Wow! It's a bit like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup experience here. On the one hand, there is the wonderfully mellow Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）and on the other hand, there is also the cool Kirinji（キリンジ）, the brotherly duo who I got very interested in after hearing their lovely "Aliens". I never imagined them doing a collaboration although on second thought, I think it was probably due since I think the two acts are nicely compatible.
So, when I discovered "Etoile feat. Kirinji" on YouTube, most of my senses pricked up immediately, especially on seeing the video eyecatch of Tomita Lab standing in front of what looked like West Shinjuku. This was actually Tomita Lab's 5th single from April 2009.
Well, I listened to the song and my first impression wasn't quite as impressive especially when I think about "Aliens" and Tomita Lab's classic "Nemuri no Mori"（眠りの森）. "Etoile feat. Kirinji" launches with an arrangement that I thought sounded like some sort of opening theme for a 1970s American cop show by Quinn/Martin Productions. The music by Tomita Lab was fairly chaotic to me although the refrain struck me as being another splendid romantic sweep that I have always come to expect from him. The lyrics by Takaki Horigome（堀込高樹）, one-half of Kirinji, center on some sort of eternally dancing ballerina.
My second listen to it came off somewhat better as my ears and brain gradually started to get accustomed to the frenetic activity involved, so I'm pretty confident that this will settle down nicely. I can analogize it to eating a spicy curry on a wintry night...things may get super fiery at first but when digestion kicks in, I can relax well enough in my armchair. Plus I recall that my first exposures to the marvelous band Sing Like Talking went in a similar way.
"Etoile feat. Kirinji" did only modestly on Oricon, only getting as high as No. 88 but even an initially uncertain effort by Tomita Lab will still beat a lot of J-Pop out there in my eyes and ears. The song was also included in his 3rd album "Shipahead" which came out in February 2010; it peaked at No. 46.
Tomita Keiichi actually first came to prominence in the industry as the producer/arranger of Kirinji's first several albums around the turn of the millennium, so he and the Horigome brothers go way back. I definitely encourage you to check out Kirinji's work from 1997 to 2003 if you want to hear more Tomita + Kirinji. Their third album, entitled simply "3", reached #18 on the Oricon chart and has a lot of great songs on it. "Sweet Soul EP" is also great.
ReplyDeleteAlso, take a listen to Tomita Lab's greatest hits compilation album, "Beautiful Songs to Remember" if you get a chance. The normal edition just has one disc, but the special edition has a bonus disc, doubling the number of songs, plus another bonus disc which has some rare rough drafts / demo tracks, and yet another bonus disc, which is a DVD featuring a small behind the scenes look at the development of a Tomita song (April Fool by Sakamoto Maaya). All in all, you'll get a lot of the "mellow" songs you've come to expect from him, but also all kinds of other interesting stuff.
Finally, Tomita has recently taken a rather different tack - listen to his latest album "Superfine", or bird's recent album "Lush" (in particular, the rearranged version of her classic song "道" that appeared on Tomita Lab's "Shipbuilding" back in the day).
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DeleteHi, Keshav.
DeleteThanks very much for the information. You sound like the ultimate Tomita fan.:)
"Beautiful Songs to Remember" sounds like a good thing to purchase. By the way, what would be your very favourite Tomita-produced tune?
That's a tough question! I think I'll have to settle on "ENDLESS SUMMER NUDE(Tomita Lab. Remix)", which is Tomita's version of ENDLESS SUMMER NUDE by Magokoro Brothers, which I posted a comment about just now on http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.jp/2017/03/asako-tokimagokoro-brothersbird-summer.html .
ReplyDeleteBut really, I love almost all the songs on "Beautiful Songs to Remember" :) You're definitely right that it's a good buy. Unfortunately the limited edition seems to be out of print now, and is currently going for almost 20,000 JPY on Amazon.co.jp. It is possible to find rips of it online though, if one looks around a bit. The normal edition is still in print and can be bought for around 2,500 JPY, but it only has one disc compared to three CDs + one DVD in the limited edition...
By the way, I forgot to mention this in my original comment, but the Kirinji song "Aliens" which you mentioned in this post was also produced by Tomita :)
Hi again.
DeleteYeah, 20,000 yen is a bit steep for me. I will be happy enough with the 2,500-yen version.
For me, since it was the first song connected with Tomita Lab that I heard, my favourite so far is still "Nemuri no Mori" featuring Hanaregumi. As was the case with Tomita himself in the video, I would love to hear this in a nice cool cafe in Tokyo.
Nemuri no Mori is excellent, definitely one of my top favs as well. The lyrics are nice too, by the way ( http://www.utamap.com/showkasi.php?surl=B02902 ).
ReplyDelete負けず嫌いがね、二人もいるともう疲れる
弱さを見せ合い、庇い合えた時、それを愛と言うんだ
The video puzzled me a bit since it has nothing to do with the lyrics, which are a man's love letter to his sleeping girlfriend. It's quite a big contrast to another of my favorites, ずっと読みかけの夏 by Tomita Lab feat. CHEMISTRY, where the video is a wonderful depiction of the lyrics. But 眠りの森's video is a nice video all the same.
Incidentally, the first Tomita song I heard was actually the one this blog post was about -- "Etoile" :)