3/26/12

戸川京子 - B.G.


戸川京子 is perhaps best known now as being the younger sister of 戸川純 (a.k.a. god). unlike her sister, the music she performed was much more idol and much less avant-garde. all the same, there is quite a bit of experimentation on this album. a particularly favorite track for me would have to be the second track, "Hawaiiに行きたい". it begins as a very melancholic sounding ballad, but after about a minute into the song there is a very sudden transformation into this very tropical (hawaiian, to be precise) sounding piece of music. the hawaiian bit is absolutely giddy in it's sheer joy and innocence, but soon it's cut off and the ballad returns . . . only to transform back into the lei adorned ode to the popular japanese vacation spot yet again. the effect is very jarring, as your mood as a listener of this song is constantly being assaulted by these abrupt change in atmosphere and feeling. it's fantastic, of course. it's actually become one of my all time favorite songs from the genre.

ANYWAYS ON TO THE REST OF THE ALBUM. it's consistently awesome. it frustrates me ever so much that her sister, jun, shall always overshadow her. of course, jun is superior (but then, jun is superior to most musicians, no matter the genre), but that's beside the point; kyoko had plenty of talent. her willingness to be playful and weird: on the fourth track, "責任とってよ", she and a male vocalist "rap". it kinda reminds me of 塊魂's soundtrack . . . if 塊魂's soundtrack had been recorded in the 80s. oh yeah, while i'm still on this track, i think her sister can be heard shouting the chorus at about the half-way mark . . . speaking of jun, the one time on this album where kyoko really reminds me of her sister is on the track "悲しみはリアルすぎて…". she sings in a crooning, seductive sort of way (think of the way jun sings in YAPOOS' classic "Barbara Sexaroid").

over all, the album is absolutely stunningly fun to listen to. it's joyous and giddy and silly. there are few albums that cheer me up when i'm feeling the blues (which is surprisingly rare for someone who primarily blogs about post-punk and "introspective idol-pop"). this is all very bitter sweet, of course, because on a hot summer day in july of 2002 she committed suicide. this shouldn't come as a surprise to longtime fans of togawa jun; jun herself has attempted to end her life at least once (supposedly she has visible scars from said attempts).


1. 恋のエアシューター
2. Hawaiiに行きたい
3. 25ans~ヴァンサンカン~
4. 責任とってよ
5. ランチタイムラバー
6. ワンルームの鍵
7. 悲しみはリアルすぎて…
8. 未成年


ENJOY

6 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot for this. I'd been meaning to listen to it. It's absolutely flawless!

    One of the best idol-pop albums I've heard for a while. I'd only ever heard O'Can by her before, which is also great, imo.

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  2. Togawa Jun is the One True God. Thou shalt have no other gods but her.

    Kyoko is cool, too. I wish she had released more music.

    The shadow of her suicide hangs over her music, and all of Jun's output post 2002. Deeply and tragically sad.

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  3. @ shane140: i know she at least one other album as well, and one of my favorite songs by her, "Two Of Us", is from that album.

    @ ido: so you think jun's albums since 2002 have been influenced by her sister's death? i guess it's possible, but obviously since i can't understand japanese i wouldn't have any idea what the lyrics of Togawa Fiction were about.

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  4. Someone's posted a vid on YT with the lyrics to Suki suki dai suki! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c45a1WTr-wY

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  5. @ Loser Knife: not so much the lyrics or music from her post 2002 projects. More like her continued retreat from performance, self-imposed isolation, and lots of unpleasant rumors. Her voice really lost a lot of its power and richness, especially apparent in the few live performances she's done in the past seven odd years. I just think Kyouko's death really hit her hard and took a lot out of her.

    Its really sad. I consider the woman to be one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the past 30 years. I hope she is doing well and happy.

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  6. Thanks for digging this up. Great album!

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