King Gnu x Sheena Ringo - W⚫RK
Added 2025-03-02 16:00:15 +0000 UTCWhen I see the name "Sheena Ringo," I click.
The reason I picked this one is because I wanted to see her, but I also wanted to finally hear who King Gnu was. I have heard this name before and I haven't had a chance to check them out yet. (If you've given me a suggestion before, I apologize for missing it!)
I would love to check out King Gnu more after this FOR SURE!!!
Comments
Technically this is a cover, the original song was a collaboration between Sheena Ringo & Millenium Parade, which is the creative/music collective run by Daiki Tsuneta (King Gnu guitarist/vocalist/cellist/main songwriter). But in fairness that recording also had the King Gnu rhythm section of Kazuki Arai (bassist) and Yu Seki (drummer) playing on it, so from the band only Satoru Iguchi (vocalist/keyboards) wasn't involved and is adding extra vocal harmonies in this live version as well. The original recording also has a brass/horn section plus various keys/synth/programmed layers. On this performance Iguchi-san is triggering/playing the brass with his synths, probably with some layered backing tracks involved via the laptop as well. I'd recommend checking out the studio/MV version, which gives you the full performance credits as well as English subtitles: https://youtu.be/dYzgZVhiqmU?si=2IJhXakKREptylvq King Gnu split the lead vocals normally between Tsuenta-san & Iguchi-san and leave the centre of the stage where you'd typically have a front-person empty in live performances. Which leaves the perfect spot for Sheena to appear, she was a surprise guest so the crowd reaction at the start when she appeared was genuine. From Japanese socials it was actually even louder than in the video, the mics were dipped partly . Think Sheena is wearing some kind of fetish-adjacent style fashion harness rather than an actual gun holster per say. The word you were hunting for with the cymbals (high-hat in this instance) was rivets. I really like the use of riveted ride cymbals in some jazz fusion.
Andrew Hellebrand
2025-03-08 17:30:59 +0000 UTCI don't think they have any brass there, it is just the keyboardist making that sound
Jonas
2025-03-04 03:13:03 +0000 UTCPretty good suggestion. Personally i like the first in Japanese: has a particolar charm to me.. Since i like her work in english as well i'd like to suggest the song Genjitsu wo warau (laugh at facts) from the first Tokyo Jihen album Kyouiku. In some passages it reminds me a little bit of Alanis Morisette (at least in the original studio version).
Sawzar
2025-03-02 20:23:40 +0000 UTCWhat a show!!King GNU is worth further listens. About Sheena Ringo, i started just a year ago to dig in, and i really love her work both as a soloist and with Tokyo Jihen, and also the collaborations she had in the last few years (you already reacted to her and Atarashi Gakkou, but also wrote a song for ADO, and other stuff). When i started to listen i randomly picked up Honnou (MV) and Tsumi to Batsu (Live): after a few song i though 'That's what Miku meant when she spoke about cool music!!'. If you plan to do more reaction to her, could be interesting to take a look to lyrics too. To be honest i have a huge crush on Sheena Ringo (for example: do you know she's a cat lover?? she often compares people to cat breeds ..)
Sawzar
2025-03-02 20:00:47 +0000 UTCI know I suggested this months ago, but this seems to be a good time to repeat myself…Definitely more suited to do this on Patreon as a two-for-one compare & contrast analysis. Sheena’s song “Bathroom” (live) versus “La Salle de Bain” (live TV): https://youtu.be/-tgNbt59GUU?si=BuD0ezUyZskk_RQb …fairly close to the studio version. https://youtu.be/35hZlCAz9JA?si=A_ADS8VEPXW9k_5l …well, I won’t spoil the surprise! Just proof that Sheena is the queen of reinvention.🫅
Kevin (WhirlwindMediaStudio)
2025-03-02 19:15:14 +0000 UTCThe Queen and the King on the same stage, lol. Sheena is currently 46 years old and, thinkign about her releases in 2024, she is in top form (you just has listened to her collab with Atarashi Gakko). King Gnu is a tremendously eclectic band, if after listening to Work you jump straight to the height of silky delicacy of their song 硝子窓 (Glass Window, pay attention to the strings in this one) they won't even seem like the same band to you. They are also an example of success in Japan, number one without a doubt.
Juan San
2025-03-02 17:57:00 +0000 UTC
