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Old 2014.01.22, 06:05 PM   #1
deadgrandma
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Default Tamahime Sama turns 30!



Tamahime Sama 30th Anniversary

As some of you may know (or should be aware of), the 28th of January is the 30th anniversary of Jun Togawa's solo debut, Tamahime Sama. I wrote this little spiel to celebrate:

30 years ago an album was released that would have serious repercussions in my life a quarter of a decade later.

Jun Togawa's solo debut is a staggering achievement. I feel it is one of a select few PERFECT albums I have heard. From its impeccable flow to it's unforgettable artwork, everything about it has touched me on a deep, personal level.

I'm not gonna write a review, because everything about it has been said before. Instead I'm gonna write about what it means to me, and how it totally changed the way I think about music.

How I found out: Believe it or not, I found out about this album by a very lucky accident.

At the time, I had only just started getting into Japanese music. Shiina Ringo had caught me, hook, line and sinker. Desperate to find similar music, I searched around to much disappointment. I gave up on the search. Then, hunting for Milo and Otis, I found out about the original version of the film, and Koji Ueno's involvement. I heard about Guernica and gave it a quick listen. Wow, challenging music. But I was up for it. I saw a message board saying that the ideal place to start before listening to Guernica was with Jun Togawa's solo work or Yapoos. So I went for the solo work. The first album I heard was Tamahime Sama. Immediately I was sucked into it. I listened for days constantly, then ventured forward into the rest of her (insanely consistently amazing) catalog.

Someone once asked me whether I found ANYTHING bad about the album. I used to say "it's too short". Now I realise that if it wasn't so short, it wouldn't be as perfect as it is. It's a perfect little world. Any changes would interrupt it's delicate ecosystem. Everything is there for a purpose. No filler whatsoever. It made me fully appreciate the beauty of a perfectly balanced short length album.

Let's not forget, it's ICONIC album cover. It's as powerful and memorable as they come.

So on the 28th of January 2014, on it's 30th anniversary, I request that everyone play it at least once. It won't take up much of your time (29 mins or so). And yes, I'm going to say it, I've thought long and hard about it:

Celebrate it's existence and enjoy what I now consider the best album ever recorded.

I salute you, Tamahime Sama!

(how was that for a fangasm :-p)
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Old 2014.01.22, 07:45 PM   #2
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I'll give it a listen. Though your clear bias and hype for the album reminds me to clear any expectations before listening to it. There isn't any album in my favorites collections that I would ever say is the "best album ever recorded". There are too many amazing albums to ever make that claim, in my opinion.

What the - how do I already have chills within the first 10 seconds of this album even starting?!

I liked the second song, but there was a consistent "psst" sound starting half with through the song that I couldn't not focus on.

Besides that persistent sound in the second song, I had a good overall first listening experience. Very good album.

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Old 2014.01.22, 08:35 PM   #3
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The psst sound???

Is it possible you are referring to one of these (or similar):



Otherwise, I don't know what you mean.

(That song "Teinen Pushigangah" is basically her in a nutshell, BTW- it's about a woman addicted to Sadomasochism. The lyrics are extremely dark and wonderful.)
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Old 2014.01.22, 09:43 PM   #4
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Ahh, so it is a tambourine. I thought it might have been, but I also thought it could have been her voice making that sound. It didn't have a distinct jangle like a tambourine. Maybe I won't notice it as much on repeated lessons, but I would have preferred it not to be there.

Yeah - I was reading all about the song meanings while I was listening to the record.
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Old 2014.01.23, 04:04 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
Celebrate it's existence and enjoy what I now consider (one of) the best albums ever recorded.

I salute you, Tamahime Sama!
Slightly modified that line but it's pretty much bang on the money. It's an incredible album, really emotionally involving.
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Old 2014.01.23, 05:47 PM   #6
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I have to say, as a fellow lover of this album: it's really weird. Like, if you think KZK is avant-garde, this album will laugh in your face. The best way to describe is that during almost every song you can just picture the kinds of strange faces that Togawa is making with each vocal run, eyes bugging out, mouth open wide. It's bloody fantastic.
Also, for some reason it never hit me how short the album was until you mentioned it: you're right, it's less than a half hour long.
I truly think this is Togawa's best solo album (though overall I like her Guernica work more), and I think it's very transgressive. It's themes are not dark in a sort of shallow way, the "punk" style "LOOK AT HOW COUNTER CULTURE I AM", it's actually really thoughtful. I would say it's almost Yoko Ono-ish.
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Old 2014.01.23, 06:18 PM   #7
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^I like (and own- I should really take a photo of my stash, it's pretty insane) pretty much every single thing Togawa has done. Every main project is perfect, if not very damn close. She's probably has one of the most satisfying catalogs, there's nothing really bad (even her work on the two Godzilla soundtracks she features on is pure Togawa brand goodness).

I think Tamahime Sama is the prime example of how great she gets though (the more heavily mentioned -and nearly as great Suki Suki Daisuki is probably the most poppy and catchy album under her belt- even more poppy than her work with Yapoos), it does have elements of work she did before it's release, and yes, it does have reworkings of Halmens tracks she was involved with- but I seriously doubt Halmens had any idea how amazing their own work could be given the right production and vocals... she lit a fire under those original works, so to speak.

Guernica is probably the most avant-garde work she did around that time (though she's seriously made much stranger work since then- see Tricomi feat. Jun Togawa's "Good Girls Get Fed, Bad Girls Get Eaten" album for one such example).

Also, while not on Tamahime Sama (but around the same time period), I wish Ringo had attempted similar (on a studio track), There's just something so primal and moving when Togawa goes all out:

海ヤカラ
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Old 2014.01.23, 07:40 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by TurtleFu View Post
Like, if you think KZK is avant-garde, this album will laugh in your face.
I never thought of KZK as "avant-garde". I don't think of it as anything, really. It's just Shiina. However, I didn't think this album was that out there, or avant garde. Nothing really struck me as "Ugh, this is too weird and I can't listen to this". It's pretty listenable and there's even some catchy stuff. Based on what I read, it sounds more strange from a lyrical perspective.
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Old 2014.01.24, 03:46 AM   #9
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Togawa adapted Chorübungen No.26 c, choral practice scores as song about moths.
Umon no Gekiga

moths like birds flies
spreads golden scales
listen, jinta rondo mazurek

stops at my shoulder,
a moth sings golden voice,
listen, Chorübungen Concone

words of nation of moths,
exchanges through golden eyes
listen, iroha hifumi sayonara
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Old 2014.01.24, 12:32 PM   #10
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Moving through her discography and going to listen to Suki, Suki, Daisuki now.

I liked this album more than Tamahime Sama.

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