Happy cooler Monday! I'm also a little less cranky because I have discovered another intriguing singer-songwriter from way back with a pretty cool song.
There's not a lot of information on Kimiko "Kiiko" Shiba（芝紀美子）but from what I could gather on Amazon and OK Music, she was representative of the underground music scene in the 1970s alongside other singers including Yoshiko Sai（佐井好子）, Hako Yamasaki（山崎ハコ）and Douji Morita（森田童子）. She made her debut in October 1975 with the album "Shikomegari"（醜女狩り...Ugly Woman Hunting） which has a blend of kayo kyoku, blues, folk and soul.
Starting the album is "Nagarete Ikitai" (I Want to Go With the Flow) which was written by Toshimitsu Saishu（さいしゅとしみつ）, composed by Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）and arranged by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）. I was immediately entranced by Shiba's rich chocolate-y vocals (kinda reminiscent of Akiko Wada) and that arrangement of piano and strings. That combination has often transported me to other lands such as Europe, and perhaps that was the same for the listeners in Japan when they picked up "Shikomegari". As such, I am just as willing to classify it as Fashion Music as I am willing to give it the New Music label.
Apparently, Shiba released one more album after which she disappeared from view.
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