Yumi Tanimura -- with II

I hadn't heard of singer-songwriter Yumi Tanimura（谷村有美）until I entered Tower Records in Shibuya and heard her "Tomodachi" on the speakers. As I mentioned in that article, the gentle balladry and the Burt Bacharach horns kinda got me right here (❤), so I ended up picking up Tanimura's 2nd BEST compilation "with II" from the shelves. The album was released back in August 1994, and it was still a few months before I made it back to Japan at that point, so I think it was kismet that I managed to hear that song although the album was probably no longer being campaigned for.

As has been the case with many an album that I've heard, my first time hearing "with II" and Tanimura's brand of mellow mid-tempo pop didn't leave me with an awesome impression (aside from "Tomodachi"). Her songs struck me as being fine but nothing particularly supremely catchy, and considering how often I was snatching up CDs at the time, it was all too easy to give them a listen and then put the album back on the shelf for the next several years. I think it was basically how I treated my food at the time: it was more about the quantity than the quality. So, I did love my all-you-can-eat buffets.

Well, buffets are no longer my thing anymore and over the past few years during the existence of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've been revisiting some of those initially abandoned albums, including "with II".

"with II" includes her songs ranging over the time of her 6th to 18th singles. Unless specifically mentioned, Tanimura wrote and composed these songs.

1. Genki Dashite yo（元気だしてよ）re-mix
2. Ichiban Daisuki datta（いちばん大好きだった）
3. Issho ni Kurasou（一緒に暮らそう）
4. Parade, Parade（パレード・パレード）
5. Hitotsu Tsubu Namida（ひとつぶの涙）Single version
6. Roku-gatsu no Ame（6月の雨）
7. Tomodachi（友達）
8. Tokimeki wo Believe（ときめきをBelieve）
9. Taikutsu na Gogo（たいくつな午後）
10. Ima ga Suki（今が好き）
11. Saigo no Kiss（最後のKISS）
12. Shiawase no Namida（しあわせの涙）
13. Kon'ya Anata ni Furaretai（今夜あなたにフラれたい）
14. Ai suru Yuuki（愛する勇気）

(cover version)

"Genki Dashite yo" (Cheer Up) is a coupling song on her 17th single, the aforementioned "Shiawase no Namida" (Happy Tears) from May 1994. It has that sunny 60s feeling to it and is a nice way to start off this BEST album.

Another coupling song that got onto the album is "Issho ni Kurasou" (Let's Live Together) from her 16th single released in November 1993, "Somebody Loves You". This was one of the songs that got me to re-think my initial thoughts about Tanimura's work. It's pop but it also has a small infusion of soul in there; that soul and the use of synthesizers even reminded me of some of the cooler stuff by PSY-S. Of course, when I read that title, I naturally assumed that it was a guy trying to convince his girlfriend to take the next big step of co-habitation, but apparently, according to the hosts of "Music Station" above, it doesn't necessarily mean so, with one of the hosts stating that Tanimura had been living with her mother at that time.

Her 12th single from June 1992 is "Tokimeki wo Believe". It's one of those recovery songs in which Tanimura sings about finally getting on with her life after the end of a romance. I think it's the one ballad that I felt was rather indicative of the love ballads of that time which were performed by singers such as Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）and Miki Imai（今井美樹）. With the help of jisho.org, the direct translation of the song came out to "Believe in Your Palpitations" or "Believe in Your Throbbing", but one sounded too medical and the other was simply not right, so I went with "Believe in Your Heartbeat". "Tokimeki wo Believe" was written by Kazuko Sakata（坂田和子）and composed by Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）.

I kinda had to inflict the Gibbs slap onto myself since I had completely forgotten about "Ima ga Suki" (I Love You Now) which is actually a track from Tanimura's 5th album "Ai wa Genki desu"（愛は元気です...Love is Fine） from May 1991. It's got some pretty cool AOR-type funk in there, and that guitar reminded me of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out". Norie Kanzawa and Hiromasa Ijichi（神沢礼江・伊秩弘将）created this one for the singer, and both of them also had a hand with some of Misato Watanabe's（渡辺美里）songs.

"Saigo no Kiss"(The Final Kiss) is a Tanimura creation which has some of that nice light funk action in there, and it's the other song that I kinda remembered from my initial listening to "with II" along with "Tomodachi". This was her 14th single from June 1993. I'm such a sucker for a good sax (no snickering, please). Perhaps I should actually translate the title as "The Kiss-Off" since Tanimura's lyrics state about not having to see the guy's toothbrush, frying pan and ashtray anymore. Well, being a lifelong non-smoker, I certainly could sympathize with that last item.

The final song that I will be showing tonight is "Kon'ya Anata ni Furaretai" (I Want to Be Dumped by You Tonight). Also not exactly the happiest lyrics as a woman wants to get out of a toxic relationship, but Tanimura's melody has got a bit more of a rock beat in there. This was her 18th single from July 1994.

Well, I've had "with II" all these years, so why not see if "with" is available?