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Old 2015.08.20, 05:43 PM   #1
tsukigimehime
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Smile Thoughts on Ringo's older material

Inspired by Nihm's comment in the news thread that one of their students loves Sheena Ringo, but her favorite song is Koko de Kiss Shite.

I respect that. It's a song for young women, and I'm sure that student finds the track super relatable. I'm wondering though, what do you guys think of Koko de kiss shite and gibs and such--some of her most popular singles? They don't come up as much in discussion of her old material...

They're definitely good, and I've heard them described as genius pop music that have new life to the genre in that time, but I feel like I would have overlooked Ringo if they were the first songs I heard from her :s I actually like the the Yamaha music quest version best when it comes to Koko...

Maybe I'm asking the wrong crowd since they're songs for young women about a young woman's feelings but I'm also curious about what you think of the composition and instrumentation if you pay attention to that, since I often just put things into the "enjoyable to listen to" vs "not enjoyable to listen to" categories... What exactly made these songs the revolutionary (?) pop/rock anthems that they were?

If you have thoughts on other songs besides these feel free to talk about them...! (I mostly didn't want to take the news thread too far off course from current events with my long rambling question, so here we are...!)
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Old 2015.08.20, 08:53 PM   #2
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I love Kabukicho no Joou, Honnou, and Tsumi To Batsu. I can't say I care much for the other singles from that era. I can respect that I was never the target audience of those tracks, but I think they lack the timelessness of some of her later work, and even the other tracks off those albums. Koko de Kiss Shite just reminds me of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me by U2. And that had a better chorus. Gibs always felt a little out of place on Shouso Strip for me too. As if she had it saved somewhere and she knew that it was going to be a hit so it had to end up on the album.

That being said, I don't think Koko, Gibs and Koufukuron aren't "enjoyable to listen to", or even bad tracks. There's just a lot in her discography that I'd rather listen to.

Last edited by K__ : 2015.08.20 at 08:54 PM. Reason: removed unnecessary cheap shot at NIPPON. I'm beating a dead (but jingoistic) horse, here.
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Old 2015.08.21, 12:29 AM   #3
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Those songs for me belong to a different era, not just for Ringo but for me. They are beginning to do now what 80s songs have done for me since the 90s...charge up the memory box, set my mind adrift...I hear them without listening to them, if that makes sense.

The newer stuff I actually listen to, and sometimes a track will hit such a sweet spot that I'll play it over and over. That happened with Ariamaru Tomi, and most recently with her cover of Cappuccino on Gyakuyunyuu. I must have hit replay on that one six times the first time I heard it. I don't even know why.

An oldie that makes me lose my mind is Yokushitsu, which is one reason I was excited to see her Taiwan track list. The Zazen Extasy version of that one is so unbelievably awesome.

And of course Yattsuke Shigoto, the Zecchoushuu version, which is the first time I ever heard her voice.
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Old 2015.08.21, 01:10 AM   #4
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MM is still my favourite SR solo album. Tadashii machi never gets old, though my favourite track of that era is probably Suberidai. Heh.
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Old 2015.08.21, 05:10 AM   #5
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I'm not too familiar with U2, but I can see what you mean, K__. A lot of her earlier work has really clear influences from the UK/western rock scene which I guess I'm seeing more as I look into her influences, music and musicians she herself has mentioned, etc. It makes me appreciate her more recent sounds, though, as there are many people who could find ways to imitate her early sound, but her current catalog feels mostly like her own (save pieces like shijou no jinsei, which I believe she said she struggled some with, as the TV show it was for requested a love song. It sounds like she fell back on her UK rock roots for that one, though I still find it pretty enjoyable)

Also, I actually really like Koufukuron (uhm, especially Etsuraku hen. I'll take the apparent issues with mastering as a subtle offering to me as she continues to not produce purely unnecessarily loud music hah) Maybe it's nostalgia (even though I was definitely not aware of her at that time), or how the PV is impressive and strong yet cute and somewhat haunting with all of the scenes where she's absent from the band in particular.


Nihm, I agree on actually listening to her music these days, though maybe that's also related to not having to rely on p2p services to give me full albums while I was too young to get the CDs myself

There was actually a time where if I listened to music, it probably wasn't Ringo (though by that point with only a handful of songs she had already made such an impact on me that I still considered her my absolute, my everything, a heavensent musician, etc., etc. haha)

I totally missed out on how awesome Yokushitsu is until I finally heard the Zazen version on Mitsugetsushou (which led me to finally watching zazen all the way through x_x I feel awful for making myself wait that long)
The acoustic guitar adds so much flavor to the song, and the bassline is unforgettable (it also sounding weirdly good on the karaoke machines, I've found).

I also really agree about the ZCS version of Yattsuke Shigoto. It blew me away when she pulled that one out at Expo14! I don't know if anyone expected to hear that song again--is it the first time she'd done that version post-Zazen...? It makes me curious as to how she (or whoever is responsible) puts together the setlists for shows.

Gekokujyo, MM really does has a lot of timeless tracks, doesn't it. It's very emotive, and thoughtful, but it still has a really enjoyable roughness to it.

I've read that she wanted to debut with Suberidai (I'm sure you've all heard the same), and as much as I love how offbeat and kind of haunting? Koufukuron is, starting off your major career with Suberidai would have been incredible. Its instrumentation is nostalgic in some ways, but it always sounds fresh. I also find Tadashii Machi super sincere, though I love to listen to it alongside Shizuka naru Gyakushuu, the opening track for Sunny. I still feel the distrust and hesitancy she has toward Tokyo, but also that she's moved on and gotten accustomed to it, and is making it her's.

I'm glad you brought up suberidai, though, because I actually find myself listening to Watashi to Hatsuden a lot recently. She has tons of powerful B-sides! I wonder if she'll bring any out for the upcoming tour I'd love to hear Toki ga Bousou suru, though I think I'd rather experience it with Hata on drums... I'm sure Tamada is good too though...!! Or maybe a rearrangement of Sigma

(sorry for the long response post, but I like reading all of your thoughts...!)
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Old 2015.08.21, 11:39 AM   #6
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I still listen to a lot of the older songs - but not so much the actual albums themselves. MM & SS are still great albums, but I really feel like she has since far exceeded those studio versions in her live performances. So if I'm in the mood for the old stuff, I'll usually just play a rip of one of the concerts. Usually Gekokujou Xstasy.
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Old 2015.08.21, 02:31 PM   #7
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I think Koko de Kissu Shite and Gips are beautiful songs. Doesn't matter to me who people think the target demographic of the songs are for. From a musical perspective, they're fantastic, especially Gips.

I still listen to KZK, MM and SS fairly regularly. SG and Sunny get somewhat regular plays as well, but not as much. Personally, I think Sunny is criminally underrated around here. Don't get the hate. The album flows well from start to finish, with a one or two hiccups at the end (mostly due to NIPPON). It's surprising how well it flows considering that half of it is already released songs.
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Old 2015.08.21, 05:44 PM   #8
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Disparaging her recent output seems to be an ingrained tradition here at EMF. It was in full effect seven years ago when I first joined, and it has continued unabated. Only the input from un-jaded newer Ringo enthusiasts keeps this place from becoming an irrelevant cesspool of snark.
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Old 2015.08.21, 05:57 PM   #9
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The snark catches up with everyone. For a while I thought I was immune. But nope.
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Old 2015.08.21, 06:09 PM   #10
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Sincerely hoping Oomori doesn't fuck up and disappoint you. That would be sad.
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