2 posts tagged “shibuya-kei”

Since Pizzicato Five (the quirkiest thing to come out of Japan since Hello Kitty) broke up in 2001, I wondered if Shibuya might be taking a breather on the music scene for awhile. After all, between a sudden trend in amazing groups from places as disparate as Asakusa (on Tokyo's east end) or Osaka (on Japan's west), combined with a resurgence of rock on the Japanese scene, Shibuya - while still a mega-important series of venues and a major club scene - could easily be perceived as a stage rather than a source of new and exciting music.

After all, by the turn of the century, Shibuya-kei - the "Shibuya sound" born from the techno-glitz and neon optimism of Tokyo's trendiest hotspot - seemed quirky, quaint, and antiquated, if not still delightful. Pizzicato Five breaking up seemed at the time to be the death knell for a style of music that, for me, characterized the global optimism of the technological revolution that occurred in the industrialized world during the 90s. Combining elements of 60s go-go music, sampling, rock, electronica and dance (particularly house) with cutesy synths, pop vocals, vocoders, and breakbeats, the genre symbolized a cutting-edge Japan that still refuses to sleep and represents a decade in which Japan's pop-culture was suddenly and grandiosely exported to the world as a whole - especially America. On the darker side, it also embodied the glitz-and-glamor culture of the moneyed kids who make Shibuya their chief haunt.

Indeed, the scene changed, as scenes tend to, and I can't profess to know what happened in a shift of a local scene that occurred on the other side of the world from me. What I CAN profess to know is that Shibuya-kei never died; it just sighed a little bit and took a nap.

Want proof? Listen to capsule, one of the children of Yasutaka Nakata's "contemode" label. Consisting of a Pizzicato Five-like duo of Nakata and vocalist Toshiko Koshijima, capsule couldn't be more influenced by Pizzicato Five if they were trying to be - and they are. Started in 2001 - the year P5 broke up - it feels almost like a continuation of the brilliant evolution P5 began more than 20 years ago. In fact, the first track that comes to mind when listening to capsule's latest album is the spirit of one of P5's most successful domestic singles, "Tokyo wa yoru no shichiji" (packaged outside Japan as "The Night is Still Young") - a song that is, amazingly, 15 years old.

However, as influential as P5 may have been to the Shibuya sound, capsule possesses a more straight-up house and dance style that has only evolved over time. Compare the two selections I've chosen for y'all today; the first, a straight-up badass track called Starry Sky, is from their February 2007 album "Sugarless GiRL," one of the best electronic albums I've heard all year. The second, Uchuu Elevator (Space Elevator) is from 2004's "S.F. sound furniture," and it's considerably more obvious with this track how deepy the 90s Shibuya-kei movement inspired this newer generation.

Another facet of this, as fans of the contemode label will point out, is the gradual fusion between Perfume and capsule; while I don't deny - or decry - this evolution to a more danceable techno style between older tracks like Tokyo Smiling (2005) and newer ones like Sugarless GiRL (2007), you still have to note the retro-futura chic and clear stylistic reference to Pizzicato Five. To be honest, in the six years capsule has been around, their discography has managed to stay as interesting and diverse as, say, the soundtrack to Katamari Damacy, a soundtrack which was a major tribute in and of itself to Shibuya-kei. And that's what makes them as wonderful as Pizzicato Five - the ability to surprise you with each new offering.

So sing no elegies for the Shibuya sound - just dye your hair punk colors, don some in-line skates and knee-socks, play Dreamcast, and do other shit that was popular in 1999. As for me, I'd better go dig my raver pants out of the closet.

-Tommy

What do you get when you have an unusual thirst for light, happy driving fare? 12 years of light jrock, it seems. In a world and genre where it's easy to be inane and uninspired, how do you stand out with simple and fun? Answer: You borrow heavily from the pillows, probably.

...and now you think this post is going to be about the pillows, the prolific band I've finally given in and owned up to liking. You probably think it'll include some bitching about how a band that's been around for 15 years is known in the states solely for the FLCL soundtrack, or how their new and/or old albums are great, and you probably think I'm going to post a sample.

Your expectations are wrong, although I do recommend checking out their albums (especially "My Foot"). For today's sampling of music, we need to head back in time to the years 1997-2000. It was a different time musically in Japan; Shibuya-kei was in full bloom, with Pizzicato Five and Fantastic Plastic Machine peaking (though their later offerings were nothing to scoff at). Konami discovered a hit with Bemani games. The dance and rave scenes were at their peak in North America. In 1999, a younger Shiina Ringo released her second album. the pillows also released approximately 450 albums in this period, notable too because the three albums released in this period were raided for songs to use in FLCL, which would introduce the band to the US. Another strange new band called POLYSICS was re-exploring punk and nu-wave.

It's perhaps a bit understandable, with all these tiny fragments, that our Bands of Mention for today started out in such a climate. First up is GO!GO!7188 (go-go-nana-ichi-hachi-hachi), who come to me by way of Ska's apt introduction. Started in 1998 while fresh out of high school, their vocal stylings are a welcome discovery for anyone who loves early Shiina Ringo, but they don't end there. Their influences range from surf-rock to enka and I definitely suspect SR as well.

An early single from 2000, "Jet Ninjin" is a good example of everything stylistically the band does. James Bond, Shiina Ringo, traditional Japanese music, and the Beach Boys seem to come together in this song:

Now take GO!GO!, the pillows, and throw in a bit of POLYSICS for good measure, and you have the next band on the sampling block: Guitar Vader. You might know Guitar Vader if you own a Dreamcast; if you heard some catchy rock songs paired with nonsensical English lyrics while playing Jet Set Radio, you've heard them. Their tracks "Super Brothers" and "Magical Girl" graced the original Dreamcast version, while "I Love Love You" and "Baby-T" were featured in the X-Box's 2001 sequel Jet Set Radio: Future. (For the love of god, Sega, make a JSR sequel for the Wii!)

Now, you might say "Sure, Tommy, this band's music is great when it comes to grinding along the side of radio towers and spraypainting cops' faces, but why should I listen to it?" Paradoxically, you might absolutely hate this band if you had to listen to "Super Brothers" 50 times in a row on a stage you just couldn't pass. But if you display a little patience you'll find that some true gems lurk in their albums - catchy hooks, rockin' guitar, and awesome grooves. Their sound is deceptively diverse; some of thier songs have a POLYSICS feel (like the un-remixed version of I Love Love You, which also samples Yoko Kanno's SANTI-U), but tracks like "Heavy Metal Collector" and "The Time Slips Away" - a simple, clean rock track, are evocative of the pillows.

For your listening pleasure, I offer a track from their 2001 album, "From Dusk" - which is a bitch of an album to find. This track is called "Cutting Evil Smile," and it is a great sample blend of GV's penchant for simple verses, catchy hooks, and fun grooves - not to mention their signature male/female vocal doublings - a tactic Pizzicato Five was exploring in the same period, too. (Worth noting is that GV's music was chosen for JSR - a game set in and centered around Shibuya and its culture. Changing of the guard?) So, enjoy Cutting Evil Smile:

Until next time, enjoy!