I just remembered this happy bouncy instrumental piece by Fantastic Plastic Machine since this was one of the accompanying songs with his 4th single, "Why Not?" from 2002. Again like the main single, "Never Ever" doesn't really sound like Shibuya-kei per se but it's more of a technopoppy (emphasis on poppy) fling through a sunny park. I wouldn't be surprised if it has been used over the years as a montage piece of music on a variety show or even on a drama.
This version has some vocals in it, although I don't think they are really necessary.
I was trying to track down the source of that non-vocal version of Never Ever for a while; thank you for this enlightening post! One question: did you buy your copy of "Why Not?" recently (would you say it is still available in stores)? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh. Thanks very much for commenting. I actually bought my copy when it first came out in 2002. When I checked out the Tower Records site just now, there was a copy of it there:
Deletehttp://tower.jp/search/item/FPM+%EF%BC%88Fantastic+Plastic+Machine%EF%BC%89Why+Not?recondition=True&artistId=211726&page=3
Hope you can get it!