Urbangarde -- Shinjuku Mon Amour（シンジュク・モナムール）

 

When I first wrote about the wild and eccentric band Urbangarde（アーバンギャルド）earlier this spring, I did note a quote from Wikipedia where the band went "...from bubblegum pop to 80s style synthpop, punk, progressive rock, chiptune, new wave, goth, industrial and heavy metal." As well, Tenma Matsunaga（松永天馬）and Yoko Hamasaki（浜崎容子）have been more than willing to make use of some of the more uncomfortable woes in Japanese society such as suicide and teen pregnancy as their lyrical themes.

One such song is "Shinjuku Mon Amour" (Shinjuku My Love) in which a heartbroken girl opts for suicide one April day as one grand theatre piece. With words and music by Matsunaga, and both him and Hamasaki on vocals, the music is jarringly happy in that techno rock way as if the powers-that-be had Urbangarde come up with a new theme for one of the series in the "PreCure" anime franchise. Along with that anime-happy atmosphere, I can also feel a bit of the old kayo kyoku mixed in there.

"Shinjuku Mon Amour" is a track on Urbangarde's 7th album from December 2015, "Showa Kyu-juu Nen"（昭和九十年...The 90th Year of the Showa Era）. There is a site which has translations of the band's songs including "Shinjuku Mon Amour".

Urbangarde -- Androgynos（アンドロギュノス）

 

A few months ago, I wrote about the boundary-pushing band Urbangarde（アーバンギャルド）that has been more than willing to sing about some of the more stickier issues in society via all sorts of genres such as 80s style synthpop and punk.

That song I featured, "One Piece Shinjuu"（ワンピース心中）, was released all the way back in 2014. Urbangarde has still been alive and kicking, and this tune comes off their August 2021 11th album "Tokyo Pop 2". "Androgynos" not only delves into that 80s synthpop, it's obvious that the music video is riffing off the Vaporwave visual aesthetics; it also looks like the opening or ending credits for some superhero anime done in live-version through a 1980s commercial filter.

"Androgynos" was written by band leader and co-vocalist Tenma Matsunaga（松永天馬）and composed by keyboardist Kei Ohkubo（おおくぼけい）. Matsunaga and Yoko Hamasaki（浜崎容子）exhort their message of getting together as just plain folks with their own personalities, irrespective of any need to identify the gender. I do enjoy the sparkly old-fashioned synthesizers and the thumping rhythms.

Yoko Hamasaki -- Angel Suffocation

 

Back in March, I provided an article on the multi-genre group known as Urbangarde（アーバンギャルド）which dabbles in everything from bubblegum pop to heavy metal. One of the singers in the band, Yoko Hamasaki（浜崎容子）, definitely has some dark style in her looks.

In June 2016, Hamasaki released a solo album titled "Blue Forest" in which I found the track "Angel Suffocation". Written by Naruyoshi Kikuchi（菊地成孔）from the eclectic band SPANK HAPPY and composed by Hamasaki, I think that the song has that technopop and rock sheen but I also get hints of old-fashioned kayo kyoku along with some 60s French pop.

As for Kikuchi's lyrics, I get the impression that the angel here may be some burned-out aidoru with an S&M thing who is in a dangerous dance with her fans or one particular fan, and the nose dive is something that she may not be able to pull out of. Somehow, the currently running anime "Oshi no Ko"（推しの子）comes to mind along with that Natalie Portman flick "Black Swan" when I listen to "Angel Suffocation". 

Urbangarde -- One Piece Shinjuu（ワンピース心中）

 

Urbangarde（アーバンギャルド）is one of the more cleverly-named bands that I've come across ("urban" and "avant-garde") and it's also one of the more intriguing units in the style of music that they deliver. According to Wikipedia, their styles vary from "... from bubblegum pop to 80s style synthpop, punk, progressive rock, chiptune, new wave, goth, industrial and heavy metal." The singers and leaders of Urbangarde, Tenma Matsunaga（松永天馬）and Yoko Hamasaki（浜崎容子）also don't shy away from Japan's social woes in their songs so they have tackled topics such as suicide and teen pregnancy.

One song of theirs, "One Piece Shinjuu" (One Piece Double Suicide) is the lead track from Urbangarde's 6th album (3rd as a major act), "Utsukushii Kuni"（鬱くしい国）which, from the use of that first kanji character in the title, is a pun on "a beautiful country", actually coming across as "a gloomy country". Sounding like a chip-tune theme song to an anime thanks to Hamasaki's melody, Matsunaga's lyrics have the protagonist cheerfully fantasizing a double suicide through various aspects including the proper kimono to wear. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for Wednesday Addams to visit Japan. 

The music video for "One Piece Shinjuu" even has Hamasaki doing the deep dive into the water to show off the methods of self-dispatching like a model on "The Price is Right". It might be the final moments before death but dang, one still has to look good. As for "Utsukushii Kuni" which came out in June 2014, it peaked at No. 37.