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 Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Show all posts
I've made my fair share of visits to Harajuku. Takeshita-douri, all those crepe stands, the fashionistas and the bubblegum-coloured stores...it's quite the amusement park. Of course, by entering the area (even back in my old Japan days), I immediately skewed the age line so I can't even imagine what it would feel like going there now.
Speaking of age, it's hard for me to believe that the vivacious Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）is 33 years old now. She has always struck me as someone stuck in her late teens or early twenties, and her overall aura is such that she doesn't even have to physically appear in a music video to make it worthy viewing. Et tu, "DODONPA"（どどんぱ）?
Well, a couple of days ago, her latest single just dropped. Titled "KURU KURU HARAJUKU"(Spinning Harajuku), it's another percolating blippity-bloppity technopop treat from KPP about a Harajuku denizen's dramatic day in her favourite area of Tokyo. And this time, the mesmerizing video has multiple Kyarys of differing sizes bopping about in what looks like a costume of the Michelin Man in battle mode. Maybe the techno trio Perfume is off on indefinite hiatus but producer/songwriter Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）still has plenty of work.
Considering that we seem to be getting our jollies out of putting up those Author's Picks over the past several days, I might as well post something related to parties. After all in North America at least, tonight is the biggest party night of the year. So, let us bring over some song titles with "party" in them.
With Halloween just being a little over a couple of weeks away, I usually think of technopop force of nature Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）and her frilly costumes.
Not sure how she pulls it off, but Kyary and songwriter Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）always manage to make her songs sound 80s and 20s (or 10s) at the same time. The same goes with her October 2022 11th digital single"Isshin Doutai" which, according to Jisho.org, can be defined as "being one in body and soul" and "two hearts beating as one". I can also add "perfectly in synch with each other" like Kirk & Spock and Holmes & Watson.
"Isshin Doutai" has that KPP blippity-bloppity gleaming synthesizer style along with those high-falutin' vocals of hers. In addition, the accompanying music video has her back with the fantasy pastel colours and the distinct choreography. The fun with the mirror is fine but the standout is the lass dancing with the middle-aged fellow as if they were hangers come to life. I'm wondering if the guy is the same one who was the dancing salaryman in the earlier "Jikan ga nai"（時間がない）by Kirinji.
The song was also used as the second of three themes that Kyary provided for the 2022 anime adaptation of the video game "Ninjala"（ニンジャラ）. It was the opening theme from Episode 41 to Episode 112.
Considering all of the recent obituary-style articles that I've been posting over the last several weeks here on KKP for singers and songwriters that have suddenly passed away, it's always nice when I can write on a happy event for those people. On my Twitter feed earlier today, I saw a photo of singer and pop culture icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）all gussied up in a wedding dress alongside a handsome young man, and I had initially pegged it to be some kind of promotion. Well, goofy me...I soon realized that KPP did indeed get married back several months earlier in the spring to actor Shono Hayama（葉山奨之）but apparently the wedding party was only held yesterday on November 27th. There's a link to her Instagram account with the happy couple. My congratulations to the Hayamas and their families.
Well, I was trying to see if I could find something appropriate by her to post in commemoration of this blessed event. At first, I wondered whether I could reach for "Family Party"（ファミリーパーティー）but I'd already written on that several years ago. But then, I found this earlier single titled "Kimi ni 100 Percent".
Written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）as Kyary's 4th single from January 2013, as with "Family Party", "Kimi ni 100 Percent" (100 Percent for You) has a connection with the anime "Crayon-shin"（クレヨンしんちゃん）as a theme song. Appropriately and happily kiddie in tone, it's still about a youngling trying to express those budding feelings of amity or even love for a buddy...most likely the former but I think it can still apply to the now-married Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
"Kimi ni 100 Percent" was part of a double A-side CD single alongside the song "Furisodation"（ふりそでーしょん）. It hit No. 3 on Oricon and went Gold. Incidentally, I can only wonder what a wedding reception for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu would be like. Ah, also let's not mistake the title for a similarly-titled song, "Kimi wa 1000%"（君は1000％）.
Well, Happy Halloween everybody! Wherever the holiday is being celebrated, I hope folks have been enjoying or have enjoyed their apple bobbing, trick or treating and whatnot. As I'm typing this, it's still the afternoon of October 31st so the kids going from house to house is yet to happen but I figure that the show will go on although it'll be a little chilly tonight. Of course, when I think of Halloween, there are the movies "Beetlejuice" and "Ghostbusters", but I also remember the old TV shows "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family".
