The Seven Days of J-POP - Part VII : Teriyaki Boyz

[...prev] [intro] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

OK, I'm going to end this series on a quick, fun, and non-earth-shattering beat.

I was originally planning to dedicate the final entry of the series to J-Hip Hop in general. Upon further inspection, there seems to be a more complex and unknown history to parse. Either way, the subject certainly deserves more than one day in a J-Pop context, if you will. So I'm choosing one group -- Teriyaki Boyz, who are most likely an exception as a representative of the style.



In 1993, a DJ named Nigo(little R thing I can't figure out how to represent for legal stuff, oh well) started his own urban clothing company called A BATHING APE (BAPE). The company is now globally known with stores in key metro areas, and remains successful to this day. The End, almost. Rewind.

Sometime in the mid 2000s, Nigo alongside rapper friends in other hip hop groups decided to collaborate and form Teriyaki Boyz. The group image centers around this universe where the Only Album That Ever Mattered is Licensed To Ill. Given the members' showing off their BAPE gear, they are literally a corporate b(r)and as well. In the end, Teriyaki Boyz want to have some silliness and fun with the form. They are to Japanese hip hop what Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are to American pop punk.

Perhaps(???) due to BAPE connections with the Beastie Boys and Def Jam (long after the latter two made amends, I'd imagine), Teriyaki Boyz sought to create a debut album that would stun the world as far as production-note starpower in a dance/urban context. The names are too numerous. It's enough to make anyone not in on the project very suspicious -- for very good reason.

In late 2005, BEEF or CHICKEN launched. Adrock of the Beastie Boys provided the intro and outro, as well as produced the title track. Other notables that entered and exited the production chair turnstyle included Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, DJ Premier, The Neptunes, Cut Chemist, Jon Landau, Mutt Lange, Phil Spector, Todd Rundgren, Flood, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with Full Force, Dave Fridmann, Dennis Callaci, and a few I'm forgetting -- oh yeah, Biggie at the executive production helm.

Seriously though, BEEF or CHICKEN must have been purposely phoned-in through and through purely for shits 'n' giggles all the while helping to promote Nigo(Arrrr!) and his camouflaged pimp-style mogulocity. I mean, there couldn't have been more to the songs than just the sum of the name-drops, right?


BEEF or CHICKEN - (2005)

• Teriyaki Boyz - "Heartbreaker" [4:13 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2005 - produced by Daft Punk

Play this to anyone who can be approximated as a hipst-ah, and the first words to come from said hip person will be "Who are the Japanese rapper dudes who sampled Daft Punk? That's awesome!"

AHA! But you're wrong! Daft Punk produced this! Not the other way around! You don't believe me! But I showed you all up on ya'self! The liner notes say so. It must be true! 'Pfff, like, you didn't know?' Of Mice And PWN3D!

Nah, the hipster is probably right. Daft Punk may have very well done nothing to earn the production liner notes than simply allow *coughGOTTINPAIDBYcough* these guys to put "Daft Punk" in their album credits. Yes, the song is "Human After All."

Whatever. The song's got a fun video anyway!
[Teriyaki Boyz' "Heartbreaker" video]


You know, this is better than Daft Punk's original, isn't it? I like the original, but.. well, there's actually something else going on in "Heartbreaker" other than big menacing froggy-bass synth stomps.


• Teriyaki Boyz - "School of Rock" [4:49 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2005 - produced by Cut Chemist

I've no clue if the Cut Chemist backing is as obvious as the Daft Punk lift right above. This is a fun song with lots of changes in the backing beats, and the baby sounds at the end are cute. But, let's face the facts. This song aesthetic is purely based on the following overlooked example of prime 90s entertainment when Japanese culture truly mashed with hip hop:





Instructor Mooselini should be given an Honorary Video Game Character Nobels Or Something award for helping to introduce a generation of kids to Can's "Turtles Have Short Legs" -- one of the greatest pop singles in music history. I wonder if MC D-Suzuki ever played PaRappa. I digress.


• Teriyaki Boyz - "Cho LARGE" featuring Pharrell [5:16 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2005 - produced by The Neptunes

Pharrell, Neptunes, et al have done a lot of amazing work -- later even for the T Boyz. But this track is not an example of this amazing work, to put it mildly. However, tastes, opinions, assholes, et al.


