Gofish Trio & Satoko Shibata - Gofishトリオと柴田聡子

Inimitable 2010’s acoustic pop led by Gofish, a household name in the Japanese indie scene and on the shelves of legendary Koenji record shop Enban, alongside Eddie Marcon or Tenniscoats... 

During my last trip to Japan, I fully immersed myself in the warm, comforting sound of Japan’s lively indie pop scene. A scene that has its roots in the late 1980’s and that never ceased to evolve and inhabit record stores’ shelves. The trio playing on this record gives an example of a strong ethos of the scene, embracing a bare, fully acoustic sound, with little to no effect, a kind of hi-fi take on a lo-fi habit of single takes.

The music in itself is a strong evocation of Japanese pastoralism, with its string instruments, guitars and a cello, recalling that special end-of-summer melancholy and care-free spirit that emanate from so many milestones of Japanese pop culture, From Boku No Natsuyasumi to Kikujiro - work that touched me so deeply when I first encountered them and, yes changed my life a tiny bit.

Some Japanese artists succeeded in giving a cinematographic genre a musical equivalent, like no one lese: dramas or melodramas made into songs. And Satoko Shibata and the Gofish Trio are among these artists. (VG+/VG+)

Tracklist

1. 1. ねがい
   2. 思い出が消えちゃった

   3. 長い歌