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Old 2009.06.25, 08:32 AM   #1
Beltshumeltz
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Red face I thought I was the only Ringo fan! Newbie questions too...

I've listened to Shiina Ringo for about 4 or 5 years and until I discovered this forum, I thought I had to be her only fan. I never met someone who liked her in anime and video game music chatrooms which were the only places I thought I would find other fans.

Should have googled for Shiina Ringo forums earlier

Of my entire life, she is the only artist whom I anxiously awaited new album releases ahead of time. For everyone else, if I one day notice a new album is out, maybe I'll buy or download it... But for Shiina, I had been waiting for Variety for a long time, and more recently Sanmon Gossip which I just ordered from ebay.

Anyway, I have a few questions!

1- Are albums from Taiwan/South Korea basically the same? I found Sanmon Gossip for 20$ on Ebay. I don't mind if the packaging is different, I just want the music to be the same.

2- Am I really missing out on much if I have never collected singles or DVDs? I only have every Ringo and Jihen main album, I've never paid attention to other releases. I don't think I'm into live albums much because the voice quality usually is lower, but what about singles/DVD?

3- When there is a DVD release, is there a good way to rip the songs from the DVD player so I can listen to it on my mp3 player instead? I don't want one huge 2 hour track! I'd want to be able to listen to the DVD songs as if it were a normal album, I don't care about anything other than the music itself.

4- Why don't people like Variety? It's crazy and it rocks! But seriously, I just read that many of the songs were composed by other artists. Are getting the albums from these artists a good way to expand on the experience? Are there artists out there who really make you guys feel like they give you a Shiina Ringo fix?

Thanks
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Old 2009.06.25, 08:44 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by Beltshumeltz View Post
4- Why don't people like Variety?

I think you will find your answer after reading through the variety thread.
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Old 2009.06.25, 08:46 AM   #3
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It's so long it's scary!
jk I've read a bit, will read more.
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Old 2009.06.25, 09:02 AM   #4
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if you miss the singles you wil miss the gorgeous b-sides too
and also... Ringo is better live
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Old 2009.06.25, 09:55 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Beltshumeltz View Post
1- Are albums from Taiwan/South Korea basically the same? I found Sanmon Gossip for 20$ on Ebay. I don't mind if the packaging is different, I just want the music to be the same.
Those are deemed to have less collector value/credibility because they can never legally be sold in Japan. Supposedly the Korean packaging is equally as nice as the Japanese packaging. Not sure about Taiwanese packaging.

Originally Posted by Beltshumeltz View Post
2- Am I really missing out on much if I have never collected singles or DVDs? I only have every Ringo and Jihen main album, I've never paid attention to other releases. I don't think I'm into live albums much because the voice quality usually is lower, but what about singles/DVD?
If you buy WtH or the MoRA DVDs, you get a slightly-cut version of So Cold, and you don't get the pre-HF version of Gamble. You really should buy ZCS (though its out-of-print status makes that difficult) even if you don't buy the rest of Shiina Ringo's individual singles.

There is yet to be a singles collection/compilation for Tokyo Jihen (aside from the LPs - which don't really help you much from a ripping standpoint), so there is still some merit in buying their individual singles. Although I am primarily a fan of Shiina Ringo's solo career, I have to admit that Tokyo Jihen's B-sides are better on average or I should say more consistently-good - though the best Shiina Ringo B-sides are better in my opinion than the best Tokyo Jihen B-sides.

Also, if you like packaging, the Tokyo Jihen singles have a more consistent theme than Shiina Ringo singles, which is kinda nice for clustering them together on the same shelf. All of the Kyoiku-era CDs have their own packaging theme, and all of the Variety-era CDs have their own theme.

You will also find that many of us who didn't take concert recordings too seriously with other artists before, have had our horizons broadened with Shiina Ringo. Fortunately she does not release concert ALBUMS, but only releases concerts on DVDs - all of which are rippable to MP3 if you know what you're doing. Some of these concerts have received a lukewarm welcome from fans, while other concerts are critically acclaimed usually more for the music itself than for the imagery. It's not just about the audible atmosphere or the energy, but often the arrangements are different in a way that we prefer over the studio albums. Shiina Ringo is not very abusive with concert performances attempting to be carbon copies of the studio performances, but rather some people would say it is sometimes the other way around (HF later copying much of the Saito Neko-heavy arrangements of Baishou Ecstasy or Ringohan). So more often than not, the concert DVD arrangements are groundbreaking - especially in Electric Mole. If you want concert performances that aren't pretending to be the studio performances, Electric Mole is my top recommendation for you. If you want concert performances with a vigor that could not be found in the studio recordings, then Dynamite Out is the other big recommendation in this community.

