I like iTunes. I can't really explain why, since I've tried lo-fi media management alternatives such as foobar2000 and the ubiquitous Winamp; hell, when I'm lazy I'll just open the file or folder I want to listen to in Media Player Classic. It must be that consumer-friendly sheen on Apple's interface, or the neat Cover Flow view they've got going on. Whatever it is, iTunes has become my music player of choice. The iTunes Store, on the other paw, has largely been a superfluous element. I've checked it out, sure, but in the end I can't justify paying $10 for an album's worth of low-quality DRM-ridden audio files. People like to poo-poo those arguments, but DRM just sucks, and yes, I *can* hear that iTunes files are less than CD-quality. I understand that iTunes has recently started offering higher-quality, DRM-free files for the same price, calling it "iTunes Plus." This, I will admit, does tempt a bit, but one look at Amazon's own MP3 download service reveals I can get pretty much the same thing over there, except cheaper. So what it boils down to is that I have no reason to use the iTunes Store whatsoever. Nope. None at all.
Oh, wait, there is one thing. iTunes has this curious selection of music in its catalog. It's weird stuff, man, and it's in some funky foreign language. I think it's like Japanese or something! I know, seriously right? They're calling it "J-Pop." Hahaha, "J-Pop." ...
Allow me to now completely undermine whatever credibility I may have established in the first paragraph: the fact is that J-Pop on iTunes calls to me like sweet crack cocaine. I mean, look at the cost effectiveness: $3 for a three-track digital single, or $15 with shipping to buy the physical CD? Suddenly the audio quality argument becomes a hell of a lot less compelling, because I admittedly have to use headphones to discern it. And DRM? Well... I suppose owning an iPod doesn't afford me the right to complain too vehemently... but... but....!!
Well, I'm sure you can imagine how the internal argument went, so here it comes. I spent $23 a few weeks ago to get Morning Musume's new single, "mikan," as well as their complete singles collection. I now have 38 tracks of sugary Tsunku goodness in my iTunes' "Purchased" folder. I am, to be perfectly honest, pretty happy with my purchase, which I should note also marks the first MoMusu stuff I have actually purchased, instead of listening to it via the blogosphere or on message boards. Clearly, I've passed several points of no return in one spectacular shining leap. And now, dear readers, I've come to blog about my newly-acquired bits of digital joy. Indulge me as I cover releases that everyone else finished talking about months ago. (Hey, I'm not the most punctual critter in the world.)
Not the most erudite of explanations, but come ON, people. How can you not love a smile like that?! Ah, shameless bias; it's so good to me.
Anyway, I don't know enough about why this single apparently did badly in Japan, so I'm not going to dwell on that. "mikan," for me personally, is a pretty solid if admittedly not memorable effort from the girls. The lyrics are in the typical upbeat, "live life to your best~ <3" vein, but do throw a bone to English speakers like me with the "Oh yeah, you'll get a chance!" refrain. One could say "You'll get a chance!" to sing along passably well to the chorus. (Argh. Bad fox! Bad! *whaps self with newspaper*) The backing instrumentation is also pretty typical with its bouncy percussion and synth sparkles, but I should note that the instrumental version of this song actually fares well as listening material: the removal of the vocals exposes a bass line that normally runs in harmony with the main vocal melody, but which is pleasant to hear on its own and keeps the song from feeling "empty" as some pop instrumentals occasionally do. Vocally, the girls are on point. The song is not nearly as Ai Takahashi-centered as "onna ni sachi are" was (though she does have a part in nearly every chorus in addition to her solo lines), which gives some of the other girls, Reina Tanaka mostly, a chance to shine. Reina does very well, and throws in a little extra punch near the end by shouting out her "Oh yeah, one time!" line (another cute moment in the video, thanks to Qian Lin who gestures excitedly at Reina while she performs it). For the most part, all the other girls are given occasional solo lines, mostly singing together in the chorus. For the next single, I want more Risa Niigaki, and damn it, I especially want to hear more from Aika Mitsui. Her "ooki na oto de kyoku kiita~" solo line (her only solo line, actually) is probably the cutest thing in the song. Incidentally, it's interesting how I can claim a song is "not memorable" and then write such a long-ass paragraph about it. Basically, "mikan" fades from memory fairly quickly, to be frank, but while you're listening everything works like it should. Moving on.
