bird -- Game

I have heard some wonderful ol' time soul from bird, thanks to her debut single, "SOULS" and then some great Latin with her collaboration with Shinichi Osawa（大沢伸一） aka Mondo Grosso (who also composed the debut and today's song) on "Life". In between those two songs was "Game", her disco entry. Released in April 2000, I first saw the video on TV and then heard it a few more times before I decided I needed to get this into the collection.

I couldn't find the single itself but found the 10-minute version in Osawa's album of remixes, "Sakurahills Disco 3000"which came out on the same day as the single itself. The album has folks like Fantastic Plastic Machine, Towa Tei and Kyoto Jazz Missive contributing their stuff, but I came for "Game". I just love that voice of hers and how she rattles some of her lyrics as if they were bullets and she were the Gatling gun. Plus, there is a cool jazzy piano riff. I only wish she had gotten a bit bigger in her fame.

The top video is the original 5-minute single which peaked at No. 25 on Oricon. And the one above is her epic-length version of the song in concert.

Shinichi Osawa -- Sakurahills Disco 3000