Yes, Michael Jackson’s unexpected death saddens me. I never truly condemned the man in my mind, considering the strange and multifarious reports from every possible angle on every aspect of his notoriety. No one can deny that the man was unusual, eccentric to the point of elevating eccentric to a new level, and the recipient of some unforgiving press.

But I’ve had a wholly different reaction to his death than I expected. For the first time since Frank Sinatra’s expected but still untimely death, I’ve felt nothing but joy, thankfulness. For what he gave us as a musician and performer, I am proud to be a music fan. Listening to Michael Jackson’s old songs, reading through his mammoth Wikipedia page, I realize just how much of an impact his music had on the evolution of my musical tastes. As I was growing up in the early 90’s, the first time I had to really develop my own musical taste without anyone’s else’s input, I found that Michael Jackson was the only musician who really spoke to everyone. It was still sort of sketchy to love TLC and Salt n Pepa (both of whom were huge at the time) because they were largely viewed as “black groups” (I said “fuck it” and they were still my two favorite groups, but being a preteen in the Bible Belt wasn’t easy because of that. :/). I liked Garth Brooks and U2 in 1991 as well, but that music was as white as you could get. Michael Jackson released ‘Dangerous’ that year, and I loved literally every song from that album. It felt right. Thanks in large part to the mastery of Teddy Riley (whose influence is perhaps most audible in ‘Black or White’ and ‘Remember the Time’), the album combined everything I loved about the oldies I grew up on with the R&B/hip-hop I loved as a kid, with the vast array of Top-40 pop I was becoming interested in as well. Perhaps my musical genre really got lost in New Jack Swing until I discovered J-Pop. In Jackson’s ensuing absence from the Top 40 charts following the scandals of the 90’s, I began to dig in my parents crates and discovered 70’s funk and R&B, developing my fascination with Motown and appreciation for the musical genius of Stevie Wonder. But I can honestly say that Michael Jackson laid an important foundation for me with ‘Dangerous’.

I’m considering the dates now. I thought that Paula Abdul was the first artist whose dances I learned step-by-step from MTV. It wasn’t. Now that I think about it, it was Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’. I wasn’t very good at it – remember, I was 11. But I recall practicing that dance with my best friend Stella, re-enacting the video (she always got to be Iman, LOL) which absolutely mesmerized me in my youth.

Michael’s sister Janet followed with her groundbreaking ‘janet.’ in 1993, which also grabbed me and found its way into my very first CD collection as a staple. I composed a dance to the song ‘This Time’ for a sleepover in the 7th grade and, since then, my friends knew me as “the one who danced”. So embarrassing, in retrospect, but so very satisfying and invigorating at the time.

This is the legacy a truly powerful pop idol leaves. As I alluded to earlier, I felt the same happiness – thankfulness – upon Frank Sinatra’s death. A deep-abiding gratefulness for everything that had been given to us. These were two people who devoted their entire lives to performing, to evoking emotions in others. Not simply creating or producing things, but putting their entire bodies, their souls, right out there on stage for everyone to see, night after night, sacrificing a lot of things in the process.

Thinking about Jackson’s death led me to consider how strongly I would react when one of the idols I feel more personally invested in passes on. Paul McCartney. Paul Simon. Billy Joel. Elton John. And then…what about my J-Pop idols? These girls (and a few guys) have been my raison d’etre for so many years. I’ve put more active effort into appreciating them, studying them, ruminating, learning songs, learning dances, memorizing statistics, than I’ve done with any other musician or performer.

And why?

Why does it sting so personally that I won’t be in the audience at Morning Musume’s Anime Expo performance? It’s not a misplaced sense of entitlement, and it’s not for the simply experience. I feel like all of us who have shown them support from the American fandom front, who heard about them long before the more mainstream anime fans (wow, those two things seem mutually exlusive), deserve to be in the audience to say thank you, because we will know the chants, we will know the wotagei even if we don’t perform it, we won’t know what to do with all our glowsticks. I’ve heard of some of the tension that Western fans feel at Japanese H!P shows, and I don’t know if I’d want that to be the way I experience H!P for the first time. I want to say thank you, from my heart, and let them know that if they make the effort, we will reward them. But America is a vastly larger country and it’s not like I can climb in my car and drive the 26 hours to L.A. without majorly damaging my pocketbook. I am not jealous or envious of those who get to go, in the very base senses of those words. I admire them. I hope they “represent” for all of us who can’t make it. No, I’m not jealous. I just want to be there, too. More than words can say. Because these are my idols and this is the power of an idol.

