Probably the
most talented, but also underrated, aidoru
group of nowadays, TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE (東京女子流) is always releasing well crafted pop
songs with inspiration borrowed, the majority of times, from disco and funk.
This is not
different with “Partition Love”, a groovy and catchy song about a girl who is in love with her teacher and also have to face competition from other girls at school (this teacher is on fire, you know). It’s by no means an innovative
topic, but TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE covered it with a very mature feel, in spite of
the thematic. And with mature I’m talking about the singing, which gets better
with each release. I just hope that these girls succeed in a near future, as
they’re at a very young age yet (their age ranges from 15 to 17 years old).
Keep pushing them, Avex, please.
I chose to
include the live performance over the original PV to show how talented the
girls are while singing with a live band at the Nippon Budoukan (live bands are a rare feature in today’s aidoru concerts, and so is becoming live
singing). Also, if the new aidoru
boom is considered overwhelming by some J-Pop listeners, TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE,
although part of this scene, is a very nice alternative to the over-the-top
groups/artists like AKB48 and its sister groups, Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ) or Kyary
Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ), even though this last one isn’t considered an aidoru per se.
“Partition Love”, which was released in February 2014, reached #9 on the Oricon charts, selling 16,805 copies. Lyrics and music were done by Yuusuke Koide (小出祐介), while Hiroshi Matsui (松井寛) and Hijikata Takayuki (土方隆行) were responsible for the arrangement.
Hi, Marcos.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say that I enjoyed this song quite a lot. I'd never heard of this group before last night, but I appreciate "Partition Love" for that disco-funk and perhaps a hint of old-style 70s/80s music in there. It reminds me of my favourite period of Morning Musume at the turn of the century.
I'm sure there are other videos of "Partition Love" out there on YouTube, but I think the concert video of Tokyo Girls Style at the Budokan is just perfect because of that rather quirky choreography and the fades between cameras as the refrain comes in.
Good choice.
Hi J-Canuck.
DeleteI'm glad you liked TOKYO GIRLS' STYLE. I keep following them since they debuted back in 2010, and I must say that their songs are very good. Also, you'd probably like "Limited addiction" and "Liar", both from 2011. Before "Partition Love" was released, they were my favourites from them.
You know, that Budokan video is really nice. I also like the choreography very much. The original PV has a storyline to go with the song, but I almost always prefer live performances.