hi-posi -- dipole

 

Let's see here...a dipole is an electromagnetic phenomenon while a gluon is an elemental particle. Never had much success with my high school classes involving physics and chemistry. What made me feel even more terrible was that my physics teacher was one of the coolest and wisest educators that I had ever known but even he couldn't help me figure things out. 

Well, anyways, in the world of the band hi-posi, "Gluon" was their June 1998 album and "dipole" happened to be one of the tracks. As has been the case with hi-posi's songs, "dipole" has that avant-pop feeling which doesn't feel like anything familiar at all despite the inclusion of what sounds like ska horns and the omnipresent chugging technopop keyboard (although listening to this YouTube video of their early work montage provides some insights). But what is familiar is Miho Moribayashi's（もりばやしみほ）whispery voice and the whole hi-posi otherworldly esthetic.

hi-posi had been releasing music into the mid-2000s after which Moribayashi under her pen name of Mirey wrote a book called "Girly Fuusui"（ガーリー風水...Girly Feng Shui） in 2007. The book had her giving advice based on her own studies of traditional Chinese feng shui and advanced studies in construction through use of the stylish furniture and home décor provided by the company Francfranc. However in 2016, hi-posi restarted their activities although their website has only provided that year's events. Also, the last time I wrote about the band was back in 2020 with the article for "Ato Nan Nichi?"（あと何日？）.

hi-posi -- Ato Nan Nichi?（あと何日？）

As opposed to the beatnik Shibuya-kei mood of coolness that emanates from hi-posi's 1995 "Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei"（身体と歌だけの関係）, the title song's trackmate is different but no less intriguing.

The music video for "Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei" is dreamy in its visuals almost as if the viewer is watching the comely Miho Moribayashi（もりばやしみほ）after imbibing a few cocktails or inhaling something else. However with no music video that I know of, "Ato Nan Nichi?" (How Many More Days?) is dreamy due to the soundscape created by the music and Moribayashi's intoning of the title as she wonders how much longer she has to wait before seeing her significant other. She's been patient but the situation is not getting any easier as I imagine her sitting in her small apartment mentally crossing off the days on her wall calendar.

Definitely not a Shibuya-kei tune, "Ato Nan Nichi?" approaches New Age territory as the music seems to describe that zone between sleep and wakefulness in the morning. Another day has arrived but it's still pretty melancholy as the young lady still feels an empty space which someone dear would usually be occupying.

hi-posi -- Junsui Muku no Technician（ジュンスイムクノテクニシャン）

When it comes to the two truly memorable music videos for the eclectic group hi-posi（ハイポジ）, I can think of the one for "Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei"（身体と歌だけの関係）and this one for "Junsui Muku no Technician" (Pure Innocent Technician) which was a 1997 12-inch single release. Not sure whether the above was just cut off at the 2-minute mark or it was intentionally made that way, but even within those two minutes that I had originally seen back in Ichikawa a couple of decades ago, it certainly made an impression on me with vocalist Miho Moribayashi（もりばやしみほ）and guitarist Kenji Kondo（近藤研二）looking like they didn't quite follow through on a mud bath.

Plus, unlike the Shibuya-kei songs that I've heard from them, "Junsui Muku no Technician" seems to take the two from the sunny swingers of the 1960s and into something more punkish of the 1970s (and just from the rhythm, maybe even some influence from The Beatles' "Day Tripper"?) with some spacey sound effects midway through the song. Meanwhile, Moribayashi's coquettish deliberate vocals still attract in the same way that a spider beckons a fly. Quite bewitching!

I really ought to get a BEST compilation of hi-posi someday!

hi-posi -- Kanashii Koto Nanka janai（かなしいことなんかじゃない）

Considering that this is a Sunday afternoon that I'm writing this, I have to say that this song is just about the most appropriate thing for a Sunday afternoon, provided that there is at least a bit of sun out there. And even if there isn't, this could potentially open up the skies all by itself.

What I'm talking about it is this creation by singer-songwriter Miho Moribayashi（もりばやしみほ）and guitarist Kenji Kondo（近藤研二）, aka the eclectic pop duo hi-posi（ハイポジ）. Titled "Kanashii Koto Nanka janai" (Not Really A Sad Thing), this was released as a 1996 single, and it's probably one of the happiest ballads that I've ever heard in Japanese music.

Joining Moribayashi's whispery vocals are an orchestra, a harmonica and what sounds like an old steel pedal guitar to create this adorable melody that feels like listening to mellow pop from the late 1960s or early 1970s. In addition, the lyrics can talk about a romantic relationship up and running joyously on all pistons or a very happy friendship among a bunch of kids. The setting could be a park with the music adorning a hand-in-hand couple or an elementary school baseball team heading home after a satisfying win....and there has to be a dancing segment near the end.

hi-posi -- You Are My Music

For all of those folks who are new and ravenous for Shibuya-kei, I think that I may have found just the album for you.

wikipedia.org

There was a compilation album released by Bungalow Records back in 1998 called "Sushi 4004" that is out as an LP and in CD format chock-filled with some of those samples of Shibuya-kei artists such as Fantastic Plastic Machine, Pizzicato Five and Takako Minekawa（嶺川貴子）.

