Miho Nakayama -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

 

A couple of days ago, fellow Miho Nakayama fan and KKP contributor Marcos V. was kind enough to inform me of a video on YouTube showing the late singer-actress' final concert recorded last July and released late last November, only several days before her untimely death. It's been up on the platform for about a couple of weeks now and frankly I don't know how long it will stay up before the powers-that-be probably clamp down upon the uploader, so get your views when you can. There's also a disclaimer by the fellow stating that the video will only be available at night. I'm assuming that means Japan Standard Time. As well, there are time stamps on the YouTube page so you can check out your favourite Miporin tunes.

When I got my own copy of Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂）"Blanket Privacy", her 6th compilation album of re-recordings of her ballads, two new tunes and three cover songs from November 1993 years ago, I was surprised that one of those covers was Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）"Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" (Fill The Last Scene With Love). Not to say that doing so was the wrong thing to do by any means; Kurahashi remains one of my favourite singers to this day. It's just that I had never expected a former aidoru-turned-pop singer to cover a tune by another singer whose profile didn't reach anywhere near superstar status (although Ruiko has a very dedicated following including myself). To be honest, the only connection between her and any other singer that I was aware about was through the duet consisting of her and Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）, "Hanrira"（ハンリーラ）back in 1985.

And yet, here Miporin is, covering a Kurahashi Fashion Music classic. The original "Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" has an epic orchestral feeling that makes me feel as if it could be used for an Oscar ceremony "In Memoriam" segment. For Nakayama's cover, the Knock arrangement of Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and Kisaburo Suzuki's（鈴木キサブロー）creation keeps things classy but has more of a contemporary power ballad feeling. Although I think in any emotional tribute video to the singer, a more well-known Miporin ballad will be used, her "Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" could also fit the bill.

From Amazon.ca

Nostalgic New Town -- Mafuyu no Winter Love（真冬のWinterLove）

 

Indeed, welcome to February! And as would be the case here in the Great White North, it's sunny but the temperature is currently a frigid -12 degrees Celsius with a -19-degree wind chill. Seeing the NHK weather caster in Tokyo do a cute shiver and say that the Japanese capital is faced with the deep freeze at +7 degrees C had me sighing. We Torontonians would kill for a +7 right now!

However, the skiers and snowboarders are definitely not crying the blues right now and they're most likely flocking like pigeons to the slopes north of us. There was quite a lot of snow falling in southern Ontario a few nights ago. 

And that of course has reminded me of the connection between J-Pop and skiing. About a month ago, I posted up an Author's Picks regarding the popular ski songs which kinda centered on the ski boom days of the 80s and 90s. Well, relatively recently, a solo act called Nostalgic New Town (with lyricist/composer connie also as the vocalist, I'm assuming) came up with an enthusiastic tune in early 2023 that hearkens back to those lovely ski times and songs.

"Mafuyu no Winter Love" (Mid-winter Winter Love) reflects the nostalgia in Nostalgic New Town as I got reminded of the Queen of Winters, Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）, and even that duet between Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）and Takao Tajima（田島貴男）, "Winter's Tale ~ Fuyu Monogatari"（冬物語）. I can even hear a bit of an Earth Wind & Fire riff in there, too, although that could be heard as an aural version of the snow-dusted winds whipping up on the slopes.

I couldn't find much information on Nostalgic New Town aside from one blurb that's been repeated on other sites. Apparently back in 2022, a Niigata Prefecture metal manufacturing company known as Marudai launched a project called M.CREATE which collaborates with artists of various stripes and genres to create products under the concept of making fantasy into a reality, and Nostalgic New Town has been one of those creations. In the same year, NNT had also released a debut single titled "Seaside Breeze" which I'll have to check out soon enough.