New Jihen album: Dai Hakken [2011.06.29]

[a_grumble_cake]

I mentioned it in the single thread but I personally believe Onna no ko wa dare demo was written for or altered to go with the maquillage "I'm virgin" slogan. It could be the other way around but that seems less likely.

[Nimh]

Some trivia from the TJ site:

--The demo version of "Sora ga" was called "Breast."

--Shiina *wanted* to do the Shiseido CM with "Onna no ko wa."

--Kameda says "Onna no ko wa" is reformist and based precisely on "traditional good music."

--More on "Onna"--the opening line about a girl being a wizard or magician is like the opening line of a story. Site says the content of the song is fresh, but the Shiina Ringo impression of a mature woman gone to extremes and using a name like "girl" is surprising. Shiina states that when she was around 20 years old and eager to establish her identity, that there were a lot of words she didn't want to use. "Girl" was one of those words. But now that time has passed, and music has given her the word to use. "Girl" and "lady" are used the same, but the concepts are different. She thinks if she wasn't a "girl," the song would not exist.

--They're still working on the album.

[TurtleFu]

Maybe if Shiina was Western artist, I would agree with you Jihad. But the fact is, in Japan, this behavior is not uncommon, and it does not carry the stigma that the Western world associates with "selling out". Commercial tie-ins are common, and in some ways even expected.
If the song is good, I don't care if she chose to allow it to be used in a commercial. We have never gotten any indication that she wrote the songs specifically for the commercial.

I understand why some artists don't want to do endorsements, or have their songs used commercially. Like Zoe Keating. But I don't think Shiina is wrong, in the context of Japanese commercial society, to have her songs used in commercials.

I never thought the Seiteki Healing CMs were meant to be bitter parodies. She just seemed to be having fun. After all, they WERE all real products, so in some ways they are actually real CMs.

[Nimh]

Originally Posted by TurtleFu

We have never gotten any indication that she wrote the songs specifically for the commercial.

On the Jihen site there's a long interview that gets into everything:
http://www.emimusic.jp/tokyojihen/special/?cat=7

They didn't have "Dopamint!" ahead of time. They got together *after* Glico approached them and bashed around ideas, and right at the deadline, the CM director chose Izawa's composition. But while they were brainstorming, they thought they had some really good pieces and decided to extend some of that into the new album.

And to answer grumble cake about the Shinseidou CM: "Virgin" is the only word they wanted to use in the spot, and they had to use it within 7 seconds--the length of the spot. She said she already had a song suited for that, and was working on a demo, but the "swing" vibe was difficult to get across on the demo. She figured if she couldn't get the "swing" in the demo, she wasn't going to send it out. She was putting it off when Shinseidou approached, and then she figured out how to add the swing.

[vielleicht]

Originally Posted by Nimh

Shiina doesn't need the money. But maybe the rest of the band could use a few million, and they can't do it without her.

Should she tell the band "Hey, I'm stinking rich fellas, but I'm not going to lift a finger to help you get rich, because, you know, I HAVE INTEGRITY."

Maybe she needs money for her son, haha.

[ChickShhh]

Originally Posted by Nimh

They didn't have "Dopamint!" ahead of time. They got together *after* Glico approached them and bashed around ideas, and right at the deadline, the CM director chose Izawa's composition.

Okay now. Who's the CM director? I'm gonna blacklist him/her/it.

[xephyr]

I think it's ridiculous that people believe artists shouldn't do stuff for money. As much as it's "for the sake of art" or whatever, it's their job and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't want to get paid. As long as you're not selling your soul and integrity for some cash, it's really not a big deal. It's hard for people outside of the media industry to understand because they don't think of 'art' being work in the same regard of whatever their job is.

[TurtleFu]

I think it's Kodama Yuichi, who's a really well-respected music video and commercial director.

EDIT: It made me think of Joss Stone, who's a-okay with piracy (because she hates the business part of the music business) but has done commercials and ads.

[Tokyo Jihad]

We all realize what most musicians do for money is "sell albums" and "perform live shows" right?

[a_grumble_cake]

Originally Posted by Nimh

--The demo version of "Sora ga" was called "Breast."

lol what

thanks for the info nimh