Whenever the aidoru group Negicco gets mentioned to me, my eyes and ears will always perk up happily. Since Marcos V. first mentioned this band on his "Retro Grooves and Underground Aidoru Gems Playlist" back in 2014, I've become interested in what Nao☆, Megu and Kaede have had to offer me. I've also been happy for Negicco since this was a group of which the above three were the original three of four that were just supposed to have been together for a one-shot campaign project to support the green onion industry in Niigata Prefecture back in 2003 but have since grown from their local aidoru status to national recognition. Plus, I'm sure that they have gained some international fans...like me.
It's been just about a year since I put up my last Negicco article on KKP so it was good that commenter Michael came up with his own favourite happy tunes and recommended this one by the aidoru group, "Cream Soda Love". This was a track from their 2nd studio album "Rice & Snow" from January 2015.
Written by Negicco member Nao☆ and composed by connie with arrangement by Katsutoshi Kitagawa（北川勝利）, "Cream Soda Love" has quickly become something that I've warmed up to as well because of that sunny jazzy pop that I think puts Negicco on the same level as Blue Peppers（ブルー・ペパーズ）and microstar. The trio has been categorized in J-Wiki as a group in tribute to City Pop and Neo-Shibuya-kei, and those warm-and-fuzzy horns in "Cream Soda Love" kinda take me back to the Bacharach 1960s. As for "Rice & Snow", that peaked at No. 18 on Oricon.
It's ironic, though, since I am no fan of cream soda. In fact, I put it up there with natto and liver in terms of ingestibles that I really can't take. Maybe the cause for my cream soda non-love originated back in the 1970s when my family brought back home all sorts of soda pop from the supermarket, and the company-brand sodas each had their own decade-typical pop art symbology to delineate each type of drink. The cans of cream soda were characterized by purple diamonds, and to my naïve eyes, I had assumed that they had grape soda. One swig had me going BLEAHHH with more force than a disgusted Snoopy and since then I haven't been able to touch the stuff. It's also significant to note that I don't like the combination of ice cream and any carbonated drink proper at any diner. I'm quite happy with a good old milkshake.🍦
Ah, I was mistaken about the arranger for this track. I thought it was Minami Kitasono, but that was a different track he remixed. No matter. 'Cream Soda Love' is a joyous, uplifting romp, as is common with Negicco's output. They've amassed quite a good catalog of songs together. Kaede's solo career has been quite remarkable, collaborating with some of Japan's top songwriters to produce excellent tracks. It's a winning formula, especially for music lovers.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a good pick on your list, Michael. I'm impressed at how a contemporary aidoru group has been able to follow a genre that is more adult contemporary, although I don't quite know how their earliest material sounded.
DeleteGlancing over at their site negicco.net, both connie and Kaede have forthcoming mini-albums on the way, and the group proper have a new maxi single release on 8/25 which includes three new tracks + instrumental versions. Hitomitoi composed the lead single, 「午前0時のシンパシー」 (Sympathy at 0:00am). Both PARKGOLF and 沖野俊太郎 (Okino Shuntaro) contributed the other tracks.
ReplyDeleteKaede's new mini-album (7 songs) is titled 'Stardust in Blue' and apparently she is collaborating with Lamp. It launches on 9/8.
Conversely, Connie's new mini-album (5 songs) is titled VoicesII and she's collaborating with artists such as Shiho Nanba, Fujin Club and a few others. Released on 8/25, same as Negicco's new single.
Regarding their earliest output, from what I know it's very much in the same spirit as their newer works, very poppy and bouncy, but as time went on they incorporated a more sophisticated, adult-contemporary sound.
Collaborating with Nanba sounds right, since she has worked with Blue Peppers. Of course, Hitomitoi can work well with Negicco.
DeleteI'd be curious to find out how the group eventually started going the adult contemporary route.