of course it was intentional. Intentional and moronic and it really kills the album

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it kills the album...thought it definitely ruins a few songs, like Yume no Ato....what I think ruins the album were some very weak songs (Bokoku jyoucho, Service, Ekimae). What I've realized with Tokyo Jihen lately is that I can't like on album in particular because none of them are as perfect as any Shiina release (therefore, I think, Tokyo Jihen is not making releases as good overall as they can be). Song writing aside, Kyoiku had this mixing problem, Adult flowed nice but wasn't particularly memorable, and Variety sounds clean but in the sense that they were using recordings instead of live instruments. I can like each album for those strengths (though not so much for Variety b/c song writing counts a lot in my book) but I can't put one over the other anymore esp. Adult and Kyoiku. I guess what I'm saying is that Tokyo Jihen could be better, I think they definitely have that capability (even with their current lineup) but they're not living up to their potential (...I sound like a teacher -_-). I mean they're kind of like a super band (I think any band that has Shiina Ringo must be a super band...Kameda can count too since he has produced so much.) they ought to sound awesome (but I think they left that awesome in Dynamite Out :().

I think Ekimae and Yume no Ato suffer from the heavy compression the most, what with the piano being that muffled (with Genjitsu ni Oite surviving intact for the most part).

The mistake is Hyori. Hyori is the word normally, but because of the "ou" sound at the end of Gunjou, the Hyo sound gets "voiced" up to Byo.

Also, as much as I trash this record for its production; this is the only record in the discography where Hirama plays. So that alone is a compelling argument for "fav album..."

(...even if HZM totally drowns him out most of the time ;))

just like the number 800. Eight is hachi, 100 is hyaku, but 800 is not hachihyaku; it gets voiced to happyaku tho that doesn't make "pyaku" a word. (well, in that sense)

If you want to get really technical it'd be like "Gunjou-biyori" or "Gunjoubiyori" as a one-word compound almost, even though it's made up of two words. And yeah, if you were to write it in hiragana, and you're still keeping the two words next to each other, it's ぐんじょうびより. Replace, yes.

It's the same for a Mai Hoshimura song called 桜日和 or "Sakura-biyori." You sometimes see people who got it wrong saying "Sakura Hiyori" but since an actual line of the song goes "sakura-biyori," yeaaah... XD

Lol at over a year later. But in all seriousness, regardless of 5 pages of hate for the sound quality, I actually think it was seriously effective. Not all songs were too heavy with it, but the raw 90s-LQ-recording feel really worked, in my opinion. It's almost nostalgic, tbh.

I never minded the sound quality, in fact I liked the distortion and that lo-fi-ness from the start. It wasn't like PJ Harvey's Rid of Me where I really had to get used to it - that was very raw.

I LOVE this album. I don't have words for how amazing this album is to me. I think Ringo's voice was fantastic and raw and beautiful as well as sexy all the way through. I also think that the music in general was very very well done. It has a complexity that I really love.

Genjitsu Wo Warau's lyrics are brilliant as well. So sexy.

<3

I don't quite know what I feel about Kyouiku , but I think in Feb, closer to Sports release I'll give it a listen. Actually, I think I'll listen to all of TJ's albums and B-Sides and do mini-reviews of them...