Ringo Shiina & Momo (from Charan-Po-Rantan) -- Hobo Mizu no Awa（ほぼ水の泡）

 

In the last few hours, my family was able to watch another perennial Japanese New Year's example of TV programming along with the Kohaku Utagassen. The Hakone Ekiden takes place over two days on January 2nd and 3rd, and although none of us have ever run a proper ekiden before, there's something rather quite relaxing about watching it play out on screen. It had always been shown on TV Japan and fortunately it's being run on Jme. For the record, Aoyama Gakuin University won again.

It's hard to believe that it's been over 25 years since one of the most terrifying yet attractive teenage rock singers ever hit the Japanese music industry in the form of Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）. My first impression was that I would be most interested in attending a concert of hers but I would never approach her for an autograph, lest I get my face ripped off for being so plebian. But in the years since, we would all learn that it wasn't just punk and rock that she loved but also the genres of jazz and kayo kyoku, and a lot of times, Shiina brought all of those influences together into one album or even one song. And in recent years, she's even collaborated with other artists such as Ulfuls'（ウルフルズ）Tortoise Matsumoto（トータス松本）for "Menuki Dori"（目抜き通り）; that partnership had them performing on the 2017 edition of the Kohaku Utagassen.

And speaking of the Kohaku Utagassen, Shiina was once more at NHK Hall for the 2024 edition, this time partnering up with Momo of the eclectic sister act Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）. The two of them performed "Hobo Mizu no Awa" (Cheers Beer) which is the final track on Shiina's May 2024 album "Hojoya"（放生会...Carnival）, a release filled with collaborations ranging from Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）to Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）. As for "Hobo Mizu no Awa", the tribute to drinking has got Shiina and Momo snarling happily away as if they were knocking back the suds with abandon while musically, we get the cocktail of jazz, rock and rockabilly. I don't really think that Shiina goes for just the mono-genre anymore. As with their performance on the Kohaku, the music video is also a treat for the eyes with Shiina and Momo's costume changes, choreography and all those Japanese and American jazz set designs.

Just as an aside, I found this video of Charan-Po-Rantan covering Shiina's "Ringo no Uta"（りんごのうた）. As for "Hojoya", it scored a No. 2 ranking on Oricon.

All Those Cinderella Songs

 

Last year, among all of the Author's Picks articles, I did go a little crazy on certain "theme title" songs such as "Twilight" and "Casablanca". But indeed, I have noticed that songwriters did love putting those words into their works for some reason. And now, I realize that "Cinderella" can also be included in this august company. 

In a way, the whole concept of Cinderella is perfect for Japanese society. At least in the way that it has been depicted by Disney, a poor young woman under the constant fatty thumb of some cruel family finally makes the best of her opportunities (which greatly involve a fairy godmother) and gets out of her indentured servitude at last and has that life of happy-ever-after. I have seen so many documentaries and variety shows in Japan which have depicted callow young people going through absolute hell under stern or just plain sadistic teachers to finally reach their desired goals that it's a surprise that those folks haven't been called Cinderellas or Cinderfellas.

Anyways, I have found a few Cinderella kayo kyoku in KKP (and a lot more on this site which has more recent songs), so please enjoy!

(1983) Hiromi Go -- Suteki ni Cinderella Complex （素敵にシンデレラ・コンプレックス）

(1978) Hiromi Iwasaki -- Cinderella Honeymoon (シンデレラ・ハネムーン)

(1980) Ami Ozaki -- Nijuu-isseiki no Cinderella （２１世紀のシンデレラ）

(1985) Yumi Matsutoya -- Cinderella Express （シンデレラエクスプレス）

Monari Wakita -- Akai Skirt（赤いスカート）

 

Once 2010s aidoru group Especia decided to call it a day and disbanded in 2017, a few of the members went into their own projects including Monari Wakita（脇田もなり）who seems to have become the most active of the graduates.

I realize through past postings of her solo work that Wakita has managed to keep up the Neo-City Pop but within her first solo album "I am Only" from July 2017, I have come across the track "Akai Skirt" (Red Skirt) which brings together some jazz and synthpop into a pleasant and catchy mix about going one's way (especially with that percussion). And it was a delight to discover that words and music were provided by Yuko Iizumi（飯泉裕子）and Seiki Sato（佐藤清喜）respectively. Those two just happen to be the duo microstar and they've made their own beautiful music.

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Hiromi, B'z & NHK

 

Happy Weekend! Now that we are truly getting out of the Holiday season, things are getting back to normal which includes the inevitable and dreaded payment of credit cards, and in Japan, television broadcasting is veering away from special New Year's programming. As well, this also means that the AI art gallery is back open again.

This time, I'm involving some of the acts that we saw on the recent Kohaku Utagassen. I have to warn you that the images this time around are bizarre and a touch unsettling.

Hiromi Go -- Ni-Oku Yon-Sen-Man no Hitomi (２億４千万の瞳）

B'z -- Love Phantom

NHK Jido Gassho Dan -- Computer Obaachan （コンピューターおばあちゃん）

Sleep tight...

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Ken Tamura -- A Little Bit Easier

 

Number: 091

Lyricist: Ken Tamura

Composer: Ken Tamura

Arranger: Shigeru Suzuki

From the 1982 album "Fly by Night"

"A Little Bit Easier" is a refreshing medium-tempo tune that fits a summer sunset perfectly. Shigeru Suzuki's（鈴木茂）arrangement can be said to have that classic City Pop approach so he made a lot of wonderful songs just within that time where he had hit his stride by working with people like Hiroaki Igarashi（五十嵐浩晃）and Kazuhito Murata（村田和人）. He has that characteristic sharp touch and even within this song, that appeal is evident throughout. The effective use of the flute is also the epitome of coolness.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Botanical na Kurashi. -- Bubble（バブル）

 

The photo above shows a restaurant that I used to frequent right around Nihombashi Station in Tokyo. Com Pho was not a big place but it looked plenty modern inside and I could just throw some bills or coins into a machine to get my ticket to get my tasty bowl of Vietnamese pho with meat and other goodies. I wonder if it's still there.

In late November, I posted an article regarding the band Botanical na Kurashi.（ボタニカルな暮らし。）and their "City Girl". Well, here I am again to provide a more recent example of their lovely Neo-City Pop on the night streets of Tokyo, "Bubble". With lyrics by singer Siyo and music by bassist Kent, it's a short and sweet tune released in July 2024 as their 13th single about a lass in the big city and her bubble-blowing. I have to admit that this is probably the first time I've ever come across a metropolitan number about one of my old hobbies as a kid but it's also quite a cool tune with a hint of Steely Dan.

Mieko Hirota -- Tokyo Ni-juu-shichi-ji（東京27時）

 

I had been around for only a few years when these dances of the 1960s were popular so alas I missed out on trying these moves out. Not that I would have dared to show them in public if I'd been old enough to give them a go. My Mashed Potato would have been runny spuds.

So, dances such as the Twist and the Swim came to mind as I was listening to this snappy number by the late Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）. "Tokyo Ni-juu-shichi-ji" (3:00 am Tokyo) is the title track from Hirota's May 1999 mini-album, a project that had Fantastic Plastic Machine and Pizzicato Five's Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）helping out, so I could imagine that there was going to be plenty of Shibuya-kei and tributes to the swinging pop music of the 1960s. And yep, I got plenty of that dance music along with what seems to be a shoutout to The 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" in Konishi's melody and arrangement. Shimmy away, folks!

Also, have a look at Toni Basil's video of those 60s dances. Quite a few celebs knew how to move!