a follow up to the smart post!!!

 ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

link to smart on spotify 

you can also find them on other music streaming platforms such as apple music and tidal.

they focus on yamanaka a lot in the okinawa live video

hi my name is monstii and ive made a great discovery!!! there is not two, but three smart albums! yes, you heard me right! i missed one :(

the album in question is Reverie Musee, released in 1993. two years before their self-titled. 

it seems as if yamanaka isnt involved in this album?
i have no concrete proof, but its just a hunch.

I found out this existed like an hour ago, when i was looking for an hd version of self-titled's cover. when i went to smart's page on apple music, there were other albums by other people with the name smart, but this one has the logo (sm:art) and is spotify (as well as other streaming platforms, but on spotify it lists suzuki as writer/producer/arranger.) when i was digging for info for my first post on smart, i hadn't thought to check on music streaming platforms. i have no idea why! i guess i assumed i wouldnt find anything or they would be region locked or something. (which they arent, thank god)

discogs doesnt have or the yt channel that posted their other two albums OR smart's official(?) yt didnt have any mention of reverie musee, so i asuumed that self titled and zai phon were they only albums that smart had realesed in its lifetime. i guess not!! i cant find anything else on this album, other than the fact that suzuki is the writer/producer/arranger and its "author" (as spotify puts it, im not actually sure what that means) is a Mayumi. i have s very small inkling of who that could be, as there is a mayumi credited as a lyricist on self-titled, so that could be them? the author for self titled, YOU, is also credited as a lyricist. im guessing that the lyricists got the rights to distribute the album? i guess??? i dont know... :B

 ⋆˚✿˖° ๋࣭ ⭑⚝

their promotional material is so cool

truth be told, i have not listened to the album yet! when i found about it, i got really excited and decided to make a post about it right away! (i am typing this instead of doing homework) i have listened to a preview of it however, and what i listened to sounds basically what i expected early smart to sound like! i will elaborate more when i listen to it, which will be an edit to this post!

 ✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

Second-to-lastly, i would like to theorize a tiny bit! i have two educated guesses as to why smarts first album isnt documented like the others: 

the first is that reverie musee was realeased before smart officially "debuted" (basically sign on to a major label and get out of being indie, its more of a big deal in japan than in the west) i say this because there is no promotional material (that i know of) which would've been posted on the smart yt channel (probably) while zai phon and self-titled have mvs and commercials. my other piece of evidence is that it seems like there is no record label attached to reverie musee. on spotify, suzuki is listed as producer, composer and arranger, while self titled and and zai phon have other producers and suzuki is only listed as composer. the little triangle on the bottom right says smart, and while its not unusual, the other two albums dont have this little triangle. perhaps an independent label? smart's last two albums were released on eastworld and i dont have much reason to think that this was also released on eastworld.

my second theory is just simply lost/a lack of information. ive noticed that a lot of the information that ive used as sources for these posts (discogs, yt uploads etc) are just under two years old. for a band that has been around since 1993, thats kind of crazy! im not too sure what the sudden influx of smart info in 2022 is about, but most of it comes from 1995-1996 when self-titled had come out and zai phon was coming out. before or after that there is basically nothing i have gathered. (aside from the members other pursuits, but even then there there isnt much.) 

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

as much as i can theorize, i dont think answers are coming any time soon. smart is still really darn obscure! on spotify, they have 7 monthly listeners! ive never seen anything under 1000, let alone a single digit! i hope someday smart gets a second wind in the mainstream, as there a lot of questions i have that remain unanswered, most notably:

where did suzuki go? her name isnt attached to anything not-smart related, and it seems like she disappeared off the face of the earth after zai-phon's release. while its not unheard of for artists to not do music anymore and get away from the public eye, i think suzuki is a really talented producer and songwriter, and it makes me kind of sad that she never did anything other than being in smart. 

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

thats basically all i have to say, and after i review reverie musee, my final post about smart until i find anymore big information!

have a great day and as always,

monstii signing off. 