Ah, as for Halloween J-Pop...I automatically think of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）. With all of the outlandish costumes, she's a natural for Halloween and I did post her 2015 "Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu"（ぱんぷきんの逆襲）a few years ago. Well, I was reading a "Japan Times" article earlier today and the reporter referenced an even earlier Kyary Pamyu Pamyu song that he felt may have helped out in the annual Shibuya Halloween masses (which were supposedly smaller this year due to ward intervention, although watching the YouTube streams haven't convinced me).
I'm talking about KPP's 3rd single, "Fashion Monster", from October 2012. As has been the case all along, Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）took care of words, music and arrangement for a song about being free to express oneself. Translating an excerpt from a 2012 interview shortly before the single's release, the singer and fashion icon talked about the protagonist in the song: "At first, he's seen as a monster feared by everyone, but it's a story about him freely expressing his feelings which leads to him becoming popular".
The music video by Jun Tamukai（田向潤）is a Halloween dream (or nightmare) come true, and it stands out to me for the fact that Kyary was actually cracking a smile back then. Another fun bit of trivia that I got from J-Wiki is that part of the arrangement by Nakata was inspired by Juicy Fruits'"Jenny wa Gokigen Naname"（ジェニーはご機嫌ななめ）from 1980. "Fashion Monster" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon, going Platinum. And in terms of its download rankings on the iTunes Electronica list, it ranked No. 1 in Finland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, No. 2 in Belgium and Thailand, No. 3 in America and Canada, No. 7 in France, and in Japan on the iTunes overall list, it also hit No. 1.
"Fashion Monster" was used as the commercial song for the Japanese discount casual wear designer GU, as well as a jingle for a Nissin yakisoba ad.
Happy Monday! My love for all things "Star Trek" has waned somewhat over the years. Although the pendulum has swung over to television series once more for the long-running sci-fi franchise, most of the shows have left me wanting with only "Strange New Worlds" keeping my attention.
The movie wing of "Star Trek" is currently as dormant as Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan at the end of "Star Trek: Into Darkness" (2013). Only three movies have come out of the Abramsverse "Star Trek", and despite the fact that I've enjoyed the cast such as Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg, the stories for them never really grabbed me. Well, actually the first one in 2009 strangely worked in spite of the plot that could basically be titled "How to Go from Discredited Starfleet Cadet to Starship Captain in 6 Hours!".
Getting back into "Into Darkness", the sophomore entry had pre-Doctor Strange Cumberbatch act the heck out of the movie with his take on the sociopathic genetic superman. He was absolutely magnetic and that was the problem. Everyone and everything else including the Enterprise was pretty much secondary. I could only see Cumberbatch/Khan, so it was ironic that the movie was a shoutout to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" which I think still retains its status as the best "Star Trek" film, some 41 years after its premiere at theatres. I still remember watching that one in Toronto as a high school kid; the cheers and the sobs are still palpable.
Up until recently, if anyone asked me about music connected with the Abramsverse "Star Trek", I would always obviously answer Michael Giacchino who came up with the soundtrack. But then by pure happenstance some months ago, I found out that depending on the nation where "Into Darkness" was playing, the local artists would come up with their own insert songs, and that included Japan.
Well, Japan's contribution here was "Into Darkness" by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, the same musical impresario behind Perfume, capsule and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）. And it is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu who contributed some vocal and vocoder assistance for this technopop tune. Intriguingly enough, if I were to ask anyone in the geinokai to record a song for "Star Trek", it would be KPP. I mean, the lady can have quite the alien appearance whether she hails from Alpha Centauri or Bajor. In addition, the song itself can be something that I could imagine being played in the 23rd century in some Starfleet canteen with Lt. Uhura shimmying away on the floor (not sure whether Spock would join in).
Continuing on with today's Halloween theme, I started thinking about all of those cosplayers out there. I mean, I know that cosplaying has never been restricted to October 31st, but it is on that night that cosplayers can really go full out into the city at large instead of just cosplayer functions such as a ComiCon. Incidentally, yes, that is indeed a lady pretending to be Yuki Mori from the Space Cruiser Yamato. I took the photo at the Tokyo Anime Fair at Tokyo Big Sight back in 2009.
So, I thought what if I could give some tribute to those cosplayers and Halloween in general through my own Author's Picks of songs connected with costumes that I have seen such as the yellow-and-black uniform that I see on the aforementioned young lady above? As for me, I've been in costume but just for Halloween, and one costume that I did wear was the gold uniform for Captain Kirk way back when.
