Yume Suzuki -- NITE FLITE

 

As much as I've loved the City Pop of the 1970s and 1980s, each decade represented by its own distinctive arrangements, I think that there is love to be had too for the urban contemporary material in the 1990s. Moreover, there have been songs represented on the blog by folks such as Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）and Michiru Kojima（児島未散）.

I think that one musical instrument that has helped distinguish the City Pop among those three decades is the keyboard whether it be the Fender Rhodes or the synthesizer. This is solely my opinion, but I think the 1990s version of City Pop has been characterized by synthesizers that enjoy emulating the brass section. I mean, it's obvious that it is a synthesizer pretending to be a battery of trumpets but still it has its own aural sensation adding to that urban contemporary melody.

And that comes out in Tokyo singer-songwriter Yume Suzuki's（鈴木結女）"NITE FLITE", a track on her April 1994 4th album "Conversation". I don't remember when and how I found out about it but whenever I see a title like that, I kinda figure that there has got to be something urban and contemporary about that number. Plus, Perfume's "Night Flight" is also very cool although it's in another genre altogether. But getting back to "NITE FLITE", this song written by Arisu Sato（佐藤ありす）and composed/arranged by Suzuki and keyboardist Masao Kuzuba（崩場将夫）has got plenty of groove and brass to power through a night out on the town.

Suzuki debuted with her first album while in her junior year of university in 1991 after which she has released over fifteen singles up to 2015, several of which have been used for the anime "Ninku"（忍空）. Nine albums have been released as well including a BEST compilation. Another piece of trivia that I got from her J-Wiki file is that for much of the 2000s, she and her family had been residing in my hometown of Toronto and then San Diego. I just hope that it wasn't the winters that scared her off down south...although I wouldn't blame her if they did.