2011/10/30

Shiina Ringo - 2011.10.29 - Countdown TV

The first televised performance of Ringo's newest single, "Carnation". Last time Ringo performed on CDTV was back in 2007, four years ago, during the Heisei Fuuzoku promotion.
Altough there's the whole orchestra there, plus Tokyo Jihen members, it seems to me that with the exception of her voice, everything else is playback. I'm not a great fan of this song, but the vocals are amazing and the stage has this huge feel similar to what we find in the PV. Altough I was expecting her to use the same wig.

Opinions aside, here is the interview plus performance.

01 - カーネーション (Carnation)

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2011/10/20

New Ringo song titled "32歳の別れ"


Just to report on some news which seem to be slightly ignored by the westen community.

Tokyo Jihen's set-list for yesterday's show had a slight change in the Encore section, where they decided to replace "Yoake no Uta" with a new Ringo penned song, called "32歳の別れ" (32-sai no Wakare; Farewell My 32 Years). Before presenting the new song, she told the audience she was a bit nervous to play it because it was still being worked on and the band didn't really rehearse much.
I must say I was a little sceptical at first, because Ringo is turning 33 in November 25th, so it almost sounded like a joke. But maybe this means this stage of her life was very important for her. There's also the possibility that this is not the final title, considering how the song is still being worked on.

This new song brings to 5 the number of solo tracks released after Daihakken: "Carnation" plus two B-Sides, "Between Today and Tomorrow" and now "32-sai no Wakare". I guess a new solo album release is turning out to be more and more expected.

2011/10/19

Shiina Ringo - 2005.07.08 - Bokura no Ongaku 2

This episode of Bokura no Ongaku 2 focuses on Mukai Shuutoku, former member of Number Girl and founder of Zazen Boys, but Shiina Ringo is the second guest, given her relationship with Shuutoku and the fact that they are both band leaders. They talk with each other about their careers throughout the episode and then there are two live performances, altough I only included the first one, which is a duet with Ringo.

"KIMOCHI", the performed song, is originally from Zazen Boys first album, but here we're presented with a slower duet version. Ringo also collaborated on their second album, with back-vocals for three tracks.

One of the things I'd like to hear her say, when Mukai Shuutoku asked her if she had any big dreams, she said she wanted to have a second marriage. I wonder if she still feels the same in 2011.
She also mentions that Sonata, her son, calls her "Haha" instead of "Mama", which is more tradional. And he tells her things like "What's with those dresses mother?".
Surprisingly, she also says she hopes to have a daughter, to somehow compensate for the fact she always grew up wanting a sister.
It's a very endearing interview and performance, I'd say.

01 - KIMOCHI feat. 椎名林檎

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2011/10/07

Shiina Ringo - 1996.10.10 - Music Quest '96

Look what I found! Shiina Ringo singing back in 1996. How nostalgic! Even though I only started listening to her in 2007.

Before signing up any record deal, and after she dropped out of school, Ringo participated in Yamaha's annual Music Quest contest. It was another try at success to kick-start her music career, after the previous year attempt, but this time she performed her own song, the later-to-be smash-hit "Koko de Kissu Shite". It was also the first time she publicly used her stage-name, Shiina Ringo, instead of Shiina Yumiko. In the end, the Grand Prize went to Takashi Taniguchi, but she managed an Excellence Prize and grabbed attention from all major record labels. She ended up signing with Toshiba EMI.

Funny fact: singer-songwriter aiko also participated in this contest, just like in the Teen's Music Festival '95.

Considering how the 5th edition of Music Quest was the last one, after which Yamaha decided to make normal auditions only, we can thank Ringo for not postponing her participation in the contest, as it would have undoubtedely changed her career in ways we can not imagine!

01 - ここでキスして。 (Koko de Kissu Shite.)

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PS - In order to improve the frequency of my updates, I decided to create a template for covers, instead of having to create a different one every time. So it'll be just a screenshot/photo with SR or TJ and the title. Sorry to disappoint the legions of fans of my super cool covers! I'm looking for opinions to improve this template tho, since I'm not a designer. Do you think I should make the text smaller, different color, different background, etc. I'm keeping it as it is for now.