The b-side, "Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! Bomb Girl," (click the link to listen via YouTube) is much more invigorating. Bopping along with a swinging mixture of horns, drums on the off beat, and a jazzy bass line, the girls trade fast-paced lines, interject with extremely cute "Yeah!"s at various points, and get together to shout the title of the song over and over as a refrain. The song is quite short at 3:16, but it's a tight three minutes and change that really kicks for the entirety of its length. I'll listen to it twice when it comes up in my playlist, and it's got more plays than "mikan" does if iTunes is to be believed. I'm not versed on the historical quality of Morning Musume b-sides, but in my opinion this one is pretty damn good and makes the single worth checking out even if you're not a fan of "mikan" itself.
In the end, as good as "Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! Bomb Girl" is, nothing on this single has the singular attraction for me that "onna ni sachi are" by itself exhibited. I had that song in my head for weeks, and "mikan" assuredly will not last nearly as long. But as I said, I'm not dissatisfied with the $2.97 I spent for this single - you really can't beat that price for what would otherwise be an import item. I continue to look forward to the group's next album release, which I will definitely be purchasing, physically or otherwise.
I mentioned the whole "point of no return" thing either, right? Well, one of those points I zoomed by was the idea that I can hold back on buying more of this group's music. Clearly this is not the case, and I expect to be hunting down and purchasing the physical albums very soon. Music this good deserves to be heard in its full splendor.
(This blog post is a little lo-fi and doesn't really make use of, well, any markup features of Vox. I apologize for this, but I had the urge to write, and I felt that getting my thoughts down was better than stalling and putting off the blog for yet another three months. I do have the intention of writing more frequently, since I think a few people actually read this aside from myself when I post something!)
Over the past weeks, as I've kept up with my daily reading of various j-pop and H!P related blogs, it's been hard to avoid the announcement of Morning Musume's new single collection. As a new sacrificial lamb to Tsunku's unholy altar MM fan, thanks to recent single "onna ni sachi are" which I briefly wrote about last month, this new compilation has me interested. Of course, with the announcement also comes the much-discussed cover photo. In case you haven't seen it:
I've heard all the comments, rumors, hatred, adulation, and most other things in between with regards to this cover, so I'll keep my own observations brief (plus, you know, I have a real entry to start at some point):
1) Yes, it's just like the "LOVE MACHINE" cover. I don't really mind.
2) Risa Niigaki (top row, second from left) does not look happy. Not that I can blame her, with that hair. Woof.
There's obviously been quite a number of comparisons drawn to the "golden age" of Morning Musume, both in the composition of the photo and with regards to the actual group members. I've been reading them all with interest, but the fact is that I have next to no knowledge when it comes to MoMusu of days gone by. I've heard "LOVE MACHINE," as well as a couple other songs from that general period such as "koi no DANCE SITE" and "renai REVOLUTION 21," but I only know them out of context; the best comment I've been able to make about those songs has been "wow, they sure sounded different back then!" I've decided to be a good little wota-in-training and go about changing that, by rolling up my sleeves and starting from the beginning. Enter First Time, the group's debut album, released waaaay back in 1998.
First Time
zetima
Released July 8, 1998
01. Good Morning
02. Summer Night Town
03. dou ni ka shite doyoubi
04. Morning Coffee
05. yume no naka
06. ai no tane
07. wagamama
08. mirai no tobira
09. usotsuki anta
10. samishii hi
The ten songs collected on First Time are very, very far removed from the no-nonsense electronic production of the group's later works; instead, the sound is based on acoustic instruments and is generally much quieter, even laid-back in places. Most of all, the album feels surprisingly open, accessible, with songs that have space to breathe. As comparison, I love "onna ni sachi are," for example, but that song is encased head-to-toe in Tsunku's slick production values: I can listen but I can't touch, if that makes any sense. But on First Time, I can hear someone strumming a guitar under the main melody of "Morning Coffee." This is revolutionary! That said, though, there are a number of little sonic elements in these songs that I can only assume to be Tsunku's magical(?) touch: listen to the weird little cackle that pops up in one of the tracks, or the exotic synth touches in "wagamama," or the way "Good Morning" opens the album with a sampled voice saying "oh yeah?" followed by an enthusiastic "YAY!" from the Musumes themselves. These little flourishes don't define the songs like they would later efforts such as "LOVE MACHINE;" instead they stay in the background and help to keep things interesting.
