I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Showing posts with label United Future Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Future Organization. Show all posts
A few years ago, I posted the first article regarding United Future Organization, a trio starting out in the 1990s with their way-out Daddy-o cool take on jazz. The article was for their 1993 "My Foolish Dream", a collaboration with J-R&B chanteuse Monday Michiru that was so cool that in another universe, listeners needed to be the beautiful people type to go to a very exclusive club hidden away in depths of the city to hear it.
Well, in 1996, United Future Organization released their 3rd album"3rd Perspective" and one of the tracks is "The Planet Plan". And yep, as a number of commenters on the YouTube page have stated, there is a definite similarity between this particular tune and the works of movie/TV composer Michael Giacchino on "The Incredibles" soundtrack. It could have even been included on the soundtrack secretly without anyone being the wiser. As it is, with the inclusion of the vocal excerpts, there is very much of a conspiracy thriller vibe with "The Planet Plan" as a select group of cool and stylish Earthlings attempt to investigate a subtle takeover by aliens. Think "The X-Files" set to 1960s Quincy Jones music. Finally, I have to mention that I've delightfully realized that the repeating riff right by the end at the 4:00 mark is a piece of BGM that had been used on one Japanese variety show's segment.
I also have to mention that one of the three members of United Future Organization, Tadashi Yabe（矢部直）, sadly passed away last July at the age of 59. My belated condolences go to his family, friends and fans.
First off, allow me to apologize to two-thirds of this group, United Future Organization, for only showing their foreheads. I really wanted to get that name of theirs in the photo. Actually the above comes from my copy of "Nippon Pop", the 1998 book by Steve McClure describing the overall view of Japanese pop music.
from Discogs
Ah, I think that's much better. The photo is of United Future Organization's debut album"Jazzin' 91-92" from 1992, and the three members are Toshio Matsuura（松浦俊夫）, Raphael Sebbag and Tadashi Yabe（矢部直）as you can see from left to right above. They are looking like some of the most stylish 1960s hepcats to put James Bond to shame. From their biography in "Nippon Pop", UFO actually began life as an event/music production company in the early 1980s, but then a decade later, they decided why not create their own beautiful music rather than just spin the records of other performers. Thus began their role as the vanguard for acid jazz in Japan but their Wikipedia profile also has them plumbing the depths of Nu jazz, jazz-funk, future jazz and trip hop.
To be honest, although I've heard and read about the different types of jazz ranging from Dixieland to swing to be-bop, my knowledge is still very sparse when it comes to acid jazz and Nu jazz. However, I have been curious to know about the newer forms and lo and behold, I was able to find a YouTube video of one of their songs in the 1990s.
For the next paragraph or so, I'm going to risk sounding like Rod Serling from his most famous television show, but please bear with me. Imagine if you will, a nightclub so exclusive and cool that only 0.001% of the beautiful people in this unnamed city even know of its existence. And only a fraction of that is allowed to enter and enjoy the miraculous libations and entertainment offered there. This is an establishment so cool and rarefied that guests' vision can only see in black-and-white when inside and their names are known automatically even when entering for the first time...if they can get in. The club is on the corner of Imagination and Fantasy...and it resides in the neighbourhood known as The Twilight Zone.
Yup, I enjoyed writing that, but that's the sensation that I get when I see the above video for "My Foolish Dream" which has UFO collaborating with R&B singer Monday Michiru (guess why I opted to contribute this piece today?). A track from the trio's 1993 album"United Future Organization", the video isn't exactly pristine but in a strange way, it actually adds to the mood of the song and its mysteriously cool vibe. Monday Michiru sings these slightly cryptic lyrics like a siren foretelling of things weird and wonderful. Meanwhile the jazz involved has feelings of being in Paris, sitting cross-legged with beatniks, chiming in with the older Leonard Cohen (in fact, Sebbag comes across as being rather Cohen-esque and Serling-esque in his brief prologue of the song) and even hearing rhythmic echoes of Dave Brubeck's legendary "Take Five".
The chances are rather remote now but if I ever had a dinner party someday, I would be more than happy to play this song and perhaps the entirety of "United Future Organization" on the stereo speakers. I don't know whether UFO is still active since their website has now been archived via The Wayback Machine and their output only goes as far as the early 2000s. However, according to Matsuura's own website, he left UFO in 2002 and has continued to perform as a solo DJ at clubs and festivals.
