Sorry to double post,

But another new PV, which is a prequel to "ミッドナイト清純異性交遊", adding a whole new level of depth/darkness to it:

君と映画

Love it when artists do this with their PVs.

Turtle, why are you so concerned with that Oomori is going for and if she's trying to parody idol music? In my mind, it's completely irrelevant what her artistic mission is. All I care about is the music.

I'm impressed with the stylistic diversity of her music, but most songs I don't find particularly interesting. Her voice can also be pretty grating, most are her just wailing with a guitar. It's not that I don't like her, it's that I don't think her music stands on its own merits. She intentionally integrates her "character" into her music: to talk about one without the other is pointless (I think the same thing of Togawa and Shiina). And somebody who seems to sing such intensely personal songs basically requires some understanding of her lyrics, and I can't really find anything on her lyrics. But okay, here's my review of Mahou:
Kitty Blues - her voice is kind of annoying, but around the 2 minute mark, I like the change, the repeating structures really apply a sense of urgency or apprehension. And like many songs that I like it ends in a sort of crescendo.
Ongaku o suteyo - I don't like the uneven mixing. I like the way her voice drifts from like a downbeat almost-rap, to her signature impassioned singing. I like the backing track too, almost trip-hop combined with dream pop. Her voice can get a little too cutesy.
Shinjuku - I love this song, but I really dislike the arrangement. I much prefer the acoustic guitar-only version she performs live. The bells are okay, but when it starts getting electro-poppy I just think it doesn't fit the song right.
Handmade home - the guitar work is really impressive, and it's almost country-esque with her strumming. I like it, it's upbeat and seems more optimistic than her other songs.
Atashi tenshin - this song is really good. I actually like the moaning chorus, but the verses shine, the way the words roll right out is very Shiina-like. Is that some 'r' rolling as well ;) And that guitar solo GAWD YES.
Natsu hate - is that still her voice? wow, she has some real vocal chameleon going on, like Togawa. The way her voice wavers when it gets to the upper register is just heartbreaking. I think the song is a great showcase for the strength of her voice.
Maguro gyosen - now, I don't understand the lyrics, but I can tell this is probably supposed to be a storytelling song. It certainly has that feeling and it's great because you can get the movement of the story from the way the music changes. But because I can't understand the story I find the song to kind of shallow.
Senaka no zipper - I'm beginning to see a sort of pattern with some of her songs. This one seems fairly generic to me, it fits into the "wailing with guitar" category.
Saishu koen - I really like this too, it's similar to Atashi tenshin with it's fast rolling verses and the bridge in the middle of the song is so beautiful, great guitar playing (almost Bonnie Pink-ish too).
I love you - yeah, another wailing with guitar song. There isn't much of a hook to it. But again, fantastic guitar bridge/solo
Kayokyoku - this one is different: a wailing with PIANO song! I'm joking, it's alright. But again, these slower songs just don't hook me.
Koenji - this song is way too long and bored the crap out of me. I like the electric guitar, I guess. I was zoning out within the first 3 minutes.
Himegoto - I like the whisper-like, haggard vocals and harmonizing. If it was longer I wouldn't like it, but it's the perfect length so it's enjoyable enough.
Maho ga tsukaenainara - this song is great. It's a wailing w/ guitar song, but has a strong hook. I love her voice in this, the strumming, how powerful the song is. And the perfect way to end the album.
Overall: an impressive diversity, it showcases her excellent vocal range and her guitar playing skills. Her more folk-sy songs that are just her and a guitar are rather listless, and I noticed that, for the most part, her better songs are the shorter ones. Barely any of the songs stick with me after I have listened to them, but the highs are so good I just want to listen to them again and again.
Favorite songs: Maho ga tsukaenainara, Atashi tenshin, Shinjuku
This is all after one listen, mind you. Though I have listened to the above three several times.

"Super charged" by her standards, namely acoustic guitar plus singing. They're pretty tame compare to most of Ringo's work, such as Kabukichō no Joō, Honnou, Jihen's Ringo no Uta, OSCA...

These are valid criticisms from people who are not big fans.

Seiko Oomori's perfect fan is someone who likes edgy female singer-songwriters with some degree of image appeal, often shows dismissive attitude towards Japanese idol music, and loves the singer's voice enough to tolerate the minimalistic music. The singer's voice is essentially what's doing the trick. You have to love Seiko's voice to enjoy her howling.

So far, I'm neither a fan of her voice nor the music, which is mostly indie folk. And in my own twisted view of music, I add the adjective "boring" to anything labeled as folk. I like glamorous, sexy female singers with loads of melodic, fast-paced songs (Ringo, Amuro Namie, Suzuki Ami, Goto Maki etc).

Anyone who says Oomori's voice can't be grating is lying. To be fair, Ringo has her share of grating vocals at times, but overall her voice is much more soothing and she has much more control over what she can and can't do with it.