• Teriyaki Boyz - "Beef or Chicken" [3:19 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2005 - produced by Adrock

Had Grand Royal been around today, BEEF or CHICKEN would be in used bins in U.S. record stores everywhere today -- allowing folks to pick this up, preview the Adrock produced tracks, nod approvingly enough, then maybe cough up the change to get it or not. This is a relative highlight on the album. That's not saying too much, but at least everyone involved is actually making this track sound fun, instead of merely having fun at the listener's expense.


• Teriyaki Boyz - "You Know What Time Is It!?" [4:32 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2005 - produced by DJ Premier

This is the album masterpiece. Perhaps if Teriyaki Boyz had just released this single instead of an album, it might have stopped a few less people from holding their breaths. This is probably a well-known Premier backing track, for all I know, which is very little, admittedly. That said, it's an amazing loop. Also, The Teriyaki Boyz' take on singing during the chorus, of which they provide a much greater contribution than rapping it (O teh snap. You were waiting for that, I know it) creates the master template for a future key single.

...

In the meantime, an album soundtrack for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift would be released, featuring Teriyaki Boyz' most known composition "Tokyo Drift". There's only 2,789,517 uploads on YouTube as I type this. But I promise you I chose THE BEST ONE.

[Teriyaki Boyz' "Tokyo Drift" video]


"Tokyo Drift" was produced by The Neptunes. (There! That's it, that's it!) It's the T Boyz's best song to date, despite the really bad female lyrics. More to the point, it's the T Boyz' smartest acquisition for a proper producer for a single of theirs -- at least for a second chance, ha.

While "Tokyo Drift" still remains a popular dancefloor jam, 2007 ushers in Teriyaki Boyz' best single yet, thanks to their smartest choice of collaborator to date.
...



"I Still Love H.E.R." featuring Kanye West - (2007)

• Teriyaki Boyz - "I Still Love H.E.R." featuring Kanye West [5:13 / mp3 / 192kbps] - 2007 - produced by Kanye West

No comment from Common at this time.

Hip-hop connoisseurs will likely admit to enjoying the delicious backing track to this song -- courtesy of MFSB's "Dance With Me Tonight" -- even if they run screaming from the Teriyaki Boyz' rapping over it. This complaint is a subject I've been purposely avoiding until now.

No, I don't think Teriyaki Boyz are the best rappers ever. Not even close. I doubt they think so. Do I think they can be good enough for a track, if the track suits them well enough? Hell yes. However, many others decipher their like or dislike of a hip-hop song differently. I allow substandard rapping to not ruin a hip-hop song for me if the backing track is strong enough. Others can't get past the crucial lyrics & flow talent prereq -- which is fine. My main point being: you may have no clue what I see in this song.

I don't consider myself a Kanye West fan, although I've been impressed with a live show I saw of his last year, as well as enjoying some very familiar key singles. However, he conducts magic with "I Still Love H.E.R." Besides the inspired choice of the MFSB lick, he and the Boyz produce their master stroke for the single -- their META-YOUTUBE video.

What better way to watch this than on YouTube itself? But for the sake of convenience...

[Teriyaki Boyz/Kanye West in "I Still Love H.E.R." as "broadcast on Teriyaki Tube"]


How many times have you searched out a video for a song on YouTube only to encounter an array of homemade karaoke-style covers of that song delaying your search, making you think "Grrr, I don't want to see your stupid webcam caterwauling. I'm looking for the original goddamn video. *CLICK*"?

I'm guilty as charged. However, here's a video that's giving the shout-out to all those people who are essentially allowing YouTube to still exist. If there were no homemade contributions uploaded to YouTube, the site would have been sued out of existence a few months after it launched. Sad but true.

My favorite part of the video is when Kanye's verse comes in. I don't think his cameo in the song itself is particularly enthralling, but I love how he manages to lip-sync to about three words of his verse in the video than pretend to be shy and grit his teeth throughout the rest of it, threatening to come back into the verse at some point, then just poo-poo-ing the idea.

It's also quite a mesmerizing video for the odd windowing effect and the shimmering aqua-corona that glimmers around the "Teriyaki Tube" video frame.

Sigh. Yeah, this song is effectively stamping '2007' all over itself. It doesn't matter. "I Still Love H.E.R." is my favorite single of the year so far. Even if it's sooo 2007, if you're a group of guys given 15 seconds in your life to be at the top of the world, you have to accept some compromises for the sake of novelty, I guess.
...

