...before I get back to business. I just spotted this "new" SPEED album and apparently they are agressively besmirching their own past with this one. No new songs, just re-workings of all the old songs that got me into them in the first place. Put me down for 'negative one' copies of this, please. Better yet, I should buy one just to make a video of its destruction at my hands. Seriously, what the fuck is going on?
NOOOOOOO! Just, NOOOOOOO!
I thought I made my point clear enough the last time they did this:
"...my main opposition to this recording is that, look, Hiro and Eriko are ten years older now, and they're not screaming at the top of their lungs like they used to. Which happens to be their old trademark, and what endeared me to those old songs in the first place. Anybody who tries to build a time machine and go back to give them some control or nuance that they didn't have then should be killed before a good thing gets ruined." [Too late...] [Emphasis added -Ed.]
"Ladies, you're all beautiful and talented, but if this isn't you anymore, don't pretend. ...you already recorded it years ago, and we still have it on CD. And for every imitation you do of your thirteen-year-old selves, I wonder whether it's because you think you can do it better now, or because you think it'll be just as good as it was before (or the third, most likely answer: because the producers demanded it). Seriously, I can put the old (real) 'STEADY' on repeat for weeks at a time if I miss it that much.
I don't mind the new 'heavier' backing tracks ...and someday we may get to hear the new music with the old voices. But time has moved on, and ...no matter how hard you try (with every available technology), you just can't recapture a moment."
Showing posts with label SPEED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SPEED. Show all posts
Blasphemy!
Another impossibly-long rant. (Pause to dust off soapbox.)
After returning from Los Angeles I felt a bit burned out on the whole Jpop thing, so I've been listening to a wide variety of music since then. Mainly, my new favorite form of music has turned out to be "post-war optimism" stuff like Guy Lombardo and Les Paul. I'll sneak the occasional Aiko/Mi-chan/Perfume songs in just to be fair, but as far as new-era Morning Musume is concerned, I'll be back to it in a while.
I ran out of the Hello!Party for a short while to avoid hearing a karaoke version of "Yume no Naka", from the very first Morning Musume album. Apologies to whoever that was, but I don't care if you're the reincarnation of Karen Carpenter; that song is just sacred in so many ways. So I got the urge to listen to that song a couple days ago and played the whole album for good measure, what the hell...
In many ways, the latest incarnation of Morning Musume is like Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos; they didn't exist a while back, and they're really good. By comparison, 'old-school' Musume is like the Cool Ranch Doritos we were downing by the metric ton in the '80s. It just felt right. My point with this admittedly goofy analogy is that, to be sure, what we saw at AX was certainly the same brand of Morning Musume, but what we saw was certainly not the same group it was 11 years ago. I know what you're thinking, it's not the same members, but there's more to it than just who's holding down the stage.
With the exception of "3, 2, 1 Breakin' Out" and maybe a couple of others, they've abandoned group harmonies in favor of a more powerful lead vocal style. The group has gone from the old-school cool harmonies to balls-out chaos (think 'Koko ni Iruzee!') to uber-cuteness (like 'Ai Araba...' and 'Mikan'). It's taken them this long to get back to a more mature, dare I say 'sexy' style with 'Shouganai Yume Oibito'. And I place the blame squarely on the 4th Gen.
Look at the numbers. Musume recruits Goto Maki, the world's head explodes, and Love Machine/Koi no Dance Site sell a collective 400 billion copies. Then comes the 4th Gen to KILL THEIR SALES. As much as I love them, once you bring in Rika, all the girls in the audience turn their attention elsewhere, then the crazy man-fans show up and take over the place.
To be fair, I'm pretty sure that Yossie has kept a lot of girls in the buying mood. Ladies, I'm not suggesting that you're *that way* but it's pretty obvious that the chicks dig Yossie, so don't freak out on me yet. She did what she could.
Aibon and Nono were good role models for girls for about eight weeks or so, until (as I've discussed) they decided to *not* be role models and just do whatever-the-hell.
It was Tsunku who took the group in the direction they went, who went for the male demographic overall and decided to stop catering to more feminine tastes. And suddenly, in place of the original group is this over-caffeinated group who's bouncing off the walls instead of paying tribute to the jazz masters of old. Maybe it's Ichii Sayaka's fault.
