“Resonant”, Indeed.
I heard early scuttlebutt that Morning Musume’s forthcoming new single “Resonant Blue” was going to be similar in style and feel to “Egao YES Nude”, which had me quite excited because, at present, that song, over a year after its release, has been played over 170 times on my iPod alone, according to my “Most Played” playlist.
A radio rip of the song - almost appropriately, premiered today on Reina Tanaka’s radio show - is already circulating and getting a great amount of reaction, mostly positive, from the IW Blogosphere (my favorite review is Vee’s, which also gets the award for best post title of the bunch).
To compare this to “Egao YES Nude” tells only half the story - this is “Egao YES Nude” turned up to 11. Like “Egao…”, “Resonant Blue” is in the disco/funk vein. But where “Egao”, great song that it is, leaned more towards the underground disco side of things, “Resonant Blue” leans heavily towards funk. More to the point, it’s the lost P-Funk song that George Clinton and company never got to record in their heyday, albeit with a little Ohio Players “Love Rollercoaster” guitar deceptively starting things off. The only thing really missing to complete the P-Funk equation is Bootsy Collins’ trademark vocal exclamations and “space bass” sound… and maybe Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk butting in and complaining that the girls in Morning Musume are too pretty.
I agree with Vee - I can’t wait for the album either.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:37 am
“Resonant” has that slow throbbing dance beat that is rare in the hyperfast idol idiom. The vocals are also superb, in the vein of “Egao,” which is one of the best singles ever put out by Morning Musume. I just hope “Blue” doesn’t get lost in the blizzard of new singles now coming out, including the screamy, shrill (but I predict insanely successful) Buono! album “Cafe Buono.”
March 6th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Maybe I’m just not hearing it, but “Resonant Blue” still sounds considerably more like a generic pop-influened hip-hop song than anything remotely disco/funk. If it were more in the disco genre, I think I wouldn’t have outright rejected it in the first place like I did. But you probably know this. Like I said, I’m waiting for my mind to change on this.
@Radical: Oricon has two separate charts for singles and albums. You won’t need to worry about Morning Musume being eclipsed in ranking or sales numbers by Buono’s album — I’m sorry to say that honor goes to B’z this time around.
Not to mention that Café Buono! already came out on February 20th. Total sales so far are only 21,194.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
@Yoshimi: Is there any way to get some education on the whole Oricon system? It’s confusing as hell. Methinks those “rankings” are easily gamed by the J-pop industry and I’m just not sure they truly reflect what’s really selling out there.
As for “Cafe Buono” sales, isn’t $34 US kind of steep, even with some kind of DVD component and “collector’s edition” status. The album is good musically, but a tad overhyped.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
@Rad: $34?! Apparently you must be ordering from YesAsia as you’re getting gouged. I only paid $30 for the same exact title from CDJapan.