Originally Posted by Beltshumeltz View Post
3- When there is a DVD release, is there a good way to rip the songs from the DVD player so I can listen to it on my mp3 player instead? I don't want one huge 2 hour track! I'd want to be able to listen to the DVD songs as if it were a normal album, I don't care about anything other than the music itself.
DVD Decrypter (configured in Settings to Split Files By Chapter) > IFO Mode > Stream Processing > Target the LPCM > Demux
Beyond that, you are responsible for using separate/additional software such as dBpowerAMP or foobar2000 to convert the WAVs into MP3s or whatever format you might want. If the WAVs are 96kHz and/or 24bit (HF, Senkou Shoujo, WnH, Zazen, MoRA), then it gets even trickier because you have to do resampling - which LAME alone cannot do.

Originally Posted by Beltshumeltz View Post
4- Why don't people like Variety? It's crazy and it rocks! But seriously, I just read that many of the songs were composed by other artists. Are getting the albums from these artists a good way to expand on the experience? Are there artists out there who really make you guys feel like they give you a Shiina Ringo fix?
ALL of the songs on Variety are composed by "other artists", but at least they are performing members within the band, instead of some faceless producer that manufacturers dozens of generic J-Poop idols who rarely or never create their own material.

I would say that I like these "other artist" albums better than Variety. Petrolz (the band of Tokyo Jihen's current guitarist - Ukigumo) has some much groovier guitar-playing, and Appa (the band of Tokyo Jihen's current pianist - Izawa) has some more eccentric songwriting - in addition to the fact we don't have to hear Ukigumo (many people do not care for the twitchy style of playing that he only does within Tokyo Jihen).

As for completely separate artists who aren't within the band, there is no one artist who can adequately substitute Shiina Ringo - because she has such a wide range of quirks and influences. The closest you can get is if you compile a playlist of dozens of different artists who each champion different bits and pieces you like about Shiina Ringo.
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Old 2009.06.25, 10:18 AM   #6
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Thanks a lot for all the feedback!
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Old 2009.06.25, 08:58 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Lena-chan View Post
and also... Ringo is better live
^ This x 2000
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Old 2009.06.26, 08:01 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
Those are deemed to have less collector value/credibility because they can never legally be sold in Japan. Supposedly the Korean packaging is equally as nice as the Japanese packaging. Not sure about Taiwanese packaging.


They're the same.

The print quality can be bad, yet CD itself is OK. Besides, official translations are appended (done by EMI TW branch. the quality depends, some of them are really terrible...). Sometimes we get extra stuff, like I have an additional booklet of SS, haha! XD
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Old 2009.06.26, 09:11 AM   #9
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I think all of the "technical" answers have been adequately dealt with by the community (especially Glath). I'll talk about the other ones.

In general, I like all that Shiina ringo/Tokyo Jihen has released so far, although not in the same intensity. Some things I hear a lot, others I barely repeat. But, my main problem is with the production style/recording/performance of the songs.This is especially the case with Variety. It felt somewhat rushed and underdeveloped to me. There are some songs there that I love, and others which felt like "wasted potential", like they could be good, but something is missing. When listening to Spa & Treatment tour, I really enjoyed hearing these same songs live. The performance was energetic, spontaneous, full of little details and quirks. The album feels mechanical compared to the live renditions. But I'm of the camp that likes uki's guitar playing.

As for artists that give me the same fill of Shiina, there are several. I'll mention only one: Listen to the album "California", by Mr. Bungle. You'll know what I mean when you hear it.
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Old 2009.07.25, 08:24 AM   #10
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What do people mean by Ukigum's guitar style? I saw someone complain about the guitar solo in Shuraba (Adult version). There are 2 guitars in the solo, one after the other. Is it the first one, or the second one people dislike? Because I loved the first one there.
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