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Old 2010.09.09, 06:33 AM   #1
deflaco
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Default Question about Jihen's phase 1 & 2 lineups..?

Hey guys,

I'm relatively new to the whole Tokyo Jihen scene..discovered Ringo off of the Soil & "Pimp" Sessions collabo "my foolish heart crazy on earth". I just finished watching the dynamite out dvd for the 1231231230th time and realized some lineup differences..

was just wondering and can assume the answer but is the line up from the dynamite out dvd the current line up? if not, what caused the change..i heard about some undercover love life between the guitarist and ringo? School me, please!
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Old 2010.09.09, 06:54 AM   #2
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You need to watch Electric Mole too, because it had the same band roster as Dynamite Out even though the Electric Mole DVD is in Shiina Ringo's name instead of listed as a "Tokyo Jihen" release.

The roster-change happened sometime in mid-2005. The keyboardist/pianist and the guitarist both left at the same time. A lot of people are speculating that Hirama (the guitarist) had some private relationship with Shiina Ringo (after all - she got knocked up by one of her other guitarists before), but everyone is in consensus about why HZM (the keyboardist/pianist) left - he had far too much going on with his music outside of Tokyo Jihen. Hirama composed a lot less music outside of Tokyo Jihen, which is what leads people to doubt that his departure from the band was entirely an artistic decision.

Now HZM.. he's been a much bigger monster outside the band, either in PE'Z (the band he was already with when he joined Tokyo Jihen), or in his solo-career where he goes by the name "H ZETT M". In fact, the performance he proceeded to do on grand piano with PE'Z in late 2005 was more consistently epic (do a search for "REALIVE 2005") than anything else he's ever done before or after, and I don't think he would've had time for that if he were still with Tokyo Jihen.

So Tokyo Jihen still has the same drummer (Hata) and bassist (Kameda) they've always had. It should also be mentioned that Kameda's history with Shiina Ringo goes much farther back than the start of Tokyo Jihen - all the way back to the production of her very first solo-career album. He was also playing bass in Ringo Expo 08 (10th anniversary solo-career concert) even while nobody else from Tokyo Jihen was performing there.

As for the new guys, there haven't been any further changes. We've always had Izawa on keyboard/piano and Ukigumo on guitar, ever since late 2005. But there's a lot of debate in this community about how much their own limitations or artistic tendencies have been influencing the style of the overall band. There's a lot of fans who'd like to hear what the later Tokyo Jihen albums would've been like with HZM and Hirama instead of Izawa and Ukigumo, if it's not strictly about the performing/recording itself but also about the creative process.

Many of us also very closely follow what the current/former pianists and guitarists of Tokyo Jihen have been doing outside of Tokyo Jihen. Sometimes we hear things in their side-careers that we like even better than what we hear them contributing to Tokyo Jihen. Kameda doesn't really have a side-career of composing per se, but he does a whole shitload of producing for other artists. We're still uncertain how much his own background of producing may be influencing the Tokyo Jihen sound for better or for worse.

Just out of curiosity:
How did you find us?

I should be asking more people that, since Google doesn't rank this community anywhere near the top of "Shiina Ringo" or "Tokyo Jihen" results.
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Old 2010.09.09, 09:51 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
Just out of curiosity:
How did you find us?

I should be asking more people that, since Google doesn't rank this community anywhere near the top of "Shiina Ringo" or "Tokyo Jihen" results.
At first what you said seemed quite strange to me, because this community comes up as a result in most of the SR/TJ related Google searches.

Well, I realize EMF arises if you try with something related, like "tokyo jihen ultra c" (EM appears exactly at the top); "tokyo jihen spa & treatment"; "sanmon gossip", but not if you try straight with "Shiina Ringo" or "Tokyo Jihen".

I believe that one of those attemps are the reason why I'm here. I'd bet Sanmon Gossip or Sports.

@deflaco Were are you from?

Last edited by Carlx : 2010.09.09 at 09:46 PM.
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Old 2010.09.09, 07:30 PM   #4
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@ deflaco ~What'd you think about Dynamite out?? ^^

@ Glathannus' question ~ I ended up finding out these forums through a friend from another website, who is also on here by the name of LoBFCanti (but is very innactive), that posted an artwork of mine (wich from what I was told there were quite a few people that didn't like it O.o )

As I got more into Shiina I ofcourse looked for song lyrics and translations (because I'm not a japanese speaking person) and I came upon this website http://www.nostalgic-lavender.net/ringo/index.html which directed me to these forums once again...and so I decided to join in as well.

