New TJ Album - "Sports" 2010.02.24

[Maou]

Phase 2 Himitsu as goog as Sounan? Phase 2 Himitsu isn't even as good as Phase 1 Himitsu (this was going to be a single).

I like the new Hedo.

[Tokyo Jihad]

Originally Posted by Maou

Phase 2 Himitsu isn't even as good as Phase 1 Himitsu

.

[clakaz]

E win because I can enjoy greatly both Himitsus.

[monad]

Originally Posted by Scribble R

So I listened to Senkou Shoujo for the first time in a long time. It's a 'nice' song, but leaves me feeling lukewarm. Like Gips, it reeks of J-Pop, but Gips is rescued by being over-the-top in that Ringo/Shouso Strip way. Like POWER J-POP.

Not really related to much of anything else in this thread, but since it's already gone way off the rails, I'll stand up for Senkou Shoujo here. Rhythm section aside, it's not all that notable, but Kameda and especially Hata just BURN that song up.

[mizer_unmei]

Originally Posted by kuro_neko

Ringo no Uta is a great Ringo song but it doesn't deserve to be in her best because it isn't 100 percent Ringo, ala, the idea and concept was taken from the WWII-era song which was the first song after the war to brighten spirits a bit. I like what she did with it but I think it should be considered an "inspired by" in the same sense Rinne Highlight and other songs are.

Ooh, really? Around the time Ringo no Uta came out people were saying it was going to be a cover of the Namiki Michiko "Ringo no Uta," and so I subsequently bought 2 CDs with the song on it and fell in love with her. But I always thought that because the Ringo version of the song was so different I thought people just made a mistake and the two songs had no relation. It's crazy to learn so long after the fact that they are actually related in a way.


And on the Senkou Shoujo topic, I never actually listened that intently to it when it first came out because it didn't really pique my interest that much (plus I don't like to listen to music I can't really own on CD), but I too listened to it again recently, and I appreciate it a lot more than I did. It's a pretty song and I like it a lot better than either OSCA or Killer Tune.

[Orenji]

Well, given the Ringo career topic, I found that she was briefly mentioned on an interesting article of The Japan Times that talks about the last decade in terms of influential Japanese musicians. The most influential is Utada, as expected.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0091218a1.html

[so_cold]

Originally Posted by kuro_neko

Ringo no Uta is a great Ringo song but it doesn't deserve to be in her best because it isn't 100 percent Ringo, ala, the idea and concept was taken from the WWII-era song which was the first song after the war to brighten spirits a bit. I like what she did with it but I think it should be considered an "inspired by" in the same sense Rinne Highlight and other songs are.

I remember reading that now. Here's the Namiki Michiko Ringo no Uta (1945) which was in the film Soyokaze (Breeze), plus links (Yano, Anderson) to mentions in two Google Books about Japanese popular song and film respectively.

If SR Ringo no Uta draws successfully from a historically important song that's more an argument in favour of it being in a Best Of rather than against. Listening to the original though, while it's an influence on the orchestra and SR's rhythm, it's not the only one, and the composition is very different. I consider it one of her best at least in part because it combines the major-key emotiveness of her early demos with the musical play of light and shade (OK, RnU is more light than shade) of KZK. Actually more honestly it's got that special "excitement" about SR that I can't put words to, it's not just because it's one of the first songs I heard from her, because Hatsukoi Shoujo was one of the last and I get that excitement from that too.

Rinne Highlight... Borrowing lyrics from a song you love that sound like how you feel, while you concentrate on the more spontaneous act of writing music that sounds like how you feel is a very, very valid way of writing a song. (It does come from the heart...) Rinne Highlight might have been a more calculated but worthwhile exercise of "altering" a song (lyrics and melody) that already exists (has she ever spoken about it?) If the resulting melody is different enough and you change the lyrics then it's probably your song. [Edit]I only have the iTunes version of Watashi to Houden so I can't check the sleeve to see if SR/EMI credited Susanna Hoffs and No Kind of Love.[/Edit] If they switched the lyrics, which would be a shame cos she made them fun IMO, even the most committed Bangles fan wouldn't have noticed the melodic similarities in the first part of the verse.

Mods, should these posts be moved to the Ringo no Uta topic...?

