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Old 2007.04.02, 02:39 PM   #1
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Default [Tomosaka Rie] 2009.06.24 - Toridori. (CD) [Album]

トリドリ。 (Toridori.)


01. カーテンフォール (Curtain Fall)
02. 都会のマナー (Tokai no Manaa) (music and lyrics by Ringo; arrangement by Tokyo Jihen)
03. 目覚め (Mezame) (music, lyrics and arrangement by Ukigumo)
04. タリンス (Tarinsu) (music, lyrics and arrangement by Izawa)
05. ずっと (Zutto)
06. GOOD DAY GOOD BYE
07. 子供の情景 (Kodomo no Joukei) (music, lyrics and arrangement by Ringo)
08. Mother goose

Second-Press Availability: Amazon.co.jp, CD Japan, HMV Japan, YesAsia
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Old 2009.06.24, 09:32 PM   #4
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so here is my review for Tori Dori for anyone who is interested.

this album is kind of interesting. packaging wise, the album is super fancy. the cover of the booklet actually has a separate clear plastic insert that fits in place over the cover of Rie with the snazzy backdrop, on the clear insert the circle is of straight lines, so when the curvy and the straight ones overlap you get a really crazy image. The inside of the booklet is pretty much more or less images from the same shoot we've seen, but it all works really nicely. The cd itself has almost no text and is the same crazy spiral circle artwork, very nice.

packaging 8/10

okay, onto the actual album.

Curtain Fall: what a strange choice, this song should have been the closer! The longest and most somber track on the entire album, rie's vocals sound very nice, not warbly or muffled, like she normally sounds (like in Tokai no Manner). As the song goes along strings kick in and the entire thing just feels so sweeping and epic, but yet humble at the same time, it is probably the best track on the album IMO. Either you will like it or dislike it, but something within it struck a chord with me. 9/10 (no where on this album is there going to be a 10. let it be said I am rating this work amongst Rie's catalogue, so a 9 for Rie and a 9 for Ringo are completely different).

Tokai no Manner: what can I saw, everyone has heard this song, either you like it or dislike it. I'm on the "like" side here, although her vocals could have been produced a bit better. This track really stands out on the album as there is nothing on the album even remotely like it. I would have liked to see an entire album of music like this from Rie. This track has the boys from Jihen playing (they are credited). 9/10

Mezame-here comes Uki's track totalling in at just around 5:30 and BOY what a marathon track. If it had been half this length it would have been so much better. This song doesn't really do much, if you've heard the first minute you've heard the entire song. I don't particularly like this style of R&B to begin with, so I'm not a huge fan of this song. I should note that the credits list the Rhodes is being played by Izawa, the synth/programming by Uki, and everything else are other studio musicians.
6/10

Tarinsu-I have to admit this clip scared me a bit. This song, when all is said and done, has a Toumei Ningen/Variety vibe about the entire thing. The track has covered in Uki guitar and Variety production values, so if you like Variety you will this, if you didn't, probably not so much. What didn't work for Ringo works here for Rie though. This song actually comes off as quite cute and and the bridge is actually quite nice. Interesting to note that this song has all the members of Jihen minues Kameda, who has been replaced by some guy named "Miguel" on bass, ROFL. 7/10

Zutto-I don't even remember this song. I forgot it as soon as it was over. This just reeks of sub-par adult contemporary J-pop, like Maya Sakamoto but not nearly as good. This probably harks back to one of Rie's earlier music days, I think the guy who wrote it worked on her first album? 5/10

Good Day Good Bye-her voice on this bugs the heck out of me. there is a party where she sings "luck, lucky luck, lucky, luck ku ku" and it just makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth whenever I hear it. The general melody is nice enough, makes me imagine living on a farm with lots of horses, don't ask me why. This is easily tied for the worst track on this album along with Zutto. skip shimasu! 5/10

Kodomo no Joukei-this song is bizarre, but in a good days gone bye Ringo way. It kind of reminds me a bit of a very toned down Toki ga Bousou Suru. I think that is because the melody is very close to a waltz. It gives me similar impressions as Poltergiest and Nippon ni Umarete. The only instrument is piano, being played by Izawa, and there is some noise added underneath that adds to Rie's lilting tone that gives the entire thing a kind of dark undercurrent, while still being strangely calm. Almost like a lullaby an evil witch might sing to their child. Witches are mothers too! I like this, this song the more I hear it. This could stand up against the Shoujo Robot single IMO 9/10

Mother Goose-the last track is a Kaela Kimura penned one. I don't know how I feel about it, I want to like it, it starts interesting enough and kind of feels prepped to explode into this big pop hit, but when it does it doesn't quite seem to go where I hoped it would. Not a bad track but perhaps not my cup of tea, especially when it follows such a beautiful dark track like Kodomo no Joukei. 7/9

