Nachiko Tateoka -- Myself

Don't mind me...just trying to gradually figure out the revamped Blogger settings and getting this new article all done up. Kinda showing my old-man grumpiness lamenting the changes but I figure that I will get used to the new order.

Anyways, it isn't every day that I get to know and introduce a singer or band that has quite the distinct style and impressionable song, so I'm happy that I have this opportunity to reveal singer-songwriter and counselor Nachiko Tateoka（舘岡奈智子）, often known as just Nachiko（ナチコ）.

Just by coincidence, I'm writing this debut article about her on her birthday today and there is a brief English description of her life on her website. However from what I've found about her at J-Wiki, she didn't exactly have the easiest time of it during her childhood and adolescence due to a very strict upbringing which didn't allow for access to television, radio or manga, although she was able to sneak in some listens of The Who and The Beatles while learning how to play classic piano. Still, she was able to gain an interest in a number of genres, and at the same time, she became well read in the literature of Ryunosuke Akutagawa（芥川龍之介）, Alexandre Dumas and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

She was often asked by various representatives of agencies if she wouldn't take up a career in modeling and Tateoka finally acquiesced. But during her days as a model, she would eventually enter the world of music, and in 1980, she released her first two albums "Kusuriya no Musume"（薬屋の娘...The Pharmacist's Daughter） and "O-Hanabatake wa Mizubitashi"（お花畑は水びたし...The Flowerbed is Flooded）. From the latter, here is "Myself", a beautifully rich and melodic song dominated by Tateoka's balletic vocals, her lovely piano and a series of lightly funky/jazzy horns that come together as a mixture of progressive pop/rock jam. Maybe there is some Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones or Carole King in there. I've listened to "Myself" a few times already and despite the length of it at nearly 7 minutes, I have yet to get tired. As well, perhaps the quiet passages and the jamming especially near the end reflect a segment in her life with all of the peace and cacophony that anyone would have.

After 1982, Tateoka took a hiatus in releasing albums for a little over 30 years but returned to the recording booth in 2013 to release albums that year and the next ("Warming up" and "La Lumiére"). Another interesting thing, and I've mentioned this at the top, is that the singer had also learned counseling for around 6 years, even becoming a member of The Japan Society for Cult Prevention and Recovery. She specializes in cult deprogramming and vocational counseling.