コンテンツへスキップ →

imdkm.com 投稿

sub-bass, anxiety, and hugs: some notes on therapeutic values of Billie Eilish’s music

As you can see it on the billboard hot 100 charts, Billie Eilish’s debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is making fascination among young listeners in the States. Many Japanese listeners are also fascinated by the album and Eilish’s charismatic behavior, and I’m not afraid to say I’m the one. I’m completely crazy in her.

Today I read an interesting article which features Eilish’s interview. It was “Billie Eilish’s Teenage Truths: How the unfiltered 17-year-old singer with dark visions became pop’s new conscience” by Jonah Weiner. But the Japanese version of the article had a different title that said “若い子たちにとって私の曲はハグなの (Kids use my songs as a hug.)” quoting her words. This quote impressed me because calling her music “a hug” seemed to be quite accurate to me.

In my opinion, the main characteristic of Eilish’s music is a heavy-use of sub-bass. Precisely, this term means the sound of very low frequencies between 20Hz (the lowest limit of human’s perception, most home speakers cannot play this frequency) to 40 or 50 Hz (usually this range is occupied by the sustain of kick drums). For example, “when party’s over” is basically consist of her voice, some dubbed chorus, and a bit of some acoustic instruments like the piano. But in the midst of the song terrific sub-bass is inserted as something between a bass line and a sound effect. If you cannot hear it you should listen to it with good headphones instead of speakers.

Her (or their, regarding the sibling’s collaboration on song writings) use of sub-bass gets an extreme when “xanny” plays out with the oddly distorted bass lines shred the listener’s ears. It is not only uncomfortable but also un-musical in a sense that it sounds like a digital error occurred when processing sound files in the Digital Audio Workstation. Unlike a fuzz or overdrive, such kind of distortion doesn’t make any sense until the song makes us sure that this noise is made intentionally. In “xanny”, her voice is also distorted in the same manner as the bass. Now I’m sure that this is a challenge rather than a mistake. Okay.

I’ve been wondering why such peculiar use of the sub-bass was featured in her music and was appreciated by many, many fans. Of course, there was a possible answer like this: they just didn’t hear at all. Even without bass, every her song is an earworm. But her words, “Kids use my songs as a hug” gave me enlightenment. Those massive, freaky low sine waves embrace listeners like a hug. And a hug can comfort us as Temple Grandin’s hug machines shows.

Temple Grandin is a scientist who created the scheme for humane treatment of livestock for slaughter. But she may be better known for sharing her experience as a person on autism spectrum. Her hug machine (or hug box) is a device that gives its user a physical pressure by holding him or herself tight inside the box. Pressure gives you ease. This discovery is applied to several therapeutic programs for people with disorders, like the weighted blanket for insomnia caused by depression, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, etc. By the way, I’m on ADHD for years. Maybe since my childhood?

This is why she makes use of sub-bass. I’m not so sure but nearly convinced myself.

Eilish’s music is grotesque, introspective, and sad regarding its lyrics. The fear of self-destruction, severe depression, and physical abuse is frequently expressed through both words and images. This kind of practice in pop culture often works as a stress relief for youth, especially those who are in their puberty. Like Kurt Cobain’s desperate lyrics, all those abject images in her music are the ultimate cure for kids with anxiety.

However, I think that it is not enough. When she plays sub-bass loud, it almost literally hugs you. Even before you understand what she’s singing, you feel comfortably embraced by the sound (if you have an adequate environment in your bedroom, though). Despite its superficial cruelty, her music is inherently tender.

コメントする

You gotta check “Apple Vinegar Music Award”, the musicians’ choice of the year.

Hm. Hi, this is imdkm. I’ve posted nine entries since January. I dunno how many people reading this blog, but I hope someday these entries would be read by many music fans and make ’em listen to Japanese pop music more. This year’s resolution of mine.

