Dance for philosophy -- Waterproof Night（ウォータープルーフ・ナイト）

 

A typical 2-step drum pattern features syncopated kick drums that skip a beat, with shuffled rhythm or triplets applied to other elements of the percussion, resulting in a sound noticeably distinct to those present in other house or techno music. (From Wikipedia's article for "2-step garage")

Still being a neophyte with the many subgenres of techno and dance music, I had to look up Wikipedia and a video on 2-step by RyKennon Productions. I can't say that I totally comprehend it yet, but I was curious because the song of this article is apparently based on this beat.

Not to say that Dance for philosophy's（フィロソフィーのダンス）April 2022 single "Waterproof Night" has struck me as being a technopop tune by any means. If anything, I think that it's more reflective of what I used to hear in the 2000s when J-R&B had a big payday with its beats and rapping. And according to this description of the song, the setting of "Waterproof Night" is Shibuya of the 2000s when the whole gyaru thing with loose socks and dyed hair was the big fashion statement. Hey, the very recognizable Shibuya landmark of 109 is right there in the video (and right above in the thumbnail).

Written and composed by Ameko Kodama（児玉雨子）, from watching the video and hearing the song, my impression is that "Waterproof Night" is the display of memories of four women who were the four teens in the video, and that the "waterproof" refers to that period of time protected forever as a monument to the good old days, a phrase which actually does pop up in Kodama's lyrics. I had my own good times in Shibuya with Tower Records and the used record shops in the area, along with frequent visits to Tokyu Hands and the numerous examples of night life. But getting back to the music, I remember in the last article that I had written regarding Dance for philosophy, "Double Standard", that was some of that Neo Disco feeling in there which reminded me of Mondo Grosso's discography from those early 2000s, and I get that same feeling here.