Thursday, August 23, 2007

ANIMALS INSPIRED ART


Not exactly new work... and I wil be revamping the main site soon, it is rather in a mess!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

THE BRILLIANT GREEN


This is a performance from one of my favourite bands, The Brilliant Green. Time Magazine rated them as one of the top 10 bands in the world outside the US (surprising to some). Their albums are usually released in autumn-winter which is a good indication of their musical style. They draw a lot of inspiration from the Beatles and play tunes ranging from pop-rock to whimsical rock. I can't say the lead singer Tommy (Kawase Tomoko) has the strongest 'live' performance abilities, but this video above demonstrates that she actually sings better with less noise and being seated lol, rather than go off-pitch in some of her TV performances (which is, by the way, much better than the lip-syncing she has to do sometimes).


This one is one of their old vids I like because she finally looks her age. This vid about 6 years old. And she gives off that sexy vibe, rather than the cutesy she is known for. The concept of the video is a little thought-provoking too.

For the past 6 years Tomoko was concentrating on her solo releases 'Tommy February 6' and 'Tommy Heavenly 6' which are both short term projects but turned out to be massively popular. I am so glad Brilliant Green is back again finally after a 5-year hiatus. You wouldn't believe the horror when I first saw Tommy February 6's debut on Music Station but I've kind of warmed up by now. I've always liked her gloomy sombreness in the band but well, it was a very strategic career move anyhow. And her good prediction that an 80s synthesizer revival was coming up (she did it way before any of the revival artistes did, I think). The below video demonstrates my point:

I won't even delve on her Heavenly6 persona, just that it is rather Avril Lavign-ish which I'm not into. She is 32 this year I think, amazing how she seems to look younger than a decade ago!