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Old 2015.07.14, 07:33 AM   #771
Scribble R
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Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
What Baruga said.

I wanted to comment on Scribble R's comment: why I liked Sunny, but not Sampukan.

Sampukan was a part of Shiina's "paint by numbers" era. I felt this era was particularly uninspired and maybe in attempt to jump start the creative process, she seemed to pick a style of song. But it never felt like she ever made these songs "hers." They were just kind of generic or corny.

Sunny felt like Shiina was in the drivers seat. Yeah, half the album was old stuff and some of this older material was bland, but the more recent, original work was more interesting - more exciting. More "Shiina Ringo" than most of what we got post-"Ringo no Uta." She felt in command. She wasn't letting some style or collaborator drive.

Sunny has its sore spots. Its not as good as Reimports was. The mastering is extreme, but its no more offensive or incongruous to the material than Reimports (or Kyouiku.)

Sampukan felt labored. Sunny felt invested. That's just my interpretation of what I hear though.
I agree with Baruga's post too. She's used autotune in the past, and it's been clearly for effect. Autotune is used to cover up imperfect vocals, but if there's an artist who sings in spite of imperfect vocals, it's Shiina Ringo (and Ukigumo :p). So when she uses it, it's for effect. I do feel that some of you guys are too locked into the autotune is automatically bad mentality to actually see what it's doing here.

3min when it came out, was fresh. I actually miss that era. At first, it seemed that SR was doing a 'groovy by numbers' song, but it's much more than that. I've posted why before.

I get that 3min is more immediately familiar than some of the new Sunny tracks, and I agree with your Sunny review in that you couldn't instantly tag some of the tracks as being x or y. Especially 'Ocean of Full of Trees' even if Himitsu was the more convincing song.

I don't think this is really worse than anything from Daihakken, but on its own, it doesn't surprise as much as you'd want from post-Jihen work (in the way that even Irohanihoeto, Reimport and Sunny) does. That slight electro-swingish distortion though, is attractive and could hint towards a surprising album, but we know that she will probably package it with those earlier 'rock' singles.
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Old 2015.07.14, 07:46 AM   #772
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Pretty sure were never gonna be surprised by Ringo anymore. And that's fine. But recycling the melody from Noudoteki and simply using autotune to disguise this, all while existing only to promote Coke is the absolute most disgusting thing Ringo has ever done. I find it offensive as a fan, and theres nothing I can remotely say in its defense. Abhorrent.

I have no hope for the other aside either.
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Old 2015.07.14, 08:19 AM   #773
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Originally Posted by baruga View Post
Funny how just the fact that a song has autotune makes it bad, rather than if the autotune itself is utilized in a good or bad way.

I enjoy the song. Far from her best though.
What's the difference?

When I eat a dry piece of turkey, I say "the turkey is dry" which makes it bad, you say "the dryness itself is ulilized in a bad way".

If you enjoy dry turkey, fine.
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Old 2015.07.14, 09:34 AM   #774
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If you did have dry turkey, you would add something to it to mask the dryness, like mustard or mayo. So, in that sense, I guess bad vocals are dry turkey, and autotune is the mask. I'm not a fan of autotune myself, but I must agree that it can be used creatively. There was a song on Sunny that did just that, though I'm not a huge fan of that song.
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Old 2015.07.14, 11:20 AM   #775
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Originally Posted by Scribble R View Post
If there's an artist who sings in spite of imperfect vocals, it's Shiina Ringo (and Ukigumo :p). So when she uses it, it's for effect. I do feel that some of you guys are too locked into the autotune is automatically bad mentality to actually see what it's doing here.
Auto-tune is not *automatically* bad. But there are plenty of artists who use auto-tune to cover for their lack of singing ability, even in live performances. Ringo is not one of them, and I am convinced that the auto-tune on the new single is purely for artistic effect. But it's not an artistic choice that I can really agree with, except in the most exceptional of circumstances, and I don't think this song qualifies.

The problem is that auto-tune was *created* to fix crappy vocals, has dubious merit as an artistic choice, and has been grossly overused for both purposes. Prior to Cher's "Believe," it was just a dirty little music industry secret. Afterward, it was the new sound of pop music, and all those pop stars who had secretly been using it anyway because they couldn't sing suddenly got to turn it up to 11 and call it art. The only reason Cher had been using it to begin with was to *fix her voice*, after all.