(Oh yeah, if you dig "I Still Love H.E.R." but can't get past the lyrics, here's an instrumental for you. Don't say I never loved you. OXOX. Off to EMP Pop Conference 2007!)

[...prev] [intro] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

The Seven Days of J-POP - Part III : Ram Rider

[...prev] [intro] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [next...]

Xanadu 2007 is here. Ram Rider wants you to know.



Having just started 2-3 years ago, RAM RIDER aka, ur, Ram Rider (as in Random Access Memory Rider, not Rider Of An Uncastrated Male Instance Of A Member Of The Ovis Aries Species) has done a lot with one composite flavor of music, that being Daft Punk / U.S.E. / Y.M.O. / E.L.O. inspired rainbow-colored wall-of-sound Prada-bag filter-orgy pop-house music. As far as taste/food analogies and 4/4 dance music goes, Ram Rider is frosted frosting garnished with a Cadbury Creme Egg. Dance music doesn't get any dense and sweeter than this.

Ram Rider's vocals are not only reminiscent of early 90s UK shoegaze pop. He sings this way through heavy Auto-Tune as well. Ram Rider and Jeff Lynne are on par with never wanting to leave any space in their music ever.

Congrats! If you've read this far without feeling ill, you're going to really enjoy the following. I know I do!
...


Portable Disco - (2006)

If the above descriptions whet your appetite, you should not be without this album. This debut full-length feels much like a mix CD of a year and half's worth of singles padded by new tracks exclusive to it. Granted, you're not going to get a lot of variety here, although there are exceptions.

• Ram Rider - "Hello" [4:10 / mp3 / 192kbps]
  
  This track is Ram Rider's mission statement, literally and musically. "Welcome To The New World." Like I said. Xanadu 2007, baby. This is the anthemic capsule of the four corners of 4/4 described above.
  
  [Ram Rider's "Hello" video]
  
  
  It's difficult to describe the world Ram Rider depicts in this video. It's not utopian, because that would imply that actual problems could arise -- which would be handled in the best way, of course. However, there really aren't any problems in this world. In fact, things just blossom everywhere -- and that's about it. They may minimize, maximize, scroll by, rise, descend, or just want a hug after it all. But nothing wilts or dies in this video world. Who's going to clean up this mess eventually? Don't forget your rainbows and headphones after you lock the door!
  
  Seriously. Limahl now seems like Lemmy.
  
  Is it also fair to mention that the squares of happiness in the "Hello" video make the intro sequence of The Brady Bunch look like The Decline Of Western Civilization in comparison?
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Sweet Dance" [5:01 / mp3 / 192kbps]
  
  "Hello" rings in The New World. However "Sweet Dance" is your First Crush after moving to your New World. Is it possible to have a piano progression in a dance track as catchy and heart-tugging as this? I've listened to this song way too many times, and I've just begun. I'll forgive the cliché filter games and the predictable percussive build ups -- hell, even the auto-tuned shoegaze timbre of Ram Rider's lyrics. I'll even forgive the following video to this song!
  
  [Ram Rider's "Sweet Dance" video]
  
  
  By the way, when I'm commuting home from work and I'm walking to catch my connecting bus in downtown back home? I'm exactly like either of the two people in this video. I just pretend all the homeless people are cecropia moths and angelfish.
  
  So, fine. Ram Rider has this fetish with rainbows and headphones. My only real complaint about the video is that it doesn't convey how supremely awesome the melodies in this song are! Not even close. Also, Ram Rider doesn't just butt in and throw confetti into the song a la Rip Taylor. He invents his own chemical element, Glittertonium. The song is pure Glittertonium concentrate. The only way to visually justify this song is to overlay and multiply the respective ending scenes of each of the trifecta of 1980 musical Book Of Revelations cinema -- Xanadu, The Apple, and Can't Stop The Music -- into one giant loop and let the song and video last forever.
  