Our true idols are the ones that bring tears to our eyes just for being how they are, for performing the way they do. When I was feeling rotten the other night I queued up a bunch of Ayumi Hamasaki songs. Ayumi’s songs are not, inherently, sad most of the time. They are very insightful, they read like diary entries. And the emotional punch they deliver…sometimes it’s too much to bear.

She’s always been a 100% performer, Ayumi, and it’s difficult to separate her from that. So difficult, in fact, that it becomes a little bit sad. I wonder what her life is like, if she’s as lonely as her lyrics always seem to suggest. The above clip, of ‘NEVER EVER’ as performed in 2001, is entrenched in theatrics, yes, but when a 5′1″ girl can command a stage full of dancers with emotion rather than flash, it’s a rare thing. I’d also like to point out that this is her best vocal performance of this song, which is murder to sing if you want to actually get into the lyrics. She stretches out her hands to the audience and repeats, twice: “If I could give you one thing, it would be my unchanging, certain thoughts.” She sings in the second verse about the times she has hurt herself, and you can see her face pinched in emotion. It’s magnificent, understated performance from Ayumi, and it pretty much sums up what I love in her.

Ayumi is a graceful, fantastic songwriter, even at the times when she’s tarted up to absolutely Stepford-Wife levels by the mass media. She has the unfortunate distinction of giving in to the dream machine of J-Pop completely, and I daresay that her public image of a perfect, fashionable, airbrushed-to-high-heaven doll is incongruous with how I read her lyrics. She has a heavy hand in the creative decisions behind her music and her stage productions, and for the most part those remain indicative of her theatrical, entertain-or-die idol ethics. So if Ayumi is my favorite idol who still has failings in my eye thanks to her over-homogenized public image, what about Hello!Project.

Curiously, on the day of Michael Jackson’s death, I found myself watching this clip on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09DAizITAYs It’s a subtitled clip of Tsunku discussing his idol formula, and discussing H!P in general with the other guests. This sort of behavior is verboten in America. “Old guys” talking about pop idols as potential wives (not in an entirely sexual way, though the implication is there, where in America it would be far beyond an implication). But one exchange amongst the guests says it perfectly, in a part that really resonated with me:

(subtitle transcription from Hello! Project Subs (H!PS))-

“You know, when Morning Musume came out, every man was thinking “which one is the best?”…There’s no question, everybody did!”

“‘Love Machine’ on Music Station…it’s like the TV was sparkling!”

“It was like the messiah appeared!”

“And then SPEED came out around the same time, and it was like “this is the start of a new era in the idol world”!”

…granted, some of these guys are professional comedians, but the lines struck me. The strength of a country’s pop idols, of a particular generation’s pop idols, is to inspire and make memories for its people. The Beatles did it, as did New Kids on the Block, The Supremes, Paula Abdul, Backstreet Boys, and, yes, Michael Jackson. The job of these idols is not to be deep or artistic, but it is to entertain the hell out of you, to get you motivated, to get you to give a damn about enjoying something. Much as I am loathe to admit it, The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus are busy doing the same thing right now for the kids of America and beyond.

But give me Hello!Project. Very specifically, it is the sort of idol formula that makes me feel so many things, always without fail. I watch these concerts on DVD and sometimes I am overcome with happiness. Do these girls even know, beyond the more obsessive wota they cater to, just how much happiness they bring with a simple song and dance number? When I see Golden Age MoMusu absolutely throwing themselves into a performance of ‘Koko ni Iruzee!’, I get so happy, so motivated, so ready to do something with my life, because these girls make being happy look so easy! (relevant aside: while searching up the following video, I found a Morning Musume vid description that said: “After I put this video together I was in such a good mood that it got me through all my classes today with no problems – I was happy most of the day because I just thought back to this video!”)

