MOTOCOMPO -- The Higher I Fly

After writing an article about a PreCure ending theme song that was more on the synthpop end of things last month, I was curious about the composer, Dr. Usui...not just because of the doctor moniker but also of any other synthpop-related music that he was involved in.

Well, it turned out that he was a part of an electropop unit called MOTOCOMPO that was active between 1997 and 2010. There were a number of members in it, but it seems as if the core was synthesizer operator/vocalist Dr. Usui and vocalist chiho.

According to J-Wiki, in their early phase, MOTOCOMPO was heavily influenced by the New Wave band Plastics, but then in 1998, the band became part of the music scene known as the "Tokyo Newwave of Newwave" alongside Polysics, and another unit known as Spoozys. Some more time down the line, MOTOCOMPO then started embracing an electropop sound in reaction to the electroclash movement that was becoming popular overseas. Finally, the group called it a day in 2010. I've put out the above information straight from the J-Wiki article, not knowing what the differences are among technopop and electropop and electroclash (somebody, please educate me!).

All in all, MOTOCOMPO released a total of 7 albums (a 7-inch, a couple of full albums, three mini-albums and a live album), and with their penultimate release, "Chiptop Lips" in March 2007, came the song of this article "The Higher I Fly". In terms of describing it, I could say that it possesses some cold and some hot: the glacial feeling of that synthesizer operated by Dr. Usui and then the warmth of chiho's vocals letting folks know that she's taking off to newer, higher and better levels. As well, MOTOCOMPO doesn't sound anything like any of the other Japanese technopop bands that I've known such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Polysics or even Denki Groove. Maybe there's something European about it.