I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Showing posts with label Botanical na Kurashi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Botanical na Kurashi. Show all posts
The photo above shows a restaurant that I used to frequent right around Nihombashi Station in Tokyo. Com Pho was not a big place but it looked plenty modern inside and I could just throw some bills or coins into a machine to get my ticket to get my tasty bowl of Vietnamese pho with meat and other goodies. I wonder if it's still there.
In late November, I posted an article regarding the band Botanical na Kurashi.（ボタニカルな暮らし。）and their "City Girl". Well, here I am again to provide a more recent example of their lovely Neo-City Pop on the night streets of Tokyo, "Bubble". With lyrics by singer Siyo and music by bassist Kent, it's a short and sweet tune released in July 2024 as their 13th single about a lass in the big city and her bubble-blowing. I have to admit that this is probably the first time I've ever come across a metropolitan number about one of my old hobbies as a kid but it's also quite a cool tune with a hint of Steely Dan.
Well, in the last several hours since I first brought up the topic here, I've been able to talk with someone about my new modem issues and tomorrow, a technician will be popping by to resolve things. My upper torso muscles seemed to deflate with some relief.
Once again, I've encountered another Japanese pop group of the 21st century with an intriguing name. According to their website, Botanical na Kurashi.（ボタニカルな暮らし。）was dubbed as such because of a caption with that name given to a photograph of a large donburi at Kichijoji Donburi（吉祥寺どんぶり）, a restaurant that the members used to frequent often. From such gastronomic beginnings, Botanical na Kurashi. has released 14 singles and consists of smoky-voiced singer Siyo, leader/bassist Kent Mitani（三谷乾仁）, drummer Kazune Nakanishi（中西和音）, saxophonist Harumaki（はるまき）and guitarist Tomokazu Tanizawa（谷澤友和）.
I'm not sure what their range of genres is, but their 5th single from 2022, "City Girl" (by Siyo, Kent and Ryo) has that feeling of glorious nocturnal Neo-City Pop and the music video of that young lady tripping the light fantastic rather reflects that. I had assumed that it was Siyo dancing about Tokyo but it's actually Mana Watanabe (sorry, no idea who that is). The keyboards and guitar have that certain sound of the metropolis of the 21st century but Harumaki and any fellow horns kinda bring back memories of Steely Dan. The combined sound makes it pretty tempting to truly traipse around Shibuya, Shinjuku and Omotesando.
Perhaps their further message on the website is quite archaic now but it reads that leader Mitani's dream is to get Kichijoji Donburi reopened again after closing down. Maybe it was the pandemic but indeed, it would be nice to get Botakura to get the inspiration for their name back up and running and serving those scrumptious beef bowls once again.
The final video here is six years old but this is what Kichijoji Donburi was serving up. Man, the band loved their protein and carbs!
