Apple: The Transformer

[pichuani]

A blog post about the metamorphosis of Shiinna Ringo. Enjoy!

http://divadamrau.blogspot.com/2011/....html?spref=fb

[Nimh]

Welcome to the forums.

When you get a chance, it would be great to introduce yourself and say a bit about why you're here, what your thoughts are about SR/TJ, etc. The link you gave us is to a blog which stacks YouTube links with a few introductory sentences. We have plenty of that here already, so please take a look around and stop by anytime to share your thoughts.

[pichuani]

Thanks for your briefing indeed. I am sorry I didn't make any formal introduction before posting -- I was a little carried away i guess. My apologies.

Anyway, I have been a fan of Ringo's ever since her debut album. To me, Ringo is every inch a rock n' roll soul -- it's in her blood. No doubt about that. And that's probably why for every song of hers with both a rock version and a jazz one, the rock one always emerges as the prototype. What about Kuki / Stem then? Here we have a strings one preceding the rock version. To me, this may well be a manifestation of her classical music training during her childhood years -- piano-playing, her very first contact with any music instrument.

Her later interest in jazz and in crossing it over with rock might have been a result of her daring exploration into different genres of both music and musical instruments. More importantly, this newfound antecedent interest acts back on her primary musical persona -- to such an extent that she finally decided to form Tokyo Jihen, a band dedicated specifically to experimenting with clashing jazz with rock. To her, such clashes of musical styles may seem so dangerous -- and yet so tempting -- that she ended up naming her band with a title akin to a war event. Her identity as the front person of Tokyo Jihen is, by and large, an instantiation of her jazz-infused alterego.

Hope I have made my point in a clear manner. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. ;>

[Nimh]

Hey, not only are those clear points, but very interesting ones, thanks for sharing them! It is interesting when different versions of the same songs come out, which is considered "definitive" and which is not, with the "definitive" one usually being the earlier version, or the one more attributable to rock influences or Shiina's solo personae. By now I think her personae is so entangled with Tokyo Jihen that we can only hope in the future that we see her solo career as a warm up for TJ, and not see TJ as a perpetual softening or dilution of her solo work.

[pichuani]

Great observation there, Nimh.

I trust that to Ringo, rock is as reflexive and instinctive as breathing -- she is a natural at that. But with jazz in the mix, the opportunities for spontaneity, modulation, and assimilation, both in terms of features of the melody and musical structures, become much more unpredictable -- yet this also constitutes an evolving "wow" factor. Perhaps it is this insatiable creative spirit that has drawn her closer and more frequently to Tokyo Jihen than her own solo career ...

Anyhow, cool music is what cool music is -- whether it's jazz-infused rock, rock-inspired jazz, or ...

[so_cold]

I'd argue it's the first-solo era where her chameleonic abilities are in full effect and I "miss" that a lot. As you say you have fantastic rearrangements where it's like hearing the song for the first time. Amazing.

I love single ver. Stem for example, it's as explosive as it is pretty (and of course that description applies to the Electric Mole version too). And saying what genre many of her B-sides are like is like looking into a kaleidoscope and saying it's a particular colour.

But are Variety, Sports and the current new TJ songs as jazzy as Kyoiku and Adult?

edit: blah. Welcome to the forums!

[pichuani]

Thanks for your warm welcome, so_cold. I admire the depth of your analysis about Ringo and TJ's music. Really glad to be able to share my thoughts with music lovers like you and Nimh here. ;>

[so_cold]

Originally Posted by pichuani

Thanks for your warm welcome, so_cold. I admire the depth of your analysis about Ringo and TJ's music. Really glad to be able to share my thoughts with music lovers like you and Nimh here. ;>

Thanks for your kind words. There are lots of opinions here, but new appreciation is always welcome and do keep posting. I'm also thankful to bloggers for spreading the word about Shiina Ringo, it's certainly how I discovered her.

Good to see you like Suede as well, they're a fantastic band and according to wikipedia Shiina Ringo was a fan...

(please ignore my attempt to troll the other thread)

[pichuani]

@so_cold

Suede was among my earliest encounters with rock music. Glad to know Ringo herself likes them as well -- I'm quite sure Brett's unique unisex vocals and on-stage charisma had been quite an inspiration for Ringo -- not to say that they were also one of the most successful bands in the 90's that infiltrated rock with the most beautifully written orchestral lines of a classical tradition. "Still Life" is an epic case in point for that matter:

http://divadamrau.blogspot.com/2011/05/still-life.html

With brilliant references as such, no wonder Ringo has become an expert in crossing over various music genres in an effortless manner (at least it looks like so ;P).

NB The "poem" accompanying the song "Still Life" is an attempt on my part to capture the emotions that it evokes in me ... Hope it isn't that bad.

[so_cold]

Suede did a tour here recently, playing their albums in full. It looks from YouTube like the crowd were encouraged to sing along which is a lovely idea. Definitely an epic tune like Still Life stays deep in one's musical memory.

I've often thought of Koufukuron (MM version) as the song with the most influences from UK indie rock at the time flowing into it, plus some new wave, and Mellow being the song with the most influences from American alternative rock. But I'm not able to substantiate that statement with any comparisons...

But yes, her natural eclecticism is great.