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Old 2009.06.23, 02:09 PM   #201
JonnoJ
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01. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #01] 流行
Love it - it's so fresh and upbeat, HZM, Mummy-D and Shiina in one track. What more could you want?
★★★★★
02. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #02] 労働者
Instantly hated the intro, so cheesy with the guy whispering and the organ, but as soon as the piano kicked in it changed completely into an almost Jackson 5 number lol. Long, but love that chorus.
★★★★☆
03. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #03] 密偵物語
For a second I thought it might turn into an epic Jethro Tull-esque prog rock number with that flute, but a slightly weird Mayonaka... Pleasant enough, but nothing too deep.
★★★☆☆
04. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #04] 地点から
Great piano riff, also liking the electronic elements. Can't really pick out much from it but am strangely really liking it. Moar flute again <3
★★★★☆
05. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #05] カリソメ乙女
Even though it's old, even though I've heard it tons of times I still love it. Much needed blast of energy after the last track. If Soil and Pimp Sessions don't play this when I see them Thursday after next (EEEE!) I'll go crazy.
★★★★★
06. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #06] 都合のいい身体
So. Amazing. Neko's orchestration is of top-notch Broadway level and Shiina's song-writing is better than ever - possibly the best song she's done in years. Love the 6/8 feel in the orchestra with Shiina in 4/4, till she finally breaks at 1:40 and the orchestra starts forshadowing her line. The tiny piano solo at 2:33 is the level of detail I love Shiina and Neko's works for. Absolutely would die if I heard this live.
★★★★★+
07. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #07] 旬
One of the most gorgeous ballads Shiina's done, might be second best only to Rakujitsu.Can't believe I dismissed this as a second rate Adult track when I first heard it, the transition from chilled ballad into jazz piano driven ballad is incredible.
★★★★★
08. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #08] 二人ぼっち時間
Still not completely sold on the bossa nova verse (as ever with Neko, love the orchestration) but the chorus is brilliant, reminds me greatly of Sid to Hakumuchuu. Loving the echos on the vocals in the verse though.
★★★★★
09. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #09] マヤカシ優男
O_o intro's don't get much better than that. Moar up-tempo jazz, awesome. Could easily see this becoming one of my favourites by her - the Shiina and Piano solo at 3 minutes is pretty powerful.
★★★★★
10. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #10] 尖った手口
Wtf is with all the awesome tracks in a row. Love the feel of it, very SG~Superficial Gossip~ but darker. Not much to say except I love electro Shiina and Dark Shiina. Also, Mummy-D's bit should've been longer great ending.
★★★★★
11. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #11] 色恋沙汰
Urgh. Swing. Like most Jazz, but there's something about it - probably the hi-hat and vibraphone overdose. It gets better when the strings come in, but still, no.
★★☆☆☆
12. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #12] 凡才肌
Much more like it! Coba = genius. Love the excessive tritones and diminished chords. Shiina sounds great in this, her voice is suited perfectly. Only way I think I'd like it anymore is if it were in French, has a very chason air to it - and her French pronounciation is more than good enough >: Brave song choice too, can't imagine many artists putting a song so far from the norm on an album. Great outro too.
★★★★★
13. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #13] 余興
Fail Feared it'd be like this, hoped it'd still have the lush orchestration but nope. Generic 70's-esque rock. This is like the anti-Gamble - Neko took a generic song from Ze...something and turned it into a masterpiece. Shiina took a Neko orchestrated (I'm guessing) masterpiece and turned it into ..this. It's ok, but if I wanted generic rock I could get it easily, not simple to find orchestral pop/rock albums Back-up singers suck too. At least she kept the "Thank you!" which was cute.
★★☆☆☆
14. 椎名林檎 - [三文ゴシップ #14] 丸の内サディスティック (EXPO Ver.)
Oooh. Love R'n'B, so this is great. Sounds like Shiina's been listening to her BFF Ken Hirai's "Kimi wa tomodachi". Love the fact she used lyrics from her demo too.★★★★★

TL;DR, 9/10. The awesome tracks (流行, 都合のいい身体, 尖った手口,凡才肌) far outweigh the shite ones (余興, 色恋沙汰 (PV for this?! Wry Shiina Wry).
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Old 2009.06.23, 02:27 PM   #202
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Short reaction: Bad. Ass.

