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Old 2014.11.16, 06:51 PM   #21
gekokujyo
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In the 15 years of her career so far, Ringo has put out 5 original albums, 9 if you count Jihen, even more if you consider all the knick knacks in between.

Eagerly awaiting Maron Hamada's covers of Ringo's classics in about 5 years time.

Also, '"THE LYRICS"... still doesn't cover up that she's as inspiring as a dry dog turd musically these days' - but why? Why can't lyrical writing be a source of inspiration especially when the lyrics are INTEGRAL to the success of the 'music' (more than just the MEANING of the words, but also because, you know? words are sung, words sound a certain way, and we listen to sounds when we listen to music thus we also listen to lyrics?).

To me it's really just a false dichotomy to be drawn between 'lyrics' and so-called 'music'.

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Old 2014.11.16, 07:03 PM   #22
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Have you HEARD the latter day Tori Amos?

Don't get me started on the whole thing. Just listen to the new album. It's flat as a pancake. But it has nice lyrics. Whoopdee doo.

I'm the kind of person that focuses on the music and vocal delivery first, not so much lyrics. I listen to a lot of music in non-English because I usually hate the lyrics when I focus on them in English based music. Some of the most powerful vocals I've ever heard are on Sa Dingding albums and she often sings in jibberish. I find that more overwhelming than the lyrics themselves.

And going back to a Ringo example... Tsumi to Batsu. I refuse to read a translation to this day because I feel the lyrics will never live up to the delivery and ruin the whole thing for me.
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Old 2014.11.16, 07:06 PM   #23
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I am not a fan of Tori Amos. I don't like her lyrics either.

Can I ask you if you think there's a difference between listening to a song with written lyrics, and, Ringo going la-la-la for the whole length of Tsumi no batsu, for instance?
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Old 2014.11.16, 07:08 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
I dunno....

When Maron Hamada is making better jazz rock tracks than Ringo something's wrong :-/
Subjective, and different styles of jazz anyway. Maron has more cabaret style.
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Old 2014.11.16, 07:08 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by TurtleFu View Post
You're right, though I'm not entirely sure WHAT the Gyakuyunyuu cover art is supposed to be reference. Because she's not only in a kimono, but full on Oiran (courtesan) garb. Meiji Restoration/Yoshiwara-ga reference?
It's a reference to busty, voluptuous Japanese whores who engage in all kind of sexual debauchery with various sex-starved, lewd-eyed, oyster-eating men, both single and married. It's obvious everything must have a reference to be cool.

Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
Or... maybe I was just expecting too much. It's really the first time she's repeated herself so blatantly. You can literally go through the entire album and say "this track sounds like x in her catalog" for every single song on it.
She can make another 10 songs sounding like Mittei Monogatari and I'd still love her for that.

Last edited by Inseu : 2014.11.16 at 07:12 PM.
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Old 2014.11.16, 07:14 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by gekokujyo View Post
I am not a fan of Tori Amos. I don't like her lyrics either.

Can I ask you if you think there's a difference between listening to a song with written lyrics, and, Ringo going la-la-la for the whole length of Tsumi no batsu, for instance?
It really depends on the song.

Ringo's songs are usually full of changes and huge instrumentation, with very emotive style singing.

If you listen to say, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Murder Ballads, you'll wanna have that lyric sheet with you because thats the point of that album.

It's no secret I listen to a lot of Jun Togawa- her music you can go either way- her singing style is intense and her lyrics are messed up. You don't need both to appreciate (or hate) it. I personally prefer to have my own idea if the English translations aren't included in the booklet (though a lot of Togawa albums do have them) but I've yet to be dissatisfied with her style of writing when I do check. There's also that other girl I like a lot that I'll not mention for a change who's lyrics are in the same vein as Togawa's- but her delivery is so intense you don't really need them.

Most of the Ringo translations I've looked at have been for the more upbeat stuff and the lyrics are suited for the song. But I don't think I've read anything as powerful as Togawa's Tamahime Sama yet.

But overall, I feel the best music transcends the lyrics (for me anyway). Trying not to sound too pretentious- I find it the most impressive when I sit back and can listen to a song without understanding the lyrics yet it still being able to bring out stong emotions- which ulimately, run deeper than words ever can. That's when you've found true magic. All my favourite artists have evoked this (Ringo definitely included) whether they intended it or not. Sourestu is an amazing example of Ringo doing this. I may not be able to follow the lyrics but damn if it can't overwhelm me everytime. I think that's the peak of her career and I don't expect to hear everything just align so perfectly in a Ringo song ever again. For say, Ayumi Hamasaki (who I have also read on multiple occasions, is an incredible lyrics writer), it's Connected- the song is far more amazing than anything else in her catalog and she's never been able to recapture the magic there either. For The Shins it's the track Gone For Good.

Which now leads me to ask: What do you personally think is Ringo's most potent song lyrically?
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Old 2014.11.16, 07:30 PM   #27
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"Potent" is not the adjective that immediately comes to mind when I think of her writing, but that's ok, because I love a lot of things that I don't consider "potent". If I had to choose, the bulk of the stuff in her earlier work (MM-SS, a bit of KSK) was that way, where she wrote explicitly about sex and violence and sin and that kind of jazz. Jihen phase 1 had a bit of that as well.

If I'm talking songs that moved me with their lyrical content, I'd say

When I said lyrics I'm talking about lyrical poetry. Like for example, the way this line sounds:

"Fuyukai na emi wo muke
Nagai chinmoku no ato
Taido wo sara ni waruku shitara
Tsumetai asufaruto ni
Hitai wo kosurasete
Kitai hazure no atashi wo semetai" (Tadashii machi)

Distinctive rhyming in Japanese is incredibly hard to achieve, and within the rhythm of that melody line? Even harder. (EDIT: the rhyming happens near the beginning of each line, in case we were looking at the line-ends for them......) For it all to make sense and tell the story that she's telling in this song? Insane. The song wouldn't have been half as great if it was just a random assortment of words. And notice how the "meaning" of the words is actually my final takeaway from my reading of the lines, because like you, I pay attention more to delivery and the way things sound (for pleasure) than I actually do to meaning. This is the same level of writing that she has even up to now, in songs like Hashire wa number, Koroshiya kiki ippatsu, etc. You don't have to know what the words mean to appreciate that she's a good writer (though it certainly helps a ton).

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Old 2014.11.16, 10:19 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by Inseu View Post
What songs do you skip?

I tend to skip emotional songs like "茜さす 帰路照らされど・・・", "ここでキスして。", "同じ夜", "ギブス", "闇に降る雨" and "罪と罰".
Tadashii Machi, koufuku, usually akasasu, kokode, keikoku and morphine for MM

Benkai Debussy, tsuki ni makeinu, byousho public and sometimes Sakana, Honno, and Izonshou for SS.

I would never skip Tsumi to Batsu.
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Old 2014.11.16, 11:11 PM   #29
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Also, a very tangential question from a plebeian like me to the audiophiles -- which Ringo (or Jihen) album is the most outstanding in terms of audio production? i.e. if I had the most state of the art audio equipment, which is the one SR album I should listen to on it?
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Old 2014.11.16, 11:12 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by BlueApple View Post
Tadashii Machi, koufuku, usually akasasu, kokode, keikoku and morphine for MM

Benkai Debussy, tsuki ni makeinu, byousho public and sometimes Sakana, Honno, and Izonshou for SS.
Interesting choices...I am not an album person, so these days only "歌舞伎町の女王" is a regular on my playlist. It represents everything cool about Ringo. This song is taking over my life!
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