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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yasuyuki Okamura -- Tokai(都会)


Of all the photos I took back in my last trip to Japan, the above is one of my favourites. It's of the Daimon area, and with that sun hitting the buildings just so, I thought it was one of the nicest shots to show off Tokyo, one heck of a city.




I think I've come across one of the nicest covers of a Taeko Ohnuki(大貫妙子)song through a 2013 album titled "Tribute to Taeko Ohnuki"(大貫妙子トリビュート・アルバム). This is "Tokai" (The City) by Ohnuki's collaborator from the 70s and 80s, Ryuichi Sakamoto(坂本龍一), and J-funkster Yasuyuki Okamura(岡村靖幸).

Originally from Ohnuki's 1977 album "Sunshower", as I mentioned in the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" article for it, the arrangement for "Tokai" was inspired by Stevie Wonder while the singer took a pot shot against city life. If anything, though, "Tokai" had me swooning over city life, especially life in Tokyo that I knew so well for so many years. And the new version by Sakamoto and Okamura gets even closer to Wonder...so much so that I wonder (no pun intended) whether the legend was actively taking part in the recording session. Still, the cover doesn't reconstruct or deconstruct from the original; it's truly a tribute and Sakamoto even brings back the meowing synth instrumental.

I will have to listen to the samples presented up at Amazon.jp but perhaps "Tribute to Taeko Ohnuki" will be my next purchase.

Speaking of Tokyo, in a couple of days, I will be taking off for my old stompin' grounds for the first time in a little over 3 years. I'm certainly looking forward to my 2-week vacation...meeting up with old friends, eating my favourite foods (karaage, hambaagu, kaiten sushi...we meet again!) and seeing the old haunts. As such, KKP will be a little quiet for the first half of November.


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