Sayaka (who, if I'm not mistaken, was referred to as "Kaa-san" by the other members) should never have left. Watch for her in old concerts, she's got soul (*and* she's super-bad!) She certainly looked and acted more like a grown-up than any of the current members, and for whatever reason, when she left it allowed the Nacchi's and Rika's to take over and wreck up the place. Observe, then, the cover of the second Morning Musume album with most of the old-school members:
Notice anything? Like the fact that they're not wearing any makeup? If I was a record-buyer of the female persuasion I'd be thinking to myself, these girls are bold. They're not afraid to be their true selves. And despite it all, yes, they're still really pretty. Would you expect the same kind of attitude from the group now?
Uh, don't hold your breath. And it's not that I don't like what they've become, far from it. But as I'm listening to the Kaa-san era albums, there's no mental connection, no spark in my brain that says "this is the group I saw". But you know what? Technically, this *was* the group I saw, where the name and the forces behind it are the exact same. Beyond that, it ain't selling quite as well these days as Love Machine did. The audience has shrunk. Where did all those women go?
What makes a hit record? Let's look at some contemporaries. SPEED, in some two-and-a-half years, sold enough records that when Morning Musume finally surpassed them it was a bona-fide ACCOMPLISHMENT. Women bought the hell out of those SPEED records because they didn't stray from the formula that made them big in the first place. Look hot, look cool, and you've got buyers on both sides of the aisle.
The Beatles sure sold a lot of records, just as many (if not more) to women who were totally after them like stalkers. It was their wide appeal in songwriting and general aloofness that gave them mystique. People bought their records in the hope of unravelling some of that enigma, and to this day it's still intangible in many ways. They're *still* selling records, forty years after they broke up.
And the greatest-selling record of all-time? Thriller. Why? Young, old, black, white, male, female... it doesn't matter, that record broke so many boundaries and has an appeal to almost any buyer on the planet.
Back to Morning Musume, July 2009. They're raking in the cash, they're arguably more successful than ever; but their goal should be nothing short of world-domination, to be the talent behind the as-yet-unnamed greatest-selling record of all time. One that makes Thriller look like some slip of the world consciousness before we all started buying really good music.
They *can*. But all this motto-kawaii-ness is keeping a few people from buying into the hype. It's time to get *real* again, and they're headed in that direction, it seems, so keep your fingers crossed. Before long, they'll each have a zoo and a theme park in their back yards, if they can remember how to keep everyone's attention. "Yume no Naka", indeed.
Last order of blasphemy is this: as far as every Japanese girl, famous or not (as I've heard) wants to be blonde and Pam Anderson-esque... again, let's get real. Every one of them in their current state, be they Kayo Aiko, Nagasawa Nao, Saito Michi, Hoshii Nanase, the Morning Musume's, the girls from SPEED (especially Hiro, no question) is cooler than I could ever hope to be. I'm just buying records, trying to unravel some of that enigma.
After returning from Los Angeles I felt a bit burned out on the whole Jpop thing, so I've been listening to a wide variety of music since then. Mainly, my new favorite form of music has turned out to be "post-war optimism" stuff like Guy Lombardo and Les Paul. I'll sneak the occasional Aiko/Mi-chan/Perfume songs in just to be fair, but as far as new-era Morning Musume is concerned, I'll be back to it in a while.
I ran out of the Hello!Party for a short while to avoid hearing a karaoke version of "Yume no Naka", from the very first Morning Musume album. Apologies to whoever that was, but I don't care if you're the reincarnation of Karen Carpenter; that song is just sacred in so many ways. So I got the urge to listen to that song a couple days ago and played the whole album for good measure, what the hell...
In many ways, the latest incarnation of Morning Musume is like Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos; they didn't exist a while back, and they're really good. By comparison, 'old-school' Musume is like the Cool Ranch Doritos we were downing by the metric ton in the '80s. It just felt right. My point with this admittedly goofy analogy is that, to be sure, what we saw at AX was certainly the same brand of Morning Musume, but what we saw was certainly not the same group it was 11 years ago. I know what you're thinking, it's not the same members, but there's more to it than just who's holding down the stage.
