Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Midori Karashima -- Memories


Although I never planned it this way, it turns out that exactly 2 years ago I put up my first Midori Karashima(辛島美登里)song onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Of course, it was the Xmas ballad "Silent Eve", and it was from that classic that I was imprinted with the impression of Karashima-sensei as the master of delicate pop balladry. I also ended up buying her 3rd album with Fun House, "Green" (February 1991), which had "Silent Eve".

A few months later, another album was released..."Memories". But this wasn't Fun House but King Records who was behind this one, and it includes the material that singer-songwriter Karashima had sung for them when she was working for that company in the late 1980s. I bought it on the strength of "Green", listened to the disc...and then promptly forgot about it for a couple of decades. Sheepishly, I have to say that it wasn't the case that it wasn't right for me, but I wasn't quite ready for it.


"Memories" contains both the A and B sides of the 2 singles that she performed with King Records within a span of about 4 months between 1987 and 1988. All of the songs from those two singles were for a couple of anime that I hadn't heard about until I read Karashima's J-Wiki bio and the liner notes for the album itself.

Now, I know that Karashima contributed one song to the anime "Yawara" which was about that judo high school student. Still, it was surprising to hear the vocals of a singer that I've usually associated with the Yuletide season being applied to a post-apocalyptic mecha show. "Midnight Shout", written and composed by Karashima, has that 80s rockin' guitar-&-syntherrific (my term) music that was the go-to sound for those action anime back at that time. Although the program was titled, "Makyo Gaiden Le Deus"(魔境外伝レ・ディウス), the theme song sounds more like the events surrounding a stylized drag race down the empty streets of Tokyo at 2 in the morning.


"Last No" is a lot less suspenseful and perhaps it's atypically cheerful for another out-of-this-world mecha anime titled "New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine". Karashima's contribution here was for the special 1988 3-episode OVA sequel of the show which had originally aired earlier in the decade, and "Last No" was used as the ending theme for the first episode.


Along with those King singles, the rest of "Memories" is anime-related as well. "Purple Sights" is a song that is associated with the 2-part OVA anime, "Ryu Seiki"(竜世紀...Dragon Century)that came out in 1988. The original version (as above) has that City Pop vibe that I like; there are also two more versions included in the album, one of which is labeled as the New Version which has a poppier arrangement and a shorter and more subdued version subtitled "Fuyu no Machi e"(冬の街...To The Winter Streets).


You can take a look at what "Ryu Seiki" was all about at the above link.


Getting back to "Makyo Gaiden Le Deus", my final song for this article is "Smile For You" which was the ending theme. I think the usual pattern for a lot of anime when it came to theme songs was having that exciting opening theme and then a more introspective ballad as the ending. "Smile For You" struck me as that song that I've usually associated with Karashima: lush arrangement paired with her smooth, flowing voice.


6 comments:

  1. It's rare that you write about Karashima Midori, but I'm glad since I'm her fan. Among the songs in this album, I like "Sayonara no wakari ni" most.

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    1. Hi, Larry.

      Good to hear from you again. Yeah, I have to admit that the Midori articles aren't as numerous as those for Akina and Yuming, but that's just a personal bias on my part. :)

      Just curious...what are your favourite Midori songs? And just in general, which singers do you enjoy listening to?

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    2. J-Canuck,
      Like Akina, there're so many Midori songs I like that it's hard to come up with a list. The ones that I listen to most often are "Maboroshi", "Natsu iro no mono gatari", "Haru wa tabidachi", "Mizu no seiza", "Chizu", "Heibon", "Kanojo no game", "Ai suru koto". I am very impressed by her cover of Oda Kazumasa's "Tashika na koto" a few years ago.

      I listen to Akina, Midori Karashima most of the time. I sometimes listen to Murashita Kouzou and Utada. Recently, I've picked up Matsuura Aya, Ikimonogakari, and EXILE.

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    3. Hi, Larry.

      Thanks for letting me know. Would you be interested in writing about any of their work?

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  2. J-Canuck,
    Thank you for your offer. It's an honor :) I don't play any instrument nor do I have any training in music so I can't write too much about the music itself.

    Have you written about Chisato Moritaka's "Watarase bashi"? I listened to Aya's version first, and then I read about the story behind the song. I think it's interesting to share. Please let me know how I can collaborate with you.

    Again, thank you so much for your offer.

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    1. Hi, Larry.

      That's great if you can help out. I remember some of your previous comments and thought maybe you could also give some of your insights on the songs that you know.

      I myself have no knowledge concerning musicology, so no problems there. Give me a contact at allanikesaka@gmail.com and we can talk about your contributions.

      As for Chisato's "Watarase Bashi", none of us have covered that one, so you can try that one out. In any case, I'm looking forward to talking with you at Gmail.

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Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.