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 Minami Kitasono. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minami Kitasono. Show all posts
I've written about singer-songwriter Minami Kitasono（北園みなみ）a handful of times already on the blog, and I've enjoyed his works because of his style of bringing together a number of styles whether it be City Pop, Shibuya-kei and even Fashion Music. It's his own style since like a really desperate and fidgety little mouse, I can't manage to hold it down to one category. But that has been a good thing and it's been enough for me to get his 2014 album"Promenade" . The last time I wrote about him was back around Xmas 2020 for his "Hisan na Christmas"（ひさんなクリスマス）.
Little did I know that Minami Kitasono was a stage name for Kentaro Ohsawa（大沢建太郎）. During his time in the 2010s coming up with his own eclectic discography as Kitasono, he had a brief dalliance with Yosuke Kurosawa（黒澤鷹輔）and Nozomu Sato（佐藤望）of the duo caméra-stylo（カメラ＝万年筆）within a trio called Orangeade. The band lasted under that name from early 2018 to late 2019 after which it changed its name to conte with a new musical style.
During its Orangeade phase, Ohsawa and company released four singles. The first from February 2018 was a self-titled one that was only available online and at concerts, but the following has been considered to be their bona fide first one called "Watashi wo Hanasanaide" (Never Let Me Go) from later that September. It's an interesting title since Ohsawa/Kitasono released a December 2015 mini-album called "Never Let Me Go" although there was no title track.
Written and composed by Ohsawa, "Watashi wo Hanasanaide" is a smooth and happy-go-lucky tune with a certain UK 1960s pop feeling. I could almost say that it's like a Flipper's Guitar ditty without the overt Shibuya-kei influences. The site Spincoaster has even compared the group's work to that of Sugar Babe（シュガー・ベイブ）, Kirinji（キリンジ）and Happy End（はっぴいえんど）. Fine company, indeed.
Gotta admit that the first time that I listened to this one, I was left scratching my head a little.
I've already given my two pennies on Minami Kitasono（北園みなみ）as a cool singer-songwriter for a mix-and-mingle of groovy beats and jazz which sparked me to get his 2014 mini-album"Promenade".
"Hisan na Christmas" (One Miserable Christmas) is a track from his December 2015 mini-album "Never Let Me Go", and it's certainly got that whirlwind of styles in there as usual, but initially, when I gave this a go, I kinda thought whether Kitasono had a little too much rum in his egg nog when coming up with this one. It's got the jazz and groove plus a recurring theme of what sounds like a Xmas toy soldier march while the lyrics seem to cover a tragicomic romance gone awry during the Holidays, which is a popular theme for J-Xmas songs.
However, it's been like that first dip into a steamy hot spring in Kusatsu. That first time is gonna ring all sorts of alarm bells through your nervous system because of the temperature but once your body gets used to things, it's not too bad at all and you can soak to your heart's content (although you may want to pay attention to your actual heart when entering waters that hot). "Hisan na Christmas" gets better thanks to the groove once you get used to the ups and downs and sudden gear shifts. Hopefully, the fellow in the song has found some similar resolutions.
Singer-songwriter Mia Inoue（井上水晶）is another recent discovery. I've put her in the same lovely company as microstar, Blue Peppers（ブルー・ペパーズ）, and Minami Kitasono（北園みなみ）as an artist of this current decade who's into some classy and mellow pop. According to her brief bio underneath the above video from her own YouTube account, she hails from Fukuoka although between the ages of 11 and 14, she lived in Beijing. From the age of 16, she set out on the path to become a singer-songwriter.
According to that same bio, she came out with her 5th concept album"Interpretation" in October 2013, and one of the songs (short excerpt only) that I've indicated in the above video is "Koi no Owari"(End of Love), a piano-led tune that is pretty darn happy when considering the title.
But then it was the self-cover of "Koi no Owari" that I first discovered, and I couldn't be sure but I think this was recorded in 2014. The song has been given a flavour boost of sorts thanks to the arrangement by aforementioned Minami Kitasono. Still happy but with some more enhanced perky hooks and backup chorus, perhaps with a hint of Doobie Bounce (?).
Would love to know how to get the physical album for this one by Inoue.
So intrigued I was with singer-songwriter Minami Kitasono's（北園みなみ）song "Zakuro"（ざくろ...Pomegranate）and one of his later contributions to the J-Pop world that I ended up getting his 2014 debut album"Promenade". However, to be specific, though, this is actually a mini-album of 5 songs, and his album history has kept things to that number for each of his other releases: "Lumiere" (July 2015) and "Never Let Me Go" (December 2015).
As much as I am aware of the conventional sci-fi of "Star Trek", "Star Wars" and even "Doctor Who", the concept of alternate universes and realities has also tweaked my attention over the years, and I know that two of the shows above have also explored those possibilities. I guess for me, along with the utopian future, an alternate Earth that has raised my interest is the one that combines the sleek and shiny future with the seeming footloose and fancy-free past of a European city in the early 20th century, perhaps between the two world wars. Perhaps it might be a steampunk reality.
But in any case, when I've listened to the five tracks of "Promenade" including "Zakuro", I've gotten that feeling of that hybrid reality I just mentioned in the previous paragraph, although the illustrations in the album booklet by Hirokazu Matsuda are just of that early 20th-century environment. Maybe the paintings depict a suburb in France or Italy.
