VOL.61 1st 迷你album“first kaleidscope 〜君の家までずっと走ってゆく〜”

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.61

GARNET CROW’s first mini-album *first kaleidscope 〜君の家までずっと走ってゆく〜* arrives November 27!

Hirohito Furui (arrangement / keyboards)
Active in the mainstream music world as an arranger. His major works include rumania montevideo’s “Still for your love,” WAG’s “Free Magic,” Miho Komatsu’s “願い事ひとつだけ,” and ZARD’s “MIND GAMES,” among many others.

Yuri Nakamura (vocals / composition)
Responsible for composing all the songs. Her songwriting, filled with the feel of Western music, has consistently received high praise.

AZUKI Nana (lyrics / keyboards)
She has also written songs for many artists, including WAG’s “Free Magic” and WANDS’ “「今日、ナニカノハズミデ　生きている」.”

Hitoshi Okamoto (guitar)
Also active as a session musician.

Have you ever suddenly become inexplicably melancholy? It happens to me often. A few days ago, for example, I went to Shimokitazawa on an errand and ran into Junta, formerly the guitarist of JUN SKY WALKER(S). He looked exactly as he had back then, with an energy that made me feel as if he might pick up his black Les Paul at any moment and shout, “Let’s keep walking!” The only real change, if I had to name one, was that he now carried a mobile phone (laughs). Thinking that even he might say, “It has to be DoCoMo after all,” and send an email made me feel the passage of time (laughs).

But enough joking. The same feeling comes from old television dramas rerun on CS satellite channels. The bubble-era world of *Tokyo Love Story* is long gone, yet it now occupies the sensibilities of teenagers as perfect comic material for SMAP. “Ah, the passage of time is somehow so melancholy...”

Music is the same. At a time when guitar bands and musicians “born in Tokyo and raised on hip-hop” were flourishing, a four-member group called GARNET CROW suddenly released an album on November 27. Their sound may not yet be nostalgic, but it seems to possess a power that touches the feelings hidden inside everyone. It calls to mind the musicality of Neo Acoustic; if I had to compare it to something, it may be closer to a longing for something already lost.

Take the title track, “君の家までずっと走ってゆくつもり.” When its striking rhythm intertwines with its melancholy melody, forgotten memories seem to flash back one by one, immersing you in an uncontrollable nostalgia. It resembles the feeling of hearing Everything But The Girl or Fairground Attraction for the first time.

Now for the members. What a familiar—and moving—lineup (laughs). Readers over forty might imagine Julie (Kenji Sawada) and Shoken (Kenichi Hagiwara) joining forces in PYG; “自由に歩いて愛して” was a rare and wonderful song. Readers in their thirties might picture the impossibly glamorous Power Station, with Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Chic’s Tony Thompson, and Robert Palmer among its members. Readers in their twenties might think of V2, formed by Tetsuya Komuro and YOSHIKI (laughs). And readers in their teens... perhaps imagine Furuya from Dragon Ash, Tanaka from GRAPEVINE, and Wada from TRICERATOPS suddenly performing together—or perhaps not? In any case, this is a lineup that is startling and striking in exactly that way.

Hirohito Furui has arranged a huge number of works for ZARD, DEEN, and others; he also arranged ZARD’s latest single, “この涙　星になれ.” AZUKI Nana wrote WAG’s “Free Magic,” which has recently achieved a respectable response, and has also supplied lyrics to WANDS. Yuri Nakamura is known for her warm voice and composed all the songs. Hitoshi Okamoto played guitar at the legendary ZARD cruise concert in August. In other words, they are all highly skilled musical craftsmen. Such combinations are not unusual in the history of pop music. In any case, history repeats itself. Keep an eye on the accomplished group GARNET CROW—keep an eye on them.

For those who want to know more about GARNET CROW: a very subjective selection of Neo Acoustic classics

● Orange Juice — *You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever*

Their distinctive quality is the “bitterness” you sense beneath the pop appeal. Their profound misunderstanding of Black music (laughs) created a unique rhythmic feel. Edwyn Collins, the former vocalist and songwriter, drew renewed attention in the mid-1990s when “A Girl Like You” became a hit.

● Aztec Camera — *High Land, Hard Rain*

At just eighteen, Roddy Frame poured everything about youth into what could be called the British soundtrack to *School Wars* (note 1). Influenced by folk rock such as The Byrds, its glittering guitar phrases were quoted and paid homage to by countless bands (laughs). This youthful empire, however, collapsed with the third album. For a time, he also worked with the internationally acclaimed Ryuichi Sakamoto...

Kenji Ozawa once said, “Aztec, huh... it’s not a question of whether they’re good or bad; the point is to keep listening out of habit (laughs).” Since last year, Roddy Frame has officially returned under his own name. Personally, although it is not on this album, I like their cover of Van Halen’s “Jump.” Turning that song into bossa nova is almost laughable. It feels like spitting in the face of hard rock and heavy metal. That attitude is what rock is about (laughs).

● Fairground Attraction — *The First of a Million Kisses*

Here comes afternoon-tea music (laughs) (note 2). When you think of the bubblegum pop that supported the imagery of Japan’s bubble era, this is it. Leaving aside how people were drawn to the cover and made it essential for couples on dates, even the word “rendezvous” has become dated. In any case, “Perfect” really is a classic.

● Ben Watt — *North Marine Drive*

If we are talking about the most fragile and sentimental musician, he takes first place. That very quality makes him a true representative of Neo Acoustic... perhaps? For disappointed people who feel weak and listless, this is surely an album to hear and keep beside you for life. The reverberation of the semi-hollow electric guitar lingers especially vividly, while the voice has a strangely alive, immediate quality. The final track is a cover of Bob Dylan’s “血の轍.” He later formed Everything But The Girl with Tracey Thorn (note 3).

Notes

(1) *School Wars*
The youth drama that represents the 1980s. Can’t you almost hear the opening of the Japanese version of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero,” the commercial rock anthem of the decade? Starring Shinji Yamashita and Yuki Matsumura, it was set around Kawahama High School’s rugby club and broadcast on the TBS network. It left behind many famous lines and characters, including Isoppu, the hero known for the line “That’s it, Isoppu!”

The Daiei television style of abrupt twists is said to have had a major influence on the later “roller-coaster drama,” although that claim is of course highly questionable. The actor who played Isoppu later debuted as a singer with a first single called “イソップ物語”... Is that really all right? His subsequent whereabouts are, naturally, unknown.

(2) Afternoon-tea music
Put simply, music played in the Afternoon Tea shops everyone loved. In 1980, SAZABY opened the first shop in PARCO Part 3. Open sandwiches, muffins, and scones were still uncommon then. Playing self-selected, highly individual cassette tapes in the shop must also have been unusual.

The planners were Tsutomu Sekiguchi, who is still active as a DJ, and Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five. They played a large amount of acoustic music from the European-centered labels Crépuscule, él, Rough Trade, and others that were gradually spreading. It gives you an idea of how clearly European music seemed to be ahead of American music at the time. Apparently, the tapes the two men made are still played in the shops today, crossing the years. That is worth watching—worth watching.

(3) Everything But The Girl
A duo formed by Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. In the 1980s, together with Sade, they decorated the bubble economy with luxurious sounds.