Contributing to the accessibility are the vocalists. Just five members at the group's inception, with three more added on shortly afterward, none of the members on this album are with the group anymore. Thus I'm hearing many of these voices and forming impressions - and yes, attachments - for the first time. Yuko Nakazawa, wow, she was my age when this album came out. Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Kei Yasuda I know vaguely, thanks to YouTube and a healthy dose of Ayaka's Surprise English Lessons (watch these, they are hilarious!), but never like this. Asuka Fukuda, Sayaka Ichii, and Aya Ishiguro are completely new to me. Natsumi Abe, well, even I knew who she was beforehand, but I've paid so little attention to her solo work that she might as well be new. The vocal performances are uneven in places - even Nacchi, who doesn't sound like she's fully developed vocally, has some off parts - and to be perfectly honest, even at their best, these girls don't really rise above, say, the level of a really good karaoke performance. But the ultimate charm of this album is that the vocals work together. Highlights for me include the breezy "usotsuki anta" with its relaxed two-person harmonies, the wonderful call-and-response in "yume no naka," and the infectious "daikirai, daikirai, daikirai, daisuki!" in the chorus of "Summer Night Town." These eight girls sound like a cohesive group, and that's an achievement: it takes them a step away from being simple throwaway pop and helps to give the album a more lasting appeal. It's also not something I can confidently say applies to the present-day group, either, although I would need to hear more to really make a solid judgement.
Bottom line? Color me impressed - very impressed - by this debut. It has me entertaining thoughts of buying the group's discography (albums, anyway) in one fell swoop, were it not for my wallet and the fact that the older stuff may well be out of print now (I have no idea). I'm extra excited for the singles collection, and I can't wait to delve further into the group's back catalog, now that I've heard them at their start. I feel like I know the basics, but there's still more ground to cover that I might better understand just how Morning Musume arrived at "LOVE MACHINE" - and where they chose to go afterward.
Since it’s been said that the truth will set you free, I’d like to get it out of the way right now: I am a 25-year old man who enjoys the music of Morning Musume. Let me pause for a second while freedom sets in.
Hmm. Maybe it takes a while. Well, uh, in the meantime, let me elaborate a bit and say that this is a very recent musical interest. I’ve known of MoMusu and the vast sea of cuteness that is Hello!Project for years now, but had never really paid it too much attention in the past. In fact, if you’d asked me a year ago, I probably wouldn’t have been able to name any current or former members of the group. Exceptions are Ai Kago, who distinctly annoyed the shit out of me (in retrospect this most likely goes for Nozomi Tsuji too, except that I probably couldn’t have told them apart then); conversely, Hitomi Yoshizawa left a positive impression on me because of her tomboy character and distinctive voice; she’s stood out from the group as a result, enough that I regretted her recent graduation.
Around when Yossie left is when I finally heard a full MoMusu album - their sixth, ai no dai 6kan - and to my surprise, I took to it. Then I started to really take to it. It was a slow process, but eventually I started to hum “LEMON-iro to MILK TEA” to myself at random points during the day, and since the proceedings don't get much more saccharine than a song like that, clearly I'd reached the point of no return. Okay, so it’s the present day and I’m officially ready to open myself to more of this group’s music. But with Yossie gone, who will be my idol among idols? Who am I going to latch onto and develop a big gay crush on now?
Well, the group’s newest single “onna ni sachi are,” released on July 25th, not only kicks down the door to my cerebellum and bellows “I’m comin’ in, bitch!”; it also answers that last question very, very securely.