Abe’s introduction ends at the 1:00 mark…seriously, this performance was epic. They are tired, they are sweaty, they are heaving for breath, but the girls of MM circa 2003 are absolutely kicking the roof off with this one. It is everything I look for in an H!P performance and, frankly, I can’t say what impact this sort of thing will have on me ten, twenty, thirty years down the line. Right now, though, I need this in my life. If you took my idols away tomorrow, I don’t know what I’d do. All their distinct personalities, their positive message, their good clean fun images, their infectious joy…it is more than projection, it is more than a crutch.

In some weird way they become a strange, anomalous third party cheering me on, showing me that girls are awesome without shoving it down my throat (I enjoyed the Spice Girls, okay? But there are limits to the ‘Girl Power’ thing before it feels strained and insincere). Even knowing that Tsunku writes their songs, it’s mostly in the way they perform them (or performed them, past tense, as is the case with most of my favorites).

They dance their hearts out (eat that, Miley Cyrus), sing live (okay, for the most part. I’m looking at you, Koha…even though I just watched the intro for her favorite performance and exclaimed in what seemed such an involuntary way: “GOD SHE IS SO CUTE~!”), work through most of their teen years, sacrifice schooling opportunities and real-world relationships to preserve their “idol” image, and deliver astounding goods most of the time.

My aim with this article is not to go into new gens vs. old gens, member vs. member, Kago vs. H!P…I’m just saying thank you.

Before they’re out of our lives, which will hopefully take a very, very, very long time. I’m saying THANK YOU. To H!P, to all my J-Pop idols. You are appreciated more than you can know.

R.I.P. Michael ♡

When I woke up this morning, the last thing I expected to do was spend an hour or two researching Korean groups, their fan clubs, and the intense drama surrounding them. But I did. I took particular notice of a couple of Korean girl groups recently, only to find out that one of them is apparently so massively disliked that the “anti-fans” (yes, they call themselves anti-fans and they are organized) have succeeded in getting the new album pushed back so that the offensive images on the cover could be altered: I’ll say that the plane is pushing it, considering Japan-Korea relations over the century, but the medals? They allege that the Victorian cross on one member’s jacket is Nazi iron cross (it’s not) and that the eagle emblem on another is the Nazi brass eagle (it’s a brand, actually).

I loved the “marine girl/fetish military” concept from the first moment I saw it because, I’ll be honest, I love seeing ladies in uniform, even if they’re “Legg Avenue” style uniforms. Researching the new firestorm surrounding SNSD (which is the abbreviation for the Korean name of So Nyeo Shi Dae/Girls’ Generation), I fell down the rabbit hole into the seamy underbelly of the K-Pop world.

Internet reporting about the I Love Korea Dream Concert 2008 was most appalling. Not because I actually believe that one fan group raped a girl in another fan group and nothing was done about it, not that I believe people were stabbed or legs were broken. No, I do not believe these things (more later). I’m sickened that fans would take things this far, make these allegations. The controversy surrounding Dream Concert 2008 is this: top acts from different labels were selected to appear at this 17th annual concert, to be held at a stadium seating some 40,000 people. The stadium packed out at 50,000, leading to fighting over seats and strained fan relations. Security wasn’t prepared for the chaos and things got out of hand. Not overly out of hand, but it got bad.

Here’s where things get all gangland on us: fans of different groups were present in all their splendor. Now, fan clubs in Korea apparently run a little differently than in other countries. When you become a Cassiopeia (fan of DBSK), an ELF (fan of Super Junior), a VIP (fan of Big Bang), a SoShi (or Honey?) (fan of SNSD), etc etc etc, you are expected to devote yourself almost monogamously and fanatically to the group. Take a specific color of balloon with you to concerts and, apparently, defend your group’s honor with all the power in your being.

Sounds weird to me. I’m used to my number of over-the-top fan clubs, but the craziest thing wota have been accused of doing in the last few years is dancing like effeminate crazies. Not driving a girl to suicide because she took a picture with someone (but that, too, I take with a grain of salt, because fan camps seem to be out to smear other fan camps. I can’t believe any shock stories, here). You can still cheer for another group without being accused of turning coat.

At the Dream Concert, fans divided themselves into sections in the stadium. There was already a heated controversy because SNSD (the up-and-coming, relatively newbie girl group) was slated to perform with the big name acts. Fans of DBSK and SuJu were already mad as hell because the girls were on the same label and were, therefore, marketed along with the boys. No one is allowed to touch the boys, by the way. No one is allowed to breathe the same air as the boys, it seems. So, business makes no sense to these fans and they decide to boycott the performances.