With the exception of "3, 2, 1 Breakin' Out" and maybe a couple of others, they've abandoned group harmonies in favor of a more powerful lead vocal style. The group has gone from the old-school cool harmonies to balls-out chaos (think 'Koko ni Iruzee!') to uber-cuteness (like 'Ai Araba...' and 'Mikan'). It's taken them this long to get back to a more mature, dare I say 'sexy' style with 'Shouganai Yume Oibito'. And I place the blame squarely on the 4th Gen.
Look at the numbers. Musume recruits Goto Maki, the world's head explodes, and Love Machine/Koi no Dance Site sell a collective 400 billion copies. Then comes the 4th Gen to KILL THEIR SALES. As much as I love them, once you bring in Rika, all the girls in the audience turn their attention elsewhere, then the crazy man-fans show up and take over the place.
To be fair, I'm pretty sure that Yossie has kept a lot of girls in the buying mood. Ladies, I'm not suggesting that you're *that way* but it's pretty obvious that the chicks dig Yossie, so don't freak out on me yet. She did what she could.
Aibon and Nono were good role models for girls for about eight weeks or so, until (as I've discussed) they decided to *not* be role models and just do whatever-the-hell.
It was Tsunku who took the group in the direction they went, who went for the male demographic overall and decided to stop catering to more feminine tastes. And suddenly, in place of the original group is this over-caffeinated group who's bouncing off the walls instead of paying tribute to the jazz masters of old. Maybe it's Ichii Sayaka's fault.
Sayaka (who, if I'm not mistaken, was referred to as "Kaa-san" by the other members) should never have left. Watch for her in old concerts, she's got soul (*and* she's super-bad!) She certainly looked and acted more like a grown-up than any of the current members, and for whatever reason, when she left it allowed the Nacchi's and Rika's to take over and wreck up the place. Observe, then, the cover of the second Morning Musume album with most of the old-school members:
Notice anything? Like the fact that they're not wearing any makeup? If I was a record-buyer of the female persuasion I'd be thinking to myself, these girls are bold. They're not afraid to be their true selves. And despite it all, yes, they're still really pretty. Would you expect the same kind of attitude from the group now?
Uh, don't hold your breath. And it's not that I don't like what they've become, far from it. But as I'm listening to the Kaa-san era albums, there's no mental connection, no spark in my brain that says "this is the group I saw". But you know what? Technically, this *was* the group I saw, where the name and the forces behind it are the exact same. Beyond that, it ain't selling quite as well these days as Love Machine did. The audience has shrunk. Where did all those women go?
What makes a hit record? Let's look at some contemporaries. SPEED, in some two-and-a-half years, sold enough records that when Morning Musume finally surpassed them it was a bona-fide ACCOMPLISHMENT. Women bought the hell out of those SPEED records because they didn't stray from the formula that made them big in the first place. Look hot, look cool, and you've got buyers on both sides of the aisle.
The Beatles sure sold a lot of records, just as many (if not more) to women who were totally after them like stalkers. It was their wide appeal in songwriting and general aloofness that gave them mystique. People bought their records in the hope of unravelling some of that enigma, and to this day it's still intangible in many ways. They're *still* selling records, forty years after they broke up.
And the greatest-selling record of all-time? Thriller. Why? Young, old, black, white, male, female... it doesn't matter, that record broke so many boundaries and has an appeal to almost any buyer on the planet.
Back to Morning Musume, July 2009. They're raking in the cash, they're arguably more successful than ever; but their goal should be nothing short of world-domination, to be the talent behind the as-yet-unnamed greatest-selling record of all time. One that makes Thriller look like some slip of the world consciousness before we all started buying really good music.
They *can*. But all this motto-kawaii-ness is keeping a few people from buying into the hype. It's time to get *real* again, and they're headed in that direction, it seems, so keep your fingers crossed. Before long, they'll each have a zoo and a theme park in their back yards, if they can remember how to keep everyone's attention. "Yume no Naka", indeed.
Last order of blasphemy is this: as far as every Japanese girl, famous or not (as I've heard) wants to be blonde and Pam Anderson-esque... again, let's get real. Every one of them in their current state, be they Kayo Aiko, Nagasawa Nao, Saito Michi, Hoshii Nanase, the Morning Musume's, the girls from SPEED (especially Hiro, no question) is cooler than I could ever hope to be. I'm just buying records, trying to unravel some of that enigma.
New Stuff
A whole month's worth of new Japanese music arrived in one glorious package.
