Shena Ringo - "Stem (daimyou asobi hen)". Absolutely breathtaking j-pop - as exciting as sound as it is enthralling as music. A tour de force, for real. It opens with a slow zoom in, a plummy bass pointing out blurred lights and staggering greysuited men. Shena begins with some of Britney's threatening sultriness before bounding up into the clouds with a poise and play that recall Leslie Feist. She's sexy and genuine, a lilac voice amidst the tune's marvellous baroque glitch production. The track is astounding - from the joy and push of Shena's delivery to the remarkable arrangement. It's some kind of chamber pop, sure, but the depth and variety of it blows my mind. This isn't just the typical alt.rock move ("let's throw in some strings!"): there's several different movements, entirely different aesthetics. The Nigel Godrich visit to the orchestra is soon overwhelmed by reassuring strokes of strings, then a cold dip into piano scales and jerky staccato marching. We stumble through drumrolls, a pumping ascent, and suddenly we're smack in the middle of crashbanging electric drums and bass. And the cellos/violins are still there, singing forward like wave after wave of marauding seabirds. This is the main theme from Shena Ringo's 2003 film, Tanpen Kinema Hyakuiro Megane - but the official single seems to be the considerably inferior, cheesed-out English-language version.
Vincent Gallo - "Laura". It's not raining tonight, but I feel like it should be. A thin, bleak drizzle. Since listening and listening to the Vincent Gallo/PJ Harvey/John Frusciante "Moon River", I've dug deeper into Gallo's musical work and am enjoying the hell out of When. Woebot was right when he commented that Gallo's fulfilling some of the promises that Badly Drawn Boy gave up on after his initial EPs. While there's much to say for the pop that Damon brought to this sort of shambling disintegration, Gallo's done him one better with his mastery of atmosphere in these slack, earnest indie folk songs; it's a loose and drear sound to drown your melancholy in. "Laura" is a lovely song. A strummed and almost meaningless guitar goes on unending under Gallo's plaintive call: "Laura, Laura, come back." A bassline drips, catches the light. The Velvet Underground on a night when it's raining. Thin, bleak drizzle.
Thanks for listening, and for your comments. See you Monday.