Sotaisei Riron -- Moonlight Ginga（ムーンライト銀河）

 

Well, within a few hours, I had to deal with a couple of abode-related matters that added a little more stress than I needed. They've now been handled but I had to decompress for a little while. Not totally back to normal but at least I can get back to blogging.

I did find something that was spacey and relaxing through pop band Sotaisei Riron（相対性理論）with singer-songwriter Etsuko Yakushimaru（やくしまるえつこ）at the mike. "Moonlight Ginga" (Moonlight Galaxy) is the final track on the band's 3rd original album "Synchroniciteen"（シンクロニシティーン） released in April 2010, and this was written by Yakushimaru under her songwriting moniker of Tica Alpha（ティカ・α） and written/composed by guitarist Seiichi Nagai（永井聖一）. 

"Moonlight Ginga" stresses a bit more on the pop side rather than the techno, and I think that this arrangement is more appropriate because it's all about a couple enjoying the wonders of the overnight hours while driving and walking around. There's really no need for the usual bleeps and bloops here, and Yakushimaru's floaty and whispery vocals work pleasantly with the setting of beyond midnight. As for the album, "Synchroniciteen" hit No. 3 on Oricon.

Sotaisei Riron -- Tamatama New Town（たまたまニュータウン）

Decades ago, when Japan was undergoing its Economic Miracle, one of its effects was a push of residency away from the main city into the suburbs, or as we affectionately call them now, the boonies. And back then, these new bedroom towns surrounding train/subway stations were being given the name "New Town". So there were suburban communities filled with concrete danchi apartment buildings and infrastructure with names such as Chiba New Town and Tama New Town.

Nowadays, these hubs seem to be still cropping up like mushrooms although without the dated name of New Town. One such neighbourhood is where my good friend and his family currently live, Musashi-Kosugi, just west of Tokyo, and it's no longer just concrete towers but towers of that, and glass & steel, supplemented with stylish stores, restaurants and other accouterments to make for some comfortable (if somewhat expensive) living. I even saw Musashi-Kosugi get its due on a regular NHK show a few weeks ago.

The above preamble ramble was to help introduce this nifty and slightly techno-rock tune with some spacey U2 edge (no pun intended). This is "Tamatama New Town" which is a riff on that aforementioned Tama New Town but can also be translated as "Occasionally New Town". Sotaisei Riron（相対性理論...Theory of Relativity）is the band behind this song and the album it came from, "Town Age" from July 2013.

"Tamatama New Town" was written and composed by Tica Alpha（ティカ・α）who is also Sotaisei Riron vocalist Etsuko Yakushimaru（やくしまるえつこ）. Yakushimaru was someone that I first heard about through her anison contributions, including "X-Jigen e Yokoso"（Ｘ次元へようこそ）, the ending theme for the popular "Space Dandy". Knowing her voice quite well now after multiple listenings to "X-Jigen e Yokoso", her quiet and steady delivery against all of that sonic wave makes for a strangely soothing contrast. The one heard here is an extended version since the original take is only 3 minutes-and-change long with the last half of this version filled with a guitar solo.