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Old 2013.11.25, 07:15 PM   #261
Tokyo Jihad
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It's not that bad, certainly not my most hated. (Expo, where Neko drowned out the concert with his own.) At the time, it was this quaint little experiment, and I still see it like that. I agree with Nimh that she really doesn't "own" the performance and seems kinda sleepy. Maybe she was growing into the style like DG suggests (10 years in and I'm not convinced ) The performance of Okonomide is great, Kabukicho no jou is ghastly.

Why is everybody so quick to cry "you just like rock shiina" like it automatically discredits the previous post? Criticism of late game Shiina (or in this case, late game-styled Shiina) is valid just as someone's opinion who prefers early or late era Shiina.

Also, thanks for these mini reviews nimh!
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Old 2013.11.25, 07:28 PM   #262
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^ I'm just trying to get a idea of Nimh's stance on the whole 'orchestrated/jazz' side of Ringo lives. I guess it could have come across as an attack against 'you only like rock Shiina' (and come on, you're trying to tell me the biggest complaints generally speaking against Ringo don't stem from this general attitude? Give me a break...) but I didn't really mean it that way. I could look back at old product reviews, but people's opinions do change and I was asking about Nimh's current stance. If Nimh said he doesn't like ANY of this style stuff, then the review can be taken a lot differently to if he did like the newer shows in the similar style. That's all I'm getting at here (this time anyway :-p).

I also find it creepy talking about Nimh in the third person here, I'll wait for his answer to my question :-p
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Old 2013.11.26, 12:23 AM   #263
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Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
^ do you consider all similar Ringo shows (Ringohan, Expo and perhaps even Bon Voyage to a certain extent) phony?
No, just Baishou. The word "phony" really doesn't come into mind with those other things you mentioned.

I just realized I never actually reviewed Bon Voyage in detail, like I did Ultra C and Discovery.

What I'm finding interesting is taking these concerts one at a time, in chronological order (of release, not production), and noticing the broad changes in sound and intensity. The great audio on the discs definitely helps.

Having said that, I just checked out Electric Mole. Now this is more like it. The Tsumi to batsu opening is by far the best opening of the 4 Ringo concerts so far.

It can't be overstated how important Hata and HZM are in this mix. The other 3 concerts never had the drumming or keys that these two bring. The bass drumming and the piano work especially stand out in the audio as something NEW in the Ringo performance repertoire. Of course, this was the introduction of Tokyo Jihen, and I forgot just how blatantly the five of them were presented to the public as "Tokyo Jihen," not Shiina Ringo plus a band.

GX was basically her show, Hatsuiku a side project with some of her friends, Baishou a collaboration with Saito...and now Electric Mole is the emergence of Jihen. It's funny how in these concerts only one really appears to be a full-on Ringo spectacular, and that's GX. Electric Mole is about her, but it's about her leaving the solo life and entering a new phase with a group.

The sound on Mole is thundering, thanks like I said to Hata and HZM. Hirama comes across as the best guitarist Ringo ever played with, but he doesn't seem to bring any NEW sound to the mix, just a better sound.

I always thought this concert had a great opening 3-4 tracks, then a lull in the middle, then a great finish with STEM and a beautiful set of encores, especially Tadashi machi. With a richer sound, the middle part is more enjoyable than before, but the frequent cutaways to backstage bits and animated segues stop the flow of energy. Do we really need to watch Ringo paint Kameda's fingernails?

But I love the little film at the end where Ringo sits, then the camera tracks across a row of her old costumes, and then she magically appears again at the end of the row. Then there's the shot of 2 Ringos sitting in chairs looking at each other, and one gets up and walks away. Such a mysterious, almost creepy vibe.

Little moments I also love: when she fans Hata with a super-serious expression (silly because there's no way that little fan is cooling him off), and when she walks offstage and pumps her arms in a "yay!" cheer. Something tells me she likes working with friends and colleagues because it gives her a chance to play around.

Anyway, this concert is the ultimate Gips test. If you don't like this Gips, you'll never like Gips.