overall: this album is kind of crazy and all over the place. the jacket has a quote from Rie saying how within this one project there are different versions of herself and her music, crafted together with her friends and musicians over her career, presented together here on one disc. As such, it is representative of her entire career. I don't listen to Rie's solo music, well non-Ringo solo music, but I imagine it all must be represented here somewhere. Since I didn't like the earlier stuff, it was inevitable that I wouldn't like that stuff here. But still, at least half the tracks are Ringo/Jihen involved and out of those only 1 (ukigumo's mezame) was what I would consider a bit of a misstep. Izawa dodged a bullet, just barely, but his track somehow works when all signs point to otherwise. That being said, the non-Ringo/Jihen tracks on here are a bit of a let down. The only one worth your time IMO is the opening, CurtaiF Fall, and perhaps Mother Goose, but man Zutto and Good Day Good Bye are real skips. This is a short album so having 2/8 is 1/4 of the album. Despite this, I think the quality of the better work is astounding and Ringo's tracks especially, Tokai no Manner and Kodomo no Joukei, almost feel worthy of being placed together with the Shoujo Robot single. It is just too bad there isn't one more real great Ringo track, but I think you could slap those two plus Curtain Fall onto an EP and create a Tokai no Manner single which could easily replace this album. Still, Izawa's track is worthy of a listen if you like Variety, it just happens to not fit the tone of Shoujo Robot and the other new Ringo stuff so I can't imagine it could fit alongside them in an EP or playlist. I did howeer happened to enjoy it. The album has its ups and it has its downs, but overall the ups were a lot higher than the the downs, so I'd give this effort my thumbs up. The work Ringo has given Rie over here career, including the tracks here, are so much better than the work she has given anyone else you have to wonder about it. They must be close friends. I hesitate to assign a number but all things included I think a 7 would fit the entire package. Cut it down to Curtain Fall, Tokai no Manner, Tarinsu, Kodomo no Joukei, and Mother Goose and it would be a much stronger release, worthy of an 8 or even a 9. There may be some iffy material but the good stuff makes up for it IMO. Overall, this album is her strongest album she has ever released and amongst her entire catalogue ranks second to Shoujo Robot.

Last edited by kuro_neko : 2009.06.24 at 09:39 PM.
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Old 2009.06.24, 09:37 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by kuro_neko View Post
this album is kind of interesting. packaging wise, the album is super fancy. the cover of the booklet actually has a separate clear plastic insert that fits in place over the cover of Rie with the snazzy backdrop, on the clear insert the circle is of straight lines, so when the curvy and the straight ones overlap you get a really crazy image. The inside of the booklet is pretty much more or less images from the same shoot we've seen, but it all works really nicely. The cd itself has almost no text and is the same crazy spiral circle artwork, very nice.

packaging 8/10
Sounds like an unannounced first-press. Shouldn't be surprising, considering it's another EMI release and it's only one TOCT number away from Sanmon Gossip. I already know that CD Japan doesn't catch everything. I didn't know my Rockin' Luuula from CD Japan was second-press (they didn't acknowledge that there were different pressings at all) until after I saw auctions for the album with an extra slipcase that my copy didn't have.
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Old 2009.06.24, 10:27 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
Sounds like an unannounced first-press. Shouldn't be surprising, considering it's another EMI release and it's only one TOCT number away from Sanmon Gossip. I already know that CD Japan doesn't catch everything. I didn't know my Rockin' Luuula from CD Japan was second-press (they didn't acknowledge that there were different pressings at all) until after I saw auctions for the album with an extra slipcase that my copy didn't have.
upon further inspection it says on the obi "first press" gurun barun jacket, I'm guessing this means the plastic insert which turns the jacket all psychadelic. pretty cool, reminds me of the Ringo no Uta first pressing. I consulted my dictionary (aka my boyfriend, XD), and he says that that refers to the movement the circles make when you turn the plastic or the jacket. It makes the circle spin and pulse like in the Tokai no Manner PV. Totally badass.

Last edited by kuro_neko : 2009.06.24 at 10:34 PM.
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Old 2009.06.24, 10:51 PM   #7
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kuro_neko, please take picture(s) of your Toridori obi (or find me a Yahoo! Japan Auctions exhibition that matches yours) so I can bitch out CD Japan if that's not what I got. I pre-ordered before the Artist Newsmail deadline. If I open a copy to discover it's second-press, it's non-returnable. I wouldn't be so concerned if I had only bought one copy, but I actually bought several...
(yes, I'm a hoarding douche)
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Old 2009.06.24, 11:02 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
kuro_neko, please take picture(s) of your Toridori obi (or find me a Yahoo! Japan Auctions exhibition that matches yours) so I can bitch out CD Japan if that's not what I got. I pre-ordered before the Artist Newsmail deadline. If I open a copy to discover it's second-press, it's non-returnable. I wouldn't be so concerned if I had only bought one copy, but I actually bought several...
(yes, I'm a hoarding douche)
I will take a few pictures and post them in this thread in the new 24 hours or so, right now my laptop is out of commission, my boyfriend is using his for work, and the desktop doesn't have a camera. you will know if it is first press without even opening the packaging since it says so on the obi.
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Old 2009.06.24, 11:04 PM   #9
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I can't read Kanji. I can only recognize sets/combinations of characters I've seen many times before.
(I'm so helpless)

I don't care if it takes you 36 or 48 hours, since apparently my shipment hasn't even entered the continental United States yet. Then once it does, at least another couple of days go by before any EMS package reaches me.
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Old 2009.06.24, 11:16 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Glathannus View Post
I can't read Kanji. I can only recognize sets/combinations of characters I've seen many times before.
(I'm so helpless)

I don't care if it takes you 36 or 48 hours, since apparently my shipment hasn't even entered the continental United States yet. Then once it does, at least another couple of days go by before any EMS package reaches me.
okay. when I take a picture I will make sure to very clearly zoom or mark the area you want to look that says first press. you should also know without opening it if it is first press since the plastic insert makes the cover different. the regular cover looks less messy, there aren't overlapping lines unless you add the insert. but you'll see all this when I get around to it, XD.

slight update: I've been listening to this album more than Sanmon Gossip. Maybe because its shorter, less too tackle, more mellow in mood, I don't know, but songs I disliked the first time around aren't as bad now. Izawa's track wasn't as interesting and Zutto is a lot more bearable this time around, daresay I say enjoyable?
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