SHINKI CHEN & FRIENDS

Shinki Chen & Friends... looking on video sharing posts now, one sees comments like " I listen to it every day; it gets me where I need to be"... that being the case, I am deeply concerned for such people. Needless to say, I can relate.

I'm using the five-star rating sparingly, but I do believe it deserves it. For a year, I had only a few tracks streaming online, and I really did play them out. After ordering the record, I was not disappointed.

Ensemble playing like this is simply not heard anymore. There are no guitar overdubs, and there do not need to be. Firmly, deeply, exhaustively grounded in bass guitar riffs, this record alone dispels any stereotypes about bass players or drummers not pulling their weight. A musician listens to this record and wants to play the bass just as much as the sparse but cutting leads.

I personally do not know anything about George Yanagi and Johnny Yamazaki, but their vocal imparts an essential honesty to the record, and contributes further to a sense of nostalgia even for listeners born too late.

Also, I've been searching for more of Shinki Chen's material and likewise not found it. He's brilliant here, and exercises restraint not often seen on solo albums; whether this is due to nonchalance or a stiff upper lip I have no idea.

Even if this is an album that is dominated by its influences (and that is open to discussion), one can only hope it continues to forcibly hold open the door to interest in this exhilarating period of Japanese rock 'n roll.