Fishmans -- Long Season

 

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the band Fishmans'（フィッシュマンズ）September 1996 single "Season", the alternative pop and dub song. Just to remind folks, all this came about because of a recommendation by commenter bonk some weeks back about this experimental album titled "Long Season" that was released a month later in October and was based on the original "Season".

Vocalist/bassist Shinji Sato（佐藤伸治）created "Season" and he's also on board for "Long Season". When I wrote up about "Season" on Thursday, I mentioned that his lyrics were relating a romantic spree during the summer in Tokyo, and naturally I had assumed that "Long Season" was an epically extended version which might provide further "details" on the love affair.

"Long Season" is actually considered to be an album with one track separated into five segments melding into each other over 35 minutes. But instead of this affair being further opened up to listeners, my overall impression just listening to it in its entirety twice is that the album is more about Fishmans simply exploring the different directions that the original melody could be taken into. Part 1 which is the second-longest section includes a mystical keyboard riff which weaves in and out of the entire album. Perhaps it may be the most grounded and closest part to the original since it thematically feels like how the couple got together in the first place whether it be in the cooler and more mysterious parts of Shibuya. I do have to mention that along with the regular band, there are special guests helping out. Among them, UA, MariMari, Butchi（ブッチー）, Naoko Ohmiya（オオミヤ・ナオコ）and Yoshiko Ohmiya（オオミヤ・ヨシコ）are helping out in the chorus with ASA-CHANG contributing on percussion.

Part 2 at 8:42 has the riff bringing us deeper into the urban wonderland as the melody trips the light fantastic into a new direction. There is something rather psychedelic (especially with the haunting scatting) about this part although somehow the riff continues to guide us through. Part 3 at 14:06 provides a bit of a breather as the first half or so consists of a "calm blue ocean" of glops of water hitting a pool from a faucet with distant eerie sounds echoing; all that before the percussion tide rolls in and makes us wonder where we've ended up. Toto, I've a feeling we're not in "Season" anymore!

At 20:39, Part 4 begins with a subdued alternative rock treatment of the original melody in comparison with the alternative pop feeling of "Season", and Sato's repeated scatting feels like something from the mouth of a vocalist for a 60s band. Not sure if that is Sato or UA singing out "yume no naka"（夢の中...inside a dream） over and over. The final Part 5 at 25:26 is the longest at under ten minutes with the guiding keyboard riff from Part 1 returning and sticking around all by its lonesome for several seconds as a "palate-cleanser" before Sato brings another familiar rhythm, some clear vocals and dub. HONZI even introduces a violin for a little progressiveness and other instruments including an accordion come together to rather hint that we're now in the epilogue. It all ends with a soft landing.

Not being a rock expert in the least, I have a feeling that listening to "Long Season" multiple times would be needed to gain further insight. The video has been up for several years so I'm sure that rock fans probably have deeper feelings about it. At first, when I saw the structure of the song, I had first thought about Holst's "The Planets" but then realized after listening that maybe there is more of a jazz approach in terms of the improvisational feeling. In any case, I invite your own comments.

To finish up, I have this translated quote from Masahiko Maeda（前田昌彦）, a journalist for the Japanese music magazine "BUZZ" who gave his own assessment of "Long Season", which hit No. 100 on Oricon:

A monumental work in which experimentation, the everyday, majestic beauty and trivial cuteness all crystallize effortlessly into one.