I took one look at that cover of Kei Ishiguro's（石黒ケイ）1985 album "Mont Saint-Michel no Kodoku"（モン・サン・ミッシェルの孤独...The Solitude of Mont Saint-Michel ）along with the singer's very artistic appearance, and figured that this was going to be a different animal compared to my usual impression of her as a jazzy City Pop singer through songs such as "Hearty" and "Misty Night"（ミスティ・ナイト）. Even the title hints at the Gallic-ness of it all and when it's produced in the mid-1980s, it's just gotta be somewhat avant-garde and/or New Wave.
And yep, the first track on "Mont Saint-Michel", "Ame no Freeway" (Rainy Freeway), strikes me quite different for an Ishiguro song, but not so much that I consider it to be way out from left field. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）, there are the synthesizers and syn-drums that remind me a bit of Asami Kobayashi's（小林麻美）"Ame Oto wa Chopin no Shirabe"（雨音はショパンの調べ）along with the breezy je ne sais quoi arrangement. Still, even with Ishiguro's vocals that hint at a certain feeling of chaise lounge behaviour, I can pick up on some of the old urban contemporary and sophisticated pop.
I really like what ever style of music this is. I am fond of that piano refrain or motif that keeps popping up in the song as it makes this song just feel so dramatic!
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Yes, it's quite the melange of styles, isn't it? I find myself drawn to these hybridized songs.
DeleteI like how the end of many of the verses sound languid and stretched out.
ReplyDeleteHer voice reminds me a little bit of Yukari Ito.
Yeah, it's quite the style for Ishiguro.
ReplyDelete