To find out about the existence of "Sushi 4004" (which sounds like the final piece of fish on rice I had at a buffet years ago before I collapsed), I accidentally came across this song by duo hi-posi（ハイポジ）which happens to be on the album called "You Are My Music". Partnering some hip-wiggling Latin with a bit of technopop, it's also helped by Miho Moribayashi's（もりばやしみほ）characteristically sexy and whispery vocals for a sound experience that calls for a glass of caipirinha.

Now I figured that since "Sushi 4004" is a collection of Shibuya-kei songs, "You Are My Music" must have had a source in the hi-posi discography. And it appears that it had been released as a 12" single in July 1997 with the tracks being different remixes of the song whose title has incidentally been translated into Japanese: "Kimi no Koe wa Boku no Ongaku"（君の声は僕の音楽）.

hi-posi -- Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei （身体と歌だけの関係）

Early in the lifetime of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I wrote about the quirky "Jenny wa Gokigen Naname"（ジェニーはご機嫌ななめ）originally performed by the band Juicy Fruits and then covered by a number of artists, notably a duo called hi-posi（ハイポジ）. In the article, I also mentioned that my first encounter with hi-posi was through this slightly avant-garde video that I saw one night on TV. Vocalist Miho Moribayashi（もりばやしみほ）definitely made an impression on me...looks and voice.

Well, I didn't know the title of the song back then but I finally found the video on YouTube. The title is "Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei" (A Relationship of Just Body and Song) which was their 2nd single from 1995. And yep, all that out-of-focus fuzziness, sometimes herky-jerky camera work and closeups of Moribayashi's face are back to enhance that dreamy nature of the song and its video. I think hi-posi must have represented the cool beatnik corner of Shibuya-kei especially with the singer's whispery voice. Her feathery vocals remind me of the voice of CHARA if that singer had decided to adorn herself in the atmosphere of beads and lava lamps.

Moribayashi (partnered with guitarist Kenji Kondo/近藤研二) came up with both words and music for "Shintai to Uta dake no Kankei" as she sensually encourages the listener to develop that relationship between body and music together. The lyrics are pretty vague but I think they pretty much come down to "making beautiful music together". No complaints here. A mini-album and a full album with the same title as the single were released in 1994 and 1995 respectively with the band's own translation of the title, "BODY meets SING".

hi-posi/Juicy Fruits -- Jenny wa Gokigen Naname （ジェニーはご機嫌ななめ）

This is probably my first article talking about two obscure but appealingly quirky bands which sang the same quirky song. First off, let's get into Juicy Fruits. Starting off as a rock band with some techno kayo stylings called Haruo Chikada & BEEF in 1979, a year later, Chikada（近田春夫） left and the band changed names (and food groups, apparently) and became Juicy Fruits in 1980.

Juicy Fruits debuted with what would probably be known as an earworm now with "Jenny wa Gokigen Naname"(Jenny in a Bad Mood). Written by the band bassist, Yuji Okiyama（沖山優司）, and composed by the departed Chikada for release in June 1980, the lead singer and guitarist, Atsuko Okuno（奥野敦子）, sings the song in a chirpy falsetto. The lyrics talk about the difficult title character getting herself into a lather about a boyfriend possibly straying far afield.

But what got my attention besides Okuno's voice was the combination of novelty pop and technopop with a bit of 50s twang in a blippety-bloppity rhythm. It just reminded me of what Polysics would later do. In any case, the song peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and sold 370,000 records, although it didn't chart onto the yearly Top 100. Still, considering how many singers and groups have covered it in the past 3 decades, Juicy Fruits was able to make its mark in Japanese music history.

One of those bands which covered "Jenny" was hi-posi. I vaguely remember seeing a video of this duo on some show with vocal Miho Moribayashi（もりばやしみほ） as the camera jerked around strangely while the whole video looked very blurry. Moribayashi was singing in this soft whispery voice and everything led to this rather non-mainstream feeling coming through the screen.

hi-posi（ハイポジ） was formed in 1988 with Moribayashi, Kenji Kondo（近藤研二）, Naomi Araki（あらきなおみ） and Yu Yamaguchi（山口優）. In 1991, they made their major debut but Araki and Yamaguchi left a few years later. The band was a part of Shibuya-kei with their own techno stylings., and in 2000, Moribayashi brought her own whispery vocals to bear through a cover of "Jenny", some 30 years after its debut as the band's 12th single. There was a rather odd video to it but I can't seem to find it on YouTube at this time.

After Kondo left in 2000, Moribayashi was left all by herself but decided to create the first Terran interspecies band by having her Golden Retriever, Mizette, join. Then to further add to the canine content, Mizette's daughter, Mir, came aboard in 2003.

Anyways, some of the other artists who have covered "Jenny" are a couple of members from Morning Musume, Perfume and GO!GO!7188.