What Pizzicato Five (or similar) albums can be recommended?

Hey gang,

I recently found a Pizzicato Five single ("Mon Amour Tokyo") in my local Cash Converters (30p, bargain).

After listening, it's given me the incentive to find more - but this is where the confusion sets in.

In JP, they've released lots and lots of albums, but the Western releases are mostly compilations of them.

Out of the 5 albums only 3 are actually the full thing:

* 'Made in USA' is a compilation of "Bossa Nova 2001", "Sweet Pizzicato Five" and "This Years Girl",
* "The Sound of Music" is a compilation of "Overdose", "Romantique 96" and a few EPs.

The only albums that actually got a full release were "Happy End of The World", "Pizzicato Five" (which was oddly retitled as "The Fifth Release from Matador"), and "International Playboy & Playgirl Record".

The question is: are the JP-only albums worth getting? The trouble is importing CDs via usual methods is notoriously expensive and so I don't want to go searching around if it's cobblers.

Also, are there any other bands that are good enough to be worth a listen?

 

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box are somewhat inspired by P5 and are very good indeed. Helpfully they have released two UK albums. The first one, FAKEVOX, is easily the best.

 

Pizzicato Five are one of those groups that no body gave a shit about in Japan so they tried to make it big outside of Japan. Back in 1997 I bought a Pizzicato Five CD in the UK that came with a members club card that I still have in a drawer somewhere. I'm pretty sur that album was just called Pizzicato Five.

Yakumo

 

If I remember rightly a French label was interested in them for a while as I was asked to do some promo stuff with P5 and frankly I thought it was awful. Their only gimmick being 'How cute, now the Japanese have found the '60s and it's all Kitsch'. Someone on Radio1 tried playing them for a while and it got almost zero response, so...

I've always wanted to find the bands in various countries that are really good, not just the ones that get picked for exportation as most of the time they aren't an indication of the best of a country.

You should list the best Japanese bands ever! Now that would be good! ;-)

 

Unless you're in uuber completionist collector mode, the US album releases would probably suffice & taste the same as the single you have. The JP albums will provide some additional tracks/mixes & do turn up reasonabily cheap on ebay from time to time. Some of their earlier stuff like the Couples album (& prior to Maki Nomiya joining) sounds fairly different.

Yeah, I admit it - I'm a bit of a fan of the band. It's not Mozart for sure, but I find that P5 stuff always tends to leave me in a good mood. Interestingly (as per Parris' comment), those folks I know who are musicians/have a musical background tend to dislike P5.

 

Shonen Knife were pretty awesome, as are Lolita #18 - Lolita #18 did an excellent cover of 'Rockaway Beach' by The Ramones that featured Joey Ramone on backing vocals, as well as appearing in the video. He also produced and appeared live with both bands.

Guitar Wolf are another excellent Ramones-inspired Japanese band (all male this time), who also starred in the bizarre but hoplessly cool alien attack/zombie movie Wild Zero as (basically) themselves.

 

I can only assume the Japanese had a real thirst for The Ramones?

 

Don't know if it's what your looking for, but you should check out Sushi 4004 got some nice songs.

The Pillows have made some great songs (especially the once for the anime FLCL)

 

The what? Must be US TV program - not heard of it

 

Serial Experiments Lain? It's an anime from a few years back. The band was Boa, I think.

 

Must have passed me by, although I am no huge anime fan. This will be what you are on about though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XfJwh2cC6o

Didn't think they were Scottish either. They are from London.

 

Gainax just raided the Pillows back catalogue to provide the soundtrack. They have been going for years and they have a much bigger fan base in Japan than just FLCL fans.

 

Yeah, Bôa are from London. It's alright, but a bit too 'couldn't afford to license a Cranberries song' for my taste.

Fantastic Plastic Machine has been on my radar in the past - 'Dear Mr. Salesman' got played to death soon after it was released.

 

Pizzicato 5 > 5th release from Matador

As far as other JP stuff goes, I really like Yoshinori Sunahara. He just released a greatest hits compilation last year, but his best album is Crossover.

 

How about you guys listen to some japanese artists that are popular in Japan. I'm not talking about J-pop here today gone tomorrow shit but maybe something like Aikawa Nanase, Ohguro Maki, Zard, The Southern All-stars or even Dreams Come True (although the latest stuff just grates).

Yakumo

 

Certainly these are the artist's I'd more interested in hearing.

 

The above are all pretty good in their own way and of course write some if not most of their own music. Well, apart from Zard who's now dead. Another one you could add to the list is Moritaka Chisato. Her early stuff is really shit mind you since it's all studio J-pop however later on in her career she started on her own music with some interesting sounds. Some of it reminds me very much of the Beatles with the basic acoustic sounds. By the way, Chisato plays most of the instruments as well! A very talented woman but defiantly not everyone's taste. Just don't listen to the Album, Mortitaka Land. Man, that is really bad. I didn't like one single track on it from what I remember.

Yakumo

 

Thanks for all the top tips, I will heed them.