when Shiina started Jihen there was an interview statement about how the new band would aspire to bring the audience 'the very best in Japanese Pop' -- everyone expected a hyper-commercial return to her earlier rock hits, but instead they got this somewhat bent, ironic package that was way too self-conscious to actually work with most Jpop fans: the inside packaging for the debut, 'mainstream' but tell me this isn't more than just a little sarcastic: http://shiinaringo.se/pics/Tokyo%20Jihen/jihen1.jpg

now that other members are supplying the songs, I don't get that same ironic remove at all -- the music finally is goofy carefree (sometimes sliiightly wistful) fun as advertised, they've finally hit their target of making a savvy adult version of Jpop that's clever without that menacing edge or discomfort that Shiina's songs have

i.e. the edge that made Shiina / TJ appealing for many western listeners, the synthesis -- 'Adult' works because you get her uneasy songs arranged and played with spotless, overpolished but totally dedicated precision. with 'Variety' many of the longtime english speaking fans on the Electric Mole board feel angrily underwhelmed or even betrayed, they don't like much Jpop and they feel like they've been dragged here, but this has obviously been the goal from the beginning

I don't like most Jpop, it's not just that it's emulative it's just they always clean things up too much -- but I really love this new record

a lot!

I don't know if the irony is retired so much as flattened to the point of minimal difference. The album cover is a 're-photographed' snapshot of your typical mainstream J-variety show & what is that if not a continued insistence on distance or a level of removal? Not sure if I can apply that reading to the music yet (Kronekodow = easiest giveaway?) but I'm neither convinced that it's *just* J-pop *or* that self-consciousness is TJ's saving grace. Maybe I am reading too much into some death-of-author automated-band angle but I like most of it so far.

well, you're right, actually the irony is still there, and this keeps it distinct from most Jpop, still feels like it's geared more for adults than kids. to tone down my point -- relative to their previous two records, this is a huge leap closer to what it's modelled on

but it's weird, if 90's Jpop was modelled on various Western genres, this is more like a Japanese band consolidating the idea of 90's Jpop, very self-consciously