 *ੈ✩‧₊˚ 

music - ITS OUT ITS FINALLY OUT

 

HI MY NAME IS MONSTII YOU CAN LISTEN TO MY NEW EP HERE THANK YOU HOLY MOLY

hi my name is monstii and i am a very calm person. i did it!! yippee!! hooray!! wahoo!!

as promised, monstii's ep flower thinking // easy living has been released from its containment! you can either listen to it on youtube or bandcamp as i have previously linked! go!!! help it integrate with society!!!! its very lonely...!

hmmm not much else to say besides that. no rambling today, sorry! 

as much as i would like to joke about deadlines, no one would get them because no one reads these. (or perhaps my loyal fanbase is all bugs who cannot type on their compuers... if that is so, i am so sorry.)

i'll leave you with these humorous .gifs that i made using a very handy website!!!! (not sponsored) 

ok monstii signing off. having a really great super great day!111!!!!

flower thinking//easy living coming soon!

                                                                   ❀𖤣𖥧𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀

yeahhh babey

hi! my name is monstii and i said this would come out before august 13th.

that didn't happen. 

turns out that adjusting back to school would consume a lot more of my time and energy than i thought, so work stopped for a while. im still working on finding the balance of hobbies and work, but i have enough free time now to continue working on music!

if im not lazy, monstii's new ep should be up on youtube and bandcamp in the next few weeks. please stay tuned!

-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-

Miscellaneous - monstii's cd collection

 °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

i drank an arizona sweet tea and now my stomach hurts
unrelated just wanted to share

hi!!! my name is monstii and i think cds are pretty neat. they are (usually) cheap, easy to carry around, and generally have pretty okay-to-good quality. while i dont think they will have the same comeback that records did in the 2010's, i still like to buy and collect them, usually from thrift stores.

in my experience, thrift stores or places that places that sell secondhand items usually dont have great selections, but thats why i like looking through whatever they have. they always have stuff that really makes you wonder, y 'know? especially the really old albums. like, who were the people were behind this stuff? did they want to make it big? was this their lifes work? was this just a quick cashgrab? so many questions, but no answers. such is the tragedy of albums without discogs or wikipedia pages.

⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆

enough of my rambling, time to talk about my actual collection! i'll put an image, informational link (wikipedia, discogs, etc) and some words for each album. BGM: masoyoshi takanaka.

❀𖤣𖥧𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀

Franz Ferdinand - Self Titled (2004)

im eating some really good macaroni rn

Starting off real strong, we have franz ferdinand's debut album! i actually found this cd just as i was really getting into franz ferdinand, so this album came to me at a perfect time. its in really good condition too, the disc isnt scratched all that much and the lyric booklet is almost mint. for 90 cents this was a steal! god bless thrift stores. i'd say my favorite song from this album would either be dark of the mantinee or michael. whenever i listen to michael i wonder if i know a michael in real life. i dont.

⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

Procul Harum - The Prodigal Stranger (1991)

hooonk mimimi hooonk mimimi

next is this album. 

i can only describe it as mid. its not amazing. its not bad, either. it doesnt do anything egregious or terribly striking, but my brain kind of shut off after listening to this album because at the end of the day its basic prog rock that feels like its trying to say something but the message and music are so run-of-the- mill that it just left me feeling bored. ready to fly is- wait wrong one

if your into radio friendly rock check it out maybe.

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)

shep my og husbando <3

discovery is one of my favorite albums to this day. i love it so much that i actually bought it new, which is only something i do with albums that i really like. getting into daft punk and listening to this album and RAM are what really opened my eyes to music, listening to touch back when i was like 12 was like a religious experience. good stuff.

-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-

Bee and Flower - What's Mine is yours (2003)

nice lamp

alright to be completely honest with you i havent listened to this entire album. BUT, what i have listened to, i found enjoyable. its slow and kind of sultry, with folk tinges. not life changing, but not everything has to be. i got this cd at a small cd store at a mall near me, they had a big selection, but the album cover to this one stuck out to me. overall nice!

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

Enya - Paint the Sky with Stars (1997)

she lives in a castle???

This cd really caught my eye with its wonderful design. the covers and lyric booklet are very aesthetically pleasing, the music itself is also very nice, enya is an amazing composer, her songs have a dreamlike feel, some of her song feel like they would be apart of a tolkein film. (wait, they were!)

overall i like it, although its not something i'd listen to casually.

♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬ﾟ.

Hairspray Original Soundtrack (2007)

GOOD MORNING BALTIMOOOOOOOOOORRREEEEEEEEEEE

I. love. hairspray. its my favorite musical. i got to see it live with my school theatre group when it was at the majestic theatre in 2023 i think? its even better live, even in the nosebleed section. while the movie version of the soundtrack is different (new songs, some songs from the broadway production arent there) its still wonderful. the movie does the play great justice. careful playing it outloud though, 

you'll get called a theatre kid!

∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?

From the Cradle - Eric Clapton (1994)

more like eric CRAPton!!! hahahahahahahaha
what the fuck hes still alive???????
HES BRITISH?????????????????????????

lowkey? this aint mine i found it my house. i listened to it for like a minute. im a fake music nerd i know but blues just isnt my thing 😭

apparently this is a cover album? thats crazy 

moving on

જ⁀➴ ♡

Toshihiro Nakanishi - Silent Romance (1991 reissue)

im just playn games 
i know this plastic love silent romaaance

i dont know why this caption is weird help

This cd was actually released in japan, what its doing in texas i'll have no idea, but this is a great find! (its in almost pristine condition too, mutsve spawned at the wrong base) the inside booklet is in all japanese, but when i translated it (if i remember correctly) its Nakanishi talking about seeing silent movies as a kid or something like that? its basically classical pieces that are reminiscent of older movie scores. its quite nice.

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

Enigma - Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996, translucent ver)

it seems as if beige and black are popular
cover art color choices.

this is yet another album that caught my attention becasue of the outside cover. this album has two versions: one with a regular opaque cover and one with a hip and trendy translucent plastic cover. its pretty trippy, something you have to see in real life. (no i will NOT put a gif/video im too lazy) it reminds me of the music video to take me out. the album is mostly ambience, with a i think kind of folk song? its been a while since ive listened to it, to be honest. still pretty cool though.

XXXXXXXX

ok so i actually havent listened to these last two albums, but i can still say a few things about one. maybe i'll make a follow up post about the other one.

XXXXXXXX

artpace - The Happening 2005

good lord what do we have here!?

artpace is a san antonio art musuem thats does like charity work and stuff, you can read their website. i really only know about it because my school participated in its annual chalk it up event this year. it was pretty fun! i got some free HEB brand oreos. 

the happening seems to be an annual gala event that they host to fundraise for whatever, and im assuming they gave these out at the 2005 happening? the earliest happening that the artpace blog documents is 2014, or possibly the "museo jumex" event, but that post isnt dated somehow. 

if my math is correct, since 2014's happening was the ninth, 2005 would be the actually be the first happening to... happen. the cd doesnt give much info, the paper inside is basically just a setlist so, i dont know! its pretty interesting that they ended up in a thrift store, two or three actually, but i only picked up one. (maybe i shouldve bought the other ones and sold them for an obscene price... oh well. too late.)

im not sure if there are cds for other happenings, but i kind of doubt it. 

artpace, if this cd is a confidential secret, dont blame me. blame the guy who donated his probably rare, limited edition cd. 

or maybe artpace just had a bunch of extras and wanted to get rid of them? who knows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

𖧷⇝☾☁︎︎☽⇜𖧷

this chicago hits album  :T

witty caption

i got this at the same place as i got the bee and flower cd. i like the song saturday in the park, so me, in my infinite knowledge, decided to buy this out of EVERYTHING ELSE THEY HAD AT THE STORE.

im not... mad, per say, i dont think this is a terrible choice made by past me, but i really couldve spent the five dollars on like, play or somethign i dunno. (play has been haunting me btw. i keep on seeing it whenever i go to a music store. i think this is a sign from nyarlatholep.)

 

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

and that would conclude your look into my cd collection!!!!!! yay!!! wahoo!!!! wowie zowie!!!

im so tired

i dont have much to say, my 3ds broke last night and im really sad, but actually not really because the sd card is still intact... but my style savvy save file is probably gone :((((

okay that was off topic, my apologies comrade. maybe someday i will get my hands on a carnation cd...

but i believe that would be nothing but a pipe dream... (bars)

actually i was THIS CLOSE to getting a love sculpture cd from suruga ya but something was wrong with the card i was usin and they rejected my order. CURSES, CURSE ALL OF THEM

alr imma head out, have a good day and all that allright? go give some love to the cds that are probably collecting dust on your shelf right now.

monstii signing off.

      ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ﾟ.