Ai Takahashi. Oh man, where do I start? I previously recognized her name purely because she’s been in the group for so long, but otherwise I never took much notice of her… if I’d known what she sounded like, maybe that would have been different, but oh well. Now she leads the group, and in this song and PV she seizes the role. From what various other message board denizens say, this is sort of a dramatic character shift for Takahashi, who is normally quiet and reserved. Maybe some of her “normal” persona is still evident, since she’s really not vamping it up to the extreme that the costumes/headdresses/etc. of the video might allow for. Instead, Ai is merely content to take the lion’s share of the vocals (coincidentally, she sings beautifully), dance her ass off, and direct a smolderingly reproachful gaze toward the camera in her close-ups. Works for me, since she does all of the above so very well…
Vocally, “onna ni sachi are” is a little like "Ai Takahashi plus eight girls that happened to be in the studio that day" rather than an evenly-split group, but in fairness those remaining eight do make a very nice showing, audibly and visually. My preferences led me to especially note Koharu Kusumi, who is managing to look more and more stunning every time I see her (not a small feat for a 15-year-old). She’s got a fair share of solo lines in this song, and while her voice isn’t the best, I enjoy it nonetheless - especially the way she hits the "asahi yo noboreeee" part at the end of the first chorus. Close runners-up are Eri Kamei and second-newest member Aika Mitsui: the former gets mention purely because of her solo line near the end of the song, which she really hits out of the park (I love the multiple shots of her hands while she performs it), while the latter delivers a simple but surprisingly deliberate performance in her dancing and in her pair of solo lines, enough to intrigue me as to her untapped potential.
“Onna ni Sachi Are” is also the debut single for Morning Musume’s two new Chinese members, Li Chun (a.k.a. JunJun, who incidentally looks like she wants to kill someone in the below still) and Qian Lin (a.k.a. LinLin). The pair don’t make the biggest splash here, but they fit in well, hold their own on the singing front, and as brand new talent make me excited to hear more in the future.
The song itself is uptempo with a hard beat, a canvas that plays an interesting foil to the surprisingly bitter lyrics (which you can find here). The video is very simple and, uh, yellow and feathery (in case you didn't notice), alternating between dance sequences, closeups during solo lines, and brief shots of all the girls mouthing “baka!” at the camera with a gamut of emotions running from pouty to enraged to dominatrix-lite (that’d be Takahashi). Yeah, it’s a little on the cheap side, but it’s simple, surprisingly addictive, and does what it has to do to burn these girls into my brain, which is obviously the whole point.
I’ve had this song on my hard drive for about a month now,
and have been listening to it very frequently over that month, only now finding
the time to sit down and write about it.
This isn’t a proper single review, as I neither own the single nor have
heard its b-side, but the reason I’m writing about this one song anyway is because this is the first Morning Musume song that’s stuck to me
so persistently and over such a long period.
It single-handedly has vitalized my interest in this group to the point
where I’m greatly anticipating their next single, and maybe an album in the
not-too-distant future. It also has me
looking to the past, since I’ve heard so many reminisce about MoMusu’s golden
age and former star members; logically, if I like this song so much, there’s
gotta be more where that came from, and I’m very excited about what I might
discover.
"EASY ACTION"
gr8! records/Sony
Released July 25, 2007
It’s interesting to think about how innocuously you can first encounter an artist or group who ends up being one of your favorite musical acts. For example, I first heard Ayumi Hamasaki in the 1999 video game Thousand Arms, singing “Depend on you” – I had no idea who she was, and I don’t think I was overly impressed with the song, but her name stuck with me, and when I took a chance on her LOVEppears album later on I was instantly hooked. Seven years later I now own a slightly ridiculous number of Ayu discs.
I discovered Boom Boom Satellites several years ago from their remix contribution to a Garbage single. As in Ayu’s case, I thought the remix (of the song “Push It,” which I loved at the time) was alright but nothing overly special. It’d take me until mid-2006 to discover the band again, when I came across their album Full of Elevating Pleasures at my local Newbury Comics (thank you, Tofu Records, for bringing it stateside – now market your artists better, dammit). I picked up the album completely on impulse, knowing nothing about what the music would be like. Fast forward a year, and I’m the proud owner of most of their albums, a few singles, and a thanks that the band is not more prolific - because I’m buying whatever they release from this point forward, and I’m not rich.
