[acid-jazz] [Fwd: [soundlounge] Album Reviews :: Marmalaid Rag, Date Course Pentagon Royal]

From: Wesley (wesleyhongkong@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Nov 25 2002 - 22:53:17 CET

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    -------- Original Message --------
    Album Reviews :: Marmalaid Rag, Date Course Pentagon Royal

    source: Metropolis
    http://www.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/recent/music_cd.asp

    by Dan Grunebaum

    MAMALAID RAG
    Mamalaid Rag
    (Sony)
            One wonders what the members of this Japanese rock trio listened
            to as they were growing up. Rather than the hip-hop, heavy rock
    and Britpop influences that dominate most young Japanese bands, this one
    seems to have been influenced by the '70s soft-rock of Boz Scaggs or
    Christopher Cross. Singer Hiroyuki Tanaka has a delicate, almost
    quavering voice that challenges today's orthodoxy of shouting and
    screaming, and he sings unabashedly about affairs of the heart.
    “Kanashimi ni Sayonara” is a sweet summer love song, with mellow
    acoustic guitars filled out by vibraphone and piano, while “Watson” has
    a brassy, jazz-funk feel that recalls Steely Dan. Ultimately, Mamalaid
    Rag may hold an appeal for only true believers in J-pop, but the quality
    of songwriting on their major debut would seem to indicate that the
    band's 20-somethings are just at the beginning of a long and productive
    career.

    DATE COURSE PENTAGON ROYAL GARDEN
    3rd General Representation Products Chain Drastism
    (P-Vine)
            The sounds of doors opening and closing, psychedelic fuzz
            guitar, and searing saxophone solos are among the many sounds
    and samples that make up this oddly likable remix album by one of the
    current darlings of Japan's trance/electronic/improvisational band
    scene. Following the mass popularization of trance in recent years, a
    number of young electronic bands have sprung up, this one among them,
    which also look to the country's strong experimental and jazz
    traditions. Among the producing luminaries reconstructing the band's
    tracks on this album are Tatsuya Oe aka Captain Funk, DJ Quiet Storm and
    the omnipresent Rei Harakami. With roots in the improvisational spirit
    of the free jazz experimentations of the '60s, the album also bears the
    imprint of influences from the whirs and clicks of computer laptop
    music, ambient and minimal techno. Depending on your state of
    consciousness, you may find it either deadly annoying or highly
    entertaining.

    --
    ECLECTIC Japan
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