     

Miscellaneous - a small change in plans (plus some rambling)

 ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.

picture unrelated.

hi my name is monstii and its been a little bit since ive posted... i feel so bad, im sorry, life stuff, etc etc.

let me get straight to the point. when i first started this blog, i wanted it to be solely related to music. music is a big part of my life and i care about it a whole lot, and i honestly thought that i could maintain a blog thats just music reccomendations with other tidbits about music trivia that i know and such.

i was WRONG. 

ive learned that i cant really talk about music and put what i think into words quite as well as i want to, and that i have a lot of other things going on in my brain that i would like to share, so, instead of just being a music blog, im going to shift to being a monstii blog. 

im still probably going to mostly talk about music, but i'll also post about whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. this will probably make me post a lot more than before (lol) 

im constantly thinking, and ive always wanted to share those thoughts with people, but ive never really been sure how. i think this will be a good outlet for me.

  *ੈ✩‧₊˚ 

in other news, ive been working on a new ep that will be availible for free on bandcamp and my youtube page. im looking to complete it before i go back to school on the 13th. like my first album, the songs were made in beepbox, but i think i have improved in songmaking from last year, so i hope you will check it out.

thats basically all i wanted to say for now, but this wouldn't be a monstii post without me mentioning carnation so go and listen to VIVRE from suburban baroque. actually, speaking of carnation, i recently read through masahiro naoe's short-lived blog. it was a very engrossing read, beginning in mid 2010 and ending a a few weeks after the 2011 tohoku earthquake. 

now, usually, reading about tragedies doesnt really elicit any strong emotions from me. thats just kind of how i am. but, for some reason, it kind of struck a chord in me when Naoe writes about seeing the earthquake on the news and thinking the world is going to end. i think i can kind of relate to him? but like, in the most non-parasocial way possible. oh my god im never saying i relate to a celebrity again that felt SO weird ewww

i kind of hate being so obsessed with carnation, in way, if that makes sense? like... because carnation is not as well known, Masahiro Naoe and Yuzuru Ohta dont have the same kind of energy that huge celebrities have, y' know? like, its different when you have millions of fans across the globe, and your pictures and details are just kind of there on your wikipedia page, but when having one fan obsessively try to gather the small amount of info that sporadically across the internet, (its me im that fan) theres a weird fine line that exsists between archiving, reasearcing and like, borderline stalking? for example, you can find the hospital that john lennon was born at AND his childhood home with a very simple google search. but, if you were too try to find, say, that same info but for a youtuber with like 10k subscribers that could possibly get you into legal trouble. i guess its okay for personal info to be released if the person or their family is okay with it, or the passage of time makes it so that that info being public isnt going to really do any harm, buts its still strange. or at least, i think so. 

oops. i got kind of off track. this is how my brain is, always. i usually end up thinking so much that i forget what i was thinking about in the first place... moving on.

im gonna finish the food i was eating. make sure to have a good day, or night, in my case. :')

monstii signing off.

♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ﾟ.

    

artist spotlight - smart (sm:art)

 ⋆˚✿˖° ๋࣭ ⭑⚝

link to their 1st album (smart)

link to their 2nd album (zai phon)

link to 1st album on discogs (has cd liner notes and full production credits!)

link to 2nd album on discogs

link to smart's official(?) yt

its seems like no wikipedia article exists for the band. the album uploads link to one, but its broken.

hi! my name is monstii and getting info on this band was kinda hard. it was kinda pure luck i found the first album in its entirety, in fact. i don't think their music is available on streaming platforms, and due to their name being so common, a lot of different things show up when you try to look it up. (╥_╥) so, let me give you a medium-sized run down of smart from the information i WAS able to uncover!

ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ ⋆ ﾟ

smart (スマート stylized as sm:art) is a j-pop band consisting of three members:

súzuki (real name Takako Suzuki, she's the one in the middle, also shown left) the composer and arranger, also playing keyboard/synthesizer in concert and music videos. in promotional materials described as "creating the sound". 

yamanaka (real name Tsuyoki Yamanaka, he's the guy with the bowl cut to the left, also shown... left) operates the synthesizer and plays guitar in concert. in promotional materials described as "controlling the mind" notably, he is presented differently than the other members in this commercial.

sachi (real name Sachiko Nakagawa, she's the one standing to the right, also shown left) does vocals for the entire album. in promotional materials described as "presenting the art".