By the way who made that website? From what it says, it's a founding member/admin...
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Old 2010.09.09, 08:20 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by GIGAcorrupt View Post
As I got more into Shiina I ofcourse looked for song lyrics and translations (because I'm not a japanese speaking person) and I came upon this website http://www.nostalgic-lavender.net/ringo/index.html which directed me to these forums once again...and so I decided to join in as well.

By the way who made that website? From what it says, it's a founding member/admin...
Yep. That's right.
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Old 2010.09.09, 08:43 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
Yep. That's right.

Ohh hey...I've seen her around before ^^ I like her page...it's nice
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Old 2010.09.09, 11:25 PM   #7
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@Glathannus - thanks a lot, that was a great summary! interesting to see the band's progression. I found the site while looking up some information on Ultra C..I was interested in a lot of the Tokyo Jihen background but all I had found before this were some poorly translated wikipedia pages and whatnot but this is great to see predominantly western people enjoy something that the majority of the world would just put a barrier up to


@GIGAcorrupt - honestly Dynamite Out is one of the greatest live concerts I have ever seen. My life is music and I've explored many different genres which makes me appreciate Tokyo Jihen so much more. They're able to miraculously blend so many different styles of music seamlessly and it seems like every member of the band is always soloing (something that would seem amateurish at first) but it just simply works. incredibly well. I'm a drummer of 8 years and watching some of the refreshingly original styles of Hata is just mind-blowing. Over the past few months, I've been coming to appreciate Japanese culture (namely the music) so much because of how ahead of their time they are and Tokyo Jihen is just a band I will never get tired of. I cannot even explain how much this band affects me and it's great to see a crowd that feels the same
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Old 2010.09.10, 11:18 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by deflaco View Post
They're able to miraculously blend so many different styles of music seamlessly and it seems like every member of the band is always soloing (something that would seem amateurish at first) but it just simply works. incredibly well.
I have to agree with this and also look at it a different way: the solo energies are there in Dynamite Out! (which I'm seeing more as a metaphor of the Electric Mole group "dynamiting" themselves out of the Shiina Ringo conceptual jailhouse) but they have a way of canceling each other out when it comes to sitting back and simply enjoying what a song is trying to communicate. I watch Dynamite Out! in awe, it gives me literal goosebumps at times. But it's a reaction to a force of energy, not to what Shiina is singing or what melodies are harmonizing with the lyrics. It's the difference between a ten-ton-TNT explosion and the more choreographed and nuanced fireworks show that is Ultra D.
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Old 2010.09.10, 09:58 PM   #9
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I couldn't agree more to both of you. That's exactly why I fell inlove with DO. Because to me...just about every performance is full of energy and power. It's as if no one really gets left behind. An example I would have of this would be the final minutes of Ekimae. I love that performance to death. There was so much...lively-ness, energy, and power.

But perhaps there really were too many great minds "fighting" one another and maybe that's what lead to a "downfall" but even so...The did one hell of a job!
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Old 2010.09.11, 08:37 AM   #10
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It's interesting how that works......and how Shiina has subtly shifted the energies around (I assume she and Kameda were in charge of replacements). During Dynamite Out! I end up focusing entirely on individuals doing their thing: Hirama, HZM, Hata, Kameda, of course Ringo. Cutting from one awesome individual performance to another, the effect of the concert video (I don't know if it was also like this live) is overwhelming. They're all stars.

But I'm never in "awe" of Ukigumo, or Izawa. Instead, I'm always aware of their contributions and once in a while they take the stage (thanks in part to spotlighting) and remind us what they can do individually. They don't keep asserting their greatness every second. I mean, "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door" really didn't need to rock that hard. It's a cute little song and they jam it like it's "Highway to Hell" or something.

I don't think Phase 1 had a "downfall"---I think it was more like a blowout. Something had to give. And yet they left behind some incredible moments when all 5 of them managed to harmonize.
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