kiki vivi lily × SUKISHA -- Blue in Green

 

Well, at least it's brilliantly sunny out there with the temperatures actually above zero degrees Celsius. Still, snow is everywhere of varying colours and conditions although we are waiting avidly for the arrival of spring.

Today, we're starting the usual Urban Contemporary Friday with something more recent. And this time around, a couple of music makers from other collaborations are being brought here together on KKP for the first time. I first introduced Fukuoka-born singer-songwriter kiki vivi lily last year when she worked with Cosmic Funk duo KAGAMI on the 2025 "Friends". A couple of years ago, I got my first encounter of singer-songwriter and trackmaker Hiroyuki Ikezawa（池澤寛行）, aka SUKISHA, when he was collaborating with jazz and soul guitarist Shingo Sekiguchi（関口シンゴ）on their 2020 "Imaginary Trip". 

Well, if we go back even further, we'll find that kiki vivi lily and SUKISHA worked together as well to provide a song called "Blue in Green" in February 2019. With some of that familiar electric piano groove and the singer's buttery vocals, we get launched into some cool and nocturnal urban adventure (mind you, kiki prefers to stay at home in the dark as shown in the official music video below). I do love that dancing bass and the rest of the beats, although things get a little weird in the last quarter of the song.

SUKISHA feat. Shingo Sekiguchi -- Imaginary Trip

 

I don't particularly want to be stuck in a Tokyo traffic jam but being on that highway above doesn't look too bad with all those skyscrapers on either side of me. By the way, when I was asking the AI art generator this time for a City Pop highway, I also threw in the request of "Syd Mead style" and the above is what I got.

Continuing on with our usual Friday Urban Contemporary session, I have here singer-songwriter Hiroyuki Ikezawa（池澤寛行）with his music project SUKISHA being ably supported by jazz and soul guitarist Shingo Sekiguchi（関口シンゴ）to perform "Imaginary Trip" from his May 2020 EP, "Just Chilling At Home". I have to admit that as soon as I heard the groove, I started shimmying in my chair which is the point of the song. Why pay Air Canada sky-high fares when I can simply put on the headphones and just imagine going anywhere in time and space and simply follow the title of the EP? Maybe it's not the TARDIS but it's still fun getting out there in your mind. Just love the mellow funk imbued in this one.

Apparently the man and the project are the same so I'll just refer to the singer as SUKISHA who hails from Nagano Prefecture. Graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan University's Department of Law in 2012, he opted for a music career the following year. He took on the name SUKISHA（数奇者）which was once defined as a pervert but is now known as a man of refined tastes. Just how the definition got rubber-banded from the former to the latter is boggling my mind right now. Maybe that's how we got the phrase "man of culture".😝 However, according to his website, the previous few lines are a moot point because Ikezawa has defined his project name as merely a "strange person". Up to now, he has put out around thirteen EPs and albums and ten singles, all digital releases, up to 2022.

Just a month following the release of "Just Chilling At Home", SUKISHA even released a version of the EP with his own commentary for each song. So, if you can understand Japanese, you can give the above a listen to get his take on "Imaginary Trip".

Not only can you take an imaginary trip, but the good folks at Luxless Work Out can have you get a workout. No thanks...I'll stick with the original regimen of shimmying in my chair.😁