BBS is a duo made up of vocalist/guitarist Michiyuki Kawashima and bassist/programmer Masayuki Nakano, with drummer Naoki Hirai often on board as a supporting member. Smaller releases aside, they’ve released five major albums in the past ten years, and have gone through quite a radical change in their style since their inception. Starting in 1998 with Out Loud, BBS’ initial sound was a strange mixture of freeform jazz, driving beats, and the occasional (and incongruent) punk-rock song featuring Kawashima on guitar and screaming vocals. Those last two elements would be more and more heavily featured as the years went by, particularly after the band contributed several songs to the animated film Appleseed in 2004. Their most recent album, 2006’s On, is a showcase for just how hard this band can rock: it’s filled with huge drums, 4/4 beats, loud guitar, and Kawashima’s always-insistent vocal delivery, but still includes a few twists to keep things interesting, such as the gospel-style backing vocalist (this was also done on Full of Elevating Pleasures, and believe it or not, it works very well). Interesting to note is that all of the band's lyrics are in English; Kawashima has a heavy accent but is generally pretty understandable.
BBS' newest single, “EASY ACTION,” dropped in July, and it's another animation tie-in, this time for the new film Vexille. Stylistically it’s very close to the On sound, and actually seems a little simpler than anything on that album. For the verses, the drums and guitar are locked in a single pattern, providing a hard but basic background texture for Kawashima’s sexy yowl, before the chorus brings in a simple descending melody to act as counterpoint. Things don’t get much more complex until the end of the song, when the drums and synths improvise a little bit; this lasts only a short while before a final cymbal crash, at which point the song quietly implodes, with some synth-chittering as things fade out. The lyrics are focused and emotive to match the simplicity of the music, with the chorus repeating the lines “All that I want is easy action / such an easy thing to lose, yeah!” Verses share similar sentiment, such as “I ain’t got a clue, tell me what to do / I ain’t got a blues that I wanna play / it ain’t party time ‘til you come around / well, easy comes, easy goes again.” Interpret the lyrics as you wish, but ultimately this song is pretty damn straightforward.
The two remixes included on the single are both propelled by driving beats and have much of the same straight-shooter ethic of the original, but each remix takes “EASY ACTION” in some intriguing directions. Coburn’s “Sleazy Action” remix has both a clever and extremely apt title; stripping everything except for a small portion of vocals, this remix slows the tempo just enough to add an insistent house beat, together with some grimy synth textures and what sounds like a car engine in the background (though I guess it could just be another effect). London Elektricity opts instead to speed things up, pinning a drum ‘n bass rhythm section underneath the main guitar riff, and later also adding an original melodic guitar part that creates wonderful contrast. This mix also keeps more of the original vocals, although the track ends up feeling short since they don’t enter until about halfway through. I enjoy both remixes greatly, and they’re worth shelling out for the single even though no b-sides are included.
I do, however, question the worth of what’s coming next. Just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong: I love the band, I’ve been digging their new sound, and I have a huge crush on Michiyuki Kawashima. (Wait, did I just think that last part or did I actually type it out? Hmm. I guess we’ll see when this gets posted.) But On has been wearing thin after a year of owning it, and since this single is only a small departure (if it’s even a departure at all) from that sound, I’m left wondering about their upcoming album – the official site claims it’ll arrive sometime this year. I expect to either be disappointed or completely blown away, and I’m obviously hoping for the latter.
That said, for a new fan there’s a lot to love about Boom Boom Satellites, and I encourage you to dive in and explore their discography. I hope this review gives a little more exposure to a band I don’t think gets enough overseas love… and if it manages to make a rabid fan out of you, well, all I can say to that is “rock on!”
