Say something interesting for once.
 

I'm listening to Ikiru now, and damn do I not sing a long and annoy my neighbours. I'm driven to post this thread based on this article http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/m...-ringo-feature which is very illuminating but falls under the SAME NARRATIVE of 'things went downhill after KZK.' Even the so-called haters (for the most part) have a more 3D opinion of things and I wish that instead of defending (and you guys are just as annoying), people would explain why her most recent music touches them. I feel kind of defensive myself in that I feel like I'm too dumb to fully appreciate her music, but at the same time I feel that I am very sensitive to what makes Ringo's music HER music beyond what is considered genius enough to fit some website's top 10 J-music list.

Some people don't listen to music because it touches them...I don't even bother to read Ringo's lyrics. Good pop music is merely pleasant to the ears, and causes the brain to release dopamine. When I hear Leading Lady, the music is so catchy that I do not feel any quality slide from her early work, that's why I can still appreciate it. In other words, she still has it.

What makes Ringo's music her music is kind of a silly question. I believe we are overthinking this, for she is the kind of singer that borrows this and that from other artists and put them together. She is a musical chameleon that satisfies people with broad musical taste. The constantly evolving sound is the major difference between her and other J-pop units.

Also, whether her music is above all other J-pop is not important, as there is a lot of good J-pop out there that may not be Ringo style, but just as melodic and pleasant to the ears.

Stop caring about what haters say, no matter how interesting it may seem, it shouldn't sway your own response towards it.

It's nice to tap into non-trolling Inseu for once, but what makes 'her music her music' is exactly the point of a SR forum to me, more than her being a genius or her being amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would just like to read interesting opinions.

I don't know if writing was ever her strength. My favorite songs of hers from KSK are Kuki and Ishiki. Both songs have awesome basslines and excellent instrumentation. Neither of the songs are strong melodically and I think would fall apart if they were performed on acoustic guitar.

You bring up Ikiru (which is one of my favorite songs) that isn't particularly strong instrumentation wise. Also if you isolated any of the instruments the individual parts wouldn't be particularly impressive. What is impressive is the melody and chord progression. I don't think Shiina writes awesome chord progressions or even melodies.

Shiina's songs that I like have weird elements in them like flutes or harpsichords. This new album for me is exciting that some of the new songs have elements I haven't heard from her before. I like that fuzz guitar solo on that one track for example.

Now the songs on the album that are like Nippon and Carnation are a bore for me because their emphasis is on the melody and chord progression.
Sorry for the long post.

"We hadn’t known it at the time, but we were witnessing the end of Sheena Ringo."

Rolled my eyes so hard at this point in the article.

Anyway - Shiina obviously means different things to different people, and like Inseu said she's sort of a chameleon. There's bound to be something someone will enjoy out of her entire catalog, whether it's from the various songs from her solo career, or from TJ. KZK fills a need for people wanting something a little more thought provoking in a musical experience, while stuff like MM or SS fulfill a more instant musical gratification (IMO). Her concerts (usually) offer a more unique visual experience and she's always keen on rearranging her songs to keep them fresh.

Inseu keeps talking about J-Pop, but it's hard for me to lump her into this category overall. Even that article mentions AKB48 a lot as some sort of comparison in recent popularity.

For me, the problem with Tokyo Jihen is that Shiina seemed to be focusing all her energy into the band and little to none on future solo releases. When Alex Turner paired up with Miles Kane for The Last Shadow Puppets, they did one album cycle and went back to their prospective bands.

I feel like her jumping back and forth between solo and band activities (with a tendency to do more with the latter) parallels what happened with the brilliant green green and the lead vocalist's side projects Tommy february6 and Tommy heavenly6. All three projects have the same primary composer and producer, but so many years in solo mode seem to have affected the band's future works.

Do you guys think the extended stints in Tokyo Jihen had any impact on Shiina's solo works? Do you think doing the Tokyo Jihen bit for a year or just bringing a couple new guys to jam in the studio for a fourth solo album right after touring for KSK would have resulted in "better" music? I'm sure she stashed tons of songs away before and during the Jihen years, but I feel like there'd be enough small changes in influence/mindset to have a significant impact on her solo stuff.

