The long overdue Seiko Oomori thread

[NCORE]

I was so wrong. Sorry Oomori Seiko fans
this album is at least on par with Zettai Shoujo.

[deadgrandma]

Seiko Oomori- Sennou

After two heart-wrenching singer-songwriter masterpieces that firmly made Seiko Oomori a favorite in this reviewer's books, what could Oomori, the up and coming anti-pop-star of this generation do next? Release an idol pop album of course!

But hold your horses! It's not time to run to the hills yet! When Seiko Oomori does idol, she DOES Idol. You can tell that she has a great respect for the somewhat dying genre- Kpop has become the main focus of music from Asia nowadays- and traditional idol is no longer cool. So Oomori has made it her goal- no- her MISSION to show us how good idol music can be- and she succeeds on all levels.

From the get-go, you're blasted with a kaleidoscope of candy coated sweetness- but being Oomori you know it's not as sweet as it seems, there's always something there brooding under the surface- and it's this dynamic that makes this- her third masterpiece- such an amazing experience- even if you can't stand idol pop.

Her offbeat (pop) singing has gone from being quirky and cute to absolutely adorable and irresistible with this release. If it was any different- it just wouldn't have the same effect. There always seems to be a level of playfulness, even sarcasm there- even if she does seem a little more restrained (well, compared to previous releases anyway). But don't fear- there are often areas where she'll let loose a squeak or scream that seems totally out of place- always keeping the listener on their toes. The last track features some great freakouts that would make Yoko Ono blush.

The songs themselves- are completely solid. There's no song here that doesn't fit. It all seems to be put together with love and it's calculated for maximum effect. However, for the older fans, don't be expecting too much acoustic guitar this time round- while it is still there- there isn't as much. There is actually only one guitar/voice song on the entire album- at first it was a tiny bit disappointing, but when you get on the train and understand what she was going for and how well she pulled it off- it is easily forgiven.

Overall- is it as jarring as Mahou Ga...? No. But it is the most perfect pop album in recent memory. Think Zettai Shoujo with a budget and you're getting warmer. It's hard to not like this. Infact, it's hard not to love it.

9/10.

*now waiting for all the reasons why I'm over-praising this album :-p*

[FadedSun]

It's a little better than Zettai and sometimes better than Mahou Ga, but not entirely. I would give it an 8/10.

[Inseu]

Track 2 is cool, have to listen to other tracks more.

[s3r3nity]

I've only got one listen through so far, but I'm really enjoying it. It kind of reminds me of Mariko Goto's first album; it's poppy and has catchy melodies, but all the added stuff + her voice makes it a wild ride. Tracks 6 and 11 have stood out for me so far.

[deadgrandma]

http://www.wonderingsound.com/review...nou-avex-trax/

A pretty well written review (though from that last paragraph I feel someone is copying everything I've ever said :-p)

Good to be reaffirmed I'm not crazy though.

Also, the second half of 呪いは水色 gives me serious Beatles vibes. Trying to pinpoint what song it reminds me of specifically.

[kalmia]

I'll give the album a listen a little bit later tonight. Though, I'm liking that it is being likened to Zettai Shoujo. I actually prefer it to Mahou Ga... (for the most part, give of take a couple of tracks)

[JAWofGoethe]

Re-reading the old posts in the Oomori thread is oddly cathartic. Several EMFers expected from her to have more control and I remember I felt the same.

But now I understand it wasn’t control what I was expecting from her; it was discipline. The type of discipline an artist would display in one moment only to transition into mere formality in the next, leading to the instance in which you expect the artistic ambitions to appear. Without such transition, the artist revolts to subjectivity and the value of his/her doing remains questionable. Same happens if the discipline is shallow.

On “Mahou Ga”, Oomori made of sound-suggestion her prime quality, but her discipline was no deeper than that of pop culture and her carpe diem attitude kept her ironically humble. And this is why I thought comparing her to Togawa (or Ringo) was rather unfair… then.
Togawa the anti-idol didn’t assume an epicurean position with her music by being indifferent to her context (postwar-Japan progress based on westernized education). Instead, she used such traits in her favor to be the subversive figure we know today. This doesn’t mean she thought ahead of her time that much, but the qualities of her work (such as the European-oriented singing), were clearly intended. Those were (and are) her formalities.

Nobuyoshi Araki, who used to work for an advertising agency, captured improbable, unpleasant but critical sexist situations of Tokyo relying on photography.
Koji Wakamatsu mastered the shortcomings of the pink genre, but it was his criticism against government censorship what gave texture to his films.
What made Yukio Mishima’s introspection universal was the “realism” he developed, as perceived by the Literature world of his time.

All of these individuals willingly made a formality out of their disciplines and were eventually qualified as subversive; a term that can lead to a clumsy observation.

I remember reading on an article about Togawa that the decision of relying on the music industry to be socially subversive was a questionable choice, assuming such choice was actually fundamental in the first place. Truth is Togawa had a solid context to back her up. In the current day Japan, is it enough if Oomori is subversive? Or is it that, after 40 years of a driving music industry based on idols, the paradoxical abundance of subversive men in most other form of art or media makes her arrival naturally faithful?

I’m bringing this up now because I’m currently listening to Sennou and I’ve just realized I don’t resist to her in the slightest anymore. With this third ABSOLUTELY GREAT album, Oomori is now showing the industrial culture kind of discipline toward her work.

The lady has made a choice. I hope is not just projection of female empowerment (again). :-D

Note: Damn! I have lot to catch up to...

[deadgrandma]

Official TSHIRTS and other goods now up:
http://shop.mu-mo.net/a/list1/?categ_id=251003

GET on em!

Not sure if international shipping is available or not yet, but it's at least better than the ridiculous prices on Y!A

[TurtleFu]

@JAWofGoethe

That was amazing.