[Review] [Mini-album] Saori@destiny; Domestic domain (2011)
I originally had this review posted on my blog (lol shameless plug), so there's going to be some slight variation on format and whatnot. Also, don't forget, we're currently looking for new reviewers!
Saori@destiny; Domestic domain
Release Date: June 15, 2011
Language: Japanese, some English
Genre(s): Electronic, dance, pop
Purchase: CDJapan, iTunes
Download: 320kbps @ MEDIAFIRE
01. BEATBOP [preview] ♥
02. Domestic domain [preview]
03. GAMBA JAPAN [preview] [live] ♥
04. COLLAGE [preview] ♥
05. OFF THE WALL [preview]
06. Pray [preview]
07. Klaxon [preview] ♥
Saori@destiny began her career in early 2007 as a street performer in Akihabara, covering songs from idol collectives such as Hello! Project. In 2008 she made her major debut on the D-topia Entertainment label with the single sakura, and later released her debut album JAPANESE CHAOS. After a few more singles and a mini-album, her sophomore album came out in 2010, entitled WORLD WILD 2010 and suggesting a more tribal-influenced electronic pop sound. Produced almost entirely by Oonishi Terukado, Domestic domain is her first release of the 2011 season and contains an interesting mix of the different styles presented on her two albums, with lyrics inspired by her personal feelings regarding the Tohoku earthquake that occurred on March 11th this year.
The album opens with BEATBOP's attention-grabbing trumpet that fades out into a drum rhythm that hearkens me to the famously oversampled break from The Winstons' Amen Brother. Saori quickly enters the sonic landscape to deliver the entirely nonsensical lyrical content of this intro, and is interrupted briefly for a full instance of highly pitched stock vocals that continue to pervade the track here and there. BEATBOP can best be summed up as a wild sample party and, with such memorable gems as One and two and three and four and / Shake me, shake me, shake me, shake me / Bomb, bomb, bang, bang! and Dump it, your true colors / Gravy, ravey, ravey, laid, it is sure to stick in your mind.
It is in the title track Domestic domain that we see the tracklisting problems early-on. Going from such an offbeat intro to a very "safe" and almost Perfume-esque full song is enough to throw off the previous groove and vibe that BEATBOP laid down. Following a very basic compositional structure and average poppy electronic beats, Domestic domain's one idiosyncrasy is its set of stock voices in the background and its decently repetitive break. Although disappointing from a music standpoint, it stands out lyrically as Saori's songs are wont to do. It opens addressing God (God, ah, your voice, answer me / I'll stay alive - what can I give to you?) and continues to hint at a pre-existing connection to some vague individual (You smiling is my domestic domain / If you could come there with me, I'd be happy) and, towards, the end, throws out a nugget of philosophical wealth in the form of the line Because we aren't strong, we can love. For what sounds on a surface to be a generic electropop track, Domestic domain gives us intrigue and food for thought.
And we go directly from the softness of Domestic domain to another loud and anthem-like song, GAMBA JAPAN. Opening with a soaring wobbly bass typical of the dubstep genre and full of whistles, it wakes you up in the most abrupt of ways, like lifting your entire mattress and dropping you onto the dance floor. Saori's vocals here are almost at odds with the heavy bass, and occasionally I feel like I lose her voice in the intensity of the music. In the middle of the track we have some respite with a tribal-influenced break that reminds me of WW2010. Interestingly, the lyrics here seem to be inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake that happened earlier this year (and on my birthday, no less), most clearly demonstrated in the line In a reality like this, now we're sharing the world / It's a tragedy that pains our hearts, but we're alive in this emergency. Overall, though, GAMBA JAPAN is an encouraging dedication to the natural disaster: Let's take each other's hands, all my friends / And strengthen our bonds, come on - ABCD.
The compositional credits on GAMBA JAPAN are split up between Alex Funk-it, which is one of Terukado's previously-established pseudonyms, and TO-WEST (which very well may be another of his pseudonyms, but...). This is for good reason -- GAMBA JAPAN flows directly and masterfully into COLLAGE, a very welcome surprise (I love albums with flow; RAM RIDER's 2005 album PORTABLE DISCO is a perfect example) courtesy of TO-WEST who handles the track. I honestly can't just start COLLAGE up cold, I have to have that GAMBA JAPAN build-up. As a track, COLLAGE is very stagnant with a repeating but extremely catchy rhythm, and complements Saori's vocals nicely. It enters a lengthy break somewhere around the 2:15 mark, which could potentially become annoying for some, but comes back with a funkier groove and more of the same lyrics and beat. Speaking of lyrics, they're slightly eerie in their poetic nature: Beyond the dance, my drooping feelings / Dance to the end, my celebration / Feverish dance, my rising feelings / New world dance, my celebration. Although I normally criticize songs that don't really "go" anywhere at all, it works to a higher effect here, and ironically I feel this would be a great number to drive to.
