[SR] 2006.11.11 - Karisome Otome (DEATH JAZZ ver.) (iTunes) [Single]
 

カリソメ乙女（DEATH JAZZ ver.） (Karisome Otome (DEATH JAZZ ver.)


A collaboration with SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS.

Between all of the people saying Karisome Otome (DEATH JAZZ ver.) is great or it sucks, between all of the "it's better or worse than..." examples - there is one very important comparison missing from the discussions I've seen.

You're supposed to be comparing it to everything that SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS has ever done without Shiina Ringo, rather than comparing it to everything Shiina Ringo has done without SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS.

Not only isn't it the worst thing Shiina Ringo has ever done, but it's also not the best thing SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS has ever done. The sooner everyone realizes that, the sooner we can get back on-topic in the News board.

Who should we blame then? SOIL&PIMP or Shiina Ringo?
Tbh, I don't get your point lol.

Heh.

Go listen to a bunch of SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS so I won't have to tell you what your opinion is.

(it's all Shiina Ringo's fault - she was holding them back from being the complete monsters they're supposed to be)

As far as I know, "Karisome Otome" is a song written by Shiina Ringo and the DEATH JAZZ ver. is an arrangement by Soil & "Pimp" Sessions. Then we have the TAMEIKESANNOH ver. that has an arrangement by Saitou Neko. Why can't we compare both versions?

Also, I don't see any problem in comparing the Soil & "Pimp" version with Solo Ringo. It's the same as comparing Tokyo Jihen with Solo Ringo, and we do it all the time.

Ringo may have better or worse songs, and Soil & "Pimp" too, but we are allowed to have an opinion on the final result of this collab. And my opinion is that there are better Ringo (only) songs to include in her next solo album, if re-hashing is absolutely necessary.

Btw, I just realized that the Ringo EXPO version of "Karisome Otome" is the DEAH JAZZ ver. without Soil & "Pimp" Sessions. And yet, in the official tracklist, they only label it as "カリソメ乙女" (no indication of a version whatsoever). So I guess that is what we'll get in the new album.
After all, this was the first version of this song.

Death Jazz was a bad idea. Karisome Otome is a good song, SAPS is a band that some people say as good (I'll defer to Glath and JR on this one). However the two didnt get along well together and created a terrible mess of a song. I dont blame SAPS, I blame Shiina, and that doesn't not make Death Jazz any more listenable.

I'm not saying it's invalid to compare this to other versions of the same song, or to other Shiina Ringo songs. I just mean the comparisons on that side of the coin have been done to death already. If you're familiar with both sides (the Shiina Ringo discography versus the SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS discography), then you can answer the question of "Who was given less leeway to do what they normally do best?".

Not only only has SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS done much better, but perhaps Saito Neko has done better outside of Shiina Ringo's productions too, though 'discovering' him is much more internationally difficult to do, and I don't want to stray off-topic here.

My point is, SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS is not a band you should be combining with a vocalist. In order for a good vocalist to show off how good he/she actually is, the band can't be anywhere near as crazy as they'd normally be. They're not Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. They aren't good independently of whether or not there's a vocalist around - it's not a regular deal for them to have vocalists come and go. SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS is structured to really abuse the fact that someone else is never claiming center-of-attention. So this song in any not-strictly-instrumental arrangement basically cripples them - though admittedly not much more or less than any other Shiina Ringo song would cripple them. They just need to stay away from serious vocalists, and Shiina Ringo is no exception.