Tomita Lab feat. Hirokuni Tanaka of MAMALAID RAG -- Atatakai Ame（アタタカイ雨）

 

There's nothing like a Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）arrangement to soothe listeners and let them know that all can be right with the world...that is, as long as the song is playing at least.

I received those cool and warm and fuzzy feelings while listening to "Atatakai Ame" (A Warm Rain) which is a track from his February 2006 album "Shiplaunching", something that I posted about several years ago, but apparently didn't bother putting down the year of release aside from Labels. Bad, J-Canuck, bad!

Composed by Tomita Lab and written by the late Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）, who also has his own vocal contribution to "Shiplaunching", that familiar chorus and the strings bring the present and the past in equal measure while Hirokuni Tanaka（田中拡邦）of the band MAMALAID RAG croons comfortably. It almost makes one want to sit outside at a cafe while the rain is coming down...almost. Can't get much smoother than this one.

MAMALAID RAG -- Kanojo no Tapestry （彼女のタペストリー)

 

Nope, the above is not a tapestry but an ornate fusuma at Kawagoe Castle in Saitama Prefecture. But I'm glad to finally give it its due up here.

Well, anyways, I tried to put up something widespread and artistic since I had intended to post this lovely song "Kanojo no Tapestry" (Her Tapestry/My Girlfriend's Tapestry) by the band MAMALAID RAG. This track from the band's self-titled debut album from September 2002 was written and composed by vocalist/guitarist Hirokuni Tanaka（田中拡邦）and it sure seems evident that Tanaka really likes his bossa nova. There's something there that reminds me of those 1960s in Brazil and perhaps even the great Jobim would be snapping his fingers here. No, it's not City Pop since this is Urban Contemporary Friday but heck, this is darn groovy and refined enough for me. By the way, I posted an article on the song's track mate, "Café Terrace"（カフェテラス）more than a couple of years ago.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: MAMALAID RAG -- Café Terrace（カフェテラス）

 

Number: 021

Lyricist/Composer/Arranger: Hirokuni Tanaka

From MAMALAID RAG's 2002 album: "Mamalaid Rag"

Bringing in the feeling spanning between his "Velvet Hotel" and "Ki no Ha no Sketch"（木の葉のスケッチ...Leaf Sketch）, "Café Terrace" is a number rich in the flavour of Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）. However, the appeal of MAMALAID RAG is that it leaves a refreshing impression, far from being sarcastic at all. This is a song that I recommend in the sense that one can wholeheartedly experience Hirokuni Tanaka's（田中拡邦）vocals which have a quality that perfectly emulates Ohtaki's distinct ability to vibrate his vocal cords.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

MAMALAID RAG -- Café Terrace（カフェテラス）

 

I found this song in the "Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100" section of the 2020 edition of "Japanese City Pop" earlier today as No. 21 in the series, so this will be covered in a few weeks as a "Yutaka Kimura Speaks" entry.

The rock band MAMALAID RAG is known to me but only because of a collaboration with producer Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）that I have yet to cover and it should be something to cover therefore in the near future. Regardless, although the band as it is known now is a solo project consisting of just vocalist and guitarist Hirokuni Tanaka（田中拡邦）, when it first began in 2002, there were bassist Naoki Eguchi（江口直樹）and drummer Junichiro Yamada（山田潤一郎）who left the band in 2006 and 2002 respectively. Drummer Hiroo Toyoda（豊田大雄）took over from Yamada although it was just for 2003.

What was given the No. 21 ranking by Kimura was "Café Terrace" which was written and composed by Tanaka as a track for their first full album "MAMALAID RAG" in September 2002 following an initial mini-album released in March that year. The band in its early years was considered to be the contemporary version of the legendary Happy End（はっぴいえんど）from the early 1970s but I think that at least with the soothing "Cafe Terrace" (there's even a clarinet in there), it reminded me more of Sugar Babe（シュガーベイブ）in terms of the overall delivery...felt like being transported to the mid-1970s, in fact. However, I can agree with the J-Wiki description that Tanaka's vocal style is reminiscent of Happy End's Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）to a certain degree, and apparently Tanaka himself agrees with the assessment, too.