the Shiina Ringo thread

I <3 Shoso Strip.

Anyway, I could still go.

http://shiinaringo.se/pics/Tokyo%20Jihen/jihen1.jpg

ok im ordering Adult right now....

http://www.everlasting-dream.net/ringo/specials/patipati99.htm

Yes.

I can see the reasons why Virgin hasn't even licensed her records in the States so far -- the english speaking world has low tolerance for pop sung in a different language. When an artist or group is selling out stadiums in Japan, the motivation to start over and slog through a tour of mid-sized clubs is low. And the few times there's been a push, the results have been mixed: Puffy, Dreams Come True, Utada Hikaru (Puffy only got a second chance after their tie-in cartoon show). So why should Virgin take a chance on an iconoclast cult-figure like Shiina...

Except I think it's completely obvious that she's the one with a chance to cross over here, Jpop for people who are usually allergic to Jpop. The sheer number of english fan sites is mindblowing, all in the relative absence of any professional critical support -- everything online is unedited, self-published, and there's a lot of it. She's really got to tour the States, it would be the loudest thing that's happened over here in some time.

http://www.pliink.com/mt/marxy/archives/000346.html

That's for sure (not that it's only true of us). I run into it a lot when I get excited about some new foreign language music.

I would go see her live.

also, doesn't it seem odd to say ringo is the best j-pop? if anything, she shows how to subvert j-pop, and make it art-rock

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").

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.

if you had to pick ONE shiina/jihen song to sell someone on her magic, what would it be?

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.

but any of those three would probably be enough to get you interested in the others