While Seiko's influence from Ringo is obvious (though I think this is only in the image department), I don't think it's fair to compare any of her music to past Ringo songs. And her sex appeal is in the eye of the beholder. I find Seiko to be quite sexy.

Yes. super charged by her standards. Though, why bring up Kabuki-cho no jou, Honnou, etc when those songs are very different, trying to be different things, from the two Zettai Shoujo songs. Like saying "this cake isn't as good as this sandwhich" even if you bought them in the same mall. Oomori Seiko goes for the hyper sugar production of typical Jpop faire. I'd say the more similar Shiina-related song would be maybe Bunmei-Kaika.

I wouldn't say that liking her singing is the same as enjoying her music or that one necessarily has to go with the other. Singing can be more than hitting notes or to be a detached garnished to a pre-fabricated track. Oomori's voice is used less for singing so much as it is expression. Oomori conveys a lot of character through her vocal attack – I think more than post-SS Shiina dared, and I think that's a big part of the draw.

Now you can argue, why listen to a singer if the singing isn't up to snuff. It's like Celine Dion compared to Fiona Apple. Is one "better" than the other? It depends on the criteria. Regardless of "winner," there's room in the world for both.

ALL the best and most interesting female vocalists will be called "grating" or "wailing" by non-fans. Other examples.... Jun Togawa, Bjork, Kate Bush, early Tori Amos, Karen O, Yoko Ono, Mariko Goto. I think its a bland criticism because I've heard it so many times... Its something MY PARENTS would say back in my teenage days :lol:

Control? Who needs control.

Yoko Ono? I remember hearing a live song with her singing with John Lennon a a while back and she sounded atrocious. Not sure what she sounds like now. Mariko Goto has history of being in a punk band, so that's a different story. Her vocal style called for it. Now her voice is way more cutesy. You don't need to defend Seiko, DG. I know you're a big fan, and I'm a fan as well. I'm just being realistic.

Most people have only heard Yoko Ono in the context of "John Lennons Wife".... Which is understandable. It's a shame though cause Yoko Ono has some damn good solo albums under her belt.

For some good tracks, I say check out Rising II or Death of Samantha (no link to album version)... these might change your mind just a little bit.

Also, I gotta do this for my sanity:
-I think the ideal fan is a Shiina Ringo fan. Look at the current Oomori page on last.fm for example, 90% of the avatars there are Ringo avatars.
-It's not that hard/unbelievable to be dismissive of idol music- in fact, it is pretty much the standard as far as I know. The majority of that stuff (there are some decent groups/artists) is way more grating on the ears than this stuff...
-You say 'edgy female singer-songwriter' like it's a bad thing- yet you also mention Ringo in the same post. Ringo's most popular music is her young edgy music.
-I don't know what your idea of fast paced is, but Oomori isn't short of fast paced songs. You can have fast paced without drums you know.... Besides, we ain't talking thrash metal here.
-You like Mariko Goto. I find both artists (at times) extremely similar (just Oomori is more personal- I'd love to hear Mariko go to a deeper level like Mahou Ga goes- you know its possible, but I think she's happy with her sugar coating). Why you no like at least the Lai Lai Lai Team collab then? Also, m@u and Zettai Shoujo get along pretty damn good together tbh. I feel there is a stubbornness here :-p
-Indie folk is only the beginning. There is plenty more up her sleeve than that.
-You write Namie Amuro with no mention of Ayumi Hamasaki, who is infinitely better ;-p

Anyway, enough stanning. I sound like I did when I first joined EMF toward Ringo. I'll leave you to your Maki Goto, I'll listen to my Oomori albums :-p

@turtlefu: good to see that you finally listened to it. I say keep going with it (if you want to), I didn't like it all at first either but it's a major grower with time. What you put in, it gives back tenfold. The choice is yours. (Though giving up on it is like Luke giving up on Han when he was trapped in Carbonite in Jabba's Palace :-p)

dg you are such a stan and I find it hilarious.
Listening to Zettai Shoujo. The entire album is much better produced and engineered. Not just the first two tracks (which are purposefully OVERproduced), but even the songs afterwards that are more in her "girl and guitar" style, she really opened up the soundstage. Also, she seems to be a lot better at editing, songs no longer seem like they last FOREVER and nothing has really bored me as much as Koenji at this point.
Again, I really do appreciate her diversity. Maybe as Shiina fans we take it as a given that an artist can feel comfortable in a wide range of disparate genres, but Oomori really does handle her folk, pop, trip-hop etc. really well.

I don't think comparing her to Shiina is fruitful. It's why I like the Togawa comparisons better, because I think it captures both the performance and artistry aspect of her. Oomori is only comparable to Shiina in the sense that they are vaguely transgressional, but Shiina's music has always had a far more melodic foundation than Oomori's. Muzai Moratorium has lots of catchy choruses. Most songs in Mahou don't even have choruses.

EDIT: Spoke too soon. Just got to Aoi Heya and boy is it boring. But I do like her voice in it, I like fragile upper register.