Sunday, June 24, 2012

Taeko Ohnuki -- Signifie


"Signifie" is Taeko Ohnuki's(大貫妙子) 7th solo album released in October 1983. Like her preceding albums with Ryuichi Sakamoto(坂本龍一), the previous one being 1982's "Cliche", this album has its combination of quirky pop tunes partnered with epic and lavish productions. The first track is "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi"夏に恋する女たち....The Women Who Love In Summer), one of the latter types which was specifically written for a TBS drama of the same title. It has its own sweeping romantic Gallic grandeur, though not quite on the same scale as its kissing cousin, "Kuro no Clair"黒のクレール...Black Clair) from "Cliche".






The second track is "Genwaku"幻感....Fascination), along with the first track, one of my favourite songs on the album.  As its title hints, this song has a synth accordion among other electronics providing a small backdrop of jokey spookiness. But it also shows how good Sakamoto is at marrying technopop with French melodies.

Generally, "Signifie" is perhaps a smaller version of "Cliche" in terms of tone but still well worth getting. There's another song on YouTube that I couldn't bring into the blog called "Signe"  (no worries now) that's also one of my favourites on the album. Despite the return of that synth-accordion, I'd that say that it's more technopop than French, but the key shifts are pretty interesting to listen to.

8 comments:

  1. I was hooked by the little woodwind segue on the latter half of the album, it's so quirky and almost dissonant but singular and interesting, like the rest of the album.

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    1. Hi, Testing. Any particular favourite tracks?

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  2. Man my mind blew when i found out about Sakamoto's contribution in this. The pop tunes are my favourite, RECIPE is so fascinating. Some of the lyrics appear to be about silly things but at the same time the song comes out as serious for me. Great stuff

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    1. Hi, romolpdps. Yeah, although I think Ohnuki has been releasing some great solo albums since 1976, the longtime collaboration between her and Sakamoto in the early 1980s was truly rewarding.

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  3. There are some tracks that are completely instrumental (e.g. Anya), made me wonder where the vocal was, haha. This album is nice in a different sense from Mignonne or Cliche (i don't really know what word describes it the most but i guess i can say it's romantic). Also, that mellow tone of saxophone in Natsu ni Koisuru Onnatachi is really satisfying to me. Absolute ear candy. Thanks, bless you.

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    1. Hi, Granny Jazz. Hope you are enjoying your Holidays. Yeah, I believe Ohnuki was peppering her solo albums with at least one instrumental. I think that kinda increased further into the 1980s discography.

      When I first heard "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna-tachi" on "Sounds of Japan" decades ago, I thought the song sounded so unusual compared to the usual fluffy stuff that I'd been listening to back then. However, I appreciate it even more now because of that uniqueness. I think the song is a good example of her early 80s love for French-ness or European-ness, so to speak.

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  4. The intro of Geneaku sounds メルヘンチック(fairytale-ish).

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