Tweedees -- KLING! KLANG!/Hello Hello

 

Ahh...good ol' Tower Records in Shibuya...oh, how I miss the old place. A few days ago, Canada and the United States celebrated their Record Store Day and I'm pretty sure a lot of the vinyl hounds were more than happy to do their flipping of the LPs in search of aural gold.

I just mentioned the band Tweedees in the previous article regarding the latest by CHiLi GiRL so I thought it was time to get another song by this pop and Shibuya-kei-focused duo onto KKP. The last time I devoted time and space to bassist Reiji Okii（沖井礼二）and vocalist Natsumi Kiyoura（清浦夏実）was back in 2022 for their 2018 "Hanataba to Jiryoku"（花束と磁力）. Well, actually, I've opted to put up two of their songs from opposite ends of their career thus far.

The first one is their first single "KLING! KLANG!" from January 2015. Having nothing to do with the Klingons in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise", the onomatopoeia reflected in the title is really the wonderful cacophony of music as Kiyoura sings about the joy of listening to one's favourite songs. It's the first time that I've seen Tweedees in a music video and for some reason, I have the impression that Kiyoura could have been the second coming of Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）but that is solely me. In fashion and in music, it's some pleasant Shibuya-kei.

From their most recent album in December 2022, "World Record", I give you their last track "Hello Hello". A short and sweet song, the lyrics were written by Kiyoura while Okii took care of the melody and arrangement. More of an adorable sing-songy pop tune, the vocalist invites the listener to join her on a voyage outside of the stifling confines of one's own room and explore the world. Y'know, I mentioned Record Store Day at the top...perhaps "Hello Hello" could be the fine theme for Library Day.

One point of trivia that I discovered about Kiyoura in her J-Wiki file is that her ancestor from a century previously, Count Keigo Kiyoura（清浦奎吾）, happened to be the Prime Minister of Japan in 1924.

TWEEDEES -- Hanataba to Jiryoku（花束と磁力）

 

Finding about the band TWEEDEES because vocalist Natsumi Kiyoura（清浦夏実）helped out on one of the songs in Blue Peppers'（ブルー・ペパーズ）"Symphony", I decided to see what else I could find about this collaboration between Kiyoura and bassist Reiji Okii（沖井礼二）.

According to their J-Wiki article, TWEEDEES formed in 2015 and the first meeting apparently had Okii doing a guest appearance on Kiyoura's radio program. Okii was also the one who had started up the band Cymbals with Asako Toki（土岐麻子）in the late 1990s, and since Kiyoura was a big fan of that group, one thing led to another and TWEEDEES was born.

Between 2015 and 2019, singles have been released through digital download and EPs with three full albums and two mini-albums coming out up to 2021. Through their third full album "Delicious", here is "Hanataba to Jiryoku" (Bouquets and Magnetism) which is one wild-and-crazy sprint through a municipality and life. TWEEDEE's music has been categorized on J-Wiki as pop and Shibuya-kei and with "Hanataba to Jiryoku", there is a feeling of Shibuya-kei through the frenetic percussion and the breezy vocals by Kiyoura (topped with Parisian berets) but then again I also hear some of that jazz coming out through a piano.

Words and music were provided by Okii. Being a pop culture fan, I couldn't help but get visions of the Tenth and the Eleventh Doctor from "Doctor Who" leading their comely young companions by the outstretched arm as they race breathlessly through time and space because of what I've understood of the lyrics. The Doctor will lie, charm and thrill with his own amalgam of bouquets and magnetism as he takes folks on his magical and oft-dangerous ride through the universe.

Blue Peppers -- Symphony (album)

 

Well, we Blue Peppers（ブルー・ペパーズ）fans had been waiting for this new album for the longest time since their last full album was "Retroactive" from 2017, but finally Naoki Fukuda（福田直木）and Kaoru Inoue（井上薫）released "Symphony" last December, and I was all game to acquire it which I did. I did get my appetizer from the album via "Acacia"（アカシア）, one of the tracks and that was enough for me to part with my yen happily.

I will need a few more listens to "Symphony" to get a good gauge on it, but from what I've heard so far, the general consensus is that this album hews a little closer to the American AOR of the late 70s and early 80s when compared to the neo-urban contemporary of "Retroactive". Case in point is the first track "I'll Be There" by Fukuda and Inoue which seems to hearken back to some rock-tinged West Coast AOR of those 1980s thanks to some twangy guitar and some nostalgic keyboard work. I also get some Sing Like Talking vibes from the singing by Fukuda, too.

Speaking of the keyboard work, I really am getting a hankering for the title track. "Symphony" was handled by composer Fukuda with both fellows responsible for the lyrics. Once again, the 80s are back in full along with a gorgeous sax solo by Ryoji Ihara（庵原良司）as Fukuda sings about being by a loving partner's side through thick and thin. 

"Owl's Manner" is an instrumental track with Inoue on keyboards (as he is for all of the tracks) and Fukuda on acoustic guitar, and it's a match made in Heaven for all those who love the city jazz and maybe even those folks who have their copy of the soundtrack for the Fuji-TV drama "Tokyo Love Story". As the year of that drama will indicate, there is more of a feeling of the 1990s here.

There is another guest appearance of a female singer-songwriter on a Blue Peppers track with Natsumi Kiyoura（清浦夏実）of the band TWEEDEES providing her vocals for the mellow "Garasu no Hibi"（硝子の日々...Glass Days）. This one seems to straddle the borderline between AOR and pop, and as such, it also has one foot in the 80s and the other sometime in the 21st century. Kiyoura took care of lyrics while Inoue handled the melody this time.

The final track on "Symphony" is "Michi"（道...Paths）, an elegant ballad which brings thoughts of 1980s David Foster with pretty much any ballad that he came up with back then. The melody by Fukuda and Inoue is fine although I think the latter may have pressed a little too hard on the keys during his solo. Meanwhile, the lyrics are bittersweet as a woman and man have decided that it's time to go on their different paths after a romance.

There are two more tracks but I actually took care of both of them back in early 2020: "Believe In Love" and "Marine Snow no Toshi"（マリンスノーの都市）, so you can take a look at the article that I wrote for the two. In any case, I was glad to get this new album by Blue Peppers and if you like listening to a light and mellow duo who have given their loving tribute to past decades, give "Symphony" a try.