![]() As personalities, Ami and Yumi were not merely manufactured icons. Their tee shirts-and-jeans style suited indie rock fanzines as much as teen mags and their genre-busting musical approach displayed such intelligence, wit and sheer exuberance that their material was ensured a life long past its time on the Asian charts. And Ami and Yumi respectfully made sure that Yoko herself got the first look.Įver since topping the charts in the mid-nineties with their debut single, "Asia No Junshin (True Asia),"Ami and Yumi Yoshimura haven't been your average J-pop superstars. For the North American version of NICE., they take that one step further with special cover art designed to be a timely - and tender - tribute to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous Bed-In For Peace. Puffy AmiYumi's original mentor, Tamio Okuda, who masterminded several of their Japanese hits, joins in the fun as co-writer on the bouncy ska of "K2G." With Andy and Tamio, Puffy AmiYumi have, over the years, devised many clever musical homages to all sorts of artists they love. ![]() On the brilliant "Sayonara," Puffy AmiYumi do the Byrds better than Tom Petty, and give it a terrific back beat that will coax you out of your seat to get your imitation leather fringe shaking. It's a delirious and delicious blend of killer hooks, playful punk, funky disco breaks, new wave-style electronics, day-glo pyschedelica and even some jangly 12-string guitar. The track itself is a hand-clapping, fist-pumping, shout-along instant classic that somehow manages to blend the spy-movie cool of Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" with the adolescent excitement of the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night." Here they lend their voices to an eagerly awaited show that features characters created by the most venerable of American comic companies. fans of Japanese anime and manga in fact, they launched their 2002 North American tour with an appearance at the Los Angeles Anime Expo. Ami and Yumi already have a large following among U.S. is "Teen Titans Theme," an English-language track written for the forthcoming new Cartoon Network series, Teen Titans, based on the famous eighties-era, D.C. Perhaps the most significant east-meets-west moment on NICE. With songs as freewheeling as these, anything goes. You not sure if you should be thrusting your arms in the air Travolta-style or waving a cigarette lighter at your CD player. ![]() The rapid-fire patter reflects an instrumental arrangement that morphs from Buggles-period new wave to Bee Gees-era disco, with a few seventies arena rock flourishes thrown in for good measure - all in about three minutes. As a writer for Amplifier put it last year, "Puffy AmiYumi proves that sheer fun transcends the language barrier." Just listen to "Tokyo Nights," which features Ami and Yumi quick-cutting between their native tongue and the western words they're still earnestly studying. ![]() There's definitely more English on NICE., but language has never really been a problem for the duo and their fans. The U.S.-based producer, former Jellyfish drummer and overall power-pop whiz had worked with Puffy AmiYumi on many previous tracks, most notably their first foray into English-language material, "Love So Pure," the giddily romantic lead-off cut from their 2002 Bar/None album, An Illustrated History. is the first Puffy AmiYumi album produced in its entirety by long-time collaborator and pal Andy Sturmer, who recorded it with singers Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura in Los Angeles and Tokyo. As they sing on the track of the same name, it's not a geographical location, but a state of mind: "Planet Tokyo/It's a place not very far/In your stereo/It's as close as where you are." It's a mirror-ball-shaped world with no musical borders, where you can find dancefloor-friendly, all-ages-welcome, nonstop fun. From the thrashing opening chords of NICE., Puffy AmiYumi jet-propel you straight to the heart of Planet Tokyo. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |