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November 19, 2004
Ringo Star
Supposedly, there is a professor at Rikkyo Daigaku teaching a class called "Shiina Ringo vs. Jpop."
I was listening to her last album Karuki Zaamen Kuri no Hana yesterday for the first time in ages and remembered how great it is. There has never been a more well-produced and challenging album created in the world of Jpop. (She has zero indie-cred, so the album cannot be classified as a product made outside of the mainstream industry). I highly recommend it to anyone who has not heard it. The lyrics are particularly interesting, with veiled criticism towards the Japanese music industry in "宗教" and meta-discussion about the process of creation itself in the stunning final track "葬列". The album literally destroys itself at the end.
Which is why Tokyo Jihen kind of disappoints me. I've come around to liking that first single, but if someone stumbled upon her new work, they certainly would not go and make an entire class framing her against the Jpop system. No matter what, however, she still wins my adulation.
Posted by marxy at November 19, 2004 12:43 AM
Comments
your're right - although kzk is hardly the kind of music to sell records, shiina ringo is in the mainstream, having had her record contract with emi from day one.
but the category of jpop seems ubiquitous, and i'm surprised that an academic in japan would actualy use that term. correct me if i'm wrong, but i though it was mostly used by people outside of japan to describe japanese music after kayokyoku, which is pretty broad.
i can understand your disappointment with tokyo jihen. i wish she could make another album like kzk, but i think the crazy noise at the end of the album sums it up. probably not a good place to be for a long time. instead, she's turned to light entertainment, a showgirl dancing to dynamite!
seriously, i really hope kyouiku is good.
Posted by: rachael at November 19, 2004 6:09 PM
Hi Rachel. I liked your zine. Sorry for not writing you earlier.
Unless I am missing it, Tokyo Jihen does not seem to be subversive, which is Shiina Ringo's marvelous touch. She plays the Jpop game while simultaneously destroying it. TJ just seems like she wants to sing showtunes and rock songs without any irony behind it. I fear she's lost her fighting spirit.
Jpop seems to me to be a certain segment of the Japanese music market, not a term to describe all Japanese music. Morning Musume is Jpop; I don't know if Supercar would be.
Posted by: marxy at November 19, 2004 8:56 PM