Well, today, I’d like to introduce an interesting project named “Apple Vinegar Music Award“. It is an independent annual award to shed the light on the year’s most excellent but relatively unknown releases of young musicians in Japan. It was founded by Masafumi Goto, who is ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s vocalist and guitarist, in 2018 (for those who doesn’t know ’em, the band’s introduction is in the final paragraphs of this post). Nominees are selected by him and judges are well-known musicians in J-POP scene, who are friends of him–seemingly rather private than public, but its mission is very ambitious for just an personal project. I’m sure it’s worth to check it out.

Although Goto’s own musical taste is mostly rock music, many past nominees are from different fields. In 2018, four out of ten nominees were rappers or hip-hop groups (Yurufuwa Gang, Punpee, Awich, JJJ), and eventually, the Japanese rapper JJJ won the award. Of course, the award isn’t diverse enough to cover entire J-POP (there are no idol groups or dance music producers). But through this award, you can hear some interesting things going on in the recent J-POP scene.

Yuta Orisaka’s なつのべ is not on spotify. please check this video!

This year’s nominees were more diverse in terms of musical styles. Singer and songwriters (Kaho Nakamura, Yuta Orisaka, Hakushi Hasegawa, AAAMYYY), a beatmaker (STUTS), rappers (VaVa, Kid Fresino) and rock bands (ROTH BART BARON, Gateballers, Tempalay, Age Factory, GEZAN). The winner of the year was Nakamura and three nominees, Orisaka, Kid Fresino, and GEZAN were selected as the honorable mentions. Since the award could fund 1,200,000 yen ($10,800 or €9,600) from supporters including Goto himself, the prize was distributed as below; 600,000 yen for Nakamura, 200,000 yen for Orisaka, Kid Fresino, and GEZAN each.

Fortunately, I have written about many nominees on this blog. Orisaka’s 平成 was the very first post. Also, I’ve Nakamura’s AINOU, Hakushi Hasegawa’s 草木萌動 on this blog. For your convenience, each post has embedded Spotify playlist for the albums. I’m now planning writing the rest of this year’s nominees. My next post will be Kid Fresino’s Ai qing, which was one of the honorable mentions of the year.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation is one of the most popular rock band since 00s known for their unique interpretation of 90’s grunge and Emo sound. Many songs of them were used by ultra-famous animes like NARUTO, Fullmetal Alchemist, and BLEACH. So if you’re familiar with these animes, you should know them by their songs such as “リライト (Rewrite)”.

AKG and Goto are also known for their remarks on Japan’s music scenes and the industry. For example, in order to share their influence and fascination with their listeners, they have held their own festival called “NANO-MUGEN”, where they invited their favorite bands from Japan, UK, and the US to play in front of the young audience in Japan. Recently, Goto often insists that Japanese music companies should make use of subscription platforms like Spotify and Apple Music more, instead of depending on selling physical media like CD and Blu-ray. AKG’s latest ホームタウン is an emotional guitar pop album rendered in simple and delicate, yet powerful sound. You should check this one, too.

コメントする

Maison book girl, yume, 2018.

In Japan, there has been a so-called “idol” scene for decades. Yes, you may know Perfume, BABYMETAL, and several groups which feature young female performers. But there are much more to check out. Maison book girl is one of them. They’re my most favorite group, and their 2018 full-length yume is a masterpiece (IMO).

Before introducing the album, let me roughly trace a brief history of recent idol scene in Japan. Since AKB48’s debut in 2005, numerous girls’ groups have emerged both overground and underground. The latter ones were called “地下アイドル (Chika Idol)” and established its cultural status in Japanese pop culture. Today the line between major idols and underground idols have been blurred and the entire idol scene is getting saturated. But some acts continue to endeavor to make more unique, sophisticated works and performances.

Maison book girl is one of them. They were founded by a producer and composer Kenta Sakurai and a former BiS (a seminal idol group of the 2010s) member Megumi Koshoji along with Aoi Yagawa, Yui Inoue, and Kaori Sohmoto. But Sohmoto left the group in 2015 and Rin Wada joined later soon. Sakurai produces almost entire music and words, and four singers and dancers Koshoji, Yagawa, Inoue, and Wada perform in front of the audience.