the band itself was only active for 3 years, from 1995-1997. they released two albums and a few singles, as well as as some music videos and promotional videos. it also looks like they did concerts, but the only videos of this are select clips from their okinawa live on their youtube channel. (side note: i have no idea whether or not the yt is actually official or not. i dont really have a reason to doubt it, considering it is all smart stuff, but the fact that is was all uploaded just last year about 28 years since the band formed is kinda crazy? especially since, or at least as far as i know, there wasnt really demand for it, so whoever uploaded those videos did specifically for archival purposes? idk ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎)  

as for the members other pursuits, súzuki only has writing and arrangement credits for smart's albums, while sachi has vocal credits for two other albums released during smart's lifetime, and yamanaka is credited on a few other albums, the latest being in 2012. looking up their names on google provided no results for me personally, but admittedly i didnt look as much into the individual members (๑-﹏-๑) 

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

okay, now that thats out of the way, lets talk about their albums!!!  ☆ﾟ°˖* ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

as i said before, they only released two albums, one in 1995, and one in 1996. both are pretty distinctively synth j-pop with house and maybe rnb flavorings? both albums are similar but have different vibes to them, zai-phon (1996) having different instrumental and musical choices from smart (1995). i'll talk about both individually... now! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ (this following part is mostly my own opinion, so take everything with a gallon of salt. also dont die of high blood pressure.)

smart (1995)

first off, we have my favorite of the two albums! their self titled, which came out on december 6, 1995. about 28 years ago. the album has 10 songs, and was released on cd, only in japan if im not mistaken. the album has a pretty consistent chill synth-pop sound, never really slowing down or speeding up heavily, definitely something you can listen to in one sitting. although, this can lead to the songs sounding tiny bit same-y. (except for the last track •⩊•) the mixing and quality of the album are great, the panning of specific instruments keep things interesting and aren't distracting. 

the instrumentation is a nice mix of live instruments and synthesizers, at first i kind of expected for the strings and all to be sampled, because im so used to songs with synthesized or sampled strings i guess? but no, there are strings and violin performed by asuka strings and keisuke ohta.

there are synthesized and sampled parts, but i dont think that fact really takes away from the songs. for example, the sampled talking parts of some songs on this album and the next are a really nice touch, in my opinion. (honestly, the instrumental choices makes it sound like something a vaporwave or future funk producer would sample lol)

lastly, i'd like to talk about the albums aesthetics! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) i've always liked the feel that this album has, and kind of for the band in general. one of my favorite visual things is colorful things against a white or cream background (as you can probably tell LOL) and its mostly the reason i found this album, i was looking for carnation (they had to show up eventually) songs on youtube and this album cover caught my eye. it was a upload of the song 不実な、それでもステキな恋 and i came to like almost immediately, which inspired me to search for the full album in general. all the pictures ive used up to this point are from the cd for this album, in fact! 

彩虹-Zai Phon- (1996)

next up, we have the second and last album, zai phon (rainbow), released december 18, 1996. about a year after the first. the album, like the first, zai phon has 10 songs and was released on cad. this album is different from the first one and has some songs that deviate from the sound of the first album, and some that are like the first album. 

this album starts with 3 songs that are still catchy j-pop, but have a more traditional peppy sounding feel, with guitars and acoustic percussion. personally, i dont like the sound change all too well, but its not that bad and 'll leave you to form your own opinion. the 4th song of the album, sweet, returns to form a bit but has a simpler club feel. its nothing crazy, and not their best song. 

the next two songs, purple fish and 最後の涙 are more standard fare, and hold up quite well. 最後の涙 in particular has some really nice sampling, particularly the vocal one at the beginning, which actually might just be yamanaka talking. 

the next song, 青いスカーフ, is a slower song with nice acoustic drums and piano. it kind of sounds like the ending theme to a tv show (lol) and the guy playing drums in the mv  really looks like yukihiro takahashi, idk if its actually him because i dont have the liner notes like the first album, but it would be kinda funny if it was him (𓁹‿ 𓁹) (i have to talk about the next three songs seperately because they're all pretty different. send help.)

SMILE is a nice and upbeat song, again nothing crazy. 赤 is a slow song that starts with a nice muted trumpet solo. the choice of instruments and the way the chorus kicks in is great, and im now realizing that ive never really commented on sachi's vocals. i think she has a nice unique voice thats great for this kind of music, i realy have no complaints about her performance whatsoever. 

and last but certainly not least, we have 虹の果てま. a sunny and upbeat song with a good use of harp, each part of the song translates into each other nicely, it kind of reminds me tatsuro yamashita's loveland, island.

overall, i did actually like this album. ive been kinda critical of it, but thats mostly because i dont think it lives up to their first album. im not too sure what it is, but i feel likeits missing the same production value that made me a fan of their music in the first place, a lot of songs were catchy, but ultimately just felt safe and not much to write home about. 