All these years, I've only seen folks in the Yuki Mori uniform, but I have yet to witness anyone in the other male crewmembers' uniforms. I have also never seen anyone dressed as good ol' Captain Okita.
In the few times that I did attend Fan Expo in downtown Toronto last decade, I always saw a Sailor Moon（セーラームーン）and a few of her fellow Sailors traipse about in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In fact, I'd say that it wouldn't be a Fan Expo without Sailor Moon.
I can't be absolutely sure that I actually saw anyone dressed up as Rei Ayanami or Asuka Soryu either in Japan or Toronto, but I believe that it's a given that have been cosplayers who were more than happy to dress up in their getups...and there were folks who were happy to see them dress up in their getups. Just ask Kohei.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）did come to the Art Gallery of Ontario to perform a few nights there, but I never got the opportunity to go. I could probably say that she was the first cosplaying singing star that I ever saw.
This last one here is for the fact that my brother wore a Kamen Rider（仮面ライダー）costume for trick or treat when he was a very small kid back when we were living downtown. He may have scared one resident out of her wits, but she may have had a phobia against insects.
I do remember when that whole thing about working out on a treadmill while just plain working got onto the news and into some offices years ago. Having my side gig as a professional couch potato pretty much nixed any plans for me to try this out (along with the fact that getting a treadmill and the specialized desk was simply out of my budget). Not sure if this has taken permanent hold into the 2020s.
That corporate phenomenon snuck into my head again as I was watching the music video for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）August 2021 digital download single "Genten Kaihi"(Origin Avoidance), especially when the eclectic singer was trying to play that keyboard while on her own treadmill. Words and music were by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, and looking at the translation of the title, I couldn't help but feel that it could have been the name of a secret and sinister operation involving aliens on the old Fox hit "The X-Files".
From what I could understand from the lyrics, it seems like the protagonist is going through some existential crisis without any help from the past or the future. And yet, the present seems to be very malleable and unstable. Still, unlike some of the other Kyary Pamyu Pamyu songs that I've heard in the past, "Genten Kaihi" doesn't have so much of the technopop. I'd say that the melody and arrangement have been brought together as a groovy pop song which is just fine. Keep us on our toes, KPP!
Can't quite believe that we're almost already halfway through June. For that matter, can't quite believe that we're basically done with the first half of 2022.
Mind you, it's also been about nine months since my most recent Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）article. My last two articles on her dealt with tracks from her October 2021 5th original album"Candy Racer"（キャンディーレーサー）. It's usually been the case that the vivacious singer herself has popped up in the music videos which have been very Day-Glo colourful. This time, the streak of interesting videos does continue and apparently KPP is so charismatic that she doesn't even need to show up physically to make a spectacle.
It's just her voice in onomatopoeic scat mode for Track 3"DODONPA" which was written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）. For those old kayo fans, despite the title, the song has nothing to do with that part of 60s kayo, known as dondonpa, which involved a Japanese arrangement of booming Latin rhythms. Instead, it's Kyary coupled with some percussion-heavy technopop and the visual stars are the characters from the alphabet and hiragana. If there are any sleepy heads out there, then this is the video for you.
Finally, for those who want to see the singer in action, though, here you are. "Candy Racer" peaked at No. 22 on Oricon (alas, the video has been taken down, but you can take a look at someone else dancing it up above).
January 27th 2023: It looks Adobe recruited "DODONPA" for a commercial last year although the reactions have been mixed, to say the least. Part of the reason is that it's one of those that always comes in before the video that you want to watch. Yep, I understand the feeling.
Seeing that Halloween is just around the corner, I had been wondering whether I could find a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）song since she did put out "Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu"（ぱんぷきんの逆襲）several years ago. And after all, she is one for the cosplay so I thought she's be perfect for at least that aspect of the spooking holiday.
Alas, I couldn't but I got something even better and catchier from KPP on KKP. She's actually released her 5th studio album today titled "Candy Racer"（キャンディーレーサー）and from it, I was able to find this treat called "Perfect Oneisan".
My previous article for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was for her "Gum Gum Girl"（ガムガムガール）with its dollops of Asian and disco. It is also included alongside "Perfect Oneisan" (Perfect Young Lady) but this particular track here today is influenced more from 80s synthpop and maybe even some Doobie Brothers, and it is also one earworm-y song for a guy like me who grew up to the decade's music. Once again written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, I'm not sure why the second word of that title is spelled oneisan（おねいさん）instead of how it's usually portrayed in romaji, oneesan（おねえさん）, aside from the observation that KPP wanted to put an especially cute spin on the pronunciation, although even its hiragana depiction is also different from the usual writing.