Musically, Sakurai’s composition is heavily influenced by contemporary classical music. Although its tonal structure is more like post-rock or prog-rock (well, say, not “atonal” like twelve-tone or serialism things), its rhythmic structure reminds me of the post-war minimalism era defined by the works of Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Irregular meters, metric modulations, and counter-point like conversations between melodies give the music a complex character which is almost going beyond “pop” or “rock”. But at the same time, often it gets quite emotional and catchy.

In yume, Maison book girl’s music and performance accomplished the highest quality not only throughout their career but among fellow idols (well, uh, just my opinion!). yume is a concept album about dreams, as its title says. It features some field recordings (including the operating noise of fMRI which is analyzing a brain dreaming) and skits, then these sound pieces glue up this album into a dream-like entity. It is fragmented into illogical moments like surrealistic poetry, but its entire listening experience has sort of peculiar consistency.

It’s almost impossible to pick up my favorite, but “言選り (kotoeri)” and “レインコートと首の無い鳥 (a raincoat and a headless bird)” are well composed and full of skillful performance. The former song’s lyrics were written by an AI which was made especially for them. Studying Sakurai’s repertoire, it creates new lines automatically. In my eyes , it’s like a simulated unconsciousness that surrealists would want it deadly. It can be said that yume is well-rendered 21st century version of surrealist work in disguise of girl-pop.

1件のコメント

「父殺し」のない「新しさ」はありうるのか

「父殺し」は「父‐母‐息子」という三者の関係が「いつか息子も父になる」ことによって無限に反復されていくもので、言ってみれば「テーゼ‐アンチテーゼ→ジンテーゼ」という弁証法的なプロセスを家父長制のアナロジーに落とし込んでいる。

新しさこそが絶対的な価値である近代の諸芸術においては、父殺し=弁証法的プロセスが規範となり、先行世代を殺すことこそが新しさを生み出し、歴史を推進する原動力とされた。それは結局「新しさなんてものはもうない」という諦念と倦怠に行き着くしかないのだが。

こうした弁証法的プロセスを前提として歴史を語ることは20世紀も後半になるとだいぶん相対化されたように思うが、より大衆的なレベルでは直観的に把握しやすいこともあって広く使われ続けてきた。その代表例はおそらくロックをめぐる批評的言説である。

まあ、もはやいまどき「カウンターカルチャー」の名を素朴に掲げて文化としてエスタブリッシュされた「父」に対する若き「子」の反発を露骨に語るような人もほとんどいない。しかし言説の端々にその残り香は残り続けている感はある。

それは「新しさ」を絶対的な商品価値としてプロモートすることが使命だったいっときの音楽産業がもたらした後遺症といったところだろう。しかし今や最大の商品は「新しさ」ではなく「ノスタルジー」だ。もはや「新しさ」の可能性のみならず、それを称揚する動機まで失われて久しい。

こうした「新しさ」をめぐる袋小路以外にもこの規範が孕む問題はあり、たとえばそれは単線的な歴史認識や起源の隠蔽だ。不動の「母」に対して「ワタシ=男」だけが入れ替わっていく構図。このことはよく考えることがあって、いわば起源をめぐるパラドックスのようなものがある。

ふつう「起源」というと、一つの点、歴史的・空間的に特定される点を想起するだろう(アフリカにいたとされる人類の「イヴ」のように)。しかしビッグバンという究極的な点を除けば、むしろ「起源」とは複数的なものである。

このことは、「私に父と母がいて、父にも父と母がいるように、母にもまた父と母がいる」という単純な前提を改めて思い出すとあっさり明らかになる。歴史の突端である現在=「私」は、「父」の系譜のみならず「母」の系譜も受け継いでいる。