First, there was Perfume's 'DREAM FIGHTER' and I respond with a resounding Hell Yeah to that! The single continues Perfume's musical progression, and the c/w, "Negai" is a slow, hypnotic song that's got me very captivated. It ends with a somber piano rendition of the main theme (an actual piano, perhaps) and doubtless, I'm still very much on the Perfume boat.
Next, Morning Musume released 'Cover You', a must-have tribute album to legendary (well, NOW you've heard of...) writer Aku Yuu. A grand cover album in the tradition of W's first record; though W's covers still kick some unquestionable ass, here's some more songs to find the originals of. Songs like Pepper Keibu (original) and (MM revamped). A quick fan fave is 'Koi no Dial 6700', but there are 14 in total, like 'Dou ni mo Tomaranai' (or check out this version), or: oh-my-god-it's-chock-full'a-Japanesey-goodness 'Pin Pon Pan Taisou'. It seems like a couple of people have heard this song before. Untold numbers of J-kids singing and dancing in unison, with mecha-robots... they really know how to warm my heart. Is that Aya Matsuura MC'ing?
Finally, the first release of all these, SPEED's triumphant return with 'Ashita no Sora' and c/w 'Something New' which may be, in fact, too funky (not possible). Again we get a line like 'Let's go out to the street' (?) Somebody do a bit of research on Okinawa street gangs and reassure me that there aren't rampant amounts of dancing female foursomes blowing each other away for drugs and such.
But brace yourselves, gentle readers; I hate to break this to you, but there is one track I may never listen to again: the 'White Love～STEADY～Body&Soul 2008' medley. If this track serves only one purpose, it's to acclimate our ears to the sound of a much-older SPEED singing our old favorites on their new tour. After that, well...
For good measure, they made sure to employ every available gospel singer to back them up on this one. This isn't their weak spot, and it never was. Always plenty of gospel singers wailing away on some really good SPEED tracks, and even if they're going over the top singing about things like 'Kiwi Love bayayayayaby wowowowowowowowowowowow!' (whatever that means), it'd be blasphemy not to have all them gospellers.
Every SPEED medley, even from back in the day, suffers because the songs contained within are on average 5 minutes at least, which meant they really had a beginning and an end, and the journey was magnificent. To chop them off at around 2 minutes each denies the full force of the message and the spaces between sound like 'fuck it, let's do a different song now'. There's no effort to combine these songs into one cohesive work that matches the profundity of any of the originals.
But my main opposition to this recording is that, look, Hiro and Eriko are ten years older now, and they're not screaming at the top of their lungs like they used to. Which happens to be their old trademark, and what endeared me to those old songs in the first place. Anybody who tries to build a time machine and go back to give them some control or nuance that they didn't have then should be killed before a good thing gets ruined.
Ladies, you're all beautiful and talented, but if this isn't you anymore, don't pretend. Sing a whole set of new songs, throw in the odd oldie here and there. But I'm kinda disappointed that you spent any time on this song, because you already recorded it years ago, and we still have it on CD. And for every imitation you do of your thirteen-year-old selves, I wonder whether it's because you think you can do it better now, or because you think it'll be just as good as it was before (or the third, most likely answer: because the producers demanded it). Seriously, I can put the old (real) 'STEADY' on repeat for weeks at a time if I miss it that much.
I don't mind the new 'heavier' backing tracks that come with the medley, and someday we may get to hear the new music with the old voices. But time has moved on, and as much as I *love* the new songs, no matter how hard you try (with every available technology), you just can't recapture a moment.
Lots of links, Aiko style.
I just took a Mensa Practice Quiz which says I have a "good chance of passing the Mensa test," but if it only weren't for these two simple facts: one, I *hate* word and number puzzles, and two, I'm too busy doing Aiko research to care. You'll all thank me for doing this, it took a little while.Seriously, for now I'm done praising everybody else, so it's time for the issue at hand... wait, one more thing... I previewed SPEED's new single Ashita no Sora and it's *damn* good; almost made me cry to see them back together all these years later. I insist you check it out.
Okay, the issue at hand... Ms. Kayo Aiko. Forget wikipedia, it won't tell you anything. Rather, check out her blog (also linked above right), or the blog of fellow Kingyo Nao-chan, or the blog of fellow Cheer Up-pers TONO and Kyan Chiaki, where Aiko is bound to (and does frequently) make an appearance. She puts pictures of *them* on *her* blog, so expect the same from her contemporaries.