But before we end up getting mired in phonetics and semantics, I have to give Nakata my compliments on that amazing percussion and then the synths in the intro before Kyary's cute-as-hell-as-usual vocals take over. As well, that synth interlude in the middle is soaring good! One other thing is the music video itself which is minimalist and epic at the same time. I've ended up watching the video three times now despite all of that repetitive jumping!
Well, it's been a good long time since I've put up a Kyary Kyary Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）song. I'd say that it's been about 2.5 years and last time it was the Halloween-themed "Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu"（ぱんぷきんの逆襲）.
This time around, there's still a costume party to be had but more along the lines of battle. Initially, I'd thought the video featuring the singer herself in the literal fight of her life was kinda getting into "The Matrix" or "Star Wars". However, "Gum Gum Girl" seems to be about Kyary Pamyu Pamyu embracing her internal Uma Thurman as The Bride from "Kill Bill". Written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, it's the usual bouncy KPP synthpop with an Asian touch in the melody.
In fact, I was wondering whether Nakata was inspired a bit by Boney M or Dschinghis Khan (ジンギスカン) in the arrangements. "Gum Gum Girl" is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu'smost recent digital single released in January 2021.
Indeed, I still remember that Tom Hanks sketch on "Saturday Night Live" where he portrayed the bizarre David S. Pumpkins and improbably immortalized himself as a live-action version of a 2018 meme (namely Markiplier E). His status as a character icon may be guaranteed alongside Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
Yes, realizing that Halloween went away a couple of weeks ago, I still ended up listening to a part of the Halloween 2018 episode on Japan Top 10 today, and discovered Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）song "Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu". It's been translated as "Pumpkin's Counterattack" on Wikipedia and "The Pumpkin Strikes Back" for one YouTube video, but if I had to choose between the two, I would have to opt for that second choice.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's 11th single from September 2015, I should have figured out that the singer would do a Halloween-themed tune like "Crazy Party Night" since she's got the flair for cosplay, and what better holiday is there for cosplayers than on October 31st? The song was written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, and it is chock-filled with the flavour of a Disneyland spectacle and a Danny Elfman score.
Looking at the video, yep, to quote the lyrics from the original "The Addams Family" TV theme song, they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky...but at the same time, the strange characters don't look like bad sorts at all (well, maybe with the exception of that guy in the rocking chair). They wanna party like anyone else. I wonder if they would do private Halloween parties. "Crazy Party Night" peaked at No. 12 on Oricon.
Last Friday, I watched an NHK profile on the essayist and illustrator Rune Naito（内藤ルネ）who had also been known as the pioneer for the whole kawaii aspect of Japanese pop culture. The documentary showed the man in a rather tragic light as he dealt with his homosexuality in a society that at best showed (and often still shows) gay people as comical oddities, while also having to deal with the lessening popularity of his works which had once been the talk of the town as his health started failing. In the years since his death, though, the value and appreciation of his creations such as the Runepanda have grown again.
In one of the videos at the very top, there was a photo of a number of ladies holding some of the art by Naito. One of them was singer/fashion diva Kiriko Takemura（竹村桐子）, aka Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）, and seeing those old drawings of young ladies with those bee-stung lips and bouffant hairdos, I wondered whether Ms. Takemura had modeled her alter ego on them.
I've also come across this music video for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's 9th major single, "Family Party" from June 2014. Sounding like a visit to a very cheerful video game by Atari in the early 1980s and looking like a view of a cute battle between Kyary and a robot on the galaxy's cutest planet (maybe Thor should have ended up there), "Family Party" seems to be about trekking forward despite the challenges ahead. Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）took care of words and music.
To be honest, not being a dedicated KPP fan, I think the author for this blog "Super Happy Awesome" has provided better commentary vis-a-vis "Family Party". The song was also the ending theme for the anime movie "Crayon Shin-chan: Gachinko! Gyakushu no Robo To-chan"（クレヨンしんちゃん ガチンコ!逆襲のロボとーちゃん...Crayon Shin-chan: Intense Battle! Robo Dad Strikes Back）.
I was never particularly a fan of "Crayon Shin-chan" either but I've known about the yam-headed boy with the slight resemblance in personality to Bart Simpson. Reading the plot for this movie, finding out about Shin-chan's father being converted into a robot had me automatically reminded of Bill's conversion into a Cyberman in the last few episodes of the past season of "Doctor Who". However, I've got the feeling that the story in the "Crayon Shin-chan" movie was far less sinister.
