Lucky Tapes -- Yureru Dress（揺れるドレス）

 

It's been several months since putting up an article based on a Lucky Tapes song but once again, I'm going very early in their discography. Almost ten years back, to be exact.

I recall back in 2022 posting an article for the Neo-City Pop band's "Friday Night" from their first full album "The Show" from August 2015. Like that song, its track mate "Yureru Dress" (Fluttering Dress) has the funk of a modern city but this time, it's been fortified with some good ol' disco as a couple trip the light fantastic. Fine horn and electric organ solo, to boot. Vocalist Kai Takahashi（高橋海）was responsible for words and music while guitarist Kensuke Takahashi（高橋健介）also helped out on the melody.

Lucky Tapes -- Boogie Nights

 

Not sure where Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico are boogeying it up, but I hope that they are getting some air conditioning in the dance club. It's still plenty steamy in Tokyo these days and I've been hearing a lot of people there via NHK that they are begging for the autumn to come sooner rather than later.

As has been the case with Takao Tajima（田島貴男）and Original Love, vocalist and songwriter Kai Takahashi（高橋海）has also become a solo project when it comes to his Lucky Tapes since last year. Hope he is doing well. But let's go back when Lucky Tapes was a three-piece band. In September 2017, the group released their 2nd EP, "Virtual Gravity", and one track was "Boogie Nights". Written and composed by Takahashi, it has a fair bit of that wacka-wacka 70s R&B and even some of that rock and disco in there. Love the bass and the horns.

Especia -- Danger

 

This will be my final entry for this month; just wanted to bump up the monthly number. I'm still feeling rather ambitious about beating the yearly total we had last year.

It's rather intriguing about the thumbnail for the video above since this had been uploaded back in 2020, and yep, it's by the official Especia channel. That looks like an ideal poster for last year's sci-fi/horror flick "NOPE".

Anyways, I wanted to feature "Danger", Especia's final single from December 2016. Words (all in English) and music were supplied by LUCKY TAPES' Kai Takahashi（高橋海）, and though both aidoru group Especia and LUCKY TAPES have dabbled into the Neo-City Pop, "Danger" is more of a straight bass-driven funk disco number as one of the members sings about salvaging a relationship in a chaotic time although the currently lost lover may be the danger.

Lucky Tapes -- Friday Night

 

As vocalist Kai Takahashi（高橋海）sings: "It's Friday night". Indeed it is, although my Friday nights out are in all likelihood a part of my history now. I really haven't done anything with friends on these evenings in many years. Anyways, I had to stand ready while a contractor was fixing the busted heating in my home.

Moving on, this is "Friday Night" from multigenre Lucky Tapes' first full album "The SHOW" released in August 2015 (got up to No. 68 on Oricon). Written and composed by Takahashi, there is pleasant groove going on here as listeners are encouraged to shake their booty in the dance clubs in the major cities until the sun is up. Can't really do that anymore (I tend to have my mid-digestion nap in my armchair nowadays) but the spirit is always willing. 

Not sure if it will happen but if bands such as King Gnu, YOASOBI and Suchmos can get onto the Kohaku Utagassen, then why not Lucky Tapes someday?

LUCKY TAPES -- Lady Blues（レイディ・ブルース）

 

Commenter Matt K. was kind enough to introduce me to this band called LUCKY TAPES from Kanagawa Prefecture the other day. According to their J-Wiki article, this current trio consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Kai Takahashi（高橋海）, bassist Keity（田口恵人）and guitarist Kensuke Takahashi（高橋健介）got their start in the middle of 2014 and cover pop, rock and R&B.

In 2016, LUCKY TAPES released their 2nd album titled "Cigarette & Alcohol" and one of the tracks is "Lady Blues", a song that quite screams out "Enjoying a Night in Tokyo...Especially Shibuya!". It's got that Neo-City Pop vibe although that horn arrangement reminds me a fair bit of Bobby Caldwell and his classic "What You Won't Do for Love". At the same time, though, I also pick up on a little jazziness and Ego-Wrappin'/Blu-Swing, and even some rock near the end.

Written and composed by vocalist Takahashi, "Lady Blues" is the type of song that you'd like to hear accompanying you while walking up or down Spain-zaka in Shibuya or just anywhere along the main streets in the Teen Mecca of the megalopolis on a Friday night. The music video featuring model Yu Ishizuka（イシヅカユウ）seems to combine a tamer version of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and LUCKY TAPES' pleasant night in an exclusive club. Plus, Ishizuka's partner looks a bit like a younger adult Haley Joel Osment from "The Sixth Sense".

SHE IS SUMMER -- Ai ni Ikanakucha（会いに行かなくちゃ）

Still have a lot of songs on the backup list, and so I found this one which is rather mindful of the arrival of summer today.

In fact, the name of the act has the word itself incorporated into it. SHE IS SUMMER is a solo project led by singer-songwriter Miko Yakumo（八雲ミコ）or as she is otherwise known, MICO. Born in Kobe in 1992, she began studying piano by herself at the age of 15 and took up songwriting, before giving her first live solo performance the following year. Then she became part of a trio called Phenotas（ふぇのたす）from 2012 to 2015 before starting up the SHE IS SUMMER project in 2016.

From what I've read, her career has delved into technopop, and under SHE IS SUMMER, she's released a couple of singles, a full album and most recently, a mini-album, "hair salon" in August 2018 which includes the song of note today, "Ai ni Ikanakucha" (I have to see you). It's a skippy and mildly funky number about doing the utmost everyday to keep on meeting the person of your dreams. However, in the music video, it looks like MICO is having some problems doing so since she seems to be trapped in the premise of "Groundhog Day".

MICO provided the lyrics while the composer was Kai Takahashi（高橋海）from the band Lucky Tapes.