Also, see Aiko being a video game nerd for whatever the heck this game is called. Right now there are 18 pages, all accessible from clicking one of the small pictures at the bottom of the main page.
Or, go to youtube for new concert footage, shot about May of this year at Shibuya-O Crest:
Kanojo wa Gokigen Naname (never seen her sing this live before)
Hitomi no Naka no MeikyuuStill not impressed? Keep reading. Go to Google Maps and copy-n'-paste the following coordinates for your virtual Aiko tour. Choose "Street View" and pretend you're there. For extra realism, go there in person!
First, a holy shrine for all Kingyo lovers, Azabu West Studio, located at:
35°39'30.21"N, 139°43'30.56"E
the brown building with the recessed entry and Coke machine (and old guy on street) is where LOVERS HIGH was recorded.
Then, head to Fussa on the outskirts of Tokyo for a couple of Aiko landmarks.
The first is at:
35°44'6.52"N, 139°20'25.32"E
and the store called BIG MAMA is where the 'cosmic cosmetics' cover was shot. Took me a while to find this place, and the store is shuttered in the Street View, which covers up the oh-so-famous "American Antiques" wording featured so prominently on the cover. Must've been Sunday when the Google people drove by. But, that's the place.
When looking for that, by sheer accident, I found:
35°44'16.77"N, 139°20'20.19"EThe NICOLA sign (see picture above), which is a pizza place. I have no idea why this was included, but again, there it is. By the way, the caption on the Polaroid above reads "I'm happy even on cloudy day." I would be, too, if I had some pizza!
Love for SPEED / Welcome back...
I won't change anyone's mind on this subject no matter how long I go on, but I could certainly write volumes about SPEED. When I started listening to them (fall 2006), they were already old news but I still became a believer and to this day I'll give them tons of respect and praise because they deserve it.If you're not experienced in the ways of SPEED go find some videos and come back later; this'll still be here when you're done.
For those who already know them let me just say: fuck yeah, SPEED is BACK! A new single, あしたの空, arrives November 12, 2008.
From the beginning in 1996 to their first breakup in 1999, twelve singles in a row sold over 500,000 copies each and "White Love" has come close to two million. What more can I say?
First, they're powerful. A savvy city manager could save money by foregoing traditional tornado sirens and just have SPEED go outside in bad weather. Together they would yell "Seek shelter now! Save yourself!" and anyone within a ten-mile radius would be able to hear it.
Second, they're cool. They don't care what you think and had they not gotten popular, would still dance and sing for their own enjoyment. And they'd do it better than you, amateur!
Third, they're all gorgeous.
Fourth, they're from the streets. I guess. I'm not sure what streets exactly, but apparently life at the Okinawa Actors' School is rough. That's why SPEED has songs like "My Street Life" and lines like the one in "April", "without your love/I must go out to the streets". Sorry, I'm not buying this, but a lot of their music has 'urban' overtones. Can anyone tell me why?
Fifth, even if they don't care, they've got fans everywhere. Even though they were 13 years old on average when they first performed and people probably scoffed, "what can they do?" they made everyone shut the hell up from minute one. They both dance and sing live without waivering, and somewhere Tsunku stands in front of a chalkboard at his girl farm showing SPEED videos to all his talent and he says, "do this! This is what we're after!"
Marketers, take note. With their independent and strong image they are great role models for young girls (who buy their records). With their sexy and cool image they are beyond attractive to young men (who buy their records). Everybody loves hard beats; sure, we all do. And with this marriage of girl/guy worship comes sales, sales, sales, and popularity.
Two videos put the whole thing in perspective. This video shows a record shop clerk who has no idea that the girls in his presence (Takako and Hitoe) have sold more records than his whole store contains. Nor does he respond when they invoke the name of SPEED but I hope he's since gone home and looked them up, to his bewildered surprise.
Another video (which I'm having trouble finding) is a live performance of 'White Love' where an overexcited (presumably young female) fan cuts through the beauty of hiro's final line to scream "hiro-chan!" As damaging as it is to the recording, it's obvious that this fan is in euphoria, and to this day, all of us wish we could have been there to scream the same thing.
Welcome back, SPEED. Show us how it's done -- not a moment too soon.
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