[Scribble R]

Originally Posted by Maou

Phase 2 Himitsu as goog as Sounan? Phase 2 Himitsu isn't even as good as Phase 1 Himitsu (this was going to be a single).

I like the new Hedo.

Phase 1's Himitsu is boring. I like the amount of variation in Phase 2's Himitsu.

My point is, though, that I don't find any of Jihen's work, Phase 1 or Phase 2 interesting in the same way that I found Shouso Strip/KSK interesting, namely the 'eccentric' flourishes she scatters throughout the SS songs. This is what I miss about Ringo's older work, whereas Kyouiku/Adult/Variety/SG merely have traces of it (I have to sit through ten minutes of Keshou Naoshi to get to it in Adult's case).

I don't know why this is suddenly gone, and the only thing that I can put it down to is that Ringo or Kameda or Inoue's name isn't in the Arrangement By: field in the music credits.

Ringo said that she shut up during Variety though, so maybe this time, the songs won't be as clearly defined by their composers as they were in Variety -- she suggested as such. This also means that Ukigumo's cheesy RnB hooks may slither their way throughout the entire album. Be hiiiiigh, wooooooah.

[so_cold]

Originally Posted by Scribble R

Phase 1's Himitsu is boring. I like the amount of variation in Phase 2's Himitsu.

My point is, though, that I don't find any of Jihen's work, Phase 1 or Phase 2 interesting in the same way that I found Shouso Strip/KSK interesting, namely the 'eccentric' flourishes she scatters throughout the SS songs. This is what I miss about Ringo's older work, whereas Kyouiku/Adult/Variety/SG merely have traces of it (I have to sit through ten minutes of Keshou Naoshi to get to it in Adult's case).

The two flavours of Himitsu have long been my favourite Jihen song. But obviously I'm wrong and one of them must die

I was originally ambivalent about Jihen in general because of the greater straightforwardness of the songwriting and arrangement (yeah, still am) but even though classy Adult Himitsu is a song I pick out more often (I love the bridge), when I'm in the mood for it nothing rocks like the DO version. It takes that sexy melody somewhere special... My disappointment at it being out of print is the main reason why DO can't be my favourite concert DVD: it's the song of the tour.

Originally Posted by Scribble R

I don't know why this is suddenly gone, and the only thing that I can put it down to is that Ringo or Kameda or Inoue's name isn't in the Arrangement By: field in the music credits.

zero miten kara and Togatta Teguchi made me wish there were more songs like them on Sanmon Gossip (the former is KSK-caliber, IMHO) but at least, it makes me feel better that those were Ringo arrangements so we'll see songs of that style in the future, maybe. Y'know, I wouldn't have minded Mummy D doing a whole album with Ringo, with Nobuhiko and Inoue.

Yes. Arrangement: Shiina Ringo always seems to be an extra sprinkling of magic with me too. It ought not to be possible to be a fan of someone to that extent, because everyone needs help and people like Nobuhiko Nakayama (who co-arranged those two SG songs as you say) and Susumu Nishikawa need the attention and respect Phase 1 get. I often prefer the implied demo arrangements to their studio versions, she arranged Tegami and made it more delicious IMO (Inoue as sound engineer too of course), and if we supposed she added her own counterpoint to Kao's chorus... (?) Another blooming edit: I'd be more excited about a Mummy D/Nakayama/Inoue collaboration album than this one. I'll stop posting for a bit now.

[kuro_neko]

Originally Posted by so_cold

I'd be more excited about a Mummy D/Nakayama/Inoue collaboration album than this one. I'll stop posting for a bit now.

I was very interested in the 2ch rumors saying she was quiting jihen for a mummy-d, nakayama, songs style band formation. the problem with ringo is she gets bored of one thing after a while and as a solo artist is able to change it up easily, but with jihen the band holds her back in that regards. she might want to do something completely different but shes pretty much shackled to a 5 piece band in a way. so her persona is split, the ringo in jihen and the ringo who makes solo music. I'm excited about sports but I don't think it will be anything revolutionary. But seeing as I've enjoyed all the releases as they come out on different grounds, I'm sure I'll like it. Heck, I even like Variety when I feel the need to listen to it (which is very rarely). However, I don't feel compelled to seek a lot of it out, like I do with MM and SS songs.