そのように考えると、次々と代替わりしては殺される「父」をめぐる単線的な歴史は実のところ一世代遡るごとに2のn乗ずつ次々増え発散していく「父」と「母」の逆ツリーであって、この逆ツリーは実際にはいろんな場所で循環したり短絡したりもしている。

さらには起点としての「私」すらも絶対的ではない(いまを生きる「私」は数多く各々異なりながら存在する)とすれば、もはやこれはツリーでも逆ツリーでもない、複雑に絡み合うネットワークである。

生物学的に不可逆なプロセスである世代交代のアナロジーを離れて「文化」の話に移ればそれはなおのこと複雑になる。影響は必ずしも過去から現在へ向かって走るばかりではなく、常にアナクロニズムのうちにあるから。ここではもはや生物学のアナロジーは適用しえない。

単一の起源から多様性が生まれるのではなく、すでに複数の起源が複数の「私=現在」を構築し、相互作用しつづける。そこには「父」も「母」も存在しない。「血統」とか「世代」といった概念すらどこまで信頼できるかわからない。

表現するということはある意味で「にもかかわらずあえて系譜を描く」ことに近いが、それは自ら=現在のうちに宿っているほとんど無限に等しい潜在的な多様性の交錯を意識することからしか始まらないのではないか。「父殺し」を欠いた「新しさ」とは。

コメントは受け付けていません

tofubeats, RUN, 2018

The 2010s was the decade of tofubeats. Some wouldn’t agree with me but this has been my honest feeling for years. Working with numerous J-POP acts like Chisato Moritaka, KREVA, Bonnie Pink etc., now he is one of the most popular DJ and producer among his generation. “水星”, his earliest breakthrough hit, is like the decade’s standard number as many young pop singers have made their own version of it.

He’s known for his prolific and genre bending activities–DJing, singing, beatmaking and producing other artists. His danceable and euphoric sound attracted not only dance floor but more wider audience. You can feel it when you listen to First Album or POSITIVE, his first and second full-length with Warner Music Japan.

However, his creative turning point was, as far as I’ve seen, FANTASY CLUB which was released in 2017. It was a very introspective, reflective, thoughtful piece of art, contrary to his public image–a producer specialized to pop, funny, joyful and party-oriented dance music. Instead, he sang his everyday struggles and a little prayer, almost alone in his bedroom studio. It sounded much more honest than ever, showing his ability to make a conceptual, serious-themed album (the album’s main motif was “post-truth”, 2016’s buzz word).

2018’s release RUN was obviously the sequel to FANTASY CLUB. In FANTASY CLUB, he seemed to be afraid of saying something plainly. He was trying to figure out how the world should be and just prayed. He didn’t make any assert on it. On the contrary, in “RUN”, the album’s opening song, he declared that he was gonna start to run and keep on running ’til the end, even the situation would discourage him. Heavy trap-like 808 bass and edgy hi-hats drive his motivation and the song’s straightforward one-verse structure underlines his decision. This was one of the best songs in 2018.

The album included also his recent hits “ふめつのこころ” and “RIVER”, along with instrumental house tracks (“You Make Me Acid”, “Return to Sender”, “Bullet Trn”), a uk garage style tune (“Newtown”) and polyrhythmic intimate conversation with someone (“Sometimes”). The sound was more powerful than the last album and very consistent throughout the twelve tracks despite those varieties of beats.

My favorite is the last track, “ふめつのこころ(SLOWDOWN)”. As the title says, this song is a reprise of “ふめつのこころ”, but with more sincere messages to the listeners. Let me summarize; You can rewind this song (or any kind of song as far as it’s recorded) and play it back again, or slow it down in order to listen more closely. Even you can’t understand what’s going on, you’ll find something in your mind. So please do not give up, try again.

In my opinion, this is both how to listen to music in the age of mechanical reproduction and how to understand others in the age of social dissonance. And, this is one of possible solutions to the question posed by FANTASY CLUB.

