Miki Nakatani/Tomoyo Harada -- Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi（夏に恋する女たち)

 

Welcome to another Hump Day on KKP. Readers might be feeling a tad worn out by this point, so perhaps one of the tunes put up today may apply some aural salve to your ears.

Generally speaking for me, covers of songs have been fine but they rarely outdo the originals. I think that would also apply to Miki Nakatani's（中谷美紀）version of "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi"（The Women Who Love In Summer), a cover of singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）original from her October 1983 album "Signifie". As I mentioned in the article for the album many years ago, there was a grand Gallic flair with this summery pop song as if these women in the title were having the time of their lives in the south of France.

Nakatani's version can be found in her 1999 album "Shiseikatsu"（私生活...Private Life） with original arranger Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, fellow technopop composer Kazuhiko Maeda（前田和彦）and Hidekazu Hoshino（星野英和）helping out on this new arrangement. This new take on "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi" goes slightly further into the technopop with enhanced loopiness and a faster tempo. Maybe the protagonists here are female holograms.

Interestingly enough, I only found out by scrolling through the J-Wiki article for "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi" earlier today that there was another cover done much later by Tomoyo Harada（原田知世）for her May 2016 album of covers, "Ren'ai Shosetsu 2 -- Wakaba no Koro"（恋愛小説2 -若葉のころ...Novels of Love 2 -- During Our Salad Days）. And this time, the cover version goes into the other direction...that is, without any synthesizers or other overtly blippy electronic equipment involved and brings in the tenderhearted strings for a much slower and contemplative Fashion Music take. Guitarist and music producer Goro Ito（伊藤ゴロー）arranged things here.

Kazuhiko Maeda -- Floating Fleeting

 

It was a little over a year ago that I first came across a couple of tracks by musician Kazuhiko Maeda（前田和彦）on his 1997 album "epitone". There was the playful toy march of the title track and then the Latin Shibuya-kei of "Hey, Evelyn" layered over the bloops and bleeps.

Now, here is "Floating Feeling", another track that incorporates a funky rhythm and frosts it with some jazzy sophistication. It's unfortunately the shortest track that I've heard so far on "epitone" at only two minutes and thirty-six seconds but it makes for a nice time on the town, albeit through a busy sheet metal factory. And to be honest, this could be one of my shortest articles on KKP.

EVISBEATS feat. Kazuhiko Maeda -- Cherry Blossom

 

I have to ask this to fellow Canadians reading this, but did any of you partake in Lowney's Cherry Blossom? If I remember correctly, they came in these individual yellow boxes in the supermarkets or convenience stores here when I was a kid. They were basically stout milk chocolate domes containing extremely sweet cherry syrup surrounding one maraschino cherry. Indeed, they were tasty but out of medical necessity, they weren't treats that should have been eaten frequently lest the spectre of Type II diabetes snuck up on one.

Amazon.com

Yup, that's what they looked like although the above is an updated version compared to the old boxes. Ah, by the way, if you do have one, you may want to consider some strong coffee or tea to down it with. Then, perhaps head to the washroom to brush your teeth.

This "Cherry Blossom" is no less sweet but it's a whole lot healthier for mind and body since no calories or high sugar content is involved. "Cherry Blossom" is a January 2021 digital single provided by MC and trackmaker EVISBEATS from Nara Prefecture. He also goes by the name of Amida（アミダ）but when he's in trackmaking mode, EVISBEATS is just fine. His real name is Akira Yoshimura（吉村章）, though.

EVISBEATS and technopop musician Kazuhiko Maeda（前田和彦）got together to create the smooth-as-melted chocolate "Cherry Blossom". When I was writing up the article on Maeda's "Hey, Evelyn" several days ago, I noticed the recommendation of "Cherry Blossom" off to the side on YouTube and also noticing the old-timey cover, I opted to take a chance on it and I haven't regretted it. Both Maeda and EVISBEATS have made something that is not only reminiscent of 1970s Japanese City Pop but also some of jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi's material in the 1970s (I almost expected Charlie Brown to walk into frame). Plus, the overall groove had me thinking Stevie Wonder. Cool and good, indeed.

Kazuhiko Maeda -- Hey, Evelyn

 

It was just last month that I first found out about Kazuhiko Maeda's（前田和彦）supremely contagious "epitone", the title track from his 1997 album. Again, what little I could glean of the songwriter has been placed into that article, but the important thing is that none other than the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, no slouch in the department of technology and music together, was quite enamored with Maeda's album.

"Hey, Evelyn" is another track with another interesting bent in that there is something rather samba and/or Shibuya-kei infused into the song mixed in all with the synthpop. Sweet, upbeat and refreshing like a glass of sangria, I also get the shoutout to The 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" which is one of the first pop songs that I've ever heard. Come to think of it, I already have done a ROY article on that one.

Incidentally, I don't think I've talked to anyone named Evelyn since junior high school days. Wonder what my old classmate is doing these days.

Kazuhiko Maeda -- epitone

 

This YouTube video was uploaded just a few days ago by a fellow named Mind Tinkerer, and usually I don't go straight to writing about a newly uploaded tune because it just seems a little too voraciously forward of me. However, this title track from Kazuhiko Maeda's（前田和彦）April 1997 debut album "epitone" has gotten itself buried so deep into my head that even a Ceti Alpha Eel would probably go "Whoa, dude!". 

Indeed, "epitone" is a really catchy technopop song by Maeda who doesn't have a whole lot written about him, and when I attempted to look him up on J-Wiki, all I got was a scholar in chemistry with exactly the same name. There are a couple of sources including one Japanese blog which noted that the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）had been strongly encouraged by his own senpai to listen to "epitone" after which The Professor was totally floored by the first and title track and then the rest of the album. Ironically, Maeda had once submitted a demo audition to Sakamoto's radio program although he didn't bother listening to that episode because he'd been temporarily disappointed by Sakamoto's 1994 "Sweet Revenge" album and ended up not patronizing the program for much of the late 1990s.

The crazy thing is that "epitone" sounds like something that Sakamoto would have made if he were in a really cheerful and whimsical mood. Maeda created a hybrid of a Professorial tune and a glorious toy march with one heck of a beefy percussive rhythm. If "Doctor Who" ever came up with a story where the people of a planet commuted to work in the style of Monty Python's Minister of Silly Walks, then "epitone" is the song that I want played. Then again, though I like Little Big's "Skibidi" song and music video, I have to confess that the video goes quite well with "epitone", too.