Tokyo Jihen - "SPORTS"
A relentless earworm

As they haven't done any openings for say Naruto or Soul Eater, I'm betting that a majority of you readers out there will tilt your head slightly at the mention of Tokyo Jihen (lit. Tokyo Incidents). Mind you, I'm not saying that to be utterly elitist or as part of my best possible hipster impression, I'm being realistic. It makes this group something of a tough sell as there aren't any notable links that come to mind, save for the band's lead vocalist, Ringo Shiina.

The name might sound familiar for two reasons: One, if you watched the recent anime adaptation of The Tale of Genji; Two, if you suffered through the beautiful mess of a film that was Casshern; In one of those rare cases, the film's soundtrack struck more of a chord with its audience, with artists ranging from THE BACK HORN to the vocalist in question who all knocked it out of the park. She's one of Japan's most prolific singer/songwriters, and it's a wonder why she hasn't gotten the love she deserves in the States. The same can be said for her side-project (if you could call it that), Tokyo Jihen--a Jazz/Rock band created by Shiina in 2003, comprised of mostly musicians from her solo career's backing band.

Interest piqued? There's no time like the present as Tokyo Jihen's latest album, entitled "Sports", is now out and about on (Japanese) CD shelves. It's a perfect sampler and a glimmer of hope for those who believe that Japanese music has gone stale. The true test of whether or not this is for you comes in the form of "Ikiru", the album's first track: starting out with an experimental-sounding chorus, right when you think you've got the sound figured out, the track switches into the Tokyo Jihen standard rock sound to reward your interest. If you stuck around that long, the reward continues into this journey of sound with an array of songs that will be stuck in your head for weeks on end. I'd like to think that this is because you can feel the fun the group had in the melodies--after all, this album marks the return of the Tokyo Jihen gang after two years of inactivity and is part of Ringo Shiina's tenth anniversary celebration.

I'd like to think that "Sports" is a true sequel of the previous album, 2007's "Variety". Aside from one of the tracks, "Senko Shojo", being recorded during the sessions for "Variety", the first few offerings in "Sports" feel like we're coming away from one party into the other. (Aiding this notion of mine is the last track of "Variety", "Metro", paced like a subway train that's doing just that.) You know how a good sequel retains what made you like the previous movie/show/etc but keeps it different enough to keep you into it? That's the best way I can describe how this plays out. Hints of the gentle chaos of its predecessor are peppered through "Sports" as it achieves a more refined sound. Times like these I wish I could put up samples, but the finest example comes from how the album can shift from the fast-paced, all over the map track "Noriki" to the mellow, cool blue filtered jazz of "Sweet Spot". It's like a random musical stick shift that never comes off as too jarring of a transition.

I judge the merit of an album on how quickly I find myself not playing a la carte with select tracks and listening to it all the way through. There are few that have been able to manage this feat with me, the all-time king still remaining to be Daft Punk's "Discovery". Within minutes after listening to the first two tracks, I can say that "Sports" has joined the ranks of "Discovery" with how I never once went for the advance button. It's one of the finest surprises of the year and I can't wait to see what Ringo Shiina and her band of merry music-makers can dish out next.

Label: EMI Music Japan