コメントする

長谷川白紙 (Hakushi Hasegawa), 草木萌動 (So-moku Ho-do), 2018

There has been a so-called “netlabel” scene in Japan since the late 2000s as well as overseas. Maltine Records is one of the most famous netlabels in Japan, which was founded by two then high school students in 2005. Specializing in the contemporary dance and electronic music producers, they’ve released over 170 singles or eps including ones by dj newtown (a.k.a. tofubeats), TORIENA, Pa’s Lam System, パソコン音楽クラブ (Pasocom Ongaku Club) etc..

When Hakushi Hasegawa released his first ep アイフォーンシックスプラス (iPhone Six Plus) from Maltine Records, he was only 18 yrs old. Although every song from the ep had a very delicate and complicated tonal or rhythmic structure in it, his voice was so smooth, sweet, soft and soothing. Unlike the label’s previous releases, the ep was not particularly for a dance floor. But his kaleidoscopic groove inevitably invited listeners to dance, even if you couldn’t figure out its time signature. Since then, Hasegawa has been considered one of the latest talents from Maltine Records.

But he soon underwent the next breakthrough. In November 2018, he announced his second ep, 草木萌動 (So-moku Ho-do), would be released in December. The title was taken from the traditional Chinese calendar which had been also used by Japanese people, meaning “when trees and plants begin to bloom”.

This word properly explains Hasegawa’s music, I think. While his debut had sort of post-internet feeling in its title and artwork, the music was rather erotic, physical, and pseudo-organic. Influenced by contemporary classical music and jazz, he wove up complex harmonies, repeated key changes, and the polyrhythmic groove to make a rhizome-like structure under the ground. Then his voice soaked into it like rain watering plants and their roots. On the surface, plants were coming into buds, almost blooming, shaking themselves.

As he keeps on making songs and playing lots of shows, he’s studying composing at a university now. One can easily recognize his knowledge of the musical grammar particularly 20th century’s avant-garde in his songs. But his uniqueness is that he’s capable of writing pop songs with those idioms at the edge of the academic discipline. Along with his past works including 草木萌動, his recent collaboration with 入江陽 (Yo Irie) and BOMI is a very good example. I wish he would gain more attention and write some chart-topping tunes someday.

1件のコメント

三浦大知 (Daichi Miura), 球体 (Kyu-tai), 2018

Kiyoshi Matsuo, the R&B expert and renowned producer, once said that Japanese people prefer a genuine singer to an all-rounder. Eiichi Ohtaki, the legendary singer and songwriter, also pointed out that Japanese people tend to value singing too much. In Japan, it can be said that an ideal singer must sing emotionally without moving so the audience can absorb into the voice.

However, Daichi Miura’s distinguished performance would change such unconscious bias among Japanese people. He’s undoubtedly the most acclaimed pop act in Japan now, and his latest full-length 球体 gained so much attention that some critics and listeners concidered the album as the best release in 2018.

Working with the long-time collaborator Nao’ymt, Miura explored how far he could go as both a dancer and a singer (球体 was originally a staged performance by himself). Nao’ymt’s music for this project was a very eclectic mix of EDM, ambient R&B, and Japanese traditional instruments. “飛行船 (Hikousen)” is a good example. The future bass-inspired beat features 尺八 (shakuhachi, bamboo flute) in its drop. It’s both danceable and a bit exotic although the entire feeling is very modern.

But what made this album special was Nao’ymt’s songwriting. Deliberately rhymed Japanese poetry with heavily syncopated and complicated rhythm sounds like nothing else. Moreover, Miura’s outstanding vocalization and delivery give some luxurious texture to it. In the chorus part of “綴化 (Tekka)”, he effortlessly sings a series of percussive, tricky melodies with his virtuosity. I was quite impressed when I listened to it for the first time.

