Pretsy 1343 Posted December 10, 2014 大森靖子 - 洗脳 (Seiko Oomori – Sennou) [asthmatic ”AAAAAAAH”] | (perfect albums don't really exist k) What is already given but worth being repeated anyway: you don’t have to follow convenient pop sensibilities in order to be intriguing from mainstream perspective. Latest album by Seiko, ”Sennou” is demonstrating this trait in a way most might call “disastrous” - while minorities (incl. “bad” vocal aficionados like me) on the other hand go out of their way to call it “pure genius”. “洗脳” is Seiko Oomori’s 3rd full-length, and also the major debut release by courtesy of (notorious) Avex Group. Compared to her earlier, “freak folky”(I am not good with genres, so gomen my ass) repertoire, this album is stacked with various genres and influences related to Seiko’s usual tendencies to make fun of dominating J-pop and Idol trends; you have dubstep, lounge, pop rock anthems, rave…not to mention some tunes that might even please dedicated fanboys/girls of Mr. Bungle-ian clusterfucks. (un)necessary trivia: the latter is mainly attributed to her main influences, that include earlier “dominatrices of j-rock/j-pop” - Jun Togawa and Ringo Shiina (pre-Ringo no Uta era) – folks stanning for mentioned ladies, get thrilled! What makes “洗脳” worth being a must-try for every J-pop/rock enthusiast is abstract beauty of backup instrumentation correlating with Seiko’s quirky vocal performance that screams out adolescent naivety in calmer numbers like twisted fairyland-y “ナナちゃんの再生講座” and touchy “呪いは水色”, teenage playfulness in e.g. dubstep/rave-influenced “イミテーションガール”and synthpoppy “ロックンロールパラダイス” + pure havoc and misery of young adults in ultra-catchy rock number “絶対絶望絶好調”. Track-by-track analyses would be plain lazy (messy results too) - that being taken into account, I will summarize the overall meaning behind my age class metaphors BRIEFLY (no in-depth BS!*): Each careful listen reveals more and more details in this intricate smorgasbord of musical richness – Seiko is able to channel various emotions without even being versatile and talented (according to "mainstream sense") in her musical role (which was simply just rioting with fierce guitar strumming and screaming her lungs out like a madwoman). Owing to the palette of emotions, simpleton listeners will never know what to feel after getting through Seiko’s “brainwash” (fun trivia: lit. translation of the album title). Unpredictability as a main pro in “album recipe” is of course, the idea taken for granted in our MH community – right? *In-depth review would result in massive chunks of complex writing and unnecessary fuss – after all, “洗脳” caters for a huge, uncountable number of genres you usually stumble in popular, Oricon-approved music. Therefore, take this as my slight attempt to make you SOMEWHAT interested in the world of "frivolous" vocals and mumble-jumble arrangements! Pretsy’s top picks (SC links!): 絶対絶望絶好調 - pop rock anthem + lots of stuff ナナちゃんの再生講座 - Super-Mario-64-Castle-theme-meets-jazzy-accompaniment-and-Togawa-ish-approach https://soundcloud.com/suisain/nana-chan-pls 私は面白い絶対面白いたぶん - dance-y avant-garde rollercoaster https://soundcloud.com/suisain/absolutely-interesting おまけ ～スーパーフリーポップ～ - Yoko Ono will be proud https://soundcloud.com/suisain/yoko-ono-pls (Avex is very...vexing) Pretsy's meh's: デートはやめよう - unfitting position + too laid-back for her kind of artist :/ Verdict: Seiko O-“NO PRETSY THIS IS BAD STOP THIS PLS”-omori struck the gold! Totes genius. 3 CAT5, Zeus and beni reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beni 2149 Posted December 10, 2014 Instant like for just noticing the thread is all about the fabulousness of Madam Oomori!~ I have yet to give this latest album of hers a full listen but have heard her previous two and, oh my god, she is so damn flawless. Flawless, in a way, I'm sure, many would disagree. As you've described it, I'm also one of the proud bunch of '“bad” vocal aficionados' out there. I find her vocals super intriguing and unique, setting her apart very well from the typical J-Pop scene as a whole. What makes it even more interesting to me is that she's pretty much 'Anti-Idol.' The way she sings, the way each and every song is structed in contrast with the actual idols, it's much more tuneful and out there. As one has already said, her appearance surprisingly and nicely contrasts with what she actually delivers. I also love her influences as you've already pointed out. My love for Togawa continues to grow with every day, that woman's a gem. And Ringo, I think we can all agree she's a queen herself too. And just check out Oomori's 魔法が使えないなら死にたい album cover. Now where have I seen that before? xD Thanks for the review and for reminding me I still have to listen to it! Have been listening to it as I've typed this up and I just can't be disappointed in her. What a star, in her own way. 1 Pretsy reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