Most videos have been taken down, but the fan accounts on both sides are creepy. From newsprime.co.kr: “The 10 minutes of silence during the SNSD’s performance by the male-group fanclubs was clearly visible and revealed the current situation of our (Korea’s) fan culture’s lack of etiquette and manners.” The allegations of violence between clashing fans is blown out of proportion, from what I can gather – after all, who wouldn’t want to bring shame to a rival gang by claiming that a shove was a purposeful attack intended to break a leg? As for this:

“”A friend of mine was taking a long time to comeback from the restroom, so I called her. She picked up the phone and told me that she was in a certain row, naked and crying. She was going to the restroom when a couple guys came up from behind and ripped her clothes and touched her body and took pictures and then left. They looked like high school boys…she says she doesn’t remember anything but that the boys were holding pink balloons.” (well-circulated message board post)

…that is revolting. I don’t know whether to believe this happened or not. It just seems so unreal. Why wouldn’t you call the police? Why wouldn’t you try to find the (admittedly minimal) security? Search up “dream concert 2008 rape” and no official news outlets picked this up – but then, I don’t know how to search this in Korean. Concert organizers would have had hell to pay, from parents and authorities alike, if behavior like this had happened. I can imagine the cultural differences leading to a hush of the alleged rape, but the way this is being passed around message boards is crass and immature, like it’s just another bullying. The tag at the end “they were holding pink balloons” (which is the symbol of an SNSD fan) is abhorrently childish. I’m willing to roll my eyes at anti-fan behavior, but when you start to use gender issues and something as serious as rape to defend or defame an idol, you’re crossing the line.

Here’s where I get into uncomfortable talk about gender and girl culture.

Girls are mean. Let’s be totally frank about that. I was discussing it with my dad last night. Most of the stories of “bullying” we grew up on were about the boy being picked on by the stereotypical “bully” and getting beaten up after school. Girls are made of sugar, psychological warfare, and everything nice. It’s a wonder that some girls even make it out of their adolescent years, and who isn’t at least a bit messed up by girl-on-girl bullying? Just because it’s psychological doesn’t make it less real.

I want to think that the peaceful-if-crazy J-Pop fans and the batshit-tough-talking K-Pop fans are different because of the genders prevalent in the fan clubs. I’ve never heard of an incident of wota having it out over which group of cute girls is better, or even being silent during an entire concert set. Sure, at H!P concerts the cheers are obviously louder for different members, but there’s at least a modicum of respect for all the performers. A recently-debuted group in Korea, abbreviated to ItT (I can’t remember the exact name), got into some security trouble because its lead singer looks a lot like one of DBSK’s members, Hero. The fellow’s webpage was bombarded with threatening comments from DBSK fans, including things like “be afraid when you walk alone at night” and “why did you get plastic surgery to look like (Hero)?” This isn’t actually uncommon, these days.

Fans of these boy bands are young, mobile, and mean in a very girly way. Mean in the way that gets under your skin and sets up shop. It’s very, very sad that I can take something like a rape allegation and scoff in disgust because a group’s prior behavior has turned me off of believing anything they say.

I also see much more hostility in the H!P fan ranks when girls are involved. There are few women that I know of (I proudly count myself among the ranks), but we try when we can to smooth things over. Sure, we make fun of Mitsui Aika, but that’s (by our own admission) because every group needs a butt monkey, and she’s the most likely target. If I were ever to meet her in person, I’d bow down before her.

I’ll conclude with this: do these “anti-fans” care what their idols think of them? Does it ever occur to someone that obsessed that maybe their behavior is unwanted and unwelcome? That maybe DBSK wants SNSD to be very successful, to have cheering fans at the concert, to just exist in the same space as another band? What if they want to date, to get a girlfriend, to get married down the line? These boys will always have to worry about crazy fans. I’m sure that female idols worry about this, too, but the level of obsession is much tamer with fans of female idols, I find.