Miura’s career covers over 20 years since his debut in 1997. He originally debuted as a lead singer of children’s performance group Folder and had some hits with them. After he left the group because of his voice condition, he took a long hiatus and then debuted again as a solo singer (the song linked below is his first single). It was in 2005. His career may have been rather difficult than you think of, but he’s worked so hard that even he was invited to sing at the Emperor Akihito’s 30th-anniversary ceremony in early 2019.

Even considering all of that, 球体 and the year 2018 will be remembered as his creative breakthrough, as his later singles including “Be Myself” and “Blizzard” (Yes, the main theme song of the blockbuster anime, Dragon Ball: Broly) proved.

コメントする

cero, POLY LIFE MULTI SOUL, 2018

Throughout the 2010s, Japanese pop music has been obsessed with the so-called ‘urban’ or ‘city’ feeling. Many bands tried to render their impressions on their own city life, mostly in Tokyo. They sounded more optimistic than how the society actually was, but I think it was kinda redevelopment of their imaginary city. After the great earthquake in 2011, this act of redevelopment became more crucial since the city–well, of course, Tokyo–was heavily damaged both literally and psychologically. They needed to fix it, at least imaginarily.

In my opinion, cero’s body of work is a good example of this zeitgeist. The band was originally formed by three multi-instrumentalists, Shohei Takagi, Yu Arauchi, and Tomoyuki Yanagi in 2004. Around 2006 Tsubasa Hashimoto joined them. They released their debut full-length in 2011 but Yanagi left the band. Now cero consists of Takagi, Arauchi, and Hashimoto along with a bunch of skillful fellow musicians supporting them.

Their early works like WORLD RECORD and My Lost City were a very playful and fantastic depiction of the contemporary city and suburban life. Influenced by classic Japanese rock bands such as はっぴいえんど, they played psychedelic folk-rock songs with comtemporary twists that could be compared to early Beck, but with a more exotic flavor.

However, after these two records, they began exploring a different direction. Their EP Yellow Magus released in 2013 was comprised of four songs apparently inspired by deep funk tunes from the 70s. Two years later, they released their third album Obscure Ride. It was heavily influenced by neo-soul and contemporary jazz, particularly D’Angelo’s Voodoo or the Soulquarians’ other works.

Since then, their main interest has been rhythm and groove. Listening to Obscure Ride, you can imagine they roam around the imaginary city and its suburbs on the loose, out-of-pocket 16-beat with bittersweet R&B feelings. It fascinated some audience in Japan and led the band one of the most prominent acts in Tokyo.

And POLY LIFE MULTI SOUL was released in 2018. As soon as its lead single “魚の骨 鳥の羽根” uploaded on YouTube, it made a sensation. As you can hear, it features 3:4 cross-rhythm entirely. Moreover, the other songs also feature polyrhythm, irregular meters, metric modulations.

Although their rhythmic structure is rather complex, this album is quite danceable. It ends with a song named “Poly Life Multi Soul,” which has a strong four-on-the-floor beat in the second half. This ending sequence reminds me of feeling right before the party’s over. Delightfully tired, getting ready to start another day under the sun.

In terms of lyrics, it seemed influenced by American and South American literature. In fact, “夜になると鮭は” directly adapts Raymond Carver’s poem. Here, the surrealistic nature of contemporary city life was connected with the magical realism by the lyricist and vocalist, Takagi. Feeling haunted by anonymous lives and straying souls, we’re trying to deal with everyday life.

Far from the city as an idealized utopia, POLY LIFE MULTI SOUL arrived at somewhere both magical and uncanny. And this actually was the Japanese city life in 2018, I think.

コメントする

中村佳穂 (Kaho Nakamura), AINOU, 2018

Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, is known for its cultural scenes. Regarding music, there’s plenty of musicians playing indie rock, electronic music, hip hop, and more eclectic things. This is maybe because of the nature of the city, where is known as students’ city with lots of universities in rather a small area. Of course, there’s also precious historical heritage making this town enchanted.