Next up: Zazen Ecstasy.
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Old 2013.11.26, 02:21 AM   #264
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If theres one major problem with Electric Mole... Its this massive buildup to what would just become Kyouiku...
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Old 2013.11.26, 02:38 AM   #265
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The build up was to Dynamite Out
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Old 2013.11.26, 03:47 AM   #266
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Dynamite Out preceded Kyoiku???

Then WHAT HAPPENED?!!! All this time I thought people knew Kyoiku and the band just fixed it live...
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Old 2013.11.26, 04:11 AM   #267
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It was after Kyouiku. Kyouiku was part of the "buildup" and Dynamite Out was the crescendo.
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Old 2013.11.26, 10:51 AM   #268
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I have a minute, so I'm going to talk about those two new Shiina Ringo songs. I don't remember their names, so for the sake of this post they will be referred to as "Burt Bacharach" and "the Electro pop one."
An auspicious start sure, but I promise this review is going to be the most positive review I've given in a while. (Now, I don't know if I've even heard the full songs, the youtubes linked earlier faded out abruptly but I've yet to see these songs in any other form. So I'm going to assume I've at least heard enough to pass a judgement.)

Let's get the common ground out of the way, aka the bad stuff. As with any Shiina song since 2006, the songs fall into a lull in the chorus. What is supposed to be the most memorable part of these songs are mostly bland, lead nowhere, and do pretty little for me. As a whole these songs...aren't that great but there is a little hope to gleaned from them (or be misinterpreted mirages clung to by the mentally unstable who post on artist forums long after the artist has stopped making music they like.)

Both songs make very strong production choices, which was one of my biggest gripes with Tokyo Jihen. The Electro Pop one's producer brought alot of what he does so well and Shiina was game. It's a nice change from the janky non-descriptness of Jihen she was chained to. Burt Bacharach seems like something I would immediately poo-poo, what with the heavy Saito Neko influence. The starkness of the sole string quartet on the track paired with only Shiina's voice is really excellent. (There's also a suuper awful piano-synth that gets introduced halfway this is beyond jarring. The song would have been better if the producer wouldn't have blinked.)

While neither song is an instant classic, or even a treasured deep cut, there's some good choices in both of these songs. I'm not sure how strange it is, but the song-writing is the culprit of most of the flaws. Liberation in the control room helped make these tracks better and maybe some more outside thinking in the pre-production would put Shiina immediately back on the rails.
(I realize she didn't write the Burt Bacharach song, but maybe a more unique interpretation.)
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Old 2013.11.26, 03:36 PM   #269
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I'm not musician but only thing that bothers me about "Bacharach written" song is that it has slightly nervous tempo (PV version), I'm not sure but it just seems tiny little bit too fast, just a microbit.
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Old 2013.11.26, 04:21 PM   #270
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^ After seeing the live version of IT WAS YOU (Bacharach written), I gotta say, this is the version I'm gonna stick with, feels far more 'organic'. That piano part is a real piano (Ringo at it's helm) btw. On the studio version too.

Someone was asking about the English in some of the new songs. Well out of the 4 that are shown, she seems to have a new fixation on English... most work well/we've heard already. As for Carnation's new English lyrics.... well, tbh they kinda sound like Billy Corgan lyrics :-p.

I love this version of My Foolish Heart ~Crazy In Shibuya~ (Such an overlooked song, you heathens.) too. The new arrangement is smooth as silk, I love it!

The 4 songs in the portion of the live stream are:

1. IT WAS YOU
2. Carnation (English lyrics)
3. Karisome Otome (English lyrics)
4. My Foolish Heart ~Crazy In Shibuya~

From what I've seen, this is definitely not Ringo + Orchestra like Ringohan, its a way more stripped back and it excites me very much. Her voice sounds absolutely great here too, much better than the last couple of Jihen lives. Can't wait to see the rest.

And it can be found you know where.

Also
: Last night she added Tsumi to Batsu to the set list.

(Edit: I know this was meant to go in the "Live Shows" thread but I was replying to the IT WAS YOU talk intially :p)
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