Just to let you know right off the top, though, Kitasono took care of the creation, production and performance of the tracks, and a couple of friends/contemporaries from the band Lamp, Yusuke Nagai（永井祐介）and Kaori Sakakibara（榊原香保里）provide backing vocals; the latter even provides instrumental help with her flute.
(excerpts only)
"Soft Pop"（ソフトポップ）is Track 1, and it's a breezy flight of fancy that has struck me as being typical of the Kitasono sound (if there is such a thing): a melange of jazz, Shibuya-kei and urban contemporary against a backdrop of traipsing through that titular promenade in some big city. And I can't help feeling that the jazz here is from Europe thanks to the tootling sax and guitar. Plus, that old-style promenade with folks selling everything from beans to bats probably has old-fashioned dirigibles as well as flying 21st-century cars overhead.
"Denwa Goshi ni"（電話越しに...Over The Phone） goes a bit more down and dirty and funky, especially in the beginning, but then it dips a bit into Steely Dan territory as the protagonist gets a call out of the blue from an old flame after a night of carousing. There's some more synthesizer in here which gave me the initial sensation that "Denwa Goshi ni" was going to be some sort of technopop tune. Love the trumpet by Taichiro Kawasaki.
Then we have "Vitamin" which sounds perfect for a performance in some sort of cool Sunday cafe on one of the myriad side streets in Omotesando or Aoyama. Perhaps we can hear the good music while sitting in the al fresco section of that establishment. I can also pick up on that French jazz. Always fall for a cool brass section.
"Plastic Minyo"（プラスティック民謡）doesn't just get my curiosity up because of that title. I'm not sure whether Kitasono was trying to put his little twist into the ancient Japanese music genre, but his efforts have generated a song that seems to provide chindon'ya accompaniment to a gentle walk along that promenade and then a slightly wild beefy sax-driven ride on a jinrikisha. Now, that's what I could call a great day in Asakusa!
"Promenade" is a short and sweet album at 20 minutes but I think it's just enough to offer a pleasant guided tour through my utopia of future tech and past style. I have my doubts whether Kitasono himself has ever seen "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but if he has, I would venture a question to him: Have you ever thought of doing soundtracks for anime?
P.S. Just to give credit where credit is due, all of the videos were provided by uploader Bootleg_Dankie.
Years ago, one of my more well-to-do students once suggested that all of us try out a restaurant in Ginza for lunch. Of course, valentines immediately popped all around my head at the opportunity, since eating out in one of the world's most expensive neighbourhoods for me usually meant dropping in at places that had golden arches or comments like "Would you like me to microwave that for you, sir?" (yes, those stores do exist in Ginza, too).
From blogs.yahoo.co.jp
The restaurant that my student mentioned is called Zakuro, and I had to look it up to remember what they specialized in. It turns out that they provide lots and lots of beef through the media of sukiyaki, shabu-shabu and just plain steak. Plus I'm sure that the beef has some wonderful marbling. Alas, the wish was never granted for various reasons but perhaps someday I may still try it out on my next visit to Tokyo. Then again, maybe someday I might win Lotto 649 or my credit card company will upgrade me to Platinum status (not likely).
However, I have been able to acquire this "Zakuro" for you tonight. This is actually a track from Minami Kitasono's（北園みなみ）1st album"Promenade"which was released back in October 2014, and much like the other song by him that I've written about, "Yuugiri"（夕霧）, it's a wonderful melange of different musical styles ranging from jazz to something more urban contemporary. Unlike the more detective caper-sounding "Yuugiri", however, "Zakuro" has more of that breezy "Let's take a break at that Parisian cafe" sort of atmosphere.
Once again, though, a "Zakuro" promise was left unfulfilled here, too, since when I wrote up the article for "Yuugiri", I had remarked that I would get at least one of Kitasono's albums by Xmas 2018. Alas, I have yet to pull the trigger but this time, either "Promenade" or his 2nd album"Lumiere" from 2015 is on the must-buy list for later this spring. I mean, two good songs with that feeling of whimsy? Certainly, I can't resist that for long, can I?
Incidentally, zakuro is translated as the fruit pomegranate which I thought was a rather strange name for a high-falutin' steak restaurant. But, hey, as long as the food is good, and I just found out that lunch time isn't too expensive there...at least, for a Ginza restaurant, and the beef isn't chopped up and formed into discs!
Always appreciate those tips from collaborators and commenters. The other day, Matt Gallais was kind enough to introduce me to the band Lamp, then he told me about this musician/singer-songwriter by the name of Minami Kitasono（北園みなみ）.
There's not a lot of insight into what makes the man tick in terms of his music outside some information on J-Wiki that he started getting into classical music from the age of 23 and that he has recently gotten interested in Baroque-age polyphony. But for me, what makes any singer interesting to me is an ability for his music to come from a variety of sources. That has been the case with Kitasono.
His "Yuugiri" (Evening Mist) from his 2nd mini-album"Lumiere" from July 2015 had me thinking everything from French jazz, Shibuya-kei, the music of Jamiroquai, J-soul from the early 2000s to even 1970s City Pop. A bit of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）of the early 1980s even came to mind. All that from one song.
Matt first sent me the link to a digest of his 2014 debut mini-album"Promenade" and was instantly attracted to it. Some very nice appetizers in there. As someone commented on YouTube, though, it would be nice if he made some full albums in the near future.And as I will comment, quoting from the immortal Meme Man, "cool and good". I gather that "Promenade" and even "Lumiere" will go onto my early Xmas list.