Kaho Nakamura is a Kyoto-native singer and songwriter, and is one of the most prominent figures in recent Kyoto cultural scene. Her second full-length AINOU was critically acclaimed for its distinguished composition, sound design, and excellent vocalization. Praised by senior musicians like Kan Takano, Shigeru Kishida, and tofubeats, she was already known for her playful performance which was full of virtuosity. However, the album was the real breakthrough for her.

From a groovy mid-tempo like “きっとね! (Kitto Ne!)” to a neo-soul flavored slow jam “get back” or a simple piano ballad “永い言い訳 (Nagai Iiwake)”, AINOU takes a very eclectic approach which mixed Techno, R&B, Neo-Soul, City Pop, House, and Japanese Folklore etc. Then Nakamura’s voice gives unity to the entire album. She sings in a very delicate and nuanced manner as if she’s trying to precisely trace the feeling inside the song.

I think the biggest charm of this record is a tension between her raw genius and the post-production. In “you may they”, the vocal is slightly glitched and the beat is like a fusion of L.A. beats in the late 2000s and indie pop today. While the delicate yet eloquent character of her voice is obvious, the song seems trying to deconstruct it. This may be a reflection of the recording process, which took two years and a half to finish.

The turning point was James Blake’s performance at Fuji Rock Festival 2016, where she also played at. His performance, the dubstep-influenced complex texture of sound fused with a soulful voice, inspired Nakamura’s creativity. She decided to make a “sound-oriented” work different from her previous “song-oriented” ones. One massive sub-bass can tell something emotional. Some delicate reverberation can move someone’s heart. She tried to make something like these. Well, as far as I understand by her interviews.

With help from fellow musicians like Masahiro Araki and Yuichi Fukaya (from Remi-gai), Ryo Konishi (from CRCK/LCKS), Shuhei Nishida (from Yoshida Yohei Group), she finally made it. Thus, AINOU‘s eclectic approach is the result of her creative ambition and collaboration with the devoted fellows.

If you love AINOU, you better try listening to Remi-gai, CRCK/LCKS, and Yoshida Yohei Group. Their works also represent the cutting edge of Japanese alternative pop music. Particularly, Remi-gai’s recent work is quite interesting. In 2016, they worked with students’ glee club and brass band, and released two EPs (the dance we do, GIANT). You can feel how they influenced the production of AINOU.

1件のコメント

埼玉県小川町のカレー屋「CURRY & NOBLE 強い女」は名前に違わずヤバかった

 えー、本日の日記は特別編ということで、埼玉県比企郡小川町にできたばかりのカレー屋さん「CURRY & NOBLE 強い女」訪問記です。パキスタン風の無水カレーを出すこのお店、店主はおれの学部時代の同期で、卒業後はライヴハウスのブッキング担当などをしていた。そんな彼女がカレー屋をはじめる、しかもすげぇ名前で、というのは寝耳に水の話だった。たまたまいい時期に東京に滞在する予定だったので、「強い女」という強烈な名前に好奇心を抑えきれなかったフォロワーなどと共に埼玉まで脚を伸ばしたのだった。

www.instagram.com

 具体的にお店についてレポートするその前に、小川町についてわかる範囲で説明を。小川町は東武東上線の終点。池袋から1時間ちょいくらいで行ける適度な田舎。「郊外」というには「山」すぎるけど、マジの「田舎」と言うほどでもなく、きっちりと開発されている印象だ。2011年の震災をきっかけに移住者が増え、都心への交通の便がよいこともあって家庭を持ちはじめるくらいの世代が結構チェックしている町らしい。また、小川町を含む比企郡一帯は野外アクティヴィティ向けのレジャースポットを多く抱えているらしく、同行者のひとり(レトリカ松本氏)は小川町にパラグライダーを体験しにきたことがあるらしい。