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨ ʚɞ ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

im done... wow this took kind of a while, basically all day. ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ ) its over though. i'll keep my final thoughts brief so i can get some sleep! 

i really like smart's output, even it is not that much. i would say that i can't imagine why they ultimately broke up, but i think we've all seen this kind of thing happen before. a new artist or group is really hyped up and has a great debut that well received, but their following output doesnt live up to their first and they lose traction. and, let me be clear, this is just me speculating. i have no idea how either album was received critically, but the fact that smart in general isnt really well known speaks for... something, at least.

 

i feel like this group honestly had really great potential, suzuki is a wonderful song writer, so i was surprised when i saw that she never really did anything after being in smart. same goes for sachi, whos only other credited on two other albums made during smart's lifetime. as i said before, it seems like yamanaka stayed in the music business for a while after being in smart, being credited in a few other albums besides smart's. 

i would end it there, but i hate ending things on a negative note... at least there is someone out there who decided to set up the smart official youtube channel, i doubt it means anything, but we can still hope!   

whether it was a failed album or musical difference or whether a ufo came that took two of the members that made smart stop releasing music, im still happy that we are able to listen to it thanks to someone going by the name ( edit: not anymore) space captain dick weiner. the future is now.

okay. im gonna pass out now. make sure to have a good day, okay?

monstii signing off... zzz...

∩――――∩

||     ∧ ﾍ　 ||

            ||    (  ´ ｰ`)     ｡°(zzz)

         |ﾉ^⌒⌒づ`￣  ＼

                (　ノ　　⌒ ヽ ＼

                     ＼　　||￣￣￣￣￣||

　 ＼,ﾉ||

 

Miscellaneous - Connecting Keralino Sandrovich to Robert Fripp

 ✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

okay, hear me out here.

hi! my name is monstii and im slowly going insane. not really. or maybe actually really? anyways

i'm sure you might have heard of bacon's law before, or just of the theory of six degrees of separation before. today im going to show you how we can connect japanese director and singer of post-punk band uchoten keralino sandrovich to english king crimson guitarist robert fripp! 

( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)

okay. so, we start with kera. kera owns independent record label nagomu records, and guess who was signed on to nagomu records at one point? carnation! they released their first single yoru no entotsu while they were signed there after kera took interest in them. 

then, we can connect carnation frontman masahiro naoe (jp wikipedia link) to hirofumi and keiichi suzuki of the moonriders, who were involved with early carnation collabed with them on the album duck-boat.

from there, we can connect keiichi suzuki to ymo member yukihiro takahashi, as they were both apart of the musical duo the beatniks. (takahashi also performed at moonriders 30th live, along with masahiro naoe, [he's there just kinda to the side] so technically we could skip suzuki entirely) and we can connect him to fellow ymo member ryuichi sakamoto. (we could also circle back to masahiro naoe AGAIN, third ymo member haruomi hosono has worked with singer chisato moritaka, and carnation was the backing band for moritaka's 4th album.)

ryuichi sakamoto has collaborated a few times with english singer-songwriter david sylvian, notably on the song 'forbidden colors' from the movie merry christmas mr lawrence. and, david sylvian, in the 90's, worked with robert fripp on improvisational lives and three albums. 

(note that the fact about the suzuki brothers producing gong show is actually something i probably made up. i have no idea where i got that from (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ))

ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ )

WOW that took a lot more work that you'd expect. its worth noting that you can connect a lot of people to anyone named beyond yukihiro takahashi. takahashi himself was apart of the sadistic mika band, which included some pretty big names in the j-music industry. ymo itself is a very big name, being very influencial on electronic music and j-pop. dont get me started on david sylvian and robert fripp. we'd be here forever.

really goes to show how many people are connected, huh? not just celebrities and otherwise big names, the people around you too. last year, two people involved in my school's production of mean girls found out they were cousins and had no idea. crazy! its a really deep, but otherwise interesting rabbit hole to go down.

im gonna go eat something now. you probably should too, if you havent already. also, make sure to have a good day, okay?

monstii singing off.

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