While we're in the mood for more mellow fare, OFF THE WALL starts up with bold piano and Saori's singing, then transforms into a song that is packed lyrically with references to the big artists of the 1970s/1980s American pop music scene. Likely a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, the instrumental is reminiscent of some of his best work and mostly funk-influenced. However, much like the previous track, OFF THE WALL is very stagnant -- unlike COLLAGE, it doesn't really make it work to any grand effect. It mysteriously lacks anything that pulls me in, yet is altogether not a bad song, just nothing I feel any particular need to seek out and listen to. I imagine the more music-savvy people out there could probably name all of the references in the lyrics...
Continuing in the same sleepy vein as the previous two tracks, Pray is (for lack of better words) completely boring. It begins immediately with guest vocals by Terukado that remind me strongly of Tsunku's infamous contributions to his idol productions, which is not really a good thing. The music itself is a basic electronic ballad with only scant chords of an electric guitar to spice it up whatsoever. It's just incredibly bland and should have probably been thrown out during the planning stages of the mini-album because, on a release with only seven songs, there's far less room for uninspired-sounding instrumentals. The whole release suffers from having a single downright weak component. Even with regards to the lyrics, it's nothing special: the verses look fairly identical and pertain to...basically beating the odds when the odds are against you.
The final track, Klaxon, is deceiving in its calm and minimalistic opening. Saori's voice echoes, asking repeatedly Tell me why... prior to breaking into a rap. The chorus is full of claps and the instrumental as a whole feels a bit tribal, courtesy of production by G.RINA (and not Terukado!). It all constantly seems to be leading up to something, yet never truly reaches any climactic point, and I'm still not sure if it's a disappointment for me. Lyrically it feels like a complete mess, and as with all the songs here, I struggle to make sense of what it's about. But this in itself was explained by Saori in an interview with Bounce magazine: she rarely writes about her personal feelings because they come out difficult to understand, but she also didn't want an album of nothing but generic upbeat lyrical fare that anyone could write. It's unfortunate to me that production did not live up to the same expectations in some places; but interestingly enough, it seems that where it failed, the lyrics compensated in some measure.
Speaking of Saori, she's almost a poster child for an underrated artist whose quality far exceeds her popularity. She's rather unsuccessful, with this release having received very little promotion and as a result debuted(?) at #176 on the Oricon charts; she's also had to return to doing street lives in Akihabara, something she hasn't done for ~2 years. While this mini-album isn't a favorite of mine overall, I highly suggest those who are interested in checking her out should buy the album (it's on iTunes) to help support her. I honestly did not want to share a download of this, but I conceded since I downloaded it in the first place.
OVERALL SCORE: B-
Saori@destiny; Domestic domain
Release Date: June 15, 2011
Language: Japanese, some English
Genre(s): Electronic, dance, pop
Purchase: CDJapan, iTunes
Download: 320kbps @ MEDIAFIRE
01. BEATBOP [preview] ♥
02. Domestic domain [preview]
03. GAMBA JAPAN [preview] [live] ♥
04. COLLAGE [preview] ♥
05. OFF THE WALL [preview]
06. Pray [preview]
07. Klaxon [preview] ♥
Saori@destiny began her career in early 2007 as a street performer in Akihabara, covering songs from idol collectives such as Hello! Project. In 2008 she made her major debut on the D-topia Entertainment label with the single sakura, and later released her debut album JAPANESE CHAOS. After a few more singles and a mini-album, her sophomore album came out in 2010, entitled WORLD WILD 2010 and suggesting a more tribal-influenced electronic pop sound. Produced almost entirely by Oonishi Terukado, Domestic domain is her first release of the 2011 season and contains an interesting mix of the different styles presented on her two albums, with lyrics inspired by her personal feelings regarding the Tohoku earthquake that occurred on March 11th this year.
The album opens with BEATBOP's attention-grabbing trumpet that fades out into a drum rhythm that hearkens me to the famously oversampled break from The Winstons' Amen Brother. Saori quickly enters the sonic landscape to deliver the entirely nonsensical lyrical content of this intro, and is interrupted briefly for a full instance of highly pitched stock vocals that continue to pervade the track here and there. BEATBOP can best be summed up as a wild sample party and, with such memorable gems as One and two and three and four and / Shake me, shake me, shake me, shake me / Bomb, bomb, bang, bang! and Dump it, your true colors / Gravy, ravey, ravey, laid, it is sure to stick in your mind.
It is in the title track Domestic domain that we see the tracklisting problems early-on. Going from such an offbeat intro to a very "safe" and almost Perfume-esque full song is enough to throw off the previous groove and vibe that BEATBOP laid down. Following a very basic compositional structure and average poppy electronic beats, Domestic domain's one idiosyncrasy is its set of stock voices in the background and its decently repetitive break. Although disappointing from a music standpoint, it stands out lyrically as Saori's songs are wont to do. It opens addressing God (God, ah, your voice, answer me / I'll stay alive - what can I give to you?) and continues to hint at a pre-existing connection to some vague individual (You smiling is my domestic domain / If you could come there with me, I'd be happy) and, towards, the end, throws out a nugget of philosophical wealth in the form of the line Because we aren't strong, we can love. For what sounds on a surface to be a generic electropop track, Domestic domain gives us intrigue and food for thought.