Long reaction:
1. Ryuukou—This is the first Shiina Ringo song that has made me want to dance around like a crazy person since Marunouchi Sadistic. That's a huge compliment. (Unexpected side effect: I... actually want to check out more JRap now.)
2. Roudousha—So well crafted. I'm a huge neo-soul music nut and this is a kick-ass nod to the genre.
3. Mittei Monogatari—Love the flute, and the last minute's quite exciting. Heck, this album is exciting in general.
4. 0 Chiten Kara—Really beautiful, especially near the end. Love the processed vocals. KZK filtered through Katamari Damacy. :p
5. Karisome Otome—Unlike most people, I've never actually heard this version of the song, and I love it. Again: EXCITING. (If a bit messy, but Shiina Ringo is one of the few artists who can do messy well. Look at KZK.)
6. Tsugou no Ii Karada—The first time I listened to this album was on the way to work this morning. When this song really hit its stride, even though I was on the subway, I couldn't stifle an amazed giggle. People looked at me weirdly, but god I love this track. Pure joy.
7. Shun—I like it almost as much as Rakujitsu now. (Confession: Rakujitsu is one of my top 3 SR/Tokyo Jihen songs. So yes, I like Shun a whole lot. According to my iTunes, I've listened to it over 30 times in the last week or so.) The "ikite, ikite, ikite iiyou" breaks my heart every time.
8. Futaribocchi Jikan—Quite nice, nothing special.
9. Mayakashi Yasaotoko—LOVE her vocals on this one, and their processing. Never mind autotune, her voice becomes a gritty, distorted synth. Brilliant.
10. Togatta Teguchi—Straight up Yoko Kanno/Nine Inch Nails fabulousness. Love how abrasive it is, and the rap-through-the-loudspeaker at the end is another great nod to NIN, and transitions so hilariously well into...
11. Irokoizata—The harp at the beginning of this song. Hahaha. I do like this song a lot, especially how it seems a true mixture of the two threads of her jazz tendencies so far—both the orchestra AND the jazz-rock band. This makes it less cloying than HF and less "again?!!?!" than Tokyo Jihen.
12. Bonsai Hada—Remember those few moments in Utaite Myoli where you got chills up and down your spine? Where you convince yourself that, heck, SR's the new Marelene Dietrich? That.
13. Yokyou—I haven't heard this song before, but I think it's probably the weakest track on the album, though still quite enjoyable '90s esque pop rock.
14. OSa—I never thought she'd do R&B—but stomp on frogs and shove a crowbar up my nose, she does it WELL. I might actually like to hear Utada Hikaru, or, even better, Mika Nakashima do a cover of this version of the song. The original is my favourite SR/TJ song ever, and I feel like she's really come full circle (get it? circle? maru?) with this little track. Nice, chill way to bring the album to a close.

In summary, though it probably isn't as good, I can see myself liking this album more than Shouso Strip. It's a fantabulous pop album, loaded with personality, craftmanship, soul, and most of all, VITALITY. This is what characterizes the album most for me, the vitality, something that has been lacking from even the best SR/TJ songs for a while. It's her most alive-sounding album since Muzai Moratorium, and I'm looking forward for it to be the soundtrack to my summer and to my six weeks in Tokyo.

Last edited by madpawn : 2009.06.23 at 02:46 PM.
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Old 2009.06.23, 03:17 PM   #203
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Originally Posted by marcus314 View Post
I must say the transition from マヤカシ優男 to 尖った手口 is brilliant. The first chord in togattateguchi is like a brick wall after such a soft track before it.
It reminds me of "Poltergeist" -> "Souretsu".
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Old 2009.06.23, 03:43 PM   #204
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Originally Posted by kuro_neko View Post
okay, who *hasn't* heard the album and is waiting for their copy? anyone?

;;raises hand;;

Me too. My yesasia order with SG and Toridori was dispatched yesterday evening, I can wait. The local bookstore he in SoCal already has it, but its $35 compared to the $27 I paid.

like the past releases, it will get so much rotational play in my car that i'll get sick of it in 4 months, so I'm in no rush to hear it.
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Old 2009.06.23, 04:28 PM   #205
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Frecklegirl, thank you so much for the lyrics and translations <3
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Old 2009.06.23, 05:22 PM   #206
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D: I think Togatta Teguchi has another song playing backwards in the end (and possibly somewhere else). I also hear the piano from one of her songs in it after 2:38 :\ it kind of sounds like the piano in shoujo robot but it's not...i want to say yokushitsu D: but I dont know if I'm just tootin' from my rear or this one.