I actually stumbled upon ‘Dream Girl’, the After School-brand remake of Morning Musume’s ‘LOVE Machine’, by complete accident. I’ve been getting interested in K-Pop more since the resurgence of Wonder Girls and the amazing new tracks by Girls Generation. I downloaded several songs by exceptionally brazen, Pussycat Dolls-esque quintet After School after falling for their endlessly danceable song ‘Diva’. ‘Dream Girl’ popped up randomly, and from the first few notes I thought “well, this sounds familiar”.

Fine, so the update does lack the social commentary of Morning Musume’s original (I never thought I would compare a song in Morning Musume’s favor concerning social consciousness), but it really succeeds in bringing the song back to the market with a new, fresh sound. I wanted to make sure everyone had heard it. Give it a chance, it really sort of kicks ass. And may I add that this stripped down PV is far less uncomfortably sexy than After School’s other videos, especially ‘AH’, which stops just short of softcore porn (and, considering that it takes place in a schoolroom, that’s either a loli dream or naseous. I dunnow, I prefer my lolis looking less like tarted-up porn stars. Ick).

They’re great vocalists, though. Which is the main thing Korea usually has going for it compared to Japan.

I’m going to attempt to make a quick comparison of the Japanese and Korean pop markets, but I do not claim to be anything of a well-rounded listener in the K-Pop world. I’m a complete newbie, regardless of having listened to BoA for years. That doesn’t qualify me. But I’m going to try and explain why I would much rather endure the sometimes atrocious vocals of Japanese pop.

K-Pop is, to me, bland. It seems to recycle the same R&B hooks ad infinitum (ad nauseum), and the vocals, while often stunning, are in that same R&B rut of “pretty, but unmemorable”. When a tune becomes catchy and danceable (’Gee’ from Girls Generation, for example, which, I’m sorry for saying this, could kick the ass of any recent Morning Musume release) (Hell, the Jack in the Box ‘Mini Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwich’ jingle could do that), it’s a rare and magical thing and it’s tremendous. But the chasm between awesome and mediocre in K-Pop is ginormous. I can’t get over it, most of the time. Take the original ‘Girls Generation’ EP, for instance. Only 1 out of 11 songs (’Ooh-La-La’) is an honest-to-goodness dance song with the sort of “pop” hook I most enjoy, and the eponymous ‘Girls Generation’ could almost count if you squint. If I’d heard the album first I’d have never guessed this same group would produce ‘Gee’.

Meanwhile, the only recent H!P single from whence I could not derive an obvious hook was ‘Bye Bye Bye’, about which I will probably bitch forever. This definitely takes away from my musical cred, I suppose, but we’re talking about the arena of pop in general. I don’t want to elevate international pop to anything higher than it has to be, and in doing so I have to boil it down to one important contrast: Japan = better tunes. Korea = better singers.

This is why BoA kicks so much ass. She’s combined the two, somehow, although her last three albums have been mired in that same bland R&B crap as even the best K-Pop girl groups. I’d apologize to anyone who likes these albums, but it’s just my opinion, it’s not gospel. Chill.

Therefore, I want some recommendations: any K-Pop loyalists out there want to spread the word of some awesome songs that don’t sound like generic studio crank-outs that seem to loop at 4:00 am on MTV Jams?

While I’m here, some Girls Generation eye candy.

Sup, ‘Crazy About You’ era MiniMoni?

My consumer relationship with Shiina Ringo borders on neurotic. This is not because I am an obsessive fan; no, quite the opposite. I am a fan in every sense of the world, and I respect her greatly, but so help me, I cannot bring myself to be more than passingly interested. She fascinates me. Everything from her strange physical features, to her fashion sense, to her absolute command of a stage and audience is undeniable. So why do I declare her among my top role models if I can’t even claim to be a huge fan? Because I admire her, I think she is one of the few truly gifted artists who has “made it” in the Japanese music industry, and so help me I am crazy about her early albums. I’ve decided to review my favorite of those, which happens to be her first. ‘Muzai Moratorium’ was released in 2000, and the media and public reaction is well-chronicled on other blogs (better blogs). I just want to review the music. Let’s do that.

