I should have figured it out by now especially since singer-songwriter Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）has displayed different sides in her music career whether it be helping in creating those very summery tunes for the band TUBE and then coming up with her own urban contemporary delights throughout the 1980s to the extent that I consider her to be one of the pillars in City Pop. However, especially after listening to her BEST compilations including the recent "Warner Years '81-'87", Aran has also given us her fair share of more eclectic fare such as more New Wave numbers.
Case in point is her "Noah no Hakobune" (Noah's Ark), a song that was written by Aran and composed and arranged by saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu（清水靖晃）. It's in "Warner Years '81-'87" but was originally a track on her very first album, "Shinkei Suijaku"（神経衰弱...Nervous Breakdown） from July 1981. Starting out with a stately piano passage that comes across as a mix between a calisthenics song for NHK's "Radio Taiso"（ラジオ体操）and a musical accompaniment for ballerinas, Aran begins singing at around 20 seconds sounding very much like fellow contemporary Chika Ueda（上田知華）for another 20 or so seconds before a somewhat enigmatic Beatles/Elvis Costello/Billy Joel melody flows out.
It's all very nostalgic, intriguing and different, especially for someone like me who's been weaned on her singing City Pop tunes. "Noah no Hakobune" is kinda like the actual Noah's Ark having to sail for 40 days and 40 nights, not knowing what it and its passengers will end up because the two melodies of piano passage and New Wave/pop keep interweaving throughout the song's 4 1/2 minutes. Another track from "Shinkei Suijaku" is "Kanzen Hanzai"（完全犯罪）which is featured in my article for "Warner Years '81-'87", and I also identified that as being New Wave. So one day, if "Shinkei Suijaku" ever gets re-issued again, I'd love to find out some more about it.
I heard this song on WMEB Orono, Maine today (12-7-2021) on a weekly show that focuses on 70s-80s Japanese pop, often with an emphasis on the works and influences of members of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Needing to listen to it again I found this article, and now am just loving that others see the absolute beauty and wonderful arrangements in this piece.
ReplyDeleteHello, Frogwater. Man, you are one lucky guy to have access to a university radio station that has a weekly show featuring Japanese pop. We used to have one show on the local multicultural radio station here decades ago, but we aren't so lucky now. At least, there are those Internet stations which specialize in the genre.
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