Aside, I'm in love with Togatta Teguchi :[ I keep listening to it over and over. *hugs* I cant wait to get wasted and listen to this song :3

Edit: I think its the ending part of Yokushitsu :3 with the crazy noise and such. I dont hear anything when I reverse the song, but it sounds like there is just "ahh" reversed, like something from KZK.

Last edited by JimmyKoria : 2009.06.23 at 06:02 PM.
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Old 2009.06.23, 05:46 PM   #207
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^ I think it sounds suspiciously like the outro from GIBUSU on the Shouso STRIP album. Heh.
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Old 2009.06.23, 05:58 PM   #208
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Today's review:

1 - : | I'd be okay with it if it wasn't track 1. Her worst opener ever.
2 - : ) (besides her grating voice)
3 - : |
4 - : ) Nice to have something slow after those three
5 - : ( x 1,000; funny that she chose to reuse the worst version of this song
6 - :'( I imagine watching a Disney World parade with Mickey, Minnie, & Pluto dancing and shaking people's hands
7 - best track
8 - : ) / : | (can't stand the Sid transition, but it's forgivable)
9 - : )
10 - : | (I enjoy the music, but her voice is too high-pitched and "cute" for it. The dude goes on for too long)
11 - : | haven't I already listened to this a few times? Not bad, but come on...
12 - second-best track
13 - even more annoying this time :[ I was excited when the orchestra didn't show up, but that did nothing to improve its forced, unnatural chorus.
14 - : ) (weird, but for once I listened to MaruSadi without being bitter for having to hear it again) Also, I really want to hear Ringo continue the song that goes on until the 8 second mark. It's so disappointing when it gets cut short.


Contrary to my Last.fm page, I've listened through this album several times. Ringo's voice is either high, gentle, or downright grating in just about every song. A lot of the tracks are alright, and I'm sure I'll enjoy them in a SR playlist, but placed together as an album, I can't listen without feeling like something important is missing. And that something is gall. Why is Ringo so agreeable and cheerful all the way through the album? Only Bonsai Hada even comes close to providing some kind of contrast. Even Togatta Teguchi fails to deliver, though the strong electronic instrumentation got my hopes up at first.

It's not like each track in this album is forcibly linked under one genre, so there would have been no problem with her infusing some attitude in one or two of them. Did she throw a rapper into those two songs just to give them a spine because she wasn't up for it herself? Come on, even HF rocks more than this album. And I'm not dissing HF, because HF works. SG, by and large, does not.

Hopefully eventually I'll be able to forgive SG for its lack of variety. But even if I don't, I can make a playlist with Shun, Bonsai Hada, and some HF & Variety tracks to cheer me up.

Last edited by fluffiethesock : 2009.06.23 at 06:06 PM.
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Old 2009.06.23, 06:22 PM   #209
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Originally Posted by fluffiethesock View Post
Hopefully eventually I'll be able to forgive SG for its lack of variety.
Say whaaa... fluffie. Sheez. This album is all over the place! Sure it is relatively cheery, but I thought you of all people woulda liked that about the album. I think its just as "happy" in tone as MM.
And I think Shiina's voice is very good on thkis album, which wasn't something that could be said about HF and Variety. Especially on Roudousha. And I wouldn't say shes beiing "cheery" in Togatta, shes just using a higher register in contrast to the music.

fluffie is a bizzaro-Jihad confirmed =(
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Old 2009.06.23, 07:00 PM   #210
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this album is pretty disappointing imo.

Bonsai Hada is the best song on the album, but thats not saying much.
Togotta Techgochi is pretty interesting. The rap in the end killed it for me though.

This album gives me a feeling that she is trying something new. But it is a failed experiment. From solo album 1-3 and also for both her TJ album that she wrote, we get a sense of uniqueness. Of I dont like all songs on those albums, but those albums, there always 1 or 2 songs which i consider masterpeices, and most of the songs, i consider good.

Shiina has always wrote very good and memorable melodies. But almost all melodies on this SG album sucks crap. These songs on SG. It give me feeling that she is trying really hard to be what she is not. Apart from the few songs i think are acceptable. I think this album is a total failure.

ps: what the hell is the rap crap she put into her songs. Its totally weird and doesnt work at all
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