The album opens with a bang of a song, backed by the distorted, feedback-heavy rock that defines the album. Tadashii Machi is hardly the powerhouse of the album, but that alone says volumes about how powerful the album is. The rhythm is erratic and never boring, and despite the flinging-about it makes complete sense. Ringo’s vocals and a steady, drum beat keep everything in check. And here is her strength, as a songwriter and arranger: she knows how to write a melody to command a song, rather than get lost in it. Too often we see pop artists strive to be rock, in the process creating overblown musical setpieces that drown the beauty of what could be a very simple melody. But Shiina Ringo seems to be a rock artist striving to be pop, or perhaps wallowing in the unfortunate ghetto where so many legitimately high-minded artists find themselves upon realizing that they have that blessing/curse known as Pop Sensibility.

(a clip of a ‘Tadashii Machi’ performance from Ringo Expo 08 – much more polished after almost ten years. Still, you get a great idea, it’s a practically note-for-note arrangement)

Tadashii Machi toes the line but does not quite achieve what other songs on this album do in expressing an eeriely beautiful pop sensibility. Kabuki-chou no Jo-ou starts up with a more traditionally pop-rock guitar and drum beat, but a few flourishes in the background make it meander playfully as Ringo slurs through the song. Her voice has certainly improved since these days, technically, but I have a fondness for her nasally, sometimes straining, always powerful voice as it is recorded on Muzai Moratorium. Ringo’s penchant for whistling comes into this song, which is lacking a traditional chorus but manages to fit a generous share of lyrics into a tiny little ditty that eventually builds to a fun arrangement of claps, tambourine, and twangy guitar before breaking down to a protracted, nearly a capella finish.

Marunouchi Sadistic is where we can hear the first indication of the artist in Shena Ringo. This song turns the album on its nose with a strong , major key piano accompaniment (blues scale – very swingin’) and a beautiful jazz sound. The harmonica flows so perfectly into the melody that you hardly notice it’s there – this is quite an accomplishment for harmonica. The song is 3:55 but it feels like it is much shorter, something any Shena Ringo fan learns to appreciate. This song has a cadence that reminds me of most of her “jazz quartet” interpretations of her other songs. She seems to come back to this tempo again and again. I’m not cool enough to know how to determine the tempo.

(The album rip of ‘Marunochi Sadistic’. Swing, baby)

Now the album starts to get amazing. Kôfukuron [Etsuraku hen] opens with a feedback trail and a scorching guitar riff that splits the record wide open. You aren’t even sure what’s going on when Ringo comes in with her damped-out vocals (beautifully realized in concert using a megaphone). This musical shot of adrenaline hits hard, yes, but Ringo’s pronounced recovery breath into the microphone at the :46 mark is what starts to make it the best single cut that sounds nothing like the original single cut. Yeah, this is the same Kofukuron that was released as her first single – you know, the one with the video that featured the dead angel schoolgirl? There was no wild screaming into the microphone, damped vocals, distortion, or punk-rock influence on that version, but Ringo insisted on re-arranging the track for the album. And we win. By the middle of the track, she howls interminably in harmony with the guitar’s feedback as the song bloats to a blistering climax worthy of Sonic Youth, but thanks to the minor key held over from the original it all still sounds very upbeat. The melody crashes and burns beautifully while Ringo chants “ichi ni san shi ichi ni san shi” in a synchopated rhythm. The final scream is just the expected eruption. Fuck, this track is beautiful.

THE SINGLE VERSION:

COMPARE AND CONTRAST WITH A LIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE ALBUM VERSION:

After all that, Akane-sasu Kiro Terasaredo… is not what anyone would expect to hear. It’s slow, it’s a ballad, it’s minor key, it’s like a palate cleanser. Ringo’s vocals are clear and beautiful, and by the time the strings kick in near the second chorus you’re just chillin’. An interesting effect is the stereo vocal layering, with a deep whisper in the L channel and a girlish whisper in the R. Odd and effective, but something I’d expect to hear more in a horror movie (ask me later about how Ringo was the first artist to legitimately scare me with music, before Trent Reznor ever managed it). The final verse is in English, and even though she doesn’t have the best pronunciation in the world it is head and shoulders above most J-Pop artists.

Sid to Hakuchumu is my personal favorite from the album. In four minutes she manages to put me on a musical rollercoaster, knocking me out of a leisurely stroll through a bass-laden ballad and into a screechy chorus that, despite it all, still manages to sound beautiful. A clap track is barely audible but suggests the live power of this song, which cannot be denied. Look up some performances on YouTube and try to doubt Ringo’s intensity after that shit. She looks almost POSSESSED. Also of note is the Sid Vicious reference in the lyrics. She’s a big fan. Sometimes it shows. Hopefully it won’t show too much. You know what I mean. No stabbity-stabbity.

