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Old 2013.07.17, 07:13 PM   #13
Osiris12345
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Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills as I read the comments in this thread. "Get Lucky" is funky, sexy, catchy and Sanpukan is flat, boring and loveless. I don't like Sanpukan, Sam I am. Not when it came in to being, and not in 2013. It almost seems unfair to compare it to Daft Punk. Really, its unfair to the latter as well.
I realize it's kind of dumb to argue about opinions on a music forum since taste is subjective anyway but I'm gonna stop you here. Sanpunkan is flat, boring, and loveless? In what ways? It's hardly flat. The verse is a chillout song with a pulse that draws you in softly and slowly. Ringo's voice sets the tone for a moody R&B piece that just exudes style. It's hardly boring either. I find a lot to listen to and enjoy in this song. The pulse of the drums, Izawa's keys, the cool backup vocals, Uki's nice guitar lines during the lean-in and the chorus, and dat bass. I don't even know how to respond to the claim that it's "loveless". You're gonna have to elaborate here. I feel like a lot of love and care was put into the song. It's Phase 2 at their tightest. They LITERALLY are making a song that is exactly 3 minutes. And they just click together perfectly. You're acting like the song is Ringo mumbling over a click track. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
Tokyo Jihen aren't that kind of act and never claimed to be. Tokyo Jihen lifts a few ideas, implants them in their songs to evoke other artists, genres, styles of music in the listener. Tokyo Jihen doesn't lend themselves to their source material and become that sound like Daft Punk does. Every Tokyo Jihen song sounds like every other Tokyo Jihen song.
I wouldn't say that. In fact, I think they could get polarizing because of the fact that they experimented with certain sounds that didn't work. In general, Tokyo Jihen's style was to throw everything but the kitchen sink into songs. Just look at Variety. Tons of songs that even have different sections within them that don't work but other parts that do. And all of the band members had pretty distinct writing styles. Sports alone showcases a pretty diverse set of songs, whether you like them or not.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
Tokyo Jihen announced themselves as a pop act from day one, and the aspect of "pop" they stuck to throughout their tenure was the consumability. Their songs are like potato chips. They please the listener immediately, and the listener can consume quite a bit before inevitably growing tired. However, nothing of what they just consumed gave something back to the listener passed that first second of satisfaction.
So what is music supposed to give you other than satisfaction? I can appreciate music that grows on you but not every song has to be an archeological endeavor where you have to keep digging to discover the rare fossil. And, not to mention, just because a song does that doesn't mean it doesn't have any value. A well-crafted pop song should be commended, especially if it can be catchy AND interesting. I'm not talking about Justin Bieber or One Direction here. Take a song like "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel. That is a fucking great pop song. Should that be dismissed because I liked it the first time I heard it? Because it's somewhat derivative of Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons? If you take influences and make something new from them, that's good. And I feel like Noudouteki Sanpunkan does that. It's not just an R&B song. It's a dance song. It's a song with an atmospheric groove. It has bite but is laid-back. It takes its time but has a goal. It's a complete contradiction and somehow everything completely works.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
Maybe the listener gets a little kick that Sanpukan borrows a dancier beat, so its like listening to a new genre, without actually listening to anything new. (Same shit for all the jazzy and showtune bullshit.)
So now adding something new to something doesn't make it new anymore? And you just mention the beat. You say nothing about Ringo's vocals, the very creative use of the keyboard in the intro and throughout the song, and the eclectic guitar licks Uki implements. Like I said before, there's a lot to be found here.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
In america we have these collections called "Kidz Bop." They are cds with top 40 hits, but covered by session musicians with little kids on vocals. They are made for parents who are uncomfortable with their kids supporting artists who may have "questionable morals" or whose songs may have dirty words. The kids get a version of the song they like, and the parent has a good conscience that they did their part.
Okay. Now you're just getting plain insulting. Are you implying that Tokyo Jihen is too safe to get us what we really want so they're giving us manufactured shit? I call bullshit on that.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
Its dumb and silly, but these things have a place, and no one said they were supposed to replace the real thing. That's how I feel about a song like Sanpukan. It's mostly filler until the listener is ready to listen to Random Access Memories, or a Chic or Shalamar best of.
If you were trying to advertise for Daft Punk you just did in the worst way possible. Saying Sanpunkan is RAM/Chic/Shalamar Lite is really making you come off as elitist. Just sayin'.
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