TENDRE -- Ride

 

As I type this, I'm approaching the noon hour but this is where I will be ending my Urban Contemporary Friday session, now that I've gotten my six articles done in the last twelve hours and will be facing some busy times in the next several hours.

TENDRE is a musical marvel that I've been keeping my eyes on for a while now. I was charmed by his 2017 "crave" for its cool and funky nature. He even came up with the current theme song for the NHK morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）and the only disappointment there is that it's so short. Happily, there is no such thing with the coupling song to his very first digital single "SOFTLY/RIDE" from May 2018. 

Groovalicious is another made-up adjective that I love to apply to TENDRE's stuff and that includes "Ride". I'm happy to finally see the guy in the music video while he is strutting his stuff on those overnight streets (just hope he didn't get mugged). It feels like a ride through the 1970s and 2010s at the same time with all of that smokiness and coolness. I also love the video's use of Monty Python-esque animation. In April 2023, TENDRE provided a slightly more oomphed-up version of "Ride" in his digital EP "Beginning".

TENDRE -- Switch (TV Edit)

 

From NHK

"Asaichi"（あさイチ...Morning Market） is the weekday morning program on NHK appearing right after the daily morning drama serial. It's been broadcasting since about 2010, I believe.

Currently hosted by comedians  Hanamaru-Daikichi Hakata（博多華丸・博多大吉）and NHK announcer Naoko Suzuki（(鈴木奈穂子）, "Asaichi" is devoted to various lifestyle topics and issues along with celebrity interviews. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clips of the hosts themselves bantering but the above is an example of what they cover. 

The show begins in Japan at 8:15 am and usually runs until 9:55 with a 5-minute interlude for a news recap although it sometimes gets truncated during the high school baseball championships or a really rousing round of parliamentary debate (yeah, I'm being sarcastic about the latter). However, my family has been watching it on TV Japan from 1 pm to around 2:35. But as quite a lot of folks know now, TV Japan will be finishing its broadcasting history this coming Sunday to be replaced by the online streaming service Jme as of April 1st. I've been prepping things for the transition but it appears that Jme will be showing "Asaichi" via NHK Premium, the network's live streaming service so we'll be watching the show from 7:15 pm Eastern Daylight Time as of next Monday. Mind you, we'll be getting a little taste of the future tonight since TV Japan will be showing a rare nighttime version of "Asaichi" as a special.

Although it's heard only very briefly at the top of the show, there is a theme song for "Asaichi" created by musician TENDRE (pronounced "tender"). Titled "Switch (TV Edit)", it's barely over two minutes long which is too bad since it is a nice slice of light pop (sprinkled with a bit of bossa in the beginning)  for which I would have enjoyed a longer version, but perhaps the lad just wanted to make an quick and unobtrusive ditty to herald the arrival of the show rather than a full-blown single. "Switch" is available as a track on his 2nd major album "Prismatics" from September 2022.

Tomita Lab feat. TENDRE -- Take That!

 

Considering what I've seen in the lyrics of this song, I couldn't help but think of the BBC/Amazon production of the show "Good Omens" with David Tennant and Michael Sheen. Incidentally, I am looking forward to seeing Tennant as the good Doctor again in a couple of months' time.

It was exactly a month ago that I posted the groovy "Natsu no Ghost"（夏の亡霊）, a collaboration between Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）and Kirinji（キリンジ）as a part of the former's "WORKS BEST 2 〜beautiful songs to remember〜" album which came out a few months ago in June. Well today, I'm including another track here as the Lab's joint production with singer-songwriter TENDRE. 

Having gone through TENDRE's lyrics in "Take That!", I haven't been able to understand them in full clarity but it seems that someone is undergoing an existential crisis which involves a certain dread of the future. As the cute video above makes clear, a devil and an angel are having their battles over and around the poor fellow. Still, Tomita Lab's music is jolly funky as well and it even includes an old-fashioned 1980s orchestra hit. Also, my compliments to the harmonious chorus by Hanah Spring and Meg.

TENDRE -- Imagine

 

Met up with fellow KKP contributor Larry and very long-time friend Danny at a new ramen place called Afuri, and then I had my viewing of "Mission: Impossible ~ Dead Reckoning Part 1" later in the evening. Yeah, it's a winner alright but I had no choice but to race to the washroom at a key scene in the movie due to Emission: Inevitable. Never did that before and I hope to never do that again. Did run like Tom Cruise though.

Just gonna calm down from the excitement of the movie with something nice, light and mellow by singer-songwriter TENDRE. I give you the title track from his first album as a major act, "Imagine" which was released in September 2021. Maybe this could be a form of Neo-City Pop but I can also say that it's some old-time soul peppered with dance beats. Whichever way it goes, "Imagine" is cool.

TENDRE -- crave

 

These days, I don't really have cravings of any particular food anymore. If I can eat something, I will do so, and if I can't, well, that's the way it goes. But I don't go into a fetal position if I can no longer have a certain dish. Back in my Japan days, I had something like what the above photo is showing: a bowl of beef stir-fried with bean sprouts and garlic, all doused in ponzu. Goes great with rice, and I probably haven't had it in over a decade. C'est dommage!

The one other thing about cravings is that it made for a good conversation starter in my old English classes. One reason is that a lot of my students hadn't known what a craving was. When I explained it to them, I asked for what they craved in food and drink. The usual responses came in the form of comfort food such as hamburgers, chips and stuff. When I was younger, my big craving was for Chip Star (the Japanese equivalent of Pringles).

Well, I should get to a song. This is "crave" by singer-songwriter TENDRE (pronounced "tender") and it's a track on his December 2017 debut EP "Red Focus". I actually found the song in some YouTube Neo-City Pop compilation but hoping to find it by itself on the platform, I did hit pay dirt. TENDRE is also a multi-instrumentalist which includes the trumpet, piano and baritone saxophone, so I wouldn't be surprised if he handled all of the instruments here. It's a groovalicious treat for me with the keyboards, sax, bass and other instruments strutting their stuff on the streets of Tokyo. His harmonies also enhance the overall effect and remind me a bit of Sing Like Talking's Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）.

TENDRE is actually Taro Kawahara（河原太朗）from Kanagawa Prefecture, and he comes from a music-oriented family. For instance, his father is jazz bassist Hideo Kawahara（河原秀夫）, and his mother is jazz singer Atsuko Kawahara（河原厚子）, so unsurprisingly, music rubbed off on young TENDRE and he was already handling those different instruments by the time he was in junior high school. In 2009, he formed the band ampel but was also working as a recording engineer and producer at the same time. According to J-Wiki, since 2018, he's released 7 digital download singles, 2 EPs including "Red Focus" and 2 full albums.