And I'm gonna have to disagree with the article's closing statement and throw Chara out there as a female Japanese musician who's got Shiina beat, just because she's been making great stuff nonstop since 1994. Obviously it's not a competition, but Chara has the distinct advantage of never bowing out to play politics in a band. Well, except for Mean Machine, a one-off band that only ever released one album.

I also don't get the author's point of comparing her to the entire Japanese scene, especially whoever's topping the charts. It sounds so much more ridiculous saying the Western equivalent: "Spoon was once a great escape from The Backstreet Boys" and ending with "One Direction is terrible; new Spoon sucks too because they also use synthesizers."

EDIT: And for saying so much, I feel like I didn't really relate all this to the actual topic. What I meant to say was that Tokyo Jihen is still HER music, as is all her solo works during and after Jihen ended, but spending too much time in the confines of the band ("Derr, make sure we put some keyboards in that song") may have negatively impacted her actual solo output and my own perspective of it. I don't ever think things like "her new album is terrible because she had to listen to the Ukizawa Monster trying to write songs", I just wonder what the impact might have been from switching gears for so long. For example, did she think, "Maaan, I need some accordion because the guys never let me do it."

The author writes for RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY.

RED BULL.

RED. BULL.

RED.

BULL.

To the threads topic: I can and have defended and explained myself to the bone why I love SG and other "Nu" era releases, it was becoming the DG cliche. BUT... there is nothing to defend with Sunny. I can SMELL the executive input. There is no art whatsoever. It's fun and nothing more, which is fine for a lot of listeners, but more of a Jihen trope to me and makes me wonder what the purpose of breaking up the band really was...

It's really painful for me to be negative towards a Ringo release like this, especially a solo album. I even can see the positive sides of Variety- often the dealbreaker album in her collection. Even that, I deem more important than Sunny, because it gave us the first glimpse of Ringo being mortal, along with not quite sounding like anything else. Sunny is the most unthoughtful release deemed an official album she's ever brought out IMO, and the lack of replay really shows.

Also @ whoever said Kuki isn't strong melodically: da fuq.

This question is so easy to answer you don't have to wonder. Of course there is an impact. She can still make Jihen style songs any time she want as she is a master of Jihen style music. Just listen to 自由へ道連れ, Nippon and 孤独のあかつき. She formed the band FFS - it's half of her career.

I'll be rather brief on this.

I don't think her music died after KZK. But I think like many artists, her sound has evolved over time. There's nothing wrong with that, or pointing that out. Ringo today sounds different than 15 years ago Ringo. So people who started with her might be disappointed in her current output.

I like her versatility. I like her mixing of different styles, sometimes even within the same song. I don't like songs that sound like any rando could have sung them or wrote them. She has a voice, sometimes it's hard to peg down.

I think most of her albums are incredibly strong on their own. Adult is #2 for me, behind KZK.

I think her performance has changed in some ways. I'm writing a paper on her now for my ethnomusicology class, and there seems to be more material for me to write about from about 2000-2007. People used to wear Japanese-style clothing (like traditional clothing, kimono etc.) to her shows, they don't do that so much anymore. She hasn't worn a kimono in ages it seems.

She wore one for the self-covers album and for the live she did recently. So.

Fun fact about me: when I listen to Muzai Moratorium & Shouso Strip... I SKIP A LOT OF SONGS... but later into the catalog I listen to her and Jihen's albums more completely. So what am I doing wrong?

Also, I remember the first time I listened to MM & SS before I was still really familiar with her work (it was '05)... I thought "I guess this is her earlier stuff from when she was more commercial" Lolll I don't know what's wrong with me.

I do think KSK is the peak/perfect album whatever blah blah that everyone else has said before, BUT I don't think what she did before was the most fantastic thing since sliced bread and I don't think what she did after was utter shit. I just love Ringo. She has a cool presence, an incredible voice blah blah etc/praise.

Another thing.. I may not always immediately like a song by her... but somehow they usually grow on me. I remember when I heard NIPPON I was like"... the fuck? This is stupiddddd hahaha" but now when I hear it in the context of HIT/Sunny I am like... this is so nice. I feel so good. So positive. SO SUNNY. The sun is bright and shining on our native home.

I just really love music in general.