Interesting. Haven't heard the third song yet but I'm expecting something on par with (or at least as inconsistent as) CB. I really wasn't a fan of Izawa or Kameda's contributions. The way they're ramping up makes me wonder if they're planning a studio album proper which would probably make for a more stimulating release.

Especially now that Ringo has all this time to kill til 2021 and all haha. It could be more paint by numbers though, who knows.

I dig the PV and them rocking out at the end. It's not a Noudouteki Sanpunkan-level return to form but I'll take it.

It's also funny that since my sister is a big Detective Conan fan our fandoms are intersecting right now in a very interesting way. I guess the plot of the new movie takes place at the "World Sports Games" so that's likely the reason they had Ringo pen a theme song in the first place.

Could be my sound setup, but Ringo's vocals in this PV sound different from the single release?

The song's good but not mindblowing. I think it's very Phase 2, for better or worse.

Here's my review of the EP


https://deadgrandmablog.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/review-tokyo-jihen-news/

Tokyo Jihen's YouTube channel put up 20 songs from various concert DVDs/Blu-Rays in their back catalog. EMI put up 3 more that are country-blocked since they're greedy idiots. Not anything new for the diehards but cool for some of us who haven't seen these or not in legit 1080p

I gotta say, seeing Koi no Urikomi from Dynamite Out in 1080p was a huge treat:

Koi no Urikomi

FYI, Ringo's solo account has also uploaded some more lives from the Toutaikai concerts from 2013.

As for the News EP... pleasantly surprised actually. Markedly better than Color Bars was - more consistent, more unified. While CB musically and thematically resembled 5 individuals itching to do their own thing, News really sounds like the gang is glad to be back together again.

The shining tracks here are Uruuruuruu and Neko no Te wa Karite. Uru sounds like a breezier, sunnier Omatsuri Sawagi while Neko is the most interesting of the bunch. Otherwise, Eien no Fuzai Shomei and Genyaku Player sound very reminiscent of Discovery-era Jihen, which makes me wonder if they could be holdovers or if the band is intentionally trying to create continuity? Either way, if these tracks sound familiar, they're still pretty solid.

Not their most ambitious or experimental release, but that's not necessarily what I'm expecting from a 5-track EP. Whether this is pure promotion for Ringo Olympics or if TJ is sticking around for a while, it feels nice to have them back.

Tokyo Jihen - News

Tokyo Jihen resumes their legacy of creating professional-quality music that moves no needles. Do I need to elaborate any further?

To be fair, this is maybe the band's overall best output to date. I made a similar note on Shiina's latest record, but the recording sounds phenomenal. Clearly someone entered Shiina's orbit that has a real ear for production because the sound is pristine, clear, and human in a way that Tokyo Jihen has never been. It is such a strange thing to note that I pulled out the older songs just to make sure it wasn't my headphones. Each musician is so creative at what they do and this is only the first time in their catalog that they sound so. The opener, "Erabarezaru Kokumin" sounds smooth and slinky like the band often tried but failed to do. The song does left turn and while I don't dig the second half of the song quite as much, it remains interesting throughout.

The only dud is "Uru Uru Uruu" and even that is no face plant like Tokyo Jihen is accustomed. It sounds so reminiscent of "Erabarezaru" that at first I thought the band was doing some kind of variation-on-a-theme thing. Alas.

Kameda's song is good, as his songs usually are. Hata's song is good. I was dissapointed there was no left turn like "Hontou no Tokoro" off Color Bars, but the song is very nice. Even Shiina's song pretty good. All pretty good, but at the end I have not registered that the EP ended.

I wish there was more to talk about. It's all very nice. As always I'm left wanting more. The sexy songs should feel sexier, the fun songs should jump, the cool songs should chill or have sopistication. The goofy songs might as well go all in (but I'm glad there are none here.) Nothing really rises to the occasion nor soars above, "fine." Tokyo Jihen has been called a gateway to more interesting music - Shiina Ringo-proper, Petrolz, H Zett M, anything really. In the year 2020, I'm not sure what News offers the entry level listener.

Now that the dust settled on their "career" we can safely say "Gunjou Byori" was their zenith, right? Far and above their best song; ticks all the boxes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was their first song. "Osca" as a noble second.

nooo, don't say that!
Gunjou byori is a great song, and it has that perfect pop song feeling, but it's not better than Sounan or dynamite out's Himitsu.
Sounan slowly builds the tension that is barely released during the chorus
and finally at the end we have a release with the instruments, which is brilliant because the whole song is just Ringo singing without a proper break
any band could have this same idea, but I doubt any other song with the same structure would sound half as amazing as Sounan does, because it has that Ringo mojo inside that now, unfortunately, we can rarely find in her songs anymore
As for Himitsu, the live version, for me it's a natural evolution of gunjou biyori, and it has that same perfect pop hit vibe as well
however, while gunjou is a happy song that you sing while skipping happily under the sun, himitsu is a song you listen to while cooking up a polite but accertive speach to a person that made you really really angry an hour before or some similar situation
And I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think even Shuraba (single version) is far superior to Osca

Ooh yeah, good point. "Shuraba" is their best song. But that's like the cool kid, hard core pick. Gunjou and Osca have that universal appeal.

For the record, I still don't like "Osca." I still think its kind of a mess, but in a overthought and calculated way. I get its appeal though, and approaches legit energy.

Wow someone liked the Kameda song. i thought it was borderline asinine. I really liked all the other songs though especially track 1. Nice and creamy. Theres enough here for me to want to listen to a full length album but I'm not sure that's gonna happen.

Also, no one really discussed this but did anyone keep up with the news of their most recent tour? They went ahead with the first couple of dates but eventually bowed to pressure and cancelled the rest. Some people were really pissed that they were gonna go ahead with the tour at first.

Sounan is still my favourite song of them all but GB comes close.