Anyways, "Family Party" was one of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's biggest hits by reaching No. 2 on Oricon, and earning the singer an Award of Excellence at the Japan Record Awards. The song also belonged to her third studio album"Pika Pika Fantajin"（ピカピカふぁんたじん...Sparkling Fantasy Person）from July 2014. It hit the top spot on the album charts and went Gold.
When my boyfriend started getting into the alternative idol scene, one of the first groups I remember him showing me was Maison book girl. Before I knew it, I already had several of their songs in my phone in heavy rotation everyday, as I went from home to college and back.
The group, formed in 2014, is composed by 4 girls: Megumi Koshouji, the leader (part of the original formation of BiS - probably the most well-known alternative idol group ever), Aoi Yagawa, Yui Inoue and Rin Wada. Their producer, Kenta Sakurai, is also the composer and arranger of the songs. Their arrangements use similar sets of sounds, which match the overall minimalist image of Bukuga (as they're affectionately known), but the key to their uniqueness is the composition, which gives each tune its flavor.
Bukuga soon became one of my favorite modern idol and J-pop acts, as well as my boyfriend's, and as soon as we knew they were performing in the United Kingdom, we started planning a trip - to Brighton, the first date confirmed and the one more suitable to our schedules. This would be my first time leaving Portugal, my first live idol act, and an unforgettable experience.
Brighton Station
Our schedules left us with only two days to spare for our trip, so we landed in Luton before lunch and grabbed something to eat before heading to Brighton by train (a two-hour trip). We didn't really look up much about the place; we essentially knew it was a beachside destination with a pier. But it proved to be a very interesting and especially lively place, with a big Asian community and an active alternative music scene. The concert we were watching was part of a bigger festival, The Great Escape, with venues all over the city.
After checking into the hotel, we had some spare time. It went by really fast, since among other things, we had to go get our festival wristband and enter in the venue (The Arch nightclub, right in front of the beach) soon enough to catch a good spot.
From @maisonbookgirl on Twitter
We managed to see Maison book girl enter the venue, and we were positively surprised by how cuter they look in person, rather than in the pictures and videos we were used to see. And I got really embarrassed, lol. It's hard to admit, but it was the first time I really got into my head that the idols I see through a phone or computer screen are real people.
We got really nice spots, right at the front, but the venue didn't seem too packed, though I stopped paying attention a while before the live started. There were a few dedicated Japanese fans by our side, but zero wota dances or yells, understandingly. Bukuga's style makes them feel like they're not your usual idol group, but somehow they are.
The live started at 8pm and lasted 30 minutes. Besides the songs featured in their first UK single, bath room and karma (which opened and finished the show, respectively), they featured some other songs, such as lost age (covered by J-Canuck around the time they visited Canada) and faithlessness, the one I started this post with. There were short talk segments, where we heard the girls speak some English, and that allowed them some rest. (Being a person with little physical ability, I admire idols' well-maintained skills to simultaneously dance and sing for long periods of time.) The lightning complemented the experience, making for a great performance.
As for me... I was just there, almost standing still, smiling so much my cheeks hurt, and singing everything I knew by heart. I think that right until the end, I was trying to remind myself that that sight was reality, looking at my boyfriend and watching him enjoy it as much as I was. Until a few weeks ago, I thought seeing idols live was almost like daydreaming, that it wouldn't happen this soon.
I felt like in that venue, we were one of the "elites" that were there for them because we were their longtime fans. And the girls acknowledged that - I know they did.
The following act was Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, so I'm still tagging her in this post. Maybe some people will get mad that we didn't give her as much attention as Bukuga, lol, but we do like her, and we watched some of the concert, but from a further spot. The nightclub was tightly packed after we came back from buying merchandise. She sang her most famous hits, and the public was definitely as "decora" colorful as expected from your usual Kyary fan.
Pamyurin from a distance
Concerning Maison book girl, there were no pictures allowed with the fans. We were saddened, but still greatly satisfied for the amazing performance. But, it didn't end there. I won't disclose what happened since it concerns the girls' privacy. I'll just say destiny gave us two more chance encounters that night, which completed our experience.
One of the views from the pier
We had to leave the following day, but managed to plan things well enough to have some free time. That allowed us to walk by the beautiful Brighton Pier, some of the main streets, and calmly have lunch before heading back to Luton Airport and subsequently to Lisbon.
