[SR] 2011.11.02 - Carnation (CD) [Single]

[TurtleFu]

Thoughts on Carantion Single
Track 1: Sounds like an old Disney song. Ringo seems to be channeling an old Hollywood type. Song is actually really boring, with almost no heart in it. Ringo seems to want to convey longing but it just comes across as disinterest
Track 2: AMAZING! I love it! It's Ringo's take on samba with some electronic influences, orchestral instrumentation, and her characteristic vocals. It's really fun and upbeat, but also very mysterious, even a little sexy.
Track 3: A fun pop song with traditional pop arrangements. Not her best, but this feels better than Carnation. It's very much in the same vein as Tsugou no ii Karada and Futaribocchi Jikan, but I prefer it to Futaribocchi Jikan (it's not as good as Tsugou no ii Karada).

Tracks in order of preference:
Track 2
Track 3
Track 1

I don't give scores for reviews, but basically Track 3 is top tier (solo Shiina worthy) because it's a bit experimental and genre-bending like the best of Shiina's songs, Track 2 is mid-tier (Sports/Dai-hakken) because it is a good pop song with a cool arrangement like most of HF and modern Jihen, and Track 1 is bottom tier (Variety/Worst of Phase 2) because it is boring and Ringo trying to be a homage but it comes off heartless like some of modern Jihen. It fails on an execution level and even a little bit on a concept level.

[Scribble R]

Eh, I think that, in spite of the arrangement (I do like how the BOM BOM BOM BOM persists at the end though -- shoot me), track 3 is more in the vein of MM than Tsugou ii Karada, etc. At least, it sounds more like 'she wrote a song' rather than wrote a showtune to my ears.

Track 1 does sound like Jihen imitating solo Shiina in a ham-fisted way. Tengoku e Youkoso for the Tube comes to mind.

[frecklegirl]

Translated finally!

[frecklegirl]

I translated the little blurb Ringo wrote for the drama website about the song; it's here.

[deadgrandma]

Man these tracks still be G-FRESH!!!

[orphic okapi]

Coming from someone who typically prefers her pre-Adult stuff, I actually really dig this thing. To me it sounds like a refinement of some of the stuff she was doing in SG and HF. I even genuinely enjoy Carnation.

I get the sense, from some of the comments I read on this forum, that a few of you are more interested in Shiina as this badass rocker chick ideal than you are in her music. Don't get me wrong. I like experimental Shiina. I wish she was a little bolder with her arrangements these days. But I think it's clear at this point in her career that rock music, and all the punk posturing that went along with it, was a relatively brief phase she went through when she was young. It's right there in her little biographical thing on Wikipedia: her interest in music started with classical and jazz. KSK's two primary influences, I'd argue, are classical and jazz. She is a pop musician interested in classical and jazz who dabbled in rock for a bit. She is not this establishment-fucking punk queen who just happened to take a decade-long detour into lounge music.

[Glathannus]

If I have any problem with this single, it's that it would've been more fitting to release it much earlier, like during the year of HF or SG. Releasing this during the middle of a Tokyo Jihen streak, was somewhat disappointing for me. This was as inappropriately-scheduled as Onna no Ko wa Dare demo, but at least Carnation got properly credited toward her solo career.

[Scribble R]

I get embarrassed for frequently referring to these, but the google translated liner notes suggest that Carnation was actually supposed to be a Tokyo Jihen release, but as there might have been confusion between this and Tengoku e Youkoso (Atami Investigators), she decided to release it under Shiina Ringo. And I think it also says that the middle track was written to bridge the A-side and the second B-side.

[Glathannus]

Originally Posted by Scribble R

liner notes suggest that Carnation was actually supposed to be a Tokyo Jihen release, but as there might have been confusion between this and Tengoku e Youkoso (Atami Investigators), she decided to release it under Shiina Ringo.

That shouldn't have been a "Tokyo Jihen" song either, so the rationale doesn't hold up particularly well.

[Inseu]

Originally Posted by orphic okapi

I get the sense, from some of the comments I read on this forum, that a few of you are more interested in Shiina as this badass rocker chick ideal than you are in her music. Don't get me wrong. I like experimental Shiina. I wish she was a little bolder with her arrangements these days. But I think it's clear at this point in her career that rock music, and all the punk posturing that went along with it, was a relatively brief phase she went through when she was young. It's right there in her little biographical thing on Wikipedia: her interest in music started with classical and jazz. KSK's two primary influences, I'd argue, are classical and jazz. She is a pop musician interested in classical and jazz who dabbled in rock for a bit. She is not this establishment-fucking punk queen who just happened to take a decade-long detour into lounge music.

Saying that her primary interests in music are classical and jazz is a gross understatement don't you think, not to mention some of her major influences are rock bands like Blankey Jet City and Number Girl.

Just check her wikipedia page and see how many rock bands are listed there, and those albums list (Albums For Discovery) and her playlists are musically all over the place. Surprisingly, they contain very little classical music.