(if you only watch one video on this post, let it be the above…AMAZING)

The expanse of style continues into Tsumiki Asobi, a traditionally-influenced rock song with a strange rhythm that always seems to be trying to catch up to itself. Lovin’ it. The vocal composition of this song is perfectly suited to her – deep, with just the right amount of intensity. It’s not that I dislike Ringo when she’s too shrill, it’s just that sometimes it takes away from the distinct bass lines that inhabit her songs. This song would be simply cool if it weren’t for the koto-infused interludes produced in stereo for maximum ethereal impact – that just makes it fuck-awesome (YES THAT’S A WORD. SHINA RINGO INVENTED IT, OR I DID ABOUT HER SHUT UP).

(kickass PV for Tsumiki Asobi)

I was just starting to dig Shiina Ringo a few years back, but hadn’t yet bitten the apple, as it were. Until the day I heard Koko de KISS shite, while I was driving home on the beautiful stretch of Highway 98 between Carabelle and Mexico Beach. It was Spring, and the sudden burst of energy and passion from her vocals really worked with the verdant scenery and the feeling in the air. So, from then on, I’ve been a fan, and I’ve associated Koko de KISS shite with Spring. For a standard song about love and kissin’, it’s very emotionally delivered, which is what I like. The bridge that begins at 3:16 and builds to the song’s (English) climax at 3:40 would actually benefit from a bit more guitar feedback or a sour chord at the “explosion”, which I always insert on my own. The finale makes up for that – perfect. And somehow, I am a big fan of how she pronounces
“anarchy”.

(performing ‘Koko de KISS Shite’ with her band, Tokyo Jihen) (it’s actually unfair to call Tokyo Jihen HER band…while they are, technically, it’s not a “this is my back-up band” thing – Tokyo Jihen is a legitimate act unto itself)

Onaji Yoru is a European-sounding, acoustic-guitar-with-violin ballad. As the penultimate track on the album, it really works, but honestly I could hear this coming off of any album. There’s no real evolution to the song, and it’s obvious by the two minute mark that this is just a palate-cleanser before the big finish.

And fucking how. Did Keikoku just punch you in the face? Yeah, Keikoku just punched you in the face, and you liked it. More great vocals despite a little screeching from Ringo, more great bass work (seriously that is some funky-ass bass, it makes me groove like a villain), the composition is very funk-inspired beneath the percussion (which could be toned down a bit and the song wouldn’t suffer a bit) and even employs a motherfucking Hammond organ during the verses. The guitar solo is wicked, which is something I rarely have to say while listening to a J-Pop album. And let’s mention the stereo-phasing of Ringo’s heavy breathing over the bridge. Please, let’s talk about that. Or at least think about how it makes me all tickly.

(just a black screen rip of ‘Keikoku’)

With Keikoku over, there just remains Morphine. Funny thing about Morphine is that it is probably my favorite Shiina Ringo song of all, but in the context of the album I still like Sid to Hakuchumu the best. Weird. Morphine relies on by-the-book pop sensibility, and damn if it doesn’t work like a charm. A very gather-round sort of pop-rock song. Comforting. Strangely sexy. Uplifting. Probably the most inspired vocal melody on the album (which would explain my love for it). The instruments are taking backseat to Ringo, here, and the percussion and showboating from the band is minimal. The feedback slide before the chorus is the sort that I love to underscore a vocal shift. And that whistling!!! Morphine has a mischievous sound to it that is built completely around the vocals…it’s simple, it’s awesome. Give it a listen. It’s still too rocky to play in the background at Starbucks, perhaps (mostly due to the chorus), but it’s round, firm, and tightly-packed nonetheless. I don’t even mind the fade-out, and I am a long-standing opponent of fade-outs.

I would definitely post up a video of Morphine, but it doesn’t seem to exist on YouTube (or even niconicodouga). This makes me VERY VERY VERY sad.