"Heavenly Star/Breeze"
avex trax
Released July 4, 2007
01. Heavenly Star
02. Breeze
03. Heavenly Star - Glorious Remix
04. Heavenly Star - Sunrise Remix
05. Heavenly Star - Count Down Remix
06. Heavenly Star - Space Walk Remix
07. Heavenly Star - Aurora Remix
08. Heavenly Star - Floating Remix
09. Heavenly Star - L&M Projekt Remix (CD edition only)
10. Heavenly Star - Instrumental
“I see you, feel you,
I am your creation
Everlasting affection
Life’s an endless
spiral going ‘round
Yes, we are in love!”
- from “Heavenly Star”
The above lyrics may, at first glance, come off as a typical pop construction: words crafted to fit a melody first and to carry a meaning second. Artificial sentiment, perhaps. But Genki Rockets, in its debut single “Heavenly Star/Breeze,” has taken things one step further: what meaning can a pop song have when sung by an artificial singer?
Genki Rockets’ Myspace would have us believe that the group is composed of just one young woman, named Lumi. Lumi, according to the scant but colorful biography on the page, was born in outer space, has never been to Earth, and “lives in the future world.” In actuality, Genki Rockets is produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, who is a video game designer famous for the puzzle games Lumines, among other works. But who is Lumi? Or, if you perhaps doubt the accuracy of the official bio (shame on you), then who is the person singing the songs? The answer is actually “no one.” Neither the singing voice nor the girl who appears in the PV for “Heavenly Star” is real (technically, the voice we hear was assembled from several different female singers to create the final product). In essence, then, the entirety of the Genki Rockets project is synthetic.
Personally, I find this fascinating on a couple of levels. The most obvious is, of course, the technical achievement; many artists have experimented with computerized or otherwise processed vocals before, but the construction of a voice is no small feat. A casual listen to “Heavenly Star” or its b-side, “Breeze,” and you might not be able to tell that Lumi is made up of samples – I was fooled at first. While she is heavily vocodered throughout most of both the songs, the vocals themselves are consistent in tone, enough to sound like it’s one person, and frankly she still sounds more real than, say, Cher in “Believe” or the male vocalist in Daft Punk’s “One More Time.” Granted, those are older songs, and the vocal processing was being used for dramatic effect, but regardless “Heavenly Star” is a testament to how convincing our technological illusions have become. Major respect to Mizuguchi and his fellow producers.
But the underlying thing that really intrigues me, and has inspired me to write about this music, is how convincing Lumi is. Huh? Convincing? How can an auto-tuned, quantized, and heavily processed voice (or set of voices) sing lyrics like “heavenly stars above / just believe what’s in your heart / no border between us / nothing can divide us” and, at least for a few minutes, make me believe her? I have no idea, but somehow she manages it. That said, my favorite moment on this single is from “Breeze.” Coming out of the second chorus, there are a few precious seconds when the instrumentation drops away and Lumi, in a quiet mechanical stutter, sings “I’m so close to you” as if she really were right next to me. Oh man, if only it were true. Gackt could be standing next to me, singing that in my ear, and I wouldn’t be as thrilled… oh, all right, I won’t lie, Gackt would win out, but Lumi would come a damn close second! There’s just something about her voice – there’s some sort of purity in it, despite it not being real, that I can’t explain. What I can say is that I find these songs extraordinarily affecting.
Then again, Mizuguchi seems to have tailored this entire single to aim at our pleasure centers. “Heavenly Star” is a bright, dance-oriented song with plenty of synths and a strong club beat; “Breeze” is similar but scales back the instrumentation a bit, placing Lumi’s voice higher in the mix. The video for “Heavenly Star,” included on the CD+DVD version of the single, is positively euphoric, filled with pastel colors, computer-generated landscapes, and stars that twinkle in time with the beat. (I especially melt at the "No border between us!!" words on the screen when Lumi sings those particular lyrics.) Mizuguchi, or maybe his marketing team, have also succeeded in making wallets happy: the single is packed with six remixes of “Heavenly Star” (seven if you opt for the CD-only version) plus an instrumental. If you’re into remixes like I am, this translates into an incredible bang for your buck.
I imagine that, after all I’ve said
and the samples I’ve provided, some people have probably been turned off by all
the… well… genki-ness of the whole
affair. If you’re still here, though,
I’d like to say that I have been thoroughly impressed by this release and
encourage you to get a copy for yourself.
