#Rina and this record are both CRIMINALLY underrated ;-;

[appears]

AUDIENCE

It's Ayumi Hamasaki's birthday on October 2 and we're extending the celebration in true ego-maniacal, splashy celebrity fashion, by drawing out the festivities for an entire week! Each day I will briefly discuss a totally random item chosen (not by me) from my Ayu collection. Prepare for praise, disappointment, and controversial opinions backed by love and respect as we take a casual look back in this blurry snapshot of her career. Happy Birthday to our Party Queen, Ayumi Hamasaki!

We have another classic Ayu single here with "AUDIENCE," released in its subsequent vinyl version on Avex’s Rhythm Republic sub-label only a month after the CD maxi-single version. Chronologically, this single came right after the simultaneous drop of the SURREAL maxi-single, and her third original studio album, Duty, two months earlier in the fall of 2000. The song was originally included on said album, but though it may seem like an anomaly for Ayumi to have released a single after its album release, she had actually already done this before when she released both album tracks "kanariya" and "Fly high" as maxi-singles within two months of the release of LOVEppears. All the more for us maxi-single, dance music lovers!

"AUDIENCE" has become a fan favorite since its release, often saved during concert tours for the high-energy back-end of performances. This vinyl version includes three cuts off of the original single: "Keith Litman's Big City Club Mix" on Side A, and the "Dave Ford Mix" on side B, along with the "Sample MadnesS remix" of "SURREAL" by producer Eboman. The Keith Litman version on the vinyl is an original mix exclusive to the format, as the mix on the maxi-single is the shorter "Radio Mix." There is also a longer, extended mix of this included on the EP excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD005. His remix is quite good, and appropriately "club-y," but doesn't stand out in any particular way.

The mix by Dave Ford is startlingly similar to what we know as the original version of this song, with very subtle, yet hugely impactful, differences. Dave Ford mixed singles and albums for several Avex Trax, and other J-pop, artists (Namie Amuro, Dream, Every Little Thing, Favorite Blue, move, Rina Chinen, T.M.Revolution, my God the list goes on), remix compilations, and other Ayu singles (including mixing the "AUBE Original Mix" of "Boys & Girls," the version that appears on LOVEppears, and tracks on the A maxi-single.).

He is an incredibly, and near criminally, underrated engineer in global pop music and was one of the reasons that Avex Trax artists always sounded incredible, with a knack for bringing out the bustling, maximalist energy of a record and making it as full and warm and just about to blow out of your speakers as it deserved to sound. In my opinion, Dave Ford has helped shape the modern, specifically 90s-early 00s, technical soundscape of Japanese pop music, and certainly that of Avex Trax’s particular brand, nearly as much as Tetsuya Komuro did for style and melody, but he never gets mentioned. In fact, the two often appeared on the same liner notes, with Dave Ford mixing dozens of records, including hitomi and trf, as far back as 1994 (”WOW WAR TONIGHT”? That was him). Here, he brings the fun and richness to a song like "AUDIENCE," a song that with its relentless synths, energetic BPM, and wall-to-wall density imitating the rush and euphoria of being in a crowd seems more like a LOVEppears holdover than something off of the more restrained, cool Duty. It's an incredible song and I'm glad it got its time to shine on its own release. Mostly, I’m glad Dave Ford was a part of it, because it would have been a very different song without him -- you can pick up on t just by the way the energy of it makes you feel it when listening to it side-by-side to the slightly more conservative Duty version). Certainly, his absence has been felt at the same time TK stopped being top dog and the sun set on this particular sonic era.

The value of having large record sleeves really comes in handy with this single: the cover art features dozens of pictures of Ayumi dressed up as different "fans" that comprise an entire audience. No two shots are alike, and it's really neat to see all of the different images clearly without having to use a magnifying glass with the CD sleeve. In terms of jacket sleeves, this is one of her best and showcased just how much effort, time, and thought was put into them back then (the rainbow gradient is not just visually interesting, it’s also deliberate). I've written about a lot of early Ayu releases, but it's worth repeating: this is both a genuinely iconic, great song, and an indispensable piece of her discography. But also: give credit to whom it’s due.

[heavymetal-and-reflective]

Le Tigre by Le Tigre

Official album review by MacArthur Radio

I’d recommend this album for fans of ‘90s alternative, punk, grunge rock bands and artists like Veruca Salt, Garbage, Nirvana, Bikini Kill, and more modern artists such as Rina Sawayama, Miley Cyrus, (specifically her Plastic Hearts album, Grimes (specifically Art Angels and Miss Anthropocene) Ashnikko, Rico Nasty, and Avril Lavigne and just anyone who likes intense, punk music that can sometimes be beautiful.

Le Tigre's self titled is one of the defining albums of the riot grrrl genre, and is an unapologetic, perfectly pretentious, cohesive record that makes you wanna simutaneously throw shit around, dance slowly in your bedroom, and protest against the government.

This album has really intense, angry, "RAHHHHH" energy songs like "Deceptacon" and "Let's Run" that are so satisfying and make you wanna whip your hair back and forth like Willow Smith, to very strange, conceptual songs like Phanta, which is written from the point of view of hippies hidden in a bunker as they await the apocalypse and are hiding from a supposed monster outside (based on true events that happened in 1967-1968 when scientists realized the asteroid named 1566 Icarus would be coming close to Earth).

Then there's the ethereal almost-ballad "Eau 'd Bedroom Dancing", to the political, feminist, thought provoking statements on life and art spoken entirely throughout tracks like "Hot Topic" and "Slideshow at Free University".

The closing track Les and Ray is also a criminally underrated, hidden gem. One of the cutest, most purest, songs I've ever heard that I didn't expect to hear on an album that goes this hard. Kathleen Hanna (lead singer) sings from the perspective of a nine year old thanking her neighbors Les and Ray for playing a big role in her loving music and holding out hope that her life could be better one day as she sings "You were my oxygen/The thing that made me think I could escape/This is a thank you song for Les and Ray." The song's instrumental sounds both like you're listening to music playing at a party by your next door neighbors, and a soothing music box lullaby.

Otherwise, most of this album's sound is heavy punk guitar riffs, passionate and raw punk vocals by Kathleen Hanna full of frustration, anger, but also a very "fuck you!" type of pure, unadulterated joy, very experimental and unique songwriting, samples, and production, that I think people who are fans of alternative, punk rock, punk pop (like Miley Cyrus's latest album which I love), experimental music will really enjoy.

This is one of the most unique, memorable, and enjoyable albums I've ever heard.

Fav songs: Deceptacon, The The Empty, Phanta, Eau 'd Bedroom Dancing, Let's Run, and Les and Ray

SOURCE: (for 1967/1968 story of hippies fleeing due to fear of doomsday)

https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/14/archives/hippies-flee-to-colorado-as-icarus-nears-earth-hundreds-camping-in.html