The blues have been quite tough on me since I boarded the plane home. It's proof that it was an excellent experience, but I'm sure it won't be the last. I became more passionate for Bukuga and modern idols in general than before... Way more. Also, I'll keep an eye wider open to J-pop performances in Europe, which I hope will increase in number in the future.
This was a Maid Cafe in Odaiba that would look ideal for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. However, I was informed that the place has since gone the way of the dodo.
Marcos V. was the one behind all of the Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）articles so far. However, I came across one myself which I'd like to bring into the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" fold, and it's her debut single. So I guess I can say that here is a KPP for KKP (how does a one-handed clap sound?).
Strangely enough, for all of the stunned reaction to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's first entry into music "PONPONPON" and its music video, I didn't particularly leave my room blinking my eyes at warp speed as if I were suffering a Pokemon attack. And perhaps that was because I was rather accustomed to all of the weird Japanese street fashion trends that had come and gone in areas such as Shibuya and Harajuku in Tokyo. Yep, as I was walking through those areas for fun or on my way to work, I've seen quite a bit: loose socks, visual kei, gyaru fashion, yamamba. goth-loli. And about a couple of years or so before I left Japan for good, there was some sort of fashion thing sprouting from Shibuya which involved young women dressed up as if they were Marie Antoinette with their layers of blond hair atop their pates.
In any case, "PONPONPON" and its video were fine but I wasn't particularly stunned at this then-new aspect of Japanese pop culture that possibly had folks in the West going "WTF?!" Released in July 2011, the song was written and composed by songwriter-producer Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, the same fellow behind the Perfume phenomenon.
Not sure how "PONPONPON" did on Oricon but it did hit No. 6 on the Japan Billboard Top Airplay list and No. 9 on Japan Top 100 (Billboard), and a new Japanese star was born.
Whenever I hear about Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who I started hearing about after returning to Canada, I remember that insight that Marcos once stated a few years ago. To paraphrase, a few decades back, Japanese pop music (or a segment of it) was about reaching out to the West but in these times, it's been about the West coming to Japan. And I think KPP is one example of this. The above video, by the way, was uploaded by someone by the name of Momoko and it depicts a flash mob performance of the song in the nation of Mauritius.
Trivia of the day is that the lass has a full version of her name: Caroline Charonplop Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃろらいんちゃろんぷろっぷきゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）! Will wonders never cease?
Recently,
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) released her first best of compilation,
titled “KPP BEST” (May 2016),
featuring all her a-sides, some b-sides, a couple of album tracks and even new
songs. It’s a good collection to see how Yasutaka
Nakata (中田ヤスタカ) managed to put this girl in the
spotlight with his quirky electronic music tricks over five years since her
debut with the magical “Pon Pon Pon”
in 2011. On the other side, it also shows how he kind of lost the magic touch
in her latest singles, which is a pity considering Kyary, alongside BABYMETAL,
is Japan’s most famous act oversea. Let’s see if he’ll be able to create great
songs for Kyary – and even Perfume – again.
“CANDY CANDY”, which was Kyary’s second single, from April
2012, is obviously part of “KPP BEST”.
Not only, it’s a great reminder of how
good Kyary and Nakata’s partnership used to be until around 2014. In fact,
it was with “CANDY CANDY” that Kyary truly won my heart.
Kyary
starts the video running around with a toaste in her mouth, just like a typical anime
character who is late for some important appointment (in Kyary’s case, it’s
a performence in a The Best Ten-like
music show, which is a nice homage to Japan’s classic 80s). Then, at some
point, we meet a masked male dancer
dressed like Kyary who likes to do some break
dance. Finally, there are the great sequences where Kyary dances along the big onion and even shoots it with a pink riflewhile doing a crazy face (all this
in a very pink and fluffy world, of course). Rounding everything, there’s “CANDY
CANDY” playing in the background with its bubblegum-like
synth melody and the repetitive
chorus, which just adds to this kind of psychotic scenario. And I can’t even say it’s Kyary’s most
psychotic video ever.
As a side note, here’s a
good eurodisco song with candy in
the title that don’t have nothing to do with Kyary, but I love it anyway and
wanted to put it here without proper reason. It’s called “Candy Love” (1986) and is sung by Swedish duo Lili & Susie.
Kyary’s “CANDY CANDY” reached #8
on the Oricon charts, selling 16,688
copies. It was later included in her first album, “Pamyu Pamyu Revolution” (ぱみゅぱみゅレボリューション). As always, Nakata was responsible for lyrics, music and arrangement.
When Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) dropped her sophomore album, “Nanda Collection” (なんだこれくしょん), back in June 2013, the first album track that grabbed my attention was “Saigo no Ice Cream”. The song, as the title reveals, talks about one last ice cream and how frustrated Kyary feels after understanding that someone ate her last strawberry-flavored ice cream. This frivolous thematic could probably be a motive to dismiss the song, but when it comes to some J-Pop artists, like Kyary herself or even Morning Musume. (モーニング娘。) in its golden days, silliness is what counts.
Singing about the last ice cream in such dramatic manner, like Kyary does during the chorus, is something only her could pull off that well. If we add the bubbly 80s inspired synth production, courtesy of Yasutaka Nakata (中田ヤスタカ), the song ends being a very pleasurable listen. Although I agree it’s far from being Kyary’s best, “Saigo no Ice Cream” really showcases how Nakata constructs Kyary’s playful and childish world.
“Saigo no Ice Cream” was written, composed and arranged by Yasutaka Nakata. As for the “Nanda Collection” album, it reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 250,490 copies. Also, it ended 2013 as the 19th best selling album of th year.
P.S. For the English translation of "Saigo no Ice Cream's" lyrics, please click here.
Hey guys!
Carnival (Carnaval, in Portuguese) has unofficially started in Brazil and it will get started for real
this weekend. Based on that, I selected three J-Pop songs that are connected to
carnival or, somehow, made me remember of it. Also, this is by no means a very
serious post because I don’t really know a lot of J-Pop songs with carnival as
its main theme. I just wanted to have some fun with the theme and talk about
three songs that I like very much. Also, although I’m not a big carnival fan, I
just wished to pay homage to this very important date in Brazil’s calendar and
one of our most recognizable cultural expressions abroad. Carnival is so
important around here that a famous proverb teaches us that the year in Brazil
just starts for real after carnival. Well, all in all, I just hope you guys
like this short list.
NOTE: Sorry for this, but the full version of "Mi" was up on YouTube until yesterday. As it was blocked and I didn't want to erase it from this short list, I decided to represent "Mi" with the cute commercial that contains a small part of the song. As the commercial features the main part of "Mi", I think it's ok to work with it.
Starting this little
carnival themed post, “Mi” is my chosen song for the third place. Honestly, “Mi”
is not a carnival song, but as I was listening to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s 2013 “Nanda
Collection” (なんだこれくしょん) album a couple of days ago, my father teased me saying how “Mi” reminded
him of Bahia’s (one of the 26 states of Brazil, Bahia is located in the
northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast) carnival songs, which
are called Axé. He made the comparison because of the monosyllabic chorus, the percussion and
the fast-paced Latin sound that “Mi” shares with a good portion of the Axé music
world.
What you guys have seen above is an example of an Axé song with monosyllabic chorus. It was the only example I could remember right now, but there are plenty of songs of this type in the Axé music world. This one is called “Prefixo de Verão” (something like “Summer’s Prefix” or “Prefix of Summer”), which was originally released by Banda Mel in 1990. Although almost laidback and not as frenetic as the majority of the Axé music that became extremely mainstream in Brazil during the 90s, “Prefixo de Verão” is, for me, one of the best examples of the genre, a genre which, unfortunately, became kind of trashy and nonsense when cheap sex innuendos became the norm during the mid 90s. All in all, “Prefixo de Verão” kind of reminds me of a nostalgic sunset, if that makes sense.
Back to “Mi”, I don’t see much resemblance
between it and Axé music, basically because the former is very robotic and
video-game inspired if compared to the latter. Like I said, the only similar
things are the somewhat Latin sound, the party atmosphere, the percussion and the use of a
monosyllabic chorus (a common element in Axé music). My father was probably
just teasing me like he always does when I’m listening to J-Pop. Nevertheless,
the episode was kind of funny and, as I was already working on this post, I
decided to share it here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J-Canuck had
already talked about “Mi Amore [Meu amor é…]”, Akina Nakamori’s 11th
single, here, but it also ended being my second favorite carnival inspired
J-Pop song. Although Latin in essence, the single cut of “Mi Amore [Meu amor
é…]” is more 80s J-Pop than carnival in the arrangement department, but that’s
not a bad thing at all. The special album version, on the other hand, is arranged
in a very Brazilian way during the beginning, and that’s why I was very happy
to find it on YouTube.
When the song
begins, I almost feel as if Akina was singing in the middle of a roda de samba (dance circle) while the sambistas kept moving on with the song.