 というとなかなか賑わっているようにも思えるが、実際にはシャッター街化が進んでいる。商店街らしい商店街があるわけではないのだけれど、駅から「強い女」に向かう道中は空きテナントや空きビルが目立った。逆に言うと、それだけなにかを起こす「すき間」が街のなかにあるわけで、同行者たちはかなり興味深く物件を物色していた。単純に住もうと思うと人気の上昇に伴っていい物件が見つかりにくくなっている、と「強い女」の店主は言っていたけれど、それでも家賃相場はかなり安いし、あるいはリノベーションを前提に物件探しをすると掘り出しモノ――具体的には「強い女」が入居した物件――が見つかるらしい。

 ようやく本題。「強い女」は、通りを歩いていると前触れなくいきなり登場する。淡い青のファサードと店名を告げる窓のカッティングシートが洒落ていて、「すき間」だらけの街のなかにすっぽりと収まりつつも強烈な存在感を放っていた。

www.instagram.com

 空き家を完全DIYでリノベーションした店内は、無塗装のコンパネをところどころ残した手作り感と、肝心なポイントはスマートにキメるバランス感覚が心地よい。

www.instagram.com

 店内はカウンターのある土間と、板張りのスペースにわかれている。それがまるでステージのようなので、小さなライヴやトークイベントなんかにはうってつけだろう。話によると、近い内にアップライトピアノを店内に置く予定とのことで、アコースティック中心のライヴイベントはもちろん行っていくつもりらしい。(二枚目で微笑んでいるのが店主である)

www.instagram.com

 肝心のカレーは鶏肉がたっぷりはいった、トマトベースの無水カレー。カレーには詳しくないけれど、辛さを推すというよりはトマトの酸味と肉のうま味をスパイスで引き立てるやさしい味だった。さらに、ちょっと変わった風味のする岩塩を「ちょい足し」することで味のインパクトががらっと変わる。酸味のニュアンスを楽しむカレーから、シャープなうま味が食欲をそそるカレーになって、結構面白い。ある種スポーツのように汗をかいて味わうというよりも、親しみやすい入り口とじっくり味わう繊細さで惹きつける感じか。

www.instagram.com

 頼んだのはサラダバーと食後のお茶、そしてデザートがついたセットだったので、京番茶とチョコレートケーキをカレーのあとにいただいた。カレーに番茶って意外と合うのね……とよくわからない感慨に包まれた昼下がりであった。

www.instagram.com

 ちなみに「強い女」のとなりは、ファミリースナックの「つよいみかた」。ここは子供連れでも入れるカラオケスナックをめざしてつくられたそうで、新宿ゴールデン街を渡り歩いた経歴を持つママが賑やかに出迎えてくれる。もはやここでは酒を飲んで楽しかったなあみたいな感じになっていたのでレポートにはならない。すみません。でもカレー食ったあとに流れで一杯酒のんでわっはっは、みたいなの、どんな平和な午後だよ、と思った。

 いろいろとおもしろいし気になるところが多かったから、「強い女」って名前の由来についても訊いてみたんだけれど、直接的な由来は秘密、とのことなのでここには書きません。でも、「強い女」という名前が時代の風を読んだ結果ってわけじゃなくて、店主が仲間と店の構想をふくらませるうちにたどりついたフレーズだったのは面白かった。店内ではずっと女性のフォークシンガーの楽曲が流れていて、それも「こういう人たちの曲が流れているようなお店っていいよね」という彼女たちなりの理想を求めた結果だという。

 まあ、要はどれもこれも、やりたいことを好き勝手やってるだけなんだけど、それが絶妙に「強い女」っていう店名に説得力を与えていた。店主はちょっと童顔で、京都育ちゆえか言葉遣いもぱっと聴いただけだと柔らかい。でも凄く芯があって野心があって、「こういう強さっていいよな」と思える。冗談めかして「『強い女』って言って出てくるのが私みたいなのだと、『どこが強い女なん?』ってなると思う」と言っていたけれども、とんでもない。こういう強さを胸張って強さと言える世の中にしてくんだよ君らとかおれらがさ、と思った。

コメントは受け付けていません