And we go directly from the softness of Domestic domain to another loud and anthem-like song, GAMBA JAPAN. Opening with a soaring wobbly bass typical of the dubstep genre and full of whistles, it wakes you up in the most abrupt of ways, like lifting your entire mattress and dropping you onto the dance floor. Saori's vocals here are almost at odds with the heavy bass, and occasionally I feel like I lose her voice in the intensity of the music. In the middle of the track we have some respite with a tribal-influenced break that reminds me of WW2010. Interestingly, the lyrics here seem to be inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake that happened earlier this year (and on my birthday, no less), most clearly demonstrated in the line In a reality like this, now we're sharing the world / It's a tragedy that pains our hearts, but we're alive in this emergency. Overall, though, GAMBA JAPAN is an encouraging dedication to the natural disaster: Let's take each other's hands, all my friends / And strengthen our bonds, come on - ABCD.
The compositional credits on GAMBA JAPAN are split up between Alex Funk-it, which is one of Terukado's previously-established pseudonyms, and TO-WEST (which very well may be another of his pseudonyms, but...). This is for good reason -- GAMBA JAPAN flows directly and masterfully into COLLAGE, a very welcome surprise (I love albums with flow; RAM RIDER's 2005 album PORTABLE DISCO is a perfect example) courtesy of TO-WEST who handles the track. I honestly can't just start COLLAGE up cold, I have to have that GAMBA JAPAN build-up. As a track, COLLAGE is very stagnant with a repeating but extremely catchy rhythm, and complements Saori's vocals nicely. It enters a lengthy break somewhere around the 2:15 mark, which could potentially become annoying for some, but comes back with a funkier groove and more of the same lyrics and beat. Speaking of lyrics, they're slightly eerie in their poetic nature: Beyond the dance, my drooping feelings / Dance to the end, my celebration / Feverish dance, my rising feelings / New world dance, my celebration. Although I normally criticize songs that don't really "go" anywhere at all, it works to a higher effect here, and ironically I feel this would be a great number to drive to.
While we're in the mood for more mellow fare, OFF THE WALL starts up with bold piano and Saori's singing, then transforms into a song that is packed lyrically with references to the big artists of the 1970s/1980s American pop music scene. Likely a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, the instrumental is reminiscent of some of his best work and mostly funk-influenced. However, much like the previous track, OFF THE WALL is very stagnant -- unlike COLLAGE, it doesn't really make it work to any grand effect. It mysteriously lacks anything that pulls me in, yet is altogether not a bad song, just nothing I feel any particular need to seek out and listen to. I imagine the more music-savvy people out there could probably name all of the references in the lyrics...
Continuing in the same sleepy vein as the previous two tracks, Pray is (for lack of better words) completely boring. It begins immediately with guest vocals by Terukado that remind me strongly of Tsunku's infamous contributions to his idol productions, which is not really a good thing. The music itself is a basic electronic ballad with only scant chords of an electric guitar to spice it up whatsoever. It's just incredibly bland and should have probably been thrown out during the planning stages of the mini-album because, on a release with only seven songs, there's far less room for uninspired-sounding instrumentals. The whole release suffers from having a single downright weak component. Even with regards to the lyrics, it's nothing special: the verses look fairly identical and pertain to...basically beating the odds when the odds are against you.
The final track, Klaxon, is deceiving in its calm and minimalistic opening. Saori's voice echoes, asking repeatedly Tell me why... prior to breaking into a rap. The chorus is full of claps and the instrumental as a whole feels a bit tribal, courtesy of production by G.RINA (and not Terukado!). It all constantly seems to be leading up to something, yet never truly reaches any climactic point, and I'm still not sure if it's a disappointment for me. Lyrically it feels like a complete mess, and as with all the songs here, I struggle to make sense of what it's about. But this in itself was explained by Saori in an interview with Bounce magazine: she rarely writes about her personal feelings because they come out difficult to understand, but she also didn't want an album of nothing but generic upbeat lyrical fare that anyone could write. It's unfortunate to me that production did not live up to the same expectations in some places; but interestingly enough, it seems that where it failed, the lyrics compensated in some measure.
Speaking of Saori, she's almost a poster child for an underrated artist whose quality far exceeds her popularity. She's rather unsuccessful, with this release having received very little promotion and as a result debuted(?) at #176 on the Oricon charts; she's also had to return to doing street lives in Akihabara, something she hasn't done for ~2 years. While this mini-album isn't a favorite of mine overall, I highly suggest those who are interested in checking her out should buy the album (it's on iTunes) to help support her. I honestly did not want to share a download of this, but I conceded since I downloaded it in the first place.
OVERALL SCORE: B-