After the 1:35 mark, the bass comes along segued by a Latin, but not
specifically Brazilian, piano before the song enters in its full arrangement
form. When this happens, it resembles the single version, but it’s nice to have
two different takes on this song at once.
As always,
Akina sings “Mi Amore [Meu amor é…]” with deep and strong vocals while the
lyrics talks about carnival in Rio de Janeiro and, of course, falling in love during carnival. Also, “Mi
Amore [Meu amor é]”, which came out as a single in March 1985, was released at
a time Akina was maturing as a singer and leaving the whole aidoru aesthetics behind. Based on that,
the latter half of the 80s would see a sexy and dark Akina instead of the cute aidoru who sang about some audacious
themes like in “Shoujo A” (少女A).
The interesting samba inspired special version of Mi
Amore “[Meu amor é…]” can be found in the “D404Me” album, which was released in
August 1985.
1) Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) -- Dance with me...Saigo no rakuen (Dance with me…最後の楽園)
On top of my list, here’s another Megumi Hayashibara gem. “Dance with me…Saigo no rakuen”, a song from her 1994 fifth album “SpHERE”, is not a direct Carnival song, but it talks about Rio de Janeiro in a cool way with a Latin arrangement in the background. The lyrics, for example, pays homage to interesting local terms like “Carioca’s summer” (karioka samaa), an expression that means Rio de Janeiro’s summer, and pinga, which means cachaça, a traditional Brazilian alcoholic beverage. The arrangement,
besides some synths and piano, is built around a steady dance beat with someone
playing cuíca, a very traditional
instrument used in samba and in
carnival songs, in the background. Also, the lyrics describe Rio de Janeiro in
a very positive way, making us believe that the city is just full of joy and
it’s like a real paradise (the line atsui
natsu no yoru paradaisu is just great to define how the song describes
Rio). With that in mind, let’s not talk abour Rio's reality, because it could kill the
carnival/festive mood of “Dance with me…Saigo no rakuen”. As for
Megumi, she sounds sexy and does a great job with this song. Taking in
consideration I’m a big fan of Megumi’s vocals, one can tell that I’m kind of
biased stating that, but I really think her unique vocals did justice to this
song. Now, I just wonder if Megumi ever came to Rio…
I like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) very much. The main
reason is that she is produced by Yasutaka Nakata (中田ヤスタカ), the man behind the Technopop
aidoru group Perfume. Her songs are
not for everyone, though. In general, they are hyper sugary pop tunes with some
very catchy hooks splashed through them, which can make you feel saturated and
confused very quickly. Her voice doesn’t help either, so be prepared if you try
out her discography someday. Other than that, if you want to try something
different, give her a chance. She might surprise you in a positive way.
As for “Ninjya Re Bang Bang” (にんじゃりばんばん), it’s cute and
catchy, but not nearly as saccharine cute as her entire first full length album,
“Pamyu Pamyu Revolution” (ぱみゅぱみゅレボリューション), released in May 2012. With “Ninjya Re Bang Bang”, her
5th single, Kyary (and Nakata) invites the listener to feudal Japan
with very stereotypical sounds and melodies that resembles traditional Japan.
The concept, focused around Ninjas, is there to contribute to this feeling as
well. But like every other inspired Nakata song, “Ninjya Re Bang Bang” is full
of interesting twists as it mixes traditional elements with 8-bit video-game
blips, making this a very interesting song. It also features some random sounds
of Ninja swords which is cool too.
The catchiness of the chorus is just absurd,
but my favorite part of the song is probably the bridge, when the chorus main
hook is played by a fake flute (probably a synth as Nakata rarely uses real
instruments in his music). This moment, for me, is pure gold. It could be a bit
longer though.
And here's Kyary having fun with the SMAP guys while singing "Ninjya Re Bang Bang" and "Invader Invader" (インベーダーインベーダー), her alien song. I don't know if this video will be up for very long, but I enjoyed it. And sorry for the quality, it's kinda bad.(Nov. 28 2013: Unfortunately, the video has been taken down from YouTube, but I've managed to put in another video of the song.--J-Canuck)
“Ninjya Re Bang Bang” was released in March
2013 and reached #3 on the weekly Oricon chart. It’sKyary’s best selling
single to date, with 51,218 copies sold (source: generasia). It was also included in her second full lenght album, “Nanda
Collection” (なんだこれくしょん), released in June 2013. Lyrics, music and arrangement were made by
Yasutaka Nakata.
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