Tomita Lab -- M-P-C "Mentality, Physicality, Computer" (Part 3)

 

Finishing up last week on Part 2 of Tomita Lab's（冨田ラボ）2018 album "M-P-C 'Mentality, Physicality, Computer", we have here the third and final part covering the remainder of his concept of the above three features being indispensable for 21st-century society thus far. As mentioned, all of the melodies have been provided by Tomita himself.

Strings so tender that you can have them with Worcestershire sauce greet the ears in "Interlude 2" once again with KANDYTOWN 's Ryohu as your congenial host singing about the ever-present dream, you and me.

Singer-songwriter Tavito Nanao（七尾旅人）lends his lyrics and silky and chocolatey vocals to "rain on you". It's a gently undulating pop piano piece about the rain perhaps a triggering bittersweet memory of a past romance. I really do like the combination of strings and piano here along with the background chorus. If I ever decide to write out an article on a rain theme, "rain on you" is more than welcome to join the list.

The band Mononkul（モノンクル）comes in with "Yuruyakana Doku"（緩やかな毒...Slow Poison）. Bassist Ryuta Tsunoda（角田隆太）wrote the lyrics about the so-called slow poison of love as the protagonist seems to be "succumbing" to the charms of the other whose voice repeatedly plays out in the head, and probably vice versa as well. Meanwhile, vocalist Sara Yoshida（吉田沙良）gives a soft and haunting account of the affair. 

"Outroduction" with Ryohu finishes up "MPC" as a pretty lively funk-hop hinting melodically at some of the early 70s cop movie soundtracks such as "Shaft". It also references back to Track 2 (aka the title track) that was described in Part 1, but instead of the analog vs. the digital there, Ryohu gives a laidback warning about the choice between love and all of the other temptations out there in society including money. Being a realist in this century, I think a combination of everything would be fine. By the way, the album peaked at No. 72 on Oricon.

Tavito Nanao -- Circus Night（サーカスナイト）

 

It's been over five years since I've put up a Tavito Nanao（七尾旅人）song onto the blog. As I remember, he's a singer and songwriter of a number of genres, and perhaps many of his songs don't fit into one particular genre but more into a blend of them whether it be soul, indies or electronica among others.

Maybe his 11th and penultimate single to date, "Circus Night", falls on the borderline between R&B and shoegazer. Released in November 2012, Nanao wrote and composed this tune of a heart-stopping romance that is described through analogies of circus life such as walking that tightrope, magic and clowns. There's plenty of groove in this very laidback tune that would call for an intimate evening out in a bohemian drinking joint somewhere in the quieter areas of Shibuya or Harajuku.

Tavito Nanao x Yakenohara -- Rollin' Rollin'

My genre of choice has been City Pop from the late 1970s and early 1980s but I've also liked urban contemporary stuff from the 90s onwards. I've also noticed that going into the 21st century, the night side of Japanese pop has taken on a certain cool groove.

Now, I'm not a big fan of hip-hop or rap on either side of the Pacific but I do like the slow groove of "Rollin' Rollin'" by Kochi Prefecture-born singer-songwriter Tavito Nanao（七尾旅人）. Although his Wikipedia bio states that his genres are "alternative rock, electronic, experimental, punk", I only sense a bit of one of those genres and none from the others with his 7th single from September 2009. To me, it's some nice mellow contemporary R&B as he collaborates with rapper-DJ Yakenohara (やけのはら). It's all so not-in-your-face.

As much as I like the official music video with some nice shots of driving through the big city, I have to say that I really like this version of "Rollin' Rollin'". As Yakenohara intones throughout the song, it's got that old-fashioned urban soul. The song peaked at No. 46 on Oricon.

Takkyu Ishino -- gimme some high energy

I heard this virus-level infectious tune by techno wizard Takkyu Ishino（石野卓球） when I was doing my monthly crawl through Tower Records in Shibuya one day over a decade ago. I just kept hearing this bass computer voice intoning the title over and over again through my ears and into my brain before the bouncy techno rumbled in over the store speakers. Gradually, I realized it was by one of the members of Denki Groove（電気グルーヴ）.

I tracked down "gimme some high energy" to Ishino's 4th solo album, "Karaoke Jack" (2001). The Ishino sense of humour was there right on the cover with his calm face superimposed over a model's body. And that sense of glee was also evident in the official video for the song, although I can't find it on the Net. It had a couple of men, which included disco-lovin' tarento Papaya Suzuki, in a squash game. Their rather tight gear ends up attracting the two to each other by the end of the video (you really have to be watching). As for the song itself, it sounds like as if it were made to musically accompany a rather impish villain up to no good. Perhaps, it could have made a good theme for Superman's rather less-than-impressive enemy, Mr. Mxyzptlk.

March 23 2018: Thanks to the contribution of a commenter, I found out that back in May 2001, Ishino collaborating with Tavito Nanao, released a single called "Last Scene" with none of the growling "gimme some high energy" vocals as they were replaced by a whispery sexy voice over the relentless and catchy melody. And even better, the commenter led me to the video! However, looking at the Amazon page, the single also has the original "gimme some high energy".