So IMHO, if Ringo is going to use auto-tune as "art," the bar is set pretty darned high. Doing it just to sound "pop" is not sufficient justification. She has previously used auto-tune and other electronic effects artistically, and sparingly, with great results. But this, to me, falls short.
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Old 2015.07.14, 07:19 PM   #776
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People don't honestly don't think SHE chose to use the autotune here, do they? Coke most likely demanded it as part of the contract, because autotune is WHAT THE KIDS WANT/IT'S THE MUSIC OF NOW, right?

I cannot see any other reason why it is in here. It doesn't ADD anything to the song, at all. It's totally unneccesary. And it's not done well, it just sounds really distracting and bleh.

It worked slightly better on that Kodoku no Akatsuki remix, but then again, it wasn't as bad at that point cause we already knew the song sucked- and had a non-autotune version without it to fall back onto.
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Old 2015.07.14, 08:54 PM   #777
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Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
People don't honestly don't think SHE chose to use the autotune here, do they? Coke most likely demanded it as part of the contract, because autotune is WHAT THE KIDS WANT/IT'S THE MUSIC OF NOW, right?
Projecting at its finest. Autotune has been used for artistic purposes by countless artists.
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Old 2015.07.14, 10:13 PM   #778
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This song... still can't figure out if I like it genuinely or ironically.

The bossa nova beat is swinging and the melody itself is very catchy. Even autotuned, the whispered backing vocals from SR are still kinda sexy and this is a song where Ukigumo actually fits okay. Though a bit stilted, they also remember what an actual piano sounds like halfway through.

But the autotuning makes it sound like it belongs on Hatsune Miku: Project RINGO F 2nd than an actual album. The horn section could have been straight lifted from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. Key change. Sayonara hajimemashite. It's like listening to a train wreck at times.

I don't even know anymore. But in the end it was somewhat enjoyable, which still makes it much better than [insert dud album here].

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Old 2015.07.16, 06:10 AM   #779
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i just read that interview now, damn I'm always late Even if it was discussed already I would like to share my thoughts:


Well, I love her solo albums (even the recent ones Sunny, re:import and Ukina) and still have regards for her, but sorry, that was plain disrespectful to fans. I hate the way she disses on her older self because it's like she is dissing on the best albums of her career. The same albums that made most of us fans. What's wrong with wanting to make a song the best it can be? That's being diligent, not arrogant.
Music is special for us, even if it is a product on essence, but seeing her treating it like jingles for tie-ins is just sad. I don't even know what to say about this.
I didn't like the way she talked about the Taiwan concert either. It's her first concert overseas and quickly sold out, fans are eager for it and all she has to say is: "I'm only thinking about the food!"???
Someone said (can't remember who) she is just being asian, but no way other japanese acts I follow (e.g namie, buck-tick, sakanaction, etc) would say such shameless things. Good lord, if it was ayu the fanbase would be in widespread rage right now.
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Old 2015.07.16, 07:12 AM   #780
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Originally Posted by Vorpax View Post
i just read that interview now, damn I'm always late Even if it was discussed already I would like to share my thoughts:


Well, I love her solo albums (even the recent ones Sunny, re:import and Ukina) and still have regards for her, but sorry, that was plain disrespectful to fans. I hate the way she disses on her older self because it's like she is dissing on the best albums of her career. The same albums that made most of us fans. What's wrong with wanting to make a song the best it can be? That's being diligent, not arrogant.
Music is special for us, even if it is a product on essence, but seeing her treating it like jingles for tie-ins is just sad. I don't even know what to say about this.
I didn't like the way she talked about the Taiwan concert either. It's her first concert overseas and quickly sold out, fans are eager for it and all she has to say is: "I'm only thinking about the food!"???
Someone said (can't remember who) she is just being asian, but no way other japanese acts I follow (e.g namie, buck-tick, sakanaction, etc) would say such shameless things. Good lord, if it was ayu the fanbase would be in widespread rage right now.
Oh man I wish it WAS Ayumi saying it. That would be something to see.

Other than that, I don't have anything more to say on the whole thing. She done fucked it good.
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