To me, Zelda is not a video-game franchise. Zelda was one of the best band to emerge from the Tokyo punk scene of the late 70's.
The band formed in 1979 after the members discovered punk and new-wave through the 'Blow Up Tokyo Rockers' shows at the S-Ken Studio (the early epicenter of japanese punk). They were close to the band Lizard and its leader Momoyo who produced the first EP released in 1980 on Junk Connection.
The band showed a big potential from early on and even with only female members around 15-16 years old (this was quite a novelty at the time) a major company quickly signed them. Zelda became one of the most successful band of the 'indie boom' of the 80's.
You can tell by listening to their first two records that their music is rooted in punk and new-wave. But despite the young age of the members, it's far from being a plain worship of the Tokyo Rockers sound. The general feeling is brighter and every song benefits from a strong melodic pop sense ('Mirage Lover' from their 1982 album makes a great single).
Yet, it would be reductive to say it's pop music as Zelda doesn't seem to care about boundaries. Their second LP 'Carnaval' (1983) already shows their ability to experiment and try new things. Somehow the first track has a light dub flavor while 'Watashi No Orchestra' directly takes inspiration from Guernica, the neo-retro pop unit which revealed Jun Togawa to the world...
What makes the Zelda sound coherent is Sayoko's vocals. She may be the best singer of the japanese new-wave, able to cover a wide range of emotions. She also gives the diaphanous and dreamy edge which makes Zelda a perfect listen to escape reality.
I could go on for hours about why Zelda is so great but 1°) my english is not so good, 2°) you will get bored. Instead, i'll let you make your own opinion about this wonderful band :
Showing posts with label 80's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 80's. Show all posts
Nagomu Records was a label founded by Uchouten leader and vocalist Kera at the beginning of the 80's.
It was just a way for him to release the Uchouten recordings at first but it became one of the most important independant label in Japan by the end of the decade. Uchouten and Kinniku Shojotai went on major record companies and Zin-Say transformed into Denki Groove at the beginning of the 90's.
But in 1983, Nagomu has only released the first Uchouten sonosheet and Kera is looking for another band. He went to the same high-school as the Kinniku Shojotai members and became friends with them. But he refuses to release their first record because it was just bad hard-rock at the time.
He decides to form a side-project unit with two of their members, Kenji Ôtsuki and Yuichirô Uchida. Just for fun.
No one takes the band seriously and most of the songs are composed and recorded at home on the Electone keyboard of Uchida's father.
The band is named Karate Bakabon (a mix between 'Karate Baka Ichidai', a manga based on Sonny Chiba's master Masatatsu Ôyama' life, and 'Tensai Bakabon' known in the west as 'The Genius Bakabon').
"Bakabon No Susume" is released in september 1983. It contains 6 tracks of cheap home-made techno-pop (everyone in the band was fan of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Hikashu and the likes) and some spoken interludes about an enigmatic deity named Bakabon and his sect of believers.
This record is pure genius for some and just plain garbage for others.
It's up to you now!
It was just a way for him to release the Uchouten recordings at first but it became one of the most important independant label in Japan by the end of the decade. Uchouten and Kinniku Shojotai went on major record companies and Zin-Say transformed into Denki Groove at the beginning of the 90's.
But in 1983, Nagomu has only released the first Uchouten sonosheet and Kera is looking for another band. He went to the same high-school as the Kinniku Shojotai members and became friends with them. But he refuses to release their first record because it was just bad hard-rock at the time.
He decides to form a side-project unit with two of their members, Kenji Ôtsuki and Yuichirô Uchida. Just for fun.
No one takes the band seriously and most of the songs are composed and recorded at home on the Electone keyboard of Uchida's father.
The band is named Karate Bakabon (a mix between 'Karate Baka Ichidai', a manga based on Sonny Chiba's master Masatatsu Ôyama' life, and 'Tensai Bakabon' known in the west as 'The Genius Bakabon').
"Bakabon No Susume" is released in september 1983. It contains 6 tracks of cheap home-made techno-pop (everyone in the band was fan of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Hikashu and the likes) and some spoken interludes about an enigmatic deity named Bakabon and his sect of believers.
This record is pure genius for some and just plain garbage for others.
It's up to you now!
Meganekun, i was a teenage Nagomu gal!
DOWNLOAD Even japanese hardcore die-hard fans don't know much about Mad Conflux. All we know is that they were from Yokosuka and played from 1985 to 1991, the year vocalist Kazuma died in a car accident (or was it an overdose? or maybe one induced the other?).
Anyway, Mad Conflux never had a proper release of their own and i believe that's what prevented them to achieve post-mortem fame and legendary status.
This CD compiles everything they recorded for various compilations (Hang The Sucker, Get Back The Discharged Arrow, Triple Cross Counter Tour...), a tape-only release and a split flexi with Janky. It also has two live sets with decent sound quality.
So, yeah, you get to hear the same songs a bunch of times and it gets a bit boring in the end.
Mad Conflux was one of the first japanese hardcore band to include elements obviously borrowed to american bands in their sound.
Without them and a few others (SIC, Corruption Of Peace... both had 'gaijins' in their line-up), japanese bands would maybe still be playing the old boring traditionnal style known as Japcore. Long mid-tempo songs with too many guitar solos. And that would be awful for everyone.
Just for that reason, Mad Conflux deserves a bit of your attention if you're slightly interested in japanese hardcore-punk.
Or you can just download this to get a bunch of short and angry songs, some of them having funny titles in engrish.
DECIDE ON A SINGLE SHOUT!
[Download]Saki Kubota is a Japanese pop-idol. I think. Her music transcends that of most idol-pop, entering territories that are almost unnerving and haunting in someways, yet still retains what one would typically expect from 80's idol-pop. There is little information on her, but surprisingly enough, Juntaro from the Gerogerigegege is very fond of her music, going as far as to say that among his top 10 favorite albums, Saki Kubota's discography is #1. I felt that when listenining to some of Kubota's work, I felt a great sense of unbeknowing and dread, similar to that of Gerogerigegege compositions such as "Endless Humiliation." Perhaps Juntaro's love for this women isn't so surprising after all.
-Garrett
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