[BanFan]

For me, the problem with Tokyo Jihen is that Shiina seemed to be focusing all her energy into the band and little to none on future solo releases. When Alex Turner paired up with Miles Kane for The Last Shadow Puppets, they did one album cycle and went back to their prospective bands.

I feel like her jumping back and forth between solo and band activities (with a tendency to do more with the latter) parallels what happened with the brilliant green green and the lead vocalist's side projects Tommy february6 and Tommy heavenly6. All three projects have the same primary composer and producer, but so many years in solo mode seem to have affected the band's future works.

Do you guys think the extended stints in Tokyo Jihen had any impact on Shiina's solo works? Do you think doing the Tokyo Jihen bit for a year or just bringing a couple new guys to jam in the studio for a fourth solo album right after touring for KSK would have resulted in "better" music? I'm sure she stashed tons of songs away before and during the Jihen years, but I feel like there'd be enough small changes in influence/mindset to have a significant impact on her solo stuff.

And I'm gonna have to disagree with the article's closing statement and throw Chara out there as a female Japanese musician who's got Shiina beat, just because she's been making great stuff nonstop since 1994. Obviously it's not a competition, but Chara has the distinct advantage of never bowing out to play politics in a band. Well, except for Mean Machine, a one-off band that only ever released one album.

I also don't get the author's point of comparing her to the entire Japanese scene, especially whoever's topping the charts. It sounds so much more ridiculous saying the Western equivalent: "Spoon was once a great escape from The Backstreet Boys" and ending with "One Direction is terrible; new Spoon sucks too because they also use synthesizers."

EDIT: And for saying so much, I feel like I didn't really relate all this to the actual topic. What I meant to say was that Tokyo Jihen is still HER music, as is all her solo works during and after Jihen ended, but spending too much time in the confines of the band ("Derr, make sure we put some keyboards in that song") may have negatively impacted her actual solo output and my own perspective of it. I don't ever think things like "her new album is terrible because she had to listen to the Ukizawa Monster trying to write songs", I just wonder what the impact might have been from switching gears for so long. For example, did she think, "Maaan, I need some accordion because the guys never let me do it."