  But I'm happy with this five minute version. It's cool.
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Door (Ram Rider x Akira Ishihara)" [5:00 / mp3 / 192kbps]
  
  "Technologic" was the first thing that came to mind when I heard the intro to this tune as well. Basement Jaxx also crossed my mind when the song's fuse blew up. Tracks like this save Portable Disco from sounding "samey", however. This track, I assume, is a collaborative effort with fellow techno-maker Akira Ishihara. "Door" is a great, temporary escape from the melodic fudge.
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Space Walk (Ram Rider x shoes)" [4:14 / mp3 / 192kbps]
  
  Nu-Nu Shooz anybody? Is that whom "shoes" in the parenthetical refer to? "Space Walk" is another song that's a great escape from the Portable Disco pattern, but this time in tempo. There's a lot of work done to simulate those 1985/1986 manually modulated synth wheels prevalant in techno pop then. The only thing that makes this song sound modern is, ironically, the early 80s video game noises.
  
  

...


Portable Disco - 8Bit Edition - (2006)

I guess I spoke too soon when I mentioned "video games." Portable Disco was not enough, so Ram Rider released a bonus remix album where his friends got together to reinterpret his album, but happily restricted to 8-bit emulators. Hence 8Bit Edition. As gimmicky as this release is, I'm tempted to say I enjoy this more than the source album -- not because Portable Disco is a substandard record, but the 8-bit gimmick leaves more room and space for interpretation here than the fill-your-earholes-with-sugar strategy that the original uses. Also, the album art is sooo much better. I'll never get tired of the hand waving DJ on top of the plastic hamburger bun.

• Ram Rider - "Hello [8Bit]" [4:24 / mp3 / 192kbps] - remixed by YMCK
  
  
  
  YMCK are the three-piece responsible for this excellent remix of "Hello". They do an excellent job putting themselves in the shoes of the original Famicom/Nintendo music engineers, making music that sounds exactly like it came from that first-generation game system.
  
  "Hello [8Bit]" is busy sounding, but the orchestration is really impressive. Only if there was a Nintendo game in 1985 that had used a theme song imitating "The Perfect Kiss" by New Order.
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Sweet Dance [8Bit]" [4:50 / mp3 / 192kbps] - remixed by YMCK
  
  Another YMCK interpretation via ye emulator. I think the trio thought "Sweet Dance" was a bit too formidable, so they radically changed the backing track to a supper club jazz shuffle. This is a great idea for 90 seconds, but the near five minutes of this is too much, no matter how impressive that one, ur, MIDI improv/solo is on top.
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Door [8Bit]" [4:36 / mp3 / 192kbps] - remixed by Covox
  
  Stockholm's Covox takes over the helm for the 8-bit remix of "Door". For those of you who missed the cream of the Nu Breaks/Rephlex crop in the late 90s, here's your chance to share memories of those trebley, crunchy breakbeat days. The Pac*Man ambience in the background fading in and out combined with the Arthur Baker "Breakers Revenge"-esque bass line works really well.
  
  
• Ram Rider - "Space Walk [8Bit]" [3:46 / mp3 / 192kbps] - remixed by TANIKUGU
  
  Another of the 8-bit mafia, Tanikugu takes on "Space Walk." The approach here is more spacey and dreamy than the previous interpretations.
  
  

...

Kimi Ga Suki & Remix Tunes - (2007)

On the slight chance that the album title is a reference to the Matthew Sweet album of the same name, feel free to call me on it. But I'm guessing it's not.

Kimi Ga Suki & Remix Tunes, having just been released probably seconds ago, is a new single followed by remixes of previous Ram Rider songs. Yup. Another remix album. The single itself is excellent! Unsurprisingly, it breaks no new ground whatsoever. And just when you thought you saw the most ridiculous Ram Rider video ever, along comes the... well, you know.

[Ram Rider's "Kimi Ga Suki" video]


Headphones? Check. Rainbows? Check. Steve Jobs stroking service? A+. Why not just wire him the cash to get your song on the next iPod nano commercial? Sheesh. Although, here are a couple of tips. The near make-out with the polar bear? A bit odd. Rethink that. But -- RAMsy, buddy! -- you have to alter the SUPER CREEPY ENDING of this video. DO NOT WANT!
...

It's anyone's guess whether Ram Rider is going to stick with this flavor for years to come, or if he's going to completely reinvent himself one day. I can't imagine the chance of a happy medium occurring -- at least on his own terms. Bless him for it, but his world is certainly a happy, touched one. All inspirations aside, obvious or not, I never thought music could be this rich in sugar. If anyone tells you they've listened to the sweetest music ever, now you know how to pwn them back.

Rainbows & Headphones forevah.

[...prev] [intro] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [next...]