I posed a question about the meaning behind these songs in my first
paragraph, and I may just have to leave it as a rhetorical inquiry because I’m
not sure I have an answer. I guess maybe
I’m just a romantic sap, sure. But you
know, maybe the whole concept – platitudes about love and peace sung by an
automaton – is just so divorced from
reality, so unabashedly artificial,
that my guard is completely dropped, and these songs have a clear pathway into
my heart. Whatever it is, I have to say:
well done, Lumi. You’ve won yourself a
devoted fan.
(Hello and welcome to Infinite Seasons! I've created this blog with the purpose of doing more writing, both for my enjoyment and to keep my skills honed, and since Japanese music is something I've grown to love in recent years, it will be the primary focus. I basically aim to write about each new CD of music that I obtain, whether or not the CD itself is technically "new" (as is the case with the review I'm about to post); we'll see what I can come up with to write about in between purchases.)
kazemachi kousaten
Universal J
Released November 29, 2006
01. kaze ni natte
02. BLUE
03. koishikute (Orchestra Version)
04. heibon blues
05. SYLVIA
06. kazahana
07. shimatta umarete kichimatta
08. Q.O.L
09. ai no THESIS
10. kimi wa gobanme no kisetsu (Album Version)
11. yumemitai ~dakara kumo ni akogareta~
12. niji (Yakushima Domenika Version)
13. MOTHER EARTH (Living Room Version)
Singer-songwriter Naotaro Moriyama has been around for a while now – he recently released a best-of compilation spanning songs from 2001 to 2005 – but I’d never bothered to check him out beyond listening to a couple of 30-second samples of his stuff. Then along came his single “kaze ni natte,” which I downloaded at random off a torrent site. I enjoyed the song and its two b-sides, so when this album came out, I decided to take the plunge and buy it.
“kaze ni natte” is an acoustic, guitar-driven pop song with some synth hooks added for effect, and most of kazemachi kousaten uses the same instrumental palette. Some songs deviate a bit in either direction: “shimatta umarete kichimatta” is just Moriyama and a guitar; the intro to “kazahana,” in contrast, floats on a sparkling keyboard riff and lots of reverb. Overall, though, the songs are fairly restrained in their instrumentation; it’s Moriyama’s voice that is front and center at all times. This brings songs like “koishikute,” a strings-driven ballad, and the passionate “SYLVIA” to amazing life. “SYLVIA” is the longest song on the album, clocking in at just over 7 minutes, and Moriyama builds the song masterfully, knowing when to hold back vocally and, conversely, when to pour his heart out. The song also showcases his lovely harmonizing, as he sings over his own multitracked backing vocals in the outro. My favorite track, though, is “Q・O・L,” a joyful, buoyant track where Moriyama sings with abandon and even goes so far as to exclaim the last lines of the chorus.
Above examples aside, I knew I was hooked on Moriyama’s voice when I first heard him hit the high notes in “kaze ni natte,” but on the other hand I’ve heard people say they can’t stand the way he sings. The biggest thing I notice about his voice is its tendency to sound pinched, or nasal, in places, particularly when he goes up into falsetto (which he does often). He also tends to transition a bit roughly between notes, sounding like he has something in his throat as he sings. The end result is a voice with a good deal of texture. I like it, and I don’t think many people will argue that Moriyama isn’t a capable singer, but it’s probably not for everyone. (Check out the samples here and judge for yourself.)
The album, however, seems like it could be for everyone, or failing that, a whole lot of people. Moriyama’s folksy music is endearing and well-performed, and the 11 tracks on Kazemachi Kousaten (plus a 2-track bonus disc if you get the limited edition) form a coherent package of songs. Naotaro Moriyama himself looks like a pretty down-to-earth guy – the photos of him in the liner booklet, all in black and white, show him with friends and family, almost always with a huge, disarming smile on his face. This is an album that sounds like it was made by a person who’s pretty happy with life in general. It’s an album that puts a smile on my face, and I recommend it highly.