And that’s it, that’s my review! \o/

I’ve been going through a bout of blogging malaise. Two books to write (well, one to edit and two to write, one of them being a J-Pop long-form project), no Pleasure Principled to fuel my inherent need for intelligent blogging (which otherwise makes me feel self-indulgent) (like this blog is at all less narcissistic), and a general sense of disconnection from the rest of the blogging community at large. I haven’t grown with the times, unless you count my Twitter, so…let’s just get past that and say: I’m feeling sort of crap right now and it will probably shine through in some snark. You’ve been warned. OR IT MIGHT NOT IDEK.

I also feel non-metaphorically like crap, because as I type I am trying to quite literally write off a headache – a splitting headache, with a fever to match it. I know, what.

So what brings me here, to my old stomping ground? Nothing less than awesome, epic news. You know that group that, about seven years ago, introduced me to Hello!Project? Maybe you don’t unless you read my mail. OK, for the sake of argument, let’s say you don’t read my mail. It was MiniMoni. Specifically, this song and video. This EXACT video, straight from the television rip. It was the one my friend Kevin first showed me, complete with that intro and then Mika’s English lesson at the end:

I could be heard singing this song, and several others in MiniMoni’s catalogue, like a madwoman up until 2004, when I discovered
Aya Matsuura, Petit Moni, and subsequently the rest of H!P. MiniMoni will always have a very special place in my heart. My favorite was Mika. Second favorite was Aibon. I thought Yaguchi looked like a bitch. I didn’t like Tsuji at all back in the day. But none of that would matter when Ayaya completely derailed me, and then Yossie came along.

MiniMoni. My beloved MiniMoni. I slipped their songs into all my mix CDs, I knew all the words before I knew even a lick of Japanese, then Takahashi joined and I still can’t really figure out what happened (I really think the MiniMoni style shift is what rooted my deep and abiding dislike of Takahashi…if you wanna psychoanalyze all that).

This week, Tsunku announced a revival of the unit (!!), with Egg Fukuda Kanon and Musume Qian Lin (YAAAY) heading things up.

I am thrilled about LinLin – her expressive personality and stage presence are a sure win with the old Mini Moni formula. I know little about Fukuda, but I will trust my pals when they say she’s a great choice. So what about the other members? I have to think about my nominations for a minute, here. Sudou Maasa, in addition to being one of my personal idol army, would be a great fit personality-wise, but she’s too tall and in the middle of a glorious evolution. Were it not for her height, Umeda Erika would also be super with her personality and distinct voice. So who else can I pick on?

I have to go with everyone else, even though I was determined not to, and say Chisato Okai. She hasn’t gotten much love since Athena and Robikerrotsu, in which she was a standout.

Also, let me throw a curveball here and nominate Egg Leader Noto Arisa. It’s difficult to explain why, but I like her in the mischievous sort of way. She’s not as electric as the others, but when you think about it neither were some of the MiniMoni girls until the unit itself brought everyone out of their shells. The most important thing, here, is to put a group of girls together that has chemistry. Therefore I reserve any judgment until I see everyone in performance/PV together. Perhaps one of the new Eggs? Kaneko Rie, maybe? I have NO IDEA what she’s like but she’s new and she’s cute and she fits the height rule!

But hey, why stop with MiniMoni! Let’s throw some other units back together while we’re at it, Tsunku! Come on!

THE NEW GAM

Takahashi Ai and Natsuyaki Miyabi. Several have been making the “Takahashi looks like Ayaya” comparisons lately, and Miyabi definitely has a young-Miki vibe about her, especially when she gets her bitch on. Mmmmm. Add to that the fact that they are, like GAM were, two of the strongest voices in all of H!P, and you have win. SEXY SEXY WIN. Now just put them in a video together and have them make out.

THE NEW PUCCHI MONI

Because I reserve the right to be completely biased and selfish. But seriously? SERIOUSLY? These three voices together would make the world a better place full of fun and happiness and nice, non-squeaky H!P goodness. Obviously Erika = Kei, Maasa = Goto, and Risa = Yossie.

THE NEW TANPOPO

(I’m using Tanpopo Generation 1 as my primary example)

BASICALLY THIS. THIS EXACTLY.

Because seriously. Give these three ladies a chance to sexy it up and the world will explode. I *LIKE* Takahashi in a more mature, sexy vibe (her dancing is demonstrative of her sexiness no matter what she does), and this is the same way I like my Kamei (*fans self*) and JunJun best.