From: Wesley (wesleyhongkong@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Nov 25 2002 - 22:53:17 CET
[Sound :: Lounge] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge
-------- 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 [Sound :: Lounge] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge
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