City Music Tokyo: Junction

 

Over the past several months, I've been fortunate enough to discover some new faces in Japanese music doing an eclectic mix of genres. Two of them are shamisen-wielding CHiLi GiRL and smooth/jazzy Souki Urakami（浦上想起）. Although Urakami is someone that I found out about through my YouTube browsings, CHiLi GiRL is an artist that was revealed to me via a compilation album, "City Music Tokyo: Interchange", concocted last year by Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）, the leader of the band Ryusenkei（流線形）, although Urakami and his song that I wrote about actually leads off "Interchange".

Well, through the kindness of fellow KKP contributor and friend JTM, I was recently given a copy of the first in the "City Music Tokyo" series: "Junction" which came out in August 2022. Now, I received the digital copy of the album but apparently the CD version has four more tracks that you can see at this website. I've been able to listen to "Junction" at least once and a few of the tracks a couple of times. Takiguchi has brought together a mélange of songs which aren't just representative of Neo-City Pop but also of pure soul and funk and jazz in Japan over the past twenty years. There are even a few more tracks that I've already spoken about here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus": microstar's "Yuugure Girl"（夕暮れガール）, Apple Pye's "Coconut Holiday" and "Koi no Last Number"（恋のラスト・ナンバー）by Ryusenkei themselves.

But let's see if we can go through at least a few more tracks on "Junction" today. Launching the album off is GUIRO's "Abbau". I had to search a little to find out some information on this Nagoya-based band that has been led by vocalist Kazumasa or Kazunobu Takakura（髙倉一修）since 1997. They did release one album called "Album" in 2007 before taking a breather in 2009 and then coming back to the scene in 2016 with only Takakura and support members. 

"Abbau" was the new single coming out in December 2016, and there is something in Takakura and company's delivery that reminded me of late 70s groups PAO and So Nice. Indeed, the innocent vocals and the arrangement aren't totally in synch but strangely enough, I think that adds to the live-house charm and feeling of a band which may not be production-smooth but are filled with "I wanna perform!" chutzpah. Some very pleasant Steely Dan vibes and eclectic strings.

Minuano consists of percussionist Takeru Ogata（尾方伯郎）and vocalist Kaori Sakakibara（榊原香保里）from the band Lamp. They've been around since 2009 and according to their J-Wiki profile, they've focused on genres such as City Pop, jazz, soft rock and Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) or Brazil's take on fusion. Their contribution to "Junction" is "Owari no nai Kisetsu"（終わりのない季節...Endless Season） which was Minuano's own single released in 2022 and it seems to incorporate all of those genres that I've just stated. Sakakibara's vocals are appealingly whispery and kittenish. My brain is filled with 1970s and 2020s as I listen to this one.

There is currently a young singer-songwriter known as ao and I'd initially assumed that it was her behind her contribution to "Junction", but it's actually a duo from the 2000s with the same name after punching the name and the song "Kimi wa Hitokuse"（君はひとくせ...You Are a Distraction） into the search engine. The pair is singer-songwriter Tsutomu Kimata（木全務）and vocalist Yukari Yamazaki（山崎ゆかり）from Kuuki Koudan（空気公団）which I wrote about only recently. In 2005, ao released the album "Kimi wa Hitokuse" and the title track is groovy and 70s but it also has the sensation of Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）and even the works of the more recent duo Blue Peppers. 

The last song that I'll present here from "Junction" today is singer-songwriter UKO's "Time Traveler" which isn't exactly a ride on the TARDIS. It's much more relaxing than that with a soulful vibe from yesteryear and some mighty keyboard arpeggios. Some of the keyboard work almost takes "Time Traveler" into technopop territory but it's still more of a groovy Neo-City Pop romp which was originally on the singer's "Saturday Boogie Holiday" album from 2016. UKO herself made her debut with the 2014 "Signal" but from 2021, she began a new solo project under the name of NEMNE.

Of course, there are a few more tracks to go over but perhaps I'll do those individually. If you'd like to hear some of the excerpts from the album, check out Apple.