And, here goes, my number one album of the year:
1. Seiko Oomori- Mahou Ga Tsukaenai Nara Shintai (and special mention to the rest of her 2013 releases).
Oomori- what I took as a small recommendation from a last.fm user has blossomed into being a major favourite artist in the space of a year. She has had an abundance of
EXCELLENT releases this year (which I will go into after my main review) but I feel
Mahou Ga... is the release which affected me most out of the lot, and is the reason I chose it above the rest.
So let me try to explain why I love this album so damn much. A lot of people who hear it for the first time only hear a 'normal folk' album. I admit, I was mainly attracted to the beautiful, catchy and rather cute songs at first (not to mention its
album cover). But no, there really is much more to this than meets the eye/ear. It just needs some
serious listening time to really appreciate, and that is it's true strength.
The whole thing has an air of freedom around it. Oomori is on her own record label (PINK Records) and you can feel the total creative control she has here. I still don't fully understand what she is trying to do, or what her agenda is, but it excites me a lot.
Her guitar work and vocals are
from the heart, they may be imperfect, but they affect me much more than any other album this year. She
means what she is playing, and you don't need to understand Japanese to feel it. Songs like
I Love You are intensely personal, Oomori is
bearing her soul to the listener, something that most singer/songwriters don't achieve until later in their career (be aware, Oomori is only 26 years old right now).
While it has is share of lighter tracks on here, the best ones are where its essentially just her and her guitar. The production is gorgeous and while not quite
lo-fi, it still sounds raw enough to give you that truly intimate, "doing it for art" feel that people yearn for. Coming from a Japanese pop artist, this is becoming less and less common, and it's a refreshing release amidst all the over-produced cookie-cutter releases of late.
I take this album everywhere. It's on my phone, in our car, I listened to it in hospital, I listen to it at work. It is totally fascinating no matter how many times I play it. I cannot recommend any other album above this one in 2013. It is
perfect to me.
There is hope for the future of Japanese music.
Her name is Seiko Oomori.
Special Mention: The OTHER Oomori Releases of 2013
Now Seiko Oomori is a very busy girl. She also releases a stack of other releases which are also great including:
Oomori Seiko Kuro Rekishi EP
Basically the rawest Oomori gets, comprised of demos and live takes of songs from
Mahou Ga... and her debut EP,
Pink. Also has demos of a couple of new tracks to appear on later releases. Good stuff. Raw and intimate. Digital only release.
2012Live 「Ongaku o suteyo, soshite ongaku e」
This year's main CD-R, sold at live venues. Comprised of songs from her 2012 tour. Beautifully recorded and performed, I love Oomori live.
Oomori Seiko at Fujimigaoka Church
This release is a personal favourite. Oomori brings her acoustic stylings to a church and it's recorded wonderfully, really capturing the acoustics of her surroundings. Offered in a HD download (DSD 5.6MhZ and 24 bit WAV) it's well worth the purchase. Comes with a very beautiful digital booklet too.
Zettai Shoujo
This release has just come out (yesterday to be exact). I have had the privilege to listen to it in full a couple of times, and it is just as great as the first album, possibly I will end up liking it more. The sound here is more varied, introducing idol pop, noise, harder rock and a focus on a 'band' sound. It has them beautiful guitar + voice songs too, so that's also great.
Poi Dol(with Lai Lai Lai Team)
This collab with Lai Lai Lai Team may be a better starting point for those more inclined to being impatient with intricate acoustic releases. Basically consisting of Oomori songs with a great indie rock backing band, as well as a great C-ute cover. Well worth anyone's time.
No Lie-Sense- First Suicide Note
This highly interesting collab between Keiichi Suzuki and KERA is a very disturbing release. Oomori does guest vocals on the last track, but only very briefly. Still, worth checking out if you are interested in the project.
DVD- Tsumaran Yoru wa Mou Yameta
Oomori's
SECOND DVD (yes, she already had one (a DVD-R) with The Pink Tokarev in the previous year called "Over The Party") features footage from her 2012 tour on the first disc and on the second disc has a tour documentary.
Phew think I'm done. Of course there is the 2012 releases too, which are great.
Anyway. I hope you enjoyed reading my top 20 list as much as I liked writing it. I hope I introduced or inspired you to check out something you may have missed. Thanks for reading!
In a couple of days I'll write up some special mentions of stuff that didn't quite make the list.